Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The sudden turn of the red-haired boy startled Su Bei, almost making him scream if not for his strong self-control. Wasn't this supposed to be a shounen manga? Why did it suddenly turn into a horror story?

There was no time to hide his expression now; his shock was fully visible to this dangerous guy in front of him.

Considering that the killer chose to kill him just because they saw each other in the same bathroom, Su Bei feared that if the redhead suspected him, he would face another death threat.Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com

And this time, there wouldn't be any "manga awareness" to save him.

What to do? He needed to quickly come up with a way to answer the other's question!

In a flash, Su Bei maintained his stiff look of surprise but forced a bit of joy onto his face: "You seem to be a classmate from Class A?"

It made sense for someone from another class to be surprised upon suddenly realizing they were talking to an A-class esper, as there were only 20 people in Class A in their grade.

The sense of danger instantly dissipated, and the red-haired boy's smile returned to his face, nodding with a bit of youthful pride: "That's right! I'm going to become the strongest esper, so of course, I'm in Class A!"

He guessed right!

Su Bei's tightly clenched heart suddenly relaxed. He hadn't actually seen this redhead before and didn't know which class he was in. But he thought, as an undercover agent planted by an organization in the Infinity Ability Academy, his abilities had to be very strong. The higher he climbed, the more intelligence he could gather. So, it was very likely that the redhead was assigned to Class A.

Luckily, he guessed correctly. Not only did he successfully clear himself of suspicion, but it also seemed he might have gained the other's favor.

With the crisis over, Su Bei's mind started to become active again.

Now he had two choices: one, to take advantage of the other's good mood and quickly brush him off, then go back to his room to rest; or two, to take this opportunity to befriend the other.

The first option would be no problem, but if he chose the second, befriending an undercover agent from a dangerous organization, what would that bring him?

First, the downsides: the organization might start targeting him, he would face increased suspicion daily, and if the redhead was exposed, readers might feel suspicious and resentful towards him for befriending the antagonist.

Then, the upsides: he could likely obtain intelligence about the organization, gain a new hidden line of identity that could be utilized, and if the redhead was exposed, readers might become curious and eager to explore his relationship with the antagonist.

It seemed like a tough choice, but if he clarified what he truly wanted, it would be easy.

What he wanted was readers' attention, which would make it easier to change his abilities and identity, not just pure affection. Pure affection could increase popularity, but it wasn't of much use to him.

So clearly, having both black and white identities in readers' eyes would help achieve this goal.

Thinking of this, Su Bei took the initiative to ask, "I'm Su Bei from Class F. Can I know your name?"

In his mind, this character, who seemed similar to Wu Mingbai, might deflect his question, show some disdain, or use this as an opportunity to inquire about what happened in the cafeteria.

But it didn't matter. If he could open a new hidden line with this information, he didn't mind. After all, in this matter, he was almost just playing the role of a bystander, wasn't he?

Mo Xiaotian quickly reacted, his eyes lighting up with surprise and admiration: "You're right, you can distinguish things like that! Su Bei, you're really smart!"

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Mo Xiaotian's face showed some hesitation. He wanted to hurry back and report but also wanted to chat more with his new friend.

Guessing the reason for his hesitation, Su Bei decisively sent him out. Although he was curious about the other's ability, there was no rush. He had already gathered enough information for today and needed time to think it over.

First was the black lightning tattoo. If nothing else, the killer should also have such a tattoo. After all, the four points forming the pattern left little room for doubt.

So, the question was, what was this organization doing?

Initially, Su Bei thought the killer was specifically hunting espers and had some task at the school. This would explain why he killed without hesitation when his identity might be exposed.

But from Mo Xiaotian's behavior, it seemed this organization might not have malice towards espers. Otherwise, they wouldn't have educated a child to be like this.

If their enemy was the school, that didn't quite fit either. If the school were their enemy, the undercover agent would have a sabotage mission, and they wouldn't send someone like Mo Xiaotian, who was so innocent.

There was still too little information.

However, thinking back, Su Bei suddenly remembered something and quickly opened his phone to look at the previous trailer's promotional page. Not far from the main trio was a red-haired boy with a silly grin, the same grin as Mo Xiaotian's.

Could this guy really be Mo Xiaotian?!

The more Su Bei thought about it, the more he felt he was right. It was clear that a character with such a unique personality and special identity wouldn't be obscure in the manga. Befriending him was the right move, even if he was part of a villainous organization.

"'Manga Awareness,' are you there?" When in doubt, use the cheat. Su Bei asked straightforwardly.

The next second, "Manga Awareness" appeared as expected: "What's up?"

"Are the people with black lightning marks part of an organization?"

Knowing that Su Bei was sure about this and had found a crucial clue, "Manga Awareness" didn't hide it: "Yes."

"So, what is the purpose of this organization?" This was the key question Su Bei wanted to ask. Aligning goals was essential for forming friendships; he needed to understand to

plan his future moves.

Unfortunately, "Manga Awareness" didn't give him such an easy way out: "I can't say. Only after you discover it yourself can I mention it."

As expected. Su Bei sighed regretfully and changed the subject: "The manga updates at 8 a.m. tomorrow?"

"Yes, I will synchronize the manga and forum content with the real world. Additionally, your forum account has been activated; please use it appropriately to complete your tasks."