Role-Playing a Dual Personality as a Background Character in a Manga
New空纪海
Multi-voice audio — a distinct voice for each character
On his way to a superpower academy, S-class freshman Ji Qing binds to a comic forum system. When he cross-references the comic with his school's student directory, he discovers the protagonist is one of his own classmates. Ji Qing: Interesting. In the comic's current arc, the protagonist is still a bottom-rung F-class rookie, while Ji Qing already sits at the pinnacle of their year. While his S-class classmates pick fights with the protagonist, he's dozing in the library. While his S-class classmates duel the protagonist, he's feeding koi in the pond. While his S-class classmates get thoroughly humiliated by the protagonist, he's working through a second lunch in the cafeteria. Watching the stiff, formulaic plot unfold page by page, Ji Qing is bored out of his mind. Then the system, which had vanished the instant it bound to him, suddenly reappears. Ji Qing glances down at the open comic, and inspiration strikes. Ji Qing (beaming): Let's make this plot a little more interesting. System (wary): …What exactly are you planning to do? Superpower Hunting Academy was, by every honest account, a thoroughly mediocre shōnen comic. The early arcs dragged through the same tired academy beats, and readers were beginning to drift away. Then a new character stepped onto the page, and the forums detonated. Arrogant. Erratic. Origins shrouded in mystery. And somehow, impossibly, wearing the exact same face as the academy's top freshman. He moved fluidly between the underworld and respectable society, one hand pulling the protagonist out of the fire, the other shoving him right back in. The fandom went feral. Pairing wars, theory threads, character breakdowns, hundreds of discussions tangled around his connection to the top freshman and the protagonist. Then, at long last, the plot dropped his real identity and past. Comic Forum: 【WAIT WHAT. "After you left, I became you"?????】 【Revenge arc. Revenge arc. REVENGE ARC.】 【Whoever died, I'm going to the afterlife to kill them a second time.】 【Protagonist you IDIOT, drag him back to Class S before it's too late!!!】 Ji Qing: See? Much more interesting now, isn't it? System (flat): …More interesting? You've taken a perfectly normal shōnen manga and twisted it into a revenge tragedy.
