Role-Playing a Dual Personality as a Background Character in a Manga

Chapter 127

At ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍21:46 that night, at Ding’an City’s gate.

After more than an hour of driving, Xie Chang’an and the others finally arrived inside Ding’an City. Ji Qing, Zhou Que, and Miao Weiyong had chosen to wait in the Waiting Area for the group to return, while Miao Miaonian had gone to lead the rest of the convoy members to the hotel.

The moment the Armed Vehicle came into view, a flicker of surprise flashed through Ji Qing’s eyes.

The windshield of the Armed Vehicle had already shattered. The howling wind they had heard earlier through the earpiece had clearly come from that. The vehicle’s metal shell was covered in dents and impact craters, as though it had been smashed over and over by something hard and rounded.

Judging from the Aberrants they had faced earlier, the damage had most likely been caused by the Mutated Gophers pelting it with stones.

The fighting must have been fierce, Ji Qing thought to himself.

At the sight, Miao Weiyong sucked in a sharp breath and muttered under his breath, “It’s even worse than I expected.”

Once the vehicle pulled over and the door was opened from the inside, Miao Weiyong strode forward impatiently and looked the survivors up and down. Their clothes were disheveled, but there were no obvious serious external injuries on them, and Miao Weiyong immediately let out a long breath of relief.

He laughed heartily. “Hahaha, you’ve all worked hard.”

“Not at all, not at all,” Jiang Cuo answered with practiced tact, then quickly ducked out of the compartment. In his hand was a radio with exposed wiring, its signal light flashing red.

That was, without question, the lucky radio that had managed to reconnect to the convoy channel.

Unfortunately, it had gone on strike again. After Jiang Cuo successfully adjusted it and reported their situation, the radio had once more fallen into a malfunctioning state. The blinking red light was proof enough.

Still, considering the effect it had managed to produce in the end, it could be said to have retired with honors.

After Jiang Cuo, it was Xie Chang’an’s turn to get out.

Looking utterly drained, Xie Chang’an held onto the handle and climbed down from the vehicle. His face was heavy with exhaustion. Without saying a single word, he walked straight to the steps not far from the Armed Vehicle, turned around, sat down, found a suitable place to set down his Tang Saber, and then let out a long sigh.

He looked thoroughly exhausted, Ji Qing thought.

Every swing of the Tang Saber required the use of nearly every bone and muscle in the body, and in serious cases, it could easily lead to muscle strain. Compared with Jiang Cuo’s more opportunistic combat style, Xie Chang’an’s methods consumed far more physical strength.

On top of that, the gophers’ movements underground were extremely difficult to detect, so the group had surely remained on constant alert even while fleeing at full speed.

That level of double torment was brutal enough that it was no surprise Xie Chang’an looked so spent afterward. But then again, hadn’t the two of them been arguing over Terminal models on the radio earlier?

At the time, Ji Qing had not heard any exhaustion in Xie Chang’an’s voice at all, so why was that?

A subtle thought flickered through Ji Qing’s mind.

As far as he knew, Xie Chang’an and Jiang Cuo got along very well. Jiang Cuo was probably the male classmate in Class S closest to Xie Chang’an, but rather than close friends, the two felt more like partners-in-crime...

They often quarreled, and the reasons behind those quarrels were always bizarre.

But perhaps they were not all that bizarre after all? Ji Qing thought with slight hesitation.

Among the fights he had personally witnessed, the causes had included Jiang Cuo saying Xie Chang’an was gay, Jiang Cuo saying Xie Chang’an was easily attracted to men, Jiang Cuo saying Xie Chang’an... At that point, Ji Qing’s movements suddenly paused.

Jiang Cuo had absolutely been doing it on purpose. He probably found it amusing. After all, Ji Qing himself occasionally felt like teasing Xie Chang’an too.

After Xie Chang’an, the drivers of Vehicle 7 and Vehicle 9 got out.

Because the tire on Vehicle 7’s transport truck had been punctured, both the truck and its driver had rolled all the way to the border of the Danger Zone. They had nearly rolled straight into it.

Because of that, the driver from Vehicle 7 had broken his left leg, and now the driver from Vehicle 9 was helping him out of the vehicle.

“Old Liu, how are you feeling? Do you need to go to the hospital right away?” Miao Weiyong hurried forward to support him.

The driver from Vehicle 7 waved a hand after hearing that. “I’m fine, I’m fine. There’s no need to waste that money.”

“No,” Miao Weiyong said sternly. “What if there’s a problem? What if you’ve got internal bleeding or something? I won’t be able to explain that to your wife. I’ll go to the hospital with you later. Let Old Wang and the others head back first.”

Before the driver from Vehicle 7 could refuse, the driver from Vehicle 9 spoke up first. “I’m definitely going with Old Liu. With him in this condition, how could I possibly rest easy? Boss, don’t try to persuade me to go rest. I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.”

“Boss, hurry and let these young brothers go get some rest. The two of us grown men can stay here. They’ve put in both the manpower and the effort. They must be exhausted by now.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

Miao Weiyong nodded repeatedly.

While the two drivers helped each other toward the Waiting Area, Miao Weiyong quickly waved at the remaining people present. “All of you hurry and get some rest. Old Wang and I are here, so it’s fine. Ji Qing, you should go with them too.”

At the end of it, Miao Weiyong deliberately added that last sentence for Ji Qing in particular.

After spending three days and two nights together outside the city, Miao Weiyong had completely acknowledged Ji Qing’s strength, and he had also fully realized Ji Qing’s standing in the hearts of his three classmates. No matter what came up, telling Ji Qing first would be enough. Ji Qing would naturally inform the others afterward.

Ji Qing, who had been standing quietly some distance away, gave a cool nod.

Although there were many things he wanted to discuss with Father Miao, it was already late, and they should all rest first. So Ji Qing calmly swept his gaze over the others present and said, “Once you’ve finished the infection screening, I’ll take you to the hotel.”

“Alright.” “We can finally rest!”

As Ji Qing’s words fell, the people present all let out cheers almost in unison.

This commission had finally come to an end as well.

At 22:57 that night, at the hotel inside Ding’an City.

After the group smoothly passed the infection screening, Ji Qing brought them to the hotel.

Miao Miaonian came forward to greet them very quickly.

After exchanging a few polite words with Ji Qing, he handed room keycards to the four of them. Then Miao Miaonian led the remaining convoy members toward their own rooms, leaving only Ji Qing and the three people familiar to him in the lobby.

Just as Ji Qing was asking the hotel front desk where the rooms were, Jiang Cuo suddenly exclaimed, “Wait, are we in the same room?”

Ji Qing froze for a moment.

He immediately turned around, only to see Jiang Cuo bending over and comparing the room number on Xie Chang’an’s keycard with the number on his own. Once he confirmed what he was seeing, Jiang Cuo exclaimed repeatedly, “Wow, so I’m sleeping with bro?!”

“Don’t say it like we’re sharing one bed,” Xie Chang’an could not help retorting.

Jiang Cuo’s constant overreactions had already left Xie Chang’an’s scalp tingling with unease. He knew perfectly well that Miao Miaonian would never arrange for them to sleep in the same bed, but the way Jiang Cuo phrased it sounded far too strange.

Don’t tell me the next thing out of his mouth is going to be... Xie Chang’an stared at Jiang Cuo warily.

Seeing that, Jiang Cuo flashed Xie Chang’an a sly grin, but this time he chose to let him off. After all, bro had burned through too much energy during the day. Better wait until tomorrow or the day after, when they both had some spirit again.

At the same time, Zhou Que moved closer to Ji Qing.

Resting his head against Ji Qing’s shoulder, he looked down at the room keycard in Ji Qing’s hand and said, “Ours are the same, Ji Qing.”

So they were all double rooms. Ji Qing understood at once.

“Let’s split up here, then.”

After asking the front desk about the room locations, Ji Qing turned to the other two and said, “Tell me what happened after the attack tomorrow. Tonight, get some proper rest first.”

“No problem~” Jiang Cuo replied in an upbeat drawl.

“Alright, Ji Qing.” Xie Chang’an nodded obediently.

The two quickly waved goodbye, leaving only Ji Qing and Zhou Que behind once more. Since Ji Qing already knew where the room was, he did not ask a staff member to lead the way.

The two of them walked through the dim corridor together.

Ji Qing could hear a faint rustling sound behind him. It was the noise of Zhou Que’s footsteps.

The night was quiet, and the shadows of the trees were thin and sparse.

The hotel Miao Weiyong had booked was not very good. Even some of the incandescent lights in the hallway were broken, and the hotel had still not gotten around to fixing them. Yet the sight unexpectedly reminded Ji Qing of what he had seen in Huangtie City.

Most of the hotels in Huangtie City had been like this. Miao Miaonian’s original description had not been wrong at all.

If some other hunters had taken this commission, they would probably have turned around and left by now. But Ji Qing, Xie Chang’an, Jiang Cuo, and the others were all too exhausted at the moment to feel there was any real problem. In the end, they were still students.

Students rarely had many complaints about a hotel they were only staying in for a few nights.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Zhou Que’s footsteps kept following behind him.

At that moment, Ji Qing could not help recalling the manga scene he had seen not long ago. Back then, Zhou Que had secretly declared that as long as he followed Ji Qing, he would win in the end. Ji Qing wondered what Zhou Que would think of that now...

Ji Qing had no sense at all that he himself was some sort of “winner.”

The crisis had been resolved all too lightly. The commission had come to an end all too lightly. And now he was walking down the corridor with Zhou Que toward their temporary room. Ji Qing thought that perhaps he should get used to it... get used to placing himself in the position of the one directing things, rather than the one personally taking action...

But why did he have to get used to something like that? A trace of confusion flashed through Ji Qing’s heart.

Beep-beep—

The room’s smart lock successfully recognized the keycard.

Zhou Que ran in impatiently and flopped neatly onto the bed by the window. After happily rolling around on it several times, he suddenly regained his reason.

His face reddened as he blurted out, “I’m taking the one by the window! No objections allowed!”

Still standing at the door, Ji Qing smiled helplessly. As he closed the door behind him, he replied, “Of course you can.”

This was hardly worth arguing over anyway.

Absentmindedly, Ji Qing took off his jacket and hung it over the back of a nearby chair. Just as he was about to go check the bathroom, he suddenly noticed Zhou Que hugging a pillow and staring at him with a grave expression.

Ji Qing immediately felt puzzled. “Hm? And why are you staring at me now?”

“Are you in a bad mood, Ji Qing?”

Ji Qing was briefly taken aback. “What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. I just get that feeling.”

Zhou Que’s answer was utterly random, but Ji Qing thoughtfully shifted his gaze, then hesitated as he said, “Maybe... I really am in a slightly bad mood.”

“Why?”

“There’s no real reason.” Ji Qing smiled with a trace of vexation in his tone. “Maybe I’m just not used to my role yet. By the way, didn’t you want to know how I judge an Aberrant’s motives?”

At the end of that sentence, Ji Qing deliberately changed the subject.

“Wow, you’re really going to tell me?!”

Completely unaware of Ji Qing’s intention, Zhou Que’s eyes immediately lit up.

He instantly forgot the question he had just asked and excitedly pressed Ji Qing, “What is it? What is it? I absolutely refuse to believe I don’t have even the slightest talent for this!”

That final declaration of his was delivered with a truly stirring level of passion.

Hearing it, Ji Qing smiled again and thought helplessly to himself that redirecting Zhou Que’s attention really was effortless. Although Zhou Que was sharp in much the same way Jiang Cuo was, Zhou Que was also very easily led off track in his thinking. That had once been one of the things that gave Shao Huayu headaches.

And right now, Ji Qing intended to make use of that flaw.

Although he really was in a somewhat bad mood, he had no intention of telling Zhou Que. What Ji Qing needed to get used to was not only his role as Team Leader, but also his role as the leader of the Dawn Society, and even his role as the Aberrant Crown Prince...

All of those identities placed him in the position of a leader, a figure of command, and he... still was not used to that role.

Ji Qing’s eyes dimmed slightly, but on the surface, he still said with perfect seriousness, “After thinking about it more... part of it also comes from experience in wilderness survival, as well as familiarity with the habits of different Aberrant species...”

His gentle, even voice flowed through the room like the sound of a violin, and the room was soon filled with nothing but Ji Qing’s clear tone.

The amusing thing was that, although Ji Qing sounded perfectly dignified, all of it was something he had only just borrowed from 《Animal World》. In a sense, he really was solemnly bluffing Zhou Que.

After all, was he actually supposed to confess that he was an Aberrant?

That was obviously impossible.

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