Chapter 31: Manga Update (Half Update)
[It’s actually Heige!]
[Okay but, so cool ahhh!]
[This villain stan is totally smitten.]
[It’s me! It’s me! You stole my heart!]
In manga, popularity equals beauty, and the artist’s drawing sparked a wave of villain fans.
After this scene, the artist didn’t depict my conversation with Yue Qing, skipping straight to the action.
I could understand why—info about the Former Ability Guild would likely come later.
Though I didn’t know why the artist included me this time, I didn’t mind checking out how I looked cool in the manga.
I was risking my life to act cool, after all!
Black-and-white lines sketched fierce winds and ice spreading for miles, the large perspective exuding intense tension.
The youth in the frame wore a confident smile, letting the gale lift his coat’s hem.
The ground collapsed, and in the dust, his figure turned illusory, becoming blurry.
A frozen manga panel used a bird’s-eye view to show the ice’s spread, the villa they were in looking like a mere dot from a pen tip amidst the sprawling frost.
Later, Yue Qing stood on the ice, facing the reappeared youth from a distance.
Yue Qing arrogantly stated his deduction about Heige’s ability: an illusionist, not physically present.
And beside him, the artist finally revealed his identity.
‘Yue Qing, current head of the Yue clan, S-rank spell-type ability user, ability [Ice].’
The comments on this page exploded.
[Holy crap, forum bigshot is awesome! It’s really an illusionist!]
[S-rank?! First S-rank ability user in the manga!]
[High-rank, no less!]
[Yue Qing, ice, blue hair—is he related to that A-rank Heige killed?]
[Is this revenge?]
Power-scaling fans dominated the page.
[Heige A-rank, Yue Qing S-rank, this fight’s impossible!]
[Is this Heige’s Waterloo?]
[Something’s off, Heige doesn’t look nervous at all!]
[But A-rank and S-rank are worlds apart. Heige’s done for this time!]
Readers who disliked Heige were celebrating, and their glee peaked when Heige’s figure vanished again.
[Was wondering why Heige’s here. I’d rather watch Flipped Fish sleep.]
[Hahaha, karma strikes, is Heige finally crashing?]
[Hurry up, get offline quick!]
[Daily check-in: is Heige about to die?]
But after this page, the comment count skyrocketed again.
In his own territory, Yue Qing slightly raised his chin.
The phantom’s disappearance seemed expected, and he was confident he could end the fight swiftly.
But just as Yue Qing thought he had everything under control, he froze.
“I like the expression you’re wearing now.”
Beside a white speech bubble, the youth, cloaked in darkness, whispered with a smile.
His black trench coat was like a curtain, veiling the illusory magic in the night.
The silver-white dagger caught the pure moonlight, tearing through Yue Qing’s skin and shattering his confidence.
In the panel, the gleaming dagger reflected Yue Qing’s distorted, terrified face above.
There was no need to redraw his expression; the reflection alone revealed his crushed pride.
What a marvelous expression.
The ever-bold youth curled his lips, as if saying so.
[Ahhhh what just happened!]
[Phantom! It’s definitely a phantom!]
[My god, but this is too cool!]
[So satisfying, so satisfying! Ahhh I’m obsessed with this kind of villain!]
[Wahhh, Heige, look at my expression, I can cry for you!]
[His smile is so gleeful, I love it!]
[An S-rank thought he had it in the bag, but he’s just a mouse in a cat-and-mouse game, unable to escape the false illusions woven by the illusionist.]
[Heige is terrifying! Is he really just A-rank?]
[Heige is terrifying!]
Outside the manga, Li Li slowly touched my lips.
I had acted as Heige before, but whether facing Yue Lan or pursuing Qing Yu Chen, my actions never appeared in the manga.
This was my first time seeing myself fight above my rank from a god’s-eye view.
I looked at the ever-smiling youth in the panel, his eyes like an endless abyss of darkness.
Beneath the bold, sharp features of this crafted, handsome face, I saw the madness and recklessness surging from behind the mask, spilling out of the page.
Like a drawn sword.
So that’s what I looked like, I thought.
Back then, amidst the chilling ice, my limbs were eroded by the cold, and after facing two direct S-rank attacks, I was practically clinging to my last shred of health to act cool.
“Psycho,” I cursed myself with a laugh.
But I loved it. I never hated myself.
The manga recorded everything that happened next in full detail, and I read it carefully.
In the manga, the youth turned illusory again, and a pitch-black expanse suddenly spread beside him.
Amid the sky of frost, crows flapped their wings, black feathers soaring, circling around him.
Black, white—the panel’s starkly divided colors painted this scene like the most desolate yet mysterious scroll.
Among the flock of black crows, the youth, as if hidden in darkness, seemed like a messenger of death.
He raised a hand, his fingertips tracing an arc.
Then, with a smiling curl of his lips, he said, “Look forward to it.”
The next panel was obscured by crows.
Then, the frame showed only the S-rank ability user, clutching his neck, face full of panic.
[Who got a new husband? It’s me, but I won’t say.]
[Help, this villain is so hot!]
[Ahhhhh!]
[Take me into the darkness with you!]
[A-rank?! What kind of beast is an illusionist?]
[Extreme Black’s strongest so far—is it still Heige?]
[Ever-changing little villain, ever-constant Heige.]
[I have a feeling the forum’s power-scaling fans are about to go at it again.]
…
After finishing the update, I returned to the forum, and as expected, new posts were sprouting like mushrooms after rain.
[Let’s discuss: A-rank concept-type vs. S-rank spell-type, who’s stronger?]
[Artist, is this an epic buff for the villain boss?]
[Found a small detail on my second read of the new chapter!]
[Villain boss will die eventually, no one actually likes him, right?]
[Sorry, Li, but, but…]
[Rational analysis: what are the roles of Heige and Li?]