Xianyu felt no stir of emotion.
It felt less like revisiting his past experiences and more like reading a story full of twists and turns.
An author would not introduce an insignificant character at such a crucial opening.
Xianyu instantly guessed how this person's story would end.
Death.
The passage he had read did not contain all the elements a story ought to have.
Who was the protagonist? What did he want? Why did he want it?
There were two particularly ingenious ways to address those three questions.
The first was a system.
The second was a blood feud.
The next step would be to introduce the conflicts and obstacles in the protagonist's way, keeping readers reading as they wondered how the protagonist would achieve their goal.
Clearly, the protagonist's friend was the key to driving "Eric" to grow and change.
Based on the earlier details, Xianyu quickly deduced what this person's life at school had been like.
During that crucial first class, when everyone was sounding out one another's family backgrounds, he had left himself completely unguarded and instantly become an outsider in everyone's eyes.
The "chance encounter" Eric had mentioned...
Most likely, he had stumbled upon other students bullying the boy and lent him a hand.
Eric had not been ostracized for it.
Xianyu thought that made perfect sense.
They were like neighbors who saw one another every day.
None of them knew whether their businesses or families might need someone else's help one day.
Even if someone cursed them to their faces, they would merely laugh it off in public.
Of course, barring any surprises, they would never encounter such rude people in their lives.
Most of them were exceptionally friendly. Even if they disliked or disagreed with something, they would not let their personal feelings color