Innate potential

[Name]: An Gang...

[Name]: Zhou Xing...

[Name]: Ma Cheng...

[Name]: Pei Jiao...

His ability to view attribute panels seemed to have no restrictions or costs. Delighted with his newly acquired cheat ability, Xia Xu checked each of the few classmates still in the classroom.

Their attributes were mostly alike, though, with one- or two-star destinies and talents. Some of the less gifted ones had no talents at all.

After all, theirs was neither an elite school nor an honors class. Even if it had been, everything taught before university was language, math, foreign languages, physics, and chemistry. Talents in literature, painting, or music had no chance to stand out, so there would be no special selection process that brought a bunch of geniuses together.

After checking several people in succession, only one made Xia Xu pause.

[Name]: Tang Hao

[Life tier]: 1

[Fate Potential]: [Supporting character: Hunter]

[Talent potential]: None

[Special]: None

[Obsession]: Catch up on sleep, catch up on sleep. Pull another all-nighter tonight.

[Affinity]: 20

Supporting character? Hunter? What does that mean?

Xia Xu frowned in confusion.

Tang Hao's other attributes were much the same as everyone else's, but his Fate Potential field displayed [Supporting character: Hunter], as though it had been deliberately highlighted.

There was no star rating, either. When Xia Xu tried to view its description as he had with the other destinies, all he got was several lines of question marks.

Compared with everyone else, this was an exception, which also meant something unusual was going on.

Normally, those title brackets are used for the names of works, right?

And... supporting character? Could Tang Hao be a character in some movie or TV show's plot? Have I transmigrated into a movie or show called Hunter?

Puzzled, Xia Xu tossed around guesses.

Neither Hunter nor Tang Hao rang any bells. They matched none of the movies or shows he had seen on Earth or on Blue Ocean Star.

If he really was in the parallel world of some movie or show, then either his knowledge was limited and he had never watched it, or it was a work from another world.

Either way, he did not know the plot, and that was not good news for him.

A plot without twists and turns could not hold people's interest. Every kind of story or drama needed conflict, and wherever there was conflict, there was a chance he might get dragged into it.

Can I view my own attributes...?

After another look at Tang Hao's "supporting character" destiny, Xia Xu urgently lowered his gaze to his own chest.

Sure enough, a panel much like everyone else's appeared.

[Name]: Xia Xu

[Life tier]: 1

[Fate Potential]: [Supporting character: Hunter]

[Talent potential]: Combat (1 star)

[Special]: Attribute Viewing (Unrateable)

There were no obsession or affinity fields, but the other attributes were mostly similar. "Attribute Viewing" in the special field presumably referred to his ability to view other people's attribute panels.

What made Xia Xu's heart sink a little, however, was that his Fate Potential did not show his future fate and career potential like an ordinary person's. Instead, it was [Supporting character: Hunter], just like Tang Hao's.

Perhaps that meant he, too, was a character in the plot of this Hunter.

It was no longer merely possible that he might get dragged into it. He would probably take part. Even without anything mystical like a force that corrected the plot, the fact that he and Tang Hao could become supporting characters meant their lives already intersected with it.

That was rather bad news. Whether it was a novel, anime, movie, or TV show, even the protagonist could narrowly escape death, never mind some minor supporting character.

A comedy would be fine, but if it was a cop thriller or even a horror film, supporting characters were practically sacrificial props for setting the mood. Every last one was destined to get killed off.

Hopefully, there won't be any corrective force that makes me participate in the plot. Now that I've transmigrated, my habits and the course of my life are different from the original owner's. Maybe I won't get dragged into it.

That was all Xia Xu could tell himself for comfort. He also resolved never to have anything to do with that unlucky fellow Tang Hao, especially if he invited him out to have fun or anything of the sort.

He was a transmigrator, so surely he should not be a supporting character in Hunter. This supporting-character destiny might belong to the body's original owner. As long as his habits and movements differed from the original owner's, he might not get dragged into the plot.

Most people in this world were ordinary, after all. Regardless of the medium, any work could only feature a limited number of characters. Most people did not have these plot-character destinies; they were simply part of the background.

Or rather, most people lived normal lives. On a global scale, these so-called plots were merely insignificant incidents, perhaps even things that happened all the time.

Setting the matter of the plot aside for now, Xia Xu continued checking the remaining students' attribute panels.

They were mostly unremarkable, ordinary people without any particularly outstanding potential. He found no more "plot characters" like himself and Tang Hao, either.

But after looking around the room, when Xia Xu turned his gaze to the last row and the final student whose attributes he had yet to check, he felt as though his eyes were about to be dazzled blind.

[Name]: Tang Youxin

[Life rating]: 1

[Fate Potential]: Peerless beauty (5 stars), Husband-Blessing (5 stars)

[Talent potential]: Programming (5 stars)

[Special]: None

[Obsession]: Study hard and earn lots of money.

[Affinity]: 10

Three five-star ratings, displayed in glowing gold lettering. The only thing missing was an "SSR" or "Legendary" label slapped right in Xia Xu's face.

What did five-star Fate Potential or talent potential mean?

At the very least, among all the attributes he had just checked, not a single person had a destiny or talent above two stars. Some were even blank slates with nothing but "None."

Even Su Yu, who had no relevant talent whatsoever, could become a "Mediocre Doctor." How incredible would a five-star talent be?

And these two Fate Potentials...

These were probably the closest things to actual "destinies" Xia Xu had seen that day. Everyone else's entries—Mediocre Doctor, mechanic, professional gamer, and so on—were really more like "potential."

Both of these Fate Potentials also had detailed descriptions, and they were utterly outrageous.

``` [Peerless beauty (5 stars): A beauty stands alone in this world, unmatched by any other. One glance topples a city; another topples a nation.]

[Husband-Blessing (5 stars): A lucky star descends from heaven to bless her husband. Those close to her whom she loves receive enhanced fortune. Her wedded husband receives greatly enhanced fortune, with a chance of triggering good luck.]

"Whoa, Husband-Blessing? Mystical stuff like that actually exists?"

Xia Xu was stunned.

The Fate Potentials he had seen before were really more like descriptors or predictions of fate. This was the first fate he'd seen that had a tangible effect of its own.

And this was Husband-Blessing! Didn't that mean whoever married Tang Youxin would enjoy incredible luck?

Maybe he wouldn't win every bet or hit the lottery jackpot, but surely things would at least go smoothly for him, sparing him minor illnesses and aches?

If he managed to win Tang Youxin over, could he stop worrying about getting dragged into Hunter's plot and killed off?

But... what's going on with this peerless beauty? Is this damn attribute panel fake?

After finally calming down, Xia Xu, whose attention had been entirely captured by the five-star Husband-Blessing fate, looked at the other fate and grew puzzled.

Peerless beauty! A five-star destiny! Just how beautiful would she have to be?

Even if a naive teenager did not know how to appreciate beauty, even if the body's original owner had been a hopelessly clueless straight guy who knew nothing about romance, they had still been classmates for three years. Surely she would have left some particular impression on him?

Yet in truth, the original owner had barely any impression of Tang Youxin at all. Even in this class, she was practically invisible.

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