Xu Yan had only one thought after finishing Crimson Hearts.
The author was insane.
He had spent an entire week binge-reading more than a thousand chapters, staying up until two or three in the morning almost every day. The beginning was interesting, the middle was full of delicious campus gossip, and even the endless misunderstandings were entertaining enough to keep him reading. By the time he reached the final chapter, he genuinely thought everyone would finally get the ending they deserved.
Instead, the author somehow managed to fucked up the ending very badly.
Xu Yan stared at the words "The End" on his laptop for a long while before silently opening the review page.
Without a second of hesitation, he clicked one star.
[Justice for Lu Yichen. He deserves better than whatever the that was ]
After clicking "Post," he finally felt a little better.
[If I stay unhappy, the author shouldn't be happy either.]
His phone buzzed almost immediately.
His friend had apparently finished reading as well and sent him a message asking how the ending was.
Xu Yan thought about it for a moment before replying honestly.
Terrible.
Everyone suffered. I suffered the most.
The other side quickly sent back a laughing emoji. Another message followed almost immediately.
So... your favorite is still Lu Yichen?
Xu Yan didn't ever think before replying
Obviously
Another message appeared immediately.
Because he is handsome?
Xu Yan looked at the official character illustration on the novel page and fell silent for a few seconds.
"..."
Fine.
The face was part of the reason.
[Maybe... thirty percent.]
[Okay. Forty.]
[Fine. Fifty.]
Lu Yichen was one of the few characters Xu Yan genuinely liked. The novel insisted he was the villain, yet from beginning to end, he had done nothing worthy of being called one. He quietly solved other people's problems, endured countless misunderstandings, and ended up carrying every accusation until his death.
The more Xu Yan thought about it, the angrier he became.
["If that's a villain, then the protagonists are walking disasters."]
Thinking about the protagonists reminded him of another unlucky person.
Xu Yan.
Not himself.
The cannon fodder.
The only reason Xu Yan remembered that minor character was because they shared the exact same name. Every time those two words appeared in the novel, he subconsciously paused before realizing the author wasn't talking about him.
The character wasn't important. His life could be summarized in one sentence.
Born.
Appeared.
Died.
The novel even described him as "plain-looking" and "forgettable."
Xu Yan had laughed when he first read that.
[Brother.]
[We're sharing a name.]
[Why are you taking stray bullets for both of us?]
Unfortunately, three chapters later, Cannon Fodder Xu Yan died in a traffic accident after accidentally getting caught in the protagonists' argument. No heroic sacrifice. No touching farewell. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Xu Yan still remembered staring at that paragraph for a full minute.
Then he left another comment.
[Can someone please keep these protagonists away from innocent pedestrians?]
The comment received thousands of likes.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one who felt wronged on behalf of Cannon Fodder Xu Yan.
Yawning, Xu Yan closed his laptop and lay down. "If reincarnation is real..."
His voice grew softer as sleep overtook him.
"...please let me become anyone except Xu Yan."
[Too unlucky.]
[Absolutely not.]
The room gradually fell silent.
Xu Yan didn't know how long he had slept.
When he opened his eyes again, an unfamiliar ceiling entered his sight.
He frowned instinctively.
The ceiling...
Looked expensive.
[...Why does my dorm suddenly have money?]
A knock sounded outside the room.
"Young Master Xu, breakfast is ready. You'll be late for your first day of university."
Xu Yan blinked.
"...What?"
His gaze slowly landed on the student ID beside the bed.
His hand moved before his brain did.
The name printed on it was painfully familiar.
Xu Yan.
"..."
Xu Yan closed his eyes.
Opened them again.
Looked at the student ID one more time.
"...Author."
[I was joking.]
[This review can still be deleted.]