Chapter 45 The Underachiever in the Class
After hanging up the phone, Eric quickly ate a few bites of instant noodles and rushed to the school.
It wasn't until Eric was walking along the road that he recalled this matter, which had also contributed to his parents falling seriously ill.
In his previous life, because he and Tonny joined ShadowForge Studios, Katherine called to notify him to go to school. As a result, he didn't go and continued playing Divine Realms: Legends. Having finally entered ShadowForge Studios, he needed to excel in Divine Realms: Legends in order to advance further. He didn't have time to care about trivial class matters. As a result, he lost his university recommendation. Although it was just one recommendation, it could help the recommended student find a better job. Given the immense population pressure in society and the difficulty of finding work, having such a recommendation was a chance for higher positions.
When his parents learned about this, they were apprehensive.
Because of this worry, his parents' mental stress increased significantly. However, they never showed it and instead encouraged Eric, telling him not to worry about the family's debts. In the end, his exhausted parents fell seriously ill a year later.
In this life, he didn't want to repeat the same mistakes. Even though that recommendation was of no use to him, he still wanted to know why he lost it.
In the class, his academic performance was average, and getting the recommendation shouldn't have been a problem. But when he graduated, it wasn't his. The only thing he could think of was what was going to happen today.
Walking into the university, Eric noticed something interesting.
Today, there were a huge number of students on campus. It was crowded. Usually, there weren't this many people around; they were either out partying, playing, or studying in the library, or at worst, staying in their dorms playing games. They wouldn't be out strolling like this.
When Eric walked into Building 3, he found that the usually empty classrooms were packed and occupied by different classes.
"What's going on today?" Eric wondered to himself.
As soon as he walked into Classroom 401, Eric felt the atmosphere was a bit strange. His classmates all turned their eyes on him, their expressions surprised, as if something unexpected had appeared.
The guys just glanced at him and ignored him, continuing their conversations.
Some of the flamboyantly dressed girls gave him disgusted looks. Although Eric was used to it, when he looked back, these girls turned their heads away.
"Eric, you're here. Find a place to sit. Once Bob Lee arrives, the whole class will be here." Katherine spoke very calmly, as if talking to him was just a formality.
However, Eric vaguely felt that Katherine had a certain expectation in her eyes when she turned her head earlier. But it wasn't directed at him; it should be for Bob.
"Okay." Eric nodded and found a random corner to sit in. As for engaging in conversation with the other guys, just by glancing into their eyes, he knew it was an unlikely possibility.
Eric could only smile bitterly. He had really failed as a person in his previous life.
But there was no way around it. Every time there was a class gathering or activity, he didn't participate to save money. He had long become someone with no presence in the class. Maybe in everyone's eyes, he was very reclusive.
"Why did he come?"
"It must be Katherine who notified him. Didn't expect him to actually come."
"He's just a loser in the class. It's annoying to even look at him. Look at his creepy eyes. Could he be interested in me? So disgusting."
The class began to whisper about Eric. They were more surprised by his arrival. Normally, Eric didn't participate in any activities, and now he was here. Their words were not only dismissive but also infused with deep disgust, especially since Eric was very thin and frequently targeted by individuals from other social classes. He also didn't have money to participate in class gatherings, making other classes feel embarrassed to have him in their class.
Although the voices were low, Eric still heard them, or maybe they deliberately let him hear.
In everyone's eyes, academics were secondary. What really mattered was physical strength. In this era that highly valued physical fitness, the frail Eric clearly didn't meet the standard and naturally became a loser.
But Eric just smiled it off. He wasn't a child anymore. How could he get angry with these kids? At present, his sole concern revolved around the matter of obtaining a recommendation.
After a while, a muscular young man, about six feet three inches, walked in.
This was Bob Lee.
In Eric's memory, Bob was quite shrewd. The reason he said so was that after graduating from college, Bob pursued and married the daughter of a large corporation. In three years, he became the chairman of that corporation. However, as the virtual world increasingly influenced the real world, Bob also entered Divine Realms: Legends and sought out Eric, who was his classmate at the time, to collaborate in Divine Realms: Legends.
At that time, Eric was the leader of ShadowForge Studios and the president of ShadowForge Guild. ShadowForge Guild was barely a second-rate guild but controlled a city with a population of 500,000.
Out of classmate camaraderie, Eric agreed. Although Bob made ShadowForge Studios a lot of money, Bob made even more. He also cultivated many powerful subordinates. Later, Bob somehow latched onto a top-tier guild and eventually abandoned ShadowForge Studios.
As soon as everyone saw Bob enter, the male students in the class promptly stood up, demonstrating a great display of respect,, while the flamboyantly dressed girls gave Bob flirtatious looks. Even Katherine, who usually seemed very quiet to Eric, showed some changes. Eric, having dated many women, could ensure that Katherine had a bit of a crush on Bob.
"What is going on?" Eric was puzzled. Others aside, Katherine was the class beauty—quiet, lovely, with an oval face and a slim figure, and from a good family. She was often pursued by guys from other classes, but she never paid them any attention. How did she end up liking Bob?
Could it be that Bob had the protagonist's fate?
"Everyone, please sit down." Bob naturally walked to the podium like a leader and thanked everyone, "Thank you all for coming to congratulate me today. Without your support, I wouldn't have achieved the success I have today.."
"Bob, you're too modest. Out of over five thousand students, you made it into the top ten in the school's martial arts competition. It's a great honor for the class. Now, you don't even need to go through the preliminaries to qualify for the Evergreen City martial arts competition. That's not something an ordinary person can achieve. Don't forget us when you become a martial arts master."
"Yeah, Bob, we believe you'll become the champion."
The classmates all congratulated him, almost willing to offer themselves.
But Eric was the only exception.
He was genuinely stunned. He originally thought it was something significant, but it turned out to be just a celebration of Bob qualifying for the city martial arts competition.
In the past, Eric might have been envious. After all, in this society, many people loved martial arts competitions. Even those who qualified for the city martial arts competition were more popular than superstars. Because it wasn't easy to qualify for the city martial arts competition, with strict selection criteria, only three or four out of ten thousand could make it. If a martial arts competitor performed well, they may end up signing contracts with major companies, becoming corporate spokespersons and securing numerous endorsement deals and advertising opportunitie. It was hard not to make money, and their prospects were limitless.
However, with the increasing popularity of Divine Realms: Legends, people began to prefer fighting and battling in Divine Realms: Legends. After all, experiencing it for real was the best, without any danger and more excitement. This made many Divine Realms: Legends experts become the objects of public pursuit.
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