[In a manner of speaking, yes. Supporting characters in Ramon have very little autonomy. Their lives exist to serve the narrative. They go where the plot needs them, do what the plot requires, and when they are no longer useful—]
Cherry paused.
[They are removed.]
Shen Yu was quiet for a moment.
"So even if I avoid the border raid?"
[The plot will look for another way. Yes.]
Shen Yu closed his eyes.
He had transmigrated to escape death and landed directly in a story that was already planning his funeral.
"Is there a way to make myself plot proof?"
[There is one known method.]
Shen Yu opened his eyes.
[Become significant. A character the plot cannot afford to remove. Supporting characters have no protection but characters with narrative weight do. If you become relevant enough to the main story, the author cannot simply delete you without consequence.]
"Relevant how?"
[That,] Cherry said, and Shen Yu got the distinct impression she was choosing her words carefully, [is something you will have to figure out yourself. I can tell you about the plot. I cannot write you into it.]
Shen Yu stared at the ceiling for a long time.
Outside the child had apparently caught the chicken. There was a triumphant shriek followed by enthusiastic clucking.
"Fine." He sat up. "Tell me about the main characters."
[Of course! Where would you like me to start?
"The most powerful person in this world."
Cherry chimed.
[That would be Raizel Cain.]
[Raizel Cain is the most powerful being in Ramon. He is a dragon, the last of the ancient bloodline, and the king of all beast kind.]
Shen Yu sat up a little straighter.
"And he is the male lead?"
[Technically, no. Not originally.]
Shen Yu looked at the screen.
[Raizel Cain was written as a secondary character. He was associated with the original male lead, Caiden Frost, appearing in select scenes to advance Caiden's storyline. The author had no plans to develop him further.]
"So what happened?"
[The readers happened.] Cherry's text had the energy of someone trying very hard not to editorialize. [Within the first month of the novel's publication, Raizel Cain was voted most loved character, most handsome character, and fan favourite three times consecutively. Readers began skipping entire chapters to reach his scenes. Fan communities formed around him exclusively. The comments section was, by all accounts, chaotic.]
Shen Yu blinked.
"The readers strong-armed the author into making him the male lead."
[The author announced the change in chapter nineteen. Yes.]
"And the original male lead?"
[Caiden Frost was quietly sidelined. He is still in the novel but his role was significantly reduced. A shame.]
Shen Yu was quiet for a moment, processing this.
"So Raizel Cain became a main character not because the plot chose him but because he became too significant to remove."
[Correct!] Cherry's text brightened noticeably. [Which brings me to my point. The plot cannot touch main characters without consequence. It cannot conveniently kill them or remove them without the entire narrative collapsing. Raizel Cain is living proof that significance is the strongest protection in Ramon.]
[If you want to survive past chapter three, you need to become someone the plot cannot afford to lose.]
Shen Yu laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling again.
"And how do I do that?"
[Well,] Cherry said. [It would help considerably to become associated with Raizel Cain.]
Shen Yu closed his eyes.
"Of course it would."
Shen Yu stared at the ceiling for a long moment.
"Alright."
[Alright?]
"If I am going to change the plot then I need to start from the root."
He sat up.
"These three. Dorin, Cassie and Wulf. They were planning to use Fenric as a scapegoat for an illegal border raid and let him die for it?"
[That is correct.]
"And they call themselves his friends."
It was not a question. Shen Yu's voice was completely flat.
"They are not friends. They are foes wearing the faces of friends." He stood up and walked to the window. "If they wanted someone to take the bullet for them then they should have done it themselves."
Outside the cobblestone street had quieted. The child and the chicken were both gone.
"I am Fenric now." He said it simply, the way one states a fact they have already made peace with. "And what I hate most in this world are people who smile at your face and sharpen a knife behind your back."
[What are you planning to do?]
Shen Yu turned from the window.
"They are coming tomorrow morning to convince Fenric to join the raid." He looked at Cherry's screen. "I will be ready for them."
[Ready how?]
Shen Yu picked up the small knife from the chest and turned it over in his hands once.
"Not like that." He set it back down. "I don't need a knife to deal with people like that. I just need to make sure that when they leave tomorrow, the ones dying is them."
Cherry was quiet for a moment.
[You have changed quite a bit from the original Fenric. What if they notice?]
"The original Fenric is dead." Shen Yu sat back on the bed. "He died so I could live. The least I can do is live better than he did."
Shen Yu stood up from the bed.
It was still morning. Outside the haggling over grain had moved further down the street.
"Cherry."
[Yes!]
"If Fenric was meant to take the fall, that means the raid itself was supposed to fail."
[That is correct. The three planned a border raid to steal livestock and supplies from a neighbouring territory. The plan was to run at the first sign of trouble and leave Fenric behind to be caught.]
"So the raid fails, Fenric gets caught, and they walk away clean."
[Yes.]
Shen Yu stroked his chin.
"But if Fenric is not there to take the fall, the plan still fails and someone still gets caught."
Cherry did not respond immediately.
[...Technically, yes.]
"So I don't need to stop the raid." Shen Yu began to pace the small room slowly. "I just need to make sure that when it fails, it falls on them."
[That would be considered a significant deviation from the original plot.]
"Good." He stopped pacing. "They wanted a scapegoat. I will give them one. Just not the one they were expecting."
[You intend to turn their plan against them?]