At this moment, when he heard Xu Yuan's words, Notch's eyes immediately lit up.
"This method might actually work!"
After saying that, Notch closed his eyes, trying to start recalling things about those two friends.
He hadn't even had his eyes closed for long when his two eyebrows began to knit closer and closer together…
He slowly opened his eyes, let out a long sigh, and his gaze was filled with disappointment.
"No… even if I don't deliberately think about who they are, as long as I hold the idea of recalling them in my mind, my head starts to hurt…"
Just now, he had also tried the plan Xu Yuan mentioned, but it still didn't seem to work. As long as Notch actively tried to remember, his head would start hurting.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan pondered for a moment.
Notch's current condition should mean he's unable to think on his own initiative, and can only choose a passive way to carry out desensitization training.
The so-called passive way is a method of triggering memories, just like when Notch saw Black Knife and Grayfist earlier. Because the way they interacted was very similar to his two friends, he subconsciously thought of those two friends.
This passive way of triggering memories is something his brain can accept.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuan looked at Notch and asked, "You said just now that Black Knife and Grayfist are very similar to your two friends."
"In what way are they similar?"
Hearing Xu Yuan's question, Notch didn't even need to think and answered immediately.
"Personality."
"Their personalities are very similar to my two friends."
"One of my friends is very lively, basically the fun guy among the three of us, a typical extrovert. He always likes to stir things up and pull pranks."
"The other friend is quiet, very steady, and very reliable, kind of like a 'male mom' type… hahaha… a dependable introvert."
After Notch finished saying this, he widened his eyes, his face filled with sheer disbelief. Even he himself was somewhat shocked by what he had just done.
Those two people whom he had never been able to remember, just now, he had been able to describe them in such detail.
Thinking of this, Notch looked at Xu Yuan again, his eyes full of excitement and gratitude.
At this moment, Notch finally understood Xu Yuan's purpose in asking that question, Xu Yuan was guiding him.
Just as Notch was about to express his thanks, he saw Xu Yuan smile and say, "The treatment effect isn't bad."
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Notch nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Doctor Xu, you're simply bringing the dead back to life!"
It was clear that Notch was genuinely happy. Just a few seconds ago, he had still been frowning, and now he was already in the mood to joke.
However, seeing Notch's optimistic attitude made Xu Yuan a bit worried.
Notch was smiling so happily now, he probably wouldn't be able to smile like this later.
At present, Xu Yuan had only guided Notch to recall the images of those two friends as they appeared through a filter in his memory.
When that filter is gradually removed later, Notch might not be able to smile anymore.
But good medicine tastes bitter. Only by getting through this treatment process can Notch face the truth more calmly.
Thinking of this, Doctor Xu (not really) prepared to begin the second course of treatment.
The second course required helping Notch recall some uncomfortable moments from when he interacted with his two friends.
In other words, trying to find where their values didn't align.
Xu Yuan was able to judge that Notch and the two friends had differing values for a reason.
Actually, if one only looked at what those two friends in the Void of the game world did, Xu Yuan wouldn't have been able to conclude that Notch and his two friends had conflicting values.
If one didn't know what had happened in the world where the real HIM had been before, then what the Void did could actually be understood.
People are selfish. They were imprisoned for so long, and wanting to leave that place was understandable.
It was precisely because they wanted to leave that place that one wrong step led to another, and they ended up on a path of materializing themselves by trampling on the lives of others.
This could only show that they had changed, but it couldn't prove that they were incompatible with Notch from the very beginning.
The reason Xu Yuan could judge that Notch and the two friends might have incompatible values was naturally because of what had happened in that previous world.
At that time, Notch and his two friends all stood at the very top of that former game world.
Although the game was created by Notch, if one had to rank them one, two, and three, then Notch was definitely the leader.
But judging from Notch's attitude toward his two friends, it was clear that their positions and identities back then were actually equal.
The three of them were the creator gods of that world. All three possessed the same power and authority.
When three people are all at the same level and social standing, the way they view things and handle matters already reveals whether their values align or not.
Judging from what happened before, it was obvious that their values did not align.
If they had been united in opinion, there probably wouldn't have been so many problems.
This was also the basis for Xu Yuan's judgment.
By common sense, people with incompatible values shouldn't be able to walk hand in hand for so many years and still remain close.
But in reality, this situation isn't a rare exception.
There are plenty of stories online about best girlfriends or close brothers of eight or nine years, or even more than ten years, suddenly falling out.
Summing up these stories, the reason for the falling out is often that it's only at the moment they break apart that they realize their values don't align.
And the incident that causes the break usually happens when the two people stand at the same height and hold different views on the same matter.
Notch and his two friends were the same.
Thinking of this, Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then looked at Notch and asked, "I once had monsters under me who awakened self-awareness and liked to pull pranks too. Honestly, it was quite a headache, I always had to clean up after them."
This line was naturally something Xu Yuan made up, his purpose still being to guide Notch into a sense of resonance.
Sure enough, after hearing Xu Yuan's words, Notch nodded fiercely like a woodpecker, his face full of shared understanding.
"I get it, I get it!!"
After echoing Xu Yuan, Notch let out a long sigh and then began to "list things one by one."
"That prank-loving friend of mine was also a constant source of worry…"
"He was like a child who never grew up… luckily, we were there to back him up."
"Once, one of his classmates came to his house to hang out. After playing for too long, the classmate fell asleep. Who knows what he was thinking, he dripped lemon juice into his classmate's mouth… and that classmate was allergic to lemons!"
"At the time, his classmate turned completely red! Luckily, my house had anti-allergy medicine, and he didn't drip much lemon juice, so nothing serious happened…"
"And then… he clearly knew that a mutual friend of ours was very afraid of ghosts, but when we went to that friend's house to play, he deliberately staged a supernatural incident. It scared the mutual friend so badly that he smashed the brand-new TV at home… that mutual friend got a double beating from his parents that night…"
"In the end, I was the one who raised money to help that mutual friend explain things to his parents…"