Xia Yue's childhood nightmare

As an Actor with excellent professional skills, Lin Yu usually doesn't want to burst into laughter.

For example, what if the God of Shadows before him simply hadn't seen through his disguise, mistaking him for "Xia Yue," the prototype of "Zhu Ming," and the guy Lin Yu wanted everyone to believe...

Lin Yu didn't find anything particularly funny.

After all, even for Deity, seeing through one's disguise is by no means an easy task—[Mask]'s alteration of appearance and even of soul aura is almost perfect.

In particular, the God of Shadows is most likely not in his true form—he is like someone looking at the moon in a mirror or flowers in a fog, so the probability of him seeing through himself is extremely small.

Therefore, there's nothing funny about something so obvious.

But the reason Lin Yu felt like laughing wasn't actually because he had fooled the Deity...

It was the statement made by the God of Shadows just now.

In fact, Lin Yu's humor didn't lie in the content of the God of Shadows's speech, but rather in the way He spoke.

As an excellent Actor, Lin Yu is well aware that the tone, pauses, rhythm, and intonation of a character's delivery of lines can make the same sentence sound completely different.

In traditional spoken drama production, there are even special formats to mark and prompt Actor on sentence breaks, rhythm, stress, etc., to help Actor understand the lines.

This phenomenon of scripted dialogue also exists in real life.

Rather, the reason why Writer and Actor set up the lines this way is to recreate the "real" speaking situation as much as possible on Stage.

In real conversations, people tend to put the information they have that will shock the other person last, and emphasize the most important words in a sentence.

The God of Shadows emphasized the words most heavily just now... naturally, it was the two words "Xia Yue" themselves.

Therefore, Lin Yu could easily guess that this Deity probably benefited greatly from His discovery of his "true identity" and "Real Name."

And...

This Nightmare was probably prepared for "Xia Yue" as well—what will be piled up in the dream next are probably all elements that Xia Yue fears.

The thought of this possibility naturally made Lin Yu want to laugh.

After all...

The things he feared and the experiences he didn't want to recall were completely different from those of Xia Yue!

Dealing with Xia Yue's "Nightmare" is definitely easier than dealing with one's own Nightmare —in fact, if things go smoothly enough, it might be much easier.

But right now, Lin Yu knew he couldn't laugh out loud.

He must continue to play the roles of "Zhu Ming" and "Xia Yue," showing utter fear of everything he is about to see, struggling perfectly within the "Nightmare," and finally, with a "resolute" attitude, stubbornly overcoming the Nightmare and narrowly escaping the control of the "God of Shadows and Nightmare and Pain."

This is a simple, perfect, and classic script, with a clear beginning, development, climax, and resolution, as well as character arcs. If designed properly, it can even have a dramatic "last-second rescue" effect.

"Although I'm not good at screenwriting, this level of simplicity... is really a piece of cake for me."

Lin Yu quickly drafted this short and concise script in his mind.

And after having the script... the next part is Lin Yu's forte: acting. In fact, when he was expressing these thoughts deep in his soul, Lin Yu was also acting on instinct, performing the way "Zhu Ming" should be after hearing the God of Shadows call out his "True Name".

Her pupils contracted instantly, showing a hint of disbelief and panic, but she had to conceal it immediately—because although "Zhu Ming" could feel panic, she would absolutely not show it now... This is a very basic Law acting.

Lin Yu even deliberately displayed an expression of "disdain" and "confidence"—but within these expressions, he added a subtle hint of "unnaturalness" and "guilt" that even the God of Shadows might not notice.

After this process is completed...

Lin Yu spoke, his tone utterly calm. "Oh, you know my name... That's impressive, no wonder you're called a 'Deity,' truly remarkable."

Beneath the calm surface, Lin Yu even hinted at a touch of mockery and provocation.

He even took a step forward.

"Since you know my name, you must know more than just my name... Let me see what kind of Nightmare you've woven for me."

As Lin Yu spoke, the God of Shadows tilted his head, looking at Lin Yu with his pure black eyes, which had no whites and were like black crystals, and spoke softly.

"You're more composed than I expected... Although I know you're just pretending, maintaining that composure in the midst of this 'Nightmare' and before a Deity is quite remarkable!"

"I'm really... growing more and more fond of you."

"As expected, dragging you into this Nightmare was the right thing to do... I can't wait to turn you into my servant."

The God of Shadows spoke with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Lin Yu looked at the God of Shadows, spread his arms, and said, "Then let me witness... the Nightmare you've prepared for me."

As he spoke, his tone became more resolute—although Lin Yu's words were generally calm, a subtle tremor could still be discerned at the end if one listened carefully.

And now...

Lin Yu's voice no longer carried any trace of fear.

This caused a slight displeasure to show on the face of the God of Shadows.

"How 'brave'! I hate brave people."

"But since you've asked, then..."

"As you wish."

The God of Shadows spoke, and then...

"Glug... Glug..."

The thick, heavy darkness that had enveloped the two of them was now filled with a strange sound—like the sound of bubbles slowly forming and bursting in a viscous paste as it was heated.

At the same time, the surrounding scenery began to change—dazzling, mixed colors began to appear within the blackness.

The constantly changing and disordered colors spread, causing Lin Yu to experience some physiological dizziness and vomiting.

Soon, these colors replaced the surrounding darkness and completely enveloped Lin Yu.

Just as Lin Yu was pondering whether this was a "Nightmare," and feeling that it differed from his own definition of a "Nightmare"...

Suddenly, his dizziness and vomiting disappeared.

When Lin Yu came to his senses, he found that the colors around him had transformed into some kind of "realistic" environment.

He arrived at a "classroom".

Ceiling fans, incandescent light bulbs, blackboards, inspirational slogans on plastic signs, cracked cement floors, wooden desks and chairs...

Judging from the height of the desks and chairs, the simple numbers and words remaining on the blackboard, and the crude watercolor drawings pasted on the adjacent wall, Lin Yu could roughly determine that this was probably a primary school classroom.

Moreover, it's not a newly built or private primary school; it's likely a classroom from an older public primary school.

And he is now...

As a primary school student, I sit in a seat in this classroom.

Lin Yu opened his arms, and his hands had become extremely small and delicate.

He looked at the glass—in its reflection was a thin little girl with pigtails.

Although the reflection in the glass wasn't very clear, Lin Yu could still see it clearly.

I must have become Xia Yue in elementary school.

"Is this 'Xia Yue's' Nightmare?"

Lin Yu didn't know whether this was a dream scenario completely fabricated by the God of Shadows, or a fragment taken from Xia Yue's real life experiences and real childhood trauma.

After all, with the Authority "Nightmare" by his side, the God of Shadows can indeed do similar things— Lin Yu was able to peek into other people's past using his incomplete "Destiny," so it's not surprising that the complete Authority "Nightmare" can peek into other people's "childhood trauma."

But regardless of the situation, it's definitely a bit troublesome for Lin Yu right now...

Because he had absolutely no idea what Xia Yue was afraid of, Lin Yu also found it difficult to predict the theme of this "Nightmare."

Will it be a Yaomo chasing after me, or a serial killer or human trafficker?

Or perhaps a natural disaster like lava flooding a school or an asteroid impact?

Or... is it simply being scolded by the teacher or during an exam?

Lin Yu was completely clueless.

Fortunately, even when he was clueless, he knew how to react.

Lin Yu raised his head, looked at the classroom ceiling, and opened his arms.

"Is this the 'Nightmare' you prepared? Taking me back to my elementary school days?"

"This... there's absolutely nothing about it that I find scary, okay?"

"I should thank you for helping me reminisce about my childhood—isn't that all good stuff!"

Lin Yu opened his arms and spoke to the "God of Shadows," who was somewhere unknown but whom he knew would most likely see his actions.

But...

He did not receive a response.

This outrageous behavior did not cause any changes in the dream world.

The classroom is now empty; there are no students or teachers present.

The light outside the window was dim—it seemed like it was already "school dismissal time".

So, after waiting a few minutes and confirming that the God of Shadows really had no intention of responding...

Lin Yu shook his head and simply packed his schoolbag.

Now that the God of Shadows has constructed a dream of Xia Yue during her "elementary school" days...

Lin Yu then decided to follow the elementary school student's movements to see what the God of Shadows was planning.

As Lin Yu packed his schoolbag, preparing to leave school and go home...

Suddenly, a burst of cheers erupted from the hallway outside the classroom.

Wow--!

Lin Yu sighed upon hearing the cheers.

"Right, you weren't planning on me coming home after school anyway... so why not make a scene sooner?"

"Don't waste my time, okay?"