The true nightmare

"Splash--"

The rain continued to fall, lightning flashed through the clouds, and then a muffled clap of thunder sounded overhead.

Lin Yu stared at the corpse before him, a corpse almost completely possessed by the God of Shadows.

The God of Shadows praised Lin Yu.

"That's really good... that's really good... I'm appreciating you more and more."

He released Lin Yu, allowing Lin Yu to fall back into the water.

"I have always believed that... no matter what world or race Living Beings is, what best reflects the nobility of a soul is what it 'fears'."

"That's exactly what you said, your fears are not trivial... I underestimated you."

The God of Shadows paused for a moment, then said with a sigh.

"So... the threat of 'death' is probably meaningless to you."

Lin Yu rubbed his neck and laughed.

"Yes, because you don't dare to kill me, or rather, you can't kill me... You dragged me into this 'Nightmare' to make me break down and despair, didn't you?"

The God of Shadows nodded. "Yes, but how... how did you determine that?"

"It's very simple," Lin Yu said Leng Jing. "Because when I was experiencing a near-death experience, you quickly stopped it—although the main purpose was to connect to the next, more impactful scene and quickly plunge me into fear, but... you are excellent and intelligent, and an intelligent person... well, or rather, an intelligent Deity, can easily achieve multiple goals with a single design."

"That experience was interrupted precisely because... if I had prolonged my near-death experience, I would have immediately realized that this 'Nightmare' couldn't truly kill me, wouldn't I?"

"It's like you've now let go of my throat."

"Nightmare cannot kill people; this is a characteristic of 'dreams.' Even if you are Deity, you cannot overstep the fundamental attribute of this 'Authority.'"

The God of Shadows clapped his hands. "Brilliant, truly brilliant... Before you, I've only seen a handful of mortals who could recognize the limitations of Deity and see the boundaries of Deity abilities!"

"But you're wrong about one thing... Actually, in this dream, I can kill you, I can annihilate your soul—anytime."

Lin Yu spoke calmly, "But you didn't do that, did you?"

"Yes, because my goal isn't to kill you either," the God of Shadows grinned again. "You said I wanted to plunge you into despair and collapse... but actually, that's just a means to an end."

"I don't wish to destroy you or make you disappear, but rather I hope you can be used by me—as long as you break down in this Nightmare and submit to me, you will become my servant," the God of Shadows stretched out his hand, "You can consider it—to be honest, it's not a very bad option."

"I don't think so," Lin Yu said, then shook his head. "Becoming your servant... is the price to be like those walking corpses outside these ruins, or like the king of this ancient civilization in the Pure Ruins?"

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, the God of Shadows revealed a look of realization. "Oh, oh—so you're in the Nether Void Realm now?"

Lin Yu was stunned by the words of the God of Shadows: "You don't know?"

He realized once again that he had made some kind of misjudgment.

"You mean... none of the 'anomalies' in this Nether Void Realm were caused by you?"

The God of Shadows tilted his head. "Obviously."

"How is that possible? Your Authority, even all three of your Authority, are in effect here. You can even descend here and access the residual power within that dead guy's body," Lin Yu said, immediately pinpointing the problem. "Oh, oh... so you only provided the 'murder weapon,' and you're not even an accomplice or Accomplice, is that right?"

"Correct answer."

The God of Shadows said with a grin.

In Lin Yu's original judgment, since the sharp blade that appeared in that guy's body was formed from "pain" and "shadow", then this conspiracy to assassinate him, which happened some time ago and whose main purpose was to "extract Authority", must have had the deep involvement of the God of Shadows.

But now it seems...

To the God of Shadows, this "murder weapon" seems to be merely a tool provided to the murderer.

He was not involved in the assassination plot that took place in the Nether Void Realm a thousand years ago; he was merely a craftsman who forged weapons or a merchant who supplied them.

The murderer, who is very likely the murderer of a Previous Generation "Player," accomplished all of this without Deity assistance, which means...

"That guy is even stronger than I imagined."

So... could it be one of the Previous Generation "Player" I already know?

Lin Yu had no idea.

"Hey, hey, don't get distracted," the God of Shadows slapped the surface of the pond, the splashing cold water interrupting Lin Yu's thoughts. "Now is not the time to think about things from long ago—our business isn't over yet."

Lin Yu frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Although finding you here at this moment was indeed a spur-of-the-moment decision—after all, I'm only here because I suddenly sensed that this long-dormant, Item Authority of mine has suddenly come to life—I was curious to see what was happening here and ended up seeing you," the God of Shadows said with some excitement, "But my covetousness for your soul, my desire for you... isn't something that's only been going on for a day or two."

"I have a very, very good friend among you 'Player'," the God of Shadows said earnestly. "She shares interesting things she's found with me... and you, 'Zhu Ming,' Xia Yue, when she talks about you, she describes you as a 'magnificent and mysterious masterpiece,' saying you're a 'born gem of genius.'"

"So, I used the Authority 'Nightmare' to peer into your scattered Nightmare from the past, and I discovered... you truly are, as she said, the most wonderful 'masterpiece'," the God of Shadows' pure black eyes reflected the lightning that flashed from behind Lin Yu, and the petite figure of the girl outlined by the lightning, "And before I became Deity, and after I became Deity, I loved to possess such a beautiful soul as yours..."

Lin Yu listened to the God of Shadows and guessed in a fraction of a second who the God of Shadows was talking about.

"Hmm, it's her again... Fluoxetine."

Lin Yu said helplessly.

After all, among the "Player" who speak in this neurotic style, he only knows one: "Fluoxetine".

Furthermore, the other party clearly knew him well and was very familiar with him... so Lin Yu was almost certain that these were the words spoken by "Fluoxetine".

Although it's plausible that "Fluoxetine" probably didn't intentionally scheme against him this time, and most likely didn't have the subjective intention of luring the God of Shadows to covet him and thus subject "Zhu Ming" to some kind of "Trial," objectively speaking...

Lin Yu added another entry to the "Fluoxetine" account.

"That madman... he'll kill her sooner or later."

Lin Yu thought to himself, "This is what I'm thinking."

But as the God of Shadows said... now is not the time to consider other things.

The matter between him and this Deity is far from over!

Although the God of Shadows had already revealed His purpose to Lin Yu —He wanted to use "Nightmare" to torment Lin Yu to the point of collapse without killing Lin Yu.

This situation, where he had to reveal all his cards, should theoretically be quite advantageous for Lin Yu.

It could even be said that, without knowing any of this, Lin Yu had already cracked and survived what was likely the most dangerous "Nightmare," and there wouldn't be any more difficulties ahead.

After all, once you realize you're in a "Nightmare," the Nightmare often doesn't seem so terrible anymore.

But...

Lin Yu didn't think he could think so optimistically.

Because the "God of Shadows" is clearly not a Deity that can be understood using common sense.

He looked at Lin Yu and raised his finger.

"In short, my dear servant, I'm so glad you've overcome the 'Childhood Nightmare' I prepared for you. It seems you haven't remained stagnant, nor are you trapped in your childhood Nightmare... Of course, it's also possible that this 'Death game' helped you enough."

God of Shadows spoke, Lin Yu sighed.

"Of course, ever since I joined this horrible Game, every day feels like I'm living in Nightmare."

"I have a high resistance to Nightmare —even if you are the Deity who controls Nightmare, I don't think you can break me down just by using illusory, false Nightmare."

The God of Shadows laughed.

"Hey, hey... So you still don't understand the Deity enough—although you know some of Deity limitations, it seems that just how Deity they really are is a blind spot for you."

"Your childhood Nightmare, the Nightmare created by the shadows of your past, are just the appetizer."

"The Nightmare people have don't just stem from past shadows and traumas..."

"There is also dissatisfaction and repression in the present, and fear and anxiety about the future."

"Well... you've had your appetizer, now it's time to try the 'Nightmare Main Course'."

"Just a friendly reminder—what you just called a 'fake Nightmare's is incorrect."

"As the Deity who governs 'Nightmare,' I possess the power and Divine Power to transform 'Nightmare' into reality."

You must remember this well too.

The God of Shadows spoke, then raised his hand.

Lin Yu, who was standing on the bottom of the pond, suddenly felt the silt piled up under his feet disappear.

Then...

He and the smiling God of Shadows before him began to sink together!