A deity's fear and trembling

The God of Desire eagerly looked at the image of "Desire" manifesting in Lin Yu's mind within the newly found part of his soul.

That was... a scene from a play that had just ended.

On Stage, after finishing his performance, Lin Yu came to the front to express his gratitude and bow to the audience.

Thank you for coming to watch today's performance! Thank you!

And offstage...

The audience erupted in applause; tens of thousands of people clapped softly, but because of the sheer number of people, it still created an incredibly loud sound.

Everyone's face showed emotion and reflection. Here, every audience member is a true connoisseur, someone who understands and enjoys theater. They all bought tickets to experience the purest form of theater and to be moved by the purest emotions!

As the applause gradually subsided, Lin Yu bowed again, and the audience members stood up, preparing to leave.

As the event ended, small groups of people began to whisper and discuss among themselves.

"Did you notice that in the middle of the first act, during the part where the supporting character 'Xiao Huo' paces back and forth, his rhyme scheme, rhythm, and gait seemed meticulously designed? Each step was perfectly timed to coincide with his breath. It was truly an amazing performance design!"

"I didn't look at that in that much detail... but the script for this play is indeed very well-crafted. Even setting aside the design aspects you mentioned, the pacing dialogue itself, with its three-part self-questioning and interrogation, builds upon each other, feeling both Stage and realistic. I completely understood the character's state of mind!"

"It's not just 'Xiao Huo'... The Actor who plays 'Xiao Yi' is really amazing too. She's so young and beautiful, yet she performs without any inhibitions, and her expressions are so powerful—it's hard to believe she's a young person who just joined the troupe!"

"This is truly thanks to Lin Yu... Ever since that newly crowned 'Best Film Emperor' brought theater into the public eye, our country's theater industry has been developing better and better!"

"And his performance today was as consistently solid as ever... This is the first performance of a brand new script. Although the newcomers were already quite amazing, the one who can truly command the script is the Film Emperor."

"Haha, isn't it only natural that he acted well?"

"That's true!"

Inside the vast Theater, the audience discussed the play and praised the acting.

Backstage, the Actor, having finished their performance, breathed a sigh of relief and were gratified by the successful conclusion of the show. However, they did not completely relax. Instead, they gathered around the playwright, resting while also sharing and recording their feelings about the actual performance.

"I think... this dialogue could be further improved..."

"Really? I thought the presentation just now was perfect..."

"Let's try the sixth version again next time, just once!"

In this wonderful atmosphere, Lin Yu watched all of this with a smile, his face showing genuine happiness and contentment.

The God of Desire gazed at Lin Yu, lost in thought.

"Hmm... There's a certain desire to achieve success in the 'performance' career, and a pursuit of reaching the pinnacle of one's 'acting' abilities. Although it seems like it would bring both fame and fortune, 'wealth' and 'status' don't seem to be what one needs. Instead, one wants to use one's influence to promote the healthy development of the 'industry'... This even has a bit of an idealist's 'altruistic Desire's feel to it."

The God of Desire analyzed this in his mind.

Having cracked the strange illusion of emptiness, the God of Desire was quite adept at analyzing the true scene of Desire he was now witnessing.

"In that case... if we want to manipulate this guy with 'Desire,' we have to start with his 'entertainment' career... However, telling someone who is already very talented in a certain field that you can directly improve their skill level might be an insult and could make them resistant. So, perhaps the 'Desire' you promise should be focused on helping them create an 'ideal environment'..."

"After all, improving oneself is not difficult for these people, but changing the environment and inspiring others to have higher aspirations and better qualities is beyond the reach of ordinary people..."

As the God of Desire pondered this, he gradually conceived a preliminary plan on how to use "Desire" to completely control Lin Yu's will and soul—at least, the general direction had been determined.

But just as the God of Desire was preparing to refine this plan...

He suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Wrong!"

This is indeed the other person's "Desire"... but this "Desire" itself seems to be... the wrong type.

The intensity was not strong enough.

After all, Desire come in many forms. A physicist who wants to see the essence of the world might also Desire to eat delicious food often, while an ambitious person who craves power might wish that everyone in the world could be well-fed and clothed...

To manipulate a person with Desire, you must find their deepest longing.

This guy seems to have a pure pursuit of "performance," but rather than saying it's a strong "Desire" of his... it's more accurate to say it's an instinct.

A kind of instinct similar to eating and drinking—although it is also very strong, upon closer examination, this Desire itself may have already been "fulfilled".

In other words... although Lin Yu did want these things to happen, he could accept it even if none of them did.

This "Desire" is far from enough to allow the God of Desire to completely control the other person's soul—especially since the God of Desire can sense that this guy is somewhat "different from ordinary people."

So...

"Is this also... a kind of disguise? Is it conscious or unconscious?"

But regardless of the type, this "Desire" is not what one truly needs.

"I need to find the other person's strongest... 'Desire,' that intense Desire that must be fulfilled!"

Thinking of this, the God of Desire once again covered the entire Theater with golden light.

He used a somewhat "adventurous" method—He wanted to use the power of Desire to actively induce the other person's strongest "Desire" to manifest in a vivid image!

And after doing that...

The God of Desire suddenly sensed a change in the surrounding environment.

From the Theater, it turned into nothingness again—only this time, a pitch-black nothingness.

In that void, the God of Desire could vaguely see a simply furnished house in the distance, and some blurry scenes unfolding within it.

The scene was very distant, somewhat like peeking through binoculars at the television in the apartment across the street—and it was one of those old-fashioned televisions.

As for the content of the scene, it appears to depict a man and a woman living a simple daily life.

But even the God of Desire cannot see more details clearly.

"What's going on... This is really strange..."

"Does he really have a way to actively isolate himself from the prying eyes of 'Desire'?"

"But... there's no need to isolate yourself from it, is there? It just seems like a simple, cozy life, what's the big deal?"

Is he afraid that people will discover his longing for a 'comfortable' life?

The God of Desire observed intently and saw that the woman was cooking in the kitchen while the man sat at the dining table outside the kitchen reading a book. The two seemed to be chatting casually through the kitchen door.

That man must be Lin Yu, but the woman...

The God of Desire tried hard to see the other's figure clearly, but it became increasingly blurry.

And after this spying continued for a while...

The woman took the stewing pot off the stove, ladled out two bowls of fish soup, and carried them out. Her figure had become so blurred that it was almost a blurry cylinder.

Forget about men and women, it's hard to even tell if someone is a human or a ghost.

She stood at the dining table, exchanged a few words with Lin Yu, and then suddenly looked up and turned towards the living room.

Or perhaps... this is also the direction the God of Desire heading.

In that instant, the God of Desire suddenly felt the other's eyes become clearer, those dark eyes... locked onto him.

What are you looking at?

The other person's lips moved, but the sound rang clearly in the ears of the God of Desire.

At the same time, the God of Desire sensed something... no, something terrifying suddenly locking onto this place.

Chaotic, dilapidated, terrifying, negative... all sorts of auras of high power suddenly located themselves directly through this soul, located on the Authority "Desire"!

At least six or seven auras of Authority appeared, as if these Authority or the Deity Authority wielded them would appear beside them at any moment!

But this wasn't what truly terrified the God of Desire; what truly terrified him was...

He seemed to have seen those eyes before.

"Ah--! Ah--! Ah--!!!!!!"

The God of Desire screamed in agony, desperately trying to stop spying on Lin Yu's Desire.

But He couldn't do it—His will and Desire Authority were as if they were "nailed" to the core of Lin Yu's soul!

It's like Nightmare of sleep paralysis; no matter how much you struggle, you can't wake up—it's all in vain.

Just as the God of Desire felt his existence and will were about to be completely devoured...

He suddenly felt a dull pain in his head.

Then...

In a daze, the God of Desire found himself "awakening"—He left Lin Yu's soul and Desire and returned to [Azure Sea Sky Dome].

What caused all of this was... a spoon that probed into the interior of [Azure Sea Sky Dome] - that spoon contained another high-level power, and the collision caused the "Desire" Authority to vibrate and interrupt its own process of using Desire.

Across the water sphere formed by the [Azure Sea Sky Dome], the God of Desire looked at Lin Yu, who was holding the spoon handle.

His puppet's features contorted and stretched, finally collapsing and slumping onto a floating gear that happened to pass right under his buttocks.

"Why does your Desire include such a terrifying creature?!"

"Who are you?! No... what are you?!"

Lin Yu pulled the [Contentment Ladle] out of the water ball, shook off the water droplets, and calmly spoke.

"A sophomore majoring in Acting Department of Jiangcheng Media University."