Chapter 21: Special Methods of Acting and Digestion
Return to the Demoness Sect to go undercover?
Nairn did not doubt why Triss was repeating the task he had already assigned.
On the contrary, he felt a bit of regret.
As he turned his gaze back to the indescribably beautiful Triss before him, heavy terms like "Primordial Demoness," "fourth epoch Taboo," and "The Creator's Shadow Side" uncontrollably flashed through his mind.
A cold, instinctive wariness instantly seized Nairn's mind.
It wasn't a mortal's awe of myth, but a more primal, purer impulse.
A tyrannical desire to immediately sever this thread, erase this source of trouble before him, and completely eliminate all variables that might spiral out of control.
Like a Criminal who discovers a bomb that could detonate at any moment while stealing, the first reaction isn't curiosity, but to immediately throw it far away to ensure absolute safety.
This thought was so strong that Nairn's fingertips subconsciously twitched slightly.
Triss keenly sensed his fleeting killing intent, but instead, she lowered her head even more humbly, as if she had indeed done something wrong and dying at her master's hands now would be her supreme honor.
But Nairn froze.
He suddenly became alert.
No.
Something's not right!
He had just promoted to a [Fun-seeker], not a [Criminal].
The core of a [Fun-seeker] is to find fun, to appreciate the drama when rules collapse.
With such a huge source of fun as the Primordial Demoness, comparable to an epic disaster movie scene, how could he have such boring thoughts as "wariness" and "elimination"?
It's like a gluttonous diner facing a Manchu Han Imperial Feast, and the first thing they think of is being afraid that overeating would be bad for their health?
Ridiculous!
Moreover, due to successful acting in advance—
The Fun-seeker had already finished digesting the moment the promotion succeeded!
Could it be that the Beyonder characteristic of the [Criminal] left a mental imprint that is polluting my judgment?
Nairn instantly understood.
The instinct of a [Criminal] is to disregard order, but its core driving force is the primal impulse to seek benefit and avoid harm.
They will commit crimes for profit, but will also shrink back in the face of even greater violence.
This "wariness" was precisely the instinctual alarm triggered by the [Criminal] characteristic when facing a danger at the level of the "Primordial Demoness."
A sense of crisis from being eroded by external things made Nairn's brow furrow tightly. He didn't like this feeling—the feeling of his own path being twisted by external forces.
At the very moment he realized this, the will of the [Chaos Theater] quietly emerged in his mind, carrying a hint of a dramatic aria.
"Warning: Confusion between 'Role' and 'Fuel' detected."
"Deep interpretation of the 'Acting Principles' in progress..."
A complex and exquisite flow of information, like an epiphany, instantly flooded into Nairn's consciousness.
He seemed to "see" a debate taking place in the depths of his spirituality.
A gloomy, cold figure radiating an aura of violence and plunder—the [Criminal]—was issuing a low warning to another figure.
"Behind that is a 'God,' a taboo, an Abyss capable of crushing us ten thousand times! Retreating is the only choice!"
While the other figure, wearing a comical mask that seemed both crying and laughing—the [Fun-seeker]—was clapping with great interest.
"God? Taboo? Abyss? Oh, heavens, listen to those words—what a magnificent setting, what a grand stage! The protagonist hasn't even appeared yet, and you're going to tear down the theater and run? This is truly... the least funny joke I've ever heard."
An epiphany exploded in Nairn's heart, as if the curtain of the [Chaos Theater] had been suddenly pulled back, revealing the core mechanical structures backstage.
He had touched the most exquisite and dangerous core of this promotion system.
Every Beyonder characteristic from other Pathways is not just 'fuel' for promotion, but also a 'mirror,' a 'frank friend,' and even a'sub-personality' that needs to be persuaded.
They will use their most fundamental logic to continuously interrogate you:
"Are you truly practicing your own path, or have you unconsciously become just like me?"
[The essence of the Acting Principles is to use the core philosophy of its own Pathway as a furnace to digest, interpret, and ultimately transcend the primal instincts of these external characteristics, transforming them into a power profile unique to you.]
Characteristics are not 'eaten.'
They are 'beaten into submission.'
What the [Criminal] characteristic provides is the primal impulse to 'disregard order and seek excitement.'
Its logic is simple and crude: if you don't like something, destroy it; if you want something, take it.
The feeling of trouble and wariness from earlier originated precisely from this primal impulse of 'risk avoidance' and 'obstacle removal.'
And the Acting Principles of the [Fun-seeker] are to give this impulse a 'dramatic' form and an 'observational' purpose.
That residual mental imprint was exactly the [Criminal] using its final obsession to question him:
"Where is the boundary between your 'fun' and my 'crime'?"
"Of course there is a boundary." Nairn chuckled in his heart and gave his answer.
"Crime is for the result. Robbery is for money, hurting others is to vent anger. Its process is chaotic and ugly, full of animalistic instincts."
"But my 'fun'..."
His gaze became clear and fervent once more, as if piercing through time and space to see the thread of fate pulled by Triss, leading to immense chaos.
"...is for the 'process' itself."
The [Criminal] characteristic is a mirror that constantly reflects whether his actions contain residual instinctive malice or are driven by pure destructive desire.
Once he indulges in this, he is no longer 'finding fun,' but 'committing a crime.'
Then the acting would fail.
True 'fun' lies in the process of carefully designing and observing the collapse of rules itself.
"What I want to appreciate are orderly dominoes, because after the first one is pushed over by me in an unexpected and artistic way, it reveals a magnificent, grand, and unpredictable chain collapse!"
"As for what shape the dominoes eventually fall into, or whose floor they break... that's just a giveaway of the performance, a souvenir popcorn bucket for the audience to take when they leave. Is it important? Not at all."
His Acting Principles became completely clear at this moment—
"Create accidents, not harm."
Buzz!
It was as if a string stretched to its limit was completely plucked in the depths of Nairn's spirituality.
The cold and utilitarian wariness originating from the [Criminal] characteristic, like thin ice exposed to the scorching sun, instantly melted without a trace.
In its place was a pure, almost overflowing... ecstasy!
The irritability vanished, and the wariness toward the Primordial Demoness vanished as well.
The world in his eyes became once again a giant, exquisite toy box full of infinite possibilities.
And Triss, along with the intricate thread of fate behind her that involved ancient gods, was no longer a hot potato or a dangerous vortex.
It was the most conspicuous and tempting fuse, connecting to the largest, loudest, and most magnificent firecracker in this toy box.
"Haha..."
Nairn first gave a low laugh, then the laughter grew louder and more uncontrollable, eventually turning into a hearty, uninhibited roar of laughter.
The laughter echoed in the quiet room, full of infectious energy, as if even the air was vibrating with it.
Triss looked up somewhat blankly, her beautiful eyes filled with confusion.
She didn't understand why the master, who seemed to be leaking killing intent just a moment ago, would suddenly burst into such pure joy.
But she didn't ask; she only lowered her head even more humbly, attributing this incomprehensible scene to the whims of a god and viewing it as a blessing.
The laughter gradually subsided.
Nairn looked at Triss again, his pitch-black eyes shimmering with an unprecedented brilliance—a fervor mixed with curiosity, anticipation, and the heat of a mad artist.
What he saw was no longer the death line connecting to horror and taboos, but the stage curtain, an admission ticket to a top-tier, grand absurd drama sweeping across the continent and involving ancient gods, the truth, and the mists of history!
The [Player] Pathway made him long to mimic and act, while the [Fun-seeker] Pathway made him long to personally take the field and direct the greatest drama!
"Triss."
He spoke softly, his voice carrying a hint of a playful aria.
"You are not a trouble."
"You are an invitation."
Triss suddenly looked up, her eyes full of astonishment.
"A... VIP invitation to the grandest theater about to open." Nairn's fingers lightly traced the air, as if outlining an invisible stage. "There are ancient actors, taboo scripts, and countless Spectators kept in the dark... and you will be the one to draw back the curtain for this great play."
His words were full of seductiveness, making Triss's breathing quicken.
She couldn't understand the deep meaning behind those flowery words, but she could feel the majestic aura in her master's speech, one that stirred the winds and clouds and viewed gods as mere drama!
"My Lord, your will is the entire meaning of Triss's existence," she responded feverishly.
"Very good." Nairn nodded with satisfaction. "In that case, I will increase my cultivation of you."