Chapter 2567: Chapter 1718: Are You Kidding Me? (So Tired Every Day, I Don’t Want to Get Up)

Returning to this world, Duanmu Huai didn’t feel relieved; on the contrary, he felt extremely headache-inducing.

A primordial Star God without a physical body but with self-awareness, and from Subspace?

What the heck is this chimera?

Star Gods aren’t from the physical world; can’t they even enter Subspace?

Regarding this, Duanmu Huai had only one move left.

And that is... GM! The game has a bug, please fix it!

[GM23912: Hahahahaha, I can’t believe something like this can happen]

"....."

Seeing the GM’s reply in the chat box, Duanmu Huai was speechless.

After the GM chat repair, Duanmu Huai had applied for GM dialogue several times, because he was idle anyway, and of course, every GM felt different to Duanmu Huai. Some were gentle, some seemed a bit introverted, and some... like this one, hmm, Duanmu Huai could tell, clearly belonged to the "tell me something unhappy so I can be happy" type.

Just like himself.

"So, is this normal? Star Gods represent the rules of the physical world, right? They shouldn’t have any relationship with Subspace, right?"

[GM23912: Then how do you define the rules of the physical world?]

"Hmm?"

[GM23912: People believe that there are no gods or beliefs in this world, so is this thought itself a kind of belief?]

"Okay, although what you said is a bit roundabout, I get what you’re trying to say."

Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes; this was basically a joke of paradoxes, like the famous joke among players about The Emperor. The Imperial Truth claims everything in this world is material, with no gods or demons. But if you recite the Imperial Truth and The Emperor manifests, it becomes quite awkward...

Similarly, if Star Gods represent the rules of the real world, then who says the rules of the real world don’t include Subspace?

If you insist on semantics, then isn’t "Subspace can’t interfere with the real world" itself a physical law?

Forget it, I don’t want to think about it; Duanmu Huai felt the more he thought about it, the more he was losing his mind.

"So, how to solve this?"

[GM23912: An undefined existence cannot be interfered with, you must first perceive and then define it.]

Hmm? This GM seems quite easy to talk to; in the past, those GMs would say "this is something players need to discover on their own" or "we are not allowed to interfere with player actions," and so on, but this GM doesn’t seem to care at all.

This is good!

"You say it so easily, but how to define it?"

Do I have to learn from the Fear of Death and find a living metallic body for this Star God? What a joke, where do I find that thing? Even if Duanmu Huai went back to his original world, it wouldn’t be easy to find this thing, even with the Tribunal’s power, let alone in this strange, bizarre ghost place.

[GM23912: According to the data, you already have successful examples, don’t you?]

"Successful examples? Me? You wouldn’t mean the manifestation of the form in Subspace?"

Duanmu Huai looked down at his hands; after returning to this world, the power armor he had formed from the condensation of Subspace had evaporated. But speaking of this, Subspace in this world does seem particularly inclined towards the psychic domain...

[GM23912: Exactly, forcibly through mental influence to make the other materialize, I think you have plenty of such experiences.]

"Well, when you put it like that..."

For example, things like puberty syndrome and Curse Spirits, as long as a lot of people imagine them, it’s easy to manifest them.

What a hassle.

Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai frowned. If he had known about the existence of this Star God before filming, then he could have added this thing into the movie script, but now it’s obviously impossible.

But truth be told, ambiguous things are inherently hard to materialize.

This is why as a form of entertainment, novels are hard to replace. Indeed, with the development of media, movies, television, games, comics, animations, and other narrative forms have appeared, but they still cannot replace novels. The reason lies in the "space of imagination" provided by novels. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Whether it’s a movie, TV, or animation, comics, what the audience sees is something that has already been defined, but novels are different. Even if it’s the same piece of text, different people will imagine different images.

Duanmu Huai remembered that Director Qing Shui once told him why the film adaptation of horror novels rarely succeeds. One of the reasons is that the ambiguous sense of imagination and fear produced by words cannot be matched by a medium like film, which materializes it. It’s like Sadako; after being adapted into a film and her image being fixed, people’s fear of Sadako actually decreased rather than increased.

Because people fear the unknown and unclear. It’s like in many horror movies, the protagonist sees a silhouette through frosted glass, but is it a human or a ghost? Male or female? Old or young? None of these are known, and it’s precisely this uncertainty that creates the foundation of fear.

And since novels are written, it’s impossible to give readers a clear answer on a physical level (light novels with illustrations are another matter). So unlike films, which even with an ambiguous preface, eventually clarify the entity of fear to the audience.

In fact, as Duanmu Huai would say, the current Star God is in such a state, Duanmu Huai can "see" it, but in fact, it’s more about "sensing" its existence rather than actually seeing it. In this ambiguous way... well, even Duanmu Huai felt this thing seemed hard to display in a movie.

[GM23912: A top-notch game designer will always place key strategies in front of players beforehand]

"Ah, oh........"

Though he didn’t know why, the GM suddenly raised a completely different topic at this time.

[GM23912: Personally, I think this time’s strategy has been very clear, but it’s also a problem that players didn’t notice it at all.]

"Really?"

[GM23912: Isn’t that how overly free sandbox games function? Because there’s no set way for players to act, players can do as they please. But conversely, players will only play parts they like and ignore parts they don’t.]

"You’re not wrong about that."

In the past, Duanmu Huai loved combat in sandbox games and had no interest in building things. He was the kind of person who could live in a wooden hut wearing alloy armor and eat raw meat in sandbox games.

He even sometimes found it bothersome and would just dig a hole and light a campfire.

After all, houses and equipment, you just have to go and snatch them.

[GM23912: So, you just need enough people to acknowledge its existence.]

"That’s impossible."

Should he really shoot another movie?

[GM23912: Actually, the method is very simple]

"Oh?"

[GM23912: You just have to start a band, and all the problems will be solved]

"........Huh?"

Seeing the GM’s answer, Duanmu Huai was stunned.

"Start a band?"

[GM23912: That’s right, didn’t I say? Game designers often place strategy points right in front of the players.]

"..........."

Duanmu Huai now feels like he’s painstakingly maxed out his combat skills only to find he needs life skills to open the dungeon’s door. Thinking about it now, there are indeed way too many girl bands in this world. But Duanmu Huai simply doesn’t care about that nor is he interested; he’s tone-deaf himself. Not that it can’t be fixed, he just can’t be bothered.

But now, you want me to form a band? Seriously?

Indeed, if it’s music, it doesn’t take as long as a movie, and if the lyrics have a strong focus, it’s easier to gain public approval.

For instance, if you mention the War God under the car, everyone knows who it is...

"Do I really have to do it myself?"

If Duanmu Huai doesn’t need to be involved himself, he could just provide the money and effort.

[GM23912: That’s for you to decide. Whether it succeeds depends on the player, after all.]

"Ugh........"

Seeing the GM’s indifferent attitude, Duanmu Huai is speechless—even though it’s indeed not his concern.

But how to put it, it’s just frustrating, really frustrating.

Forget it, frustration serves no purpose.

"Alright, I’ll figure it out myself."

Duanmu Huai finally understands why this GM offered a strategy guide so happily—turns out they were waiting for him!

Joking aside, he could say he’s practiced acting, but Duanmu Huai really hasn’t practiced music!

It’s safe to say Duanmu Huai never imagined he would ever train in such a thing!

But now, the arrow’s on the string, and it must be shot!

Because of this, when the girls saw Duanmu Huai not lazily lounging on the sofa scrolling through his phone but flipping through a music textbook, they were all taken aback.

"Sis? What are you doing?"

Seeing Duanmu Huai holding "Easy Instruments for Beginners," Ruby’s eyes widen in disbelief.

"You want to play an instrument?"

"Do I look like I want to?"

Duanmu Huai rolls his eyes silently.

"Uh... is your next movie role related to an instrument? Like killing with an instrument or something?"

Only a sister knows her sister best.

"I could just smash someone with a piano."

While flipping through the textbook, Duanmu Huai waves her hand dismissively.

"Shoo, shoo, I’m busy here."

"Wow... Sis learning instruments, that’s incredible."

For Ruby, this was as shocking as the world ending, so she quickly shared the news with...

"Are you okay? Do you have a fever?"

On entering the house and seeing Duanmu Huai, Sakurajima Mai’s first words were those.

"I heard from Ruby that you’re learning an instrument?"

"Why not? It’s the cultivation of a pretty girl. I’m even planning on writing my own songs and lyrics."

Anyway, since it’s just talk, Duanmu Huai just bluffs.

"Really? Then good luck."

Though not understanding what Duanmu Huai was up to, since he didn’t want to explain, Sakurajima Mai didn’t pursue it further and went straight to cooking.

Next up, of course, was Hei Chuan Chi Yin.

"Are you okay, Xiao Ai?"

"No, actually, it has something to do with that side."

"Ah, I knew it..."

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s answer, Hei Chuan Chi Yin suddenly understood. She had been puzzled as to why Duanmu Huai suddenly took an interest in instruments after coming back. Turns out, it has something to do with the enemy in that world?

"Need my help?"

"Not right now... If only there were an instrument I could master quickly."

"How about a harmonica?"

"Can’t really use that to form a band, can I?"

"Then why not become the lead singer? Your voice is lovely, Xiao Ai."

"I’m tone-deaf myself..."

"It’s just a lack of proper practice. I can assure you, with the right training, you’d definitely sound amazing!"

"Hmm......"

Considering Hei Chuan Chi Yin’s suggestion, Duanmu Huai furrows his brow. Frankly, he finds it a bit tempting, as learning to play an instrument is just too bothersome. Plus, this avatar has the Superior Charm trait, which could engrave lyrics into the audiences’ subconscious and cause them to have subliminal impressions. Being the lead singer would indeed be more convenient.

"It’s settled then."

Duanmu Huai tosses "Easy Instruments for Beginners" aside.

"Can I seriously get over my tone-deafness in a short time?"

"As long as you’re committed to practicing, Xiao Ai, it would be no problem at all!"

Hearing Hei Chuan Chi Yin’s assurances, Duanmu Huai... decides to trust her this once.