After experiencing the "Death Game," Lin Yu realized his acting skills had undergone an almost "qualitative transformation" improvement.
It wasn't just about today's stage performance...
He was becoming increasingly adept at applying his "acting skills" to daily life.
No, rather than calling it an "improvement," it would be more accurate to say...
The "Death Game" had reminded him—reminded Lin Yu that in reality, he could also use his "acting skills" to do these things.
Like telling a white lie to his sister.
Faced with Lin Yu's sincere words, Lin Zhao naturally didn't harbor the slightest suspicion.
Her initial anger had all turned into concern.
"Then you should go rest, Xiao Yu..."
In the past, as a "method actor," Lin Yu would fully immerse himself in his roles when performing, often experiencing difficulty "snapping out of character." Lin Zhao had witnessed that state before.
Especially after seeing a few short videos online and hearing news like "renowned actor commits suicide due to inability to break from role," Lin Zhao had become deeply afraid of such situations.
Lin Yu was Lin Zhao's only family in the world, and wasn't Lin Zhao the same for Lin Yu?
Looking at his sister Lin Zhao's concerned eyes, Lin Yu returned to his room.
As he felt relieved inside, he also couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty.
"People really are hypocritical... Or perhaps those who can enter the 'Death Game' are all first-class 'egoists.'"
Lin Yu muttered self-deprecatingly.
In the "Death Game," he had deceived others, set up schemes that led to the deaths of five living people, and even personally killed two—yet he only felt somewhat affected.
But lying to a loved one he cared about and seeing their cautious expression...
Lin Yu felt genuinely unsettled.
However, Lin Yu wasn't sentimental enough to wallow in self-blame over it.
He wasn't the type to overthink things.
"Ultimately, it's all because of this strange 'Death Game'... and that person who killed me."
"Tomorrow's gathering—I must catch her... and also see if I can really use that gathering to improve my life."
Lin Yu secretly made up his mind.
With this thought in mind...
He didn't hesitate, locking his room door and opening the installation package sent by "Harmony Brings Wealth."
After clicking install, soon...
A brand-new app icon appeared on his desktop—completely pitch black.
Its name was equally plain, just two characters: "Forum."
"It's really called 'Forum,'" Lin Yu couldn't help but mutter. "I thought it was some kind of codename."
Complaints aside, Lin Yu had to admit the app's name and icon did seem mysterious and high-end.
He tapped the icon, revealing an extremely minimalist interface—pure black, with only an input box in the center offering no prompts.
If not for the blinking white cursor indicating he needed to input something, Lin Yu would have thought his screen had malfunctioned.
Opening the input box made the keyboard appear.
Though no text told Lin Yu what to input, he recalled "Harmony Brings Wealth's" words—"enter WeChat ID for invitation."
He input the older man's WeChat ID.
Sure enough...
The input box flickered twice, then changed to display two characters:
"Welcome."
Then, a new input box appeared—this time with a prompt.
"Enter your 'nickname' and 'account.'"
Lin Yu thought for a moment, deciding against using his WeChat ID as his "account" like "Harmony Brings Wealth" had.
Instead, he entered: "Stanislavski1938."
This was the English spelling of his favorite playwright and drama theorist's name, with 1938 being the year this master of theater passed away.
Next, Lin Yu hesitated slightly over his nickname.
In the end, he input two characters:
"Director."
He had initially considered "Actor," but felt that might reveal too much about himself.
Though rationally speaking, it was nearly impossible for anyone to identify him based solely on these two words...
But adding an extra layer of obfuscation gave Lin Yu peace of mind—why not do it?
After completing this, the input box flickered again.
Soon, new text appeared:
"Welcome to the 'Forum'!"
The words faded, replaced by an extremely simple forum interface.
The forum had only four main sections: "Announcements," "Discussions," "Guides," and "Bounties."
Lin Yu checked the "Announcements" section first, which resembled ordinary forums filled with posts about muting users for specific durations.
Most threads were meaningless, with only a few about "permanently restricting XX organization members from accessing the forum" piquing Lin Yu's interest.
"Seems the group running this 'Forum' isn't completely neutral!"
Lin Yu muttered.
He also mentally noted the names of the banned organizations.
Pinned at the top were three: "Psychological Society," "Free Alliance," and "Marauders"...
The "Marauders" clearly seemed shady, but the other two made it hard for Lin Yu to discern the forum's stance.
Moreover, the pinned announcement listed only three rules: "No personal attacks, no spreading rumors, no irrelevant information."
It didn't even explain why members of those three organizations were banned.
"Could it be because of large-scale flame wars?"
Lin Yu couldn't tell.
But this wasn't important...
Lin Yu continued browsing the forum.
In the "Discussions" section, many threads were being bumped, though their titles left Lin Yu somewhat confused:
"Rational Discussion: Can completing two profession quests match the strength of exclusive items?"
"Is the 'Ruffian' rule-based profession the most useless in pure 'survival' scenarios?"
"Experts, I really want to know how long the 'Referee's' abilities last in reality?"
"Looking to trade powerful offensive items—DM me!"
"Between 'General' and 'Grandmaster,' who's stronger in a duel?"
"Haicheng, female, newbie, seeking guidance! Can verify via video!"
These posts gave Lin Yu a vague impression of other players' profiles, but he couldn't fully grasp them.
"Better check the 'Guides' section first!"
Lin Yu muttered, opening the next section.
And upon entering the "Guides" section...
Lin Yu was shocked.
"Holy shit!"