White Tiger's probing question, tinged with a soft and milky final note, echoed through the vast and empty Temple.
Ten million years of solitude and isolation had left her with the most fundamental logical confusion regarding the behavior of the four people before her.
"Restore? No, no, no, we're not that capable."
Lin Qingyue idly toyed with her staff, the crystal at its head refracting the light, which had already softened within the temple.
"We prefer to call it..."
She paused, speaking in an utterly professional tone.
"A God Psychological Counseling Session."
"Sis, act normal..."
Lin Xiyue whispered beside her, her face a picture of sheer despair.
Su Wan gave her a gentle nudge with her elbow, her eyes signaling her not to interrupt.
Xia Lian had already silently taken a small step back, her hands clasped together as she began to pray for the rest of the team's mental state:
"We're doomed. The Captain's started talking nonsense with a straight face again. This is an omen of something big about to happen."
"...What kind of session?"
White Tiger's small face was covered in bewilderment. The phrase, composed of a series of unfamiliar syllables, had clearly exceeded His cognitive scope.
"To put it simply,"
Lin Qingyue ignored her teammates' subtle gestures, took two steps forward, and looked directly at the small figure on the throne.
"The one from the East was so obsessed with creation that He shut Himself off from the world. We helped Him find a direction for trial and error, as well as a way to communicate with real readers."
"The one from the South was used to masking Her exhaustion with anger. We just made Her understand that occasionally slacking off, the sky won't fall."
She spread her hands, her tone flat, yet every word struck White Tiger's heart with precision.
"Essentially, They were just contaminated by the aura leaked by the Ancient Gods, which caused certain personality traits to be disproportionately magnified."
"Hmph! This Celestial God is nothing like those two wastes!"
White Tiger instinctively retorted, tossing Her twin tails behind Her head, but Her aura had clearly weakened.
"Of course."
Lin Qingyue immediately nodded, giving a full twelve points of affirmation. "Your realm is much higher than theirs."
Lin Xiyue quietly made a gagging face at Su Wan behind them, silently mouthing: "My sister is such a greasy flatterer."
Su Wan replied with a deadpan expression and mouthed: "But it's useful, isn't it? Look at Her expression."
On the throne, the white-furred lolita's chin did indeed lift ever so slightly.
Lin Qingyue continued forward, her tone as casual as if she were chatting with a little sister next door who was throwing a tantrum.
"Don't you feel that dealing with a bunch of flawed idiots like us is especially exhausting?"
"Don't you feel that everything you look at is displeasing, making you feel uncomfortable all over?"
White Tiger paused, instinctively straightening Her small frame: "Hmph! That's because all mortals are flawed!"
"And then you can't help but speak up to offer guidance, but in the end, people not only aren't grateful, they also think you're being harsh and picking a fight, right?"
Lin Qingyue continued to ask.
"For example, seeing those terribly sloppy techniques of ours is like seeing a painting drawn crookedly, making you feel uncomfortable all over."
"If you don't curse it out, or personally straighten it out, it's like having ants crawling in your heart."
Lin Xiyue quietly mouthed to Su Wan behind them: "Is my sister treating a god's illness?"
Su Wan replied with a deadpan expression, mouthing: "It's more like taming a cat. Don't you see Her ears are twitching?"
On the throne, the white-furred lolita's ears flickered twice without a word of denial.
"So, you're not 'jealous' at all."
Lin Qingyue spread her hands open, stating it with finality.
"You just have late-stage OCD combined with a severe technical perfectionism. You can't stand a single flaw, yet this world is full of bugs."
"And mortals can only see You nitpicking and criticizing. So they use their own understanding to misinterpret Your behavior into two words..."
"Jealousy."
"Hmph!"
White Tiger abruptly turned Her head away, Her small face flushing crimson.
The small, white-stocking-clad legs dangling from the edge of the throne also stopped swinging.
The hint of red that quietly emerged on the tips of Her ears completely betrayed the inner turmoil Her heart was feeling.
These words had struck a chord deep within Her!
For the first time in ten thousand years, She heard someone describe Her inner world so accurately.
Not fear, not resistance, not disgust.
But... understanding!
A tremor of being completely and correctly understood loosened the burden of ten thousand years of pent-up frustration.
"Hmph... I'll admit you have some insight."
Her voice had dropped significantly, yet She still tried to maintain Her divine majesty.
"So, here's the problem."
Lin Qingyue seized the moment and threw out the final hook.
"You're so devoted to perfection, but communicating directly with flawed mortals like us is both mentally and physically exhausting, and it even sullies Your aesthetic sensibilities, doesn't it?"
White Tiger nodded in deep agreement.
Indeed! Wasting words on a bunch of fools was practically a desecration of Her Divinity!
"Then what do you say I should do?"
She finally descended the steps Lin Qingyue had so carefully laid and took the initiative to ask.
"Why don't you try a different way of playing?"
Lin Qingyue finally revealed her core proposal, her eyes gleaming with a look that could only be described as "swindling."
"Don't get your hands dirty directly, how tiring is that. Why not just be the mastermind behind the scenes?"
"You'll just be responsible for formulating a perfect set of rules and designing an absolutely balanced 'world'."
"Let mortals operate, evolve, and compete under the perfect rules You've established... thereby allowing them to indirectly experience and worship the 'perfection' You've shaped, from the very root?"
White Tiger whipped Her head around, Her golden pupils filled with confusion and incomprehension.
"Create a world? That is the work of the God of Creation. Moreover, once the rules are set, evolution will be full of uncontrolled randomness, which will only create more imperfections!"
"No, no, no."
Lin Qingyue shook her finger, her smile growing even more brilliant.
"The 'world' I'm talking about is a more exquisite, purer form of divine art."
"In our world, it's called—a Tabletop Game."
As soon as these words were spoken, the trio behind her turned to stone.
Lin Xiyue's mouth gaped open in an "O" shape: "What the hell? Sanguosha?"
Su Wan held her forehead, feeling like her magic power was about to spiral out of control: "What kind of structure does her brain have? Pitching entertainment activities to a god?"
Xia Lian had already begun to quietly retreat, trying to get as far away from this madwoman as possible: "We're going to be purified as blasphemers, aren't we? We definitely will be!"
"Tabletop Game?"
White Tiger tilted Her little head, Her golden vertical pupils filled with a giant question mark.
This unfamiliar term found no matching entries in Her ancient knowledge base that had operated for ten million years.
"That's right, a game played on a table."
Lin Qingyue, braving the looks Her teammates gave her as if she were a madwoman, began to guide Her step by step.
"You can understand it as a kind of 'Law Sand Table'."
"On a limited tabletop, using game pieces, cards, and dice as carriers, it simulates the evolution of the world."
"In that world, You are the sole 'Law Creator', the supreme Creator God!"
Her voice was filled with a seductive power that captivated the mind.
"The rules of the world are established by You alone, the strength and weakness of the characters are balanced by You, and the production of resources is regulated by You."
"All the participants involved will become 'experiencers and pilgrims of the Law'. They must use all their wisdom to play, to survive, and to strive for the final victory within the perfect framework You have set."
Lin Qingyue began to vividly depict the tempting picture.
"Their every victory is a silent praise for the ingenuity of your rules!"
"Every failure is because they have yet to fully grasp the profound meaning of your design!"
She looked at White Tiger, who was already somewhat entranced, and threw out an even more seductive concept.
"And You, You need only sit high upon Your throne, watching mortals rack their brains over Your design and marvel at the game's balance."
"Isn't this more elegant than personally stepping in to correct every single loophole?"
Lin Qingyue's description opened a door to a new world for White Tiger.
Creating laws...
Balancing all things...
Looking down upon all living beings...
Each of these words precisely scratched His itch.
The mere thought of that feeling, controlling everything without having to personally get involved, sent an unprecedented shiver of excitement through the "Order Obsession" deep within His soul.
In His mind, the logic program that had been running for tens of millions of years, centered on "nitpicking-roaring-being isolated," was being violently struck by a brand new torrent called "game design."
"If you find a minor flaw in the rules, or want to introduce a new variable..."
Lin Qingyue looked at White Tiger, who was already somewhat entranced, and threw out an even more seductive concept.
"You only need to descend an 'Oracle,' which is what we call an 'Update Patch' or 'Balance Adjustment,' to correct and perfect the entire world."
"This is the most ultimate, most elegant expression for a perfectionist!"
"Create, control, correct... Everything is within Your grasp, yet You need not be stained by the dust of the mortal world."
"A mortal's game..."
He muttered softly, a trace of divine reserve and disdain still lingering in His tone.
"Sounds... a bit interesting."
"But it must be crude and filled with randomness and uncertainty."
He was a God, after all, and instantly saw the potential risks of this model.
"How could such a thing be worthy of being called 'perfect'?"