บท 2: Past Life of an Actor
It was a bustling city with magnificent high buildings of various sizes.
In the heart of this city, stood the grand theater, a majestic structure adorned with ornate details that hinted at a rich history of performances.
Inside the theater, the audience sat spellbound in the plush seats, watching the play unfold in front of their eyes. The spotlight flickered, casting a warm glow on the elegant decor that adorned the stage.
"And the curtain falls. The end," a deep, solemn voice said.
With that, the curtains fell, and a few minutes later, they rose again with the young man bowing to the audience.
"Give applause to our leading actor, Logan Hale!"
After the narrator spoke, cheers and clapping erupted from the audience.
However, none of this scene affected the protagonist on the stage.
'Meaningless.'
The man thought with no emotion as he bowed to the audience.
Fame, wealth, recognition... all of it was meaningless to him.
---
After the show ended, the audience began to leave one by one until the entire theater was empty, saved for a few janitors cleaning up the floor.
In the backstage, Logan packed his stuff into his suitcase.
Clap! Clap!
"Simply amazing, Logan. I expected nothing less from you!" A somewhat fat man said with great joy, clapping his hands.
He is the manager of the theatre where they stand.
"Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your expectations," Logan said, speaking in monotones, showing no emotion to what the manager said.
And then he bluntly said, "My apologies, but I must go now."
"Hahaha, that's fine. I'm sure a person like you must be busy," the manager laughed, not angry with Logan's bluntness.
He knew that Logan is always like that. Among the community inside the world of acting, Logan is known for poor social skills and his way of being blunt.
And even if he were angry with Logan, there is nothing that he can do.
Logan came from a family of famous performers and actors, and their connection and energy are far beyond than a measly manager.
Not to mention that Logan is hailed as a rising star in the world of acting.
In acting, he played his role as if he were the incarnation of the character that he is playing.
That type of immersion is unique even among famous actors and performers, and it is estimated that it won't be long until Logan could potentially become one of the famous actors engraved in history.
Though oddly, the manager remembers that Logan did not used to be like this. He remembers in the past, while Logan was not good at acting yet, he used to be a passionate young man, who expressed great joy in acting.
But now Logan has become someone who became... somewhat dispassionate in life.
But the manager did not say anything about it as he knew at the same time, Logan's talent in acting also began to blossom.
So perhaps that is a quirk that genius is said to possess?
"Thank you. Goodbye and have a good day."
Logan nodded, closing his suitcase, then hold the suitcase's handle, and left toward the theater backstage's exit door.
Walking through the exit door, he quickly spotted his somewhat inconspicuous car and proceeded to get into the car.
Inserting his car key, he quickly started up his car.
Rumble!
With the rumble of the car starting up, Logan directed his car toward the hotel nearby.
Driving his car, he noticed a billboard on the city building, advertising a game, showing a beautiful girl with whitish-blue hair with a short neck-length bell-shaped bob followed by waist-length locks that are tied into twin tails with several seemingly glowing blue streaks, much like a jellyfish cut when shown in full view.
And the girl also possesses heterochromatic eyes with her right eye having a light blue iris and deep blue droplet-shaped pupil, while her left is the reverses, with dark blue iris and light blue droplet-shaped pupil.
Seeing a somewhat familiar girl, recognition flickered in Logan's eye as he remembered her identity.
"Hmm...Furina? That girl who acted as a Hydro Archon for 500 years?"
Logan knew Genshin Impact quite well. After all, he was a huge fan that played Genshin Impact from day one.
But there was some circumstance that was happening in his life, and soon he gradually lost interest in Genshin Impact.
He is quite intrigued with Furina, who hid her emotions for 500 years alone. After all, he is also an actor himself too.
But looking at the billboard for a few seconds, he withdrew his gaze no longer interested.
Though they were both actors, their fundamental purpose for acting is different.
Furina acted for 500 years for the sake of Fontaine's citizen even if she must hide her loneliness and pain.
While he is an actor who was too immersed in the world of acting, that the boundary between reality and fiction began to blur for him, until gradually he lost his emotions.
He was just a fool that has lost his emotion and had no purpose left except acting.
Though he wishes to regain his emotions back, he also recognized that it is almost impossible as he had consulted several famous therapists with no result.
'But perhaps I should play Genshin Impact again. Who knows? Might help me regain my emotions back.'
Logan thought as he turned his car around the corner, but all he could see was a blinding light.
Blinking his eyes, he realized that a speeding truck is heading toward him.
But it was already too late.
Crash!
The car absorbed the brunt of the force, crumpling like a piece of paper caught in a strong gust of wind. The front end of the car compressed with a sickening crunch, the hood folding like an accordion.
Windows shattered into a shower of shards, and the airbags deployed in a desperate attempt to shield Logan from harm.
The impact sent it into an uncontrolled spin, and it began to teeter precariously on two wheels before the car flipped gracefully into the air, somersaulted through the air.
The car was in mid-air, suspended momentarily before the car crashed down onto the asphalt with a bone-rattling thud.
Amidst the car's tragic result, oddly the burly truck is undamaged and continues to drive on, as if unfazed by hitting a car.
*Cough, cough*
Logan groaned, falling off the upside-down car, still miraculously alive from what just happened.
But the result of the car crashing took its toll and there were deep bloodstains on Logan's stomach, the window shards piercing it.
So while it was a miracle that Logan survived from the car crash, he does not have long to live, as seen from the grave injuries he suffered.
Even though he can feel his life slowly seeping away from his body, he still had no emotions.
Not even sadness, anger, joy, desperation. He simply expressed no emotions as if this was another ordinary day for him.
Soon he can feel that his eyesight is getting blurry and that everything seems to be turning dark and hazy.
He knew that his time is coming but he expressed no sorrow about it. Instead, he simply only had one thought.
'It would be nice...if in my next life, I could regained my emotions...'
He thought, slowly closing his eyes, waiting for the inevitable ending.
And so on that day, an earthquake shook the world when the news of Logan Hale's death spread.
On that day, many people expressed deep sadness, and regret while people who were jealous of him, expressed great joy and celebrated, driving themselves drunk.
And many actors, performers, and directors expressed deep sorrow as it was the fall of a rising star who could have been forever remembered in history.
---
And so that is how he was reborn in the world of Genshin Impact.
Of course, before he was reborn in Genshin Impact, he met a special being, wandering in the rift between countless realities.
The special being he met is known as the Mask of Illusion, feared by many powerful beings.
Mask of Illusion is a special living mask that allows the host to borrow the strength from the character that the host chose to act as.
Though in exchange, the host has to provide the mask with an energy known as Essence Spark, gained from the emotions of living beings.
So to put it simply, the Mask of Illusion will give the host the power of the character that the host chose to act as, and then the host will provide the Essence Spark, gained from using the character's power to draw emotions from living beings. Thus the Mask of Illusion who has the Essence Spark, will provide more power to the host, bringing a harmonious cycle.
But there was a catch. If the host was too deeply immersed in the character it was playing, the host will be devoured by the character itself and the Mask of Illusion will be once again be ownerless.
Initially, it sounds like a problem that can be easily dealt with, as long as the host does not get too immersed into the character it plays as.
But the problem is while Mask of Illusion can grant the strength of the character played as, it also grants the intense emotion and personality belong from the character as if the character itself has a soul.
And so after many hosts' deaths, the Mask of Illusion became feared, and is proclaimed a cursed item that brings madness to whoever wears it.
Of course, this brings anxiousness to the Mask of Illusion as it needs the Essence Spark desperately, or it will die.
And so the Mask of Illusion chose Logan as apparently, Logan possesses a unique ability that will not be devoured by the character that Logan acts as.
But there was a dilemma. Logan does not care about strength or even his life or death situation, so he had no need for the Mask of Illusion.
Anxious, the Mask of Illusion made a deal with Logan.
Logan will provide Essence Spark for the Mask of Illusion and in return, the Mask of Illusion will help him regain his emotions.
And not only that, the Mask of Illusion will also let Logan gain the strength of the character he is acting as.
And the strength that he gained will not be taken away even after both parties completed the deal.
Though Logan didn't care about, but it is useful nevertheless.
So with the contract concluded by both parties, Logan had the whim to be reborn in Genshin Impact, which the Mask of Illusion is able to easily grant that.
So Logan was reborn in Teyvat, on the plain of Mondstadt, and after a few months, he managed to live quite comfortably in Mondstadt now.
'Quite ironic...the life of acting led me to lose my emotions and yet now acting is my only chance to regain my emotions.'
Logan thought, but he didn't mind. Instead, he actually prefers this way as from the start, acting was a hobby that he was passionate about.
It would be fitting that the acting that he was passionate about, the one that caused him to lose his emotions, would now be the one to bring his emotions back.
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A/N: What do you think of it so far? I tried my best to write someone who has no emotions, but I don't understand someone who had no emotions very well. How can I understand when I have emotions? So there might be a bit of confusion when I write about the protagonist but I will try my best and I hope you like it so far.
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