Batman seemed to find it hard to come to terms with the matter but suddenly, he recalled that dark figure and asked, "Did he do it that way? I mean, the other me from a different cosmos."
"He was practically perfect," Shiller commented. "You might think he's an emotionless machine, too dark to gaze upon, but he's not without feelings, it's just that he understands showing one's emotions to certain people is like handing them a knife; there is no necessity, it only leads to wounding oneself and others."
"He even restrained himself from showing too much emotion to those closest to him because the harm of his seemingly cold indifference to these people was far less than the damage caused by revealing his emotions and causing them to waver and bring about a great disaster."
"Is this something taught in books?"
"Obviously not, it's a lesson from blood and tears."
"Alright," Batman said with a hint of resignation. "I don't want to turn into that kind of monster, but I'll try to be more normal, more balanced. Do you have any more advice for me?"
"Of course, let me continue," Shiller said, taking another sip of grape juice to moisten his throat, then added, "After you've managed the above points, you'll basically be able to socialize like a normal person. Overall, you'll become less insufferable."
"But if you want to be liked, to be precise, to use others' genuine fondness for you to satisfy the loneliness you constantly feel, it requires some more special skills."
"Can I be likable?"
"Certainly, and not just superficially," Shiller said. "Generally speaking, you'll have different strategies for people of various statuses, but I can tell you a few universal ones that correspond to the previous strategies, consider them an advanced version of the behavioral tactics mentioned earlier."
"Okay, I'll try to remember that, put it down in... um, the Bat Social Manual."
"Firstly, guide others to share their troubles with you, rather than their joys, and reject anyone who brings you only good news and no worries."
"The method is simple, when you ask someone how they've been and they say alright, you tell them they look thinner, and you thought they might have been troubled about something recently."
"If they clearly haven't lost weight or deny being thinner, then you say their voice sounds hoarse, asking if they've been talking too much lately. If they say no, then suggest their frequent blinking makes their eyes look dry, asking if they haven't been sleeping well."
"If all else fails, go over and pat them on the shoulder with an 'I understand you' expression, and if after all that they remain silent, then you have to drop a hint yourself."
"Usually begin with a sigh and 'I'm not as lucky as you are,' and conclude with 'I really envy your good fortune.' If the other person isn't socially clueless, they will usually reciprocate with a few complaints about their recent troubles."
"Why do this?" Batman clearly didn't quite understand.
"Because for intelligent people, playing dumb is a basic skill," Shiller explained. "Most people don't particularly want to attract attention, some even prefer others to think they're not doing well. Guiding in this way fulfills their wishes, giving them an excuse to establish their persona in public, which makes them feel smooth and relaxed in social settings, like receiving a pillow when drowsy."
"Moreover, the most important thing is not everyone has good news, but everyone has troubles. Once the conversation leans entirely towards joyful news, it will just allow a few boasters to dominate the talk, turning the social setting into their domain, leaving others silent, envious but unexpressed."
"Envy isn't an emotion that can be concealed easily. Once someone can't bear it anymore, it's inevitable they will resort to biting remarks or throw cold water on someone, turning a good social gathering into an argument, with the mood then hard to control."
"However, if you steer the conversation towards people's worries, the vast majority who don't want to expose their callousness will speak up with a word of comfort or two, even if it's just lip service with perfunctory words, at least it won't offend and might even provide strength."
"But what if some people take the opportunity to talk about their own achievements? For instance, consoling someone with a couple of words, then start talking about themselves in the past..."
"Are you talking about yourself?"
"Uh..."
Batman began frantically recollecting whether he had ever done such a thing, swearing it was maybe twice, possibly three times, but definitely not more than five times.
"That depends on your ability to control the situation," Shiller continued. "If you feel you've already done your utmost here, then don't say anything more; after all, it's them offending others, not you. But if you have something important to say afterward and don't want them to carry on, then you can gently morally bind them."
"Moral binding?"
"Yes, something like, 'Given their situation, let's not bring that up.' If the other party is sensible, they'll usually say 'I was just thinking of their well-being,' and the matter will pass."
"What if they're not sensible?"
"Then you might need to take more drastic measures. If you can live with it, then heap praises on him to attract hatred, make sure you praise him until those who are discontent truly hate him."
"If you don't harbor such a grudge against him, then you can praise in a way that's subtly demeaning, making him embarrass himself, like, 'The thing you did back then was indeed impressive, you made such a scene, I and someone else had to clean up your mess for months!'"
Batman nodded vigorously; he was good at this, the best at digging up old grievances, there was nothing in the Justice League that he couldn't bring up.
Then Shiller went on, "When you need to decline something and require an excuse, follow three principles: first, the subject of the difficulty is not you, second, succumbing to the difficulty isn't your subjective desire, third, you also feel bad about it."
"Specifically, never use the excuse that you're too busy, because the subject of you being busy is still you. If it happens too often, people will start to wonder, why are you the only one who's so busy?"
"Even if you truly are busy and can't make it, you should rephrase it; for example, your boss is too inconsiderate, and you just couldn't get away. That way, the subject becomes the boss, or it's a subordinates work mistake that forced you to stay and fix it, making the subject the subordinate."
"Then, you must emphasize that it wasn't your personal wish to miss out on your important moment, and it was not even slightly caused by you—it's all due to the unfairness of fate, a doomed destiny."
"For instance, when bringing it up afterward, you could lament that if only you had studied properly in university, you could have joined a better company and wouldn't have had to suffer this oppression, or if you'd seen through your boss's and subordinates' character earlier, there wouldn't have been any mistakes, and you'd never have missed those wonderful moments."
"In short, you need to convey that it really wasn't your desire not to attend."
"Next is to progress to expressing emotions, showing that you truly regret it, are saddened, and are in despair, as missing that event has become an eternal void in your life—a void that no amount of subsequent making-up can fully erase from memory."
"Isn't that a bit too exaggerated?" Batman said.
"Don't be so blunt," Shiller chuckled. "You can embellish it a bit, or mix it into a bunch of other things you say, occasionally mentioning it when it comes to mind. This process can even last for a few months or years; you might bring it up every time you see them until they feel guilty about it."
"That's so dark," Batman remarked.
"Okay, the last point," Shiller said as he downed the wine in his glass. "If someone talks about you behind your back while you're not there and slanders you, don't try to explain or refute it, and don't even think about slandering them in return. Instead, explain on their behalf."
Batman narrowed his eyes and asked, "For example?"
"Let's say Person A says when you're not around that you lack sympathy, that you didn't help when B was in trouble—it's a total misjudgment of you. Then someone else tells you about this conversation."
"You must absolutely not say, 'I'm not that sort of person, I've been especially helpful when C, D, E were in trouble,' nor should you say 'A is just talking nonsense,' or 'A's words are completely unreliable.'"
"So then..."
"What you say is, 'Actually, I've always felt that excess sympathy isn't a good thing. A has learned the hard way. He fell for a not-so-clever scam simply because his sympathy overflowed, and he almost brought harm to C, D, E. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, A is just too kind, and he wanted to help others.'"
Shiller spread his hands and said, "Following the principle that he who explains is at a disadvantage, although he's not here for you to force an explanation from him, you can explain on his behalf, and since he's not here, you have the full authority to interpret the situation."
"But I think the other person would see through it, right?"
"Whether they see through it or not isn't important; what's important is your reaction. If you instinctively defend yourself, the other person will only think of you as weak and easy to bully. If you instinctively slander others, you'll give them evidence of your malicious speech."
"But if you pretend to mean well for others, even if they realize you have an ulterior motive, they can't do anything to expose you."
"Just remember, those who spread bad rumors about others are losers who fail at direct social suppression, so they try to provoke you through the words of others."
"If they had the guts to confront you directly, they wouldn't start their sentence with 'I heard from someone else.' Successful people have a thousand and one ways to render you utterly indefensible and put you in an awkward position."
"Like you?"
"I would enter the conversation in a gentler way," Shiller's gaze drifted to the television, his meaning unsaid but clear.
"A lot of the time I feel like I understand these things," Batman said as he leaned back on the sofa. "In the books I've read, when I face those people in the business world, I actually know these things."
"But when you become Batman, many things are not so easy to express," Shiller nodded, "Or rather, when you become the true you, and consider the members of the Justice League as your real friends, you might think that if you used skills, they wouldn't be sincere friendships, right?"
"But I believe that in this world, aside from the hormone-driven love of a mother, there are no emotions that don't require some external effort to maintain. Whether it's earth-shattering love, unyielding friendship, or family ties bound by blood, they all require skills to manage."
"You may think some people don't need skills to gain others' true affection. Maybe it's just that their skills are more covert and come naturally, or they're born with these skills, and their family and upbringing have made the art of maintaining relationships their instinct, so it looks effortless and comfortable to them."
"But as the saying goes, 'The early bird catches the worm;' not everyone is that lucky. If you can't make it look natural, at least you have to try. If you can't get profound emotions, settling for superficial pleasures isn't a loss."
"As for the measure..." Shiller felt around for his cup and said, "If the satisfaction of relieving your loneliness outweighs the fatigue from using these techniques, then it's worth it. But if it's the other way around and you'd rather bask in solitude than put on a smiling face to meet someone, then bring out your Batman expertise."
"And what's that?"
"Annoyance."
"What?"
"I mean, if possible, make him into Joker."