Welcome to Teyvat, [Traveler].
'Huh?'
At the time it was the only meaningful way I could react to the colourful words floating in the air. Beside this welcoming sentence there was nothing around me, save for the pitch darkness. At first I thought I was inside a very dark room, but soon it seemed more like a void of space, with not even an outline of the walls or the floor. If I paid attention to any of it I would realise there was no floor at all, for I was floating as well. But I didn't, as all my attention was focused on the appearing words right in front of me.
Here starts your journey to the wonderful yet dangerous world of Teyvat. Here you'll face all sorts of perils and challenges for you to overcome. Populating this world are all kinds of people, who will surely aid you in your quest, provided you win their affection.
Press [Confirm] when you wish to continue.
...
'Huh???'
After a moment I managed to somewhat organise my haphazard thoughts. The questions of "Where?", "How?" and "Why?" all flashed in my mind before I finally verbalised the one that summed up all my current feelings perfectly.
"What the fuck?"
'Teyvat? Traveler? The hell is going on here? Is it a dream?'
To calm down and find out what the hell was going on I thoroughly searched my brain for the earliest of my memories. To my utter confusion, the only thing I could recall was the game, which the glowing words seemed to mention.
'Those are the terms from that cash grabbing game, aren't they? What's even weirder, why is that damn game the only thing I can remember?'
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall anything about myself as a person. My past, hobbies, likes and dislikes, family, friends and even my own name. It's like I was a blank sheet of a person. My only memories were connected to the certain game, to which I had sacrificed countless hours and dollars. I could remember the quests, the world, the characters and everything else. But outside the game itself it seemed like I didn't even exist. Even though I considered the possibility of a dream briefly, I quickly discarded it. For some inexplicable reason I could tell that it was not a dream. It felt a bit too real, not to mention that it was highly unlikely for my brain to block out all the memories not relevant to the game, no matter how much of a genshin nerd I was.
After minutes of contemplation I decided that no matter how much I strained the neurons in my brain, I was unlikely to find the answer to even a single question, so I decided to go with the flow for now and did as I was told.
Beneath the wall of confusing text was a single word.
[Confirm]
Hesitantly, I brought up my hand and guided it towards it. My hand went straight through, but the word disappeared with a beep.
The text was then replaced.
To win a character's affection you need to spend time with them, help them and do anything needed to be done to get close to a person.
Each character you can build a relationship with has a special gauge you can see to determine the level your current relationship is on.
[0] — the person is completely uninterested in you, treating you like any other stranger.
[1-10] — the person considers you a stranger, but is nonetheless friendly towards you and is more easier to converse with.
[11-30] — the person sees you as a good and reliable friend. They are more open with you but can still hold some reservations.
[31-60] — you are their best friend, someone they are not afraid to share their feelings with. They are willing to fight for you.
[61-70] — the person sees you as more than a friend. They harbor some feelings towards you, more of a romantic kind.
[71-90] — the person is in love with you and is willing to put their life on the line for your sake. There are not many things that will stop them from coming to your aide.
[91-100] — the person is obsessed with you. There is not a single thing in existence that can stand in their way, be it Gods or laws of Creation itself. They will sacrifice anything and anyone for you.
'Seriously, what the fuck. Since when did Genshin turn into a dating sim? And what are these levels? Can a person's feelings be crunched into some numbers? And what kind of yandere shit is the last one?'
As I was still processing the numbers before me, the text kept on going.
Of course, if you do something the other person does not appreciate you can lose affection points. If the number falls beneath -10 the person will try to avoid you. If it falls beneath -50 they will actively seek to hamper your actions and/or harm you.Please note that only certain people have this gauge. Your goal is to find every single one of them and build relationships with them during your quest to find your missing sister. The threshold for a suitable relationship is 60 points. If you fail to get even one person to the threshold before the last quest you will die as a consequence and the game will be over.In case of failure, there will be no second attempt. You do not have the ability to override your current progress. Whatever choice you make, you will have to live with the consequences.
Press [Confirm] to continue.
As soon as I read the info dump I felt as if I was on the verge of fainting.
'Build relationships? Find my sister? And all those conditions? That can't be real. I must be on drugs or something.'
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed too ridiculous to consider it real even for a moment. There had to be something that I was missing.
After a brief session of freaking out I once again collected myself the best as I could and started brainstorming the situation.
'Alright, let's consider for a moment that I was transported into the game. Whoever is behind this, they clearly want me to complete the game, while also building some sort of a harem with several characters. Right now I don't know what their reason for this nonsense might be. But what's most important is that if I fail, I'll kick the bucket. And what happens if I do? I mean I was transported into the game from somewhere, even if I don't remember where. So maybe if I die here I'll go back? That, or I die for real, that's a 50-50 chance, and based on my experience with this very game, I don't have a very good track record of winning these.Then again, do I even want to get back after I die? I don't have all my memories, so I can't tell, but maybe there was a very good reason I ended up here, maybe even on my own volition?'
As I kept on mulling it over, the way I should proceed was become clearer, even though the situation as a whole still didn't make any damn sense.
'As I see it, the best thing to do would be to follow the instructions for now. Even if it's lying to me for some reason, once I'm out of here I will be able to judge the situation better and come to my own conclusions. Besides, as long as I follow the instructions, I might get some help and tips. But then again, it's not like I need them that much. From what I can remember, I used to play this game a lot, so I already know my way around some things. Good thing I paid attention to the story line as well, it may just pay off now. Too bad I never finished the main storyline. That also reminds me, I guess I will be playing as Aether, judging from what the message said. I wonder what the game mechanics will be like, considering I'm inside the game. On that note, I pray to all the gods that I won't have to grind for those artifacts and other shit. If I do I might just throw myself into the sea and see what happens to me after death.'
With my mind made up, I pushed the holographic button.
The word dissipated with a beep and I was met with a single sentence and another transparent button.
Once you press this button you will be transported into the world and your story will begin.
[Start the journey]
Even though I knew that there was nothing else I could do here, since I had already decided on my course of action, I couldn't help but hesitate. No matter how I tried to calm myself and rationalize everything, the fact was that I was put into an unimaginably ridiculous situation, and I wasn't sure what awaited me on the other side.
Still, I couldn't stall forever, and so, with a single resounding "Fuck it!" I pressed the button and lost my consciousness.
A/N: so there you have it folks. The first chapter of what I hope is an interesting and long story. Not much else I have to say so I'll just try to make the story enjoyable to read.
