I woke up with a start.
Before I realised what happened I had already been teleported from wherever that dark place was to a lush green forest. There was nothing but countless trees and bushes around me. Still on the ground, I turned my head left and right to check my surroundings.
Compared to the weightlessness I had experienced moments before, the feeling of grass on my skin as I lay on it was something I wanted to enjoy for a while longer, so I wasn't in any hurry to get up and set off yet.
Besides, it's not like I had a clear idea where I should set off to. There were also some things I needed to mull over. And now that I found myself in such a tranquil and welcoming place instead of pitch darkness, my mind was finally clearing up.
Soon the realisation that I was now in a game character's body hit me and I started inspecting it out of curiosity. I finally sat up and looked down at my new body. Strangely enough, while it was my new body, I somehow felt like I was used to it. I guess that had to do with the fact that I'd spent my fair share of hours playing as Aether.
Even with dozens of other playable characters in the game I always preferred playing as Aether, even though his stats couldn't even compare to those of the other characters. It was something about his design that made me immediately pick him over Lumine. Though his sister was gorgeous in her own right, something about Aether's outfit resonated with me.
As I was inspecting my body, one detail caught my attention.
In the game, when the traveler uses elemental energy, parts of his outfit glow with colours in accordance with the elements. For example, while using geo, his gloves, boots and a chest piece would glow yellow. I always thought it was pretty neat, even though it didn't affect the gameplay in any way.
Well, now my outfit wasn't glowing at all. At first I was left utterly confused, before remembering the very start of the game.
The player starts without any elemental abilities. All he has is some basic sword attacks. He gets his first elemental powers from a statue of the Seven, only then does his outfit starts glowing. And that means a few things.
First, I was transported into Teyvat before the start of the main storyline. Aside from my lack of elemental powers, there was another evidence for that: I was currently alone. There was no sign of Teyvat's self-proclaimed best guide.
By the time the game starts, traveler had already befriended Paimon, our companion who never left our side.
Putting two and two together, I could say with a high degree of certainty that I had yet to meet her.
And that leads us to the my main concern — I needed to find Paimon as soon as possible. She was essential to completing the game. Her main role was that of an walking (well, 'flying' would be a better word) encyclopedia who would help us understand the world of Teyvat to navigate it better. Of course, I already had all the necessary knowledge, but only up to a point of the Inazuma arc, as I had been able to only reach that far. Everything that would happen beyond that point would be completely new to me so I would need a guide.
Beside that, I also had a feeling that she held a more important role in the future story than that of a simple guide. With all of this in mind, finding her was of the utmost importance.
The only problem was that I had absolutely no idea where to look for her. It was never made clear when or where exactly they met. It was just said that the traveler found her while fishing.
Now I had an almost impossible task of finding the specific body of water where I could fish up that fairy.
Finding Paimon would take some time. In the meanwhile, I needed to make a fishing rod to actually be able to catch her, find the whatever pond she ended up in, fish her out and then find my way to Mondstadt, all while avoiding dying to roaming monsters and starving to death.
Suddenly I didn't want to get up anymore. The thought of staying here lying on the grass was more and more appealing. However, I knew that if I wanted to progress I would need to actually put in effort, and a sizable amount of it, considering what ridiculous goals had been given to me.
With a sigh, I finally stood upright. It was not easy and the soft green grass beckoned me to lie down again. Even though it was very tempting I needed to toughen up and set off.
'But set off where?'
Considering that I was quite literally in the middle of nowhere with only trees around me I couldn't tell which I direction I was supposed to head in.
I spent a while wracking my brain to find the best way to determine which way was the one that would lead me where I needed to be. At last I came up with an idea.
'When I woke up I was facing that direction. Meh, considering the circumstances this guess is as good as any. Off I go then.'
With this fool proof strategy in mind I made my way through the greenery in hopes of finding that food loving fairy as soon as possible.
A couple of days later I was wondering if my careful choice of direction had failed me as I continued to wander the land. So far the only thing of value I had encountered was a couple of berry bushes which I promptly plundered.
No lakes, ponds or any signs of civilization were in sight. With each day of pointless search my heart grew heavier and heavier with anxiety.
'If that's the right way, surely I ought to find something that might help me in my quest?'
But there was nothing of note in my way. Just trees, bushes and occasional wild animals. At first I wanted to hunt some of them to get my hands on some meat. That was when I realized that I had no weapon on me. I had no idea how such a crucial detail had escaped my attention earlier but I was lucky I hadn't encountered anything aggressive so far. Needless to say, I was proceeding way more careful afterwards.
During my travels I thought that it was possible for me to open the map or check my inventory but no matter what I tried no window or anything popped up, so I figured it was impossible, at least at this stage so I decided to put it off for now and continue on my way.
As I was sneaking my way through the silent forest and wondering if I should turn back and go the opposite way, I came across something that made my hopes shoot up.
Right in front of me was a small clearing. In the middle of it stood a shack. From the looks of it, it was in dire need of maintenance. Looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time now.
Seeing no signs of anyone living there whatsoever, I rushed there, in hopes of getting my hands on some items that might help me as well as some clues where I needed to head to next.
I was a bit confused why a small shack stood so far away from civilization like that but I quickly dismissed it. There was no point of wondering about its past now.
As I opened the door the darkness before me immediately receded as the sunlight illuminated the small room before me through the doorway. There were windows inside but they were covered by a thick blanket of dust so that no light could come through.
The light coming through the doorway couldn't quite illuminate the entirety of the room but it was enough for me to look around and find something.
There weren't many things inside aside from the usual furniture you'd find in the house like a bed, tables and so on. But there was something that would surely come in handy for me.
On the wall above the bed there was a sword. At first I thought that it was some decoration but upon closer inspection I came to a conclusion that it was a real sword albeit a dull one. Thankfully there wasn't any rust on it so it could still be used.
Not like a rusty sword couldn't be used of course. If anything you could clobber your opponent to death with it if doesn't cut.
Satisfied with the find I wanted to head out before changing my mind. It was getting quite late already and a house with a bed, no matter how dirty, was infinitely better than ground, not to mention all the hazards that came with sleeping outside.
Not only that but there could also be things that I could use if I was thorough enough in my search. I wasn't hoping for food as all of if would have gone spoiled long ago.
With my mind made up I rummaged through the place. To my absolute delight there was one thing I hadn't noticed previously under the bed.
A fishing rod.
That discovery cemented the fact that I had picked the right direction in my mind. Now all that was left for me to so was to find some body of water. Seeing all the things I'd found already I was sure that I was bound to find the fishing spot where I could catch Paimon if I continued in the direction I had followed for the last couple of days.
Satisfied with the progress made, I settled in for the night in the bed.
After days of sleeping on the ground that bed, despite its dire state, seemed like a godsend.
But instead of the sleep that I thought would embrace me the moment my back hit the mattress, my mind began to wander.
When I first arrived into this world I didn't have time to thoroughly think about the situation at hand.
'I guess it was a bit much for my mind to handle at the time. Now that I'm in relative safety and the initial shock has worn off I can finally sort my thoughts.'
Even though it had been a few days since my arrival here my mind was still in turmoil. Finding myself inside a game was a ridiculous notion in and of itself and the fact that I had absolutely no recollection of my previous life certainly didn't help .
To be honest I didn't even know what to feel. I knew that a normal thing would be being angry in that situation for having been taken away from my original life. My family, all the friends I had made and everything I did in that world — all of it taken away. I was supposed to be furious.
And yet I wasn't. Due to my lack of memories I couldn't know for sure what my life had been like before. Perhaps I had lived a miserable life with no fond memories to look back on in the first place. In that case ending up here would be akin to getting a second chance. A chance to build a new and exciting life and a pretty good chance at that, considering I could use my knowledge of this game to my advantage.
'Huh, the more time I'm here, the less the word "game" seems fit to describe the world around me.' I thought as I lay on the bed.
During my days journeying through the woods I couldn't help but think what exactly 'being in a game' meant. At first I expected that the world would seem... off, in some way. Like it wasn't natural and I intended to find the signs of this world being fake, an imitation of life. Perhaps animals didn't behave in a way that they would in the real life, or maybe, the environment around me would feel artificial. In case it was a game, wouldn't that mean that, as a player, the world would revolve around me and nothing except me mattered. This in particular was a dangerous thought that could lead my mind into some dark places. I knew it but couldn't help entertaining it more and more often over the course of those days.
If I was the only real living thing here, didn't that mean that everything else is just some numbers, ones and zeros, given form of living things? And numbers can't feel anything, right? So whatever I did to them couldn't be considered moral or immoral? After all, if they weren't't real, how could their feelings?
These thoughts would always unnerve me, yet they always lingered in my mind.
And so I decided to test my theory. I would observe animals, insects, trees and everything else to find any clues to indicate that it was all fake.
But the more I saw the less sure I was in my conclusions. Everything felt extremely real. Animals, grass, water, sky and everything else didn't feel fake in the slightest. Sometimes, lost in thought I would froget it was supposed to be a game.
And as I lay in the bed I came to another conclusion.
'I don't know if I can call it all a game anymore.'
Perhaps all of this really was a game and I was surrounded by numbers imitating life. But to me it was all real. Even if it was a simulation, to me it was as genuine as reality can get. In fact, it felt even more real than my previous life.
I didn't remember it at all of course, but I knew I had it. And for this exact reason it didn't feel real. It was like someone else told me: 'This is not your first life, you already had one before, just trust me on this.'
But I didn't remember any of it, and I didn't feel any connection with it, unlike this 'game'. Even though I had spent just a few days here, it felt more valuable to me than a life I had supposedly experienced before. It felt like a dream I had but immediately forgot upon waking up.
In this way, this world was definitely real to me.
When I finally came to the conclusion I expected my heart to be finally put at ease. Instead, I was left with yet another question.
'Regardless if it's all real or not, I need to figure out what I am to do now.'
This 'game' definitely had a clear goal set for me. For some reason it wanted me to build a harem of all playable characters. Naturally, I had a few problems with that plan.
'That's such nonsense. How exactly is it supposed to help me save this world and find my sibling? All that will do is bog me down in raising characters' affections instead of actually fighting the Abyss or Celestia or whoever is the main bad guy.
Not only that but from a moral standpoint that didn't seem like a very nice thing to do, to put it lightly. Making multiple characters fall in love with me, some of whom are literal children, is just despicable.'
Even if there weren't any children involved I'd still be opposed to this plan. The idea of having multiple romantic partners didn't sound right to me. It just seemed wrong.
Of course I would be lying if I said that the thought of having multiple people who would love me wasn't just a bit tempting.
But as I was condemning the system's apparent lack of morals I remembered one crucial detail.
'Hold on a moment. The system said that a suitable relationship threshold was 60 points, right? And according to that same system 60 points is still considered a strong friendship. So if I can keep my score at exactly 60 points I can avoid all the unnecessary trouble.'
With my mind made up on how I should proceed with my quest I closed my eyes and drifted off.
The following morning I took my newly acquired fishing rod and the sword and prepared to set off. That was when I encountered a minor problem.
'Where the hell do I store those things? Carrying them in my hands is too much hustle.'
As I held one item in each hand I remembered how the weapons would dissipate into the air in the game after a fight.
I racked my brain for a bit before deciding to go with my gut feeling. As I focused my mind I tried to clearly picture the weapon disappearing. To my bewilderment that worked. As the sword turned into countless golden specks that were then carried away by the wind a window popped up in front of me.
"New item added to inventory: Dull Sword"
As soon as the notification appeared it vanished. Now that I figured the trick I did the same to the fishing rod before trying to open the inventory. And now, unlike the last time, it actually worked. A window with lots of slots materialised before me. Two of the slots were occupied by the sword and the fishing rod. Intending to see how those things worked I stretched out my hand and touched the slot with the sword in it.
Immediately I felt something in my right hand and I watched as the golden specks from before appeared and formed a sword. It was an astonishing process to witness. Naturally, I couldn't help repeating it several more times.
'Damn, that's such a neat trick. Now I know what I'll be doing when I get bored.'
After satisfying my curiosity and having gained some knowledge I was invigorated and continued my journey.
An hour or two later as I walked through the forest I heard the sounds that were similar to the ones I had heard in the previous days. The sounds of rustling as something walked through the the leaves and bushes. At first I thought it to be yet another animal that called these forests home and wasn't that worried about it until I heard something that I recognized right away.
"Mi muhe mosi."
Upon hearing these words I immediately ducked trying to make as little noise as humanly possible. I stayed still and strained my ears to hear anything else. But after a moment of silence I figured that was the end of the conversation. Either the hilichurl was talking to itself or its companion wasn't very talkative.
Not that I would understand anything anyway but I hoped to determine how many of them there were and where exactly they were. From the sound of it they were somewhere to my right but how far I couldn't tell.
At first I wanted to turn left and continue on to avoid the possible confrontation. After a brief contemplation, however, I decided that I could grasp this opportunity.
From what I had learned playing the game the hilichurls were rarely alone, usually keeping close to their brethren from the tribe. And if there was one there should be others. And if there was a hilichurl tribe nearby there was a chance that there was a water source somewhere nearby like a lake or a river. And if there was then my chances of finding Paimon would increase.
It sounded like a bit of a stretch even to me but the alternative of continuing to aimlessly wander around was enough to convince me that it was worth a shot. Besides, there was a chance that there was some sort of human civilization not far from their tribe.
So I tried sneaking up to the hilichurl I had heard, hoping it would lead me to its tribe.
As I crept closer I could distinguish a single humanoid form of the hilichurl. It appeared to be looking for something, food perhaps. Curiously, there was a green number floating above its head.
"Lv. 2"
Looked like the enemies in this world would still follow the level system. It was quite convenient, being able to tell your enemy's strength before engaging them.
I watched it continue walking around before it muttered something to itself and turned back to what I expected to be its tribe. I followed it making sure to stay at least ten meters away.
It took around 10 minutes until I finally saw its destination. It was nothing grand, just a campfire with several what looked to be crudely made tents around it. In this camp I could see 4 more hilichurls. They too had their levels displayed above their heads. Looked like all five of them were at lv. 2.
The moment they saw the one I had been following they stopped whatever they were doing and started to converse with it. I couldn't understand them but judging by their intonation they weren't very happy with it. Its replies were just as intense and I was pretty sure there were some insults thrown around.
In the meantime I stayed a healthy distance away from the commotion. As I hid myself in the bushes I checked out the surroundings and found what I had been looking for. Some distance away I could see a lake. Countless trees partially blocked my view so I hadn't seen it the moment after arriving here.
Seeing my objective I immediately lost all interest in the hilichurls and their not very friendly relationship and decided to take my leave.
'I'll just back away and go around them. Now I just need to make sure not to make a sound.'
And of course, the first step backwards I took just had to land on some stick and attract the arguing hilichurls' attention.
'Should have looked first before making a step. Oh well.'
For a moment as both hilichurls and I stood still I hoped that the violence that was sure to follow could somehow be avoided.
My hopes were dashed the moment the hilichurls bellowed something in their language and rushed at me, swinging their clubs with reckless abandon.
It was clear to me that a fight was now inevitable. I briefly considered turning tail and running but quickly discarded the thought. If I were to recklessly run through the unknown forest I would have no time for caution. In that case my chances of falling into a ditch or stumbling upon another group of monsters would rise drastically. Compared to that, facing five hilichurls right then and there was preferable.
As the hilichurls were advancing rapidly I materialised my sword in my hand, brought it up and blocked the club strike that was about to connect with my face. Before I even realised what I was doing, I threw a punch right in the hilichurl's masked face with my left hand, making it stumble backwards. It was now open for attack.
Too bad I didn't get a chance to press my advantage as two more hilichurls appeared to my left and simultaneously raised their clubs high over their heads. Once again my body moved on its own and I raised the sword, blocking both strikes. For a moment we found ourselves in a stalemate as the hilichurls pushed with all their might and I held my sword steady. I was now face-to-mask with them, way closer than I would've liked. They kept growling and snarling at me, which was more annoying than intimidating.
Getting tired of this invasion of my personal space, I kicked one hilichurl right in the knee. It immediately lost balance and found itself kneeling on the ground before its brain could process what had happened. Immediately, the stalemate was broken and I managed to shove the remaining hilichurl back, right into two other monsters.
Then I set my sights on the kneeling hilichurl and plunged my sword deep into its chest. Rasping, it clutched the blade as if trying to break it with its bare hands.
Paying no mind to its effort I pulled the sword out of the unlucky monster and let its body hit the ground.
Seemingly enraged by the death of one of their brethren the remaining hilichurls gave another shriek. Then the one I had punched earlier threw itself at me with a clear intention of bashing my head in. I managed to sidestep the strike just in time and with one swift slash its severed arm fell to the ground, still holding the club. The following stab to the heart silenced it for good.
I then turned to the remaining three hilichurls just in time to dodge one clumsy strike and cut down the attacker.
Seeing that situation wasn't in their favour, the last two hilichurls started circling me instead of attacking head on.
It continued for a short while before the two of them attacked simultaneously from two directions. I waited, letting them get closer. Then I leaped to the side and watched as the hilichurls collided with each other.
Before they could get their bearings I got behind one of them and, with a single strike, impaled both of them. They continued twitching for a few moments before falling still.
Taking a look around the battlefield I made sure the fight was over. With no more dangers around I decided to sit down for a moment and get my bearings.
As the adrenaline was gradually wearing off I started contemplating a few things I noticed during the fight.
First of all, my body seemed to move on its own. It was evident that this body was no stranger to battles. As expected of the main character, Aether seemed to be quite experienced in fighting. Also I noticed that even though I had just fought to the death with five hilichurls I was barely tired. Another testament to how enduring this body was. If not for it, with no memories and probably no skills, I would have been screwed.
But there was also one disturbing discovery that weighed on my mind as I inspected my bloodied sword: I had just killed five intelligent living beings and barely felt anything. Not only did I not hesitate to kill them, I didn't feel anything as I did so. This fact disturbed me a little and I tried to rationalise it.
'Well, it was either me or them, so it's only natural I would choose myself. Besides, they attacked me first, so that was self-defence.'
Before long it stared sounding as if I was trying to come up with an excuse rather than find a reason for this unsettling behaviour.
After several minutes I arrived at the most likely conclusion at the time.
'Perhaps the reason I didn't feel anything is that I'm used to seeing them as just mobs for farming in the game? Maybe my brain tries to see them as simple mobs as some sort of a coping mechanism?'
At the time it felt as the most plausible explanation. Still I couldn't shake the feeling that this new body of mine was used to taking lives.
With how precise my movements were, it was hard not to notice that my deadly strikes seemed as a talented performer's well rehearsed motions.
It wouldn't come as a surprise to me as I knew that the traveler was no stranger to taking lives, even though it was rarely said so in the game.
Still it felt a bit weird that the body was used to killing while the mind was not.
Lost in thought, I didn't notice that the sky had already started darkening. Seeing that, I decided to save my self reflections for later and deal with more pressing matters. Such as 'where should I go for the night?'.
The hilichurls' camp was a no-go. There was no way for me to know how many of them had originally occupied it. It was possible that some of them were still out there, gathering food and what not.
'I doubt they would be happy to find someone who had killed their friends sleep soundly in their tent.'
Of course, the chances of it happening were remote, but I wasn't in the mood to tempt fate.Going back to the shack was close to impossible now. On my way to the hilichurls' camp I was a bit preoccupied with not being seen by a hilichurl. So I didn't pay that much attention to my surroundings and didn't know what way I now had to go. That left only one alternative.
'Guess I should head in the direction of that lake I'd seen.'
With any luck I should find some good place to rest. If not, I guess I could sleep up in the trees, though it would hardly be a pleasant experience.
With my mind made up I set out.
A/N: here's the second chapter. I will try to publish chapters more frequently but can't promise anything. In the next chapter we'll finally meet some of our beloved characters, so stay tuned. If you have anything to ask, advise or complain about feel free to let me know.Huge thanks to everyone for reading.
Replies:
DKay37 - thanks for the advice, I have a feeling it will come in handy :)
zerofire210 - thanks for the feedback. As for the yandere noelle: sorry but I can't promise anything. She seems too pure for this to me.
Onii-Chan - glad the story got your interest. :)
starry1O1 - neither can I!
TheMexicanAttcker - thanks and here's the chapter you waited for
chasticles69 - here's hoping the story will live up to that potential.
