Check out my new translation!
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Having avoided falling into Arataki Itto's arms, Victor Wang slowly asked in confusion, "You… why are you all here as well?"
"I—"
"Let me explain, boss."
Kuki Shinobu stopped Arataki Itto, who was about to speak, and explained in his place:
"I studied law at a literary academy in Liyue, but right before graduation, I went home to visit—and unfortunately ran into the Sakoku Decree. Recently, things in Inazuma aren't so busy, so I thought I'd come get my diploma.
"As for the boss, he wanted to visit the headquarters of the 'Pearl Bubble Franchise' in Liyue, go sightseeing, and meet you and Lumine. He wanted to give you two a surprise, so he didn't say anything in advance. But then, he accidentally got into a conflict with the Millelith… almost got arrested. Thankfully, Senior Yanfei happened to pass by and helped us out."
"A conflict with the Millelith?" Victor Wang turned to Arataki Itto. "What happened?"
"I told you, it was an accident! With this face, don't I look kind and gentle? Making a kid cry wasn't on purpose, okay? But they misunderstood me… and, well, you know me—I can't just swallow that kind of grievance. So when the Millelith came over, I got a little firm with them, and then we started arguing…"
"Since it's all over, let's not bring it up again." Kuki Shinobu cut off Arataki Itto's complaining, then introduced, "This is Yanfei—a very capable legal consultant. Back when I was studying at the academy, she even lectured in place of my teacher."
Yanfei smiled and waved at Victor Wang. "I know Victor; we just saw each other during the Moonchase Festival a few days ago. Thanks for the business, by the way."
Victor Wang kept a faintly wary posture. "How so? I don't recall ever hiring you to handle a lawsuit."
"Well… I should thank you both, actually. The business between you and Ningguang—the pearl-candy drinks, bubble gum, milk tea—counterfeit and infringement cases pop up constantly. But the commissions all came through Ningguang, so I suppose you didn't know. Anyway, thank you!"
Victor Wang accepted the explanation and asked, "Then how did you end up here?"
"Me? The rest of the story involves me, so I'll continue." Yanfei cleared her throat. "As a legal consultant, I sometimes need to travel for work. This time, I came to the Chasm because of a will found in an ancient text. The will mentioned that a certain adeptus's treasured artifact was lost here during a war, and they wanted it recovered."
At this point, Yanfei cast a strange side-glance at Arataki Itto. "And then this enthusiastic big brother here—because I'd helped him earlier—chased me all the way here, saying he wanted to repay the favor…"
"Savior! If not for you, I'd be in Liyue's big prison right now! You said you didn't need help, but who doesn't run into trouble when traveling? So I thought I'd follow you and leap out when needed—"
Arataki Itto slapped his huge hands together and opened them wide. "See? And you did run into trouble!"
"But you didn't need to literally leap down here! I was the only one stuck at first, and now you and Kuki Shinobu came down too…"
"Heh heh, that's what it means to share hardships!"
Yanfei looked at Victor Wang with an exhausted, aggrieved expression, as if saying: "See? There is no communicating with this man."
"To talk with Itto, you have to imitate his logic. That's the only way he'll get it." Victor Wang consoled her, then asked again, "So when you came down, it was just the three of you? And you didn't see anyone else after?"
Yanfei, Arataki Itto, and Kuki Shinobu exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
"There are others here?"
"Mm. I came down to look for someone—but she doesn't seem to be here."
"This place is super weird." Arataki Itto glared indignantly at the giant hole above them. "I tried using geo constructs to lift us back up, but no matter how hard I pushed, I couldn't see an end to it. And since we haven't been down here long, if anyone else came in, they must've already gone into that domain ahead."
Not long… Victor Wang noticed the [Two Ends of Beginning and End] trembling restlessly. There was some sort of temporal interference here—but since he willed it, the hourglass didn't dispel the distortion.
"We were just hesitating about whether to enter that domain. Since returning the way we came is impossible, we only have one choice—go forward."
Arataki Itto strode ahead boldly, with Kuki Shinobu and Yanfei following behind. Victor Wang hesitated for a moment, then followed.
In the original Perilous Trail incident, these three should have acted together with Lumine and Yelan. But now… it seemed only these three were here…
"There—this is the only exit besides going back up."
"A domain entrance? In a place like this…"
"The surrounding stone looks like old Liyue bedrock. This domain must've existed a long time. At this point, we can only go in and hope there's a way out."
As if in response to Yanfei's thoughts, the domain interior resembled a classic Liyue adepti dwelling. After simple puzzle-solving, the group found an exit.
Then things became strange—because the domain's exit connected back to the starting point: the same space they entered from.
But that wasn't all—the giant hole above them, the one everyone had fallen through, had disappeared. And…
The other Arataki Itto across the room widened his eyes. "What the—why is there another me?!"
The old Arataki Itto beside Victor Wang snapped back, "That's what I should be saying!"
"I'm the real one! You're the fake!"
"We have an extra member on our side, which means your side is the fake!"
"Victor! You're here too? Don't let that impostor fool you—who knows me better than me?!"
The new Kuki Shinobu tried to calm him. "Boss, calm down. That Victor… might also be fake."
"No way! There's only one Victor, so he must be the real one! We need to rescue him from those three fakes!"
The new Yanfei tried to reason as well. "If this place can copy us, making a fake Victor shouldn't be hard. He shouldn't trust anyone blindly."
The old Yanfei stared blankly. "This is the first time I've ever seen something like this…"
The old Arataki Itto pointed upward. "You don't have Victor, and you don't have the giant hole above either! Even the youngest kid in Hanamizaka would know who's real and who's fake!"
The new Arataki Itto argued back, "We did have one! It vanished after we went through that domain! And Victor—let me test you. Do you know Takuya?"
The old Arataki Itto froze. "How do you know Takuya?!"
The new Arataki Itto grinned proudly. "Told you—I'm the real one! You're the fake!"
Both sides' Kuki Shinobu looked utterly puzzled—they'd never heard of anyone named Takuya.