Now then, with Cifera stretched across my shoulders and backpack, we watch Xiangling finally disappear into the passage.
"So, where are we going now?" asks Arye with a sigh.
"For now, we are heading on the path to Qingce Village."
Tilting her head, Mom asks, "Oh, but why?"
"To get a boat and cross to a specific area. Once there, after a small trek, we can reach my destination and finally—afterwards, with new hopes, and hopefully dreams—head to Liyue Harbor."
A small silence then follows as she looks at me and pointedly gazes where Xiangling just went.
I rub the back of my head in slight embarrassment. "I don't want to talk about it… I know, I know you are worried and curious, but right now I just want to forget about that… please?"
Her gaze, which moments ago was twisting into me like a dagger in my heart, finally turns away, simply overlooking the larger body of water that was either a river or a lake. I don't remember.
A small sigh follows, and silence returns. Bowing my head in discomfort at the awkward atmosphere, I wonder if she is annoyed or disappointed.
I look up; the sky is clear, but the sun is edging down. I should probably start walking if we don't want to camp right beside the path, which isn't very safe.
Hours pass as we walk, lightly chatting about what we will do when we get to Liyue. As the sun sets, we arrive right in front of the ruins at the bottom of Wuwang Hill and set up tents roughly half a kilometer from the road.
The sky has darkened, and the three of us are by the fire: Cifera on my mom's lap, me on the other side poking the fire with a stick for some reason, and Arye just petting the grey pile of fur.
The stars are quite bright in Teyvat's sky. Interestingly enough, I can spot several constellations: Crista Doloris… a very fascinating constellation that feels like a release from my worries. D###na ###pes—I don't fully recognize this one, but it feels playful. Pan- Ocelota—was that its name? C####### H##########, the moon covers it, so I can't recognize it, and Fulgur Sereni seems to scream at me.
I look around the bright sky, the false moon hanging brightly, a symphony of stars forming constellations accompanying it. The mark on my hand glows under the moon's brilliance. Now that I look closer, some of the constellations are brighter than others.
#####labos. Leo Minor was so bright, yet seems to be fading now that I look closer. Vulpes Umbrata just looks to be moving away. Lu### M###ris, Felis ####, #### Fuscus, Ignis Purgatorius seems bright but is way off in the distance, and Rosa Multiflora is just to the side of it, both quite bright.
Batman POV:
A day has passed, and the schematics I gave for brewing to my workers seemed to make them quite grateful. They told me that while some were indeed new, other parts fixed issues they've been having, and lastly, a small part was considered redundant.
I had taken a look at the firearms that were left for me: the "AK-47," an "UZI," and a "Barrett .50 cal (M82A1)"… the naming scheme is certainly unique.
I have yet to fire any of them, as I have yet to find the box with the ammo… Sane seemingly purposefully decided to make the boxes as randomized and unorganized as possible.
Then there is the fact that he left at least five boxes full of "Batman" comics with my face plastered on every cover.
This gives me a headache.
I had, of course, chosen to take a look at the information about the Fatui, especially how apparently they are after the "Gnosis," which are described as "godly chess pieces" owned by the Archons. The one to come to Mondstadt is Signora, who apparently has "valid beef" with Barbatos. Also, I think he might have unintentionally told me "Venti" is Barbatos, as there are several times he seemed to have erased and rewritten this… he didn't erase well.
Sometimes I wonder, is that man a manipulator or a fool with wisdom?
Sane POV:
The morning came and went. Not much happened in general, but my back was sore.
Mother had made breakfast of eggs and bacon, a salad, and a dessert of Sunsetia fruits.
The morning sea breeze was refreshing, and the sun was warm. Nearby, there seemed to be a group of Hilichurls minding their own business.
Interesting how they chose to ignore us. Cifera was currently sitting beside me, eating fish, while I finished up my own breakfast.
I wonder, has Jean yet made it back to Mondstadt? Has she gotten some time to rest?
Then Diluc… how badly did I manage to piss him off by now? Did he get to the booby-trapped prank boxes yet?
insert Dawn Winery
From atop the balcony, a rainfall of pink glitter falls down as an unfortunate redhead opens a box on the way to his office.
Oh, and I hope Venti stubs his toe and falls face-first into horse dung.
insert Barbatos vs Fate:
Round 1 Begin!
Fate: inconveniently placed chairBarbatos: Jump!Fate: signboard aboveBarbatos: faceplant
Round 2:
Barbatos: walking down main roadFate: Eula mad = icy slopeBarbatos: turns to the rightFate: pothole!Barbatos: stubs his toe "God damn it, this is the 5th time today!"
Round 3:
Fate: weak branchBarbatos: wind supportFate: horse dung heat-seeking missileBarbatos: "What—no—" wretches
Fate wins 3–0!
After breakfast, we continued heading toward Qingce Village. The walk was mostly filled with us simply talking to each other. We soon passed the ruins and ended up by a waterfall, where we set up temporary camp mainly so that we could wash/shower, in bathing suits of course.
Now, time for doing the daily gacha spell thing.
3… 2… 1…
And—6 orbs… cool. Wait, no, seven. Sorry, miscounted.
Oh sweet, the oddly useful note that somehow accompanies everything summoned:
"1 Random and 6 optimizations…"
Eh, right—
I approach to pick up the smallest, centre one, only for it—and the other six—to jump me and dissipate… weird.
After we washed, we started walking through the bamboo forest and managed to reach the first few houses of the village that were by a dock on the water.
Considering it was getting dark soon, the best option was to simply see if we could rent a room, which was done quickly but costly—about 130,000 Mora.
As we went to sleep, I checked up on SK's progress, and it seems that the editing was finished, with several versions of the videos, as well as an edited version of my confrontation with Jean and me packing the surprises for Diluc… looks fun. Some were even first-person.
The fighting scenes were perfectly slowed down and timed to the music that played in my head, while the cuts perfectly removed the boring stuff.
…Yeah, let's just upload this to YouTube and see how long it takes for someone to call it "AI slop." How many people would actually watch it, though? I mean, sure, I managed to separate about 5 hours of video into 13 videos that are ~20 minutes, but who'd care about that?
Oh, maybe during the domain I should do something akin to a live stream to catch people's attention, because no way that'll be ignored, right? If I do that, I'll probably need to verbally respond to the live stream or just make "coincidences" that answer questions the chat asks. That'd make it popular, right?
The night was quiet, the moon bright outside the window. Cifera, for some reason, fell asleep on my chest—light, warm, and fluffy. Oh, did I mention she fell asleep on my bare chest? Her breath tickled my skin as I wondered if and how I should mess with her.
Mom was already asleep, likely a bit tired from the long walk. I simply lay in bed, under the moonlight, completely awake.
I did not feel tired or sleepy, just kind of lost. I still have this feeling of unreality from ending up in Teyvat, nevertheless with my mom and Cifera.
Considering I managed to catch Jean's attention, get trained by Varka, befriend Kaeya and Venti, and surely piss off Diluc.
Then, well, I also got strong, fast—and I did it fast… I also killed, and got over that pretty fast… can I even call this… me?
Who even am I in this world?
Am I still the same happy but cynical and slightly retarded idiot? I don't feel like I am. If anything, I feel smarter and better in every way… I feel like I want to tell this to everyone, to lord it over them.
That idea just reminds me of some unpleasant types I've seen in anime—like, uh, Gilgamesh, the arrogant Goldilocks king, or that Homelander guy with an ego longer than the span of the universe.
So… am I still me?