First stop: Mondstadt. We're back, baby! The City of Freedom, Wind, and Way Too Many Side Quests.
Naturally, our first move was to hit up Good Hunter, because listen-if the world's ending and a giant emotional dragon is having an existential crisis, you gotta eat good before facing that. Priorities.
"Let's get something to eat!" Paimon declared like she hadn't already been thinking about food since we left the cliff.
"Agreed," I said, dramatically tossing an apple I definitely stole-collected-from earlier. "My stomach just filed for bankruptcy."
We sat down and ordered the Good Hunter classics. Sticky Honey Roast, Chicken-Mushroom Skewers, and of course, my personal favorite: Sweet Madame. Because nothing screams "preparing for battle" like a roasted bird with a name that sounds like it works in a five-star brothel.
As we waited, I zoned out for a bit, thinking, Wait, what was the next part of the story again? Then it hit me. Right. After a few days, the whole gang would meet again at the Dawn Winery. The place where the wine's good, the owner's hot, and the conversations are all 80% passive-aggressive.
While munching down on my meat-on-a-stick like the refined gentleman I am, I pulled out my phone. Yep. Still had the Genshin Impact app. Still cursed. Still very useful. I tapped it open and there I was-my in-game self.
Still relatively weak.
But a bit stronger than when I first arrived.
"Not bad, me," I muttered.
Then I noticed something.
"Wait... Lumine's in my party?"
I glanced across the table. Yup. Same hair. Same mysterious glow. Same tendency to look mildly confused by my existence.
Cool cool cool. So either my app updated based on real-world events or I was experiencing a multiversal data breach. Either way, neat.
I opened my inventory. Materials, EXP books, a suspicious number of mushrooms. Just like the real game. I could work with this.
"We'll be fighting Dvalin soon," I muttered.
Lumine looked up. "Huh?"
"Nothing! Just thinking about our next big thing. First, we defeat some Abyss Mages and hilichurls. You know, warm-up mobs."
Paimon raised an eyebrow. "How do you know this stuff again?"
"Because I'm built different," I said, sipping apple cider like it was some kind of divine ambrosia. "Also... plot armor."
"But it won't stop there. We have to unseal Stormterror's lair." I added after being interrupted by the talking emergency food.
Paimon gasped. "Unseal?! That sounds like a lot of work..."
"Yup. And work means EXP. EXP means levels. Levels mean power. And power means... well, less dying, ideally."
"Less dying is good," Lumine added, chewing on her chicken skewer.
Food arrived, and I swear I saw my soul ascend. Real food. Not emergency rations, not berries I found under a bush. Real. Actual. Cooked. Meals.
I devoured everything like a man possessed by hunger and terrible survival skills. Paimon kept trying to steal bites, but I used the ancient ninja technique of "fork-blocking." Lumine just watched in horror.
Once we finished, I stood up dramatically. "Alright! Let's get to work."
Lumine and Paimon stood too, slightly terrified of my sudden motivation.
I pulled out my Adventure Handbook. Yup, daily commissions. A classic.
"Defeat a small horde of enemies. Perfect. Time to grind. Let's level up and get stronger. I'm getting the hang of my anemo powers, but I still can't float properly without accidentally flinging myself into a tree."
"You WHAT?!" Paimon yelped.
"Trial and error," I said. "Mostly error."
Three days. That's all we had. Three days to train. Three days to fight mobs and level up. Three days to prepare for unsealing a lair protected by death, dragons, and dramatic cutscenes.
We left Good Hunter with full stomachs and empty XP bars-soon to be filled. Probably. Hopefully.
Cue the montage music.
***
You ever punch a Mitachurl so hard it forgets its own name? Yeah, me neither-until today.
So, there we were. Me, Lumine, and Paimon, marching into the wilderness like we were about to drop the hottest mixtape of the season. The weather? Prime. My mood? Elevated. My stomach? Still full from Good Hunter's meat skewers. Life was good.
Our first commission? Classic hilichurl extermination. The little guys came running at us with torches, yelling nonsense. I blinked, flicked my Anemo sword out like I was flipping a pancake, and boom-next thing I knew, one of them was flying into the horizon like Team Rocket. I even said "ding" when it vanished. For style.
Then a Mitachurl stomped into view, all big and grumpy with its fire axe like it paid taxes and hated life. I tensed up, expecting a tough battle... and then my sword met its face with a clonk that echoed through the hills. It dropped like a sack of regret. I stood there, blinking.
"Did I just bodybag that thing?"
"Yes you did!" Paimon cheered, floating with sparkles in her eyes. "Who are you and what have you done with the dumb version of you?"
"Still here," I raised my hand. "Just slightly less dumb. Slightly."
We cleaned up the rest of the hilichurls and moved on to some slimes. Pfft. Don't even get me started. Those jellies didn't even know what hit 'em. I even started naming them out of pity-Jelly Steve, Wobble Tina, Poofball III. R.I.P.
A few more commissions later, we were rolling in Mora, items, and EXP like gods of grind. But the real kicker?
I opened a random chest and pulled out a bow.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "But Shigeru, you're a sword guy!" And I was. WAS. Past tense, baby. Because guess what?
I. Could. Use. It.
"What the hell-why can I use this?" I said aloud.
"Use what?" Lumine asked, looking over as I aimed and shot a slime in the eye like a budget Legolas.
"This bow! I'm not supposed to-wait. Wait wait wait." I whipped out a polearm from my bag like a magic trick. "No way."
Spin. Stab. Slash.
"NO WAY."
I grabbed a catalyst.
Boom. Magic sparkles.
A claymore?
Slammed it into the ground. Almost took my leg off.
"Okay, maybe not this one," I muttered, nursing my ankle.
Paimon floated over, jaw dropped. "Wait, you can use ALL of them?! That's like, cheating!"
"It's not cheating if it's me," I said, looking at the weapons in awe. "It's... innovative gameplay mechanics."
Thus began the era of training. I'm talking Rocky montage levels of dedication. Every night? I trained. Like actually trained. No goofy whining, no shortcut nonsense, just pure sweat and willpower.
Sword skills? Sharpened.
Bow? Robin Hood who?
Polearm? I was twirling it like a baton in a halftime show.
Catalyst? Sparkly explosions.
Claymore? Still no. But we don't talk about that.
And the best part? My Anemo powers. I could feel them getting stronger. I could pull enemies, slice the air, even jump a little higher. It wasn't flashy yet, but it was real.
One night, while Lumine and Paimon were asleep -well, Paimon was probably snoring somewhere in a tree,- I pulled out my phone.
Yup. The Genshin Impact app was still there.
Clicked on it.
Boom. My character popped up. Shigeru. Level... a lot higher than before. Not cracked, but noticeably improved. I even had stats now. Weapon mastery across the board. Anemo talents are rising.
But the thing that made my brain glitch?
I checked my inventory. Artifacts, materials, enhancement ores, even a damn fragile resin. I had never felt so rich.
This. This was the power of hard work.
I could get stronger. Not from quests or divine handouts. But by training. Like, straight-up training.
Sword swings? Boosts stats.
Elemental bursts? More damage over time.
If I kept this up... I could become something.
Someone.
Strong.
Respected.
A guy worthy of standing beside legends.
...A guy worthy of Nilou's hand.
YEAH, I SAID IT. SHE'S STILL ON THE LIST, BABY.
I closed the app and looked up at the stars.
"I'm gonna make it," I whispered. "Even if I suck now... I'll get there. Just you wait."
Cue a dramatic breeze and maybe a motivational backing track. I could almost hear the theme song.
Next up?
More commissions.
More fights.
More training.
Less Claymore.
Let's go.
And with that. Three days have passed. Three days. THREE. WHOLE. DAYS.
That's 72 hours, 4,320 minutes, and, uh... okay I didn't do the seconds math 'cause I ain't Zhongli with a pocket calculator brain, but you get my point. That's how long we've been grinding in this world. Lumine and Paimon? Fully ready. They're built different. Me? Emotionally unstable with a six-pack now.
Currently? We're chilling. Like, legit chilling. Found this peaceful lake in Windrise, birds chirping, Paimon eating some dried apples like her life depends on it, and Lumine's lying on the grass with this serene anime-protagonist energy. Meanwhile, me? I'm contemplating life with the enthusiasm of a philosopher who's been through ten existential crises.
I looked at them. Then at myself. Then at the lake. And said with the most serious face I've ever worn:
"I'm gonna take a soak."
Lumine blinked at me. "...Right now?"
"Yes."
"You do realize we're about to fight a massive ancient dragon with elemental rage issues, right?"
"Exactly. That's why I need the soak."
Priorities.
So here I am.
Shirt off. Knees deep in fantasy lake water. Shirtless anime protagonist arc unlocked. Not a single hilichurl in sight. I sat down in the shallow edge like I'm reenacting some dramatic K-drama scene. Looked up at the sky. Blue. Majestic. The clouds were like cotton candy that didn't want to be eaten. The sun was casting that golden hour glow. You know, that vibe that makes you wanna suddenly monologue about life?
So I did.
"I really am in Teyvat..."
It was still unbelievable. But not like, "I ate spicy ramen without dying" unbelievable. More like, "Holy shit, I'm literally inside my favorite game" kind of thing.
And man, it hit me. Like emotionally drop-kicked me in the heart.
Back on Earth... no family. No siblings. No nakamas. Just me, my tiny apartment, my average 9-to-5 work with basic salary, and my cracked phone playing Genshin Impact while eating cup noodles for the fifth time in a row. The only thing I looked forward to was rolling for Ayato and coping when I lost to Qiqi. Again.
Here though... it's different. I'm not just a player anymore. I'm a damn character. A side character? Sure. Maybe even an NPC that talks too much. But hey, I exist. I'm here. With Lumine and Paimon and whatever chaos awaits next.
Tears? Yeah. It was happening. Not the ugly cry, though. Just the cool guy version. Like, one manly tear and then a smirk. Except I think it was like, four tears. Okay, six. Whatever. Don't judge.
I chuckled. "I'm crying... what the hell, man."
But I didn't wipe them. I let them fall. 'Cause for the first time in forever, I felt something. I felt alive. Here in Teyvat, maybe I could be someone. Maybe I could finally do something that mattered.
And so, I made a vow.
Right there, half-naked in anime lake water, with the wind softly rustling through Windrise trees like a Ghibli movie.
"I'll become someone else. Someone cool. With style. With a damn purpose. And maybe, just maybe, someone worthy of marrying Nilou."
YEAH. I SAID IT. I DID.
AND THEN-
I got up. Water dripping. Muscles glistening. I looked down at my own body and I went:
"HOLY SHIT. WHEN DID I GET RIPPED?"
No seriously. Abs. Defined. Arms? Sculpted. Back? A literal Dorito. This wasn't me. This was Genshin Protagonist Mode. I looked like I just unlocked a gym membership in real life and used a cheat code called "hard work and anime logic."
Three days of real training. That's all it took. Morning runs, weapon practice, fighting everything that moved, and grinding like my virtual life depended on it. Because it kinda did.
And now? I was ready.
Kinda.
Mentally? Still a mess. Physically? Peak anime boyfriend material. Fashion-wise?
Let me tell you.
I pulled out the outfit I bought earlier from Mondstadt. Haven't worn it 'til now 'cause I was waiting for the right moment. Hoodie? Still folded in my inventory. Sentimental af. But this new outfit?
Bro.
It had the drip. No capes, 'cause that's too flashy. But there was this sleek black coat with wind embroidery, a white inner tunic with gold accents, and dark fitted pants that looked like I belonged in a cutscene.
Fantasy protagonist? Check. Simp hunter? Double check. Final boss in a DLC? Triple check.
I wore it. I posed. I did the anime hair flick thing.
Paimon came over and went, "WHAAAAT?! Who are you and where's the old Shigeru?!"
I smirked. "He died. Drowned in style."
Lumine just raised a brow. "...You look different."
"Different how?" I asked.
"...Like you actually know what you're doing."
I choked. "I don't."
We all laughed.
Except I was dead serious.
But hey. The point is-I was ready.
To fight. To train. To face dragons. To flex. To maybe flirt with cute NPCs. To live.
This is Teyvat. And I'm Shigeru.
From rock bottom... to risin' with Windrise.
Let's go, baby.
___________________________________________
End of Chapter 11
Quest Completed: Soak & Self-Realization
Rewards: Weapon Proficiency Unlocked, New drip, Coolness: Maxed, and Character Level Up