(Leave your brain here and just enjoy the fun.)
Teyvat, Liyue, Chenyu Vale.
Summit of Mingyuan Mountain.
Mu Yang was muttering to himself in front of a glowing screen.
All of this had started just a few hours ago.
Mu Yang had originally planned to spend his weekend morning grinding Genshin Impact, pushing his exploration progress in Chenyu Vale to 100%. But just as he was about to finish, his vision went dark.
When he woke up again, he found himself atop Mingyuan Mountain, with only this so-called "Character Popularity System" interface before him.
After studying it for a while, Mu Yang spoke up:
"System, what exactly do you do?"
A synthetic female voice responded:
"This system is called the 'Character Popularity System.' As the name suggests, the host can customize their own background and skills to become a playable gacha character in Genshin Impact, gaining popularity among players."
"By accumulating popularity, you can grow stronger, and this system's functions will expand accordingly."
After hearing the explanation, Mu Yang was a little speechless.
Other transmigrators got overpowered comprehension skills, started as some Adepti or Fatui Harbinger—meanwhile, he got stuck with this lousy interface.
Not only that, but he had to rely on players pulling for him to grow stronger...
And becoming a popular character meant he'd inevitably become the subject of all kinds of unhinged fan creations.
He might even end up on certain R18 pink websites...
Still, that was all tolerable.
What really made him lose it was the current timeline.
As someone who started playing during the Inazuma patches and had been playing for two and a half years, Mu Yang was confident he could handle this system. He still remembered the major plot points.
But right now, he was in Chenyu Vale.
"System, did you bring me to the wrong place?"
"This is Chenyu Vale! Chenyu Vale wasn't even released until Version 4.4!"
"The Lantern Rite's already over—where the hell am I supposed to make an appearance?"
"Should I swim to the Court of Fontaine and visit Chiori's boutique?"
The system understood his concern and linked the interface to a feed of parallel Earth.
Over there, Genshin Impact hadn't even launched yet.
"This is a parallel version of Earth where Genshin Impact hasn't been released."
So he could start from Mondstadt?
That opened up so many possibilities.
Mu Yang's excitement instantly flared up.
"Hehehe… Let me test my blade!"
Though Mu Yang had joined during Inazuma, he'd been emotionally scarred by the game's tragedies by now.
At this moment, he couldn't wait to throw himself into the plot and deliver some devastating emotional damage to the players.
He opened the system interface and configured the following settings:
Name: Mu Yang
Vision: Cryo
Constellation: Lone Guardian
Weapon Type: Sword
Affiliation: Chenyu Vale
Title: Oath of the Sunken Blade
[Normal Attack: Cloud Terrace Tri-Strike] – Performs up to three consecutive sword strikes.
Charged Attack: Consumes stamina to unleash a circular slash around himself.
If Mu Yang has at least one stack of Sword Intent, the Charged Attack consumes one stack to deal increased damage.
Plunging Attack: Dives from mid-air to strike the ground, dealing AoE damage.
[Elemental Skill: Azure Dragon's Lunge] – Dashes forward with a piercing thrust, summoning an ice dragon that damages enemies in its path.
Grants non-overridable Cryo infusion for 12s.
Cooldown: 8s.
[Elemental Burst: Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers] – Mu Yang unleashes the pinnacle of his swordsmanship, slashing with blinding speed to send out a blade aura capable of sundering the earth.
Enemies hit enter a Stasis state for 6s.
While in Stasis, an Ice Clone is summoned every second.
These clones mimic Mu Yang's sword techniques, attacking the afflicted enemies (off-field).
Energy Cost: 80
Cooldown: 18s
[1st Passive Talent: Sword Intent] – Each Normal Attack hit grants one stack of Sword Intent (max 5 stacks).
Each stack increases Cryo DMG by 5% and lasts 15s.
Gaining a new stack after reaching the maximum refreshes the duration of the oldest stack.
[2nd Passive Talent: Untraceable] – After casting Azure Dragon's Lunge, nearby characters gain interruption resistance, ignore the first instance of damage taken, and counterattack.
[3rd Passive Talent: Soaring Cloud] – When out of combat, jumping is replaced with light-footed movement (canceled after 3s in combat).
[1st Constellation: Wandering Dragon] – Increases Azure Dragon's Lunge's maximum charges by 1.
[2nd Constellation: Spellbreaker] – Enemies hit by Azure Dragon's Lunge suffer interrupted casting, reduced movement speed, and are disarmed for 3s.
[3rd Constellation: Stellar Shift] – Increases Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers's level by 3 (max 15).
[4th Constellation: Rain of Blades] – Enemies hit by the initial slash of Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers have their DEF reduced by 40% for 10s. Subsequent clone attacks deal 10% increased damage.
[5th Constellation: Chasing the Moon] – Increases Azure Dragon's Lunge's level by 3 (max 15).
[6th Constellation: Mist and Radiance] – After casting Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers, immediately gain 5 stacks of Sword Intent and 80 Energy, and reset the cooldowns of Azure Dragon's Lunge and Sword Traverses Mountains and Rivers. Can only trigger once every 60s.
Mu Yang finished setting up his skills according to his preferences—a simple, old-school Cryo DPS.
As for why Cryo?
Well, Cryo characters tend to have tragic backstories, which made it easier to craft his narrative.
Next was his character background.
The system reminded him that background settings would alter Teyvat's perception of him, requiring him to personally simulate the events.
Since this would consume a large amount of popularity, Mu Yang could only provide a rough outline for now and fill in the details later.
Mu Yang couldn't help but complain:
"You couldn't even give me a starter pack? How stingy can you get?"
His background was set as follows:
A mysterious swordsman of Chenyu Vale.
Guards a sword pool atop a snow-covered peak.
Rumored to be an adeptus.
Harbors a hidden past.
Seems tied to the forgotten history of Chenyu Vale.
Next was his splash art.
This part was easy—Mu Yang just visualized it in his mind, and the system rendered it on-screen.
A silver-haired young man in black-and-white traditional attire, with a jade pendant and Cryo Vision hanging at his waist.
In his right hand was an eerie sword—its scabbard seemingly wrapped in white branches, its guard adorned with three Soulwarding Flowers.
"This should be good enough."
Mu Yang clicked Confirm.
The settings took effect.
The grassy mountaintop collapsed inward, transforming into a frost-covered lake. The temperature plummeted, but Mu Yang felt no cold—once his configuration was complete, he had become a Cryo Vision bearer.
His hair turned white, and his clothes shifted to match the splash art.
Suddenly, he felt weightless.
Fragments of memories flashed before his eyes—
In a small pavilion, he, Fujin, Lingyuan, and Yaojun were drinking and laughing together.
Then, in a blink—
Yaojun was sliced apart before his eyes.
Mu Yang drew the sword from the splash art—
"Withering Glory: Snow Burial Over a Thousand Peaks."
—and charged at the blurred figure of his enemy.
In an instant, a storm of emotions overwhelmed him: rage, helplessness, loneliness, betrayal…
All of it felt terrifyingly real.
It took him a while to steady himself.
System: "Tsk tsk. You haven't even started, and you're already self-destructing just to traumatize the players. Impressive."
Mu Yang wasn't bothered.
They were just simulated memories.
He knew the difference.
He began descending the mountain toward Yilong Wharf.
Despite never having been here before, he moved with unfamiliar familiarity, as if he'd lived in Chenyu Vale for years.
In his backstory, his swordsmanship at its peak could rival that of a god.
And his signature weapon—"Withering Glory: Snow Burial Over a Thousand Peaks"—was the key to sealing an ancient evil within the sword pool.
But since his settings weren't fully implemented yet, neither the sword nor the sealed entity existed.
He didn't actually have to stand guard here.
Besides, it was time to start causing trouble and rack up some popularity.
"Hahha! The fun is about to begin!"