Player World.
With the conclusion of the Liyue storyline, the game Genshin Impact has seen an extreme surge in popularity.
The segment featuring Yun Jin even made it onto the news!
Not only in China, but countless overseas players also flocked to it, and the number of streamers broadcasting this game, both domestically and internationally, has grown. Many major streamers, seeing the game's popularity and traffic, have switched careers to stream it.
Chen Xiyao, also known as Guojia, has been streaming Genshin Impact since its launch. She is naturally beautiful, and her streams are very entertaining, leading to a massive increase in her followers. She is now clearly on the path to becoming a major streamer.
However, everyone seems to have noticed a problem: Genshin Impact's updates are quite slow.
It's generally updated once every two weeks.
Each update brings a lot of traffic to the streams, but it dwindles afterward.
Previously, Guojia would stream other content or play other games after guiding everyone through the storyline, but now she prefers to take everyone on 'farming' expeditions.
This beautiful open world conceals countless treasures, and she greatly enjoys the fun of exploration.
---
Another ten-plus days passed, and Genshin Impact ushered in a new wave of updates.
Teyvat Continent.
Lumine was able to use the Teleport Waypoint, taking Paimon from Liyue to Mondstadt in just a breath's time.
Upon arriving in Mondstadt, the two began to inquire and search for news of the golden-haired man.
Lumine was full of anticipation, finally meeting Dainsleif at the Angel's Share tavern.
Seeing that the person who arrived was not the one she wished to see, Lumine was inevitably a bit disappointed, but since she had come all this way, she naturally wouldn't just turn back.
The subsequent plot followed the main quest: Dain asked Lumine three questions, then explored the Temple of the Falcon, explained some matters concerning the Abyss to Lumine, then went to Wolvendom to search for the Abyss Herald, and finally went to Stormterror's Lair.
Here, Lumine felt Aether's presence directly for the first time.
She showed joy, because she at least knew Aether was here; he was in this world!
"Paimon, let's go."
Paimon: "Huh? Where to?"
"Back to Liyue."
Little Paimon rubbed her head: "Um, shouldn't we go see Ruola? It's been a long time since we last met."
Lumine thought about it and agreed; since they were already in Mondstadt, it would be a pity not to see Ruola.
"Okay, let's go, let's find Ruola!"
"Mhm!"
Perhaps their luck was good, as they had just approached Dawn Winery when they saw Venti and Ruola.
Paimon began waving his little hands from afar to greet them:
"Ruola, and the bard, look over here!"
"Oh, it's little Paimon!"
Ruola turned around and ran towards the two.
"I didn't expect to meet you here! You actually came back! How was Liyue? Did you see Qingge? I heard you even became great heroes there!"
"As expected of you two, you can cause such a stir wherever you go!"
Paimon was so praised that she floated up, grinning widely and laughing foolishly.
Venti: "Hello, Traveler."
Lumine curiously asked Venti:
"Venti, what are you and Ruola doing here?"
Before Venti could speak, Ruola explained:
"Lord Venti said he could teach me how to use elemental power!"
"It's rare for the bard to do something proper; that's truly a rarity."
"Ehe~"
After chatting for a while, Lumine and Paimon prepared to return to Liyue; they still had some unfinished business there.
---
In the live stream.
: "Seeing my cute little angel Ruola again, so great!"
: "Venti seems to really like Ruola, though I don't mean that kind of liking."
: "Haha, the person above can go read Venti's backstory. Ruola secretly stole Diluc's treasured wine from home for Venti to drink, so of course he likes Ruola."
: "Big brother-in-law is so miserable, his little cotton jacket stole from his home."
---
Liyue.
At the Adventurers' Guild, Lumine and Paimon met Ganyu. Ganyu was currently talking to Lan of the Adventurers' Guild.
The two approached and inquired, learning about the recent abnormal activities of the Treasure Hoarders in Liyue and Mondstadt, which seemed related to the Abyss.
Ganyu explained why she was there:
"Liyue has recently undergone tremendous changes, and the Qixing and Millelith are too busy to deal with these hearsay Treasure Hoarder activities."
"But, by my intuition, things related to the Abyss always hide unknown threats... So, I thought of coming to the Adventurers' Guild to post a commission."
After Ganyu finished speaking, Paimon immediately patted her small chest, confidently saying:
"Mhm, then we'll take this commission!"
"Mhm, thank you."
---
Player World.
We Will Be Reunited?
The name of this quest is quite strange; could it be about Lumine/Aether reuniting?
For unknown reasons, the game Genshin Impact does not have any previews; after an update, the quests are just directly presented.
However, these do not affect its popularity.
Guojia drank milk tea while carefully progressing through the storyline, occasionally checking the bullet comments and interacting with the audience, completely unaware of what she was about to face.
Of course, her stream's audience, and all players, were equally unaware.
---
Teyvat Continent.
Following the clues, Lumine and Paimon arrived at a ruin.
As soon as she entered this ruin, Lumine felt uncomfortable all over; her instincts seemed to be urging her to escape quickly.
"This place feels very wrong. Stay close to me, Paimon."
Paimon also sensed the unusual atmosphere and nodded solemnly.
As they slowly approached the center of the ruin, Lumine's ominous premonition grew stronger.
Players, sharing Lumine's perspective, felt their skin crawl as Lumine and Paimon delved deeper.
The surrounding environment increasingly resembled scenes from a horror movie, coupled with occasional blurring of the screen to convey the Traveler's uneasy premonition. Some timid players didn't even dare to continue exploring further.
: "666, miHoYo, you successfully scared me."
: "This is a 16+ game, right? There shouldn't be any horror scenes, right?"
: "Uh..."
---
Inside the Domain.
"Traveler, no scary guys are going to suddenly pop out here, right?"
Paimon cowered behind Lumine, cautiously looking around.
Lumine, after all, had lived for many years; she had her own judgment, and slowly led Paimon deeper into the Domain.
Slowly, they arrived at a platform.
As they got closer and saw the scene on the platform, Paimon's eyes widened. She pointed at a figure in front, her voice trembling as she said:
"Th-That... looks like a person!"
"Could it be... the Great Treasure Hoarder?"
"Is he praying to something?"
The figure was in an incredibly grotesque, twisted state, kneeling at the edge of the platform, bleeding from all seven orifices, looking extremely terrifying.
Suddenly, the object the figure was kneeling before made a sound, startling Lumine and Paimon.
When the two saw clearly what was making the sound, their hearts pounded fiercely.
"Th-That is..."
Lumine stepped forward, shielding Paimon:
"It's... a Statue of The Seven? A strange sight I've never seen before..."
In front of Lumine and Paimon was, astonishingly, Venti's Statue of The Seven, hanging upside down.
.
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