Whether or not you listen to my self-introduction doesn't really matter; it's similar to the game's introduction. The Traveler is from another world, and due to interference from an unknown god, her brother was captured. To find him, she decided to embark on a journey.
Then, a few months ago, while resting and fishing by the sea, she rescued Paimon from the water. Paimon is the best guide in Teyvat, and since then, the two have traveled together.
Shao Yun fiddled with the system as he listened, looking at his three main attribute values. The concretization of physical attributes made it much easier to see his physical condition.
Health, Stamina, and Death God's Eye values.
Core Health and Outer Health are your HP. Damage will first be deducted from Outer Health. Core Health will decrease when special alcohol is consumed. If both Core Health and Outer Health are depleted, you will become 'unconscious'. If you take further damage in this state, you will 'die'. Please cherish your life.
Core Stamina and Outer Stamina are your stamina bar. If Outer Stamina is too low, Core Stamina will be consumed. If both are depleted, you will be forced to stop running.
Death God's Eye is essentially the concretization of your marksmanship. When Death God's Eye is activated, visually, your surroundings slow down, but in reality, you are speeding up.
Friendly reminder: No one in the world of Teyvat has better marksmanship or reaction time than you.
Just as Shao Yun was checking the introductions of the three attributes, the two had finished recounting their stories and then looked at him.
"Is it my turn? I…"
Shao Yun was actually quite bewildered, but how he got here was like trying to figure out how and when he fell asleep—he really wasn't sure.
"Please use your new identity." A prompt appeared before him.
He had bound the system and gained a new identity, which he needed to use.
He looked at the introduction the system gave him and read it aloud.
"My name is Shao Yun. As the Traveler said, I'm pretty much the same. My whole life has been a journey, though to put it nicely, it's called traveling. In reality, I've just been drifting, with no fixed abode…"
The identity given by the system roughly meant that he was from the Red Dead Redemption world. He had lived with the Van der Linde Gang and had essentially not experienced a normal life. He was a sharpshooter, a killer, an arsonist, a highway robber, a Robin Hood, a helper of others—he had done both good and bad deeds.
Shao Yun basically performed based on the introduction the system gave him, seemingly reminiscing, but actually acting, pretending that he had experienced many, many things.
When he was narrating, he found it quite novel, like experiencing another life. Unconsciously, he felt as if he had truly lived through that period.
…
"Finally, they abandoned me, or to be precise, I abandoned them. I'm a gunslinger, an outlaw. I've killed people, and I've saved people. Once, someone asked me, 'Aren't you afraid of going to hell for what you do?' My answer was, 'I hope I suffer immensely when I die, otherwise I'll doubt if there's any retribution in this world.' Haha…"
Shao Yun leaned against the rock, a faint, self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. His laughter carried a slight tremor, as if he felt like a complete fool, as if everything he had done before was in vain, and his so-called past was just a farce.
"As for how I came to this world, I don't know. What I'm supposed to do, I also don't know. I have no goal, like a lone wandering ghost." He added a few more words as he acted to the extreme.
Shao Yun unconsciously immersed himself in his new persona, feeling that with such acting, if he didn't win an Oscar, it would be a disservice to himself. But Paimon, after hearing it, was truly moved, almost shedding tears.
"Boohoohoo, Shao Yun, you had such a terrible life before."
"I thought Paimon, you would be scared, or feel some other emotion, but I didn't expect you to be sad. I'm used to my past life." Shao Yun stroked Paimon's head. "There's no need to be sad for someone like me; it's not worth it."
After all, it was "falsehood." It felt inappropriate to see others saddened by his fabricated past.
Paimon wiped her tears and nodded.
"You're right, I need to be strong and optimistic."
Lumine pondered for a moment, then looked at Shao Yun, extending her hand in invitation: "Then, Shao Yun, if you don't have a clear goal, why don't you travel with us?"
Paimon chimed in, "Yes, yes, if you don't have a goal, then travel with us."
As soon as she finished speaking, a quest prompt popped up directly in front of Shao Yun.
"Main Quest: Travel with the Traveler and Paimon, and enjoy the story of Teyvat."
"Really? I used to be an outlaw." Shao Yun hesitated slightly. Were Lumine and Paimon really that trusting? His new persona was a sharpshooting outlaw.
Lumine's lips curved slightly upward, revealing a faint smile. Her smile was like the warm sun in spring, gentle and soft.
"I have some concerns, but since you've been so honest and told us about your past, I don't think you're particularly bad."
"Alright, thank you for your trust." Shao Yun extended his hand, and the three of them bumped fists. The original two-person team became a three-person team.
"Oh, right, Shao Yun, this should be yours." Paimon suddenly remembered something, flew behind a nearby rock, and laboriously held up a waist bag.
It looks so familiar, oh my goodness, isn't this the eastern legend backpack? It's like Doraemon's four-dimensional pocket; it can hold anything.
"Thanks, this is indeed mine." He hung the backpack on his waist, shook it, and it fit quite well.
"There are a few other things." Paimon was about to pick them up one by one.
"Thanks, but I'll get them myself. You don't have to fly back and forth."
Shao Yun refused Paimon's offer to get his things.
He went behind the rock, looking at the two holsters on the ground, and two cowboy Maika's Revolvers.
Both revolvers were gold-metallic with Baroque-style silver inlays.
"So they were here." He fastened the holsters and placed the two revolvers into them. His initial equipment from the system was now fully equipped.
With everything ready, they left the beach.
Shao Yun looked at the surrounding scenery. Although he had walked through this place countless times in the game, being here in person, feeling the incredibly real wind on his face, was a unique experience.
Paimon flew between the two, introducing the first stop of their journey, the beginner's village, Mondstadt.
"The first nation we're going to is Mondstadt, the city-state of poetry and freedom, the Anemo God's nation."
Paimon looked at the Traveler: "There's a reason we're coming to Mondstadt first. Language and poetry drift on the wind; perhaps there will be news of your brother."
She turned to Shao Yun: "And the scenery here is beautiful; it can help you relax."
Listening to Paimon's introduction, Shao Yun was truly moved. He was about to glimpse Mondstadt City, and the scene when he first played the game had truly shocked him.
Sure enough, following Paimon and the Traveler up the hill, they looked out, and the first thing that came into view was Starfell Lake with the Anemo God Statue, its waters like a mirror reflecting the sky. Mondstadt City in the distance was larger than expected, built on an island in Windrise, with towering city walls, the massive Mondstadt Cathedral, and windmills on the walls.
However, the three had different points of focus. Paimon and the Traveler were focused on the Statues of the Seven, while Shao Yun was focused on Mondstadt City in the distance.
The Traveler, just as in the plot, resonated with the Statue of the Seven. Paimon, seeing this, suggested,
"Why don't we get closer to the Statue of the Seven and see what surprises await?"
The Traveler nodded, and Shao Yun also agreed.
"Good idea."
Upon arriving at Starfell Lake, it was just a small pond in the game, but here it was truly a lake, clear to the bottom, with fish swimming back and forth.
Suddenly remembering something, Shao Yun pulled out a notebook from his backpack and began to sketch.
Shao Yun actually couldn't draw, but he was self-taught, his pen moving as if divinely guided, creating flowing strokes on the blank pages of his notebook.
The rustling sound of the pen on paper attracted the attention of the Traveler and Paimon. Both shifted their gaze from the statue to Shao Yun.
The Traveler leaned in, tiptoeing due to the height difference, and Paimon also quietly flew over, silently admiring.
Shao Yun didn't mind, generously letting them watch his drawing process.
"Shao Yun, are you drawing the Statue of the Seven?" The Traveler's mouth widened as she watched the image on the paper go from lines to clear detail.
"Yes, just recording it." At that moment, it was finished, a sketch of Starfell Lake.
Paimon perched on the Traveler's head: "Can we see?"
Shao Yun handed the notebook to the two, "Go ahead." Then, he entered the water.
Although the lake was large, he felt it was very shallow; the water only reached below his chest, and he could touch the lakebed.
He waded through the waters of Starfell Lake, walking to the Anemo God Statue.
He gently caressed the statue for a long time, but there was no reaction.
"It seems I won't casually gain elemental power like the Traveler." He felt a bit disappointed, but looking at the weapons at his waist, he felt relieved.
"Never mind, I'm here to enjoy the journey anyway. As for casually mastering elemental power…" He glanced sideways at the two who were still admiring the sketch in the notebook. "Let the Traveler and Paimon handle that."
He carefully felt the texture of the statue; it was somewhat like marble, yet not quite, just a very strange stone texture.
Moreover, beneath the statue, he felt as if a strange force was pressing down on his head, trying to make him bow. However, it was completely useless; if he didn't bow, he just felt something pressing him, and there was no other discomfort.
A single sketch was quickly admired enough, and only then did the two realize that Shao Yun was already at the Statue of the Seven.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot, Traveler, let's go check out the statue." Paimon closed Shao Yun's notebook and sent it across the lake to his hand.
Paimon could fly, but the Traveler looked at the lake and pondered for a moment. At this point, she could only swim across.
She stepped into the water, then floated, and began to swim towards the Statue of the Seven in the middle of the lake.
On the other side, Shao Yun put away his notebook and saw the Traveler struggling a bit with her swim. He immediately remembered his rookie days when he almost died in Starfell Lake.
With a quick stride, he jumped into the lake, performed a princess carry, lifted the Traveler, and carried her to the small island in the lake.
"Thank you…" The Traveler nodded when she landed on the ground.