Teyvat.
Liyue Harbor, Yujing Terrace.
Yujing Terrace stood at the highest point in the heart of Liyue Harbor. It was a vast plaza, its paving and railings all crafted from white jade, making for a magnificent sight.
The annual Rite of Descension was taking place there. Huge crowds surrounded the plaza, while numerous Millelith soldiers maintained order.
Presiding over the rite at the center was a noblewoman with white hair and red eyes, wearing an antique hairpin. Even her black-and-white qipao could not conceal her stunning figure.
She glanced at the blazing sun overhead to confirm the time.
"The auspicious hour has arrived."
Her hands moved swiftly as she cast a spell, conjuring several yellow gemstones that radiated a majestic aura.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The gemstones shot from the noblewoman's hands and soared into the sky.
Everyone present stopped their idle chatter, their faces filled with anticipation as they waited.
Suddenly, fierce winds swept across the sky. What had been clear and cloudless moments before turned pitch-black, accompanied by flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.
Boom!
After a burst of chaos, an enormous dragon's corpse fell from the sky into the center of Yujing Terrace, raising a massive cloud of dust with a deafening crash. Fortunately, this was the most important part of the ritual grounds, where no one would normally stand. Otherwise, someone would surely have been injured.
Once the dust cleared, everyone looked over.
Alongside the enormous dragon's corpse stood a handsome boy in strange clothes, with white hair, black eyes, and a utterly bewildered expression.
This was our protagonist-Zhong Baiye.
Zhong Baiye had yet to register what was happening. His mind was still on the piercing agony of losing seven consecutive 50/50s while trying to get Zhongli to C6.
He was just an ordinary college student, after all. To get C6 Zhongli, he had hoarded his pulls for half a year, enduring endless torment on the forums from fans of Heavenly Emperor Kazuha and Heavenly Empress Yelan.
Who could have guessed that miHoYo's supposedly fifty-fifty odds would single him out like this?
Not only had he lost every 50/50, but even his guaranteed Zhongli pulls had taken nearly ninety wishes each.
"Damn you, miHoYo! My C6 Zhongli!"
When he came to his senses, he looked around.
This was nothing like his dorm room. His computer and his roommate "daddies" had all vanished.
All that remained was a group of murderous-looking armored soldiers pointing spears at him.
"Huh? Have mercy, guys! I've got an eighty-year-old mother to support and hungry little kids to feed!"
Zhong Baiye had never seen anything like this. He immediately dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.
[Ding!] [Host's arrival in Teyvat detected. Genshin Impact Story Check-In System activated.]
Hearing the voice inside his head, Zhong Baiye wiped away the tears he had only managed to squeeze out by viciously pinching his thigh, his eyes darting about slyly.
"Huh? Why aren't they moving?"
Only then did Zhong Baiye notice that ever since the voice had sounded, all the noise around him had stopped. The dust kicked up from the ground hung motionless in the air.
He brushed the dust off his clothes and prepared to stand up to see what was going on.
[Genshin Impact Story Check-In System activated.] [Current story detected: "Of the Land Amidst Monoliths." Check in?]
At the question of whether he wanted to check in, Zhong Baiye finally understood what had happened.
He recalled how, just as he was about to pull his final constellation for Zhongli, his computer screen had suddenly flashed gold.
One of Zhongli's pillars had broken through the dimensional barrier and hurtled straight at his face.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already here.
Judging by the system's name, this had to be Teyvat.
That pillar had brought him into the world of Genshin Impact.
As for the title "Of the Land Amidst Monoliths," sure, he was an ancient veteran at Adventure Rank 60, but who remembered quest titles when playing a game?
[Ding! Beginner protection period has ended. Check-ins will remain available as normal.]
Just as Zhong Baiye was about to check in, he suddenly heard that announcement.
The next moment, the suspended dust began drifting again, and the murderous-looking soldiers slowly closed in on him.
"Hey! Not the face! I make my living with this face!"
The enraged Millelith soldiers paid no attention to Zhong Baiye. They swarmed him and slammed his face hard into the ground.
It took every ounce of Zhong Baiye's strength just to raise his head enough to survey his surroundings.
A mature beauty who looked remarkably like Ningguang was examining the enormous dragon-shaped creature in front of her with one hand.
Ningguang shook her head, slowly rose, and issued an order with a solemn expression.
"Rex Lapis has been murdered. Seal off the scene. Take the suspect away. I will interrogate him personally."
Seeing this and recalling the earlier mention of "Monoliths," Zhong Baiye immediately recognized the famous Genshin Impact plot point-the assassination of Rex Lapis.
Rex Lapis was one of The Seven who ruled over Teyvat, and Liyue's guardian deity for thousands of years.
Knowing the story well, Zhong Baiye naturally knew that the assassination was merely a plan Zhongli had devised to ditch his job... to test the people of Liyue.
But now the deity's corpse lay right beside him, and he was the closest person to it.
No matter how anyone looked at it, he was the prime suspect in the assassination of Rex Lapis.
This was not merely Zhong Baiye's own assessment. The Millelith soldiers escorting him looked as though they wanted nothing more than to kill him on the spot.
"Pah! How dare you assassinate Rex Lapis? We'll send you to The Chasm for hard labor!"
"Hard labor would be letting him off easy. Better to lock him inside one of Hulao Mountain's giant amber formations. I heard you can still feel everything in there, but you can't move even if you want to."
Hearing the Millelith soldiers already discussing how to deal with him as a criminal, Zhong Baiye felt a chill run down his back.
Suddenly, a long-haired woman who looked like a secretary spoke up, reprimanding the chattering soldiers.
"Quiet! Once Lady Ningguang has interrogated him, an appropriate way to deal with him will be decided."
Her voice was not loud, but the moment she mentioned Ningguang, the soldiers escorting him fell silent.
Oh, shit. What am I going to do? If they really take me for the mortal who assassinated Rex Lapis, my brand-new journey through Teyvat is going to turn into a stint as a miner in The Chasm.
Zhong Baiye felt none of the excitement that should have come with being transported into Teyvat.
He was now a suspect in Millelith custody, about to face trial.
All he could think about was how to escape.
In the game, Lumine had also been treated as a suspect because she was a newcomer, but she had ultimately managed to escape.
Zhong Baiye's situation, however, was completely different from Lumine's. She had been able to flee because she had not been caught. He was already firmly restrained by several burly Millelith soldiers, with no chance of getting away.
Right, didn't it ask me if I wanted to check in earlier? Maybe checking in will give me something that can clear my name.
Before you continue