(This story follows an independent original storyline. The author will do their best to avoid portraying characters out of character. If there are any issues with the characterization or plot, please feel free to point them out.)
Ever since Tang Wang had transmigrated bodily into Genshin Impact, he had carefully followed the course of the original story.
He believed the best possible ending for Teyvat was undoubtedly to be saved by the Traveler. As for him, a run-of-the-mill transmigrator, he was better off staying out of that mess.
That lasted until he saw someone who absolutely should not have been there while carrying out a commission...
At the sight of the figure's all-black outfit, smooth, silky white hair, and unmistakable doll-like face... he froze on the spot.
For the person lying on the ground at Wuwang Hill was none other than the legendary Ruler of Death: Ronava.
Wait, what? he roared inwardly. The timeline's wrong, isn't it?
At this point, Dvalin is still causing trouble, Zhongli hasn't faked his death yet, Inazuma just closed its borders, Sumeru's ruler is still offline, and Fontaine's Fufu is still cosplaying as the Hydro Archon. As for Natlan... oh, I didn't pay much attention to Natlan's story.
Anyway, no matter how you look at it, Ronava shouldn't be here, right?
The story began some time earlier, when he was still working on a daily commission called "Dangerous Haul."
"Other people get all kinds of perks when they transmigrate..." Tang Wang complained in front of a Hilichurl camp.
"Why don't I get anything except access to a Shadow Domain that can hold a lot of stuff?"
As he spoke, the spear in his hands whirled at an outrageous speed. Within a few exchanges, every Hilichurl in his path had fallen.
Their bodies burned away into streams of light. Tang Wang understood that he couldn't kill these monsters for good. After some time, they would emerge from the ley lines again.
"Roar!!!" The Stonehide Lawachurl's furious bellow rang out from the enormous round hut in the distance.
"Quiet, I'm complaining here!" Tang Wang planted his spear against the ground and spun through the air. A sweep of his spear interrupted the Lawachurl as it gathered elemental power.
"Man, come to think of it, when I first arrived, even fighting a Hilichurl was a matter of life and death for me." Looking at the Lawachurl raging helplessly before him, Tang Wang couldn't help smiling again.
"Now, by the game's standards, I probably count as a local legend, right?"
A massive fist slammed into the ground, sending dust billowing into the air. Yet when the dust cleared, it was the seemingly invincible Lawachurl that lay on the ground.
Tang Wang stood beside it, a faint layer of golden light radiating from his body. It was called "Gang Qi," a "traditional martial arts secret technique" he had picked up in an insignificant corner while exploring a domain.
According to the manual, it was a secret technique left behind by a nameless martial sage of Liyue during the Archon War. It was meant to draw on some kind of... Human Realm Power? Tang Wang didn't know much Genshin lore. All he knew was that it worked well and was easy to practice.
"Possess the virtues of the strong, the disposition of a martial artist, and the compassion of a human, and you may obtain a power that only humans can wield..." Tang Wang waved a hand, and the golden light finally faded.
"That's a load of crap. Are there really humans who don't have those three things?"
Complaints aside, he still had a commission to turn in. After spending most of the day on the road, he hurried back to the Liyue branch of the Adventurers' Guild and reported its completion to Katheryne.
"Thank you for completing today's commission!"
Whenever Tang Wang heard Katheryne's ever-unchanging, sweet voice, he instinctively got goosebumps.
"So, Miss Katheryne," he said, forcing down the disgust churning inside him as he asked again, "when exactly will that Danika you mentioned be coming to Liyue?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, in about two months."
Katheryne's answer was brief and straightforward. What she didn't say outright was that an important figure wanted Danika to have a smooth journey. That was why S-rank adventurers like them had received commissions related to her.
"All right, all right." He waved a hand. "So, has no one else really taken that Wuwang Hill commission?"
"Other than you, there's a team of rookie adventurers. But..." Katheryne trailed off, the implication clear.
"Fine, fine. I'll take them along."
And so, an adventure destined to become legend began. But before it all started...
"Young friend Tang Wang, you are sure to have a remarkable encounter on this journey." In front of Tian Tie Zui's storytelling stall, a mysterious man holding a teacup suddenly called out to him.
Tang Wang turned to look. The man was none other than Zhongli. As a textbook transmigrator, he naturally knew Zhongli was the Geo Archon. And from their previous interactions, Zhongli also knew that Tang Wang knew he was the Geo Archon.
But Tang Wang understood that Zhongli didn't want him to expose that identity, and Zhongli wouldn't expose his identity either. So the two old foxes tacitly played along with each other.
"Oh? It's the Geo... Mr. Zhongli." He turned back with a smile. "What exactly is this remarkable encounter you speak of?"
"I wonder, have you heard that beyond the seven gods of the mortal realm, upon the thrones of the heavens, sit beings of even greater honor and exaltation?"
"I've heard a little about them in Liyue's storytelling performances." Tang Wang nodded along.
"Is that so? Then there is no need for me to explain further." Zhongli's tone seemed to grow considerably lighter all at once. "In any case, I hope you will keep this journey to yourself and let no one else know."
"Naturally."
Hearing that, Tang Wang immediately understood that this job would be anything but easy.
"Then should I tell those kids not to come along?"
"There is no need." Zhongli shook his head gently. "Being too deliberate would be rather like plugging one's ears while stealing a bell."
"All right." With that, Tang Wang turned to leave.
"Wait." Just then, Zhongli called him back. "Did you bring any money?"
"...Boss, I'll pay for his tea." After tossing out a bag of Mora, Tang Wang set off for Wuwang Hill.
Watching him leave, Zhongli once again hesitated to speak. In his eyes, the boy worked quite hard. Yet he also knew the boy didn't need to work so hard.
Recently, weapons that existed only in myth had appeared in Teyvat. Those things should not have existed-if Tang Wang had never arrived.
The problem now was that he had to personally reclaim that thing, and most of the help available within Teyvat would be of no use to him.
Thus, whenever Zhongli saw Tang Wang, he would spend quite some time wrestling with the matter. He couldn't be sure whether the boy was ready to reclaim that thing.
"All right, everyone, let's get going." Elsewhere, facing in the direction of Wuwang Hill, Tang Wang silently activated a certain function of his Shadow Domain.
Following behind him were several bright-eyed... "children." Most of them had only recently come of age, and their eyes still sparkled with curiosity and anticipation for the world.
"Mr. Tang Wang, just how much Mora can you get from one S-rank adventurer's commission?"
"The amount of Mora depends on the commission itself. It doesn't have much to do with the adventurer's own abilities."
"Mr. Tang Wang, is Wuwang Hill a scary place?"
"It only looks creepy. It's actually very peaceful there, with Director Hu and the others around."
They chatted along the way, and by the time they reached Wuwang Hill, the sun had already set. Gloomy twilight covered the entire sky, and before them, clusters of ghostly flames flickered with a shimmering light like rippling water.
The others accompanying him trembled involuntarily, but when they saw Tang Wang's confident expression, they involuntarily grew somewhat calmer.
"Everyone, our commission is to retrieve an artifact from here. You should all have a few artifacts yourselves, right?"
"The one we're retrieving this time is a legendary four-star artifact. According to the client, it should be right-"
Before he could finish, Tang Wang's gaze was drawn to a figure lying on her side on a stone slab in the distance.
And that was none other than the legendary Ruler of Death, Ronava.