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[Start of the chapter] The gilded dome overhead was adorned with a glittering crystal chandelier.
Warm white light spilled across the subtly patterned velvet carpet, making the wave motifs carved into the wooden pillars around the room appear even more exquisite.
This was the top floor of the Palais Mermonia.
Furina’s private suite.
Every furnishing exuded the extravagance of Fontaine’s court.
Yet at this moment, that elegant atmosphere had been shattered by sheer panic.
Furina was curled up beside a chaise lounge.
Snow-white cushions covered its surface.
Her long blue-and-white hair clung messily to her cheeks.
Normally, her blue-violet eyes were filled with pride and lively spirit.
Now, they held nothing but fear.
Tears fell like pearls from a broken strand.
They slid down her delicate chin and struck the velvet carpet, leaving tiny damp spots behind.
Her hands clutched the hem of her dress with all their strength.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
She kept repeating the same words, her voice choked with tears, hurried and terrified: ‘Don’t kill me…
Don’t kill me…’ ‘I can’t die.
I really can’t die!’ Fukui Toki stood in the middle of the room.
He stared blankly at the scene before him.
His head was still buzzing.
His thoughts were so muddled that it felt as though his skull had been stuffed with cotton.
Just a few seconds earlier, he had still been sitting in front of his computer.
His finger had just clicked the Wish x10 button in Genshin Impact.
Golden light flashed across the screen again and again.
Before he could even get a clear look at the result showing nine five-stars in a single ten-pull, a sharp pain suddenly tore through his chest.
His vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in this unfamiliar yet magnificent place.
‘Well, damn…’ Toki instinctively raised a hand and touched his chest.
There was no wound and no pain.
Only a strange sense of weakness remained.
He couldn’t help complaining inwardly.
‘Did I get so ridiculously lucky with my pulls that I burned through my entire lifespan?’ ‘And got transported straight into another world?’ He looked around.
There was no fire burning in the ornate fireplace, yet it gave off a faint warmth.
Oil paintings depicting Fontaine’s seascapes hung on the walls.
A faint floral fragrance drifted through the air, mixed with the crisp freshness of seawater.
There was none of the eerie gloom he would have expected from the afterlife.
‘Wait a minute.’ ‘Why would the afterlife have Western-style palace decor?’ ‘And why is it this luxurious?’ His gaze returned to the trembling girl with blue-and-white hair.
Toki frowned.
For some reason, her face looked incredibly familiar.
Those blue-violet eyes.
That unmistakable blue-and-white hair.
And the white ceremonial dress embroidered with wave patterns.
Everything about her resembled the figure he had seen over and over again while pulling in the game.
She looked almost exactly like…
Furina, the Hydro Archon of Fontaine!
But the Furina before him possessed none of the dignity or composure expected of the Hydro Archon.
There was only fear that seemed to have sunk into her very bones.
She was completely different from the Hydro Archon he remembered—the one who loved putting on a brave front and playing her part.
After hesitating for a moment, Toki tentatively spoke.
His voice was still slightly hoarse.
‘Um…
hello?’ The moment the words left his mouth, Furina reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Her head snapped up, her face pale as paper.
The terror in her eyes grew even stronger.
Even her crying became shriller.
She clutched her head with both hands and desperately shook it.
‘No…
Don’t kill me!’ ‘I can’t die!
I really can’t die!
Please!’ Her reaction startled Toki.
He hurriedly waved his hands and said helplessly, ‘Uh…’ ‘I’m not a good person—bleh…
I mean, I’m not a bad person.’ ‘Stop screaming.
I wasn’t planning to kill you.’ He looked at the girl before him, who was so timid that it seemed almost unbelievable.
The vague image in his mind finally matched the person in front of him.
A suspicion immediately formed in his heart, though he still wasn’t entirely certain.
Toki spoke again, deliberately softening his tone.
‘So…
you’re Furina, the Hydro Archon, right?’ ‘You know who I am…
You really are here to assassinate me!’ Furina’s entire body stiffened.
Her expression clearly said, I knew it.
The fear in her eyes did not diminish in the slightest.
Instead, she became even more frantic.
Even her lips were trembling.
‘How did you find this place?’ ‘Who sent you?’ Toki had originally intended to explain.
He wanted to tell her that he was merely someone who had been transported here from another world.
In Teyvat, travelers from other worlds were hardly unheard of.
But just as the words reached his lips, he looked at Furina’s panic-stricken expression, and the sudden urge to tease her surfaced in his mind.
After all, how many chances would he ever get to tease the legendary Hydro Archon from this close?
Opportunities like this didn’t come often.
He abruptly changed his approach.
Deliberately lowering his voice, he spoke with an air of mystery.
‘Furina.
Lady Hydro Archon.’ ‘You wouldn’t want…
the people of Fontaine to learn about those secrets you can never let anyone know…
would you?’ ‘You…
You know my secret?’ Furina’s face instantly became even paler.
Her body trembled more violently.
By now, she was even stammering, her eyes filled with panic and unease.
‘No…
You can’t tell anyone!
Absolutely not!’ ‘If you do…
the prophecy will come true, and Fontaine will…’ The more she spoke, the more frantic she became.
The Hydro gathering in her eyes looked ready to spill over.
Furina hurriedly grabbed Toki’s sleeve.
Her voice turned pleading.
‘As long as you don’t tell anyone…’ ‘I’ll do anything you want!
Really, anything!’ Seeing how close she was to bursting into tears, Toki was already beginning to feel guilty.
But on the surface, he maintained a perfectly serious expression.
Raising an eyebrow, he asked, ‘Anything?’ ‘Anything!’ Furina nodded repeatedly.
Her eyes were filled with urgency, as though she were terrified that Toki might refuse.
All of her usual pride had vanished without a trace.
‘As long as you keep my secret.’ ‘No matter what you ask me to do, I’ll agree!’ ‘In that case…’ Toki deliberately drew out his words.
He was just about to tell her that he had only been teasing her and that she didn’t need to be afraid.
But suddenly, a crisp notification sound rang out inside his mind, cutting off his train of thought completely.
[Ding!
You have successfully activated the ‘Partner System’!] [Target Furina has been detected voluntarily agreeing to become your partner.
Automatic binding successful!] (End of Chapter)