She followed Ren through this strange, shrunken version of Mondstadt for three days and nights—three days and nights in this wondrous dream world.
Amber estimated that the time spanning these three sunsets and three sunrises added up to about one hour in the real world.
She was, after all, the best Outrider in Mondstadt; her sense of time was quite accurate.
However, she didn’t know if the time perceived in the dream was equivalent to time in reality.
Amber had begun to understand some of the characteristics of this dream called a ‘game’.
First, there was herself.
This strange body, which was both like and unlike her own, appeared to be her, but was actually completely different.
Setting aside the fact that there wasn’t a single scar on it, her skin was as delicate as perfect porcelain, and her physique was elegantly proportioned.
After just over an hour, Amber found herself becoming somewhat infatuated with this dream body.
Heaven knows, despite her usual care, years of arduous training and mischievous escapades had left her with some scars and imperfections; she was nothing like the perfect body in this game.
In other words, as long as one lives in the real world, bumps and flaws are inevitable, but this body had none.
Then there were the abilities of this body.
Whether it was the mechanical, monotonous attack patterns or the information in her mind about elemental skills, elemental bursts, Talents, and Constellation, they all clearly reminded Amber that this was not her true body.
In terms of technique, Amber felt she could outmatch this body’s fixed moves a hundred times over, but regarding the use of elemental power, she wasn’t so sure.
At the very least, the real Amber certainly didn’t have the stamina of this perpetual-motion machine of a body.
Physically, although the dream body would tire and slow down after just a few steps of sprinting, Amber was surprised to find that its endurance was infinite; as long as she wasn’t sprinting, she could jog until the end of time.
There were many other differences Amber discovered compared to reality, so many she could hardly list them all.
“So this is what a game is.
It feels similar to the character settings in those house-playing games.” Ren remembered that such games seemed quite popular in Fontaine.
Furina, Navia, and even Clorinde liked playing them: “Are you talking about tabletop RPGs?” “Something like that.” Fontaine’s trends hadn’t reached a remote place like Mondstadt yet; Amber had only played similar versions of such games.
Besides her own body, there was also this world.
After more than an hour of careful exploration…
Amber discovered that the Mondstadt in this world wasn’t just an issue of size, but also a lack of realism.
It wasn’t just the distorted time scale, but various other details as well.
“Stepping on soil doesn’t dirty my socks, the wind blowing in my face doesn’t get sand or debris in my eyes, the textures of building materials are all the same, and except for specific people, everyone looks almost identical—” Hearing this, Ren rolled his eyes: “This is already pretty good.
At least it didn’t give you a bunch of stickers and textures.
For it to be realistic to this degree is already impressive.
Besides, it’s a game; being too realistic would actually ruin the gameplay.” In Ren’s view, the degree of realism in this Genshin world he possessed was just right.
He pulled open a door that was just a texture in the game but was a real model here.
If it followed the game exactly, he wouldn’t have been able to open this door at all.
Inside the door was an ordinary Mondstadt residence, fully furnished, and there was even a cup of steaming Milk on the table.
In the game, even if one used bugs to pass through the doors of residences, the inside was actually a void or just a texture, with no substantial content at all.
But now, this place was filled with the atmosphere of life.
To Ren, this world was neither particularly real nor particularly fake; it perfectly met his needs.
It was just right.
All of this might have been the result of Genshin and the server evolving on their own after crossing over with Ren, or perhaps it became this way for some other reason.
“I see, so this is what they call a game…” Outside Mondstadt, Amber took off her long white boots, pulled off her white socks, and dipped her bare feet into Cider Lake.
Her ten slender, pearly toes tapped restlessly like waves.
Looking down at her feet, which hadn’t a speck of dust on them, Amber fell into deep thought.
After more than an hour of firsthand experience, she somewhat understood what the so-called game world meant.
Everything served the player; every absurd unreality was a game mechanic.
Just like now, stepping barefoot into Cider Lake—if this were the real world, Amber’s feet would have long since sunk into the mud by the shore, stirring up a mess.
Her round, white toes would be stained with mud that would be a struggle to wash off.
If her grandfather saw it, he would be angry and swat her bottom.
But in this game world, even though she was stepping on mud and sand, and the skin on her soles could feel the texture of the silt, Amber’s feet remained white.
She didn’t even sink in; she stood steadily on the mud, as if the soft texture her soles felt was fake.
Not to mention, this was quite suitable for playing in the water outdoors—you get the fun without the trouble.
The only thing that made Amber lose her composure was…
Even though the lake water barely reached her calves, she was now not only soaked all over, but a blue Hydro elemental symbol had appeared above her head.
“Elemental status, a must-experience part of the game.
You deserve it.” “I don’t get it at all~!” Amber said, acting slightly spoiled.
After accompanying him for a while, Amber had begun to see things clearly.
While the other person was blunt with those so-called NPCs, treating them as if they weren’t human at all…
He still showed some respect to a real person like her.
At most, there was an excessive level of familiarity and intimacy, as if he had known her for a long time—so well that they could even sleep together.
Um, well, in this game, it seemed this body of hers had already accompanied him for countless days and nights.
Although she was uncomfortable at first, as a bright, outgoing, and energetic ‘Mondstadt central air-conditioner’ girl, she quickly accepted Ren’s closeness.
Cough, cough.
Well, it was her first time being so close to a boy, but the inexplicable friendship in her heart made Amber choose to accept it.
—Mmm, the friendship module is functioning normally.
“Alright, we’ve played enough.
It’s time to get down to business.” Seeing that there was really nothing more to explore in Mondstadt, Ren stretched, pulled Amber over, and said this.
Amber didn’t realize what the ‘business’ was at all and continued to chatter to Ren: “Your place is still too small.
If it were the real Mondstadt, I guarantee you wouldn’t see the same thing twice in three days and nights.
Let me tell you, at the snack street—” Seeing Amber’s lingering excitement, Ren hesitated for a moment before saying: “Uh, did you forget your actual business?” “—” “???” “!!!” After going through blankness, doubt, and sudden realization, Amber finally remembered the real purpose of her accompanying Ren in his play.
Well, forgetting even the goal of the deal was quite something.
Amber dodged his gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed: “I…
how could I forget?
Mmm-hmm, I still remember.” “Fine, I’ll take your word for it.” Ren said, his smile suddenly becoming a bit playful.
He raised a finger and wagged it in front of Amber.
“Now then, take your pick.
Do you want to know about the trouble Mondstadt is about to face, or do you want clues about your grandfather?” “—” Amber was stunned.
How could someone be so wicked?
Without any psychological preparation, he just threw out two difficult options.
This guy really knew how to bully people.
Amber finally understood how mischievous Ren was; he was completely messing with her head.
“Can…
can’t I choose both?” Amber raised her hand weakly and asked tentatively.
Ren snorted: “Do you think such a good thing exists?” “Uh, I feel like we’ve already shared a bed.
My grandfather is theoretically your grandfather too, and my hometown is theoretically yours.
Maybe I can be a little greedy?” Amber thought about it and decided to temporarily abandon her integrity.
Actually, you have a point.
But girl, is it really okay for you to suddenly take advantage of me so shamelessly?
“Why wouldn’t it be?
Compared to important matters, what does a little pride matter?
Besides, the reality is, you’ve already explored me thoroughly, right?” Amber rolled her eyes irritably.
Tsk tsk, to him, she even looked quite charming doing that.
One must know that in the game, Amber was one of the few characters, like Xiangling, who didn’t evoke ‘lewd’ thoughts.
Of course, Xiangling dressed much more suggestively than Amber, yet she still didn’t evoke such thoughts.
One could only say Xiangling was powerful.
“No, no, no, let’s stick to the rules.
As you know, I can do whatever I want in this world.
If I don’t set some rules for myself, something we don’t want to see will happen sooner or later.” Ren still shook his head, but Amber could understand his meaning.
Indeed, for a being like Ren, having rules and bottom lines was a good thing.
After all, she didn’t want to come to this dream next time and see Klee lying right next to her.
“You have a point.” Amber thought for a moment and nodded solemnly.
Haha, she believed it!
Ren chuckled in his heart.
In this world, he could do whatever he wanted.
There was only what he wanted to do and what he didn’t; it all depended on his own thoughts.
Rules were set for himself, not to bind him as the Master of this world.
However, seeing the slightly admiring look in Amber’s eyes, Ren didn’t say anything more.
After thinking for a while, Amber looked up with a bit of a headache and asked: “Um, do you have any suggestions?” Ren just wanted to admire Amber’s troubled expression.
After all, for a long time, the Amber he saw could only make a few specific expressions, and he had long since grown tired of them.
“My suggestion is to choose the first one.
After all, regarding your grandfather’s situation, I only have some clues of uncertain truth here.” “While Mondstadt’s predicament is an imminent problem.” Hearing Ren say this, Amber didn’t hesitate or act coy.
Though she was a bit disappointed at not getting her grandfather’s whereabouts, she nodded decisively.
“Okay, please tell me what Mondstadt is going to encounter.” “Very well.
First, let’s pull up the Archon Quest Prologue.” “???” Why was this person talking about things she didn’t quite understand again?
“Well, it all begins after the legendary Traveler obtained their first elemental power—Anemo—from Starfell Lake—” As he spoke, Ren used the back-end management to adjust the quest progress and directly pulled Amber along to teleport to the Statue of The Seven in the center of Starfell Lake.
Looking at the surrounding Starfell Lake, which could barely be considered a small puddle, and the small mound where the Anemo Archon Statue stood, Amber still found it hard to keep a straight face, even after accepting the fact that all buildings and landmarks in this dream game world were shrunken.
“Oh, Starfell Lake is a great lake that has endured even Klee’s destruction.
Why is it so small?
And this Statue of Lord Barbatos, standing on such a tiny mound…
isn’t it a bit lacking in prestige?” Amber felt that the massive tree at Windrise, rumored to have been planted by Lord Vennessa herself, was the proper setting for a Statue of The Seven.
This place was indeed a bit too shabby.
“I agree that Starfell Lake is too small, but as for Barbatos having prestige—” Ren’s expression became a bit strange.
Her curiosity piqued by his words, Amber pressed further: “What’s wrong with Lord Barbatos?
Don’t stop halfway; you’ve got me all curious now.” “Ahem, you’ll find out soon enough.
Just follow the quest flow with me.” As he said this, three blue, transparent bullies suddenly appeared around Ren.
I mean, they were a Crab, a Seahorse, and an octopus.
“Wah!
Wh-what are these?” Amber was startled by the sudden appearance of the three Fontaine bullies, making a startled gesture that felt very much like an anime girl.
“That’s disrespectful.
These are regulars of the Fontaine Hydro Archon’s private salon.
They even have titles of nobility and are responsible for managing the investment issues of Furina’s petty cash.” Ren claimed he wasn’t lying, but Amber was astonished.
These three seafood items were the Fontaine Hydro Archon’s…
familiars?
With her common sense as a person of Teyvat, that was the only description Amber could think of.
Not only that, Ren continued to add insult to injury for Furina, who was far away in Fontaine.
“I’m telling you, don’t underestimate these three.
They’re used to acting like tyrants in Fontaine.
Never mind the Hilichurls on the roadside; even if a dog passes by, they’ll give it two slaps.” *Hiss.* Hearing Ren’s description, Amber sucked in a cold breath, contributing her part to Mondstadt’s greenhouse effect.
Isn’t Fontaine the nation of justice?
The Hydro Archon is also known as the God of justice, yet you’re telling me this is it?