Liyue Harbor! Yujing Sea!
As a place where thousands of ships gather, boasting the title of the largest trading port in all of Teyvat, Liyue Harbor's daily cargo throughput is as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Thanks to this, Liyue has become the most prosperous commercial city among the seven nations of the mortal world.
On the shimmering Yujing Sea, huge merchant ships crush through the waves, creating a breathtaking and vast scene of countless vessels coming to pay their respects.
If you were to look down from the peak of Mount Tianheng, overlooking Liyue Harbor, you could have the best perspective to take everything in.
“Indeed, this is the best angle for depiction.”
Seated in meditation on the peak of Mount Tianheng, Luo Chen glanced at the flow of people and ships at the distant harbor, then picked up his brush and began sketching lines on the easel set up in front of him.
His long, strong fingers skillfully wielded the brush, and in a short while, the numerous lines naturally formed a vivid panoramic view.
With the gentle breeze and the scent of flowers and earth filling the air, Luo Chen nodded slightly, admiring the masterpiece he had effortlessly completed.
Even though it was the simplest black and white drawing, it exuded a certain inexplicable charm, as if the figures in the painting were about to come to life.
If anyone else saw it, they would surely gasp in admiration at the incredible technique.
After admiring his latest impromptu creation, Luo Chen was about to start adding color and finish it when he was interrupted by a voice coming from behind him.
“Good grief! I, your esteemed Director, have been running around for half a day trying to bring in clients, and you’re here slacking off!”
Luo Chen, whose shoulder had been silently and suddenly slapped, turned his head slightly, his eyes reflecting the familiar figure of the girl behind him.
With an accusatory expression on her face, Hu Tao stood with her hands on her hips, her mischievous plum-like eyes gleaming with a touch of cunning.
As if he were used to it, his gaze lingered for a moment on her flat chest before he spoke, continuing to add color to the painting.
“Director, you’ve got the wrong date. Today’s my day off, the other guest retainers are on duty.”
His calm and straightforward answer directly shattered the accusation.
“Oh, is that so?”
Immediately, Hu Tao’s demeanor changed. She leaned forward from behind him, peering at the painting. Whether it was admiration or self-praise, she said,
“Wow! The painting is beautiful! Truly worthy of the artistic talent that rivals even this poet, as they say!”
Luo Chen could feel the touch of her auburn, gradient twin tails brushing against his face, along with a faint scent of plum blossoms, but he remained completely unaffected, effortlessly adding color to the painting.
Of course, her flat chest played a major role in this.
But there was also a certain relationship between them where the girl who was nominally his superior didn’t have any qualms about their gender difference,
completely forgetting her initial purpose of accusing him. Hu Tao began praising her own guest retainer’s artistic skills, not forgetting to mention her own self-proclaimed status as a poet of the back alleys.
When the coloring was finished, Luo Chen waited for the paint to dry before he bothered to pay attention to Hu Tao, who was still talking nonstop, oblivious to her own awkwardness.
“Alright, what is it?”
He hadn’t been with Hu Tao for too long, and after the initial amazement of meeting her in person, he had become accustomed to her.
“Whew!”
Not at all embarrassed, she sat next to Luo Chen, stretching out her bright white legs from under her brown shorts, and flopped down onto the grass. She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of her body sinking into the green, and let out a satisfied sigh.
“Finished with clients this morning, got to run errands at Wuwang Hill tonight. Oh, what a rare chance to relax!”
Oh, so it wasn’t actually a complaint?
Her laziness made Luo Chen involuntarily turn his head to look at her. This was the first time he had seen Hu Tao like this.
In the past, she had been a boisterous, energetic whirlwind, always doing things that he couldn’t understand, and was considered the most troublesome child in Liyue. Everyone avoided her whenever possible.
Even his normally calm and scholarly fellow guest retainer couldn’t deal with her.
Confirming that the girl next to him was actually quiet, and seeing the youthful, delicate face lose its liveliness, becoming no different from an ordinary girl, Luo Chen couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy, knowing her past.
After all, she was only a teenager, but she carried the responsibility of a family legacy that had lasted for thousands of years, which made those who knew her feel a little sorry for her.
Without disturbing Hu Tao’s rest, Luo Chen also closed his eyes and cleared his mind, enjoying his rare day off.
Until…
【Ding! Simulation count reset, begin simulation?】
When these words echoed in his mind, Luo Chen opened his eyes again.
He glanced at Hu Tao, who was beside him with her hands resting on her stomach, her face a picture of angelic slumber, and chose “No.”
When the voice in his head faded away, Luo Chen fell into thought.
He had been in this world called Teyvat for quite some time, and as a player who had experienced the Mihoyo games, he was no stranger to this world. In fact, he knew it quite well.
The incident with the Archon, Osial, had happened long ago. The Traveler had already stepped onto the land of Inazuma and had a confrontation with the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, gaining more knowledge through their journey.
And according to rumors in the streets, she and the white floating spirit were planning to travel through the Chasm to Sumeru.
Since Luo Chen’s initial arrival point was Liyue, it was quite amusing to see the character he had once called “wife” in person. It was a bit strange at first, but he got used to it after a while.
The only regret was that he didn’t have the potential to awaken a Vision and become a “Genshin.”
Considering that humans were all “aliens” created by the First Seat, their destinies were already engraved in the stars. It wasn’t strange.
“Come to think of it, I suppose I’m a descendant as well.”
The reason why Luo Chen was indifferent to Visions was mainly because of the voice that had echoed in his mind earlier.
【Infinite Simulator】
That was probably the cheat he received when he came to this world. He could experience a complete simulated life, gaining generous rewards based on the completion level.
He had already used this cheat several times in the past to gain some interesting powers that were different from the seven element systems.
However, what worried him was that everything he experienced in his simulations seemed to have a certain influence on the real world, and the simulation backgrounds and locations were extremely irregular.
He had already experimented with this in previous simulations.
Sometimes he would appear in Fontaine decades ago, other times he would appear in Mondstadt a year ago. The only constant was that it all happened before the point in time when he crossed over to Teyvat.
He didn’t understand the principle behind it, and he didn’t have the energy to figure it out.
Thanks to this, he had gained not only self-defense abilities, but also many skills in terms of living and art, making him a well-rounded individual.
Another reason why he chose to join the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, besides its low threshold and easy difficulty, was this.
With Zhongli, the pioneer, as his lead, and knowing that Hu Tao’s forehead was basically marked with the label “Foolish, Rich, Come Quickly,” Luo Chen effortlessly passed the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s guest retainer test and became a glorious slacker.
He quickly gained a foothold in the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor using the skills he had acquired through simulated lives, and in just half a year, he became a highly respected and knowledgeable scholar in Liyue Harbor.