Mr. Zhongli, we can't slack off anymore!

"what!"

The traveler from another world awoke with a start, cold sweat dripping onto the sheets.

This nightmare drained her of her spirit.

The sea breeze at night exacerbated the traveler's discomfort. The beautiful seascape during the day, amplified by psychological factors, seemed particularly eerie.

She soon discovered that what she feared wasn't the nightmare, but rather her subconscious sensing danger from the outside world. Something bad was outside the window, her brain was telling her.

"It's just a dream," the traveler consoled himself.

But could this journey also be just a dream?

"Close the window." It was too quiet around him, so the traveler had to talk to himself to bolster his courage.

She stretched her feet to the ground, where her shoes were neatly arranged and waiting for her.

"Hmm?" The traveler looked down at the pair of shoes neatly placed beside the bed... She held her breath, her whole body stiffening.

Someone must have been here!

I hadn't specifically arranged my shoes before...

The traveler stood up barefoot, looking around warily to see if anything else in the room had been disturbed.

She noticed the door.

The door was covered with a layer of rock shield. Had Zhongli been here? Why would he come at night?

After a moment's thought, the traveler dismissed this conjecture.

Zhongli couldn't possibly have done such a thing, so who was it that came here?

After much thought, she still had no clue. Perhaps she should first ask Zhongli why he wanted to add a layer of protection to his room.

Perhaps he sensed something.

The traveler put on his shoes and tried pushing the door open.

With a creak, the door opened. The rock shield on the door vanished. It seemed this shield could be destroyed from the inside; it was there to prevent anyone from entering.

I didn't lock the door yesterday. Perhaps Zhongli saw that I hadn't locked it, and since the inn is crowded, he was worried that someone with ill intentions might enter my room.

The corridor was completely dark, with no one in sight and no lights on.

The traveler paced back and forth, debating whether to go find Zhongli. Finally, he mustered his courage and, leaning against the wall, searched for the stairs.

Fortunately, the traveler remembered the location of the stairs and found them quickly.

Sure enough, Zhongli was not asleep; the lights were still on in his room.

Candlelight shone through the paper door and onto the corridor floor, casting the silhouette of someone sitting at the tea table onto the window.

The traveler knocked on the door: "Mr. Zhongli."

"Come in," Zhongli's voice came from inside the house. The traveler's uneasy heart finally calmed down.

"Excuse me." The traveler pushed open the door.

Zhongli put down his teacup and stood up: "Please sit down..." He was clearly stunned when he saw the traveler.

"W-what's wrong?" Seeing him like this, the traveler's heart jumped into his throat.

"Come and sit down." Zhongli took a teacup from the tea tray, placed it on the table, and poured hot tea into it: "Tea is refreshing and calming. You're frightened, have a cup first."

The traveler sat down as instructed, picked up a teacup, took a sip, and the aroma of tea filled his mouth, relaxing his tense nerves.

"Someone has entered my room."

"But what valuables are missing?"

"Nothing was missing, but he touched my shoes, and I noticed."

"Hmm. And there are traces of elemental residue on your body." Zhongli's gaze fell on the traveler's shoulder.

"If we open our elemental vision, we can see the elemental remnants, right?" By following the elemental remnants, we can find the person who entered the room.

“I suggest you get some rest tonight. Leave the rest to me.” Zhongli rejected the idea she hadn’t said aloud.

"That's true, what if it's a trap? I can't fight yet." The traveler knew that he was different from the characters in the game. The characters in the game had their own combat system, but the transmigrator could only figure it out on his own.

“No need to force yourself. The intruder didn’t kill you, so perhaps he meant you no harm. For safety’s sake, you should sleep here tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll find you another place,” Zhongli suggested.

This seems to be the best option. Where could be safer than by his side?

"...That's not a good idea. I'd better not sleep tonight and wait until morning," the traveler declined.

It's already inappropriate for strange men and women to be alone in a room late at night, let alone sleep here...

An idea is just an idea; if you're really going to act on it, then just pretend I never thought of it.

“Alright,” Zhongli agreed. Having been a god for so long, he rarely paid attention to the differences between men and women; he only saw people as a group of children.

*

Early the next morning.

The traveler got out of bed and stretched. The sun shone brightly outside the window, and merchant ships came and went. The surroundings were decorated with elegant ornaments.

"I slept so well... Huh? How did I fall asleep!" The traveler realized the seriousness of the situation.

She vaguely remembered that she had said last night that she was going to stay up all night...

She was initially a little excited to be alone with her favorite character, but as they chatted, he started "chanting"... speaking in classical Chinese that the traveler couldn't understand, which made the traveler unable to hold on.

The traveler wasn't the type to sleep in class, but unfortunately, his lectures were so boring that there wasn't a single part he could understand, and they were completely unrelated to real-world issues.

Zhongli seemed to find it quite interesting, getting more and more animated as she talked, without even taking a sip of tea, not even giving me a few seconds to rest. At least there are breaks between classes!

The traveler calmed down and thought about it.

Zhongli probably doesn't have any friends to talk to about these things... She finally had a chance to chat with someone, but that person fell asleep.

A sense of self-blame arose spontaneously.

There was a note on the table, probably left by Zhongli. It was written in a script the traveler couldn't understand…

"This is Liyue's script... It's completely different from the script in reality... Can you please consider the transmigrators and provide a translator?"

The traveler could only take the note to Xiuhua for help.

Outside the hotel.

Xiuhua looked at the note and repeated its contents: "It roughly means... Mr. Zhongli saw that you were asleep yesterday, so he put you in his bed first."

"He had someone investigate what we talked about last night. And then... he went to work this morning. There's a bag on the bedside table with some Mora in it; you can take it. If you need more, just mention his name and we'll put it on the account at the Rebirth Hall."

"I see..." the traveler nodded.

Several pairs of eyes were cast onto the traveler from the street, making him very uncomfortable.

"Um... since you two are sharing a room, should I cancel the room on the fifth floor for you?" Xiuhua asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Huh? No, don't misunderstand!" The traveler was speechless.

“It’s alright, customers often say that, I understand.” Xiuhua gave her a meaningful look: “What era are we living in? It’s not a problem for young people to do impulsive things.”

"It really isn't!" The traveler was on the verge of tears.

*

After leaving the hotel, the traveler decided to wander around.

She walked through every street, every shop, every bridge, every stone step... She secretly thought that her exploration progress in Liyue Harbor must be maxed out.

The traveler stood blankly in the square where the sending-off ceremony was held. Occasionally, someone would walk past her and talk about missing "Lord Rock King".

She always felt out of place here.

The world is rejecting her...

The melodious sound of a zither drifted over, and the traveler turned around to meet the eyes of the person playing the zither.

The person playing the zither was none other than Grandma Ping. The traveler smiled in response, and Grandma Ping returned the smile.

A gentle breeze carried a petal to the traveler's palm. Light, soft, and fragrant... the sense of reality overwhelmed the feeling of emptiness, proclaiming that the world had accepted her.

"I will be waiting for you at the end of the journey," the words from the dream echoed in the traveler's ears. But where is this journey?