Chapter 3: ch 3 (proof read)
In the end, Lisa paid 10,000 Mora for one hour. She knew nothing about this 'mobile game', so diving in with 100,000 Mora upfront would be unwise.
With Jean's earlier description, Lisa had a general idea of what this 'smartphone' thing was. However, when she finally got her hands on it for the first time she couldn't help but be amazed.
To call Lisa a genius is nothing short of an understatement. After all, during her time in the Sumeru Academia, she's frequently referred to as "The best student in the last 200 years". From the enigmatic forbidden knowledge to the handling of elementally infused flora to the most efficient methods of distilling wine. Wherever there's a large amount of knowledge in it, chances are that Lisa has had her hand in it.
But this small glowing box with detailed imaging and interactive features was truly something to behold. Lisa was tempted to understand how it worked by disassembling it piece by piece.
However, these thoughts were quickly set aside.
Under Taylor's guidance, she logged into the game using Jean's account.
"According to Jean, she experienced a battle with Stormterror in the sky and invited the Traveler to meet her at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters."
Lisa quickly grasped the controls for the characters. She didn't rush to meet with the knights. Instead, she wandered through the virtual city of Mondstadt to look at the view.
"Just as Jean said, many scenery have been faithfully reproduced."
Lisa also saw some familiar faces like Sara from the Good Hunter restaurant and Blanche from Mondstadt General Goods. However, their stores were simplified to a small portion of it. It seemed like the game couldn't fully replicate reality.
Due to the previous attack by Stormterror, the entire city was shrouded in a swirling hurricane with a greyish-blue hue with leaves constantly blowing across the screen.
"Jean must've been inspired to develop a series of defence measures after seeing Mondstadt like this."
After observing the sight a bit more, Lisa controlled the Traveler and arrived at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
Upon entering the Grand Master's Office along with Kaeya and Amber, the screen shifted, beginning with a close-up of a person with long slender legs adorned with white close-fitting pants, embellished with golden diamonds. Then the cameras zoomed out to reveal Jean slightly anxious. Her head lifted to look at the clock on the wall.
"Hehe, my dear Jean, you've been remarkably well re-created in this mobile game," Lisa remarked. In her eyes, everything from the attire to her expression mirrored the real Jean.
Lisa even wondered if Jean had refrained from experiencing this part of the game in person because she knew she was going to appear to avoid a potentially awkward feeling.
Lisa's teasing mood lasted less than a second as the screen then displayed herself at this moment, holding a book.
"Jean, what's the hurry I thought we agreed to meet them here?"
Lisa immediately looked over to Taylor standing behind the bar. Was he doing it on purpose? Did he know she was going to come to experience the mobile game today so he decided to include her character in the game?
No. The plan she discussed with Jean had only been confirmed moments ago. The owner couldn't have possibly known. This left only one possibility. She was already set up to appear in the original storyline.
'Sir Taylor, if you dare tarnish my image, I shall punish you!' Lisa thought to herself as she continue to watch the unfolding storyline
"There have been sightings of Stormterror outside the city. Once we meet, we must…"
"Relax, I'll lend a hand when the time comes."
Much like her, the in-game Lisa shared a composed and indifferent demeanour, giving off a feeling of being in absolute control.
She cannot deny that Taylor did a great job in re-creating her character at least the Lisa being portrayed in the game was near flawless.
After introductions. Jean expressed her gratitude for the Traveler's assistance and then got down to business.
"Lisa has revealed the sources of Stormterror's power with her detection magic."
"Is that so?" Kaeya asked.
"They're located in the abandoned Four Winds' Temples."
"Stormterror's ability to whip up these kinds of storms can be attributed to it drawing power from the temples."
Seeing this Lisa displayed an intrigued expression. By reverse engineering the elemental flow that surrounds Mondstadt. She could indeed find the source of Stromterror's power. The question is, how did the owner of this establishment know all this?
Lisa became much more interested in the owner of this mobile game café than Jean's concern for the game's storyline. Despite his youthful appearance, he displayed a calm and composed demeanour for his age.
The fact that he could create such a richly detailed and intricate world along with an advanced understanding of Mondstadt and every citizen living in it...
In Lisa's view, perhaps the only beings who could accomplish such a feat would be…
With greater suspicions about Taylor, Lisa continues to advance through the game's storyline. The next steps were pretty straightforward. They need to conquer the Four Winds's temples and destroy the source of Stormterror's power.
"Do these characters all have their own unique skills? Hmm..."
"Let's see by using elemental attacks, you can acquire elemental particles…"
Lisa absentmindedly put her hand to her chin, while studying the combat mechanics of this game. Even though she could very easily master even some of the most complex magical experiments, this game's combat system still took a bit of time to get used primarily because it was her first exposure to such a concept.
But quickly enough, she not only understood the combat mechanics but also grasped all the elemental reactions and their effect on enemies.
The first mission involved infiltrating the Temple of The Falcon alongside the Outrider of the Knights of Favonious, Amber.
"So in-game, these temples are all made into their own separate spaces," Lisa commented. In reality, the Temple of the Falcon was a very large area in Mondstadt. Although it had been long deserted and rarely visited, in the game, it was accessed through a portal called a domain.
"Well done Lisa. Now let's give this domain a try," Lisa said, eagerly anticipating the upcoming battle.
...
In the bar area, Taylor was playing with the freshly acquired 10,000 Mora. These golden and weighty coins were slimmer than real gold coins and had a notable, almost magical feel to them. Besides being used as currency that circulates around the continents, they were also used as magical catalysts. All in all, they were quite a delight to behold.
However, Taylor had no intention of hoarding all this Mora. Instead, he was eagerly excited to try the system's lottery function. As good as more is, there's plenty of income to be had in the future.
At this point, Taylor hadn't even tried this function of the system. He wondered what kind of little goodies he was going to get. 10,000 Mora for a common-tier lottery was still not cheap after all.
(Genshin wishing sound)
['Universal Beverage Maker' Would you like to obtain it immediately?]
Without hesitation, he uttered the word, "Obtain."
Behind the bar, a machine that resembled a small refrigerator appeared while at the same time, an almost translucent interface appeared in front of Taylor, displaying different types of beverages such as coffee, cocktails, fruit juice, and tea, along with a variety of others beverages from many different realities and fictions. There are even fizzy drinks like Coke and Sprite. All that would be required to make them was to purchase the basic ingredients listed.
However, Taylor, at this moment, not only saw this item as a neat addition but also the potential to serve as an expansion of his mobile game café business in the future.
He poured a glass of ice-cold water and approached Lisa. She was in the middle of battling a group of hilichurls in the domain. He was surprised, Lisa's control over the game's combat was far from clumsy. She clearly could tell how to use Amber to apply fire to the monsters before utilising the Anemo Traveller's Elemental Burst for AOE damage.
For someone experiencing Genshin Impact for the very first time, her understanding and technique of the game's combat system could describe her as a gaming genius.
Sensing Taylor's gaze, Lisa proudly stated, "So what do you think it seems I have a knack for this, don't you think so my dear?"
Taylor nodded in agreement. "Indeed. You're not bad at all"
===
Before long, Lisa cleared the domain and reached its end. As planned, according to the plan, they destroyed the nodes where Stormterror's power was concentrated.
Lisa was usually someone who would find mundane tasks terribly bothersome. She preferred sipping on a bit of afternoon tea in the library rather than going outside to deal with hilichurls. However, completing a domain in this game gave her an unexplainable sense of achievement that left her feeling addicted for more.
"But now with Stormterror directly attacking the city itself…"
"The winds change, so too should our tactics," Amber said "It's what Lisa likes to say"
"If you want to learn more about our history, you can ask Lisa"
Lisa smiled knowingly. It seems that in the game settings, she was still a very knowledgeable librarian. The fact that this game owner not only didn't ruin her image but also revealed her great intellect and know-how in the storyline pleased Lisa greatly.
Leaving the domain, Lisa followed the marker on the mini-map showing the next location. The Temple of the Wolf.
When she reached the location, she could see Kaeya standing at the entrance of the domain.
After a bit of dialogue, Lisa entered the domain.
Upon entering the domain, her team gained a new member, Kaeya. Lisa wasn't particularly familiar with the Cavalry Captain on account of having only met him. Still, a few times she did, she could sense that he might not be as simple as he tried to appear. Despite having dealt with various troubles and matters as the Cavalry Captain, she had never had a chance to actually witness his real power.
Now that Kaeya had become one of the playable characters in this game, perhaps, through his elemental skill and elemental burst, she could catch a glimpse of his abilities.
Upon entering the domain, Lisa immediately used Kaeya in battle. The result left her slightly disappointed. His elemental skill fired a blast of icy air forward, while his elemental burst summoned three spinning ice shards circling around him. These abilities seem quite ordinary and could be matched by any other Cryo Vision holder.
Perhaps more secrets will be revealed as the storyline progresses.
And as it turned out, Lisa's intuition was correct. After completing this domain, a hidden plot point began to unfold.
After the Traveler left, Kaeya's expression suddenly turned cold and sharp as his gaze fell upon a pillar. "There's no way hilichurls organised an ambush like this themselves... not with their limited mental capacity..."
These words were accompanied by evil laughter as a Hydro Abyss Mage emerged from behind the pillar.
"Thus YOU were behind this." Stated Kaeya.
The abyss mage, then chanted an ancient incantation, gathering the Hydro-elemental energy around him.
Just then several surging flames swept towards the Abyss Mage.
The man swiftly grabbed the Abyss Mage's face and threw it away into the air like a ragdoll. He then ran past Kaeya, pulling out his great sword and struck it down upon the Abyss Mage while in the air.
After these actions were complete, the red-haired man spoke with an indifferent tone, "Knights of Favonius… always so inefficient."
"Agree to disagree. But, your involvement in this just made things a whole lot more interesting."
Then the cutscene abruptly stops, and Lisa's facial expression deepens.
Indeed, just as Kaeya had just said, things were becoming a lot more interesting. She and Jean had already made an appearance in this game, and now, even Diluc had shown up.
If Kaeya had known that his image had been re-created in the game and was involved in some hidden plots, he would surely have investigated this personally.
Lisa was very curious about what would happen in the future, but for now, she needed to focus on the game at hand. Next would be the final Temple of the Four Winds. In the upper left corner of the screen, the mission guide told her to 'Meet Lisa at the temple entrance.' Finally, it was time for her official debut. Lisa was well aware of her own abilities, so she hoped that the game owner wouldn't make her too weak in this game.
===
After a short hike, she finally arrived at the Temple of the Lion. As expected, her in-game character was waiting in front of the temple entrance.
"Hey cutie."
"You're going to help me out too? How kind of you.
"Don't hesitate to come to me if you need anything."
Indeed, this is the way she would speak. Lisa felt as though she was looking into a mirror. After entering the domain, she 'herself' naturally joined the team. Without any wait, she started using herself in battles. This was definitely the most immersive experience one could get.
Just as Lisa was about to try out her in-game character abilities, Taylor approached her. "I'm sorry Miss Lisa, but your game time has now ended."
Lisa glanced towards the clock and realised that an hour had indeed passed. However, at this critical moment where she could finally test her in-game combo abilities, how could she stop now? Without a second of hesitation, she pulled another 10,000 Mora and purchased another hour.
Once Taylor left, she could not wait to play herself in battle.
"Come a little closer."
Lightning flickered in her hand, and a large area of purple light appeared around her feet. Simultaneously, the surrounding area darkened as the circle expanded, and when the expansion was complete, all the Pyro Slimes within the circle were struck by lots of lightning. Causing an Overload Elemental Reactions.
Crack! Boom!
Lisa saw a purple number 103 appear above all the slime heads representing the instant damage they took from the Electro element. Previously, whether it be Amber or Kaeya, the highest damage they could deal was around the 20s or 30s. In comparison, Lisa could inflict over 100 damage with just one blow, and it was a group attack.
But she had a pretty long cool-down after using the Elemental Skill. On the whole, Lisa was very satisfied with this. "In this case, among the four stars currently available, I am undoubtedly the strongest."
Lisa's lips curled into a smug. Everyone had some vanity, and she was no exception. Moreover, this powerful skill of hers was only her Elemental Skill. She hadn't even used her Elemental Burst yet.
"Surrender quickly."
During the third battle, after accumulating enough particle, Lisa used her Elemental Burst. A purple circle of thunder light was summoned above her, taking the form of a street lantern. Although the damage wasn't all that high, the continuous damage means that she didn't even need to lift a finger as it would automatically attack all surrounding enemies. She could also switch to any other character to be put into the battle.
Overall, Lisa was quite satisfied with her performance and game. Of course, in reality, she had much more abilities. If this game was truly accurate, her true power would be much more dazzling than just this little spark.
It seemed that even if the game had a good understanding of Mondstadt and even some of its Vision holders, it wasn't omniscient as her hidden powers had not been revealed.
After a few battles, Lisa successfully reached the end of the domain and destroyed the node where Stormterror's power had been gathering. She had enjoyed it quite well. Her natural affinity with her in-game character was obviously more than other characters as her control over "Lisa" in the game has become more proficient and automatic. Although, she would still take a few hits here and there from the enemies.
How do these Hilichurls and Slimes provide this much of a challenge for her? While they fell with just a few hits during the battles, their damage is still quite high for her to keep up. Her weapon was also a bit of a problem. The Catalyst she was using was just an ordinary magic book.
She recalled opening a few chests from earlier and wondered if there was any suitable Catalyst among them to serve as her new weapon, but where could she change her weapon?
Taylor happened to walk over, and Lisa asked him this very question.
"In the upper right-hand corner, there is a character portrait. Just click on it to access the character panel."
"Character panel?" Lisa clicked on it and was blown with discovering a whole new system in this game. There was the Traveler, Amber, Kaeya and herself, all appearing here with various detailed bits of data.
While most people would feel overwhelmed when they see so many numbers for the first time, she was different. She was very skilled at researching intricate and complex knowledge after all and always managed to pinpoint the key details in the shortest amount of time.
Right now, she was acting like a very thirsty sponge diligently absorbing each piece of data that was related to her character. "Attack determines the damage a character can deal, but is influenced by Critical Rate and Critical Damage. Elemental Reactions can also amplify damage for this instance…"
The more Lisa dived into it. The more she realised that the damage numbers in the game were not all that simple. It involved many influencing factors. Besides her own stat, there was enemy Defence, their Elemental Resistance, Shields and more.
"What an interesting design. To break down the strength of every character into such fine a line of pure data..." Lisa couldn't help but praise.
After spending some time, she gained a certain understanding of the game's damage system. She clicked on her own avatar. Her full body image appeared on the screen and could be viewed from any angle with the swipe of her finger.
While some might be self-conscious about having their body in such a detailed manner, Lisa was very confident about her figure. After all, when more people eventually became more familiar with this game, maybe some of them would try to open the character panel to sneak a peek of her figure from a few 'unconventional' angles.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone