If Ye Luo knew what was happening right now, he'd be laughing and crying at the same time.
There's an old saying: if you snatch players' commissions, they'll curse you. But if you return the rewards to them? They'll call you "adoptive father" and chase after you in worship.
Honestly, his appearance was a godsend for casual players. Resin can be skipped, but daily Primogems? Never.
Now all you had to do was log in and claim them—who wouldn't be happy? It was a tiny change, but comfort levels shot up. Genshin's freebies are notoriously stingy; even small QoL stuff shines.
Meanwhile, other games were handing out five-stars and selector five-stars like candy. Still… Ye Luo got the memo.
"Ding. Popularity +500. Keep it up, host."
"Huh?"
Ye Luo, on his way home, blinked. He hadn't thought he did anything spectacular in the event—how'd he get more popularity? Surprised, he swiped through the forum.
He'd almost forgotten about the Genshin forum between the nightmares and the tournament. It seemed useless—didn't real, sword-swinging gameplay beat scrolling through memes? But the top post right then was titled, "Shocking—internal Genshin staff training footage exposed?!"
"Huh?"
Ye Luo raised an eyebrow. Someone dared leak that? No fear of NDAs? He opened it—and it was his cat café footage, of all things.
Oh. So that counted as event footage too. Ye Luo couldn't help but choke back a laugh. He checked the comments.
"So Ye Luo's a madam of the kitty industry?"
"Thought he was a mama-san; turns out he's a meow-meow-san."
"When you picked up that person, no special services were mentioned."
"Cat: You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"
He closed the video and started furiously scrolling. Fan edits and parody clips of him flooded the forum—memes upon memes. No wonder his popularity skyrocketed. Ye Luo: officially trending.
If only he could post videos himself—"Victim of online abuse explanation video," jump-cut to "Don't Laugh Challenge," "Pretty Boy Mooch-Off" and boom—Top 100 guaranteed. Joking aside, today's commission incident was trending too. He scrubbed his chin; the game's connection to reality bewildered him. He kind of wanted to delete the memes. It felt weird having players gushing over him like that—a strange, embarrassing warmth. Not refreshing the forum anymore.
One thing: some players weren't happy with the change. Makes sense—not everyone likes adjustments and achievements can be finicky. So Ye Luo passed feedback to the system. The system responded fast, especially when popularity was involved: players could opt out of Ye Luo-managed commissions, or keep rerunning daily deeds to grind achievements. Players cried out in gratitude: "Ye Luo, adoptive dad, I bow to you!"
"Hey? Lumine, Paimon—what were you two doing, covered in grass like that?"
On his way back, Ye Luo bumped into Lumine emerging from a bush. He came over, plucked weeds from the girls' hair, and asked curiously. They were old enough—why were they playing in bushes like kids?
"Ye Luo!!!" Paimon exploded.
She pointed at him, furious. "Why did you finish all the commissions around Port Ormos? Now we have nothing to make mora from!"
Paimon pouted, glaring like she wanted to bite him. Lumine's gaze was suspicious too. Putting everything together, she half-wondered if this was some massive conspiracy. Maybe Teyvat itself was one big scheme.
"No, I cleared the commissions in Ormos. Weren't you planning to do the Sumeru City ones?" Ye Luo blinked. "You can teleport with teleport waypoints, right? Do them on repeat. Or go back to Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma…"
He'd tried teleporting and somehow couldn't—turns out the waypoints were a Traveler-only convenience. Could there be a daily limit? He mulled that over.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged embarrassed glances. Apparently, going back to the three nations wasn't appealing; those places had annoying tasks. They'd rather stay in Sumeru. Paimon awkwardly changed the subject: how come Ye Luo had taken so many commissions? She was curious—if Lumine had completed them, fine; but Ye Luo?
"You underestimate me, Paimon. Come out—let's spar." Ye Luo twitched a brow and beckoned.
"Eh? You want to duel me? Go face Lumine if you've got the guts!" Paimon hid behind Lumine and puffed her cheeks. Lumine bristled—today she wanted a real fight. Cat-hunting missions had left her itching for combat.
"Alright, practice about then." Ye Luo thought: a quick spar wouldn't disrupt the tournament schedule. And if their clash made it into event CG, all the better; maybe players would see his dual-sword style and his popularity would climb. Fingers crossed for screen time.
They found an open patch. Ye Luo taunted Lumine with a finger. Paimon, above, pumped her tiny fists: "Beat him!"
Lumine didn't exchange words. With the Skyward Blade in hand she struck—a rock-element star appeared by Ye Luo and exploded.
"??? You're using the Skyward Blade?!" Ye Luo was beside himself. He had his Dull Blade and a plain steel sword; she had Skyward! He felt insulted. "No honor in this!"
"Unfair play!" he barked. He channeled ice-element quickly, forming a thick shield to block the explosion. In reality, element usage wasn't limited to clunky in-game skills—his control felt more flexible. He raised his sword; frost crept over the blade. "Is that all you've got?"
Shouting your skill names made you feel better—and Ye Luo discovered it really did feel great. Players loved theatrics, after all.
Lumine snorted, wrapped in Anemo, and charged. She leapt, slamming the Skyward Blade down—clang!
Skyward Blade clashed with Dull Blade; lightning snakes hissed and Geo shards exploded. They both staggered, then collided again. Ye Luo was floored—Her strength was terrifying. Elemental reactions? She wasn't just about ice. He grit his teeth as a cold element crawled from his sword onto Lumine's sleeve—her white dress got a trace of frost.
"Ride the wind away!" Lumine chanted. A wind vortex formed, tinged with Electro rings—two forces merged into a violet twister that hurtled toward Ye Luo.
"wtf, Buddha Flame Lotus or something?!" Ye Luo gulped. How did he block that? With his head? He braced himself.
He readied for one move—his palms trembled as ice crystals fell around him and landed on his shoulders. He didn't notice; he focused all his elemental force into a single point. He glimpsed his master in his mind.
"小 guy, why do you practice sword?" a memory voice asked.
"To look cool!" Ye Luo shouted back in spirit.
He snapped fully awake; his ruby eyes flared like embers. His Vision on his waist flared radiantly. Both his blades—Dull Blade and the plain steel—gleamed with a freezing brilliance. Ice surged onto the sword blades, fusing with the falling frost. The twin blades merged into a brilliant ice pillar.
"Fire the cannon!" he cried.
A dazzling ice column exploded upward—his inner cry found release as a blinding beam shattered toward the violet twister. The collision produced a thunderous detonation; gale winds and debris swept the battlefield. Even in daylight, the clash lit up like night. Ye Luo's face showed stunned disbelief.
"My lord, you saw that, right? I can use the curry stick now!" he thought, giddy. Water Dragon, take note—maybe I'll finally end those strength debates when I log on!
Elemental consumption was brutal though.
Lumine, meanwhile, was terrifying in her own right—she'd defeated dragons and soloed powerful foes. Don't underestimate her. But Ye Luo thought: I'm stronger!
"Celestial Sword Immortal, three million! Bow low before me!" Ye Luo flapped his cape and faced Lumine. But unseen, his hands trembled. He'd been drained—utterly exhausted. He finished his pose and turned away, deciding it was time to retreat. That last move had been over the top—surely players would like it. He hoped it'd make the event CG. He was exhausted, though; his swords were battered, and he'd squandered the day's commission mora earnings on equipment wear. Only the humble steel blade remained intact.
"I still haven't had enough," Lumine murmured, disappointed. She'd missed that thrill since taking on tough fights. Paimon, breezing over, sniffed. "Don't worry—Ye Luo's coming to Fontaine with us. Plenty of time to spar on the road."
"Yeah," Lumine relaxed. She'd actually noticed improvement in her own elemental control during the duel—it meant her power was rising. She was energized for the days ahead.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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