The waterways were grand, thousands of sails passing by.
This was the present-day Liyue Harbor.
Liyue Harbor was situated on the continent of Teyvat, one of Teyvat's seven nations.
The continent of Teyvat had seven nations: Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya.
Each nation had its own deity as its ruler.
These seven deities were said to be the seven victors who emerged from the ancient Archon War, known as the "Seven Sovereigns of Teyvat."
This was all the information Jiang Ning currently knew.
Jiang Ning only felt somewhat dazed.
Last night, his classmate had been desperately trying to drag him into the game.
In the end, unable to resist, he had booted up *Genshin Impact* with his classmate.
He had just met the beginner's guide, a girl named Amber, and hadn't even finished the tutorial before being tricked into pulling on the gacha.
One pull, three golds in a ten-pull—straight up three purple cat-headed swordsmen.
His classmate had exclaimed, *"Master Keqing!"* and *"You lucky bastard, how are you this lucky even on the standard banner?"*
Then, the dorm lights went out.
Immediately after, the dorm supervisor urged them to sleep.
Amidst his classmate's sighs and mutterings like *"Watching this guy get lucky hurts more than losing my own 50/50,"*
Jiang Ning gradually drifted into sleep.
However, when he woke up, what he saw wasn't the familiar ceiling but dense trees and forest.
Still dazed, he sat up, looked at his dark blue pajamas, then glanced around…
Though he didn't know where this place was, he spotted some yellow plants emitting a sickly sweet fragrance nearby, along with blue plants that gave off a cooling sensation…
Jiang Ning found them familiar—weren't these *Genshin Impact*'s Sweet Flowers and Mints?
Then, he saw the creatures below the small hill he was on.
Blue slimes.
Jiang Ning chuckled.
*Might as well keep sleeping. Still dreaming.*
But when he lay back down, he felt the pain of his back hitting the ground.
Jiang Ning sat up again, crossed his legs, pondered, then realized—
*Oh no, did I transmigrate?*
*What? I just slept and now I'm here? And it's my actual body too.*
*No truck-kun or anything hit me…*
As a 21st-century middle schooler raised under the red flag, Jiang Ning had read plenty of novels, so his ability to accept things was far from ordinary.
Plus, he often joked that he had a *"protagonist face"*—orphaned young, raised in an orphanage, living off his parents' generous inheritance—completely a protagonist template.
So, he didn't have much attachment to his original world anyway.
The natural fearlessness of youth made him stand up and look around, even itching to explore.
*If I can transmigrate, doesn't that make me a chosen one in a way?*
Good news: He had transmigrated, and it was into the game world of *Genshin Impact*.
Bad news: He was just an ordinary person, and he'd only played up to the tutorial.
*I don't even know where this is.*
The next moment, rustling came from the bushes.
Jiang Ning was wary but also somewhat expectant.
*Best case, a girl with red bunny-ear accessories and goggles pops out.*
Yep, the beginner's guide, Miss Amber.
But when the figure emerged, Jiang Ning fell silent.
Bull-horned mask, dark and scrawny limbs, a torch in hand, yellow and red mane on its head…
Good news: It was something from the tutorial.
Bad news: It was a hilichurl, a monster.
Cold sweat broke out on Jiang Ning's back as he instinctively took two steps back.
*"Uh, if I transmigrated, do I at least get a system or something? Or some kind of special physique? Please don't tell me I'm really just a normal person!"*
Even without knowing the story, just from the tutorial, it was clear that ordinary people in this world didn't last long against monsters in the wild.
The hilichurl spotted Jiang Ning, let out a *"Ya!"*, and charged at him with its flaming club.
Jiang Ning immediately turned and ran. Survival first—figuring out how to live could come later.
Though he was just an average guy, Jiang Ning exercised regularly, so while he might not win a one-on-one fight, running away was something he excelled at.
*"Uwoh!"*
A deep, guttural roar sounded as Jiang Ning came face-to-face with what looked like a primitive tribal tent.
Inside stood a three-meter-tall, hilichurl-like monster wielding a giant axe, immensely muscular.
Behind it were several smaller hilichurls.
*A Mitachurl…*
Jiang Ning went silent, lamenting his luck.
*"Shit shit shit!"*
He immediately changed direction, but the monsters gave chase.
Though Jiang Ning was fast enough to outrun regular hilichurls, a Mitachurl was different.
Soon, it caught up.
Jiang Ning's lungs felt like they were about to explode, and the taste of iron filled his throat.
His mind grew foggy, his limbs weak…
Despair flashed in his eyes.
*Did I transmigrate just to die again?*
*"Uwoh!"*
The Mitachurl's roar was right behind him, followed by the sound of splitting air—a sharpened great axe swinging straight for him.
Jiang Ning turned, close enough to feel the weight and edge of the axe. *This thing's gonna turn me into mincemeat!*
Instinctively, he raised his arms to shield his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he awaited death.
But the expected pain never came.
Peeking through one eye, Jiang Ning froze, then snapped them both wide open.
Before him stood a female puppet made of ice, with a curvaceous figure and a talisman-like slip on its head, its facial features indistinct.
An aura of cold surrounded it, making it hard to believe its slender arms could effortlessly block such a massive axe.
With a sudden burst of strength, the puppet shoved the Mitachurl's axe back, then exploded into shards of cryo energy, freezing the Mitachurl and the hilichurls behind it solid.
Stunned, Jiang Ning's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.
*I… got saved?*
Gasping for air, the terror of near-death and the exhaustion from sprinting left him feeling awful.
Once he'd caught his breath, he turned—and saw a sight he would remember for the rest of his life.
It was a girl who radiated an immortal aura.
Her face was flawlessly beautiful, exuding a cold elegance, her skin pale and luminous.
Her snow-white hair, thick and long, was tied with red ribbons at the middle and ends.
Tall and shapely, her figure seemed identical to the ice puppet from before.
She wore a black skin-tight bodysuit, but with a diamond-shaped cutout at her waist and black mesh covering her abdomen.
A white cloth embroidered with winter motifs covered her chest, though it was lifted by the towering slimes beneath.
Red cords wrapped around her body in a way that wasn't vulgar but instead added an ascetic, immortal charm.
In one hand, she held a spear; between the fingers of the other, she pinched a talisman.
Bathed in moonlight, she looked like a dream, leaving Jiang Ning momentarily spellbound.
Sensing his gaze, her already expressionless face grew even colder. Seemingly confirming he was unharmed, she turned to leave.
*"Uh… thank you… Where am I? And who are you?"*
Jiang Ning quickly spoke up.
The girl acted as if she hadn't heard, continuing up the mountain in her heels.
Left with no choice, Jiang Ning followed.
For five or six minutes, neither spoke.
Finally, Jiang Ning couldn't take it anymore and asked again:
*"Can I at least know the name of the person who saved my life?"*
The girl still said nothing.