(For the sake of plot development convenience, some settings differ from the official Genshin Impact lore; some characters' stories are concentrated in the same timeframe. If there's anything unsatisfactory, please forgive me.)
[Leave your brain here (̶o̶r̶ ̶I̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶j̶i̶g̶g̶l̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶b̶a̶l̶l̶s̶) you won't need it in this fic]
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Natlan.
Flowing Springs Tribe.
A young man and a young woman took advantage of the night to leave the house and arrive at a place with no one else around.
Not long after, both of them became drenched.
"Soaking in the hot springs on a night with no one else around, while gazing at the stars"
"Is the most comfortable thing."
The girl in a white swimsuit said joyfully.
She had shoulder-length white hair, red eyes that sparkled like gems, and wheat-colored skin that looked healthy and full, giving off an impression of exceptional vitality.
She was none other than Mualani.
The rising star of the Flowing Springs Tribe, holder of a Hydro Vision, inheritor of an ancient name, Natlan's most headache-inducing troublemaker...
There were simply far too many titles that could be applied to Mualani.
Any one of them was enough to make many Natlan people reveal envious gazes.
However, compared to the boy in the same hot spring pool, Mualani's titles weren't much to look at.
Because the boy currently soaking in the hot springs with Mualani wasn't an ordinary person—he was Natlan's next Pyro Archon!
"Rios, say something."
"Don't tell me that after becoming the Pyro Archon, you won't care about us companions from the Flowing Springs Tribe anymore."
Mualani playfully lifted her leg, sending splashes of water that fell into the hot spring, creating ripples that lapped against the boy's body.
Rios was a red-haired, golden-eyed boy whose refined facial features could be called the most handsome in all of Teyvat without exaggeration.
It was just that his appearance was too youthful, always making people think he was still just a child, rather than the Pyro Archon who was about to become a nation's god.
"Only after I obtain the Gnosis can I be called the Pyro Archon."
"As I am now, at most I can only be called an Allogene."
Rios smiled lightly and cracked a joke that only he could understand.
More than a decade ago, he had transmigrated to the world of Genshin Impact, becoming an infant in Natlan.
His parents in this life were warriors of the Flowing Springs Tribe who unfortunately perished in a battle against the Abyss, leaving him an orphan at a tender young age.
As a transmigrator, he had no system and could only rely on himself for everything.
Fortunately, his talent was quite good—in fact, it could be called extraordinarily strong without exaggeration.
From a young age, he had displayed combat prowess stronger than that of adults; even seasoned warriors were no match for him.
Not long ago, he had even caught the eye of a god and obtained a Pyro Vision.
As someone who had watched anime like Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, and Fire Force before transmigrating.
Rios's use of flames far surpassed that of the locals, and his imagination in particular left Natlan people in awe.
His strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, and because of this, he had earned the qualification to compete for the position of Pyro Archon.
On the continent of Teyvat, seven gods governed their corresponding nations; they were known as the Seven Sovereigns of the Mortal Realm.
The gods of other nations were all Archons, but only in the Natlan region was the Pyro Archon served by a human.
A human's lifespan could not compare to that of an Archon; even after becoming the Pyro Archon, around a century would exhaust their life.
At that time, a selection would be held to choose the strongest in combat from among the people of Natlan to serve as the new Pyro Archon.
Rios had advanced through the selection without a hitch, easily defeating the competitors from the other tribes.
It was only in the final decisive battle, facing Mavuika from the Scions of the Canopy, that he had to expend a bit more effort, taking a full 20 seconds to defeat her.
As the final victor, Rios naturally became the next Pyro Archon.
Despite being the youngest among all the contestants.
But in Natlan, a big fist was the hard truth.
Since Rios had subdued all of Natlan with his own overwhelming strength, the people of Natlan would also rally around him to make him the new Pyro Archon.
"To think that in my previous life I was an atheist, yet in this life I've become the Pyro Archon above all others."
"I wonder if I can do a good job at it."
In his previous life, when Rios surfed the internet, he either read novels or played games; he had never even touched politics.
After coming to this world, he had focused single-mindedly on becoming stronger, with no clue at all about how to govern a nation.
The middle school, high school, and university he had attended in the past might have taught such knowledge, but Rios had returned it all to his teachers after graduation.
What a headache.
Even soaking in the hot springs couldn't alleviate it.
"Rios, it's rare for us to come out to soak in the hot springs, so just enjoy it properly and don't think about things after becoming a god anymore."
"Once you become the Pyro Archon, it'll be hard to get you to come out again."
Noticing that the boy's expression was off, Mualani said with concern.
She had grown up with Rios since childhood, and their relationship was like that of family.
If there was even the slightest thing off with Rios, she could sense it.
It was precisely because she had noticed that after gaining the qualification to become the Pyro Archon, Rios as a whole had been acting a bit strange, that she had invited him out to soak in the hot springs at night.
Mualani curled up her body, hugging her knees with both hands, her ruby-like beautiful eyes gazing over: "Don't keep thinking about how heavy the burdens on your shoulders will be after becoming the Pyro Archon."
"If there's a problem you can't solve, you can come to the people of our Flowing Springs Tribe for help—we'll definitely help you."
"We won't fight alone—that's something every person in Natlan would say."
The girl's words of comfort reached Rios's ears.
Rios nodded: "Alright, then I won't think about it anymore."
The pressure was still great.
But as Mualani said, if he encountered a problem he couldn't solve, he could still seek help from others.
Mavuika would be a very suitable candidate.
If Rios remembered correctly, in the original work, it was Mavuika who became the Pyro Archon, and she managed Natlan very well, which showed that her administrative abilities were quite strong.
Once Rios became the Pyro Archon, he could try handing important tasks over to Mavuika.
He was going to be a leader, after all—if he didn't delegate the troublesome matters to his subordinates, wouldn't that make being a leader pointless?
Just as Rios settled his mind to soak in the hot springs, a voice in his head made his heart unable to settle.
[Genshin Impact Storyline - Fontaine Chapter is About to Conclude]
[Popularity Character System Activated]
Accompanied by a mechanical voice, a blue screen appeared before Rios's eyes, displaying data about him.
"So I do have a system after all?"
If Mualani weren't still beside him, Rios probably would have burst out laughing on the spot.
He hadn't gotten a system for all those years, and it only came now that he was about to become the Pyro Archon—it had arrived far too late.
Fortunately, he had done the corresponding mental preparation long ago and could accept awakening a system after a very long time in this transmigrated life.
After all, many novels deliberately delayed the system's arrival for dramatic effect.
It was said that in some novels, the protagonist had already become a Da Luo Golden Immortal before the cheat system showed up.
Compared to those people, Rios—who was getting the system just upon becoming the Pyro Archon—was far too fortunate.
"I thought I was a talent-based protagonist, but it turns out I'm still a deep blue point-allocation type."
"Anyway, let's first see what functions the system has."
After a moment of regret, Rios examined his system.
Name: Rios.
Gender: Male.
Gnosis: Pyro.
Level: Five-star.
Weapon: ???
...
Current Shock Value: 0.
"Isn't this the Popularity System?"
"Why does something called Shock Value appear at the end?"
Rios vaguely remembered this Popularity System genre.
In simple terms, his experiences in this world would be observed by another world—that is, the players' world.
If his actions could earn the players' affection, he could gain Popularity Points, which he could then exchange for various useful items and props from the mall.
But Rios looked over the entire panel and didn't see any Popularity Points—only Shock Value.
[Replying to the host.]
[Because the host is already the Pyro Archon, you inherently come with extremely high Popularity Points, which wouldn't reflect your operations.]
[Thus, this system has modified the Popularity Points to Shock Value; only by bringing surprise to others can you obtain Shock Value.]
"So you're saying I've taken a loss?"
Rios also knew just how high his Popularity Points would be as the Pyro Archon.
As long as there were no issues with his image, his popularity wouldn't be lacking.
But the system had realized this too, so it changed Popularity Points to Shock Value, rendering his position as Pyro Archon useless.
[Host, it's actually not a loss.]
[Although you've lost the popularity boost from your Pyro Archon identity, the method of acquiring Shock Value is easier than for Popularity Points.]
[Popularity Points can only be obtained from players in the players' world.]
[But Shock Value can not only be obtained from the players' world, but also from the host's own world.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Rios's eyes lit up.
"With that said, after I become the Pyro Archon tomorrow, if I do some outrageous things..."
"Won't I be able to gain a massive amount of Shock Value from the Natlan people?"
[Precisely so.]
"I've got an idea now."
Making the Natlan people shocked—how hard could that be?
Just shut down the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame's Holy Night and the Night Warden Wars, and that'd do it?