Inside the Sumeru Akademiya, several white-bearded senior tutors surrounded a student undergoing his graduation defense; the atmosphere was exceptionally solemn.
The graduating student taking the defense walked onto the podium with clumsy, nervous steps, beginning to introduce himself with a trembling voice. Occasionally hearing a cough from the tutors would startle him.
As Sumeru, ruled by the God of Wisdom, the Sumeru Akademiya was a sacred place in the hearts of countless Scholars. However, the prestige of this sacred land was built upon the tears and blood of students who had failed and repeated for years.
Year after year, the tutors' demands on the graduates were notoriously harsh, as if failing students made their own wisdom shine brighter.
This year, the graduates of the Sumeru Akademiya faced an even greater challenge because the Grand Sage had personally arrived to oversee the students' graduation assessments.
Looking at the graduate who was nervously rambling, the Grand Sage frowned and asked the tutor beside him, "Where is that boy Arkz? The one those ignorant commoners call a once-in-a-millennium genius, even surpassing what Gulesh, who was called a once-in-two-hundred-years genius—the 'Rose Witch Lisa'—said a few years ago?"
"Honorable sage, Arkz's graduation defense is the finale, scheduled last."
"Then I shall look forward to it. I hope it's not a waste of time."
Listening to the students' defenses, the Grand Sage was so angry his beard bristled, repeatedly lamenting that each batch of Sumeru Akademiya students was worse than the last.
As expected, this year's pass rate set the lowest record in a century. Unknown numbers of students were secretly cursing the Grand Sage as an old * * *.
As time passed, the line of defending students dwindled, finally reaching the last student—Arkz, the genius of the Akademiya of Logic, specializing in mechanical design.
The research of mechanical life once flourished in Sumeru, but for some unknown reason, it was now banned by the Sumeru Akademiya under the guise of confidentiality. This caused the Akademiya of Logic, which focused on architecture and mechanics, to shift its research focus toward architecture, leaving mechanics stagnant with no significant progress for a hundred years.
However, the appearance of Arkz gave the tutors of the Akademiya of Logic hope for the revival of mechanics.
Yet, this long-awaited genius never appeared on the stage for his graduation defense.
The sage angrily pounded the table and shouted, "Where is that Arkz? He can even be late for something as important as the graduation defense! I will make him repeat the year!"
Bang!
The classroom door was violently pushed open.
"Bad news, Senior Arkz has withdrawn from school!"
"What!?"
"Well, judging by the time, he should already be in Liyue. It's too late to chase him now."
"Did he say why he withdrew?"
"Senior Arkz said: Sumeru is too competitive; he wants to lie flat. Instead of being a laborer for the tutors and getting a meager few hundred Mora a month, he'd rather return to Mondstadt to farm."
...
In an instant, the news of the Sumeru Akademiya genius returning home to farm spread throughout Sumeru, even reaching the ears of people in Liyue.
A reporter from Fontaine even traveled thousands of miles to Sumeru to conduct a special interview at the Sumeru Akademiya, intending to spread the news of the "Sumeru Akademiya Genius Student Returns Home to Farm" across all of Teyvat, to see if it was a distortion of human nature or a moral degradation. Naturally, the reporter was driven out of the office by the sage with a dark expression.
While Sumeru was in turmoil over Arkz's withdrawal, the protagonist of the story, the center of the vortex, was leisurely sunbathing on a carriage.
On the trade route from Sumeru to Liyue, a young Scholar wearing the white uniform of an Akademiya of Logic student lay on top of a carriage transporting Liyue silk, enjoying the rare good weather of Sumeru.
Although Sumeru had plenty of sunshine, the rainforest area experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall, often raining intermittently. One second it would be sunny and clear, and the next it would be pattering with raindrops.
This abundant precipitation made drying clothes a difficult task for the people of the rainforest. This overly ample rainfall seemed to have snatched away all the rain from the desert region.
Fortunately, Sumeru's vast, dense rainforest acted like a natural reservoir; otherwise, the people of the rainforest would genuinely worry about the possibility of floods.
The world is truly strange. On opposite sides of the sand barrier, the rainforest suffers from excessive precipitation, while the desert struggles desperately to fight over water sources more precious than life itself.
Perhaps in the eyes of the desert dwellers, the trouble the Sumeru rainforest people had drying their clothes seemed like a mockery of their tragic fate.
But none of that concerned Arkz; he was heading to Mondstadt to enjoy a free and easy life of farming. No endless classes, no unfinishable books, no late-night overtime or unwritten homework—life was truly wonderful.
The captain of the caravan's guard, Shi Sheng, was a middle-aged man with the classic appearance of a Liyue person. A face full of stubble plus scars made him look fiercer than a bandit when he kept a straight face.
He looked at Arkz, who was occasionally grinning foolishly on top of the carriage, and couldn't help but ask:
"Hey, kid Arkz, judging by your clothes, you're a Scholar from Sumeru. What are you going to Mondstadt for?"
"Oh, Uncle Shi Sheng, my grandfather has a farm in Mondstadt that's been abandoned and unattended for a long time. I plan to go take a look," Arkz gazed at the sky, reminiscing about his past and present lives.
Before transmigrating, he was playing an extremely popular farming game, 'Stardew Valley,' on his computer, while simultaneously having 'Genshin Impact' running on his smartphone, preparing to farm for artifacts and clear stamina.
Then he transmigrated to Teyvat.
After transmigrating, Arkz, under the novice guidance of the 'Stardew Valley (x) Teyvat (√) Farming System,' became a student of the Akademiya of Logic in the Sumeru Akademiya.
Anyone who has played that farming game knows that the novice guidance in the game is almost non-existent, so simple that it practically begs to be summarized in one sentence without needing extra words.
"Teyvat Farming System: Novice Quest, travel to Mondstadt and claim your farm."
Arkz: "????"
Arkz asked the system in astonishment, "That's it? Where is the novice gift package?"
System: "..."
Faced with the unresponsive system, Arkz could only console himself that compared to other transmigrators, at least he had a system that activated upon landing, which was already quite good.
Landing in Sumeru with no Mora in his pocket, and the farm in Mondstadt, the journey ahead was too arduous.
Relying on his student ID and Scholar uniform, Arkz asked for directions many times before finding the gates of the Sumeru Akademiya. Although he smoothly completed the check-in procedures, Arkz deeply realized this was a real world.
It took Arkz a full two hours to walk from where he landed to the Sumeru Akademiya. How long would it take him to travel from Sumeru to Mondstadt?
With no Mora in his pocket and combat power inferior to a Hilichurl, Arkz deliberated carefully and decided to stay at the Sumeru Akademiya for a while to save up travel expenses before heading to Mondstadt.
And so, Arkz began his struggle in Sumeru.
In the classes of the Akademiya of Logic, the advanced elemental theory taught by the teacher was too profound for Arkz, who didn't even possess basic knowledge of Teyvat.
Although Arkz tried very hard, at the Sumeru Akademiya, he had neither background nor Mora to offer as gifts. With his grades consistently ranking last, he received a warning of academic probation from his tutor.
Academic Probation Warning: If you score last again in this exam, you will be kicked out of the Sumeru Akademiya.
In fact, within the Sumeru Akademiya, the number of people receiving an academic probation warning was rarer than someone consistently scoring first in exams. Therefore, this final exam before potential expulsion attracted a large crowd of Sumeru residents eager to watch the spectacle.
To ensure fairness, Arkz's tutor announced that the entire examination process would be public. As for Arkz potentially proving him wrong, Arkz's tutor stated it was impossible, completely impossible.
Although the tutors at the Sumeru Akademiya were all * * * and the students were all * * *, the monthly living stipend given to students was genuinely attractive. Arkz relied on this 1000 Mora per month to survive. Therefore, before leaving Sumeru, Arkz wanted to struggle a bit longer.
Then, upon seeing the topic given by the tutor, Arkz was delighted.
Topic: Design a revolutionary civilian mechanical device capable of changing the lifestyle of all Teyvat inhabitants.
This type of open-ended question was entirely subject to the tutor's subjective grading. Under normal circumstances, even if Arkz's answer was excellent, the tutor still had the authority to mark him as failed.
But who would have thought that Arkz was a transmigrator, and from a world whose technological tree was completely different from Teyvat's?
Arkz swiftly penned down: "Speculations on the Universality and Application Prospects of the smartphone in Teyvat."
At first, some people mocked Arkz's design, saying the smartphone was nothing more than renaming Sumeru's akasha terminal. But as Arkz wrote more and more, some knowledgeable people in the crowd began to grow tense, constantly notifying other Scholars to come and witness this paper.
By the time Arkz finished writing, even ordinary citizens could see that Arkz's concept seemed somewhat feasible. At least in Sumeru, his Vision could be achieved using the akasha terminal.
Arkz's tutor initially wanted to struggle a bit longer, but as the Dendro Vision, symbolizing divine approval, descended into Arkz's hand, all struggles became meaningless.
The one recognized by the gods, the once-in-a-millennium genius—after this day, Arkz's reputation as a genius spread throughout Teyvat.
After becoming a genius, his treatment naturally changed. The new tutors practically treated Arkz like a treasure, hoping to ride his coattails to become the next sage of the Sumeru Akademiya.
Moreover, with the Vision, Arkz could now accept commissions and violently beat Hilichurls in the wild to earn Mora and save up travel expenses.
Originally, everything was going well. Arkz was flourishing in Sumeru; he had understanding tutors, junior male students, pretty and considerate junior female students, and merchants rushing to offer investments with Mora. He almost forgot that he still had a system and a farm far away in Mondstadt.
Until that day, a Scholar named Dottore came to visit.
Dottore!!!
Under the half-smiling gaze of Junior Sister Dottore, Arkz nervously ushered her out of his residence.
Junior Sister Dottore: "Senior Arkz, didn't you say you were going to watch the stars with me tonight?"
Arkz wiped the sweat from his forehead and forced himself to remain calm: "Junior Sister, I have to rush a paper tonight. You know, we Scholars always have a group of inhuman tutors above us; making us work overtime late into the night is common."
(New Tutor: Huh? I'm practically kneeling before you.)
After seeing off Junior Sister Dottore, Arkz thought about how he had previously approached this beautiful junior sister and even tried to get close to her, and couldn't help but slap himself hard twice.
There is something dirty in Sumeru; I can't stay here!!!