Playing Genshin in Genshin! [17]

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As Paimon rambled on about the world’s setting, Lu Shiyuan finally confirmed that the game’s world was indeed the same as the Teyvat he was living in.

This realization left him feeling a bit absurd. "Does this mean... I’m actually living in a game world?"

The thought threw his mind into a whirl, chaotic and confused.

After a while, he let out a sigh. "Well, I might as well keep playing."

Controlling Lumine, Lu Shiyuan watched as she encountered the dragon in Whispering Woods and the mysterious boy who communicated with it.

"It makes me wonder, at what point in time did Lumine arrive in Teyvat?" he mused, stroking his chin.

Since his world and this game’s Teyvat seemed to be so closely connected, perhaps he might even run into the protagonist herself one day. If given the chance, Lu Shiyuan thought he might try to approach her.

As the game progressed, Lumine and Paimon were about to approach Mondstadt when they were stopped by a girl wearing a red headband with rabbit-like ears.

The girl introduced herself as Amber, a scout of the Knights of Favonius.

Having played many games before, Lu Shiyuan could tell that Amber was another guide character.

Sure enough, Amber led them into their first battle. After the fight, Amber permanently joined the team.

“Oh, so you can control other characters too,” Lu Shiyuan noted, finding the game more engaging.

With Amber’s addition, he noticed the character status bar in the top-right corner of the screen. Curious, he opened it and examined the stats of Lumine and Amber. However, what really caught his attention was the presence of a third character.

Looking at the side profile of the character’s icon, Lu Shiyuan had a strange feeling. "Why does this look... like me?"

He quickly brought up the full character profile, and sure enough, the character’s appearance was unmistakably a two-dimensional version of himself. Even the name displayed was his own.

It was clear now: this game had some deeper mysteries.

After a brief moment of shock, Lu Shiyuan quickly calmed down. The game had already thrown so many surprises at him that seeing his own avatar was just another layer to it. He soon added his "self" to the team.

Setting the main storyline aside, Lu Shiyuan switched to his own character and tried out a few attacks.

Unsurprisingly, the character’s weapon of choice was a spear, and his moves mirrored Lu Shiyuan’s actual spear techniques with uncanny precision.

However, unlike the other characters, this avatar’s elemental skill and burst were both grayed out. Lu Shiyuan assumed this was because, in real life, he hadn’t yet mastered any elemental abilities, so they couldn’t be reflected in the game.

Elemental skills were abilities that Vision holders developed to utilize their elemental powers in battle. For example, Qianzhi’s gravity-controlling ability, Thousand Weight, was an elemental skill.

Elemental bursts, on the other hand, were powerful moves where Vision holders released stored elemental energy, creating devastating effects. Since Lu Shiyuan hadn’t yet seen anyone use a burst in real life, he had no way to compare.

“I guess I should start developing my own abilities soon,” Lu Shiyuan thought.

As his mind wandered, he continued tapping the attack button on the screen, controlling his avatar to practice spear strikes, thrusts, and slams. But after a while, he began to notice that his muscles were starting to feel sore.

The strange sensation made him stop and check himself. When his in-game avatar stopped moving, the muscle fatigue quickly subsided.

"This is..." Realizing what was happening, Lu Shiyuan conducted a few tests and finally confirmed his suspicions.

Whenever he had his in-game self practice spear techniques or run around, his real body would experience fatigue, just as if he had been training for real.

However, this effect only applied to his own avatar—controlling other characters in the game had no impact on him physically.

Furthermore, Lu Shiyuan hypothesized that the game’s training effects, including muscle memory, would also carry over to his real body.

In other words, as long as he controlled his avatar to perform spear drills or other physical activities in the game, he could receive the corresponding training benefits in real life.

“This feature... could be incredible,” he muttered, staring at the screen.

If he could get stronger just by playing the game and making his avatar practice, it would be an immensely convenient way to train. Of course, he would need more time to verify if this method could replace his usual daily training.

Lu Shiyuan also tested what would happen if his avatar took damage in-game. He had his character get punched by a Hilichurl, causing some health loss.

The result: yes, he could feel pain, but only a very slight amount.

There was indeed a connection between his avatar and his real body, but there seemed to be a conversion rate. For example, if the avatar completed five attack combos, the real body would only feel the effect of one combo’s worth of training.

Training effects aside, when it came to injuries, the impact was even less significant. In the game, healing and resurrection were easy—just standing near a Statue of The Seven could restore full health.

Therefore, even if his avatar was on the verge of death, Lu Shiyuan would only feel a minor prick in real life.

He even dared to let his avatar die, and though it gave him a brief sense of anxiety, it was nothing serious. Once his character revived, the feeling vanished completely.

All in all, controlling a character with his own name and likeness seemed to bring only benefits.

At the same time, Lu Shiyuan became increasingly convinced that this game and his world were deeply intertwined and could even influence one another.

With that conclusion in mind, his interest in the game only grew. Although it was getting late, he decided to stay up and play through the main storyline.

After returning to Amber’s side and following her into Mondstadt, Amber thanked Lumine by gifting her a set of Wind Gliders.

Just as he learned how to use the gliders, another cutscene played. The dragon from earlier, Stormterror, descended from the sky, unleashing a storm that ravaged Mondstadt.

After driving off the dragon, the story continued to unfold.

Lu Shiyuan, now thoroughly immersed in the game’s world, soon finished the first act of the story.