After everything settled down, everyone went off to do their own thing.
As Zephyr was walking past a small bridge, he spotted a familiar figure.
"Gojo Satoru, what are you doing?"
Not far away, Gojo was seen being very chummy with a girl, seemingly taking a selfie together.
Paimon gasped, "A selfie? Wait… Gojo-sensei, no matter how much you like her, you can't just force someone into something like that!"
Gojo quickly waved his hands, flustered, "No, no, no! It's the exact opposite—this young lady is my fan! She asked me to take a picture with her!"
Lumine frowned. "Huh? Someone's actually your fan?"
"Wow… that hurts. So that's the image you guys have of me, huh?"
The blue-haired girl in a suit standing next to him introduced herself,
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kasumi Miwa. You're Gojo-sensei's students, right?"
"Mhm, hello. I'm Lumine."
"Hi there... wait, is that a curse spirit next to you? Or a cursed corpse?"
Paimon sighed, "Ugh, Paimon has heard this one so many times. Paimon is not a curse or a cursed corpse! Paimon is a fairy! And Paimon name is Paimon!"
"Ah—sorry! Wait, Paimon… and Lumine? Are you the sorcerer rumored to have defeated a special-grade curse?!"
Paimon proudly puffed up, "Wow, Traveler, you're famous now?"
Miwa nodded, "Of course! Last time, Gojo-sensei even came to our school just to brag about it to our principal!"
Lumine turned to Gojo with the most intense side-eye imaginable.
Gojo awkwardly chuckled, "Hehe… well, you know how it is. When a student becomes famous, a teacher's gotta show off a little. Totally normal."
"The problem is, you're not our teacher."
"What are you talking about? Didn't I help you guys a ton during that Domain Expansion fight? That makes me your teacher by default!"
Miwa puffed out her cheeks slightly, looking a bit jealous.
"You all seem to get along really well…"
"Not even a little," Lumine and Paimon replied in sync.
"Don't lie to me, I can tell! You guys are totally that classic couple who bicker all the time, but when it really matters, you've got each other's backs. I see right through you!"
"HUH?! Couple?!"
Zephyr's mouth twitched uncontrollably. He finally couldn't take it anymore.
"No, you're overthinking it!"
Gojo chimed in, "Exactly! If I were gonna find a girlfriend, she'd have to be sexy. Why would I go for this little shrimp?"
Lumine stomped down hard on Gojo's foot. His face instantly contorted in pain.
Whether it was the game being a bit merciful and letting her character move occasionally, or if Lumine's resentment had transcended game logic… no one really knew.
Miwa hesitated, "I-I see…"
Zephyr smiled and said, "Of course! If I were to look for a girlfriend, I'd want someone as adorable as you, Miwa."
Gojo immediately rolled his eyes—despite technically not having any.
Miwa blushed visibly.
"P-Please don't joke like that… besides, we're both girls."
Paimon quietly interjected,
"Sorry to interrupt… but actually, the Traveler's a guy."
"…Huh?"
"Ahem. What I mean is, the Traveler has a split personality. The one talking now is the male persona—he's called Zephyr."
"Eh?! There's something like that?!"
Paimon muttered under her breath,
"…Poor Amber. Paimon wonder if the player still remembers you."
Lumine muttered under her breath,
"Of course I remember… You forget he called himself part of the 'love everyone' club before? That pervy scumbag…"
Gojo said cheerfully, "Miwa-chan, I've got something to take care of, so I'll be off now~"
"Eh…" Miwa clearly looked a bit disappointed.
Gojo didn't notice at all and slipped away just like that. To him, Miwa Kasumi was just another fan.
"Gojo-sensei left in such a hurry… I wonder if he had something urgent going on," Miwa said.
Paimon asked, "Miwa, are you really Gojo-sensei's fan?"
"Of course! I respect Gojo-sensei the most!"
"Then why don't you come study at our school?"
"Well… there are a lot of reasons…"
Dreams and reality often part ways due to a thousand little reasons.
"I wonder if I'll ever get to see Gojo-sensei again…"
Zephyr said, "That might be tough. We don't even go to the same school, and Gojo's always super busy. The next time you'll probably see him is at the Exchange Event."
"Ah… that's so far away," Miwa said, looking even more disappointed.
"And from what I remember, Gojo's schedule is packed. Right after the exchange event, he's off on a business trip. So realistically, your next chance to see him might be next year's event."
"Aaah…" Miwa's eyes dimmed even more.
Just then, a sly grin crept into Zephyr's mind.
"But I'm different," he said. "As Gojo Satoru's student—his most prized disciple—I get to see him pretty often."
"I'm so jealous…"
"How about this—if you agree to be my… ahem, my friend, I'll help you get his autograph. How about that?"
"R-Really?!" Miwa's excitement flared up.
"Totally! And not just that. If we've got time, I can even call him over to chat with you in person."
"Really really?! I can't even imagine that!"
"So, how about it? Deal?"
Miwa shyly nodded, agreeing.
"Are you free today? Let's go on a date."
"Eh? Right now?"
"One autographed photo of Gojo Satoru."
"I'M IN!"
"Great, then let's go."
Lumine rolled her eyes, You really have the nerve to flirt like this every day?
Zephyr paused. Wait a second… that voice just now—was Lumine speaking?
It hadn't come through the computer speakers… it had appeared directly in his mind.
"…Why aren't you saying anything? Feeling guilty?"
"Lumine, did you notice? We're talking mentally right now."
"Mental communication?"
Lumine blinked. "Whoa, you're right! That's so cool—how are we doing this!?"
"You don't know either?"
Well… guess we'll just treat it as a newly unlocked feature.
Lumine was overjoyed—this new feature was incredibly useful to her. At the very least, she no longer had to look like a fool talking to herself out loud. Of course, the original way of speaking still worked too.
"Wait, don't try to change the subject. Earlier you said you liked me. Was that just casual talk, like with Amber or Miwa?"
"No way! I really do like you! Out of all the people under the sky and above the earth, I love Lumine the most!"
"Hmph~ I don't believe you~~"
Paimon muttered, "Paimon. Love. Paimon."
Falling in love with oneself—legendary.
---
In a quiet attic, an old man who had been waiting forever, now parched, muttered,
"Where's the tea?"
---
After the date, the two happily exchanged contact information.
"Today was such a great day," Zephyr said with a satisfied sigh.
Paimon just replied, "..."
"What? You clearly have something to say. Spit it out."
"Uhh… I'm scared to say it…"
"Oh crap, I almost forgot—the daily quests. Ugh, the moment I think of work, my mood plummets. Why doesn't this game have auto-pathing and auto-combat?"
Paimon said, "Only those rough, low-effort MMOs would have something like that. A beautifully crafted world like Teyvat doesn't need those lazy features!"
"Oh? The little one knows quite a bit, huh."
"Hmph, I've been browsing the internet a lot these days!"
"Next game I'm playing is Legend."
"You—!"
---
After wrapping up the day's work, they returned to school only to find a familiar face waiting: Ijichi. The mood among everyone was heavy, filled with a negative air.
"What's going on? Why do you all look like this?"
Ijichi said grimly, "Miss Lumine… because there's been another death in Tokyo."
"…I knew it. The moment I saw you, I had a feeling it'd be something like this."
Sob sob sob…" Ijichi burst into tears.
After Ijichi explained the situation, they got a rough idea of what had happened:
At a movie theater, after a film screening ended, staff discovered three high school students dead in the auditorium. The corpses were twisted in bizarre ways.
Cause of death: Skull deformation causing intracranial pressure to rise, leading to respiratory failure.
Zephyr's eyes lit up. Junpei? He smiled.
Back when he used to play on the Q-server, players always laughed like this. He picked it up naturally.
He was happy—for two reasons. First, it meant he didn't need to search for Junpei; he'd appeared on his own. Second, if Junpei had shown up, that meant the storyline hadn't deviated too much from the original.
If he followed this thread, maybe he could defeat Mahito soon—and finally return to Teyvat.
Yes, even though he actually preferred the modern world more… he never forgot Lumine's goal: rescuing her sister.
Lumine was his (future)wife, so her sister… was basically his wife too. Compared to everything else, saving his wife was clearly top priority.
Of course, if Lumine ever found out what he was thinking, she might just beat him to death.
Gojo Satoru took a deep breath and asked,
"What's the estimated threat level of this incident?"
//END
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