It was Zhang Hao's third day in Teyvat—counting from the day he first woke up here.
With a shelter built, he had already run into a few adventurers out on commissions.
From their chatter, he learned that the blond Traveler hadn't appeared yet, and Mondstadt's dragon disaster was still ongoing.
He couldn't help wondering if the Abyss Order had "rolled" Dragon Bro this time, or if they had managed to pull the rare card—Lumine.
If the Traveler turned out to be the "trash-tier blond auntie," then he'd make sure to get close to Lumine. If it was Dragon Bro, then he'd just look for news of Lumine.
(Aether: ?? Kid, you'd better watch yourself.)
Teyvat was overflowing with beauties—lolis, young maidens, mature big sisters… just thinking about it made Zhang Hao drool.
"Smells amazing."
The rich scent of roasted meat wafted through the air. He had caught a wild boar with a trap. Unlike in the game, it didn't just drop a few slabs of raw meat upon defeat—after all, Genshin was rated 12+, with little to no gore.
Here, the boar had been feeding on mint, Small Lamp Grass, and raspberries. Its meat carried none of the usual musky stench of wild game.
Feasting heartily, Zhang Hao leaned back with a sigh. These past few days really had been surreal. Who would've thought he'd actually get isekai'd one day?
And yet… despite the novelty, he still felt a hollow emptiness. Maybe it was the lack of belonging.
Right now, he was nothing more than a passerby in Teyvat. Many transmigrators in novels rejoiced the moment they arrived in another world. Zhang Hao found that hard to understand.
To him, there was only fear of the unknown, and uncertainty about the future.
Even if you knew the plot, without strength, you couldn't change a thing.
Still, since I'm here, I may as well make the best of it. Living in Teyvat was his reality now. The only thing left to do was survive.
"Good night, Makka Pakka."
He called out to his Hydro Slime before lying down on his crude wooden bed, padded with soft leaves. Surprisingly comfortable, really.
The Hydro Slime plopped down beside the leaf mat and dozed off.
"Ya!"
The shout came from a humanoid monster—beige fur, lean black body, primitive clothing, and a mask painted with strange white markings. In its hand, a wooden club.
Zhang Hao studied it with curiosity. It was a Hilichurl. Club in hand meant Hilichurl Fighter; barehanded was a regular Hilichurl; red fur and carrying a torch meant Hilichurl Berserker—or more commonly, Fire Torch Hilichurl.
He had no plans of approaching them. Slimes were one thing, but Hilichurls? No way. After all, many Hilichurls were cursed descendants of Khaenri'ah. Keeping one at his side would have everyone mistaking him for Abyss Order.
That aside…
He glanced at the Hilichurl huts—round, sturdy structures. Then compared them to his own slapdash shelter.
Damn it!
Even Hilichurls had better housing than him.
At that moment, he couldn't help yearning for a Serenitea Pot. With one, he could return home anytime, no matter where he was.
In reality, Teyvat was far larger than the game map. The treasure chest spots he remembered were ridiculously far apart. After all this time, he had only managed to find a few.
Strongly recommend someone make a Teyvat Wild Survival Guide!
Not that it mattered. Chests didn't contain much Mora anyway. Maybe they'd already been looted by Aether or Lumine.
Right now, he had less Mora than even Mondstadt's drunkards. Sure, people mocked Mondstadt as the "giant baby city," but anyone who could afford alcohol at least had some pocket change.
At Angel's Share, a single glass of Apple Cider cost 1500 Mora. And those Mondstadt drinkers weren't getting drunk off one cup.
Based on price comparisons by content creators, the exchange rate between Mora and RMB was roughly 100:1.
For now, Zhang Hao had no intention of entering the city. With the dragon disaster raging, the Knights of Favonius would be on high alert against outsiders.
And it wasn't like he had power. He couldn't exactly throw a Hydro Slime at people. Sure, the damage wasn't much—but the insult would be massive.
Leaving the Hilichurl camp behind, Zhang Hao returned to "jungling."
"Heave-ho!"
He climbed a tree and spotted a nest, inside it five or six large eggs.
Growing up in the city, he'd never had a chance to raid bird nests. Teyvat gave him the opportunity.
He grabbed two eggs and hopped back down.
Each was the size of a fist, bigger than a chicken egg.
"Teyvat Fried Eggs—done."
On a flat stone, he fried two single-sided eggs. One poke of the yolk, and golden liquid oozed out. The aroma was mouthwatering.
In-game, Teyvat Fried Egg could revive a fallen character and restore 50–150 HP.
But here in reality, it didn't seem to have that miraculous effect. If it did, this dish would be divine-tier cuisine.
Wait… maybe only dishes cooked by the Traveler had special effects. I'll have to test it someday.
Even without resurrection powers, the fried eggs were delicious—comforting and warm, perfect for life in the wild.
"Is that slime your pet?"
A voice broke his thoughts. A young man in adventurer gear approached, eyeing the Hydro Slime curiously.
The slime hadn't attacked Zhang Hao, which was enough to make the adventurer gape.
"Yeah, it's mine," Zhang Hao nodded.
In the past couple of days, he'd met a few adventurers and even some Knights of Favonius out on patrols.
"Whoa, how'd you do it?" The adventurer's eyes sparkled. He even pulled out a notebook, ready to jot everything down.
"Oh, that? Honestly, I'm not sure. Probably just because I'm handsome." Zhang Hao smirked.
Truth was, he really didn't know. When he'd first met the Hydro Slime, he'd simply asked if it wanted to follow him… and it did.
Since then, the little guy's company had kept him from feeling so lonely.
As for Mondstadt, he knew rent was steep. Food wasn't cheap either. Out here, though, everything he caught or foraged was free.
"Uh…"
The adventurer scratched his head, dark lines forming. Sure, Zhang Hao wasn't bad-looking—but no way a slime followed him just for that.
"Ahem. Honestly, I have no idea. I just asked, and it tagged along," Zhang Hao admitted.
The adventurer nodded slowly, filing the thought away. Later, he decided to try it himself with a slime.
Unfortunately, when he picked a random Electro Slime, the attempt ended… with a smoking afro.