"Jesse! Calm down! Calm down!!!"
Zane, Elliot, and Matt desperately clung to Jesse, who was clutching a sphere emitting a dangerous red light—the "Galaxy Destruction Bomb."
"So what if you didn't catch anything! It's not that big of a deal!"
Elliot held Jesse's waist tightly, afraid that he might throw the bomb if he got too excited.
"This must be the fishing rod's fault! The fish are innocent!"
Zane tried to persuade him with reason, but Jesse's sanity had already been completely Vaporized by three hours of not catching anything.
"Let everything be destroyed! Don't stop me!!!"
Jesse's eyes were bloodshot, his hair stood on end, looking like a crazed Electro Slime.
—If this thing exploded, let alone Teyvat, even the nearby World Bubbles would be annihilated!
The three of them used all their might to barely hold him down.
Matt even used the brute strength of the Electro Lawachurl to prevent Jesse from throwing the bomb into the sea.
"Three hours! Three hours! Not a single fish!"
Jesse roared through gritted teeth.
—The most infuriating thing was that everyone else had caught something!
Zane caught four fish, Elliot caught five, and although Matt only caught one, that fish... was a shark!
He was the only one! Who! Got! Nothing!
"I'm furious!!!"
Jesse stomped his foot in impotent rage, instantly creating a large pit on the beach.
—Just then.
"Whoosh!"
Jesse's fishing rod, fixed to the ground, suddenly bent sharply, and the fishing line extended wildly, as if some colossal creature underwater was dragging it.
"Huh?!"
Jesse instantly calmed down, his eyes wide like brass bells.
"It's hooked?!"
Zane fumbled to catch the Galaxy Destruction Bomb that Jesse had casually tossed aside, then, sweating profusely, stuffed it back into his four-dimensional pocket.
Jesse dashed forward, gripping the fishing rod with both hands, muscles tensed, and yanked backward sharply—
"Come up!!!"
"Whoosh—*thwack*!"
A white shadow flew out of the water, tracing a graceful arc in mid-air, and then—
"Thud!"
—It accurately slammed into Jesse's face.
"...?"
Jesse dazedly grabbed the "fish" on his face and looked down—
A round, wet, white creature was hanging limply in his hand, eyes rolled back, limbs sprawled.
"Uh... what kind of fish is this?" Jesse scratched his head and pinched the "fish's" face.
"A new species?"
"That's Paimon! Not a fish!!!"
Zane rushed over, snatched Paimon away, and placed her on the ground to examine her.
"She's drowning!"
Zane frowned and immediately began first aid.
He knelt on one knee, placed his hand on Paimon's little belly, and gently pressed—
"Pfft!!!"
Paimon suddenly spat out a large mouthful of water, and at the same time—
"Smack!"
A lively, flopping Bass flew out of her mouth, accurately smacking Zane in the face.
Zane: "..."
Elliot: "..."
Matt: "..."
The four of them were silent for a second.
"Wah ah ah ah!!!"
Paimon finally caught her breath, suddenly sat up, and looked around in terror.
"W-was I just eaten by a fish?!"
Jesse stared at her, slowly revealing a smile:
"No, you were fished out."
Paimon: "???"
Hearing this familiar roar, Paimon stiffly turned her neck.
Looking at the four Hilichurls in front of her, Paimon suddenly felt that being eaten by a fish would have been better.
—And at the bottom of the lake not far away, a surviving Bass quietly swam away, vowing in its heart:
"I'll never eat flying white food again in this lifetime..."
It never expected that thing to fly directly out of its stomach, taking the food in its stomach with it! A whole day's work wasted!
"Wuwuwu! Mmm!"
Paimon cried profusely, sobbing and frantically stuffing grilled fish into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
—Captured by Hilichurls, she'd rather die full!
She thought tragically, tears dripping onto the grilled fish, adding an extra salty flavor to the crispy fish skin.
Elliot scratched his head, his expression beneath the mask filled with confusion: "Why is she crying while eating?"
Jesse lowered his voice: "We are Hilichurls now, monsters, so of course she's scared."
Matt sighed: "Can't we just explain that we are outsiders, transmigrated into the bodies of Hilichurls in Teyvat?"
Zane spread his hands: "How do we explain? She doesn't understand our language, and we don't know the writing of Teyvat. What can we do?"
Matt pondered for a few seconds: "Then there really is no way."
Elliot glanced at Paimon, then his eyes widened, and he shouted: "Forget all that for now! Paimon is choking!"
"Ah?!"
Everyone turned their heads sharply, only to see Paimon's entire face turn crimson, her hands clamped tightly around her own neck, and her two short legs flailing wildly in the air—
—She still had an entire unfinished grilled fish stuck in her mouth!
"Holy crap! First aid! Quick, first aid!"
Matt rushed forward, grabbed Paimon's ankles, lifted her upside down, and vigorously shook her; Zane tried to use his fingers to dig out the fish; Elliot, in a moment of desperation, grabbed a nearby wooden stick and was about to poke it into her mouth—
"Wait! Do you want to skewer her for a barbecue?!"
Jesse slapped away Elliot's wooden stick, then directly pried open Paimon's mouth with his hands, and with two fingers—
"Whoosh!"
—A whole, saliva-covered grilled fish was pulled out.
"Cough cough cough!!!"
Paimon collapsed on the ground, gasping for air like a dehydrated fish.
Everyone frantically handed her coconut water; she hugged a coconut larger than her head and guzzled it down, getting coconut water all over her face.
"..."
The four of them silently watched this little one who had almost choked herself to death, and a thought spontaneously occurred to them:
—How on earth has this thing survived until now???
Never mind, who cares about her.
Matt casually grabbed a passing Ice Slime, and amidst its terrified "gurgling," he squeezed out Cryo element like wringing a towel, making a "splash" sound. After adding ice to his cola, he casually tossed the shriveled Slime aside.
(Slime: ...)
Iced cola poured into a wooden cup, the bubbles fizzing.
The four sat around the barbecue grill, the aroma of grilled fish mixed with the smell of charcoal, drifting into the night.
"Sniff sniff..."
Lumine, in a coma, suddenly twitched her nose, unconsciously wiggling towards the source of the scent.
"!!!"
The four of them turned their heads in unison, just in time to see the golden-haired girl, eyes closed, slowly sit up like a sleepwalker, her nose twitching as she drifted towards the scent—
—Then accurately plunged her head into the grilled fish in Jesse's hand, taking a big bite.
"Holy crap! She's a zombie?!" Elliot was so startled he leaned backward.
Lumine chewed with her eyes closed: "Mmm... delicious..."
Jesse looked down at Lumine, who was heartily gnawing on the grilled fish in his arms, and fell silent.
"..."
—Is this girl starving? How can she accurately find food even with her eyes closed? And...—Is she completely unaware that she's sitting on a "Hilichurl's" lap??
Lumine took small bites of the grilled fish, her cheeks puffing out like a satisfied cat.
She hadn't eaten meat for a whole week, eating only Sunsettias or gnawing on radishes every day, her mouth almost tasteless.
—This grilled fish, it smells so good... She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction and took another big "chomp."
—Wait!
—Where did this grilled fish come from?
Lumine's brain finally started working, albeit a bit slowly.
She opened her eyes, slowly looked up, and met a hideous Hilichurl mask.
Lumine: "..."
Jesse: "..."
Lumine blinked, then looked down at herself again—
—She was sitting in a very undignified posture, straddling the "Hilichurl's" lap, still clutching the freshly grilled fish.
Lumine: "...?"
She slowly raised her hand and pinched her own face.
—It hurt.
—It wasn't a dream.
Lumine's brain instantly crashed.