This was requested by Adelaide Crimshaw from Quotev.
So this is going to be kind of like a VR version of Genshin Impact. You take the place of Aether and Lumine. You can go into Co-Op with other people, the mechanics are kinda all like Genshim. Your appearance isn't set, you get to choose your appearance and all that stuff. As for your element, we're gonna leave it as Energiro because everyone prefers their own element, and Energiro is the most neutral since you can switch between all of em, like Aether and Lumine. Get what I mean?
This takes place during the Archon Quest, Chapter 2 Act 4 specifically. It's the Cavern Archon Quest if that helps with the time setting. So if you have not played up till here and do not wish to be spoiled, I suggest you don't read this chapter. It's tiny spoilers, like, really tiny, but still.
Anyways, enjoy.
Setting up her VR headset and the rest of her equipment, (Y/n) was not super excited to get started on the game her parents had pre-downloaded onto her headset. Genshin Impact, it was called, a game with many age ranges playing, with a couple of age ranges being a bit questionable.
She turned 20 two days ago, but didn't feel like busting out the VR headset and other equipment because she wanted to enjoy the time off from work while she could. She took 2 weeks off after not getting much time off after she started working, 4 years ago.
"Alright, so, step on this," She stepped on a walking piece that would let her move her legs around the world, without moving anywhere in the room. It was a nifty piece of equipment. "And get this set around my waist to prevent falling, and now I can put the headset on."
With the helmet on, she looked at the main menu, and found the already downloaded game. "Wow, this thing takes up quite a few gigabytes. I might have to get a computer to help store it. Anyways, let's get this game started."
"Okay then," (Y/n) sighed, looking at her current Mora pouch and how much was inside. "This should be enough to level up Eula. I still find it cool we can switch between ourselves and these characters to play as them. Though, I think Xiao's elemental skill is going to make me motion sick..."
Where was she right now? She's at the bottom of the Cavern, doing the cavern Archon Quest. She's already met up with Dainsleif, but there was something she noticed a little differently than what her friends are telling her. Dainsleif is just supposed to talk to us and then move on, but the strange thing is that he stares at her. He's supposed to look away at certain points to investigate, but he's been staring at her when he talks. She's kept herself as her original character, since she liked her Vision and her weapon, and mainly has off field support characters while she built herself as a main DPS, and let's just say, switching between artifacts sucks.
Right now, she is in the part of the quest where she learns more about the hilichurls and the people of Khaenri'ah. She had just learned from Dainsleif about the curse placed upon the people, and when they start to feel like themselves again before dying, they stay somewhere quiet and peaceful so that they may rest.
"Conversation's over, brace yourselves!" Dain cut (Y/n) out of her thoughts, with sudden enemies showing up.
Quickly, (Y/n) disposed of them with her team. She found her current element, Pyro, to be the most suited as a main DPS while her Anemo build is better for gathering. However the mechanics worked, they all worked differently whenever you switch between elements, so that means a lot of farming and a lot of pain for when those artifacts went to hot garbage substats when having the most amazing other substats and main stats.
"What were those?" Paimon asked Dain, since he would have the most knowledge on this. If this concerned the people of Khaenri'ah, then he has the most info. That, and (Y/n) made sure to avoid spoilers from her friends and the rest of the Genshin community. "And why did they attack us all of a sudden?"
"Black Serpent Knights," Dain recognized who they were. "They once belonged to the Royal Guard of Khaenri'ah."
"Wait a second!" Paimon stopped him. "Royal Guard? So... they used to be your troops?!"
"Yes, they were," Dain said, remembering the faces of those who worked under him. Those memories were good memories, but it also felt like they were haunting him sometimes. "But now, the curse engulfs them, and they fight with none of the honor they once had..."
"That's horrible..." (Y/n) said. Even though she can't make her own dialogue, that doesn't mean she can't say something. Now could the NPC's hear her? Of course not, they're NPC's, not people in Co-Op. "Man, this game has some dark themes to it."
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Thanks to her equipment, she's able to feel pressure when taking damage or when something bonks her on the head (and no, not something in reality, she made sure of that). Looking at the hand, her eyes followed the hand, to the wrist, to the arm, and to the face. It was Dain.
"Sadly this is my reality," Well that was not what she was expecting to hear. This was out of character for him, in the sense that he is not supposed to make physical contact with the player. Maybe her game is bugged? Yeah, she'll send in a report to Hoyoverse to check out her account to make sure everything is alright. "Let's continue."
"Wait, Dain." Paimon pointed up to a figure that looked down upon them, but didn't move towards them or attack them like the other Black Serpent Knights.
Dain looked over to whoever was there, keeping his hand on (Y/n)'s shoulder. "Seems we missed one..."
"Is he a threat?" (Y/n) asked herself out loud, and got ready in a fighting stance just in case.
Dain grabbed her by the hand, not roughly, but quite gently if (Y/n) were to say. He looked at her with his deep blue eyes before speaking. "Wait, there's something different about this one..."
When the small group looked back over to where the figure had once stood, there was no one.
"...It's disappeared." Dain said, letting (Y/n)'s hand go as he continued to stare where the figure once stood.
"What the heck?" Paimon asked, causing the other two to turn to her to listen to what she has to say. "What was going on with that one? Was it trying to say something?"
Dain brought his hand to his chin, thinking about whoever that was.
"Holy heck this game is taking a dark turn," (Y/n) shook her head a little. And here she thought this game was just going to be something light hearted and fun to play since it was open world. The direction the lore was going was going a little dark. She'll admit, it was a little nice to see the story telling taking a different direction than what she's used to. "If this get any darker, I'm playing Genius Invokatoin TCG." Yeah, she's a late player.
(Y/n) saw an option for dialogue and she pressed the only option she had.
"That would be a miraculous outcome indeed for a cataclysm that brought total doom and destruction..." Dain said. Ok, maybe she'll play Genius Invokatoin TCG the next time she's not in a cut scene. "Or perhaps it was just a coincidence. We should press onwards, to the city."
"I feel like if I do, I'm going to cry." (Y/n) mumbled.
"Please, do not shed a tear," Dain said, lifting (Y/n)'s chin so she would look up at him. "Your beautiful face should not be stained with tears."
(Y/n) took the headset off right there and then, her face flushed as red as a tomato. "Ok, that is definitely not part of the game."
(Y/n) hit her head on the kitchen, groaning in frustration. She's been trying to find any sources regardless if they were real or fake, to say that the flirting Dain had done when she was last one the game was something programmed. Honestly she didn't think Hoyoverse would do something like this with their game, since it seemed more storytelling based than romance interaction based.
She has not gotten back onto Genshin Impact since Dain had flirted with her. She did go in and out of the game when she mustered up the courage, before chickening out and logging right off right as Dain had seen her character appear. It's been maybe 4 days since then, and she's too afraid to go back on. This had to be some kind of glitch. A really. Big. Glitch.
"Are you ok (Y/n)?" Annika asked. Annika and (Y/n) have known each other since they were in diapers, and they've been inseparable ever since. No, they're not like those early 2000's teen movies kind of friends who've known each other since diapers. These two actually get along and like each other. "You've been knocking your head on our precious kitchen table for almost 3 hours. Keep going and I'd say you'll be in the hospital and we'll have an imprint of your forehead on the table until you pay for a new one. You alright?"
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, they're roommates for college. They share an apartment near the college they go to. Since it's summer, the only thing they have to do is go to work before the next semester begins, and that's not for another 2 months.
"No..." (Y/n) said, handing Annika her headset. No, Annika has not been at the apartment for a while. She was visiting family right after finals had happened, and she was outta there. "Just put the headset on and see who's there, waiting."
Annika raised an eyebrow and put the headset on, not bothering to put the rest of the body pieces on or go onto that thing in (Y/n)'s room that lets you move your legs without actually moving around the room. Genshin Impact loaded up (since it was the last thing (Y/n) had played).
(Y/n)'s character appeared in the Casim once again, and there was Dain, who was sitting down on a rock and patiently waiting for her.
"So your issue is that there's a hot man waiting for you?" Annika asked, checking Dain from head to toe. "If this is how he acts in the game, I might as well get the game on my headset as well."
As much as Dain wanted to stand up from his sitting position and talk to (Y/n)'s avatar, he didn't move. The voice he could hear from the microphone wasn't (Y/n), so he did not bother letting himself move an inch.
"That's not the issue," (Y/n)'s voice was barely audible, but Dain could hear her. He suddenly sat up straight like a puppy waiting for their human. "It's the fact that the hot guy you're talking about had flirted with me and has been holding my hand and talking directly at me whenever he's here and I'm playing."
"I mean, isn't he supposed to be talking directly at you since you're playing as the main character?" Annika asked, noticing the small change in posture of the man. "I mean, it's a first person game."
"That's not supposed to happen," (Y/n) walked over to her friend and took the headset off her, with her avatar disappearing, and Dain's sitting position slouched a little. "I've been watching videos and reading articles on the story and talking to other people who play, and none of them have had this experience. They all said that Dain never made physical contact with them, or had said something out of his programmed lines. There's also the fact that he never flirts with them. Something is wrong with my game."
"Have you reported it to Hoyoverse?" Annika asked, walking over to the fridge to see if they had stored any cold drinks in there. "By the way, can I have your last soda?"
"As long as you buy me one at the cafeteria once the semester starts." (Y/n) teased. They always ask if they can have each other's food, and respect each other's boundaries when they say no.
"I'll buy you two," Annika smiled and took the soda before popping the cap off and taking a sip. "I'll do a little investigating myself. Try playing a different game in your room for now, to get your mind off that blonde hottie."
"If you want him, you can have him." (Y/n) teased and made her way to her own room to see if there was any other game she could play to distract herself from Genshin Impact and Dain.
Stepping onto the thing that lets her move around, (Y/n) set up the rest of the body tracking equipment and finally, the headset. Genshin Impact loaded, and her avatar was back in the Cavern, with Dain not in his spot.
"Guess the game automatically stopped the quest," (Y/n) mumbled to herself. She was about to open up the map to head back to the Cat's Tail so she could play some Genius Invokation TCG when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her upper body. "Oh crap!"
"Wait, wait, wait," Dain's voice broke her out of her slightly panicked state. "Calm down, miss (Y/n). Please, listen to me."
"Ok I'm officially freaking out." (Y/n) tried to get out of his grip, but for some reason, she wasn't able to.
"Please, listen to me and I'll let you go." Dain said calmly, keeping a firm yet gentle hold on (Y/n).
She calmed down, and nodded. Dain let her go, and held his arms up to show he wasn't going to do anything else.
"Alright, talk," (Y/n) demanded, turning around to look at him. "How the heck are you able to physically touch me? How can you be saying things outside of your programming? Why is it only my account?"
"I deeply apologize for my behavior," Dain felt bad for freaking out the girl he likes. "All I know is that I started to develop romantic feelings for you."
"How is that possible?" (Y/n) asked.
"Uh."
"That was a rhetorical question."
"Oh."
"Ok, first of all, how do you know these feelings you have aren't something that's just programmed into you and not something you're actually feeling like a human being?"
"I don't know," Dain shrugged his shoulders. "All I know is that when I first met you, there was this strange feeling in my chest, and I wanted to be around you more."
"Ok that's kinda creepy."
"Not a bad kind of feeling in my chest," Dain tried his best to not freak (Y/n) out. "Just, I felt really comfortable when I was with you. I would stare at you without knowing, and I'd feel happy when you're around, and when I got to see you again here, I felt my heart start beating quickly."
"Are you sure you're not sick?" (Y/n) asked.
"I can assure you I'm not."
"Okay, Okay," (Y/n) raised her hands up, unsure of what to do. "So, you flirted with me, was that because the feeling in your chest made you? Like, did it feel like something you couldn't control?"
"Yes."
"Then it's your programming."
"I can assure you it isn't my programming."
"Then what else is it supposed to be?" That was the only logical explanation (Y/n) had for this entire ordeal. "There's no way some pixels could have feelings for me when the other version of it doesn't do this with others."
Dain gently took (Y/n)'s hand into his, and brought it up to his face. He gently kissed the back of her hand, trying to calm her down. "I do not know how this is happening, but this feeling of wanting to be with you is real."
Did that calm (Y/n) down? No. Actually, it freaked her out more. She slapped Dain with the hand he kissed before removing her headset, her face flushed as red as a fire truck.
"Annika!"
"Yeah?!"
"Please tell me mine isn't the only game with this bug!"
"It might be!"
"Oh come on!"