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chapter one;
bear grylls:
genshin addition.
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❝ only once you know and respect death, can you truly understand the value of life. ❞
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Cracking their bleary e/c eyes open, Y/N's stared at the sky for a moment. Blinking a few times to clear their gaze, the dull colours of some golden yellows, oranges, greens, but some blurred browns, greys and blacks. Sighing, Y/N rubbed their eyes and blinked, this time, thankfully, having much clearer vision.
The first thing they saw was how high they were compared to further in the distance, making them realise they had landed on a hill. The second thing was the familiarity of the landscape, which had trees filled with golden, red and orange leaves, but there were parts of the landscape that was barren - completely desolate. Charred trees with no leaves, soil bare of any grass, smoke in the distance.
A completely foreign land.
Y/N sighed, still feeling the dehydration in their throat. Looking up at the sky that was littered with white stars, a big silver moon, and a floating island.
...A floating island, that look eerily familiar. Squinting at it, one thought crossed Y/N's mind.
Celestia.
It looked strangely familiar to Genshin Impact's floating city of Celestia. Except right now, it was not leaning to any side, it was completely fine, no broken pillars, and it even looked slightly closer than in game.
A loud rumble shook the earth, making Y/N stumble a bit until they gained their footing back. Turning to look at where the sound came from, a massive glowing brown and yellow spear was heading straight towards the ground. It was quite far away - closer to the growing smoke than where Y/N was right now, but that wasn't what freaked out Y/N, oh no.
It was the fact that Y/N realised that they had been thrown into the world of Genshin Impact, and it was possibly before the Archon War, or during it. Y/N didn't know which was worse.
They hadn't even had time to fully absorb the fact they were actually in Genshin Impact, but the fact that what they just saw dig into the ground, the spear still able to be seen from where Y/N was standing, was none other than Zhongli - or rather Rex Lapis right now - and the spears he used to carve Liyue into what it looked like during the canon storyline.
Y/N inhaled as much air as they could, holding it for a few seconds, then exhaling. They didn't know what the fuck to do. They didn't understand any of this, and it was taking everything in them to not scream out to alert anything nearby.
They could feel their heartbeat thumping so fast in their ribcage that it felt like it was about to jump out, they couldn't stop themselves from breathing quickly, nor could they stop their vision getting blurry again.
Stumbling onto the ground, the h/c haired sat there for what felt like hours, trying to calm down the panic that swelled in their heart.
Sure, they loved the game but it was rather fucking different when you're there in real life.
Pinching their arm, they felt pain explode from the pinched area, wincing. Taking another deep breath, they ran their hands down their face. The breaths they took were slowly starting to become deeper, less quick, allowing more oxygen in their body. Y/N was still shaking, but quietly got up and made sure they could stand before moving to the edge of the hill they stood on.
Y/N could see the sun was high into sky, making them feel relieved at the fact it would still be daylight for a few more hours. It gives them time to figure shit out. Sitting themselves on the edge of the mountain, legs swinging free, they began to think.
First things first; seeing that they had seen Zho— Rex Lapis' spear, Y/N could safely assume they were in Liyue, but unable to figure out where exactly there were in Liyue. Considering it looked completely different from in game, except for a few mountains. Another thing was where exactly in the timeline were they at?
It was easy to assume that they had been plonked in the world either before the Archon War, or right smack bang in the middle of it, but due to the fact that Zhongli had spoken of the Archon War as something that was pure bloodshed, then if the time were during the Archon War, then there would be more fighting.
But the other thing was that Y/N had only been awake for ten minutes, twenty max, by now. Not much to go on.
Whilst the excitement of seeing the Archon War take place in real time made them giddy... actually seeing it would be traumatising. Especially in Liyue - not to mention Mondstadt with Decarabian and the war for freedom that resulted in Venti, the little wind spirit, becoming Barbatos, the Anemo Archon.
There was also the fact that Y/N was in a young person's body - maybe young teens at most. They'd have to find a lake to check their physical appearance.
But that made a question arise; do they go find out what that smoke was - considering from what lore was given during Archon quests, the camp that Rex Lapis and Guizhong had that held the people of Liyue often moved to different places.
Perhaps it was better if Y/N went on their own for a while until they figured shit out. It was better to be safe than sorry - who knew what the characters in this time period was like. Rex Lapis was known to be brutal, ruthless, often resorted to violence, and indifferent to matters that never exactly concerned him. Guizhong on the other hand - the rival engineer of Cloud Retainer, the best friend of Madam Ping - was soft-spoken, intelligent, kind yet was strict and firm when needed. She often kept Rex Lapis from going out of control, kept him calm.
Y/N made up their mind - they'd rather not going through the fact of how suspicious them being there would occur different opinions, ones of which power rivalled that of Gods.
Getting up safely from the top of the hill, they made their way down. It was oddly peaceful, seeing no hilichurls or any particular mobs that would attack you. Seeing the abundance of glaze lilies across the landscape that wasn't barren was beautiful, no wonder Guizhong loved them so much. If qingxin's didn't hold so much power of them (thanks, Xiao!), then glaze lilies would definitely take the first place of favourite Genshin flower.
Hours later (Y/N never realised how much time it takes to go down a fucking mountain) and their throat felt as dry as the desert in Sumeru. They needed water as soon as possible - and some food too.
Fuck, how were they supposed to get food?
Y/N grounded their teeth together in anger - couldn't whoever sent them here at least have put them in the canon storyline? That'd be much easier to navigate. Thankfully, once they were in a tree-dense area, what Y/N saw could only look like sunsettias and apples. Y/N let their lips quirk up slightly, they'd always wanted to try sunsettias. They looked around, scouting out the terrain.
As if the Gods (hah... what Gods right now? Celestia didn't count) were looking down on them, Y/N saw a battered looking house not to far, seemingly abandoned - if the broken windows and parts of the roof missing were any indication - and nearly cheered. It didn't look like much, but at least it was somewhere to be.
Getting closer and closer, Y/N was more and more convinced that they could turn the broken down house into something suitable living. Looking up at the sun, using their hands to shade their eyes, Y/N could interpret the sun as being mid-afternoon by now. That gives them time to check the inside, and if there were any supplies to help them, then they could get some water, eat some food and hopefully get some wood to at least help them begin rebuilding the house tomorrow.
Opening the creaking flimsy wooden door, Y/N looked inside, sighing in relief at the fact no one was there. It was barely even called a house, with it being only one whole room. The h/c haired teen walked in and glanced around, heart feeling less heavy at the sight of an old bag that looked like it was on its last few strings, a woven blanket with holes in along with a few supplies needed to help rebuild the place; an axe, and... was that a dull blade?
Y/N would have laughed if they could.
Digging into the bag, they found some wooden cups that thankfully weren't broken. When Y/N was walking through the forest, they could hear the sound of water running, so there was at least a lake nearby.
Deciding that would be the first thing they did, the e/c eyed grabbed the wooden cups and walked straight out the house, walking back the way they came until they stopped when hearing the sound of water, and walked in the direction they heard it from.
Not even a few minutes later did Y/N see water, and it looked fresh enough to drink from and wash in if need be. Letting out a sigh of relief, they got to filling the cups (and also downing a few themselves, they drunk at least five full cups... water never tasted so nice) when Y/N remembered their appearance. Leaning over, careful not to fall into the river, they could see glimpses of h/c hair colour and e/c colour. What was more concerning was the clothes they were wearing, not paying much attention to what they were wearing due to their concerns on surviving, rather than their appearance.
A ragged brown shirt that had tears all over it, showcasing their stomach and shoulders, tucked into black trousers that were in the same state.
What was more shocking was their head. On top of their head stood what Y/N assumed to be silver and white stag horns. Three parts branching out, one tiny singular one that wasn't even the size of their ear (yes, that was the first thing they checked after seeing the horns - they still had their normal ears), which was the furthest from the front of their face, then the longest one was in the middle which was about half the size of their arm, it branched into two different smaller parts, in a sort of 'y' shape, one part the tiniest bit longer. The last one, which was the closest to the front of their face, was smaller than the middle one, which also had two different parts to it, also branching into a 'y' shape.
Lifting their hand, Y/N touched the horns, a shivering going down their spine at the feeling. Touching them felt similar to stroking their own arm. It was a weird sensation, all right.
Putting their arm down, Y/N closed their eyes and exhaled.
"Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic." Y/N chanted. They took a deep breath, and then let out the loudest groan they had ever let out before. "Fuckity fuck, motherfucking... Am I supposed to be a fucking Adeptus or some shit? I can't believe this. I thought Adepti were only born or made illuminated by Zhongli, whose the prime Adeptus? Just my fucking luck."
Y/N grabbed the water-filled cups and stomped back to the beaten up house. They'd ignore the horns for now. After getting back, Y/N put the cups on the table that looked like it was on its last leg, Y/N grabbed the axe and left the house again. Time for a distraction.
The h/c haired was glad that during their past life, they learned and never skipped the videos on YouTube that had randomly come up on their home page that showed them survival tips on how to live in the wild. It was time to put their knowledge to very good use.
Hours passed, and Y/N collected a lot more wood than they thought they would before sundown. They collected a good amount of sunsettias and apples as well, making sure not to chop those specific trees down, hoping that the food would grow back.
Putting the last stack of wood onto the on-growing pile outside the house, Y/N headed inside. It was beginning to get dark, and they didn't want to risk anything on their first night.
Honestly, it felt a bit like they were playing Minecraft... if it were on hardcore mode.
They bit into a sunsettia, the taste made Y/N's eyes widen. From the look of them, you'd think sunsettias had an orangey taste, or even a peach-like taste. It was none of those, the taste more resembled something of a mix of an apple, except the texture was more soft and less crunchy. The best way to describe it was that it had the taste of an apple, but the texture of an orange. Surprisingly, to say the least, but Y/N wasn't going to complain, especially since it tasted amazing.
After eating, Y/N decided that it was late enough to sleep. Not knowing the exact time annoyed them, but it was something they were going to have to get used to.
The h/c haired sat on the floor with their back to the wall, pulling the blanket that was full of holes over them and put their knees to their chest. It wasn't the comfiest position, and Y/N knew they'd wake up with their neck and back aching, but if they could survive the next few days, a bed, or at least one that would at least resemble one could be made, there were enough trees to be able to last them for months, maybe even a year.
Y/N sighed, closing their eyes, the feeling of loneliness filling their heart, sleep finally consuming them.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Days continued to pass, and Y/N worked harder than they had even done in their whole life... well, past life. Using the axe, they created small lines to keep up with how many days had passed, and on the fifth day, they finally created a smallish bed-type thing. Nothing special, just something they could use instead of sleeping on the floor. Y/N's back and neck ached, and it was starting to become unbearable.
After creating a makeshift bed, Y/N spent the next three days fixing up the roof. If they knew that had this much talent in building things, they would've turned to becoming a builder in their past life. That's not to say that what they were making was expert-level stuff, Gods no, but it was something that would at least make the place safer than before.
It was on the tenth day that Y/N really wanted to yell at the person who threw them into this world.
They were just collecting water from the stream again, now having bigger cups so they didn't have to go so often (don't even question how they went to the toilet... just... don't) and they continued to look at their appearance with discontent. Y/N still looked like a young teen and it was starting to annoy them, considering they were still quite young, it meant they were small in height... which complicated a lot of things.
That's when they muttered to themselves, "Gods, I wish I looked like my old adult self."
Now, Y/N didn't scream, they'll have you know. Nope; nothing phased them anymore after having to kill a poor unsuspecting boar (they made a small shrine for the first boar they killed, adopting the name 'Inosuke' for it... Yes, they missed being able to watch anime).
They merely... squeaked in surprise, when they looked back down at the water to see their appearance was now of an adult. Exactly how they looked like before they died, but in 2d. They still had those stag horns, but the h/c haired was beginning to like them - they looked cool.
Y/N just wasn't expecting it... but they should have questioned it, assuming that they were an adeptus, they could change their appearance. It was nice to know, and made them question whether they could transform into a deer-like or stag-like form. That was for another day.
On the fifteen day, Y/N decided to rest and take a break from working - which was starting to give them some muscles - quite proud of their work. Their diet was getting better now too, having more confidence to go further from the house and kill some wild boars for meat. Though, they'd never forget Inosuke. Rest in peace.
Resting and taking a break meant wandering around the place, exploring where they were and trying to figure out where exactly there were in Liyue. It was starting to become more and more familiar, and they had a rough idea.
They soon found a cave, and being the curious person they were, Y/N went inside. The cave itself wasn't that deep, but the surprising thing was the weapon that was leaned against the stone wall.
From what Y/N could see in the dimly lit cave, it was a polearm. Not one they were familiar with, but it was easy to decipher with the long handle, and the medium-sized sharp blade at the top. The colour was a dull grey and it was clearly dusty and rusted from the lack of use.
Deciding to call it for the exploring, Y/N took the polearm and went back to their temporary home, excited at the prospect of learning how to use the weapon, even if it were to be self-taught.
So after that, Y/N made a schedule for each day and followed it very strictly. They woke up at whatever time their body decided to wake up, usually just before sunrise, and watched the sunrise from outside their home with a cup of water and some food. After making sure their food settled in their stomach, Y/N went and started repairing their home. It was starting to look much better than when they first found it, all the roof holes had been repaired, along with the cracks in the walls. The door was the last thing they needed to fix.
After repairing the house for a few hours and collecting more wood (or food, if it was needed - Y/N alternated days for that), when the sun was the highest in the sky, Y/N took a break and ate a small snack that usually consisted of just a few pieces of apple or sunsettia, keeping a small campfire stable, the flame small enough that it wouldn't attract attention, but big enough it could cook food and warm Y/N up a bit.
During the afternoon, Y/N either went back to repairing the house or collecting wood or food for a bit, then came back and started practicing on teaching themselves how to handle a polearm. Taking inspiration off of Xiao, Raiden, Zhongli and other polearm users, their attacks became a mix. Sticking to Genshin Impact's six-attack rotation to begin with (Y/N found it easier to learn when there was a set goal - so a six-attack rotation allowed them to focus on those six specific moves rather than learning a whole bunch of different attacks at once) and found that incorporating their flexibility from gynastics made the moves much smooth and cleaner.
The first attack was just one singular clean upwards thrust, similar to Raiden's. The second one was a sort of twirl-like attack, they swung around in a circle whilst bringing the weapon down, which was mostly inspired by Raiden's attack as well.
The third attack was a simple thrust forward from the right side, the next attack was the exact same except on the left side, then the fifth attack was a simple throw it down into the ground (or enemy) type attack - inspired by Zhongli.
Then the fourth attack would be straight after the fifth one, with their polearm still in the ground, they jumped forward whilst using the weapon as a pole. Gripping the polearm out of the ground, they raised it then slammed it onto the ground, growing dirt back, this attack evidently being inspired by Xiao.
It took them over twenty days to completely learn the rotation fluidly with no mistakes, but the first time Y/N had did it without any wobble, miscalculation or mistakes, an inexplainable amount of happiness filled their heart.
They were beginning to get used to the idea of living in Genshin Impact, even if they were alone. Sure, the daily life of Y/N wasn't exactly one would call adventurous or exciting, they were still learning. They promised themselves that one day, they would try to visit, or join the camp that was held by Guizhong and Rex Lapis. But for now, they were happy in their own little bubble, learning something new every day that made it worth being reincarnated into this world of their favourite video game.
What Y/N failed to notice was the camp that was once so far away, began to creep closer and closer every few days, closing on where they were residing.
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❝𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘, 𝐒𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓, 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒.❞