Chapter Text
Ajax is a gamer who usually plays the roles given to him in the fairly new transmigration emulator called EXPact. It is an emulator that can load any stories for the player to feel like living in the story themselves. The catch is that once a role is assigned to you, you must complete your tasks or a penalty of playing time out will be set per account of about half a month. Thinking about it, it is not that bad but for our dear Ajax, it was like waiting for an eternity. Yes, he was disappointed in a story once and failed the challenge leading to a time out but he promised one thing after that, “never again,” he swore.
He downloaded Genshin Impact data into the emulator and prepared to play for the next couple of hours. Ajax very much waited to play the game as someone who is at least relevant to the story so any of the playable characters will do. It was a long story after all, he wanted to at least have a reason to stick to the traveler until the end.
A soft chime interrupted his thoughts alerting him of the successful loading of data. Ajax checked his pet cactus to see if it will survive while he was away, nodded and equipped the huge VR visor, laying down and booted the game.
“Welcome back, user Ajax. Your presence has been missed since the last story the previous day.” The system said in a robotic but warm manner, having been familiar with Ajax since he was gifted the emulator a year ago.
“Thank you, what’s up, system?”
“The virtual nothingness.”
“…I see.”
Too familiar with Ajax.
“Genshin Impact has loaded and a character has been selected for you. Do you want to check, user?” System droned now back in business mode.
“Sure,” Ajax replied while chanting in his head, “please be someone relevant,” fingers crossed.
“Your main objective is to complete your tasks as Tartaglia, code name: Childe.”
His attention peaked at that, “So I get to be a villain this time? Cool!”
“Please be serious, user.”
Ajax just laughed. “Don’t ruin my fun, I haven’t been a villain in like ever!”
“…Moving on, there are a few restrictions that you need to know.”
He pulled out three fingers pointing at each as he said, “Don’t disclose the system, don’t reveal that I am from the real world and don’t be out of character.”
“Well said. It almost makes me feel proud.”
Ajax looked affronted at the nothingness in front of him. “I’ll have you know that I follow the Sacred Trinity to a T.”
“You nearly revealed that you were a male in the real world in the last story.”
“Not my fault! Anyways, start the story!”
“The first task is to cause chaos in the current area you are in. Genshin Impact commencing in 3… 2… 1… Good luck, user.”
=== Genshin Impact ===
--- Begin ---
Ajax opens his eyes to a well lit room from the morning sun. A very lavish room at that he thought as he surveyed his surroundings. He closed his eyes as memories of Childe’s life filtered into his mind, reorganizing them as they come having done this before in the past stories. It took nearly half an hour to organize but once done, he is now Childe, the 11th Fatui Harbinger, the mysterious, somewhat friendly but an arrogant, curt (most of the time), bloodthirsty villain with seemingly the battle prowess of a god once the game progresses.
“This sucks!”
“What seems to be the problem, user?” the system suddenly chimed in.
“System! The only things I know about Childe is that he has no family and he can’t handle spicy food! That is why he is mysterious ‘cause there is nothing else other than what is seen in the game…”
“… Good luck, user!” was the system’s parting words.
“Dammit! Don’t leave me, I love you!”
There was knocking against the door.
“Lord Harbinger, is everything alright?” a Fatui diplomat asked from the other side.
Childe cleared his voice softly, “Everything is fine, return to your duties.” He said as curt as he can acting like a villain and all that kebang.
“… But Lord Harbinger, my duty is to lead you to the Knights of Favonius,” the diplomat answered nervously.
Childe was now panicking in his head, “What do I DO?!”
Childe got out of his casual clothes while thinking of how to reply when a thought suddenly arose.
“Have you eaten yet?”
“… Pardon?” the diplomat sounded like they do not know what is happening. To be fair, neither did Childe.
“Are you deaf? I asked if you ate breakfast.” He hoped it sounded villainous enough.
“No, Lord Harbinger, I have not eaten yet,” the diplomat replied silently, knowing he will not eat until he has finished his duties.
Opening the door now that he changed into his regular clothes.
“What do you think you are doing? Not eating when- Oh hello, Viktor.”
The diplomat, Viktor, looked shocked under his mask but not for long. Viktor saluted, “Lord Harbinger, I will eat once my duties are finished.”
“Tsk, tsk, for neglecting to take care of yourself, your punishment is to eat while you lead me to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.”
“But, Lord Har-“
“Do I make myself clear?”
Viktor sighed in defeat preparing himself for the humiliation that was about to happen, “Yes, Lord Harbinger.”
“If you don’t want a repeat performance, be sure to eat before carrying out you duties. Oh, and one more thing,” Childe looked him squarely in the eyes, “It’s Master Childe when we are out in public.”
Viktor gulped nervously, suddenly feeling like he was being watched by a predator which is kind of true in a sense, “Understood, Lo- Master Childe.”
“Good. Run along now and get your food, I’ll be waiting for you by the entrance.”
“I shall leave you here, Master Childe. May the rest of your day be pleasant,” Viktor bowed and left quickly with his half eaten Fisherman’s toast.
Childe shook his head in exasperation and faced the building seeing that someone was waiting for his arrival. The maid, Noelle, his mind supplied, curtsied and gave him a warm smile.
“Greetings, Master Childe. My name is Noelle, maid of the Knights of Favonius. I am to lead you to your breakfast appointment with Acting Grandmaster Jean. This way please.” She extended half her arm towards the open doors.
“Lead on, please,” he said coolly, hoping to sound like badass villain.
Her eyes crinkled and she led him to the dining area where Jean and surprisingly Kaeya was.
“Great, they are already on to me…” he thought morosely without a change in his blank expression.
Jean stood up and offered the seat to her left.
“Isn’t this a little too familiar?” Childe panicked inwardly.
“Welcome, Master Childe, to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, I am Jean, the Acting Grandmaster at the moment.”
They shook hands.
“Ah, Master Childe, welcome to Mondstadt! The name’s Kaeya, Cavalry Captain and it is a happy surprise to meet you,” Kaeya offered his hand with a flourish making Childe less tense as he shook it.
“It is not a surprise then if you knew I was coming, Captain.” Childe smirked.
Kaeya lit up in glee while Jean frowned a little but all of that flew over Childe’s head, he was too busy being tense and ready for anything, especially a fight.
“Come now, you may call me Kaeya. Captain is too stuffy.” Kaeya smirked playfully in reply.
Childe was about to retort when Jean cut them off by making them seat in an elegant manner of speech which translated to Childe’s mind as, “Seat before I slap you back to Snezhnaya.”
Before Childe could think that Jean was scary, Noelle came up to the table with a serving cart with three similar dishes on top.
“Today’s breakfast is Lighter-Than-Air-Pancake served with Sunsettia tea. Do you take sugar, Master Childe? One cube or two?” Noelle asked while pouring hot tea to the three cups.
“Two would be lovely, thank you, Noelle,” Childe replied nodding at her without much thought still tense from the Jean’s ‘persuasion’.
Noelle happily served them all breakfast and went to the side, awaiting orders with an, “I’ll be here whenever you need me.”
They ate breakfast with light chatter of pleasantries not daring to move on to heavier topics while in the dining table. Still with a blank face, his shoulders became noticeably less tense as they chatted making all the occupants in the room except for Childe, of course, hum in contentment.
“Is it just me or is everyone acting strange?” Childe observed his dining partners.
“What is the Fatui planning?” Kaeya asked nonchalantly, “trying to fight Stormterror head on?”
“Never mind.” Childe sweatdropped.
Jean cleared her throat lightly, “Might I suggest continuing this conversation in the office?”
Kaeya held his hands up in surrender, “Forgive me, Jean, Master Childe. I was a little hasty there.”
Jean just sighed and looked like she wanted to rub her temples but held back. Childe glanced at Kaeya. To be truthful, he had a soft spot for this man from the game.
“Understandable,” there, curt like a villain.
“How graceful of you, Master Childe. This way then.” Kaeya proceeded to walk out the room like a male fashion model that Ajax witnessed in the real world.
Jean sighed again, “Please forgive Kaeya, Master Childe. He can be a bit much,” Jean led him through a hallway leaving a flustered Noelle after Childe bade her a chilly goodbye. His villain maneuvers are working it seems, he left Noelle ready to pass out from fright.
Sadly for Childe, it was the opposite reaction from what he thought.
“If that is how he truly is then who am I to judge?”
He learned that the best villains were the courteous ones, people don’t know that they were the villain all along. So that is his master plan of being a villain. Be cold, curt, have a poker face and be courteous when needed.
They entered the office to find Kaeya look like a cat that got the cream. Paying no heed to that, Childe took the offer of a seat and they went on to discuss the Stormterror issue.
Jean argued that Stormterror is not to be killed with Kaeya pitching in his two cents while Childe was trying his best to seem like he just wants to cause unnecessary chaos.
“All I am suggesting is make Stormterror submit, I never said anything about killing.” Childe thinks he is doing a good job at being a harbinger of chaos.
While he was mentally fist pumping, Jean and Kaeya shared a quick look.
“Please do not be hasty on this regard, let the Knights of Favonius handle this-”
“Yup, we got this,” Kaeya interrupted.
Childe huffed impatiently, “I see, there is no point in continuing this so I will leave you to your devices.”
“Of course, Master Childe. We shall continue this conversation at a later date. Kaeya will lead you to the door,” Jean nodded to Kaeya. “Have a good day.”
“And by then, I hope you change your mind, Stormterror is not going to wait around while you twiddle your thumbs, good day, Grandmaster Jean.”
The pair left the office with Childe putting on a cold seething expression.
Kaeya glanced at him with a glint in his eye, “Why are you so worked up about it? You may currently reside here but this is a matter for us to handle.”
Childe looked at him with narrowed eyes, “Tell that to the terrified people, why don’t you?” and looked away in sorrow thinking about Dvalin’s pain. He may be in a story but the emotions always felt too real. “I am overthinking again.”
He heard Kaeya hum as they reached the front door. “I can accompany you to your lodging,” he said lightly.
“Thank you but there is no need, have a good day.” Kill them with kindness. Childe strode out of the building not waiting for a reply. Top notch villain moves right there.
“I am lost,” were the words that keeps on repeating in his mind for the past hour. He knows where he is but he doesn’t know how he keeps on returning to the same area since lunch time. He looked at the huge statue of the Anemo Archon and thought about climbing up the cupped hands, fear of heights be damned, to look for a path going to the fountain area, at least he knows the way from there. Darn it, I might need to talk to people.
As he was bemoaning his fate in silence, he heard the angelic voice of a bard singing for an audience in front of the statue. He ventured closer hoping to hear more of the song weaved into a story. As the song went on, it became clear that it was Dvalin’s story before he got corrupted. Childe’s heart ached at the thought of corruption but he cleansed his mind from that.
The song continued to Dvalin’s sorrow and the bard, Venti, his mind whispered, ended there. The crowd clapped in appreciation before dispersing shortly after.
Childe was still caught up in the story when he felt a stare and looked sideward to see that Venti was getting closer to him. Venti parked himself in front of him and with a smile asked him if he needed something else.
“Not in particular, no,” Childe lied, he needed a guide and fast for the sun was setting. He didn’t want to resort to asking a knight and them reporting back to Jean or Tsaritsa forbid, Kaeya. Oh, the shame.
“Something tells me you need a guide. I’m Venti and I am the best guide you can find in Mondstadt especially if you are looking for Angel’s Share!” Venti shoots him a wink.
Unimpressed, he tried to turn away but Venti was trying to grab his attention with flailing arms, “I can take you to Goth Grand Hotel, you are staying there, yeah?”
Childe just nodded with the blankest expression, the shame of needing a guide was too much, and an archon to boot.
“Rest assured that you will never get lost in Mondstadt when you’re with me, I know the land very well.” Venti skipped beside Childe, telling him the directions of where to go and Childe just followed. If it was a trap or a joke, he can fight his way out, probably. He didn’t test out his awesome battle prowess yet.
“… so I was hungry and went to Dawn Winery but I couldn’t pilfer anything!...” on and on, Venti kept on recounting short stories of his travels and Mondstadt until they reached Goth Grand Hotel.
“… and here we are, you are a good listener, I’ll let you hear one of my songs for free, be honored!” Venti struck a proud ‘praise me’ pose.
Childe wanted to ruffle his head but resisted and gave Venti a bag of mora, “Here, for your troubles.”
“I can’t accept this but thanks for the offer!”
“It’s for the Angel’s Share’s sake not yours, go pay your tab. Farewell.” Childe left Venti to flounder at the sheer disrespect.
He entered the hotel to see a few diplomats mingling in the lobby.
“Lord Harbinger,” after that call, each one of them stood at attention.
Childe walked past them going to his room, “At ease,” he looked back at the tense diplomats, “and it’s Master Childe to all of you, good evening.”
After Childe took a bath and got ready for bed, he stayed still and tried to log out while taking account all the activities he did that day.
For some reason… he couldn’t find the log out option.
“System?”
“What do you need, user?”
“Initiate force log out and yes, the data might get corrupted but I can re-download later on, it’s just the first day anyways.”
“If you are sure, initiating force log out sequence…”
-Logging out-
-Log out failed-
-Logging out-
-Log out failed-
-Logging out-
-Log out failed-
-Error: No log out option-
-Error: No log out option-
Shit. We are now in grounded mode, folks.
=====Viktor=====
Viktor was a diplomat sent to Mondstadt. That’s it. That is basically it… They sent him here without any duties so he hangs out in the cathedral making the nuns glare at him whenever he can. It’s just so boring!
…
He wants the boring back, he has been humiliated enough early in the morning. When he was asking for something to do, it was certainly not being an assistant diplomat to a Harbinger. It’s too much!
Viktor may bemoan the following days to come but in the back of his mind, he remembers how Master Childe remembered his name and how he was about to get grilled by not eating first before doing his job. He kind of likes it but nobody needs to know.
=====Noelle=====
Noelle can’t help the fondness rising for Master Childe, he is just so precious! Even with cold front he puts up, he is still polite and treats her with respect. He even bade goodbye to her. She should have known he was like this back then… maybe then he could have- no, she needs to stop thinking about it, that was before and this is now, she just needs to do her best. She will never forget all the things he has done…
=====Jean=====
Jean can’t believe how youthful Master Childe looked. She now sees it all from his little quirks to his expressions and words. Oh how she was so disappointed with herself not noticing from before… He meant no harm even with all his pretenses. This time, things will be different. This time, she will give him a chance, a chance to prove himself for everyone to see how great he really is. This time… the kindest man she has ever known will flourish.
=====Kaeya====
Kaeya have seen it now, Master Childe may have had a blank face but his eyes, his eyes says it all the minute they met for the first time, the tenseness, the excitement, the caring and most of all the glimpse of sorrow he saw before they parted ways. Kaeya will support him wholly, he doesn’t need to go through the same things again. Thank goodness he is not aware of before… because if he was, he’ll do the same shit all over again and what was the point of them being here. They still don’t know the point of their time travel honestly but making Master Childe’s life easier is the greatest achievement he could have in his lifetime.
=====Venti=====
I finally found you, dear friend. You are still as cute as ever but now without the burdens of before and those will not come to pass, not on my watch. Let me guide you again, I will give you what you need all you do is ask but as always you are bad at that. Eheh~ Even with that uncaring face of yours, you still listen to every word I say. Thank you for before, my friend. It is time that I return the favor.