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When I woke up in the morning and threw open the window, I expected to feel beautiful. Well, in reality, it wasn't actually that pretty. There were noisy children shouting in the streets below, and the mechanical roar of work echoing from the pier was anything but small. It was a chaotic, loud, and bustling morning in Liyue Harbor. Because of all this, Uncle Xu Hao decided that today was officially moving day.
Before I could actually move out, however, I had to deal with the landlord. I ended up having to pay a fair amount of Mora to cover the cost of the hole smashed into the floorboards by that indestructible food stall chair. Even with half a million Mora currently sitting in my savings, buying a house in the center of the city remained an unrealistic dream.
The real estate market in Liyue was dominated by the Qixing and wealthy merchant guilds, making the prices astronomical. But it was still possible for me to rent a much larger house at the junction where the city center met the docks. I didn't particularly like living in the dead center of the harbor anyway; living at the junction was far more convenient for someone who spent half their time at the Adventurer's Association and the other half eating at Wanmin Restaurant.
I didn't really have any luggage to carry. Every valuable item I owned, from my sword to my mysterious rewards, was tucked away safely inside my system space. In the end, I settled on a new place for two thousand four hundred Mora a month. It was a house of more than thirty square meters, which was just the right size for a single person. If it were any larger, cleaning it would become a massive, troublesome chore that I didn't want to deal with. I figured I'd just buy a new set of furniture and call it a day.
It's still a long way off from where I want to be.
I sat down on my legendary white plastic food stall chair and surveyed my new home. It felt empty. There was no TV, no computer, and certainly no game consoles. More importantly, there were no figurines or hanging scrolls to decorate the walls. Although Teyvat sold similar handcrafted items, like those ubiquitous statues of the Seven, the variety was pitiful. There was basically nothing that appealed to my specific tastes.
I suddenly realized that I could probably make a fortune selling high-quality handicrafts of well-known figures in Teyvat. If I could find a few master craftsmen to cooperate with, we could corner the market. I wasn't just talking about Liyue, either. Between Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma, there were countless fanatical followers of the Archons and famous heroes. I could imagine the product line already.
I'd divide the figurines of the three gods into different categories: the Common version, the Mortal World Casual Tour version, the Fishing version, the Otaku version, the No-Mora version, the Dine-and-Dash version, and of course, the Ultimate Invincible Luxury Upgraded version.
The amount of Mora I could rake in would be staggering. However, I knew the risks were just as great. If one of my figurine versions happened to offend one of those powerful beingsāespecially the ones who were perpetually brokeāI wasn't sure if my life would be in danger. It would be difficult to keep a hold of that small fortune. I'd probably end up like Childe, essentially becoming a walking wallet for an ancient god.
If I let myself get entangled by a certain high-tier street loiterer, I'd never be able to save up enough to live comfortably. I decided to put the figurine plan on hold for now. After all, since the prototypes were real people walking around the city, I'd eventually have to knock on their doors to discuss image rights. That sounded like a headache I wasn't ready for yet.
Between moving costs and buying new supplies, I had spent quite a bit of money today. I decided it was time to head over to the Adventurer's Association to pick up a commission and get some of that Mora back.
When I arrived at the counter, I noticed that Ningguang's request for clues about the Second Creation live broadcast room was still posted. After my dinner with Keqing yesterday, I was fairly certain that Ningguang had dispelled her immediate doubts about me. Therefore, her commission would likely stay pinned to that board until the Adventurer's Association went bankrupt.
None of the adventurers in the hall were talking about Ningguang's parody video from yesterday. Instead, they were all whispering about Keqing and Beidou. It was a clear sign that Ningguang's majesty and authority were still very much intact. If you offended Keqing or Beidou, you might get a lecture or a bit of a roughing up if things got serious.
But if you offended the Tianquan, it would become nearly impossible to make a living in Liyue. Even if Ningguang didn't lift a finger herself, the thousands of merchants desperate to curry favor with her would make it so you couldn't even buy a loaf of bread in the harbor.
I was feeling lucky today, as I happened to find a fresh commission from the Feiyun Commerce Guild. A group of Hilichurls had attacked one of their mining operations on the western side of Mt. Tianheng. It wasn't exactly a surprise; this sort of thing happened all the time in Teyvat.
The Millelith were limited in number and could only guard the most vital trade routes and city entrances. The wilderness was simply too vast to clear out every monster nest immediately. Because of this, the guild often relied on strong adventurers to handle the dirty work.
Mt. Tianheng was located just to the west of the harbor, right outside the western city gate. The distance was short, and the pay was high, making it a perfect job for me. After I accepted the commission, I headed out through the West Gate. In the game I used to play, the western exit was just a bridge, but in reality, it was a massive gate built into a high, fortified wall.
In a world teeming with monsters, a city without walls was just an invitation for disaster. If even a few monsters managed to sneak in, it could cause significant casualties.
Once I passed through the gate, I followed the stone-paved road for a while, passing squads of Millelith soldiers standing guard at their posts. To save time, I decided to take a shortcut directly up the mountainside. I channeled my demonic energy, my movements becoming a blur that left faint, blue afterimages in my wake. Within half an hour, I had reached the mine marked on my map.