My Cheat System

Paimon sighed and muttered, "Why can't Paimon use teleportation? Why, in the middle of the night, must Paimon be out here cleaning up Hilichurls with someone who has a woman's body but a man's soul? It's just so tragic."

A vein popped on Zephyr and Lumine's foreheads.

Paimon continued, "You know, Paimon think Amber was right. People really do need courage. Paimon used to be such a coward. But not anymore! From now on, Paimon is the brave Paimon! Paimon will fight against all evil!"

Zephyr: You're already this cocky and you call that being timid...?

Two hours later, they finally completed the task.

Paimon sighed again, "Poor soul... no one to accompany you late at night, forced to fight Hilichurls alone in the wilderness. Truly tragic."

Zephyr's eyelid twitched. "Are you done yet?"

"Nope!"

"Heh... feeling proud, are we? Let me ask you—do you know why it took me so long to finish this?"

Paimon replied, "Because you're too weak and slow?"

"Heh, I'm level 20 fighting level 10 Hilichurls, and I'm weak?"

"Then why?"

Zephyr chuckled and said, "Because the Mondstadt Grand Hotel closes at 10 PM."

Paimon froze. "So what if the hotel closes at 10? What's that got to do with me?"

...Wait!

Don't tell me!

No way!

"Hahaha! Amber's voucher only works at night, but since the hotel closes at 10, that means you won't be getting that fancy dinner today—HAHAHA!"

"Traveler, you... you're so mean! You knew how much Paimon was looking forward to that meal... sob sob…"

Lumine said calmly, "Paimon's crying."

"Well cried, perfectly cried—Paimon wailing at the top of her lungs! What, haven't eaten? Cry louder for Grandpa!"

"WUAAAHHHH!!"

Lumine held her head in her hands, utterly exasperated. Something just didn't feel right.

She remembered dreaming once—of a world without Zephyr. In that dream, her relationship with Paimon was completely different—deep, close, and caring.

Only… for some reason, Paimon had become a little mute doll.

Compared to the current little chatterbox… she wasn't sure which was better.

…

Back in Mondstadt.

Zephyr went straight to Katheryne to turn in his quest. He thought he'd be late, but surprisingly, Katheryne was still there.

She paused mid-cleanup and said, "You're lucky. Any later and I would've been off duty."

"Sorry about that. You all work pretty late, huh?"

"Oh no, I get off at 6. I'm working overtime by choice."

"...Damn, you too? Another overtime demon?"

"Well then, Miss Traveler, have you completed all four of your commissions today?"

"Yep."

"Let me see… Astounding. You actually did finish all of them. You're quite surprising."

Katheryne took out a small booklet to log his report and had Zephyr sign it.

"Congratulations! As of today, you're officially a High-Rank Adventurer of Mondstadt!"

"Oh wow. So, what's the difference between a high-rank and a regular adventurer?"

"High-Rank Adventurer is a recognition by the Adventurer's Guild of your capabilities. Typically, only adventurers above level 20 who have completed at least 20 combat commissions can rank up."

"There are very few High-Rank Adventurers in all of Mondstadt."

Zephyr paused and asked, "Any perks?"

"Yes. High-rank adventurers gain access to elite quests with higher rewards. Also, only at this rank can you undertake Reputation Quests for Mondstadt."

"Reputation quests?"

"Once completed, the guild will promote you daily, making your name more well-known. People will recognize, respect, and even idolize you."

Damn, artificial fame inflation. All they need now is a banner with your face on it.

"Is there a rank above high-rank?"

"Yes. Levels 20 to 40 are high-rank. Once you're above level 40, you become a Legendary Adventurer. At that point, you'll be eligible to take down legendary monsters."

"These monsters are second only to the gods and demons—symbols of the most powerful beings across Teyvat."

"If you defeat one, you'll be hailed as a hero of Mondstadt—or even the whole continent."

Zephyr's eyes widened. "That impressive?!"

"Like what kind of monsters?"

"For example: the Pyro Regisvine in Liyue, the Cryo Regisvine near Mondstadt, or the Electro Hypostasis—all terrifyingly powerful foes."

"Pyro Regisvine, Cryo Regisvine? Those are strong?"

Zephyr scratched his head. Aren't those just the everyday mobs you farm for ascension materials?

But on second thought, being strong in this world actually makes a lot of sense.

"But… only level 40 to be called a Legendary Adventurer?" Zephyr frowned. "This world's kind of weak, huh."

"I understand what you mean."

Katheryne leaned in close to Zephyr's ear and whispered, "Let me tell you a secret."

"What is it?"

"Our world… has actually been restarted."

Zephyr froze, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"It's said that our world was once extremely powerful. Adventurers at level 90 roamed the land like it was nothing, and even breaking through the limits of gods and demons wasn't rare."

"But for unknown reasons, the world was restarted. After that, it became unbelievably fragile. Both adventurers and monsters born in the new world were drastically weaker."

Paimon chimed in, "Paimon have heard that story too."

Katheryne turned to her in surprise. "Really? That's strange. Very few people are even aware of this tale."

"Whether you treat what I said as just a story… or as real history… that's up to you. Anyway, I'm off the clock now. If you need anything else, let's talk tomorrow."

With that, Katheryne clocked out and left.

Zephyr remained still, deep in thought. "Lumine, what do you think about this?"

Lumine shook her head. "I don't know, but I think it's probably true."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because of that person. The unknown god who defeated me and my sister… based on their power, this world definitely isn't as simple as it seems."

"That… does make sense. Paimon, what about you?"

"Our world hasn't just been restarted once."

"What!?"

"Huh?" Paimon blinked, confused.

Zephyr frowned and quickly asked, "What do you mean by that just now?"

"What Paimon said just now? What did Paimon say? Did Paimon even say anything?"

Lumine replied, "You did. You said: 'Our world hasn't just been restarted once.'"

"Eh?"

Paimon looked bewildered. "Paimon really said that?"

Zephyr fell into deep thought. What's going on here? Could it be that Paimon really is a god, and the one who spoke just now… was another version of her?

And what did that sentence even mean—'our world hasn't just been restarted once'? Restarted? By who? Who has the power to do that? And why?

Could it be… some kind of infinite game platform?

No… doesn't seem like it.

Maybe that so-called god of 'Celestia'?

I don't know.

Zephyr sighed. There was nothing he could do about it. The game's still only at version 1.0, the plot's not deep enough to analyze.

"Whatever, no point thinking too hard. The boat will naturally go straight once it reaches the pier."

Even if this world was restarted, or destroyed—it didn't really matter. He could traverse worlds anyway!

He headed home. Back to Amber's cozy little house.

"I'm back!"

"Welcome home! Did you finish the commissions?"

"Piece of cake. Oh, by the way, I saw lights still on at the Knights of Favonius headquarters just now. It's so late—someone's still working?"

Amber said, "Probably Acting Grand Master Jean working overtime again!"

Paimon exclaimed, "But it's Saturday! And it's already past ten at night! She's still working?!"

"That's why I always say Jean works so hard! No, this won't do. She's giving it her all, and here I am lounging around. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to work hard too!"

"Wait, wait, don't! If both of you are that hardworking, I'll start feeling like a total freeloader…"

…Which, to be fair, wasn't far from the truth.

Paimon asked, "So, Amber, what exactly will you be doing?"

"I'm a scout knight, so I patrol outside Mondstadt. I investigate things like the number and locations of Hilichurls, whether Stormterror is nearby, and whether anything else is causing disruptions."

Lumine asked, "Can't regular knights handle that?"

"They can't. Recon work is really difficult to do properly."

//END

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