His mind went completely blank. This was the summoning procedure, but first, he had to wait till his new body was formed.
His soul was sucked into a vortex, and a new body quickly materialized. He didn't know how he looked nor could he pick his appearance, which was rather disheartening, but he realized he had no right to complain because he had been chosen to reincarnate.
Which was already a prize in itself.

It was still better than being reincarnated as a baby or a child...That trope was annoying...

***

Several thousand years ago, Teyvat was populated by numerous gods, each with control over particular aspects of an element.

However, when seven divine thrones in Celestia opened up, promising the victors absolute dominion over their element, bitter power struggles now collectively known as the Archon War erupted throughout the land.

Two thousand years ago, the last divine seat was claimed, and the archons who emerged victorious became known as The Seven Gods.

Together, they established the continent of Teyvat, its seven nations, and the seven elements as they were known today. Each of The Seven possessed a Gnosis, a higher nexus of power that allowed them to resonate directly with Celestia, the Palace of Gods, and granted them the divine ability to defend their respective nations.

During the great Archon War, however, hundreds of thousands of gods perished or vanished, never to be seen again.

Now, thousands of years have passed, and everything is lost in history.

However, how would the world change, if a new existence invaded their homeworld?

***

Windwail Highland, Wolvendom, The World of Teyvat.

In the center part of the Teyvat, laid a dangerous forest that was filled with terrifying magical creatures and humanoid monsters called Hilichurls.

This location was a paradise for many adventurers, as they could hunt low-level monsters and earn a rather stable income from the Adventurer's guild.

But there were a few adventurers, who had forever slept in this very forest because of their low strength.

In the periphery of this Monster Forest, was a small stream, at whose side, a youth wearing fancy martial arts clothing laid down.

This youth looked to be around 17 years of age, but he didn't have any trace of childishness on his face, and those two dashing eyebrows and slightly tanned skin of his, only increased his handsomeness and exotic appearance even further.

At this time, the tattoed hand of this youth slowly moved a few times, as he gently opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed were clouds slowly moving across the sky's blue color.

With his ears, he picked up the sound of birds chirping in the distance.

He looked around him with a puzzled expression.

"What the..."

He gently rose to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. In his vision, only a water stream and trees were seen.

Where was he?

"Ah...."

He held his head and unceasingly rolled on the ground as one scene after another flashed through his mind. After a few moments, he stopped moving around and forced a bitter smile on his face.

"...Now I remember what happened...So this is the new world, huh. Alright.“

Yomite was processing the knowledge in his mind, after which he smiled wryly to himself. He never imagined that one day he would die in an elevator and be reincarnated in another universe, just like those protagonists with cheats.

It was an amazing feeling. His life was boring, yet he found his salvation in books. But the more he read the more he realized the wasted potential of the authors and their characters.

So he decided to become a reviewer to lead the authors to the right path and help develop their stories in the best way possible.

But now, his life was no longer going to be boring. After all, he became one of them. One of the protagonists he always dreamed of and read about in the books.

In retrospect, he had no anchors in his life that weighed him down. His parents passed away many years ago, he never had a sibling, and he could care less about his ex-girlfriends or wannabe friends.

"...The first thing I should do is..."

He felt extremely thirsty and upon seeing the stream in front of him, his will to survive intensified.

He strained to stand, but after several attempts, he was able to accomplish so. Then, while supporting his tired body, he began to walk toward it.

He didn't know why he felt so terrible, but he assumed it was only a side effect of the soul assimilation with his freshly created body.

When he glanced at the mirror in the water, he saw a man with tanned skin, dark brown hair, and yellow eyes.

"...That's somewhat different from what I used to look...but I am definitely much more handsome than I was before, which I don't dislike at all. Good job there, Sia."

For whatever reason, the ends of his dark brown hair were crimson, enhancing his exotic appeal.

"Well... it's hard to tell what's exotic in this new world, but I sure am satisfied with what I got."

He pulled up his shirt and observed his chiseled chest. His new body was very fit and his muscles were basically exploding with power.

While he was pretty fit in his old world, he never would have reached this level in that life.

"Well, she did say it's going to be dangerous around these parts...So I guess she made my body with that in mind? But still, this body is boosted as hell... I feel like I could fight a bear with my bare fists."

He reached his hand towards the water stream to take a quick sip as his thirst was still not satisfied, but then he realized, that he shouldn't probably drink that, and should instead find a different source of water.

Water streams supported entire ecosystems of living things. Bacteria were likely to thrive in such an environment. Drinking stream water would definitely expose him to these bacterias. It was especially dangerous when he had no idea what kind of bacterias there were in this new world.

"...I don't have any good filtering device or anything I could use to filter out the water...I should definitely go with the safe route and scout out the area first. It seems there are just trees all around me. I need to look for a place where the water flows the fastest. If it's a good distance away from the source, it means there are fewer chances of me drinking unsafe water."

He looked on and noticed the stream was basically endless. It would take him forever to find that specific location.

"Damn, it's only chapter two, and yet things are getting complicated already. I love it. But ey, it's still better than drinking water filled with animal piss and pathogens of all kind."

He was about to head out when he heard someone singing a kid's song in the distance.

"♪Silly-churl, billy-churl, silly-billy hilichurl. Frilly-churl, willy-churl, frilly-willy hilichurl♪ Ah! Oya? Oya Oya Oya!? Hey there! You look like you've died recently, do you need help? Te-he."

When people said, "Time stood still," they must surely have been talking about moments like this.

A young woman was casually approaching him through the woodland while carrying a polearm. She stabbed her hand with the polearm in one fluid motion, dripping blood on it and smearing it around the blade. The blade that was drenched in blood began to gently heat up, and a little flame flared around it.

"It's time for you to be cleansed, bad spirit!"

Yomite placed his hands in front of him in an effort to prevent her onslaught.

"Wait! I am not a malicious spirit! I am a human!"

The blade stopped a few centimeters away from his head.

He could feel his sweat pouring down from his forehead.

He just reincarnated, he definitely didn't want to die this quickly!

The swing wasn't that fast so he could have definitely dodged it, but he was still a bit disoriented from the soul transmission.

Moreover, she was the first person he met since he arrived here, it would be wiser to ask her about the world.

She glanced at him with an indifferent face and retracted her polearm.

"Is that so~? Then why can I sense the deathly aura around you~? You smell like you've died recently~"

Her voice was playful, but from her actions, Yomite considered her a dangerous individual. Was his difficulty set to Hell mode?

'Still, she looks like she is hesitating, that's good. I wouldn't wanna die in a tutorial. How embarrassing would that be? I need to think of a perfect way to play this... Hmm...What should I say...?'

He cleared his throat with a cough and was about to think of something when the grass around him stopped swaying, and the girl herself stopped moving. Everything around him came to a halt, and a small blue window with three choices opened up in front of him.

[1. I was just reincarnated into this body, I did die, but I am alive right now! Don't hurt me!]

[2. I am in fact an evil spirit, but worry not, I shall spare your pathetic life, so get out of my sight!]

[3. I just killed a squirrel and ate it. Maybe that's why you feel the deathly aura around me!]

'Isn't this...The Tempus of The Narrative ability? That's great... This will definitely come in handy, but what the hell are these choices?! Such trash choices for a two day cooldown!?'

It looked to him as if his ability turned on by him thinking about what he should say, but he would have to figure that out later. Now, he faced an even greater problem...He looked at the options and couldn't help but frown.

'The goddess did tell me there was always one good choice, one average choice, and a very bad choice...I can't escape this and need to choose one of them or I am guessing I will be stuck here forever...From the way I look at this, all of them are trash...The first one is an immediate death, the second one is a death sentence with painful ending and the third one...seems the most normal I guess, but even then it's just a dumb lie a kid would make...'

'...'

After a few minutes of doing nothing but thinking and staring at the choices, he chose to rely on his gut feeling and healthy brain matter.

He slowly aimed his finger at the third choice, and his mouth moved almost automatically.

"I just killed a squirrel and ate it. Maybe that's why you feel the deathly aura around me!"

The next moment, he saw another icon pop up.

[1. THE AVERAGE CHOICE]

[2. THE WORST CHOICE]

[3. THE BEST CHOICE] ✔️

Yomite stared at the checkmark that appeared before him and sighed in relief.

'Who the hell would pick the first two options??? I would have to be insane...'

Not long after, the world returned back to normal.

The girl in front of him displayed a serious expression and nodded "That makes sense, given that your odor is so weak! In that case, allow me to eliminate the smell so that it does not affect you or anyone else, kay~?" The girl stowed her polearm and drew a strange-looking yellow talisman from her pocket.

Yomite stabilized his breathing and calmed down his beating heart.

He was still a bit afraid she would try to do something but once she retracted her polearm, he relaxed.

She placed the talisman on his chest, and a yellow glow emanated from the spot. After a few seconds, she pleasantly smiled and exclaimed, "It would appear that you were telling the truth! You are in no way a malevolent spirit!"

"Hm? How are you so sure all of a sudden? Didn't you want to kill me a few seconds prior!?"

"Te-he, sorry about that! If you were an evil spirit, the talisman would have turned red and painfully purified you, just now!"

'I see, this is certainly important to remember for the future.' Yomite thought.

He took a closer look at her and couldn't help but admit the woman in front of him was very attractive. She was a young woman with fair skin and scarlet eyes with flower-shaped pupils. Her eyes were intriguing and he felt like he would get lost in them if he were to stare into them any further.

'A flower-shaped pupils...this is a fantasy world for sure...amazing...'

She had long, dark brown hair fading to crimson at the tips, parted into a pair of twin ponytails.

Her attire included a dark coat, black shorts, and a pair of flat-heeled shoes. She also wore several rings with skulls on her hands, which, along with her black nails, added to her entire beauty and complemented her perfectly.

"Well...We started off quite steamy, haven't we? Hehe~ I'm the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao! 'Hu' as in, WHu put me in this coffin!? And 'Tao' as in, I can't get Tout! Hehe!" She tossed a smug look in his direction, pleased with her witty joke.

"..."

"...No? Not funny?"

"..."

Yomite chose to ignore her and introduced himself instead.

"...My name is Yomite Hissha and...I am a simple wanderer. Currently, I'm attempting to find a route out of this wilderness, so if you wouldn't mind, could you point me in the direction of the nearest town or village?"

She put a finger on her head and tried to think, soon after, her smile beamed, "Actually, I was about to go to the nearest city of Mondstadt to do my sales there! You can follow me if you want to! I don't mind~!"

Yomite nodded and glanced at her small bag. He was thinking about whether to ask her or not but decided to do it anyway.

"Hey, before we leave, do you happen to have some clean water to drink? I'm dying of thirst."

She didn't seem like she minded, "Sure, sure~! Here, drink this!" And looked into her bag. She quickly pulled out a wooden bamboo container with plenty of fresh water inside and handed it to him.

Yomite swiftly grabbed it and gulped the contents down. The water was sweet and it was the first time he ever drank something like this. He almost felt like he was drinking a melted popsicle or an apple juice.

*Gulp* *Gulp* *Gulp*

"...Thanks, that felt great. I am sorry I drank the entire thing, I will be sure to buy you something in the future once I get some money." He returned the bamboo bottle into her bag.

While it might have not been much, thirst was scary, and at times like these, people would part with expensive things just to save their lives from thirst or hunger. So Yomite was taking it seriously, especially since she didn't even hesitate and willingly gave up on her supplies.

"Don't mind, don't mind! Once we are in the city, I will be able to restock the water, so don't worry about it! Let's go to the city!"

"Sure, soun-" He was unable to complete his sentence because she seized his wrist.

"Now let's go, let's go, let's go! No time to waste!" She ran while pulling Yomite behind her.

'This girl has way too much energy for me...cut me some slack, woman! I reincarnated a minute ago!'

***

Five minutes later, they managed to get out of the forest, soon enough, they saw the mentioned city of Mondstadt.

It was a huge fortress that acted as a large stronghold and it seemed to have a town as its base.

'Fortresses are usually run by high military soldiers, which means it might be impossible for me to enter without some form of identification or verification.'

He looked at Hu Tao and thought about his second ability. The Tempus of The Heart. Apparently, this ability allowed him to see into the hearts of people, animals, and even specific objects. The only condition was to stare at the target, but he has been unable to activate it thus far.

'Status, Observe, Arise, Stats, Skill Window, Tempus of The Heart...Sheesh, none of these are working.'

Feeling that the atmosphere turned awkward ever since their weird introduction, Yomite tried to strike up a conversation.

"So...Where are you from if you don't mind me asking?" He wasn't the best when it came to talking to a person he just met, but even he could strike up a normal conversation.

"Ah! I am from Liyue! I work as a director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, but I did tell you that before. If you ever need a coffin, I will give you a 48% discount. So, what do you say!?"

"No...No thanks. I am too young to die...and what's with that weird percentage? Might as well let it be 50%..."

"Now now, don't be shy, it's completely normal to buy the coffins upfront. Especially for the adventurers and such! You never know when you will kiss the dirt after all! No need to be scared of death. It comes suddenly, but it's essentially the end of your journey, and all journeys must come to an end, so you should just accept it with open arms~!"

"That's not very uplifting..."

"It shouldn't be, it's about dying after all~! But then again, passing away is a peaceful process, so there is really no need to be afraid~!"

"I am not afraid of death, it's more about the fact that if I die without being able to finish what I wanted and without enjoying my life, it would be a really depressing death. I might even come back to haunt people as a ghost just for fun. I won't be able to pass on in peace."

"Mhm~ that may be true~! Restless souls are the worst kind to deal with and sometimes you even have to complete certain requests or tasks before they can pass on, like this little girl here!" She pointed towards the back of her neck and a small white apparition peeked from within her long ponytails, although it was visibly uncomfortable to show itself.

"...Wait, that's an actual ghost? Is this how people look like after they die?" Yomite was intrigued. While he did die, he never saw the form of an actual dead person's soul, at least, his looked quite different.

"Nah~ This little girl here is just a remnant of her soul. Unfortunately, she was unable to pass on due to her regrets, so I offered to help her. It's been five years, but I still wasn't able to fulfill what she wanted from me...at this point, her soul has dissipated so much, she probably doesn't even remember what she was searching for..." Hu Tao turned a bit solemn and caressed the head of the ghost with her finger, which in turn, headbutted into her cheek lightly, out of affection. "But she's cute, so I keep her around!"

The atmosphere turned pretty dark, but she quickly bounced back into her eccentric personality.

"But back to your question~ Once a person passes away, they either become a restless soul or they immediately pass on to the other side. If I see a restless soul, it's my job as the director of the Liyue Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, to make it follow me to a special place, where it stays until I complete their requests. After that, it can pass on in peace."

"Sounds tough. But I think it's great that you are helping them. Because without you, they would just wander on forever until they turn into a malicious spirit, right?"

Hu tao stopped in her tracks, and her mouth slightly quivered, "...Yep, that's right...You are quite knowledgeable yourself! I might make you my assistant! If the restless soul goes unattended, they might turn into a vengeful spirit... In which case, we can only exorcise them! Which was something similar to what I wanted to do to you a few minutes prior, hehe~"

"Yeah, don't make me remember something like that!" He glanced at her hand, which was pierced through by her polearm, and saw that it had miraculously healed. "Come to think of it, I noticed a streak of flames during your attempt to behead me, what was that about? Are you a magician or a polearm master that can cast sorcery on your weapon, or maybe a Lancer?"

"Eh? Lancer? I am not sure what that means, although I did get some weird power after my grandpa passed away...The thing was called...what was it again? V...V...Vis...Viscent? No, Vision! That's it~!"

He glanced on the pendant at the back of her coat and thought, 'So this is the thing the goddess mentioned. She is one of the chosen ones by one of the gods of this world. I think that it will be wise to stick to her for now. She is a valuable source of info.'

As Yomite was thinking about stuff, Hu Tao was fidgeting. It was only then that he realized he was basically staring at her chest area while he was thinking, as she chose to face him, and while she was fully clothed, it still didn't change the fact that it was creepy and uncomfortable for the other party. That was what he thought.

"You don't have to sta~re at them for so long, we just met~" She gave him a teasing smile and did not appear to be embarrassed by what she had just said; it was as if she were speaking about an ordinary topic.

"I wasn't looking at you like that at all. There is not much to look at, anyway. While you might be attractive, I am more of a man who likes mature women, not Lolis, so you don't have to worry about it, although I do admit it might have been uncomfortable for you, so I apologize for that.." He swatted her teasing away like a fly and delivered a heavy punch to her ego.

Hu Tao definitely felt this one.

"...L-Loli...?"

Yomite noted her crestfallen expression and continued, "Anyway what is this Vision about, I've never seen it before, can I check it out?" He smiled with a bit of hidden intent.

"...Loli...Ah...Vision...Oh, you mean the thing you were looking at?" She pointed towards at her back.

There was a red ruby crystal pendant engraved into the coat. "Yeah, whatever... It just showed up in my house one day... I don't really need it, but it does help me with purifying the vengeful spirits, so I guess it can stay. Here you go, you can check it out!" She unbuttoned the Vision from the coat and threw it to him.

"Fuuh...but to call me a Loli...I am 21 years old...you seem so much younger..."

Hu Tao still seemed stunned by Yomite addressing her as a Loli, dejectedly gazing into the distance as though unwilling to accept the truth.

'I wasn't expecting she would know what that term means, but whatever, it's not like it matters.'

Yomite caught it and observed the exterior.

'Interesting, so from what I heard, this apparel is projecting her power like a catalyst.'

The moment he touched it, however, the crimson-like color dissipated from the pendant and it immediately turned gray.

'So it's like that huh...It only works for the chosen ones, so even if the user was to die or if it was stolen, it would be a useless piece of jewelry. Well, at least some info for now. Interesting.'

He returned the pendant to her and said with a smile, "It seems like you were chosen by the gods, lucky you."

Hu Tao sighed and replied, "I honestly don't really care about being chosen or something...I-...We are entrusted by the people to loyally see out their wishes. Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is special, in that it carries a dual responsibility, to those both of this realm, and the next. I could care less about something like that when people all around the world are suffering."

Yomite widened his eyes and felt his respect for her jump by leaps and bounds.

'What a selfless person. She is basically only living for others. Completing tasks so that other people can rest in peace.'

"That's actually a really noble way of living. Aren't you a bit bored though?"

"It's fine, I am not! Because during my adventures I get to bury a lot of corpses into the ground which is actually pretty fun! Although sometimes I play with the bones and forget where I put them so I am forced to bury them while they are missing some of their body parts but ey, stuff happens~"

"..."

It was funny how the respect for someone could disappear in a matter of seconds...

"That was a joke by the way! Te-he!"