Chapter Text
Illuga Nightingale was, by every measurable standard, an ordinary boy. He lived in Nod Krai with his adopted father, Nikita, who packed his lunches with alarming precision and reminded him to bring an umbrella even when the sky was cloudless. He had friends who dragged him into questionable group projects.
He had a best friend named Linnea, who had perfected the art of appearing out of nowhere whenever gossip existed and he had Aedon. A nightingale with enough attitude to qualify as a tiny feathery landlord.
Life was simple.
School filled most of Illuga's weekdays. Every morning he walked to class, sat through lessons, answered questions, and somehow managed to keep his grades high without making it look difficult. After school came homework, stacks of assignments and worksheets spread across his desk while Aedon perched nearby pretending to be helpful.
Once he finished studying, Illuga would help Nikita with chores around the house. He swept floors, carried groceries, fetched water, cleaned windows, and handled whatever needed doing without complaint. Nikita often told him he did not have to do so much, but Illuga always helped anyway because he wanted to.
Whenever he had free time, Linnea would inevitably appear with a fresh disaster to complain about. Most of these disasters were simply exams. She would dramatically throw herself onto a chair, insist her life was over, declare that she had forgotten everything she had studied, and spend the next hour predicting her academic downfall.
Then, somehow, she would still get decent grades. Illuga had learned that listening quietly and occasionally offering snacks was the fastest solution. Meanwhile, Aedon created an entirely different category of problems. The little nightingale had developed an unhealthy obsession with shiny objects and frequently stole buttons, coins, jewelry, keys, and anything else that sparkled.
Worse, he hid his treasures inside flowerpots around the house, turning every gardening session into a treasure hunt. More than once, Nikita had discovered a missing spoon buried beneath a rose bush while Aedon sat nearby looking extremely proud of himself.
It was all wonderfully ordinary. School, homework, chores, Linnea's daily theatrical complaints, and Aedon's ongoing campaign against unattended shiny objects. No ancient prophecies. No world-ending threats. No mysterious adventures. Just the comfortable rhythm of everyday life, the kind of normal life that Illuga never questioned and quietly treasured.
Illuga is a tenth-grade student at Nod Krai High School, his grades were good. Teachers liked him because he was polite and classmates liked him because he was easy to approach. Even students from other classes knew him as the boy who somehow remembered everyone's birthdays and always volunteered to help carry books.
He was social, friendly, kind, and popular without trying to be.
A completely average high school student.
Then one day, during lunch break, Linnea slammed her tray onto the table. "You need to play this game."
Illuga blinked. "What game?"
Linnea looked offended. "Genshin Impact."
"...Isn't that the open-world gacha game?"
"Yes."
"I heard people spend all their money on it."
Linnea pointed at him accusingly. "Because they are rich!."
"..."
"..."
"...Okay," Illuga said carefully. "That didn't actually reassure me."
Linnea grinned. "Trust me."
Against his better judgment, Illuga downloaded it. At first, he intended to play for maybe fifteen minutes, just enough to say he tried it but then fifteen minutes became an hour.
An hour became three. Three somehow became midnight without Illuga noticing. One moment he had been telling himself he would stop after finishing a single quest, and the next he was blinking at the clock in disbelief as it informed him that common sense had apparently packed its bags and left several hours ago.
The graphics were beautiful, painting every mountain, forest, and city with colors so vivid that he often found himself stopping just to look around. Sunlight spilled across stone pathways, lanterns glowed warmly against the evening sky, and distant landscapes stretched toward horizons that invited curiosity. The music only made it worse. Soft melodies accompanied peaceful walks through quiet villages, while powerful orchestral themes transformed battles into something grand and exhilarating. Even standing still sometimes felt worthwhile if it meant listening to the soundtrack for another minute.
The combat was fun in a way Illuga had not expected. It was fast without being overwhelming, simple enough to understand yet rewarding enough to master. Experimenting with different characters and elemental reactions became strangely satisfying. Every successful dodge, every well-timed skill, and every chaotic combination that sent enemies flying brought a quiet sense of accomplishment.
But more than anything else, he loved exploring.
He loved climbing cliffs simply because they were there. He loved wandering away from the marked paths to investigate suspicious ruins hidden beneath overgrown vines. He loved discovering secluded viewpoints overlooking entire regions and wondering who had stood there before him. He loved solving puzzles tucked into forgotten corners of the map, the small thrill of realizing that a strange arrangement of torches or an oddly placed mechanism was hiding a secret.
Most of all, he loved finding hidden chests.
A common chest tucked behind a waterfall. An exquisite chest buried beneath layers of puzzles. A precious chest waiting at the end of an unexpected challenge. Every discovery felt like the world itself rewarding curiosity, quietly whispering, "You looked where others didn't." Each chest sparked the same ridiculous satisfaction, regardless of whether the rewards were extraordinary or mediocre.
"Just one more chest," Illuga had told himself.
Then another.
Then another.
By the time midnight arrived, Aedon had fallen asleep nearby with his head tucked beneath one wing, Nikita had already gone to bed after reminding him not to stay up too late, and Linnea had likely surrendered to her own mountain of exam notes.
Meanwhile, Illuga was halfway up a cliff in Teyvat at an unreasonable hour, chasing the distant glow of something hidden in the dark, absolutely convinced that this next chest would be the last one.
It wasn't.
He also loved reading lore entries that connected to seemingly insignificant details from quests twenty hours earlier.
Most of all...
He loved the characters.
"There is no way," Illuga whispered.
Because two of those characters looked familiar.
Flins.
Linnea.
Not exactly identical. But close enough to make him stare at his screen in disbelief.
The same mannerisms.
The same expressions.
Even their voice lines sounded eerily similar to the people he knew.
Illuga laughed nervously. "What are the chances?"
Then he discovered another character.
"..."
"...No way."
Illuga Starhyna.
Same name..almost.
Same silver hair.
Same face.
Even the same tiny mole beneath his eye.
Except this version of him wielded a Geo Vision.
He was apparently some famous figure from Nod Krai with complicated lore involving Lightkeepers, old promises, and enough tragedy to fill several novels.
Illuga immediately opened the character profile.
Then the voice lines, the story archive, then community theories, artifact descriptions, books, enemy entries, forum discussions and even more books.
He looked up at two in the morning. "...I should sleep."
He proceeded to read another twelve pages of lore.
The next day, Linnea found him."You've fallen down the rabbit hole."
Illuga looked up from his phone. "Did you know the artifact description from Version 6.1 foreshadows the Nightkeeper Incident?"
Linnea stared. "...He's gone."
"I'm right here."
"The gacha got him."
Weeks passed. Illuga carefully saved every Primogem he earned. He explored, completed quests, and did events, collected achievements, opened chests hidden in ridiculous locations.
His roster grew.
He managed to pull Flins.
Then Linnea.
Then, after an anxiety-inducing amount of wishing...
Himself.
He stared at the screen.
Then immediately leveled the character to maximum.
Nikita walked past his room. "Did you win?"
"I won."
"Excellent."
Nikita left. He returned five seconds later. "What did you win?"
"A version of me."
"...I regret asking."
Eventually, announcements appeared.
The next banner.
Lohen.
The newest five-star character.
Everyone online exploded.
Leaks spread everywhere.
Story spoilers flooded social media.
Linnea had accidentally discovered major plot points.
"It was one thumbnail!" Linnea cried.
"I don't want spoilers," Illuga declared.
"You literally walked into a lamp post avoiding spoilers."
"It was necessary."
"It wasn't."
"It absolutely was."
He muted keywords.
Avoided comment sections.
Skipped videos.
Refused to scroll.
Every Primogem he owned had one purpose.
Lohen.
Finally.
Banner day arrived.
Illuga sat at his desk.
Phone charging.
Aedon perched nearby.
Nikita downstairs making dinner.
The countdown ticked closer.
Five minutes.
Three minutes.
One minute.
Thirty seconds.
Illuga took a deep breath.
"No spoilers," he whispered.
Ten seconds.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
His heart raced.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The banner changed.
Illuga smiled.
Then froze.
His vision blurred.
"...What?"
The screen doubled.
Tripled.
His head spun.
A sudden wave of dizziness crashed over him.
"Aedon...?"
The bird chirped sharply.
His fingers slipped.
The phone clattered against the desk.
The room tilted.
Illuga tried standing.
His legs failed.
He collapsed forward.
His forehead struck the wooden table.
Thunk.
Darkness rushed in.
The last thing he saw was his phone screen.
Glitching.
The loading background distorted.
Text appeared.
Letters typing themselves.
Welcome, Player.
...
...
...
Cold wind brushed against his face.
Illuga's eyes fluttered open.
He inhaled sharply.
Snow.
He smelled snow.
Pine trees.
Crisp air.
He sat up too quickly.
"Ow..."
His head hurt.
He looked around.
White forests stretched endlessly beneath silver skies. Strange architecture stood in the distance. Lanterns swayed gently. People moved through streets bundled against the cold.
He blinked. "..."
He looked down.
Small hands.
Tiny gloves.
His breathing stopped. Nearby, a frozen puddle reflected his image.
Silver hair.
Blue-ish eyes with tints of red?.
A face he recognized instantly. His own fucking face, except— He looked about five years old.
"..."
"..."
"...No." Illuga touched his face.
The reflection copied him.
He pinched his cheek.
"Ouch."
The reflection pinched its cheek.
"Ouch."
He stared.
Then looked around again.
The architecture.
The snow.
The banners.
The language written on nearby signs.
His expression slowly cracked.
"No."
He stood.
"No, no, no."
He turned in circles.
"No."
His voice rose.
"NO."
A passing woman paused.
"Are you alright, child?"
Illuga looked at her with the dawning horror of someone realizing exactly how catastrophic his situation had become.
His favorite game.
The world he had explored for months.
The lore he had memorized.
The place is full of gods, monsters, ancient curses, eldritch horrors, and weekly bosses.
Teyvat.
Specifically...
Nod Krai.
His knees nearly gave out.
"...I've been isekai'd."
Silence.
A snowflake landed on his nose.
Then another.
Illuga slowly looked toward the heavens. "...I didn't even get to pull for Lohen."