Ch 5

"Sorry about this happening to your business sir," Eula said with her heart full of sincere apologies as she saw the onlookers outside.

" It's alright, it wasn't your fault, you didn't start anything, my name is Taylor by the way."

Seeing that Taylor Harboured no outward prejudice towards her identity, and was being very polite, even just thinking back to the blanket that been placed over her while she had slept, Eula felt a surge of warmth in our heart.

"Well my name is Eula, it is a pleasure to meet you Taylor."

"Oh, by the way Taylor, I'm sorry I broke your… uh… glass case, how much is it worth? I'll be sure to compensate you."

"Your very kind, let's see it's cost price is about 200,000 mora."

200,000 mora was roughly equivalent to the purchasing power of 700 to 800 dollars, but of course the overall prices on the continent of Teyvat were very low, because for an average person 200,000 mora could cover two or three months worth of living expenses.

" Alright 200,000 mora… wait a minute!?" Eula's brain finally caught up with her and she was shocked, her monthly salary was only 150,000 mora! She thought for a moment she was getting scammed.

"200,000 mora? Taylor are you serious about that price?"

" I'm sorry Eula, but that is the manufacturing price for the smartphone."

Eula took a breath to calm herself down.

" I'm sorry Taylor, but I don't have enough mora on Me right now, can I bring it over tomorrow?"

She needed to investigate this "smartphone" find out everything she could and hopefully understand why it is so expensive.

At this moment, someone within the cried outside, the store suddenly shouted, "grandmaster Jean is here."

The crowd immediately started buzzing with excitement, seeing today's commotion was indeed, a worthwhile viewing, even grandmaster Jean had come to the scene.

Jean walked straight to Taylor and gave a small nod.

" I'm sorry Taylor I will take fault for not managing my subordinates better and causing you trouble and property damages."

The onlookers where slack-jawed, just who is this person? Even grandmaster, Jean personally came to apologise.

" It's okay, it wasn't too bad, Eula helped stop them before any serious issues happened, so I just hope there won't be any more troublemakers coming by."

Jean nodded and said "I will give due punishment to the knight responsible for this incident as well as his companions."

She then turned over to Eula.

"While most of the responsibility lies with Duke, Eula as a higher ranked member of the Knights of Favonius, you also acted recklessly in someone's else's shop, so you will need to bear some responsibility to."

" I understand Jean"

Eula lowered her head, both Eula and Jean then made there way back to the headquarters, the onlookers now started to disperse.

However, the impact from this incident was far from over.

"Hey did you hear, apparently 5 members of the Knights of Favonius had showdown in a store and grandmaster Jean came personally to apologise to the owner."

"Just how influential is the enigmatic owner of the mobile game cafe?"

" What exactly are these things called mobile games?"

In the span of just half a day news had exploded all throat, the city of Mondstadt becoming a topic of idle conversation for everyone over their meals and tea breaks.

Taylor's Mobile game cafe had become an overnight sensation and now a well-known store throughout all of Mondstadt.

However, facing the high cost to play, most people chose only to watch from afar, and where reluctant to spend that much money, However there were also some well off young people who came to experience the game.

Early in the morning, Taylor's Café already had three young people playing the mobile game, with Taylor's guidance, they smoothly entered the world of Teyvat within the game.

Never having played anything like this before, these young people were immediately captivated by the unique visuals and novel gameplay, direct exclamations of astonishment, and wonder could be heard from time to time.

Of course they are gaming skills were nowhere near Lisa's level but Lisa is a natural talent, after playing for over 10 minutes, they were still wondering around the beach, but they didn't have a problem with that, because after all, they were having a great time, their eyes filled with so much excitement.

They initially chose the payment method of 10,000 more per hour, but soon after just one hour when they started to get properly familiar with the games controls and we're eager to start exploring time was almost up so each of them immediately paid an additional 20,000 more for two more hours.

…

"It's stormterror"

One of them exclaimed and excitement he had finally Reached one of the statues of the seven and continued the main storyline when he then saw a massive dragon flying overhead, couldn't help but cry out.

His voice immediately attracted the attention of the other two, and they felt her blood boil with excitement and anticipation. They couldn't wait to continue with the storyline, leaving so young man in game he was able to talk with the dragon, which further astonished them!

Taylor smiled with a look of remembrance, They acted in almost the same way he did when he first played Genshin Impact.

At this moment door was pushed open, and a familiar figure walked in.

"Hi~ Taylor"

Lisa greeted Taylor with unusual closeness.

"Lisa, how many hours would you like to buy this time?"

"My dear Taylor you mentioned there was a promotion event recharge 100,000 mora and get the value of 50,000 mora as a bonus, so I'll recharge 100,000 mora."

Lisa placed the heavy bag of Mora on the counter, such big spending immediately caught the attention of the three young people.

"Its head librarian Lisa!"

"Miss Lisa do you also play this mobile game?"

Lisa, glanced at their screens she then give a slight smile and shook her head.

"Haven't You three even reached Mondstadt? Ovary dealt with stormterrors, power source and saved Mondstadt."

Lisa casually teased, peeking the three's interest.

If they understood leases were right, they would be able to confront stormterror and save Mondstadt by following the storyline, that means anyone could be a hero, But in this world, most people are just ordinary folk but now within this game, they might be able to fill their big hero dreams.

The three young people size gleamed in excitement as they were eagerly, moving forward with the storyline.

…

[prologue, act 2, for a tomorrow without tears, unlocked after reaching Adventure Rank 10.]

It appears that continuing to experience the prologue Archon quest was not that easy after all.

Currently, Lisa's adventurer rank was still at seven, after receiving some endgame prompts, Lisa find out that she could increase her venture rank by collecting Anemoculi, opening chests, completing world quests and a few more, hello, she wouldn't be able to gather much more useful plot information Lisa's enthusiasm remained unshaken, After all she aimed to develop herself into the most powerful character.

During the process of raising her adventure, rank any monsters that appeared within her line of sight were killed by Lisa's character, and dealt with by using her powerful electro elemental attacks, the three young men noticed Lisa's situation and were immediately shocked to see that Lisa was a playable character in game, they were, then awed by her, smooth Manouvers and well timed combos. They even put down their own phones to stand around Lisa to learn from her techniques.

"Miss Lisa, why do you use Amber's aim shot on the monsters first?"

"Miss Lisa, your damage is so high"

" Head librarian, please teach me how to get stronger in game."

Lisa lightly typed on the table and a surge of lightning flash. The three got startled, and they're not to speak so loudly anymore, fearing of incurring Lisa's ire.

After just quietly observing Lisa's actions, for while the free felt, they had gained valuable insights to how the game works, returning to their states, they plan to Continue the storyline and strive to acquire the "Lisa" character as soon as possible.

…

After doing a series of battles and world quests, Lisa returned to Mondstadt, she briefly encountered people at the blacksmith shop, the adventures guild, and the good hunter restaurant. Then she followed the map to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, Lisa also took a look at the grandmaster's office before the Jane was not at her desk, perhaps just like in the real world she had already gone out to execute some plans.

After having a conversation with Kaeya a prompt appeared on screen:

[Pavo Ocellus chapter, act 1, Secret Pirate Treasure, unlocked] (TN: Pavo Ocellus means peacock's eye in Latin)

" This should be Kaeya's personal quest."

As for why it was called Pavo Ocellus chapter, there was probably a deeper meaning behind it, but that was still unknown for now, including the arc, conquest of the prologue, Lisa felt that this mobile game concealed a very significant amount of thought-provoking information within its texts.

However, this personal mission, for Kaeya did not reveal any major secrets about Kaeya himself, to summarise, it was a story where Kaiya had conducted the line to receive the travel to searching for a treasure and use that is bait to capture a treasure hoarder Kia, then gifted the Traveler a [harbinger of dawn].

Lisa took a look and find this three star weapon, had excellent attributes. Unfortunately it was a single-handed sword which she could not use, so she equipped it on to the Traveler instead.

Previously, the Travelers name had been [Jean] but after Lisa find the name changing function, she changed it to [purple rose] the accounts that had once been Jean's had been turned into Lisa's.

Two hours past by very quickly during this time, another three or four people entered to experience this mobile game, and similarly, once they immerse themselves in it, they couldn't bear to pull themselves away.

Outside the shop, more than 10 people had gathered, curiously, peering in through the windows, before someone went in they had confidently declared before going in, They would just have a brief experience and then come out to tell everyone what this "mobile game" was all about, However, once they entered, They seemed to be like people possessed, sitting tightly to their seats, staring at The palm sized glowing box, Their faces were filled with excitement or curiosity, The situation left those outside, utterly bamboozled, if they hadn't seen Lisa inside as well, they may have suspected that the glow boxes had some sort of sinister sorcery that could control peoples minds.

When lunchtime had arrived, there were few people outside, watching. Lisa also emerged out of the shop she plan to go have lunch first, and then continue with the upcoming storyline after completing Karya's story quest and various miscellaneous world quests her adventure. Rank could finally reach 10, allowing her to continue the The our conquest, Lisa still had a few expectations in her heart after all, she just asked Taylor if he would have lunch with her unfortunately, he cannot leave the store while their customers in it, so he said if she wants, she can bring him back some lunch and they could eat together.

===

At noon Lisa asked Him if they could have lunch together, but he could Leave the store for two reasons

one is that he has to watch over the customers that are here, which is what he also told Lisa.

The second is that he didn't want to be outside the system protection that was in the store until he had some power to protect himself.

But he would like to be able to go out into the city, so clearly he would need to start recruiting some service staff sooner rather than later.

while he was waiting for Lisa to return with lunch, the store door was open and dressed in a casual outfits that wasn't her " spindrift knight" attire but it's still highlighted her beauty as she walked in.

"Taylor I have come to compensate you… for what happened last night, once again, I'm really sorry." Eula said, she took a bag and placed her on the counter. " This is 100,000 Mora, I can't come up with much more money than this right now I'll be sure to return the outstanding 100,000 Mora to you as soon as possible."

Although Eula hesitated, it was clear that she wasn't lying, Taylor put on the bag of Mora And then looked at Eula and asked her. " Did Acting grandmaster Jean punish you?"

" Yes, I've been here by suspended for three months." Eula replied calmly at least she seem to be calm on the surface.

" But Duke got it far worse he was directly stripped of his neighbourhood and his knee under Close monitoring of the knights of Favonius He's probably feeling deep regret right now."

When you received her punishment, she wasn't all surprised Mondstadt Might be a free city, but punishments were still severe once you across the legal line after all, there were precedents.

Eula had no complaints about her punishment, but what she cared about more was the value of the "smartphone" so she took the opportunity to enquire about it from acting grandmaster Jean.

And the response she received left her very surprised in size, even if it were to be sold, 2 million mora she will buy it without a sack of hesitation, because the information that could be accessed within the mobile games was vital. It could reveal significant details that could prove vital from Mondstadt's future development, furthermore, making a game of this calibre in Jean's view could not come cheap in anyway so inside the Palm-sized phone there must be other mysteries.

When she learned this, Eula was genuinely astonished She hadn't expect this item to be so valuable, Taylor had been very generous and gave her a cheap compensation.

So Eula brought all her savings and came here to pay what she could, and hopefully receive Taylor forgiveness, However Taylor did not rush to accept or reject it.

He smiled and said " if my information is correct, you have already severed ties with your family, and have been living in your own since right?"

Eula was puzzled "yes Taylor I have, but what has that got to do with anything?"

" Living on your own, and you have livelihood expenses but rent or daily purchases, If you give me all your money what are you going to do?"

"I still have a bit of money left not much but should be enough to get through"

" don't forget you've I got three months suspension, and I doubt the knights will still be paying you your usual monthly salary"

Eula fell silent, it she hadn't considered this situation.

Seeing you fall into thought, Taylor side and then said, " take the money back for now after all you got into the whole conflict Surely because you were here When they were coming to try and cause trouble with me, Embree I'm by my own emotions I will help you so you can work here at least next three months, free boarding, and three meals a day and a monthly salary of 200,000 mora then, after three months, we can settle the debt between us, how does that sound?"

You understand, she hadn't expected Taylor to propose such kind conditions, not only the solar financial problem for the next three months of her work suspension, but also promised to help clear the debt between them after the three months and a monthly salary of 200,000 was even more than what she was earning as the captain of the reconnaissance company, to be honest Eula was very tempted.

" no need to rush you can take your time and think about it." Taylor kindly prompted her.

For Eula, and the most critical issue was whether working in someone else's store as one of the Knights of Favonius would lead to people criticising her for compromising the dignity a knight should have, however, immediately after she realised she already fixed Me biases because of her ancestry. Did you really need to care about a few more comments at this point?

With this in mind, Eula racer had her eyes sparkling slightly " no you think about it, sir I'll be happy to work here."

"Wonderful when can you start working?" Taylor asked wearing a satisfied smile.

"Right now."

Clearing out, her debt sooner would help lighten her burden,

"Very well you're not officially an employee of the mobile game Cafe."

…

" and like that you charge an equivalent amount based on time do you understand what all your job currently requires?"

Eula nodded

For now, her job seemed pretty simple, calculate how long each person had paid more for, and once that time ran out, either they pay for more time or they leave, but what puzzle you the most was what made this game so enjoyable. Why were these people willing to spend tens of thousands of mora just to experience it and judging by their expressions, they were clearly having a great time.

Azula water, Ryan, she got a rough idea of what this mobile game is all about that Pam size bunks could display the entire scenery of Mondstadt and there were many familiar faces and places inside, such as Amber, Kaya, acting grandmaster Jean, Lisa…

It's absolutely unbelievable that you can control these characters inside the game.

How did Taylor a young man who looked to be no older than it is early 20s design and develops such a magical game Eula look towards the bar counter since Taylor told her how to handle payments it's gone into one of the other rooms, either to rest or do something else in trusting the bar to her. Taylor was really trusting was he not afraid that she would take all the money and run away? Of course Eula would never actually do such a thing however Taylor's Image now held a strong layer of mystery in her mind.

===

The store that Taylor bought for his mobile game Cafe was actually quite large the lobby where the players played the mobile games took up only a third of the total area, There was two lounges on the first floor and four rooms on the second floor. One of the rooms on the second floor was designed by Taylor as his office, The window was half open facing cinder Lake over the wall. Taylor plans are design a system similar to an Internet cafe membership to help calculate the time they were playing four as manual calculations, was always prone to human error. Taylor could already foresee the explosion of customers in the near future, and the 50 gaming areas in the lobby may not be big enough. Therefore the membership account system need to be designed as soon as possible. The system was not too complex and it took Taylor just over 20 minutes to create it after testing it and confirming there was no issue you could try and put it into use tonight.

Heading downstairs. Taylor happened to see Lisa talking with Eula, " acting grandmaster, Jean seems to have been A little harsh on punishment with you."

"But it's good that you can work in this place while you're on suspension. After all this movie game cafe and Taylor all seem to hide some pretty Imp expressive secrets. Perhaps during this time you may learn some of these."

Taylor walked behind Lisa with a smile. " my dear Lisa, it seems you were talking about me behind my back I hear."

"Dear Taylor, you must've missed Heard" Lisa said playfully, and then went to a seat by the bar and sat down her's and Taylor's lunch so they could have lunch together.

" Well Eula, I'm gonna have to trust the store to you for awhile while I clock out and have my lunch you gonna be alright with that."

" Don't worry Taylor, I'm sure I can handle it. You enjoy your lunch without worry."

So Taylor walked over to the bar and sat down having lunch with Lisa as they talked about themselves. Taylor learned many things about Lisa, such as her friends in the academia, some of her travels before She became head librarian her relationship with her family is, learned many things about Taylor, such as why the monster stand. How is enjoyed it about his family, she even asked about where his home country is obviously, Taylor couldn't quite tell her that he came from a different world right now. So we told her just rather not talk about his home country, but they still enjoyed lunch together.

After having lunch, Taylor returned behind the bar area and Lisa returned her gaming area.

…

…

The prolong was about to continue after completing a series of quest leases, adventure rank, reached level 10, her to continue the ark conquest, Lisa controlled her character and returned to Mondstadt on her way to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, she happened to run into Jean Who was conversing with one of the diplomats from the Fatui.

"… which is what has brought us to this point in the first place"

" if you were unable to promptly deal with the stormterror threat, then leave the defence of Mondstadt to the Fatui."

" we can put an end to Mondstadt's dragon issues. All we need to do is bring the monster to the—"

The diplomat from the Fatui had a fair bit of arrogance to her.

" monster?" Jean was clearly angered upon hearing that word.

" yes, what's your point?"

"Ah… I'd expect a more professional attitude from your diplomats, yet here you are saying you want to " put an end" to one of the four winds of Mondstadt? I won't have any of this nonsense in front of the Knights of Favonius."

In the face of Jean's ire The Fatou diplomat showed no signs of restraint, and step burst into a series of laughter. "Heh… Hehehe… it's not as crazy as you make it sound."

"Fine, that's enough negotiation for today. At this stage it simply… an amicable exchange of constructive opinions no?"

" I'll be sure to make… thorough notes…"

The Fatui was pressuring Jean, but in reality, there was already signs of a similar situation, but the diplomats from the Fatui had not reached such a level yet, it was probably due to the game storyline they had depicted the stormterror attack on Mondstadt The coast are attitudes to shift if Jean were to witness this scene, she would definitely understand.

After talking with Jean and getting a brief explanation of the fatui's background The interface displayed a prompt indicating the start of the next storyline: [prologue, act 2, for tomorrow, without tears, started]

Upon arriving at the Knights of Favonius headquarters, the Traveler took out The dark red crystal this item have been discovered at the area where they had encountered stormterror The Indian version of the Traveler was also present in the office. The primary goal was to confirm whether there was a possibility of saving stormterror. Facing pressure from all signs Jean had to make a decision as quickly as possible, even if it meant subduing stormterror which of course was the final result that none of the knights of Favonius wanted to see.

This crystal might be able to provide some clues, but Lisa couldn't Determin it's origin at the minute, she only realised after touching it that it contains a corruptive power that repelled elemental energy and entangled with it. Therefore, they decide to leave it in the travellers hands for safekeeping.

By this point, the story, perhaps Lisa said we've been viewing it from a players perspective all along had formed the vague deduction in her mind ' could be that stormterror became so violent because it was currently infected with the corruptive power…'

It seemed the truth behind stormterror's betrayal of Mondstadt was starting to become clear.

Next story introduce a new variable after leaving the Knights of Favonius, the Traveler and Paimon spotted a green figure running ahead on the street in front of the headquarters, After confirming that this was the "green person" who had been conversing with stormterror in the whispering woods a few days ago, they immediately began tracking this person with elemental sight following them all the way from the Knights of Favonius headquarters to the church Square.