Boom!
The instant Gong Qu selected the location, a thunderous boom rang out.
Before his eyes, the faint wireframe projection began to materialize, first the foundation, then the framework, then the main structure… As though leaping through time itself, a four, story luxury villa complete with pastoral gardens and a pond sprang into existence from nothing.
Still reeling from the shock, Gong Qu pushed open the arched wooden door of the estate and stepped inside.
The front yard stretched out wide before him. On several neatly cultivated plots, vegetables and fruit were already growing, judging by their shape and color, they looked like tomatoes and eggplants.
Surrounding the courtyard were citrus trees, oranges and grapefruits, all heavy with ripe fruit.
"No wonder it came with a maid. Cleaning a 'cottage' this size would be hell on its own."
Suppressing the urge to explore further, Gong Qu opened his inventory and retrieved the so-called "Maid Talisman."
[Use "Maid Talisman (Unused)"?]
"Yes."
The moment the word left his lips, the long strip of talisman in his hand began to glow with a gentle light.
The light struck the ground, and a translucent humanoid figure shimmered into view before him.
[Bonus random maid skin expansion pack detected. Draw skin expansion pack?]
Skin expansion pack?
Gong Qu squinted at the sudden pop-up screen, thoughtful.
He'd played maid mods before.
In fact, the Dragon Adventure mod pack he was currently using probably had some kind of East Asian maid module built in.
If he remembered correctly, those mods allowed online downloads of character models and voice packs, whether from Touhou Project, Azur Lane, Genshin Impact, or other ACG franchises, you could skin your maid however you liked.
Was this expansion pack the same idea? Could his maid take on the appearance of a 2D anime girl from one of those games?
He couldn't lie, he was intrigued.
He tapped the confirm button lightly. Instantly, a flurry of franchise icons flashed before his eyes.
White-haired girls blinking. Pink-haired girls blinking. Some even had donkey ears… All were familiar, beloved mascot characters.
[Draw complete. Skin expansion pack acquired: Keqing]
[Loading maid skin expansion pack…]
Before Gong Qu could react, a flurry of system sounds chimed in. The humanoid figure enveloped in white light stretched and reshaped itself rapidly.
Seconds later, a purple-haired, twin-tailed, cat-eared girl stood gracefully before him.
Her long lashes fluttered, and a face uncannily similar to Keqing from Genshin Impact opened her eyes.
"Master? …Wait, Traveler? What are you doing here?"
Keqing spoke with the familiarity of someone who knew him.
Now Gong Qu was the one baffled.
"You… know me?"
"Eh? Traveler, are you joking? Of course I know you! What about Lumine and Paimon, your constant companions, where are they?"
Keqing stretched her limbs and scanned the area.
The distinctly non-Liyue scenery made her frown slightly.
Gong Qu didn't answer immediately. Instead, he carefully analyzed her tone and phrasing.
From her perspective, it seemed that he wasn't just a transparent presence, but a tangible figure, someone who traveled with the twins, someone with an identity, presumably matching his in-game avatar.
So that fleeting glimpse during the maid skin installation wasn't just a random skin, it was his game character?
And this "skin" had essentially manifested his in-game character as a living being?
He felt like he was onto something. He just needed confirmation.
So, he opened Keqing's inventory using his admin rights.
[Character: Keqing]
[Level: 90]
[Vision: Electro]
[Friendship Level: 10]
[Constellation: C6]
[Weapon: Mistsplitter Reforged]
[Artifacts: Remnant of Thunder (Feather), Bloom of Life (Flower), Hourglass of Storm (Sands), Final Feast of Honey (Goblet), Thunder Serpent's Crown (Circlet)]
Fully maxed. Level 90, C6, R1 Mistsplitter, Electro DMG goblet, mixed main stats—exactly his build.
No doubt about it. This was his account.
"What are you doing? Why do I feel like you're looking through all my stuff?"
"You don't see this interface?" Gong Qu pointed to Keqing's status screen.
"What interface are you talking about, huh? What's this?"
Keqing sidled up to him, hugging his arm as if by accident. She tiptoed slightly to peek at the interface above, which hovered just out of her natural line of sight.
Rustle.
The soft silk of her sleeves brushed his arm, and he felt something warm and pillowy pressing against him.
He glanced at the pink flush creeping up Keqing's ears but decided not to call her out on the overly theatrical gesture.
"This is your character interface," he explained. "It shows your gear, constellation level, and friendship level. Due to the special mechanics of this world, you've also got an extra 2x9 inventory grid—this one's for items native to this world. Like… this oak log, for example."
He opened his own inventory and placed a stack of logs into Keqing's new maid inventory grid.
"F-Friendship level?! I, I don't have any special feelings for you or anything!"
Keqing ignored everything else he said. Her gaze had zeroed in on the maxed-out friendship level. Her cheeks puffed up, clearly embarrassed.
This was like exposing a girl's private thoughts in public!
She glared at Gong Qu, eyes full of wounded pride.
"Ahem. Anyway, let's talk inside," he offered. "I've got questions of my own, and I imagine you've got quite a few too."
He could feel Keqing squeezing his arm tighter. While not unpleasant, the circulation in his hand was starting to suffer.
Half an hour later.
In the 100-square-meter living room of the forest cottage, the two sat side by side on the sofa, a pair of steaming teacups set on the table before them.
"So… you're saying I'm no longer on Teyvat?" Keqing's expression darkened.
"Correct. That is, if your memories are real. If your personality and backstory were just part of the character template when I summoned you, then perhaps Teyvat was never real to begin with. Only this present moment is."
Gong Qu wasn't ready to assume she had literally traveled from the world of Genshin Impact. He considered all possibilities.
Like Zhuangzi dreaming of the butterfly, or the butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi, it could go either way.
Keqing was sharp. She understood quickly.
"No wonder I instinctively called you 'Master' just now. Maybe I'm nothing more than a tool, a prop with Keqing's appearance and programmed behavior."
"I can't agree with that," Gong Qu replied. "At the very least, I don't see you as a tool."
He blew gently on his tea, then offered the cup to her.
"Here. Try it."
"Uhh… thanks."
Keqing took the cup and sipped gingerly.
"Ah, hot!"
Like her twitching cat ears, she apparently had a cat's tongue too. She pulled the cup away in a hurry and stuck out her tongue, flapping her hand in front of her mouth.
"How's that? This reality? Instead of chasing phantoms of the past, isn't it better to cherish the warmth of the present?"
Keqing froze. Then she turned her head with a huff.
"Who asked for your comforting words? And you, you tricked me on purpose, you… you jerk!"