Genshin Impact: I Can Obtain Adventure EXP

Mona's eyes were transfixed, a whole starry sky reflected in her pupils. She didn't even seem to realize that Nolan was still holding her hand. It was as if the vastness of the sky had truly enchanted her.

"Alright, enough! Let go!" A voice suddenly broke the silence beside her.

Nolan felt his hand get a firm slap, and instinctively he let go, the softness of her hand slipping away.

Mona crouched down, her calves pressing into her thighs, causing her legs to push against the silky, starlit-patterned tights she wore—making it look like the cosmos itself had expanded.

"What are you doing?" Nolan asked, puzzled.

"Looking up is tiring. And don't distract me," Mona replied, engrossed in something, though even she wasn't sure what.

Is there something special about this starry sky?

The original lore suggested that the sky of Teyvat was artificial, so could this starry realm in his wonderland possibly be real?

Hmm, maybe. But then again, it was more likely just a random expanse of stars. After all, his "Wonderland" didn't exist in Teyvat but within his own body, or rather, his soul.

So, the probability that it reflected the real Teyvat sky was slim.

Ah well, let her explore it at her own pace.

Nolan went over to spread out his blanket, ready to sleep. He could, in theory, return to Mondstadt using the "Interstellar Travel" From "Fairy tale Wonderland"—meaning he could teleport back to either Fischl or Sucrose and take Mona with him to Mondstadt instantly.

But he should explain this to Mona first, or she might think he was trying to kidnap her if he just disappeared.

Closing his eyes, he decided to chat remotely with the others before sleep.

Lumine mentioned that her ship had already sailed far from shore, with not even a sliver of coastline visible anymore. The waves were fierce, and there were quite a few dangerous sea monsters about.

She'd even seen Captain Beidou and her crew dealing with a few horned creatures, as large as bulls, that had attempted to attack the Alcor. Earlier that night, they'd also encountered a pirate ship flying a skull flag that had approached in the dark, hoping to raid them. But upon realizing it was the Alcor, the pirates had hastily turned around, not even waiting to steer properly!

Lumine hadn't even needed to step in; a few cannon blasts from the Alcor had already sent the not-so-small pirate ship sinking into the sea. The crew inspected the wreckage and confirmed there were no survivors to rescue. The ship was left to slowly sink on its own.

With no one to save, the pirates would be left to the cold night sea, eventually becoming a meal for whatever monsters lurked below.

Pirates always claimed the ocean was their ultimate resting place—now it would truly be so!

As for Fischl, she had a mission to complete the next day, so she'd gone to bed early. Talking with her only yielded some half-asleep replies like "Mm," "Okay," "Got it," and "Why aren't you back yet?" as if she were dreaming.

Meanwhile, Sucrose was still up late working on experiments and had no time to chat.

Alright then, Nolan had no choice but to reach out to others.

Thankfully, Shenhe, Yun Jin, and Hu Tao weren't too busy and chatted with him for a while. Eventually, drowsiness crept in, and he drifted off to sleep.

...

"Hey, wake up… Hey, wake up."

Nolan wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he felt someone nudging him awake in his sleep. At first, he ignored it—until his nose began to itch. Finally, he couldn't help but open his eyes.

Mona's lovely face was inches away, framed by pale skin and delicate features. She leaned over him, playfully brushing his nose with a few strands of her hair.

Nolan resisted the urge to sneeze, swatting her hand away. Rubbing his eyes, he muttered, "What are you doing? Is it morning already?"

Since there was no daylight shift in the wonderland, he instinctively pulled out his pocket watch to check. It was only 2 a.m., still hours away from dawn.

Thinking this, he closed his eyes again, letting drowsiness wash over him.

"Hey, don't go back to sleep! I've made a huge discovery—you have to come see it!" Mona tugged at his hand, trying to pull him up.

But since she didn't quite match his strength, she couldn't budge him.

"Ah!" In his sleepy reflex to pull his hand away, he accidentally tugged Mona forward, making her stumble forward with a startled yelp.

Thud.

She fell against him with a soft thump, her weight pressing lightly onto him, yet he seemed to be so deeply asleep that he didn't even notice, simply rolling over and continuing to snooze.

"Sigh..."

Sitting on the ground, Mona adjusted her posture, with her knees close to her chest. She closed her eyes in mild frustration, her hat now lying off to the side. Her initial excitement over her discovery had all but faded after the little tug-of-war.

After studying for a long time, Mona began to feel the accumulated exhaustion of mental strain, with sleepiness slowly creeping in.

Yawning, she took out a thin blue blanket from her Vision and lay down a little distance away from Nolan.

"I'll tell him tomorrow," she thought. It was, after all, quite late.

As she let her thoughts drift and gradually shifted out of her astrological study mode, a realization struck her.

Wait… Does this mean she's technically sleeping in the same room—and bed—as Nolan?

"?!"

With this thought, Mona's face flushed bright red.

Previously, when she looked into his destiny, she saw that, like that famous blonde girl, he wasn't a native of Teyvat. Most of his fate remained hidden from her view.

Only a small part of his future, about half a year in Teyvat, was somewhat visible. Beyond that, his destiny was blurred, as if existing outside the bounds of established fate—prone to change at any moment.

Though he hadn't been in Teyvat long, he'd already entangled his fate deeply with many people, especially with several women. She couldn't help but wonder if he might be a bit of a philanderer.

Would a man like that, who was so close to her, have any thoughts about her too?

Even before meeting him, she'd felt a certain goodwill toward this person who had helped Mondstadt and Liyue, and upon getting to know him, that favorable impression had only grown.

She had no romantic experience, so perhaps she'd been unwittingly swayed by his smooth words, lured into sharing the same space with him.

And hadn't he even held her hand earlier?!

Oh no… Could her own fate already be drawn toward his? Astrologers believe that Teyvat's inhabitants are bound by a fixed destiny.

After all, "Because it cannot be altered, defied, or avoided, fate is called fate."

When someone asked her what would happen if they did a certain thing, she would reveal the results of her divination honestly.

Because of this, while her predictions were highly accurate, most people disliked hearing the unvarnished truth, so fewer people sought her readings. Not that it mattered to her; unlike certain astrologers who spun sugar-coated predictions just to make money, Mona never charged for her readings.

For example, if someone asked her whether joining the Adventurers' Guild would make them an exceptional adventurer, she'd tell them, "Even if you join the Guild, you won't make a name for yourself." Because, well, that was their destiny, and no one could change it.

But outsiders to Teyvat were different!

Only events that had already happened to them in this world could be considered fate; their futures remained completely unknown.

For this reason, if anyone could alter destiny, it would be Nolan and the blonde girl, Lumine.

The deeper one's connection with them, the more that person's fate would gradually align with theirs, drawn closer until finally merging, becoming one and equally unknowable.

She'd spent a day with Nolan already, verbally accepted him as her apprentice, agreed to his support, held hands, and was now sharing a cozy space. And she even liked him quite a bit.

The more she thought about it, the more she wondered: Would he have agreed to all this if he didn't have feelings for her?

What if her own fate was already aligning with his? If their destinies blended too much, they would become inseparable!

Now, Mona started to panic. While she didn't dislike him—he was, after all, the hero who'd helped both Mondstadt and Liyue—no one would mind if he had a few wives.

But she was Mona, the great astrologer!

She was meant to uncover all truths and destinies, not be entangled in matters of the heart. Men would only slow her path to mastery!

Right now, she was intensely curious to see if her fate had merged with his. But she held back, remembering her master's warning: an astrologer divining her own destiny risks creating paradoxes, which could lead to outcomes directly opposed to her desires!

Without confirmation, Mona's heart ached with restlessness, making it impossible to sleep soundly.

Another voice in her mind began to whisper temptingly: Just take a peek. There's only a "chance" something could go wrong; it's not guaranteed!

Just look!

N-no, I can't! Mona curled up, squeezing the blue blanket between her knees, clutching its corner as she shook her head.

Just a quick glance! A tiny look won't hurt!

Ugh, no means no! Mona bit her lip.

Just a tiny peek! Worst case, I'll go to Mondstadt, get what I need, and reduce contact with him. Plus, I still haven't finished studying the stars here.

Once I finish, I'll just keep some distance!

Ahhh! Enough! Mona furiously banished the voice from her head, sitting upright with a resolute determination.

As if on instinct, Mona's scrying mirror—a blue, magic-filled water divination disc—appeared before her.

Staring at the disc floating in front of her, she sat in silence for a while, nervously rubbing her hands on her legs, trying to ease her tension with the feeling of her stockings.

Finally, she sighed in resignation, mumbling, "Just one look… it probably won't cause any problems."

Under the mysterious starlit sky, the blue water disc began to turn slowly.

Drip, drip, drip…

Mona's own fate, something she'd never glimpsed before, appeared within her view.

"What? How can there be… nothing?!"

Mona couldn't help but gasp softly.

Indeed, it was baffling—when she divined her own destiny, she saw absolutely nothing!

"This isn't possible… and it shouldn't be!" Mona couldn't believe it. In Teyvat, everyone has a fate—how could hers simply vanish, be invisible? "Could it be… my fate has already merged with Nolan's? Is that why I can't see it?"

"Oh no, now it's irreversible! I'll never become the great astrologer I wanted to be!"

Despair crossed her face as she slumped back, utterly drained, pulling the blanket up over her head.

That night, Mona's thoughts ran wild.

She mused that, if she were ever to end up with Nolan, she couldn't let romantic dates eat into her astrology research time. If they married, he'd have to fund her studies, and if they had children, he'd have to take care of them.

Perhaps that way, he wouldn't interfere with her quest for knowledge.

Mona kept thinking until she came up with a scenario that finally satisfied her, allowing her to drift off into an uneasy sleep.

After all, fate cannot be changed. Resisting it would be a waste of both time and energy.

Had Mona known that this "space" they were in was actually a self-contained little world, existing entirely outside of Teyvat's stars, she wouldn't have overthought things so much.

After all, it was outside Teyvat; how could it possibly reveal a destiny meant for someone within Teyvat?

---

Morning.

The "wonderland" still looked the same, with no visible change.

Nolan woke up naturally. He vaguely remembered last night that Mona was studying late and had mumbled something about a major discovery.

If they'd been camping outdoors in a dangerous area, he would've woken up right away.

But here, knowing he was in a secure, enchanted space, he slept deeply and peacefully.

"I wonder if Mona's awake yet. I should ask her what she discovered."

As he pondered, he noticed a soft, slightly heavy blue blanket draped over him.

He followed the blanket's direction and found Mona fast asleep beside him, lying sprawled out with her chest gently rising and falling. Her left hand had nudged the blanket onto him, maybe because she'd felt its weight.

"Hey, Mona."

He called out a few times, trying to wake her.

But she didn't stir, still sound asleep. Who knew how late she'd stayed up—she was deeply unconscious.

Her sleeping posture wasn't very graceful and wasn't ladylike at all. Then again, even Fischl and Lumine sometimes slept the same way.

Oh well. I'll head out first.

Nolan checked the time: 7:00. He planned to go out, buy breakfast, and then teleport over to Mondstadt with either Sucrose or Fischl, whoever was available.

He'd also have Mona use her astrology to find little Klee, the successor of the friend her master wanted her to seek out.

He wondered if, just like in the original story, Mona would accidentally stumble upon her master's journal from her youth and then, fearing her master's wrath, decide to stay in Mondstadt.

But then again, since the original story didn't involve him, there was a good chance things could change.

Then again, if he didn't interfere, she might still end up sticking to the original plot.

Well, no need to overthink it. If things change, I can just come up with an excuse for her to stay, or boost her affection for me quickly and give her a "waymark" to stay in touch.

Nodding thoughtfully, Nolan stood up, gently moved Mona's hand, pulled the blanket over her again, then opened the door and walked out of the "wonderland."

(End of Chapter)

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