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ArabicGenshin Impact: A Guide to the Unofficial History of Teyvat — Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Starting as a Melusine, Starving on the Streets?
Lovia felt that if life—no, Melusine-life—had a reset button, she would definitely smash it until her hand bruised.
Transmigration in web novels was always written as something glamorous. You woke up as a noble villainess, a chosen hero, or at the very least, a normal human with standard proportions and all their limbs intact. So how exactly did she end up as a Humanoid Melusine stranded in Liyue Harbor on the continent of Teyvat?
She stared down at her reflection in the rippling water of the harbor. The non-human traits were far more exquisite than she had initially realized, and infinitely more disorienting.
First was her short, ice-blue hair. The strands did not behave like ordinary human hair; they were impossibly fine, resembling the plush fur of some rare, pampered animal. Her face was small, framed by delicate features, but the absolute focal point was her eyes. Massive, sapphire-like pools stared back at her, radiating an aura of innocent, wide-eyed naivety that she absolutely did not feel on the inside.
What concerned her most, and what she desperately needed to hide, were the more distinct Melusine features.
The little wings sprouting from just below her shoulder blades were not mere decorations. They were delicate structures covered in a layer of soft, ice-blue down that perfectly matched her hair, feeling reassuringly warm and fine to the touch. Right now, they were pressed flat against her spine, slightly retracted and trembling with her anxiety. They definitely lacked the power to carry her into the sky, but they were clearly vital, highly sensitive organs.
Then came the tail. It extended from the base of her spine, covered in the same soft, short fur, transitioning from ice-blue at the base to a pristine snow-white at the tip. It wasn’t particularly long, but it possessed a mind of its own. Currently, it was swaying back and forth in a slow, restless rhythm due to its owner’s unease, curling up gently whenever a panicked thought crossed her mind. She had zero rational control over the thing.
Like all Melusines, Lovia also sported a pair of antennae on her forehead. Unlike the rounded, insect-like ones she remembered from the game, hers were sharp and broad. Her limbs were so slender they looked like they might snap if a strong sea breeze hit them. Thankfully, her transmigration package included a mysterious blue dress and a heavy, white hooded cloak that pulsed with a faint aura, seemingly capable of blocking certain forms of detection.
‘Wait, a hooded cloak?’ Lovia’s massive eyes lit up.
Almost instinctively, she yanked the heavy fabric over her head. The wide brim instantly cast a shadow over her face, swallowing her sharp antennae and leaving only her small chin and lips exposed. The voluminous material draped down her back, perfectly concealing her trembling little wings and that cute, traitorous tail.
“Heaven is on my side!” she muttered, her voice a soft squeak. “No, wait. Heaven completely screwed me over, then tossed me a single breadcrumb of mercy.”
This outfit was practically a custom-made disguise for an abnormal existence like her. A Melusine from Fontaine mysteriously appearing in Liyue—and a Humanoid Melusine at that—was a walking spectacle. Even back in the Court of Fontaine, Sigewinne was the only known Humanoid Melusine. Walking around exposed would invite endless staring and questioning. The cloak would at least reduce the unwanted attention by ninety percent.
As for why she didn’t just go to Fontaine, the homeland of the Melusines?
Lovia swallowed a bitter sigh. When she first woke up, she was dumped in the wilderness outside Liyue Harbor with absolutely zero Mora to her name. Fontaine sounded safe, but looking at the map in her head, it was thousands of miles away across treacherous terrain. Swim? With these noodle arms? She would be pulverized by a single wave or swallowed whole by a stray sea monster before she even cleared the shoreline.
Plus, her knowledge of Fontaine was strictly limited to whatever lore she had skimmed in the game. Who knew what the actual political climate was like for a newly spawned Melusine? What if there were hidden rules she was entirely ignorant of?
More terrifyingly, because of the existence of a certain potion, she didn’t dare blindly rush into Fontaine. What if the Iudex, the notoriously impartial Neuvillette, caught wind of her and threw her straight into the Fortress of Meropide? After all, Sigewinne had unknowingly consumed a potion made from dissolved Fontainians to gain her human form, and she still ended up serving time in jail!
Lovia had absolutely no idea if her current body was naturally humanoid or the result of some illicit potion. Even if she was completely innocent, would anyone believe her? With Sigewinne as a precedent, the authorities would probably assume she was making excuses to cover up a crime. Liyue, on the other hand, was practically a melting pot of weirdness. The locals were completely accustomed to non-human races like the Adepti wandering around. Hiding in plain sight here seemed vastly safer. At the very least, the people of Liyue didn’t know the dark taboos surrounding Humanoid Melusines.
‘Whatever. Surviving here is the only priority right now. Stay hidden, keep a low profile, and figure things out.’
The biggest issue was her height. Melusines had the physical proportions of children. If she wandered too far outside the city gates, she was prime real estate for kidnappers. She was only fourteen in her past life, and she had been short then too, but this was ridiculous. At least the heavy cloak added some bulk to her tiny frame, making her look slightly less like a defenseless toddler.
Were Melusines pretty? Objectively speaking, they were exquisitely beautiful. But right now, wearing a thick winter cloak in the middle of sunny Liyue Harbor, the rate of pedestrians turning their heads to stare at her had only dropped from three hundred percent to a manageable one hundred and fifty percent. It was completely out of place under the clear blue sky, naturally piquing people’s curiosity.
In her memories, Melusines possessed a natural affinity that made people adore them. But what good was that? Could she eat affinity?
Obviously not.
Her stomach let out a violent, hollow growl for the hundredth time, dragging her back to a cruel reality. She hadn’t eaten a proper meal in nearly a day. It had been three days since she arrived in Teyvat. Penniless, starving, and burdened with a highly suspicious identity. Even with the cloak, her strange aura and the occasional slip of an antenna made people wary. She kept hitting dead ends while looking for work.
She had survived on wild fruit picked outside the city for three days, but she was starting to see stars. She couldn’t keep living like this.
Jobs simply didn’t exist for a child. She had tried the docks, hoping to move cargo. The burly sailors had taken one look at her twig-like arms and her obvious child-like stature—which couldn’t be hidden even by the massive hood—and laughed politely. “Go home, kid. Stop joking around.”
She tried applying as a server at a local teahouse. The boss stared at her suspicious, heavy outfit, hesitated for a long time, and shook his head. “The customers might get… spooked.”
She even encountered a few shady characters trying to scam her. Luckily, her otaku paranoia saved her; the moment the vibes felt off, she bolted. Just yesterday, she nearly blew her cover while helping an auntie wash clothes. Driven by some bizarre, uncontrollable Melusine instinct, she had almost chugged the soapy laundry water like it was a refreshing beverage. That terrifying urge to investigate strange liquids only cemented her fear of being exposed.
‘Where is this legendary Melusine affinity? What happened to my overpowered racial talents?’Lovia slumped weakly against the cold stone steps of a quiet alleyway, dragging her hood down even further to hide her face. She stared up at the deep, brilliant blue sky over Liyue Harbor, screaming internally.’Did all my stat points go into looking gullible, being short, and starving to death?’
The sunlight was warm, but it did absolutely nothing to thaw the icy despair in her chest. In her past life, she had been a somewhat famous internet jokester and fanfic writer. A socially anxious otaku who could command entire comment sections with a few strokes of her keyboard. Now, she was about to make history as the first Melusine in Teyvat to die of starvation in an alleyway.
If her readers ever found out, they would laugh themselves into a coma.
‘Sigh…’
A long, pathetic sigh drifted out of the alley, swallowed by the ocean breeze.