"No worries. In the original story, Sukuna was never much of a help to Yuji Itadori. In fact, he was always making things worse.
He would love nothing more than for Yuji to die so he could take over his body. So if we use the finger, we're actually doing Yuji a favor."
Although that was the logic, Zephyr still had some concerns. If they used the finger, the higher-ups in the human world might develop suspicions about him, which could lead to some unexpected consequences.
But after careful consideration, he decided to feed the finger like dog food anyway.
After all, if he didn't strive to become stronger now, how would he get through the main storyline later?
With that in mind, Zephyr fed Sukuna's finger without hesitation.
Immediately, his 5-star Viridescent Feather artifact shot up to level 20, reaching its max level.
"Whoa! Damn, that's insane!"
His luck was pretty solid too—the substats on the feather turned out great. One increased attack percentage, another boosted crit rate percentage, the third enhanced crit damage percentage, and the last one even gave a bonus to HP percentage.
And during the upgrades, all the bonus stats went straight into crit rate!
This turned what was once just an ordinary 5-star artifact into a monstrous 30% crit rate artifact.
And mind you, that's just from the substats!
"Absolute god-tier roll!"
Just when he thought that was the end of the surprises, he noticed something else—right next to the level 20 cap, there was a small icon labeled "Ascend".
"Huh? What the hell? artifacts can break through past level 20?"
This was game knowledge ahead of its time—like being ten patches ahead of the current version.
However, while the breakthrough was possible, it required a special material. But instead of listing a specific item, the requirement just showed "???", leaving him completely clueless about what he needed.
Even so, Zephyr was already more than satisfied.
Not only had he unexpectedly maxed out a artifact, but he also discovered that artifacts could break through past level 20. Two great surprises in one day!
In Genshin Impact, artifacts provide a massive boost to character strength.
To put it simply—you could stay at level 1, but if you had a full set of max-level artifacts, you could still beat an 80-level boss with ease.
On the other hand, if you were level 90 but had no artifacts, you'd probably struggle against a mere Hilichurl Berserker.
So even though Traveler Lumine was only level 16 right now, with the artifact boosts, she was effectively level 36. No problem, right?
Tomorrow, Zephyr planned to unlock a Statue of the Seven, finish some daily commissions, and with rounding up, he'd be at level 40. No problem, right?
Once he cleared the main storyline, he'd be around level 60. No problem, right?
At level 60, returning to Teyvat, wouldn't he absolutely wreck the Hilichurls?
At that point, he'd be punching Diluc, kicking Childe, hugging Barbara with one arm, and holding Noelle with the other. Then, with a single command, he'd send three million Hilichurls to siege Liyue Harbor.
"Oh? You call yourself the Geo Archon, Morax?"
"Go, Poké Ball! Today, you're my ride!"
cough cough—"No, no, that's too much. Gotta tone it down a bit. Maybe just marry all the Liyue Qixing instead."
Paimon squinted at him suspiciously. "Traveler, what kind of pervy thoughts are you having?"
Zephyr smirked. "What are you looking at? Never seen a handsome guy before?"
"Ugh."
"You wanna fight?"
...
The Next Day
"Ding-dong..."
"Hello, is anyone there?"
Lumine slowly opened her drowsy eyes, still half-asleep. "...Wait, I remember staying at a hotel last night."
"Ding-dong, ding-dong! Your package has arrived!"
The knocking was so loud that it woke up Zephyr as well. "That voice...?"
Paimon yawned. "...Who is it? Huh? Why does this voice sound so familiar? Looks like you guys were right after all."
Zephyr opened the door, and the first thing that caught his eye was that familiar white-haired man.
An old acquaintance—Gojo Satoru.
"Well, well, I didn't expect this. A little middle schooler-looking girl staying in a five-star hotel? Turns out you must be pretty rich~"
Lumine rolled her eyes. "You're the middle schooler here! I'm already an adult."
"Oh? Really? I'm so surprised."
Gojo feigned shock. "Apologies, little missy. I originally wanted to come over yesterday, but I was too busy. Had to take care of my two useless students and also investigate where your money came from—whether you stole it or maybe robbed a bank. One thing led to another, and I got delayed~"
"Dun-dun-dun! And to my surprise, neither was the case! Turns out all of it is your legally earned property. What a shocker!"
Lumine crossed her arms, unamused. "So in your mind, the only way I could have that much money is if I committed a crime?"
"Ahem, of course not! I'm just really curious. Who exactly are you, miss? You're incredibly strong and also loaded with cash. As a caring person, I just can't help but worry—what if some bad guy tricks you out of your money?"
Paimon scoffed. "I think you're the biggest bad guy here."
Gojo, unfazed, casually pulled out a bag of snacks.
"Just a small gift, nothing much."
"Traveler, this guy is a good person!"
"..."
Zephyr was speechless. "Alright, enough with the games. Speak your purpose, Gojo Satoru."
"Oh my, is the little missy into role-playing? Even the way you talk changed."
Gojo's expression sharpened as his keen eyes locked onto them.
"It's almost like... you're two different people. Could it be that a curse spirit has possessed you?"
Zephyr met his gaze head-on. "Drop the mind games, Gojo. I'll tell you straight—I am a different person from Lumine. My name is Zephyr."
"I see… Zephyr, huh? Nice to meet you, Mr. Zephyr."
Paimon tilted her head. "Wait, how did you know Zephyr is a guy?"
"Oh, that's easy—just by his speech pattern and tone. You can tell right away."
"Whoa, that's amazing!"
"Well, I say that, but honestly, I just guessed. If I was wrong and Zephyr was actually a woman, I already had an apology prepared."
"Wow. You're unbelievable!"
Gojo chuckled and sat down. "Alright then, time to get to the main topic."
Zephyr also sat down and said calmly, "What do you want to ask?"
Gojo Satoru's expression turned serious. "You… or rather, you both—who exactly are you?"
"That question is too broad. But I understand what you mean. We are Travelers, from another world."
"Another world?"
Even someone as knowledgeable as Gojo couldn't help but frown at that.
"That's right, Gojo Satoru. We come from another world. We have accepted your request—to save humanity in this world."
"Hahaha, that's not a very funny joke."
Zephyr calmly took a sip of water. "I'm not joking."
"You're serious?"
"Of course."
Gojo furrowed his brows in deep thought. "But I don't recall giving such a difficult mission to two complete strangers."
"Of course, you don't remember—because you lost that part of your memory."
"I lost my memory?"
"To be precise, it's not that you lost your memory, but that this world has been restarted."
"What?"
"Many years in the future, humanity in this world was wiped out for a certain reason. You wanted to prevent that from happening, but in the end, you failed. So, you made a wish to an unknown entity, hoping to save humanity."
"And then, 'K' granted your wish—by restarting the entire world. Before the reset, you left behind a video requesting our help."
The sheer amount of information was overwhelming. For a moment, Gojo was completely stunned.
"What you're saying… is too shocking. Too unbelievable. Do you have any proof?"
...