I always figured if I died young, it would be something dramatic—like saving a kid from a burning building, or getting caught in a freak lightning storm. Not… like this.
One minute, I was walking home, earbuds in, playlist fire. The next, I was airborne—flung ten feet across the pavement courtesy of a runaway delivery truck. The world flipped. Screams blurred. And then?
Nothing.
Pitch black. No pain. No noise. Just… drifting.
Then, a voice. Cold, distant, echoing like it was bouncing off cathedral walls.
"You are not done yet."
That's when I snapped awake.
And when I say "snapped," I mean bolted upright like someone threw ice water on me. I gasped—lungs filling with air that wasn't mine. The air here was crisp, sterile, tinged with… frost? And metal?
I was lying on a stone bed. A massive chamber stretched out around me—vaulted ceilings, tall banners, chandeliers made of crystal. Everything screamed "military cult meets gothic palace."
And I felt… wrong. Heavy. Like I was wearing full-body armor. When I looked down, I nearly choked. I was.
Black armor, edged in silver. Gloves that looked like they could crush skulls.
I always figured if I died young, it would be something dramatic—like saving a kid from a burning building, or getting caught in a freak lightning storm. Not… like this.
One minute, I was walking home, earbuds in, playlist fire. The next, I was airborne—flung ten feet across the pavement courtesy of a runaway delivery truck. The world flipped. Screams blurred. And then?
Nothing.
Pitch black. No pain. No noise. Just… drifting.
Then, a voice. Cold, distant, echoing like it was bouncing off cathedral walls.
"You are not done yet."
That's when I snapped awake.
And when I say "snapped," I mean bolted upright like someone threw ice water on me. I gasped—lungs filling with air that wasn't mine. The air here was crisp, sterile, tinged with… frost? And metal?
I was lying on a stone bed. A massive chamber stretched out around me—vaulted ceilings, tall banners, chandeliers made of crystal. Everything screamed "military cult meets gothic palace."
And I felt… wrong. Heavy. Like I was wearing full-body armor. When I looked down, I nearly choked. I was.
Black armor, edged in silver. Gloves that looked like they could crush skulls.
And my body—no, this body—was tall, solid, powerful. Way more jacked than I ever was.
"What the hell…" I muttered.
My voice. Even that wasn't mine anymore. It was deeper, colder.
I stood up. The armor barely made a sound. That was somehow more unnerving than if it had clanked.
And then I saw the mirror.
Tall, ornate, rimmed with dark wood. It showed a figure I'd only ever seen in fandom wiki pages and rare Genshin trailers. Black armor.
And that mask—plain silver, featureless, inhuman.
Capitano.
I stumbled back, hit the edge of the stone bed. My mind was spinning.
"No no no—this has to be a dream," I whispered. "A coma hallucination. Or a super cursed gacha roll…"
The door burst open.
A woman in a white uniform stood at attention. Her face was tense. "Lord Capitano. The war council begins in ten minutes. Lady Arlecchino is already present. The others are waiting."
I blinked at her. She didn't flinch. Didn't question my silence.
Right. Capitano doesn't speak much, does he?
I nodded slowly—because what else was I gonna do?
"…Understood," I said. Deep. Flat. Trying to sound like him.
She saluted, turned, and left.
I exhaled. Or maybe it was more like a hiss through clenched teeth. My head was pounding. I had about ten minutes to figure out how to pretend to be one of the most feared beings in Teyvat, or risk getting exposed, exiled, or straight-up executed by a bunch of psychopaths with god complexes.
Cool.
Just… totally cool.
I glanced at the mirror one last time.
Capitano stared back. Silent. Monolithic.
And I realized something.
I didn't know what this world wanted from me yet—but I knew what I had to do.
Play the part. Survive. Learn.
And maybe, just maybe, change how this game is played.