Lumine turned toward the voice and saw a young man half-lying on a boulder.

He had a blade of grass in his mouth, striking a pose that looked downright pretentious.

Lumine pointed at herself. "Are you calling me?"

[What a narcissist.]

[So edgy with that pose—he looks kinda full of himself.]

[After dealing with those three earlier, I bet this guy's another clown.]

[True, this event is packed with memes.]

The young man nodded. "But it doesn't matter to me—the championship is mine anyway."

"I want to ask an Adeptus to enlighten me. Though I'm already a perfect person, my heart tells me something's still missing."

Lumine shuddered slightly at his soft, affected voice.

"Uh… isn't that a bit narcissistic?"

The youth jumped down from the rock, smoothing his hair.

"It might sound like bragging, but my life has been smooth sailing—I've never faced any setbacks."

"I've never failed any exams, made a fortune effortlessly in business, and of course, I'm a social butterfly…"

"In everyone's eyes, I'm flawless. But I haven't let these praises get to my head—I know I'm still lacking something…"

[I know what he's lacking—a good beating.]

[Alright, let's just take this guy out. He's an opponent anyway.]

[Agreed.]

The man rambled on, saying he didn't actually know any swordsmanship.

He could sign up purely because of his connections—he had people inside the Qixing.

Still, he'd spent several days learning, so it should be fine.

Besides, he'd brought his neighbors to cheer for him.

Before Lumine could react, the young man turned away, waving goodbye.

"Keep grinding. See you at the top."

Lumine/Paimon: "…"

[What a gym bro.]

[The Guyun Stone Forest floods ruined my sword-testing dreams.]

[Two years in the Millelith, a lifetime of military bonds.]

[Chihu Rock veteran barbecue.]

Lumine was left speechless by this random narcissist.

Paimon, however, had an epiphany. "Lumine, I just realized—you're really amazing."

Lumine pinched her round little face. "Took you long enough."

"But those earlier guys were just ordinary people who couldn't use elemental powers. There are still plenty of contestants with Visions here."

Lumine scanned the registration area.

"And some of them are experts who don't even need Visions. Liyue truly hides dragons and crouching tigers."

Lumine walked up to the registration desk.

A few clerks in Qixing uniforms were reviewing applications.

"This… hook counts as a sword? Should we allow it? Ah, whatever, pass."

She then called out, "Next, please! First, tell me your name."

"Lumine."

The clerk wrote it down, then suddenly looked up, eyes wide.

"Lumine—as in, that Lumine?!"

Her voice was so loud that the surrounding crowd immediately turned their heads.

"Did I hear that right? Is it really her?"

"Lumine… the one who helped the Qixing and the Adeptus repel the demon god?!"

"Hey, hey, no way! Give us a chance here!"

"You all saw it during the Rite of Parting, right? Even Lady Ningguang and Lady Keqing treated her with respect…"

——————

Guinaifen's Livestream

Little Gui kept rubbing her arms.

"Ugh, the secondhand embarrassment is too strong—I'm cringing already."

[Stop pretending, your stunts are way more cringe than this.]

[The immersion is too real—this introvert has already dug out a mansion with my toes.]

[Cringe? I love this plot—our girl's become the ultimate power fantasy, lol.]

[Look at her smug little face—even Paimon's enjoying it.]

[Paimon's classic "fox borrowing the tiger's might" act.]

——————

Lumine wasn't bothered at all.

She'd been through this back when she was Mondstadt's hero.

First time's awkward, second time's natural—after working so hard to repel Osial, isn't she entitled to a little admiration?

Lumine pulled out her Dull Blade. "I use a sword. Do I still need approval?"

The clerk shook her head. "Of course not! You've been assigned to the fourth bracket."

"Please arrive at the fourth bracket's arena tomorrow morning."

She then pointed at the map, showing Lumine the location.

The event was using Guyun Stone Forest as the battleground, divided into four brackets.

The crowd gasped again when they saw Lumine's Dull Blade.

Someone couldn't help but ask, "Great hero… is this the sword you used against the demon god?"

Lumine shrugged. "Yeah, what's the problem?"

The onlookers collectively sucked in a breath.

This was too absurd. In their imaginations,

it should've been like the legends—a hero wields a divine blade.

How could such a shabby thing be worthy?

No, no, impossible. The sword that repelled a demon god couldn't be junk.

It must be a blessed divine weapon!

They desperately tried to convince themselves.

If Lumine really fought the Fatui and a demon god with scrap metal,

their martial spirits would shatter on the spot.

Noticing the strange looks, Lumine was puzzled.

What's wrong with this sword?

She'd never thought there was anything odd about it.

When she first woke up, this Dull Blade was by her side.

It worked fine—no one in Mondstadt had questioned it either.

Lumine glanced at the plain, unremarkable blade in her hand.

Huh… do they think I'm too poor to afford a proper sword?

Luckily, the crowd had already rationalized it, deciding Lumine's sword must be divinely empowered.

No one brought it up again.

"Uh, excuse me."

Lumine realized she was holding up the line.

She stepped aside with the Qixing staff, dispersing the crowd.

Once the area cleared, she noticed the next person trying to register was actually familiar.

"Yanxiao?!"

"Hey, if it isn't Lumine and Paimon! Long time no see."

When doing commissions in the wild, Lumine often ate at Wangshu Inn.

"Yanxiao's competing too?"

Yanxiao spun his kitchen knife with a flourish. "Haha, the boss made me come. That ten-million prize is no joke."

Paimon put her hands on her hips. "You call that a sword?"

Lumine: "The weapons are getting weirder and weirder…"

After Yanxiao, Lumine ran into two more people she knew.

But she had zero goodwill toward them.

Especially toward the girl.

That's right—the two were the Guhua Clan's senior and junior disciples: Sun Yu and Little Que'er.

Just seeing Little Que'er made Lumine's blood boil.

Helped her pick Qingxin, and not even a thank you—just insults.

When Sun Yu greeted Lumine, Little Que'er immediately scowled and dragged her senior away.

[I'm already looking forward to the next part—I hope this junior gets placed in the fourth bracket.]

[I've been waiting for this.]

[Show us your HP bar, coward.]