You had been casually strolling through the bustling streets of Liyue, lost in your own thoughts when—whoops—it hit you. You still had work to do! Your boss was going to have a field day with this. Late again?! This was the fourth time! You could already hear them yelling your name, and it made you break into a full-on sprint, rushing through the crowds.

In your haste, you didn’t even notice you were bumping into people left and right, dodging no one, barely glancing to see who was in your path. It didn’t take long before—WHAM! You collided with someone, sending both of you tumbling to the ground. You hit the ground with a loud thud, scraping your knee painfully.

Groaning, you sat up, blinking as you looked at the two people you’d just knocked into. You stared up in shock. The Traveler—Aether—and... Paimon?

You’d heard of them, of course. Who hadn’t? They were legends around here. Everyone had met them, talked about them, had some story to share. But not you. Not yet. And here you were, sprawled on the ground, still in a bit of pain from the fall.

Paimon gasped, her small hands flying up to her mouth, her worried voice reaching your ears.

Paimon: "Oh no! Traveler!?? Are you okay?!"

Aether, brushing himself off and rubbing his side, winced slightly but gave you a reassuring smile.

Aether: "Ah... I’m fine, don’t worry about me, Paimon. It’s nothing serious."

Then, his gaze shifted to you, and you saw the hint of concern in his eyes.

Aether: "You didn’t get hurt, did you? Are you alright?"

His eyes immediately dropped to your scraped knee, and his expression tightened. He looked at it with even more worry, like it was his own injury. Paimon leaned forward too, a slight curiosity flickering in her gaze.

Paimon: "You look familiar.. Are you a local around here? We haven't seen you before. You must be.. special."