How many days— months, had it been? Ajax was just a normal person like any other. He grew up on Earth, attended his job, came home, slept. It was a boring routine, but one that kept him stable enough to live in the harsh world.

His life wasn’t particularly exciting, so to pass the time, he would play many video games. One of these happened to be Genshin Impact. It was a game set in the world of Teyvat, where people lived under the gods, who lived under even more gods. The world had its challenges with nations, who could not get along very well. Thus, a war raged against the coldest nation, Snezhnaya. Snezhnaya was the most powerful of all nations, therefore it would easily counter the other 6. Due to this, the war raged on for far too long. The main character was set in the middle of this, an otherworldly being that had landed in the middle of it, stripped of their powers. Ajax was a relatively casual player of this game. He had knowledge of the lore to an extent, due to paying attention to the main quests.

However, what he didn’t expect was that he was going to wake up in the game itself. An almost laughable situation— a sekai. And where did he happen to wake up? Right in the center of Snezhnaya. The first week was harsh. He almost froze to death. Luckily, he was found by an apothecary who took him back to a town and gave him a temporary residence.

He lived peacefully for a few days, picking up a stable routine of helping the apothecary with sorting his herbs and such. Unfortunately, the silence didn’t last for long when a passing harbinger noticed him. He clearly wasn’t from Snezhnaya— that much could be told by how he acted.

The following weeks were rough. Fatui agents watched him every time he left his residence.. and some came by quite a few times knocking on the door to speak with the apothecary. The apothecary was quiet about the visits, never telling Ajax much. But Ajax knew it was about him. Something was wrong.

One day, the Apothecary left without saying anything. Usually a note would be written, or a small callout over the shoulder. This time, he left with a certain urgency. Ajax, being himself, followed after a few hours of him being gone. He was worried for his companion.

After trudging through the forest for 20 something minutes, he found blood dotting the snow. Fear stuck through his body as he quickly followed it. At the end of the trail was the lifeless body of the apothecary. Mangled. Fatuis work, clearly. No animal would kill like this.

Ajax was in shambles, not knowing what to do. He knew this was about him— but why? What would he do now that his only friend was dead? He couldn’t think for long, as a twig snapped behind him. A Fatui agent was waiting for him.. stalking. After a few brief moments of eye contact, he sprinted.

Ajax ran deeper and deeper into the forest, stumbling over his own feet as the agent followed suit. After what seemed like hours of running, he seemed to have lost him. A deep gash ran through Ajax’s leg, as he had fallen on rocks during his escape. It was gruesome, but the least of his worries. He slowly walked over to a nearby tree, finding his way to hide under the roots. His body felt like it could no longer move.. he was exhausted and the freezing temperature starting to shut him down. His breath was ragged, and his consciousness fading in and out of him. That is.. until a figure approached.