Sheltered inside Mondstadt General Goods, no one knew when the storm outside would end. Everyone sat in tense silence, worrying about the chaos beyond the doors, yet with nothing they could do.
Shao Yun sat beside Noelle, unsure what to do next. He'd already done what he could to comfort her—now, all that remained was to wait for Lumine to drive the dragon away.
Suddenly, his vision blurred slightly—objects seemed to double. He pulled up his status panel: his core HP was nearly gone. He was starting to hallucinate from hunger.
Thank the Archons I'm in Mondstadt General Goods. If I were stuck in With Wind Comes Glory Souvenirs Shop, this would be a disaster.
His eyes drifted to the shelves around him. Raising a hand, he called out to the shopkeeper, Blanche.
"Uh, excuse me, miss?"
"Hm? Yes?" Blanche approached, curious.
"You selling any food here?" Shao Yun asked with an embarrassed smile, rubbing his empty stomach.
At that, everyone nearby turned and stared at him in disbelief. Their eyes practically shouted: At a time like this, you're thinking about food?!
Blanche blinked, clearly caught off guard by the question.
"Food?" she repeated, pressing a finger to her lips and thinking. "Well… we do have a lot in stock, but ready-to-eat items? Not so much."
"Something edible right away would be best. I'm starving," Shao Yun admitted. The grilled fish from earlier had barely replenished anything, and even with a Vision reducing his overall consumption, he'd burned through everything during the crisis. He was running on fumes.
"Most of what we have requires cooking—ingredients, alcohol, spices... We did have a batch of roasted flatbread from Good Hunter, but it's sold out," Blanche explained apologetically.
Most of the shop's stock was indeed raw materials. Though some things—like fruit—could be eaten as is.
Shao Yun's gaze fell on a bamboo basket filled with apples and sunsettias in the corner.
[Apple: Slightly restores Core HP and Core Stamina.]
[Sunsettia: Slightly restores Core HP, moderately restores Core Stamina.]
"What about those fruits?" he asked, pointing.
Blanche's face lit up. "Ah! You're right—I completely forgot about those."
She walked over, picked out two of the better-looking apples, and brought them over.
"How much for these two?"
"Ten Mora each," she replied. "They were originally fifty, but they've been sitting there for a while... so let's call it cost price."
Shao Yun didn't even bother questioning the inflation rates in Teyvat anymore.
But wait—Mora?
Do I even have Mora...?
Since his template was based on Red Dead Redemption, the only money he had was from that world. Maybe he had some gold bars he could exchange? But gold bars in Teyvat...? That had never come up in the game.
"System, can I check how much Mora I have?"
[Checking...]
[Current Mora: 0]
…
So, I crossed into Teyvat... just to be broke. Not even Klee-level broke—she had fifty Mora! His economy rivaled the Four Archons… as in, zero.
He checked his panel again—his core HP was depleted, but his outer HP still had some buffer. He wasn't dying, just extremely weak.
Knowing he wasn't going to keel over, Shao Yun sighed. He was about to decline when a new system prompt appeared.
[Current Host Currency: $52,412.26; 0 Mora]
[Calculating exchange rate...]
[Exchange rate: 1:50,000]
An unexpected windfall! He could exchange money!
Wait—why do I have exactly fifty-two thousand four hundred and twelve…and twenty-six cents? Oh... right. That's what I had left in Red Dead. His entire wallet had come through with the template.
One dollar equaled 50,000 Mora.
Shao Yun did some mental math. That meant... I have over two billion Mora. He hadn't completed a single quest and was already a billionaire.
Suppressing the urge to grin like a fool, he exchanged a measly 50,000 Mora to get started—and survive.
[Exchange complete.]
Shao Yun reached into his Legend of the East satchel and pulled out twenty Mora. The coins gleamed gold—not oversized, just ordinary in size. Was this actually made of gold?
The satchel was like a dimensional pocket—he could carry tens of thousands of coins easily. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how the average person in Teyvat walked around with so many coins without collapsing.
Putting philosophy aside, he handed the coins to Blanche.
"Here."
He paid twenty Mora and took the two apples.
Returning to Noelle, he glanced at her, then at the apples.
"Here. For you. You've been helping everyone nonstop—eat something." He handed one apple to Noelle. "Don't be shy. Just eat."
Not giving her a chance to refuse, he took a huge bite out of his own apple.
Noelle looked between him and the fruit in her hand. Then, hesitantly, she opened her small mouth and took a bite.
Seeing Shao Yun enjoying a snack so casually, the other sheltering citizens relaxed as well. They started pulling out their own Mora and browsing the shelves.
If they couldn't leave yet, they might as well restock their pantries.
Despite the storm outside, inside the shop, everything felt oddly normal. People picked out ingredients, sauces, and cooking supplies.
"You're not worried?" Noelle asked after finishing her apple, her tone still anxious.
"Worrying won't change anything," Shao Yun replied, swallowing another bite. He glanced at her again. "Relax. I've got a feeling this'll all blow over soon. No one will be hurt."
"How can you be so sure?" Noelle asked skeptically. The wind outside still howled.
Shao Yun pointed to his head, smiling. "Gut instinct."
Though corrupted by the Abyss, Stormterror was still a servant of the Anemo Archon—Mondstadt's guardian. There was no way it would truly harm the city's people.
Noelle didn't seem convinced, but she had no choice. She closed her eyes and began silently praying for the storm to end.
Shao Yun didn't say anything more. He lowered his head and dozed off for a bit—after all, resting also reduced core consumption.
…
"Shao Yun, the storm... it's calming down," Noelle gently nudged his shoulder.
"Huh?" He opened his eyes and shook his groggy head. "Is it over?"
He stood, joining the crowd as they cautiously exited the store.
Though the storm hadn't completely ceased, it was no longer raging. The sky remained grey, with residual gusts blowing through the city.
But there was good news: despite the chaos, most buildings appeared unharmed.
"Nooo!"
A sudden cry rang out as a figure tumbled past them.
"Mr. Timaeus... Ah, I see," Noelle murmured, looking at the nearby alchemy stand.
The stand was a disaster—the awning had vanished, the crafting table had been flung into the fountain, and the potion shelf lay shattered. The bottles had broken, and all the potions had mixed into a mess on the ground—totally ruined.
Timaeus knelt before the wreckage in despair, devastated by the loss.
Noelle approached and patted his shoulder.
"Mr. Timaeus, I'll help you clean up."
"Thank you, Miss Noelle... sob..." Timaeus looked as though he'd lost his life's work—and in a way, he had.
Shao Yun grabbed him by the collar, giving his back a "gentle" pat.
"Don't fall apart. You can brew more potions. But if you die, no potion will save you."
Startled, Timaeus nearly tripped forward from the impact.
"Th-thank you... sir..."
Together, Shao Yun and Noelle cleaned the disaster site. She retrieved the alchemy table from the fountain, and he cleared out the wreckage and chemical waste.
It took a while, but they got it done.
Now the alchemy stand stood as a lonely table, the only thing left.
Timaeus looked bitter, but gratefully thanked them both.
"Miss Noelle, if you hadn't been here, I wouldn't have been able to recover the table at all."
"No need to thank me—it's my duty," Noelle said, gently pulling her hand free from his grip.
Timaeus turned to the unfamiliar Shao Yun, clearly unsure how to react.
"I'm Shao Yun. No need to get formal." He shook Timaeus's hand with a polite smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Shao Yun. If you ever need alchemy, you're welcome anytime," Timaeus said, a little overwhelmed.
"I'll keep that in mind." Shao Yun wiped his hands, then joked, "Just make sure your next batch of cabinets and bottles can actually survive a breeze. Ha!"
After helping at the alchemy stand, Noelle immediately moved on to assist others. Shao Yun was about to leave, but his quest hadn't updated.
[Current Quest: Follow Noelle.]
And so, he continued tagging along with Noelle, running around the city to help disaster-stricken citizens.