Sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅᴀʀʏ Pʀᴏᴛᴀɢᴏɴɪsᴛ║𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭

Extra : After the End

I plop down my bed after coming out of the shower. I hate my job so much. Makes me wonder why I even put up with this anymore. Well, I couldn't do anything else even if I tried. I never imagined myself anywhere else. Things took a turn for the worse in my family shortly after I recovered from the overdose six years ago.

My parents got divorced because of that whole thing. I'm surprised my dad didn't blame me for that even once. I thought that he actually started to care. I was quickly proven wrong. He always claimed himself as a 'perfectionist'. Multiple of his risky decisions ended up with our company going bankrupt. He was forced to resign but he was still hungry for power. He somehow managed to convince the board to handover the company to me. I mean, yeah, I was expected to take over one day. But this is just too soon. I did not have the experience necessary for the job. Thankfully, my coworkers were good people. Because of their help, I managed to fix the whole situation.

Even though we're not the best anymore, we are in a much better position than before. My greatest achievement, however, is getting my dad off my back. The condition of the company would be even worse if I followed his orders. I didn't listen to him and I also told him that I didn't want to be the person in charge. I'm going to go back to research as soon as things become more stable. I was really hoping he would start to see things my way. But no. He moved abroad and started another company. I've tried so hard to change him. His priorities remain elsewhere. However, things are a little bit better now. A tiny bit. He calls once in a while to check on how we're doing......and telling me to stay away from drugs.  I've learnt my lesson. Haven't gone near any ever since.

My phone's screen lights up. Ah, it's a video call from Addison. She just started university last month. I was actually going to call her later.

"Ei brooooooo.", she smiles.

"Yo, kiddo. How are things? Are you....at the cafeteria? At this hour? Oh, looks like you're not alone."

"Pffft. It's like what....11 pm? Not that late. And the canteen here is open 24/7. So no matter what time you come here, there are people. Neat, right?"

We continue to talk about our days. I'm glad she's having a blast. I hope it stays that way. People are always exaggerating about universities. It's not as fun as they describe. It wasn't for me, at least. I'd say it was about a 2 out of 5 experience for me. As great as it is spending virtual time with my baby sister, my attention kept going to the two blondes a few benches behind her. They look awfully familiar for some reason. Especially the boy. That earring of his....I feel like I owned a pair like that at some point. They were a gift from someone. A wave of nostalgia suddenly hits me. Why am I even feeling this way? I would've remembered if I ever met those two. They definitely stand out from the others.

"Hey, Addi. Who are they?", I say gesturing behind her.

She replies looking behind and then looking back at me, "Oh, them? Yeah, they stand out a lot, don't they? They're foreign exchange students a few semesters senior to me. They're pretty cool actually."

"I see, I see. No, wait...."

"Hmm?"

"They remind me of.....the protagonists of that one game I used to play. Genshin Impact."

"I-, oh...uhhh......haha. Yeahhhh, I suppose. Not really when you get a closer look at them."

I raise an eyebrow, "Why are you talking like that?"

"Oh! Look at the time. I must get ready for my class tomorrow morning. Therefore, I shall be heading to my bed chambers. I bid you good night, dear brother."

"The fuc-"

She hangs up before I could finish. Something was definitely up with her. I'll ask her about that tomorrow. And now, I'll all alone. Again. Gavin's always travelling for his job so he's barely home, he does keep regular contact with us though. My mom's on an extended vacation with her girlfriend and Addi is at the other side of the country because of her university. My friends are all busy with their own jobs. I've tried going on dates but none of them felt right for me. 

Now I realize why I was feeling nostalgic. Those two were probably cosplayers or something. Ah, Genshin Impact. It was a great game. Too bad I never got to finish it. I had a series of weird....dreams...hallucinations....whatever you call it while I was out back then. There's absolutely no way I got transmigrated to Teyvat and did all of that. I can't tell which is crazier...me getting god like powers or me dating over 20 people at the same time. I probably imagined myself as the protagonist of one of the fanfictions I read while I was high. That made me realize that my unhealthy obsession with the game was taking a toll on me. So I haven't touched the game ever since and moved away all my merch. I went from being a fanboy simp to a regular adult real quick. One thing was abnormal though, for some reason I became fluent in German, Chinese, Japanese and some other languages I never even learned before. It happened out of the blue. I didn't give it much thought cause I didn't need to use that knowledge much.

I can't get rid of this annoying nostalgic feeling so I decide to install the game again. The game officially finished years ago so I won't get as hyped as I was before. There's nothing more to expect. I don't have the energy to get on my PC. Looks like they still have it for phones. Good. Although....I probably don't remember my password. Dammit. I let out a groan as I see the text pop up when I try to log in. Apparently, if there are no activities in an account for more than 3 years, it gets deleted. Is this a new way for them to grab cash cause they have nothing more to add? As much as I respect the game developers, this is just a dick move. All that money I spent on this account...wasted. I had every single character ascended to the max level with the best weapons and artifacts. Even without considering the money aspect, that was years of hard work and now I have to start over?

Ugh, whatever. I'll just take the free to play route this time. My mood shifts to a lighter note as I keep playing. Before I realize, I've already finished the Liyue archon quest. Man, that was fun. I remember why I was so obsessed with it. However, I'm not going to let it take over me again. I should try getting some sleep. Even though I have tomorrow off, I'd rather do something productive than sleeping all day. 

There is one last thing I want to see. Ah yes, the wish menu. The main source of my financial drain back in the day. I have stacked up a decent number of primogems. I want to see how much primos I can farm. But one pull should be fine. Just one, no more. Looks like it's a Kazuha rerun. Technically all of them are reruns now. I press the wish button. Yawning, I see the ray turning purple. It must be a 4-star weapon then. I hope it's a sword. I've been struggling to find decent ones for both Aether and Kaeya. 

As the wish is about to become visible, there's a huge flash in my room and something falls on me. My yawn turns into a shriek. What the hell is going on? Opening my eyes, I see a young man with platinum blonde hair and a single orange-red streak on top of me. Hold on, this is Kazuha. But he's not....anime. Like he's a real person now. Am I dreaming or something? I've seen a lot of cosplays. I still preferred the anime version. But this....this is on a whole different level. He's so pretty. I'm so confused on what's going on. I look over at my phone to see that instead of a weapon, I did get Kazuha on the wish. He cups my cheeks making me jolt.

"Kieran-san? My goodness, it really is you!", he beams.

[𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭. 𝐈𝐝𝐤. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫. 💖]