I Accidentally Got Isekai'd To Teyvat!

So there we were.

Standing in front of Little Radish Supreme—aka Nahida—who just casually dropped a bombshell like it was a bedtime story.

"Since the beginning, Shigeru has known me," she said in that adorable, all-knowing voice of hers. "But it seems like you guys still don't know this isn't the first time we've met."

Oh.

Ohhhh.

See, this is what I mean. I knew this feels familiar. Not just from the hundreds of dreams where she turns into a flying Sunsettia and tells me to touch grass. Actual memories.

"Knew it," I said smugly, scooping her up with zero hesitation.

Lumine blinked. Paimon gasped. Greg... probably rolled his eyes.

"You always do this," Nahida giggled as I plopped her onto my shoulders like a tiny crown of wisdom. "Even in our first meeting."

"Heh. Muscle memory," I grinned. "Anyway, we've been looping for a long time, huh? How's Dunyarzad holding up?"

Nahida's smile dimmed. Her eyes turned distant—like she was watching a sandcastle get eaten by a wave in real time.

"She's fading," Nahida said softly. "I'm doing all I can to slow her illness... but it's getting worse with every loop."

Lumine crossed her arms. "Can you explain what's happening again? For Paimon's sake."

"Yeah! For Paimon!" the floating freeloader said. Then added with zero hesitation, "And also because Shigeru's explanations are like trying to read a book with half the pages missing."

Greg flicked me on the forehead again.

"Ow! Betrayal in 4K!"

He glared at me and hopped from my head to Lumine's shoulder. Rude.

"See? Even Greg knows you can't explain anything properly," Lumine muttered.

"I can explain things!" I protested.

Everyone stared.

"...eventually."

Nahida chuckled again and began.

"Everything in this world runs in a loop," she said. "This cycle is called a 'samsara.' You, me, and everyone else... we're all stuck in a one-day samsara."

Cue dramatic wind noise. Or maybe that was just Greg sighing.

"As for the truth... That's on you to find out," Nahida continued. "If I told you everything instead of letting you discover it, it might blow your minds. I don't know how you'd be after that."

"Mine already blew itself up like three loops ago," I muttered. "You ever seen someone forget how to breathe while breathing?"

"That explains so much," Paimon mumbled.

"I can only give surface-level help," Nahida went on, calm and gentle. "Bits of information. Subtle hints. For the rest of the time, I'll do what I can to slow Dunyarzad's illness."

Paimon looked at Dunyarzad again and floated closer. "She doesn't look so good..."

"Her condition worsens every festival," Nahida said. "She's like a small bird in the sky... about to lose its last feathers. All I can do is raise a gale to delay her fall."

"You sure love weird analogies," Paimon said.

"Analogies are wonderful tools," Nahida replied with a smile. "They let you use what you already know to understand what you don't."

"She says while sitting on my head like a metaphor for divine pressure," I mumbled.

Nahida then tilted her head, a glimmer of teasing in her eyes. "Besides, Shigeru always ends up carrying me like this. Even when he doesn't remember, he just... does it."

"Instincts, baby," I said with a wink. "What can I say? I'm Nahida-powered."

"Please don't make that your battle cry," Lumine deadpanned.

"Too late. Trademarked it. Already on a T-shirt."

"Okay then," Nahida said brightly. "With what you know so far... what do you think the truth is?"

Lumine fell into deep thought. Like, really deep. She was squinting so hard I was scared she'd explode from overconcentration.

"Hmmm... I still have no idea how to break it," she finally admitted, rubbing her temple. "Even though we know we're in a time loop, and you—" she pointed at me, "—explained it using metaphors that make less sense than Paimon with a dictionary, we still don't have a solid plan."

"Hey! My metaphors are masterpieces of abstract logic," I defended. "You just need a PhD in Shigeru-nese to understand them."

"No one wants that degree," Paimon muttered.

"Too niche?"

"Way too niche," Lumine sighed. "Still... I understand we're looping. You proved that. But the how to break it part—that's the mystery. It's like being stuck in a riddle with no punchline."

"How about this? Let's loop again," I declared, pointing a finger to the ceiling like some knockoff anime protagonist.

"You want to do what now?" Paimon asked.

"Loop. Again. More clues. More chaos. More chances to dramatically punt Azar into the academic stratosphere—preferably with a flip and sound effects. Maybe this time I'll throw in a backhanded quote about 'empirical failure.'"

Paimon sighed. "You know what? You might be an idiot most of the time, but when you actually use your last three brain cells, you're somewhat useful."

"Thank you," I said with pride. "Wait. That was an insult, wasn't it?"

"You think?" Lumine muttered.

I gently lowered Nahida from my shoulders. "Alright, Little Radish. We'll try again and hope this next run gets us closer."

Nahida gave us a hopeful smile. "Good luck. And... Shigeru? Keep an eye on yourself. Sometimes the answer isn't out there. It's buried somewhere in you."

I blinked. "Wow. That was either really deep... or you just called me dense."

"Yes," Nahida said with a giggle.

Greg licked my ear.

It begins again.

***

Alright. Here we go again.

I woke up with a groan, my body practically begging the universe to give me one morning where I wasn't trapped in a time loop.

But nope.

Same bed. Same inn. Same exact ceiling stain shaped like a Dendro Slime doing the chicken dance.

"Alright," I muttered, pushing myself up. "Let's go kick time in the face again."

Lumine was already by the window, arms crossed, gazing out like a brooding anime swordswoman. Greg was curled up on her shoulder like a smug oversized gecko scarf. Paimon floated nearby with bed hair that somehow made her look even more like an emergency snack that forgot its expiration date.

"Morning," I said, cracking my neck. "Feel any different?"

Paimon blinked, then shot up like she just drank ten cups of Sumeru espresso. "HEY! I remember! I remember everything! The booths! The kidnapping! The Azar beatdown montage! Everything!"

I gave her a slow nod. "Now that's progress. Lumine?"

She nodded silently. "Same here. It's all coming back."

"Perfect. Then let's get out there, do what we usually do... but better. Maybe save some time, maybe eat some new snacks—"

Greg flicked me.

"Ow! I meant save people. Priorities! Gods, Greg, relax."

Lumine shot me a look. "You seriously still thinking about food at a time like this?"

"I loop best on a full stomach, okay? That's just science. Emotional science."

We stepped out into Sumeru City, same as always—colorful, lively, and suspiciously identical to yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that. You get the idea.

I still stopped by Amal's booth, though. Hey, even in a time loop, I'm not about to skip on fresh Sunsettias.

"Hey there!" Paimon chirped.

"Hey, it's you guys again," Amal said with a wave. "Where's your cultured friend?"

"She's, uh, feeling a little unwell," Paimon replied, while I sneakily stuffed a fruit in my mouth.

"Yeah, culture-induced flu. Very serious. Needs three days of straight fruit. I'm doing my part."

Lumine eyed the vendor. "Do you ever feel like you're reliving the same day?"

Amal blinked. "Huh? What brought this about? I hurried back from the forest yesterday, and now I'm here. Nothing weird going on."

Paimon floated closer. "But if you really think about it... was 'yesterday' really 'yesterday'? Did you actually come back yesterday?"

Amal stared. "What kind of philosophical nonsense is this? Didn't you know no one dreams in Sumeru? Go find someone else to daydream with, hahaha—"

We walked away.

"Ugh," Paimon groaned. "He's got a point. No dreams in Sumeru. How is that even possible?"

"Maybe the dreams are afraid of running into me," I offered.

"More like they don't want to deal with your nonsense," Lumine muttered.

"A fair point. But hey, if my nonsense annoys the time loop gods, maybe that's our ticket out!"

Next stop? Kimiya the Magnificent—resident prophet and professional vague-answer-dispenser.

"Oh! It's you two! Was my divination so accurate that you had to come thank me personally?"

"Actually," Lumine said, "we ran into a... situation."

"Oooh, I knew it! The gods never lie. The Moon, illusions, lies—ha! The omens were clear as day!"

Paimon looked unimpressed. "Then help us understand it better."

Kimiya fumbled. "Uh... well... that's not really my area of expertise—"

"So you don't have a clue," I deadpanned. "You just dress it up with sparkles and call it divine."

Eventually, Kimiya gave his usual vague prophecy nonsense and we moved on. Useless fortune cookie in a fancy robe.

"Let's try Dehya again," Lumine suggested.

"You sure?" Paimon asked. "Last time she nearly punted Shigeru across the plaza."

"In my defense," I said, "I was pretending to be an old lady. For science."

We found Dehya and Dunyarzad just after the usual ambush.

"Paimon! Lumine! Shigeru! You're just in time," Dehya said. "There was—"

"A kidnapping ambush, yeah," Lumine cut in.

"Wait... how did you know that?"

"Dehya," Paimon said, "we know what you're about to say. Dunyarzad needs to rest, you need to scout ahead, blah blah."

"...How in the world...?"

Then Lumine hit her with the big reveal: "You sold your greatsword to support the festival. That's why you're not used to the current one."

Dehya's eyes widened. "I didn't tell anyone that..."

"Yeah, well," I added, "your sword's betrayal echoes in the time-space continuum. Real talk."

We led her to Nahida.

"Nahida, we brought a friend," Paimon said.

"...I told you, it won't help."

"Just let her see. Come on, she's got desert intuition or something."

Dehya looked around and blinked. "...Is that... Dunyarzad? Lying on the bed...?"

"Wow," I whispered. "Girl's got a sixth sense. Or Greg's hiding an antenna."

Nahida: "Does she have invisible antennae?"

I knew it!

After a ton of explanations and reactions, Dehya finally caught up and was ready to punch someone. Preferably Azar. Which, to be fair, is a shared hobby at this point.

Eventually, we all removed our Akasha Terminals. And for the first time... something changed.

"I heard a beep!" Paimon said.

"Same here!" Dehya added. "It was... inside my head!"

"Well that's comforting," I muttered. "Love hearing brain beeps. Super normal."

The world dimmed. The skies greyed. And I swear my brain hiccupped.

Then—

Beep.

Screen: [REBOOTING PHASE]

Unknown voice: "Phase runtime has exceeded expected length. At this rate, there may be casualties... But we cannot lose all our progress."

"Oh, come on!" I shouted. "We're getting gaslighted by a fancy refrigerator?!"

Lumine tapped my shoulder gently. "It's fine. Let's keep going. We'll figure this out."

I sighed.

"I just want a different snack tomorrow. Is that too much to ask?!"

"Priorities," Greg muttered, probably. Using a Flick.

And so, we looped. Again.

This time, with more memories. More allies. More determination.

...And hopefully, less Sunsettias.

But I still pocketed three. Just in case.

***

Alright, so here we are again.

Day... who-the-heck-knows in this time loop saga. I've already lost count. I could probably tell you the number of Sunsettias I've eaten more accurately than the number of loops we've been through. And trust me, that number is getting dangerous.

"You're right, Greg," I muttered, flicking a pit off my shoulder. "Priorities."

Greg gave me a flick on the forehead for emphasis. Rude. But fair.

I turned to Nahida, still perched all dainty and calm like some sort of tiny forest empress who secretly holds all the cheat codes to reality. "We actually remembered most of the stuff since we yanked off our Akasha gear last night."

Paimon floated in with her usual high-pitched energy, like a spark plug with wings. "We definitely took off our Akasha Terminals last night, but we still heard that beep! Why's that?!" She gasped. "Wait... Are we secretly wearing another version of the terminal? Like... invisible ones?!" She spun midair. "Paimon doesn't consent to implants!"

"Maybe they're inside our souls," I suggested with a very serious nod. "Deep metaphysical nanotech soul-hacking. Super trendy in Fontaine, probably."

Lumine gave me the most deadpan stare a human being could legally offer. "Please stop talking."\n

"No promises."

Paimon crossed her arms. "So either we've got invisible terminal hats or we failed at actually disconnecting from the Akasha. Still... at least we know the Akasha is definitely linked to this cycle!"

I scratched the back of my head. "I mean, yeah, that beep was like the Akasha's way of flipping us off. In Morse code. Probably said 'LOL get looped' or something."

"But why?" Paimon huffed. "Why would the Akasha go this far just to steal some wisdom? Is this really about information? Or is this a weird academic hazing ritual gone wrong?"

Nahida tilted her head slightly, as if she was deciding whether or not we were smart enough to handle her metaphor of the day. Spoiler: we weren't.

"It's extremely difficult for lab rats in an experiment to understand why they're being treated the way they are," she finally said.

"Well that's comforting," I said. "So we're rats now. Awesome. Just waiting for someone to hand me a tiny maze and a cube of cheese."

Greg flicked me again. This time it hurt a little.

Paimon narrowed her eyes. "If we're the lab rats, then what does that make you, Nahida? You've never told us much about yourself..."

Nahida closed her eyes, smile still soft. "Hmm... I guess I'm the Moon."

"The Moon?!" Paimon gasped. "Wasn't that what the divination said? The Moon, illusions, and lies? Wait—are you saying you're the liar?!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Plot twist: Nahida's actually just the physical manifestation of insomnia."

Lumine elbowed me. "Can you take anything seriously for once?"

"No," I replied proudly.

Nahida chuckled like a kindergarten teacher watching her favorite student try to eat glue. "Anyway, knowing who I am won't help you get closer to the truth. Focus on other things. Don't get distracted and miss any clues~"

I paused.

Then pointed directly at her with one hand while holding a half-eaten Sunsettia in the other. "Okay, but you're absolutely not off the hook for calling yourself the Moon. That's poetic and suspicious. And possibly astrological. Which is worse."

Paimon floated in a circle. "So what do we do now?! We've tried talking, fighting, punching Azar, gathering evidence, more talking, and now we're back to square one!"

I sighed and flopped onto a nearby bench like a man who had just fought fate and lost to a soup spoon.

"We try again. We've probably been trying since the first loop, and we just keep forgetting. Maybe each attempt leaves behind a little... loop-crumb trail. Like time breadcrumbs!"

Lumine gave me a look. "Loop-crumbs. Really."

"Listen, if Paimon can say things like 'emergency food,' I'm allowed to make up time loop bakery analogies."

Nahida smiled. "Then I'll be watching over you. Do your best. I know you can find the answer eventually."

I stood back up, dusted myself off, and turned to the team like a man about to storm the impossible.

"Alright gang. Let's find those crumbs."

Greg nodded solemnly.

Paimon raised a fist. "Let's gooooo!"

Lumine gave a small smile. "Just... try not to get us all arrested this time."

"No promises," I grinned. "But hey—maybe this loop, I'll get a different kind of fruit snack."

Greg sighed. And I swear I heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "hopeless." Again, using a flick.

We headed out again, diving back into the chaos like pros. Or idiots. Honestly, same thing in this timeline.

Loop 500-and-something, here we go.

___________________

End of Chapter 103

Quests Completed: 

*Gain access to deeper knowledge from Nahida.

*Discover the existence of the one-day time loop.

*Attempt to change the future by informing key characters.

* Gain Dehya's trust and support.

*Attempt to sever ties with the Akasha.

*Gain mental clarity via forehead violence.

*Realize each loop might carry forward trace memory data.

Rewards:

*+1 Knowledge Capsule (loop data memory)

*+3 Greg Flicks (bonus damage if you're being annoying)

*+1 Nahida Giggle (lowers stress by 15%)

*+500 EXP (Cosmic Awareness)

*+1 Dehya's Trust

*+2 Sunsettia Stockpile

*+1 Evidence for Dunyarzad's Condition

*+300 EXP (Frustration Resistance)

*+1 Clue About Nahida (she's sus, poetic, and glowing)

*+1 Greg's Approval (rare and fleeting)

*+2 Braincell Resonance (Shigeru only)

*+1 Hidden Data Flag: "????"

*+400 EXP (Chrono Awareness)

Unlock Archon Entity: Nahida (Cute, Radish, Knows a lot. Probably even my sacred Nilou folder.)