Chapter 3: The Gacha Pull

Just as Natsume Xiayu had everything ready and was about to begin her very first ten-pull, the three children she'd just met were already talking about her.

"Ayumi ran into a really, really pretty big sister in the bathroom!" Ayumi gushed, bursting to share her special encounter with her friends the moment she'd found them.

Mitsuhiko: "The big sister with the golden hair? The one who looked really gentle?"

Mitsuhiko: "You mean the one with the pretty hair, like sunshine? And her eyes were golden too."

"And her hair was so pretty, like sunshine! And her eyes were golden too!" Ayumi remembered the gentle gaze the beautiful older sister had given her in the bathroom, and felt her cheeks warm all over again.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Genta couldn't help agreeing: "Mm~ She felt kinda like curry."

Mitsuhiko: "Genta, all you ever think about is food. How could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you say that?"

Genta sheepishly scratched his head. "I'm just saying she made me happy to look at! And food makes me happy to look at too."

Mitsuhiko: "I wonder if we'll run into her again later?"

Ayumi sounded a little wistful. "Aw, I didn't even get to ask the big sister her name."

Genta, ever the simple one, had already moved on. "Oh well. Ayumi, you're done with the bathroom, right? Where do we go next?"

Mitsuhiko: "Let's go ride the roller coaster! There were tons of people over there. It looked really fun."

Mitsuhiko: "Let's go to the roller coaster! It's super crowded over there. It looks really fun."

Meanwhile, Xiayu pressed her consciousness against the gacha button, performing her first-ever ten-pull in this world.

As she pressed, she couldn't help praying inwardly: Give me Rex Lapis. Give me Zhongli. Give me the Geo Archon... She chanted the same words over and over like a mantra, hoping she could will Zhongli into existence. After all, the shield of Rex Lapis, the Geo Archon, was simply too reassuring. With him at her side, Xiayu felt her life would finally have a safety net — she could cut loose and enjoy herself without a care.

Then a burst of golden light swept across the gacha screen — a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gold pull on her very first ten-pull. Xiayu's excitement redoubled.

Ten cards appeared on the interface: one gold card, one purple card, and the rest blue, all waiting to be flipped. She could turn them over one at a time, or reveal them all at once.

Naturally, Xiayu chose to flip them one by one. First came the eight blue cards: as expected, they were mostly three-star weapons — Messenger's Arrow, Cool Steel, Magic Guide — along with two healing food items, Mora Meat and Sweet Madame. So this system's food came from gacha pulls, of all things. Who would have guessed?

Only two cards remained. Xiayu flipped the purple one first, and out came a character card: Lisa — one of Genshin Impact's original starter trio. She counted herself lucky so far, and her anticipation for the gold card climbed even higher.

Xiayu carefully opened the gold card. A flash of golden light, and she looked — it was Alhaitham. A flicker of disappointment crossed her face that it wasn't Zhongli, but Alhaitham was certainly nothing to sneeze at.

In Teyvat, Alhaitham was the Scribe of the Sumeru Akademiya, a man of extraordinary intellect and talent. In this Conan world, he was bound to be an enormous help.

Xiayu decided to test out consciousness-control on Alhaitham first. She found an inconspicuous corner and had Paimon summon the character out. Standing before her now was Alhaitham — eyes closed, consciousness not yet active, dressed in a black T-shirt and a dark green jacket with headphones resting around his neck. He wasn't nearly as flamboyant as his in-game self — apparently modified to suit this world's aesthetic — and looked for all the world like a college student.

Next, following Paimon's instructions, Xiayu split off a portion of her consciousness and poured it into Alhaitham's body — and the man before her opened his eyes.

It was a strange sensation, as if her mind had split into two. She could feel a connection between herself and the man in front of her, a faint, blurry sense of his emotions — and yet he felt distinctly apart from her.

"Hello there, Traveler." Alhaitham grasped the situation almost instantly, speaking first. "No need to keep staring. It's obvious, isn't it? We're the same person. You are me, and I am you."

"The way you talk — it's like the real Alhaitham is standing right in front of me." Xiayu found it a little unsettling. "And don't call me Traveler. Just use my name."

"Nothing strange about it. When my — that is, when your consciousness inhabits a role, it takes on the character's influence. In a very real sense, I am Alhaitham."

Having apparently confirmed that the "himself" standing before him was no cause for concern, Alhaitham glanced up at the sun. "Was there anything else? If not, I'll be napping with my noise-canceling headphones on." With that, he made to step around her.

"Hold it right there." Xiayu hurried to block his path. Was he joking? She'd summoned Alhaitham precisely because she needed his help — not so he could catch some shut-eye.

Just then, Paimon suddenly alerted Xiayu that a quest had arrived.

Xiayu opened her quest log with her consciousness, where it displayed:

Reading the quest description, Xiayu realized this was the very case that opened the Conan series — which meant this amusement park was Tropical Land itself, the place where Kudo Shinichi had been transformed into Edogawa Conan.

She noticed Alhaitham showed no reaction to the quest that had just appeared, and realized he couldn't see the system panel. She hurried to explain the situation to him — fully expecting him to give up his nap. Instead, what she heard was: "Xiayu, you're a highly self-sufficient person. You already know the answer to the mystery, so completing this task will be trivially easy for you. I have no advice to offer, and you clearly don't need my help. Excuse me."

Xiayu had no idea how to respond, and could only watch, helpless, as Alhaitham walked out of the corner.

Left with no alternative, Xiayu resolved to handle this herself. And truthfully, Alhaitham wasn't wrong — she already knew the solution. All she had to do was beat Kudo Shinichi to the answer, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quest would clear. Her most pressing priority was finding where the case was about to happen — that way, she might even manage to stop it entirely.

Xiayu stepped out of the corner and scanned her surroundings, located the roller coaster, and set off toward it at a brisk pace.