It was a gym in Seoul.

Inside, there were several punching bags, various exercise equipment, and a grand ring standing proudly as the gym’s centerpiece.

A place where people faced each other, pitting their fists against one another’s strength.

A boy entered through the door.

“…I’m here.”

“…Tch.”

Seeing him, Lee Hyunsung, the gym’s director and former Korean super flyweight boxing champion, clicked his tongue.

Despite his somewhat small frame, the boy’s muscles were tightly packed.

When he rolled up his long sleeves, his forearms revealed bulging tendons, a perfect example of compact, battle-ready muscle.

Hyunsung recalled the boy’s incredible speed and precise, clean technique, despite his small stature.

His talent was innate.

His body naturally built muscle, creating combat-ready strength, and his dynamic vision and technical accuracy were so overwhelming that even Hyunsung, a former champion, acknowledged it.

But that’s why it was all the more regrettable.

His right leg was completely ruined from a recent car accident.

Looking at Yoo Sihyun, who arrived at the gym leaning on crutches, Hyunsung placed a hand on his shoulder with a pitying expression.

“Sihyun, can’t you let go of this stubbornness? You know as well as I do. With that leg, you’ll never step into the ring again.”

“It’ll heal.. If it heals.. I’ve been going to rehab for two months straight. Even if I’m using crutches, I walked here on my own strength.. Give me a year.. In one year, I’ll come back fully healed, so please..”

“While you’re at it, you think others are just sitting still? You think the national team is that easy?”

“You said it’s hard to find talent like mine.. You said that yourself, coach..”

Sihyun’s low voice echoed through the gym.

His eyes burned with deep anger.

An endless rage, directionless, poured from his gaze.

Boxing was all he had.

Since middle school, he set his path toward it.

While others studied to gain knowledge, he trained to build stamina.

While others prepared for exams, he prepared for tournaments.

He was a nationally recognized prospect, with enough championship trophies to fill an entire cabinet.

Yes, a prospect he *was*.

He had painstakingly built a towering structure higher than anyone else, but when its foundation crumbled, everything collapsed.

Nothing remained.

His body, heart, mind, and life—all shattered.

Sihyun didn’t want to accept this reality.

To him, reality was too cruel, too f*cked up.

“Please, face reality, Sihyun. You’ve got to live your life too.”

“F*ck, stop talking about reality. It pisses me off every time I hear it.”

“This kid, talking like that in front of the coach—”

-Whoosh.

A quick fist swung toward Hyunsung’s position.

Unable to use his right leg, Sihyun’s punch lacked weight, and Hyunsung easily caught it.

His once-precise and clean strike was now sloppy, its power like a cotton bat, not painful at all.

“F*ck..”

Realizing this, Sihyun bit his lip and cursed.

“Look, this is you now. If you still don’t believe it, go hit that punching bag even once!”

“…Shut up, old man.”

Sihyun irritably threw the glove in his hand to the ground.

Normally, Hyunsung would have grabbed him and disciplined him, but not this time.

He wasn’t like that before.

Always serious and diligent, he never rebelled, even during the sensitive teenage years—a model kid.

But now, he swore like his mouth was a rag, and his manners were gone.

Just moments ago, he even swung a fist at him.

As Sihyun threw the glove to the gym floor and stormed out, Hyunsung held his forehead and shook his head.

“Tch.., how did such a good kid end up like this..”

Sometimes, the world takes everything from the brightest.

Sometimes, it grants great fortune to those who least deserve it while piling greater misfortune on those who need help most.

That’s why the world is unfair, and reality is dirty.

That day, Yoo Sihyun vanished from reality.

*

Having turned his back on reality, Yoo Sihyun no longer left his room.

A life stripped of light was terrifying.

He chose to stay in place, spending his days meaninglessly, rather than moving forward.

He hated the world.

That’s probably why he especially loved novels or anime about destroying the world.

He admired stories that half-demolished an unjust, rotten world.

Locked in his room, he played games endlessly.

He preferred games with high freedom or ones with vibrant, anime-like characters.

Curious how far a f*cked-up life could go, he did all sorts of crazy things.

Then, one game caught his eye.

A gacha game called ‘Genshin Impact,’ considered an otaku game.

For someone exposed to a lot of anime-like media in his room, Genshin’s art style was striking, and its high degree of freedom appealed to him.

He wanted to destroy the world he resented but lacked the courage, so he enjoyed wrecking the game’s world instead.

After all, it was just a game.

No matter how much he broke it, it was just a game.

He probably acted like a villain without guilt because of that.

And now, he regretted it.

Because of that, Yoo Sihyun fell into the Teyvat continent.

Virtually chased out, he was now outside Mondstadt City, resting with Paimon at an abandoned Hilichurl camp nearby.

“See, I told you. I said we shouldn’t go to Mondstadt.”

Paimon, tearing pieces of Sweet Madame made at the Hilichurl camp and putting them into her small mouth, scolded Sihyun.

But he wasn’t in a state to care about that.

“More importantly, Paimon.., is what Kaeya said true? That I killed Amber?”

“…..”

At the mention of Amber, Paimon’s mouth shut again.

After a complicated expression, as if choosing her thoughts, she cautiously spoke.

“You really.., really don’t remember..?”

“Yeah.. My memories of recent events are hazy..”

“Then.., let’s just bury the past..? It’s a relief you’re back to the usual Traveler. You can’t undo what’s done, but if you don’t do it again..”

Sihyun fell silent.

From Paimon’s reaction, it was practically confirmed that Lumine killing Amber was true.

‘F*ck, reality or another world, it’s all f*cked up.’

Yoo Sihyun, in Lumine’s form, ground his teeth.

Was the true hell the reality he lived in, or the Teyvat continent he twisted?

One thing was certain: both worlds were unkind to him.