Genshin Impact: One Hundred Confessions? Just a System Task

He didn't bring me breakfast on his way.

In the past, Yichen would always appear at just the right time, handing over steaming hot fisherman's toast, pancakes, or other common breakfast items in Mondstadt, along with a routine confession, and then immediately get back to work after she rejected him.

Today, her stomach and her work rhythm both felt this sudden "emptiness".

Qin looked at the cold tea on the table, then at the bright sunshine outside the window, and finally sighed softly, putting down her quill pen.

A strange sense of loss, mixed with worry and a hint of disappointment that she herself didn't want to delve into, made her decide that she couldn't wait any longer.

Qin walked quickly out of the Knights' headquarters. The sunlight was a bit too bright, causing her to squint slightly.

Just as she reached the side of the street, a green figure wobbled and "bumped" into her, or rather, precisely blocked her way.

"Hey~ Leader Qin! Good morning!"

Wendy held his xylophone, his face showing a mixture of hangover and excitement, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

"Good morning, Your Excellency Wendy. Have you seen Yichen?"

Qin maintained the demeanor of a troupe leader, but her tone was slightly urgent.

"Brother Yichen? Oh my!"

Wendy slapped her forehead, making an exaggerated "I just remembered" expression, and her voice suddenly rose.

"Something terrible has happened, Commander Qin!"

He took a step closer, lowered his voice mysteriously, but made sure that the few passersby around him could vaguely hear him.

“I saw it with my own eyes last night! Captain Yura... she, she took Yichen, who was completely drunk, to that little inn across from 'Cat Tail Tavern'! They didn't come out all night!”

"what?!"

Qin's pupils suddenly contracted. Wendy's words were like a cold stone that crashed into her heart, splashing up a bittersweet ripple.

A hotel? Yura and Yichen? All night?

An indescribable, dull, and bitter feeling instantly gripped her heart, making her feel more suffocated and...disappointed than dealing with the most troublesome documents.

She didn't even have time to think about whether the logic behind it was sound, nor did she care whether Wendy's source was reliable.

Thank you for letting me know!

Jean hastily uttered a sentence, not even caring about her demeanor, and mobilized her wind elemental power to quicken her pace, almost jogging, towards the direction Wendy pointed.

The morning breeze ruffled her golden hair and cloak, but it couldn't dispel the growing, unsettling bitterness in her heart.

She didn't know why she was in such a hurry; she just instinctively wanted to confirm, to see with her own eyes... Perhaps Wendy was mistaken?

Perhaps there's some misunderstanding?

My heart ached, as if I had mistakenly eaten an unripe sunset fruit.

When she finally arrived at the entrance of the unassuming little hotel, she was still breathing heavily and her eyes scanned the entrance anxiously.

However, at this moment——

The hotel's slightly old wooden door creaked open from the inside.

Yura was the first to step forward.

Her expression was normal, and she even seemed more radiant than usual.

There seemed to be a very faint, almost imperceptible curve at the corners of her mouth.

She turned her head slightly, speaking to the person behind her.

Immediately afterwards, Yi Chen also came out of the door.

He was wearing the same uniform as yesterday, yawning and rubbing his temples which still seemed to ache. His face was drowsy from the hangover, but his expression was relaxed. He even grinned and nodded as he listened to Yura's words.

The two walked out of the hotel side by side, and the atmosphere... seemed unusually harmonious and pleasant, with them chatting and laughing.

The sunlight shone on them, creating a scene that, in Qin's eyes at that moment, was incredibly dazzling.

Really...we spent...the whole night together?

All the speculation, worries, and self-comfort were shattered at this moment by the "ironclad" facts before them.

Qin's steps suddenly stopped, as if frozen by invisible ice.

Watching the two interact so naturally, she felt like an outsider who had inadvertently stumbled upon some secret.

A huge sense of loss and embarrassment overwhelmed her instantly.

She didn't even have the courage to go up and ask or verify anything.

Qin glanced at the scene silently and deeply, then turned around abruptly, as if fleeing from something, lowered her head, and quickly returned along the path she had come from.

The pace was no longer hurried; instead, it seemed somewhat heavy and unsteady.

The sun was still shining brightly, Mondstadt was gradually awakening, and the noise reached her ears, but it could not dispel the gloom that had suddenly descended upon her heart and... that lingering, bittersweet sense of loss.

Instead of returning to her office, she instinctively walked to a quiet corner, needing some time and space to process this sudden and unsettling "discovery."

Chapter 28 Who did he sleep with!

After some time (enough time for the band leader to compose herself in some corner, put on the mask of calm and self-possessed acting leader again, and return to her office, only to find herself staring at a pile of documents but unable to read a single word), the door to the band leader's office was pushed open somewhat abruptly with a "bang".

Yi Chen rushed in, his hair still a little messy, his breathing slightly rapid, and his face showing some fatigue from a hangover.

"Commander Qin! I'm so sorry! I'm late!"

As he spoke, he habitually walked towards his assistant's desk, ready to immediately get to work and make up for being late.

However, he keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the office... was a little off.

Moreover, a cold, intense gaze was fixed on him.

Yi Chen stopped and turned his head in confusion to look at the zither behind the desk.

Qin did not bury herself in documents as usual.

She sat upright, her hands clasped on the table, her deep blue eyes quietly watching him, seemingly suppressing some emotion he couldn't decipher—like disappointment, or perhaps... grievance.

There was also a sense of detachment he had never seen on her face before.

"Captain Qin?"

Yi Chen felt a little uneasy under their gaze and instinctively straightened up.

"Um... I was held up by something this morning, I'm so sorry! I promise I won't fall behind on my work today!"

He tried to defuse the strange atmosphere with a positive work attitude.

Qin didn't respond to him immediately. Her gaze lingered for a moment on his slightly wrinkled uniform and his not-yet-fully-awake face, the image seemingly overlapping with the scene of him and Yura walking side by side in front of the hotel that morning.

She took a small breath, forcing herself to speak in the calmest, most businesslike tone possible, but her words carried a hint of coldness and...sullenness that she herself was unaware of.

"Assistant Yichen,"

"You don't need to report your private matters to me. The Knights of Favonius have strict rules and regulations; being late is being late."

Yi Chen was taken aback, feeling that the ensemble leader was unusually strict today.

He scratched his head: "Yes, I know I was wrong, I'll be more careful next time..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qin seemed unwilling to hear his assurances any longer and interrupted him.

"Since you're late, let's make up for the 'work report' that was missing this morning."

"Work report?"

Yi Chen was a little confused. He didn't remember any urgent reports that morning. Wasn't the pilot program just summarized yesterday?

Seeing his bewildered expression, Qin's fingertips tightened slightly, her nails almost digging into the back of her hand.

She looked away from him, her gaze fixed on the blank document in front of her.

"It's... the first 'work process' you do every morning after you arrive at work on time."

Her ears turned slightly red, but she tried her best to maintain an icy calmness in her tone.

Yi Chen's brain finally caught on!

So that's what it was! Confession check-in!

I was late today because of a hangover and forgot my most important "daily task"!

No wonder the troupe leader looked so unhappy!

Is it because of the lack of this crucial "work ritual"?

Oh, I see. It was my oversight.

Yi Chen immediately straightened his back and cleared his throat.

"Captain Qin! I like you! Please date me with marriage in mind!"

However, the expected quick and bland "rejection" or "refusal" from Qin did not appear immediately.

An eerie silence fell over the office.

Qin still didn't look up at him, remaining in the same position as when she was looking at the documents, as if his confession was just air.

A few seconds later, she responded softly and slowly in a voice devoid of any emotion, flat to the point of being indifferent:

"...Okay. Got it."

I neither accepted nor refused as readily as I usually would.

Like punching cotton, this reaction, which deviated completely from the script, made Yi Chen's expression freeze instantly, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

Is today's 'work process' even considered complete?!

System! System, come out and make a judgment!

The air in the office seemed to have solidified into thick syrup, making every second feel exceptionally long.

Only the rustling sound of the quill pen tip slicing across the paper was so regular it was unsettling.

Suddenly, Qin stopped writing.

She didn't look up; her gaze remained fixed on the documents, as if she were merely casually mentioning an unimportant topic.

"Speaking of which, Yichen, how many times have you confessed your feelings to me?"

Yi Chen's fingers, which were engrossed in organizing the files, suddenly froze, and a sense of crisis, as if he had been locked on, instantly spread throughout his body.

"Uh, reporting to the commander! So far, including the one I made up this morning, it's a total of ninety-eight!"

He paused, then added cautiously.

"...Every single time is documented!"

"That's it..."

Qin gently put down the quill pen, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the smooth mahogany tabletop, making a very soft "tap, tap" sound, like the pendulum of a countdown clock.

She finally raised her eyes and looked calmly at Yichen, a faint, almost "gentle" smile even appearing on her lips.

"Then, after completing the hundredth time..."

Her voice rose slightly at the end.

"Who will be the next lucky winner?"

A bead of cold sweat seeped out from Yi Chen's forehead without warning and slowly slid down his temple.

Danger! Extreme danger!

Yi Chen's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty as he tried to force a relaxed smile, but only managed to tug at the corners of his stiff mouth.

"Qin... Commander Qin,"

His voice was dry, with a tentative tremor.

"You...aren't angry, are you?"

"Angry? How could I be?"

Qin's smile grew even more "gentle," and she even gracefully tucked a stray strand of golden hair behind her ear. However, the invisible yet almost freezing atmosphere surrounding her suddenly intensified.

"I'm just curious, after completing yet another feat of 'confessing a hundred times,' will the legendary 'most affectionate in Mondstadt' turn around and leave in a flash, just like last time at the city gate, to find the next... um, target?"

She spoke each word lightly, yet it struck Yichen's heart with the precision of an elbow strike.