My Dearest Puppet

Chap 2

On your phone was a full-screened moving Scaramouche that talked. You were at a loss for words. Since when did Genshin become an Otome game? You tentatively clicked on his body wondering if there would be a reaction just like in an Otome game when you were suddenly met with harsh insults.

"What do you think you're doing?! Do you actually think I can feel things through a screen? Are you dumb? Do you think I'm some kind of game?!"

You were taken aback by Scaramouche's realistic slew of insults. It's as if he's not programmed...

You were suddenly interrupted from your thoughts when he started shouting again.

"HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! ... SAY SOMETHING YOU MUTE LONER! I SAW HOW ALONE YOU ARE AT LUNCH!"

Okay, at this point there was no way this was pre-programmed. Unfortunately for you, your friends were all doing other things at lunch today at their own respective clubs so you sat alone. If he was pre-programmed, how would he know you sat alone at lunch today? Dumbfounded by being called out like that, you mumbled a quiet apology.

"I can't believe I'm talking to my phone like this. Who in their right mind would say sorry to a 2D character on their phone as if it were a real person? I must have slept too late last night and started hallucinating and hearing things. Maybe I should go get it checked..." You trailed off as you finished your thought process.

As soon as you finished your train of thought, you took a glance at your phone again only to find Scaramouche glaring daggers at you. Seeing his angry face, you quickly bowed your head and apologized again.

He then rolled his eyes in dissatisfaction and grumbled to himself about being truly incompetent before looking me dead in the eyes.

"You. What's your name."

"Uh, Y/N L/N Scaramouche sir."

"First of all, do NOT call me sir. Second, how do you know my name?"

You figured you might get some answers if you told him the truth, so you told him all about Genshin up to how he is no longer a playable character, and the information about him is all erased.

Throughout your story, he was surprisingly quiet and never interrupted you once other than the occasional question.

"So you're saying that I'm from a game and you witnessed me erasing my existence from the main quest? And you play as the traveller?"

You nodded in agreement as he tried to process the information overload.

"Intriguing, it seems that there was a glitch in the Irminsul that caused this time lag. Anyways, since you responded to my questions I'll explain what happened on my end."

Now you're finally going to get answers. You sat there attentively as Scaramouche explained his situation.

"As you know, I planned on erasing my existence. When I entered Irminsul, the only thought in my mind was: I wish I'd never been born at all. Irminsul responded to my wish but didn't bring me the outcome I desired and my consciousness remained. It seems it took quite some time for it to put me out of my misery and erase my consciousness too, or so I thought. Who would've known I'd wake up inside this strange device?"

You sat there in awe at the sudden revelation. This situation was simply beyond your wildest dreams. From what you gathered, there was an error of some sort within the Irminsul. The only variable you could think of that would affect it is the withering. As you explore Sumeru, there are still withering zones that you can clear and get chests. Perhaps the presence of these zones affected the Irminsul and messed up the erasure of Scaramouche. You decided to relay this information to Scaramouche who nodded thoughtfully as you explained your theory.

"You have a point, it seems like the withering is the cause of all this. Tch... How irritating." he spat, rolling his eyes in the process. "Hmph, either way, I'm stuck with you now so you better find a way to get me out of here."

You quickly nodded. If it were possible, you'd love to see your favourite character in person whether he wanted to or not. You sat there brainstorming ideas on how to release him when all of a sudden, your phone blinked once and died alongside a vibration signalling the end of its life.