Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

"Finally… I've got enough!"

In a small wooden cabin that seemed completely out of place compared to its surroundings, a young man stumbled out of a glowing portal.

Ryen emerged battered and bruised, his face covered in dirt and his clothes in tatters, resembling an unfortunate adventurer who'd just been ambushed by a group of Hilichurls. Struggling, he pushed a stack of wooden blocks out of the door.

As he stared at the mountain of wood now piled outside, Ryen let out a long, heartfelt sigh.

It had been a year since he found himself in Teyvat. All because he had obsessively grinded through the Forest Book, the Desert Book, eight Archon quests, fourteen hangout events, and countless commissions back in his world.

Before he knew it, he'd crossed over—straight into the Chasm in Liyue.

He realized this right away when he saw a purple-eared feline fiercely slicing through an Electro Slime that was completely immune to its attacks.

As for having a system? Well…

What's a transmigrator without a system, right?

The moment he landed in this new world, his system activated.

Yet, despite being blessed with a system, how had he ended up in such a sorry state?

That's a whole other story.

"Let's wrap this up, System," Ryen muttered as he crouched by the water to wash off the grime from his face. Today had been yet another day of barely scraping by with his life intact.

Ding!

"Processing results… Wood collected. Achievement unlocked."

"Starter quest complete. System officially bound. Rewards: Steve's Constitution, Enma Blade from the Katana series, and a hot weapon: AK-47."

Ding!

"Next stage achievement: Monster Hunter. Objective: Attack and kill 100 monsters."

Ryen's eye twitched at the announcement. After drying his face with his sleeve, he muttered with a mix of helplessness and frustration, "Of course… it's multiplied by a hundred again."

And that was precisely why, despite having a system, Ryen lived such a miserable life.

His system was called the "MC Dual Portal System."

As the name suggested, it allowed Ryen to travel between Minecraft and Teyvat.

Not only could he use the portal himself, but he could also bring others through it.

Not that he'd ever considered doing that—at least not until he gained the strength to protect his secrets.

After all, just because Genshin Impact was rated 12+, didn't mean Teyvat was a cheerful fairytale world.

It wasn't the kind of place where everyone you met was a paragon of virtue and all conversations were warm and friendly.

No, a world like that would be far too fake.

Ryen knew better. In Teyvat, survival demanded caution, strength, and a sharp mind. And so, his journey began—one block at a time.

In a world rich with life and complexity, darkness and violence naturally existed as well.

At the very least, Ryen knew that Hilichurls and Treasure Hoarders were more than capable of killing someone.

That was precisely why he had spent the past year hiding in the Chasm.

No other reason—just safety!

Ryen prided himself on being a master of the "Art of Survival."

The Chasm, with its eerie dark mud, Abyss Mages, Treasure Hoarders, and Hilichurls in the game, was not as chaotic as it seemed in reality.

In truth, as Liyue's most important mining site and a direct route to Sumeru, the Chasm was under strict surveillance. Its security wasn't quite as good as Liyue Harbor's, but it surpassed that of Inazuma City.

The Millelith patrolled tirelessly. Strong Vision holders often wandered by, and occasionally even one of the Qixing would visit to reinforce seals.

At least, the areas outside the Chasm were quite safe.

For the past year, Ryen had barely stepped outside. His focus had been entirely on chopping wood—enough to collect 100 blocks, to be precise.

However, his unique identity as a transmigrator—neither a native nor a descender—made him stand out in Teyvat.

While the nations of Teyvat had encountered otherworldly beings before, they still paid attention to such individuals.

As a result, Ryen had met Keqing and Ganyu. They even got along quite well.

In fact, Ryen's modern perspective made for great conversation with Keqing. She had often tried to recruit him to join her efforts to improve Liyue's governance.

Keqing had repeatedly offered to escort Ryen safely to Liyue Harbor.

But Ryen always politely declined.

For one, Liyue Harbor was crowded and full of prying eyes. For another, the journey from the Chasm to Liyue Harbor would take nearly two months.

He couldn't afford to waste that kind of time.

And third… working under Keqing meant sharing her workload—a workload so overwhelming that even King Yama might balk at it.

Thus, Ryen had chosen to build a small cabin near the Chasm and focused on making progress in the Minecraft world.

On the surface, gathering 100 wooden blocks seemed easy—just a matter of swinging an axe a few times.

Ryen had thought the same at first.

In practice, however, it was a Herculean task.

Each wooden block was a cubic meter of solid wood, weighing several hundred kilograms.

As an ordinary person, chopping down trees was already backbreaking. Moving those blocks? Impossible.

To make matters worse, he was frequently harassed by zombies and Creepers.

In the game, a zombie might fall to a wooden sword, but in reality, even a gentle shove from one was enough to leave Ryen defenseless.

And he couldn't even craft a wooden sword.

Why?

Because crafting a wooden sword required a crafting table.

A crafting table required four blocks of wood.

Four blocks weighed several tons in total. Without a Vision, how was he supposed to craft anything? With his head?

Every wooden block he had gathered was painstakingly dragged or pushed out of the forest.

But after an entire year of effort, Ryen had finally completed the beginner's achievement.

"Well, at least now I've got Steve's Constitution. I'll finally have some means to defend myself," Ryen sighed.

Casually clenching his fist, he suddenly smashed it into the ground.

BOOM!

The earth shook violently, and a massive crater, hundreds of meters wide and impossibly deep, appeared before him.

Ryen patted the dust off his clothes and turned to look.

Hmm…

His house was gone.

The good news? Those 100 wooden blocks were now floating in mid-air, defying all logic thanks to their Minecraft properties.

"Maybe if I mine more in the future, I can build my own Jade Chamber?"

Ryen stroked his chin thoughtfully, completely unfazed by the newfound strength of his Steve's Constitution.

He had expected this level of power.

After all, the legendary Steve could carry nine stacks of bedrock on his body, with another 27 stacks in his inventory.

That kind of strength was beyond imagination.

Still, Ryen wasn't one to boast about raw power.

He knew better.

With Steve's Constitution, no one in this world could surpass him in strength.

But strength alone wasn't enough to guarantee survival.

There were countless ways to kill someone.

Even Steve couldn't withstand lava or drowning.

And Teyvat was a world teeming with elemental power, full of strange and unpredictable dangers.

In this world, the path of caution and survival had no end.

As for the other two rewards, the Enma Blade was self-explanatory—one of the finest katanas in any version of the series, a demonic sword that saved Ryen the trouble of forging his own weapon.

With its abilities—Dimensional Slash and Phantom Sword—it would serve as a powerful tool for him in Teyvat.

Not to mention, the Enma Blade could even fly.

As for the AK-47…

"This thing is just an IQ tax!"

Ryen muttered helplessly as he examined the sleek, black rifle.

The hot weapon, infused with Minecraft's quirks, was indeed terrifying.

But there was a catch…

"Where's the ammo? Where's the ammo?"

Ryen rubbed his temples, groaning, "System, without the hot weapon module, where am I supposed to get bullets?"

The AK-47 came with just three magazines—90 rounds in total. Beyond that, it was completely useless for now.

With no access to the hot weapon module and no mining materials, Ryen couldn't replenish his ammo. Every shot would be a precious loss.

"Whatever… at least it's something for emergencies. Now, should I consider finding someone to help with my exploration?"

As he pondered, he didn't notice the pair of wide, shocked eyes peeking down at him from above the crater.

"Ryen!"

Keqing's voice rang out from overhead. Ryen looked up just in time to see a flash of lightning. Before he could react, Keqing was already standing beside him.

Her delicate face lit up with joy, unable to contain her excitement.

"Ryen, that's amazing! You actually created a crater this massive!"

Ryen chuckled nervously, brushing off her praise. "Just an unexpected result…"

"Mm-hmm!" Keqing nodded earnestly, looking genuinely pleased. "I knew it! Someone as insightful and capable as you could never be ordinary! Did you obtain a Geo Vision? Is this Morax himself acknowledging your theories and our vision for governing Liyue? This is incredible!"

A Vision?

Ryen scratched his head awkwardly.

Could an outsider like him even receive a Vision?

"What's wrong, Ryen? Are you worried about your Vision?"

Keqing's eyes glinted with understanding. She confidently patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Even though I have an Electro Vision, I know two Geo Vision wielders. Come back to Liyue Harbor with me! I'll ask them to guide you."

Ryen shook his head, a bit embarrassed. "Actually, I don't…"

"It's not a Geo Vision?" Keqing interrupted, her efficient nature leaving no room for hesitation. She frowned slightly.

"But if it's not a Geo Vision, how could you create such incredible destruction?"

Ryen hesitated before speaking cautiously. "What if… just hypothetically… I don't have a Vision, and it's purely physical strength?"

"Impossible!" Keqing rejected the notion outright.

"No one in Teyvat has that kind of strength—not even Morax himself without using elemental power! Stop joking, Ryen. What element is it, really?"

Seeing Keqing's expectant expression, Ryen sighed inwardly.

In this world, immense power was often equated with being a Vision holder.

He couldn't afford to stand out too much—history had proven that standing out often led to a gruesome end.

After a moment of thought, Ryen raised his AK-47 with a determined expression.

"I'm… a Pyro Vision wielder!"