Hu Tao’s Breaking Point

As the front door eased shut with a slow, deliberate creak, the bathroom door behind Hu Tao swung open, a textbook twist straight out of a chilling ghost tale.

Her heart thudded faster in her chest, a wild rhythm she couldn't ignore, and she gripped the handle of the locked door ahead, twisting it with all her might.

The door refused to yield, its stubborn resistance forcing her to face whatever lurked in the shadows she'd just turned her back on.

A bitter pang of frustration welled up inside her, the great Hu Tao, fearless director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, now cornered by a game.

She, who'd stared down Liyue's wildest spirits without flinching, felt a rare sting of vulnerability without a weapon to swing or a flame to summon.

For the sake of her pride, though, she steeled herself, her boots scuffing the floor as she slowly turned to confront the inevitable scare.

Her view shifted along the corridor's peeling walls, her breath held tight, bracing for a ghostly figure to leap out and test her nerve.

To her relief, no spectral horror loomed behind her, just the bathroom door cracked open, its dark gap taunting her with silent menace.

A few cockroaches skittered out from the shadows within, their tiny legs clicking against the floor as they fled toward the corner.

Hu Tao marched over, her pulse drumming in her ears, while the crowd outside the game held their breath, caught in her tension.

She stopped at the bathroom threshold, peering into the inky blackness that swallowed the light beyond the narrow opening.

Summoning her courage, she leaned closer to the crack, whispering encouragements to herself as the darkness seemed to pulse with unseen life.

Suddenly, a pale, ghastly face flashed from the void, its hollow eyes locking with hers before the door slammed shut with a deafening bang.

Hu Tao's nerve snapped, and she launched herself off the sofa, her leap so wild it carried her straight onto Liam's shoulders behind the counter.

Her legs clamped around his neck in a panic, and she ripped off the virtual headset, her voice a mix of fury and fright as she yelled at Zhongli, "Smash this place! Wreck this rotten Internet cafe right now!"

Shame burned hot in her chest, her pride as Wangsheng's master shredded by that fleeting, humiliating scare.

She'd make this cafe pay for daring to rattle her, landlord or not—she'd tear it apart with her bare hands if she had to.

Zhongli stepped forward quickly, his calm voice cutting through her outburst, "Easy, Hu Tao, take a breath, it's not worth the fuss."

He added with a rare hint of softness, "That game's tricks even startled me a little, and I've seen my share of shadows."

Hu Tao glanced down at the onlookers, their worried faces softening her anger, a small comfort that she wasn't alone in feeling the chill.

Liam tapped her thigh gently, his tone dry as he muttered, "Hey, Hu Tao, think you could climb off me now?"

She looked down, realizing she was perched on his shoulders like a spooked cat, and with a flush of red, she hopped off, brushing herself off.

"Cough, well, this shop of yours, Liam, it's got potential—I'll give it that," she said, masking her fluster, "Scare a few folks into the grave, and Wangsheng's business will boom!"

With a quick nod to Zhongli, she spun on her heel and stormed out, the Geo Archon trailing her with his usual measured stride.

Liam watched them go, a smirk tugging at his lips, tempted to call out that Hu Tao hadn't paid for her ten-minute stint.

As his landlord, though, he let it slide, especially since her thighs—soft, warm, and faintly sweet—had been a perk he hadn't expected.

Liyue teemed with wealthy thrill-seekers, bold souls who'd pay good Mora to test their mettle against this strange new contraption.

The crowd, shaken by Hu Tao's scare, buzzed with excitement, their fear morphing into a hunger to try the games themselves.

"Sign me up for an hour—I've got to see this Silent Hill for myself!" one merchant called, slapping 100 Mora on the counter.

"It's spooky, sure, but I'm not scared—a hundred Mora's nothing for a thrill like this," another chimed in, grinning with bravado.

"I'll take a slot too, 100 Mora's a steal for something this wild," a third added, already eyeing the headsets.

"I'm skipping the horror—give me Dig to Ascend, I've got the patience of a Stone Gate ox," a gruff miner declared, tossing his coins down.

Liam beamed as the guests swarmed the counter, his hands busy collecting Mora and firing up the machines one by one.

The cafe's opening day was outpacing his wildest hopes, though twenty stations felt pitifully few against the growing tide of eager players.

Those stuck waiting hovered around, watching their friends dive in, their curiosity stoking the air with restless energy.

Once the first wave tired out, the snacks and bottled drinks on the counter would fly off the shelves, a tidy bonus to his haul.

More than Mora, though, the emotional outpouring—fear, thrill, frustration—poured into his system, each burst a step toward greater power.

Hu Tao's meltdown had flooded him with the richest yield yet, while Zhongli's steady calm offered only a trickle by comparison.

Back at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao burst through the door, her voice sharp as she rounded on Zhongli, "Hey, you felt it too, right? That shop's got something freaky going on—my pyro's gone!"

Zhongli drew a slow breath, his tone grave as he replied, "It's not just you—my geo power's silenced too, and my strength's dwindled to a mortal's frail shell."

Hu Tao's jaw dropped, her eyes wide with disbelief at the revelation from the man she knew was more than he seemed.

They never spoke it aloud, but she'd long suspected Zhongli's true nature—Morax, the Geo Archon, the unyielding Rock King himself.

To hear even he was stripped bare in that cafe left her reeling, her mind racing with the implications of Liam's domain.

"Unbelievable!" she sputtered, pacing the room, "If I'd known, I'd have moved Wangsheng's whole operation into that storefront and claimed it for myself!"

Zhongli blinked, caught off guard, a rare crack in his composure as he murmured, "Hu Tao, surely you jest?"

The cafe's pull lingered in her thoughts, a mix of dread and grudging respect for the chaos it had unleashed on her fearless facade.

Liam, meanwhile, counted his Mora, the system humming with the day's harvest, each coin and emotion a brick in his growing empire.

This was only the beginning, and with every scream, every laugh, he'd carve his mark deeper into Teyvat's heart.

***

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