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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 542: Layla (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-08-08 04:00:07 +0000 UTC“Hmm… As the Akademiya’s scribe, it would be amazing if I could record text without needing pen and paper,” Alhaitham said after folding his arms and thinking for a moment.
Voice-to-text functionality—basically a note-taking feature. That definitely sounded like a must-have.
Nolan promptly jotted it down.
He continued asking Alhaitham for feedback on the Akasha Terminal’s user experience.
Alhaitham’s observations were very detailed. He pointed out several minor UI and UX issues—like how the virtual interface that pops up during object recognition with the camera covers the viewfinder and has to be manually moved, which causes slight inconvenience during consecutive scans.
Or how, when opening multiple windows, they stack on top of each other rather than aligning neatly.
They were all small issues, sure—but when gathered together in sufficient numbers, they could support a large-scale update. Just forwarding Alhaitham’s suggestions alone could already justify a serious system optimization.
Still, better to ask a few more people. If he went back this quickly, Paimon would surely accuse him of slacking.
After thanking Alhaitham, Nolan moved on to gather more input from others.
It wasn’t long before he interviewed seven or eight more scholars in the Palace of Wisdom and collected over a dozen suggestions—most of which were features they hoped the Akasha Terminal could include.
For example, someone requested the ability to log their class schedule and set reminders for class times. Basically… a calendar app.
Some things were universal—students everywhere needed the same tools.
One scholar even said they hoped the Dandro Archon could bring Genius Invokation TCG into the Akasha Interconnected Network so they could play with friends anytime, anywhere.
Using physical cards had become a bit inconvenient.
Nolan felt a sudden moment of clarity. It looked like Genius Invokation TCG was well on its way to exploding in popularity. He himself had thought about putting it on the Akasha Network before—to not only earn some Mora but also add to everyone’s entertainment options.
Bringing Genius Invokation TCG online was relatively simple—he could just ask Nahida to create a digital version.
The tricky part was getting official authorization from the game’s creator.
But before his transmigration, the game storyline had never revealed who created Genius Invokation TCG.
Well, since he was out doing fieldwork anyway, he might as well swing by the publishing company that distributes the game and see if he could find the creator to discuss licensing.
With that thought, Nolan adjusted his course and started heading toward the card game publisher for his next round of survey.
Just as he stepped outside the Palace of Wisdom, a girl was approaching from the opposite direction—wearing a hood that concealed long navy-blue hair, with a pale, sleepy-looking face and half-lidded golden eyes, like she hadn’t slept all night.
Her gait was sluggish, and the dark circles under her eyes only confirmed her severe sleep deprivation.
The girl, dressed in a backless short dress, was holding a small stack of documents in her arms. Not wanting her to bump into him and scatter the papers everywhere, Nolan instinctively moved aside to let her pass.
“Ah—!”
But just as he stepped slightly to the side, the sleep-deprived girl in front of him suddenly tripped over nothing, clearly dazed, and fell forward! One of the documents even slipped from her hand mid-fall.
Nolan reacted instinctively. He reached out his right arm to catch her while his other hand grabbed the drifting sheet of paper.
“Are you okay?” he asked, turning to look at the girl beneath the hood, which resembled a sleeping cap.
With his arm propping her up at the waist, it felt like she was resting on a desk, and the girl looked so comfortable she nearly started dozing off right there.
Nolan didn’t hear any reply—just felt her body go heavier—and then saw the hooded girl nearly falling asleep, hanging onto his arm like a pillow.
All her remaining documents tumbled to the ground.
What in the world? Were the Akademiya scholars really buried under that much coursework? Or was this girl some kind of ultra-grind genius who was sacrificing her sleep to study?
A string of question marks popped up in Nolan’s mind.
Seeing other scholars glancing over curiously, he figured it’d be best to move out of sight and avoid drawing attention.
He extended his spiritual power to collect the scattered documents and decided to help the sleepy girl over to one of the nearby study tables.
But her half-limp posture hanging off his arm was a bit awkward-looking. And since they weren’t acquainted, it wouldn’t be proper to just carry her in his arms.
So he opted for the next best thing—supporting her by the arm and walking her over to a table.
Under her black skirt, her legs, wrapped in pure white tights, felt like they’d lost all strength. The click of her golden high-heeled sandals was so faint, it sounded like she was floating rather than walking.
Soon, Nolan got her seated at a table. The moment she sat down, she slumped over and seemingly fell asleep on the spot.
He glanced at the pointed tips of her ears poking out from under her hair. Was she not human? Or perhaps of mixed blood with another race?
Curious, Nolan looked at the document still in his hand. The white paper had what appeared to be a thesis title written on it.
The name signed at the bottom was—Layla.
So this girl’s name was probably Layla.
Nolan didn’t intend to pry further into her thesis. He still had a task to complete and couldn’t afford to wait around until she woke up.
But leaving her here like this didn’t feel right either. It was probably better to wake her up.
After all, she’d probably come to the Palace of Wisdom to study or work on her paper. If she accidentally slept the day away and woke up to find the sun already setting, she’d likely be filled with regret.
Nolan gently patted her snow-white shoulder, trying to wake her.
To his surprise, she just parted her soft lips slightly and mumbled in her sleep:
“O… Great stars… please grant me your ‘Stellar Blessing’… so I can finish my thesis…”
Nolan couldn’t help but chuckle.
A “Stellar Blessing” that helps you finish your thesis? If such a thing really existed… he wanted one too.
At that moment, Nolan suddenly thought of a good way to wake her up. He cleared his throat and said loudly:
“Your thesis is due soon. It’s almost the deadline. It’s almost the deadline. Did you finish it yet?”
Maybe his words had some effect, because after hearing “your thesis is due” repeated several times, the girl furrowed her brows like she was having a nightmare. Suddenly, she snapped her golden eyes open, blinking in confusion as she looked at Nolan.
Everything from earlier resurfaced in her mind—she tripped, she fell asleep, her thesis might’ve flown away—wait, her thesis!
Panicked, the girl immediately stood up and saw the manuscript pages still neatly placed on the desk. She let out a long sigh of relief and slumped back down into her seat, looking exhausted again.
She was just about to check whether any pages were missing when she suddenly remembered—there was someone else next to her.
And not just that—he had caught her when she nearly fell, and she hadn’t even thanked him yet. Worse, she had fallen asleep right afterward.
Layla, oh Layla… how can you be so careless?
Visibly flustered, the girl stood up and nervously faced Nolan, saying,
“Th-thank you for helping me just now. I’m really sorry about earlier.”
After saying that, she shyly averted her eyes and turned her gaze toward her thesis.
[Layla Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.3 (60/300)]
Just as Nolan was thinking that this girl’s personality was a bit like Noelle or Sucrose—cute and soft-spoken—a notification popped up from his character panel showing her affection level.
He was naturally pleased to gain favor with another girl, and decided to take the opportunity to deepen their connection. He smiled and said:
“No need to worry, it was just a small thing.”
“Oh right, if you really want to repay me, I’m currently doing a survey on the ‘Akasha Interconnected Network.’
“Could I ask—have you experienced any inconveniences while using the Akasha Terminal? Or are there any features you wish it had?
“If it’s reasonable, I can pass it along to the Dandro Archon herself—she might add that functionality!”
“D-Dandro Archon?” Layla’s sleepy expression faded slightly at the mention of that name.
She looked at Nolan and suddenly found him… familiar.
Because Layla never missed an issue of her mentor Astrologist Mona Megistus’s astrology column, which was published in The Steambird.
Since she subscribed regularly, she also ended up reading the news outside the astrology section—would be a waste otherwise.
And now that she looked closely… didn’t this person resemble the one in the stories? The legendary traveler who, along with a blonde girl and a floating white creature, saved four nations?
Gradually, the figure before her began to overlap with the photo she’d seen in The Steambird—it was a perfect match!
“You… You’re that legendary traveler, Nolan, the one who saved all four nations!” Layla exclaimed.
“Cough!” Hearing his name with such a long and grand title added to it made Nolan a little embarrassed. He quickly waved his hand and said,
“Uh, just calling me by name is fine—no need for honorifics or dramatic titles.”
“S-sorry.”
Layla, of course, had a deep respect for someone who’d saved entire nations. But now that she saw him in person, he didn’t seem all that different from everyone else.
He actually seemed pretty easy to talk to.
So she nodded and sat back down, then introduced herself:
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Nolan. I’m Layla, a scholar of the Rtawahist Darshan… well, just a minor figure, really.”
She looked down at her legs, a bit embarrassed.
Even though Nolan seemed friendly, she still felt awkward talking to strangers.
“Haha, no need to be so formal,” Nolan chuckled. He reached out his hand and said, “I’m Nolan Walker. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Layla.”
“Mhm.” Layla reached out her gloved hand and lightly shook his. The awkward tension in her heart eased a bit, and she began to feel a bit more at ease around him.
[Layla Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 340 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.4 (100/400)]
Seeing her affection level rise to Level 4—essentially "friend" status—Nolan smiled to himself. Clearly, his special trait “Beloved by Maidens” was once again working wonders.
“By the way,” he said, “about that thing I asked earlier?”
“Oh, the survey about the Dandro Archon’s ‘Akasha Interconnected Network’? No problem.” Layla placed her hands neatly on her knees and smiled.
Seeing this, Nolan didn’t hesitate and asked what feature she most wanted to see added to the network.
“Um… If the Dandro Archon could make the Akasha Terminal write my thesis for me, that would be amazing…”
A flicker of hope sparkled in Layla’s golden eyes.
“…” Nolan was momentarily speechless. He smiled wryly and replied,
“Well… writing a thesis is something that has meaning only when you complete it yourself. Even if the Akasha Terminal had that kind of feature, it should only be used as a reference.
“However, adding a feature to conveniently search through academic materials should be totally doable. That way, scholars like you could access what you need anytime, anywhere.”
“Really? That would be fantastic!”
Layla knew full well that her thesis had to be written by her own hand—her comment was just wishful thinking. But being able to search for sources remotely?
That would save her the hassle of walking all the way to the Palace of Wisdom every time she needed something!
“Really.” Nolan smiled. He continued chatting with Layla about the Akasha Network for a while, and once the survey was nearly complete, he looked at her tired expression and asked,
“By the way, Layla, you don’t look very well-rested. Is it because of the thesis work?”
Only then did Layla realize she had gotten a little too caught up in the conversation. She had almost forgotten she came here to look up reference materials for her paper!
“Oh no! Mr. Nolan, I’m sorry—I can’t chat anymore. I still need to find sources for my thesis.”
She stood up in a hurry, clutching her manuscript, preparing to go off in search of books.
“Oh?” Nolan smiled in surprise. “There are a lot of books in the Palace of Wisdom. If you’re going alone, it might take a while. I’m pretty familiar with this place—want me to help?”
Layla hesitated. If it had been a random stranger, she would’ve politely refused.
But Nolan seemed genuinely kind, and it didn’t feel like he was just being polite. He probably wouldn’t mind helping out.
“…Alright then, I’ll take you up on that.”
[Layla Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.5 (0/500)]
Seeing her affection level rise again, Nolan was quite pleased. His survey and visit to the Genius Invokation TCG publisher could wait a little longer.
Right now, the priority was to make the most of this chance to spend time with Layla—and hopefully deepen their bond even further.
(End of Chapter)
