"Naga Courtyard?"
At Ryen's words, everyone imdiately perked up and gazed into the distance.
"Keep your distance. Don't get too close," Ryen warned, speaking slowly.
"The Naga's senses are extrely sharp. If you get too close, it will detect you and attack."
"Also, I need to stress this — the Naga can destroy almost every type of block… even bedrock!"
Hearing this, the group fell silent.
Back in their original world, bedrock was absolutely unbreakable.
But here in the Twilight Forest, they'd already encountered aurora blocks and now the Naga —
both capable of destroying bedrock.
It felt like bedrock's prestige had taken a serious hit.
"I'll build up a bit to take a look," Jean said softly.
But before she could stack blocks for a better view, Ryen stopped her.
"Be ntally prepared. The Naga isn't an especially powerful monster, but… it looks quite terrifying."
"Terrifying?" Jean frowned slightly.
Honestly, she couldn't imagine a monster's appearance being that frightening.
In Teyvat, there were plenty of monsters, but even hilichurls — furry and bumbling — were seen by so as almost cute.
Here in this world, zombies were the scariest creatures she had encountered so far,
and she'd grown used to them well enough.
As for the Naga…
She really couldn't picture what could be so dreadful about it.
Standing on tiptoe, Jean peered out over the purple mist that shrouded half the Naga Courtyard.
For a mont, she didn't see the Naga anywhere.
She pulled out a telescope and scanned the courtyard.
No Naga — but she did spot a large green block.
Her eyes focused on it, wondering what it could be… when suddenly, it turned toward her.
That wasn't a block at all — it was a head!
Scarlet eyes glared, the vertical pupils of a serpent sending chills down her spine.
Its mouth opened slightly, a black forked tongue flicking in and out.
Razor-sharp fangs lined its jaws.
It looked vaguely humanoid — yet every feature was purely that of a snake.
An uncanny valley wave of dread surged over her.
Jean's face went deathly pale, and she wobbled before tumbling down from her perch.
Startled, Ryen rushed forward and caught her in his arms.
Jean's eyes were squeezed shut, her hands gripping his clothes tightly.
"Jean? Jean! What happened?" Lisa asked, patting Jean's shoulder in concern.
But Jean didn't respond.
Ryen sighed.
If he'd known she would be this frightened, he never would have let her look.
It was understandable, though.
Even Ryen, who had watched countless horror films, rembered the first ti he fought a Naga —
when that head suddenly lunged toward him, it had been terrifying.
And here, in this hyper-realistic world, the Naga looked all too real.
"Ryen, what's wrong with Jean?"
Ningguang frowned tightly, looking at him with confusion.
"She got scared…" Ryen said helplessly.
"Scared? That's impossible! Jean's a knight!"
Venti's voice held a note of worry.
In his mind, Jean was the one destined to inherit Mondstadt's leadership and guide its future.
If possible, Venti had even thought about passing the title of Anemo Archon to her.
A Vision could be arranged with the Cryo Archon easily enough — they were already cooperating and didn't care much about Archon's Hearts.
But if sothing happened to Jean here, it would be a serious problem.
"Have you ever heard of sothing called the uncanny valley effect?"
Ryen asked patiently, still holding Jean in his arms and gently patting her like a child.
He could feel her trembling.
"Uncanny valley effect?"
Lisa tilted her head. She didn't recall any such concept in the Suru Akademiya's teachings.
"How to explain it…" Ryen thought for a mont, then spoke softly:
"It's a term from our world.
Let's say you think cats and dogs are cute, right?"
At that, Venti pouted.
"Dogs are indeed adorable, and cats too… but only the cats that don't co near ."
Ryen gave him a glare.
"Okay, now imagine this — you find a little kitten adorable, but what if that kitten's face had human features… and it smiled at you?"
Everyone involuntarily pictured the image Ryen described.
Even Zhongli felt a chill and goosebumps rising along his arms.
"That's the uncanny valley effect," Ryen explained, shaking his head.
"The Naga is a monster with a human head and a snake's body. In our world, it's a serpent deity from ancient myths.
But when it's not attacking, it's just a head — human-shaped, but with snake traits.
A forked tongue. Serpentine pupils. Fangs… Now think about what Jean just saw:
She's looking through a telescope, and suddenly the Naga rushes forward, scarlet vertical pupils locked right on her…"
A shiver ran through the group.
Even Zhongli, who had fought in the Archon War and the calamity of Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago,
had faced countless dark creatures — but a monster like this?
He'd never even imagined it.
Lisa's heart ached for Jean.
"What about Jean, will she be okay?"
"She'll be fine," Ryen said, shaking his head. "Just give her a little ti."
With that, he kept gently patting her back, murmuring reassurances into her ear.
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