Valor's Afterglow (Quest)

Valor's Afterglow is the first quest in the Valor's Afterglow World Quest Series.
Start this quest by talking to Zhiqiong after completing The Chasm Delvers.
==Steps==
# Place the measuring beacons (0/5)
# Return to the exploration team's camp at The Chasm
# Talk to Zhiqiong
==Dialogue==
;(Talk to Zhiqiong at the camp)
:Zhiqiong: Hello, ! How have things been?
: Pretty good. Are you feeling better?
::Zhiqiong: Thanks for your concern. I'm quite fine now, thanks. I'm sorry for causing you trouble before.
: Well, still alive in spite of everything. How are you doing?
::Zhiqiong: I'm alright... But I wouldn't say I'm super good. I mean, you did hog all the exploration glory, didn't you?
:Paimon: C'mon, Zhiqiong, just stop running around everywhere already, or you'll end up like you did the last time.
:Zhiqiong: Alright, I won't. Thanks to your efforts, The Chasm has become a lot safer. The geological peculiarities here have also, well, stabilized a fair bit.
:Zhiqiong: However, Jinwu and Khedive still need to conduct further analysis on that mysterious crystal's... Uh...
:Zhiqiong: Wavelength, I think Khedive called it? I guess it's just some sort of weird Sumeru jargon. Whatever the case, we need to plant some beacons and get some of that data.
:Zhiqiong: Jinwu finally found the time to put those beacons together, and I need to put them down in a few specific locations to get the data we need.
:Zhiqiong: After a while, we can go and collect them, and Khedive will then sift through the data obtained.
:Zhiqiong: Previously, there were too many hazardous areas for us to do anything but perform data analysis from our campsite...
:Zhiqiong: But now that you've cleared much of the way for us, we can use the beacons to get more accurate data.
:Zhiqiong: *sigh* Well, having something to do is better than having nothing at all on your plate. Ah, right! Do you mind coming with me if you're free?
: Lead the way.
::Zhiqiong: Alright then, let's go!
: Sooo, what's in it for me?
::Paimon: Come on, that's way too direct! ...Although Paimon would like to know, too...
::Zhiqiong: Haha, this should be a milk run, but I doubt Jinwu won't have anything for you in return.
----
;(Approach the first location)
:Zhiqiong: Alright, this is the place. If we put a beacon down here, we can track the movements of this dark mud...
;(Place the first measuring beacons)
:Zhiqiong: We've got to place beacons in another 4 locations.
;(Approach the second location)
:Zhiqiong: I've told everyone not to get near that dark mud. Hmm, this is where we need to place the beacon.
;(Place the second measuring beacons)
:Zhiqiong: Alright, let me mark it out... That's three more spots for us.
;(Approach the third location)
:Zhiqiong: This should be the spot I marked out before.
;(Place the third measuring beacons)
:Zhiqiong: Three down, 2 to go. Let's keep on keeping on, eh?
;(Approach the fourth location)
:Zhiqiong: Just place the beacon here. Hope this nets us some good data.
;(Place the fourth measuring beacons)
:Zhiqiong: Four down! Let's head straight to the last one!
;(Approach the fifth location)
:Zhiqiong: Please place the beacon over here.
;(Place the fifth measuring beacons)
:Zhiqiong: And that's all of them. Let's report back to Jinwu, shall we?
----
;(Return to the exploration team's camp at The Chasm)
:Zhiqiong: Well, thanks for your help! Please, take this as a little token of appreciation.
: You're too kind.
:Zhiqiong: Well, the various geological anomalies have mostly stopped lately, which means that I've just needed to make some small amendments to my maps.
:Zhiqiong: Thanks to your adventures, our work has become a lot easier, too.
:Zhiqiong: Ah, don't let me keep you any longer. Whether you need some rest or would like to continue your adventures, please, go ahead!
:Zhiqiong: It's going to be a while before we will go and retrieve the beacons. It'll be nice if you could help us out then, too!
----
;(Talk to Zhiqiong again)
:Zhiqiong: Hello there! Have a seat.
: So, about our previous adventure...
:Zhiqiong: Ah, are you trying to ask why I was so stubborn or why I gave everyone so much trouble? Haha, come on, I know I was wrong... you don't have to keep harping on it...
:Zhiqiong: But to be honest, I suspect that it's in our nature as adventurers to be fascinated with danger.
:Zhiqiong: I mean, we were born with strong backs and agile limbs. It just feels... wrong, you know? To have these tools but be content with a placid existence.
:Zhiqiong: As for mortal peril, it's not that I haven't given it any consideration, but... Hmm, could I ask you a question?
: Ask away.
:Zhiqiong: The famous adventurer Stanley of Mondstadt is so famed because he passed through the Mare Jivari, but he lost a dear friend during that adventure.
:Zhiqiong: Even though few people know what the name of that friend was, the memory of him stays with us adventurers because he went on that adventure.
:Zhiqiong: I was thinking... and please, don't laugh if you find me immature. Do you think that this friend of Stanley's, who did not return, has not in fact passed on, but instead can be said to be truly "alive"?
: The only thing that matters is life itself.
::Zhiqiong: But to be remembered... Even if you were to pass on early, would that not be considered an extension of your life?
::Zhiqiong: You would live on in a different fashion, in the admiration, memories... in the eyes of others.
: I suppose being remembered is also a form of success.
::Zhiqiong: Well... I've never thought of living a "successful" life. Rather, even if I "fail," I would like to leave an impression on others.
::Zhiqiong: At least they would say, "Zhiqiong also did once face the challenges of The Chasm!"
::Zhiqiong: At least then, I wouldn't be forgotten like those who sacrificed themselves in deserted places, or... you know, like me now.
: I've never thought about this issue.
::Zhiqiong: Is that so...? I guess that might be because an outsider like you naturally becomes the topic of conversation no matter where you go.
::Zhiqiong: I suppose it's like how children born with golden spoons in their mouths might find the idea of poverty to be an exciting, but ultimately unnecessary, avenue for adventure.
::Zhiqiong: Ah, uh, sorry... I didn't mean it like that. I was just saying... Never mind. Just forget I said anything.
: Don't be so concerned about what other people think. 
:Zhiqiong: That's what a lot of people have told me. "Be yourself," "just do your job"... These things sound like guidance, but really, they're asking me to give up.
:Zhiqiong: I've said before, I think, but I don't go on adventures for anyone else... or for myself, even.
:Zhiqiong: Hmm, have you thought about this before?
:Zhiqiong: This world has been ordered by the gods, and though we ordinary mortals have not been given "eyes" by them, we nonetheless do not wish to go quietly and be forgotten just like that.
:Zhiqiong: I believe that this discontent is not meaningless, and that's why I go around exploring dangerous areas. I mean...
:Zhiqiong: I mean, to wrestle with things that even the gods would fear with our frail forms... isn't that what makes us "human"? That's what I believe.
: Still, you're not the only person who has the right to bestow meaning upon an adventure.
::Zhiqiong: I know... I won't forget the help everyone gave me... and I won't forget the trouble I caused you, either. This adventure, after all, wasn't undertaken by me alone.
: Back to playing the hero now, are we?
::Zhiqiong: Heh, I'm still a long way off from where you are... Rather than a "hero," I'd call myself someone who "isn't afraid of dying so that they might truly live."
::Zhiqiong: This was something that a senior from Sumeru told me, and she herself heard it from the Eremites.
::Zhiqiong: That makes sense...
::Paimon: Well, Paimon thinks you're more like "someone who keeps chasing after misfortune"!
:Zhiqiong: Isn't that what adventurers are?
==Trivia==
*As revealed in , the real Stanley was the one who died in Mare Jivari, whereas Stanley's friend, Hans Archibald, took on Stanley's identity and tells stories of his adventures to ensure he wouldn't be forgotten.
==Other Languages==
==Change History==