If twists such as Scaramouche's origin and Albedo's true nature have shown players anything, it's that Genshin Impact isn't willing to soften any blows, and clues from the manhua and game combined are now pointing toward more major revelations regarding the dubious nature of Delusions.
These fake Visions are capable of draining a person's life force and were recently responsible for the death of rebellion soldiers in Inazuma, including a close friend named Teppei, making this personal for the Traveler. Thankfully, it seems answers may be coming as soon as this summer, without having to wait to reach the region of Sneznhaya.
If more information about Delusions is going to break, it will be at Ludi Harpastum, a festival held annually in Mondstadt. Ludi Harpastum is similar to the Windblume Festival and Lantern Rite in Liyue, with special decorations, foods and games. In the Genshin Impact manhua, however, it was revealed that much more went on behind the scenes of last year's celebration -- namely, a Fatui plot involving human experimentation.
A young girl named Collei, who had been victim to these experiments, attacks a diplomatic wagon with the powers that had been forced into her, giving the Fatui a chance to try to exert more power in Mondstadt. However, her chance at revenge also puts her in the path of the Knights of Favonius, particularly the Outrider Amber, which sets off a whole adventure for the Knights and their new charge.
It's reasonable to expect Collei to make an appearance when Ludi Harpastum comes back around for several reasons. First, there is the game itself. On the Mondstadt street outside a message board for the tavern The Cat's Tail, an anonymous person has left a message mentioning a strange girl wrapped in bandages at the last celebration, wondering if she was sick. A few messages bounce back and forth, talking about how she seemed a bit foreign, gloomy and hasn't been seen for a while. Another message wishes that she has recovered and is living a good life.
The Cat's Tail recalls her as well and then invites the messengers in for a drink. It's clear that Mondstadt hasn't forgotten Collei, and the fact she is showing up in the details of the game is a good indicator that she'll become more important soon.
Collei making her appearance would also make all the more sense considering that Genshin Impact did not actually hold Ludi Harpastum last year, as it has now held Lantern Rite two years in a row. Instead, many relevant characters from the manhua -- including Jean, Kaeya and Diluc -- were placed in Klee's Midsummer Island Adventure event, making it so the events of the manhua cannot have canonically happened while they were absent. Introducing a character like Collei, who has strong Fatui ties, held powers equal to a Delusion and has a connection to Sumeru, is a very good move if the game wants to gloss over the fact that Ludi Harpastum technically got skipped and also set up for Sumeru, the next nation.
Finally, Collei will not bring only her own story with her. Diluc and Kaeya's blood feud is deeply tangled up with the events of that Ludi Harpastum and with the concept of Delusions as well. The Sumerian poster character Cyno is connected to Collei, and he will almost certainly be one of the first pullable characters.
There is also the possibility that with La Signora no longer a threat, the game will deem to introduce Il Dottore, one of the Fatui Harbingers who has been mentioned but never shown in-game. Dottore was in Mondstadt as a diplomat until the Ludi Harpastum in question, so it would be a fantastic opportunity to introduce the mad doctor and bring the active Harbinger count back up to three. Dottore's subordinates are also the ones experimenting with how to replicate the power of Visions, so with Delusions remaining one of the biggest problem sources, bringing Collei from the manhua to the game seems like an obvious choice.
Ludi Harpastum may still be months away, but it's worth it to start saving primogems for the changes that one little girl could make on the entire game.
