"Soul skill 'White Rose' awakened."
"White Rose: A soul skill within the system that had not yet been unlocked and remains in a sealed state. However, due to the host's unexpected awakening, the following abilities have been granted."
"White Blossom: When entering a musical state, the host's body emits a glow invisible to ordinary people. Increases personal musical ability by 20%, charm by 5%, musical charm by 10%, and the host's mastery speed of music-related abilities by 15%."
"Once the host exits the musical world for ten minutes, this glow automatically fades. Reuse requires a one-hour cooldown. Given the host's current physical endurance, this ability can only be used for a maximum of four hours per day."
"White Halo: A white rose-shaped ring blooms from the host's location, enhancing collaboration by 50% for anyone performing or training together within the halo, lasting 5 minutes; increases music mastery by 5%, lasting 3 hours. Activation consumes Culture Points, with a cost of 10 points per minute."
"White Grace: Locked."
"White Sentiment: Locked."
"White Dream: Locked."
"System Notice: Due to unknown reasons, the host has awakened a power beyond her ability to control. Though the system has sealed most of its capabilities, the remaining load is still more than the host can bear."
"As such, the skill's abilities have been suppressed to the minimum for the host's safety and mastery. The skill will evolve and unlock further capabilities as the host's strength grows."
"System: Do you know how much effort I wasted because of you? Can you please hurry up and level up? With your current stats, you can't even use LV1 Electromaster, let alone LV4 Teleport. Basically, all the abilities you can use are non-damaging support skills."
"Oh, and you'd better start earning more Dream Points and Goddess Points fast. This cost me 3,000 Goddess Points and 5,000 Dream Points to set up. Happy to be back at square one overnight? No need to thank me. Yawn I'm going to sleep now!"
Seeing the description of "White Rose" filled Chu Lian with unspeakable joy. This meant that once she activated this ability, her learning speed for musical skills would significantly improve.
Not only would it save her a lot of practice time, but it would also reduce her Culture Point expenditure—which, given her current situation, was the best outcome possible.
However, seeing the other parts of the skill still locked (sealed) and reading the system's warning left her both thrilled and helpless.
Thrilled because this skill's potential far exceeded what was currently unlocked and would grow alongside her. Until she reached her limits, she essentially had a scalable ability. A skill that matched her strength, didn't over-consume resources, and would grow with her—even having a dozen of such skills wouldn't be too many.
Helpless because it felt like holding a treasure chest while the key had been hidden by someone else. She could only access the small portion left outside by the guardian—most of the treasure had been taken back, with the promise of giving it to her once she 'grew up.' That kind of frustration was hard to put into words.
In short, she was being greedy—unsatisfied with what she had. But what could she do? If she wasn't strong enough, she had only herself to blame.
Then she saw the last two lines, and her emotions grew even more complicated. Just last week, she'd checked her attributes. The system had said Goddess Points were the most important, and she only had around 1,400 at the time. But over the past few days, thanks to various events, her Goddess Points had shot up, surpassing 3,000 in just three days.
When Chu Lian first saw her Dream Points, they had reached 29,524 after helping Wang Tingsi with something. The second time she checked, they had inexplicably risen to 47,586. On Monday, she spent 45,000 points to exchange for "Master-level Proficiency in Classical Huaxia Music," leaving her with 2,586 points.
Though her points had mysteriously increased to 5,500 in recent days, which surprised and pleased her, the system had now wiped out all of her Goddess Points and over 90% of her Dream Points in one go, leaving her stunned.
It was a brutal deduction. Seeing the double "99" under Goddess Points and "588" under Dream Points, she couldn't help but feel utterly heartbroken, even after brushing off the subtle sense of being resented.
These were hard-earned savings she'd accumulated with great effort. And in less than a week, she was back to square one. The pain of this loss was worse than losing tens of thousands of Culture Points or millions of Integrity Points!
Ahem, seems like I accidentally blackened something again… I said nothing… said everything… Ahem, I never said Chu Lian's Integrity Points were worthless…
Of course, the most unexpected thing was that the system's personality had actually awakened! Ayase had told her that she was merely the bridge between Chu Lian and the system.
She also mentioned that the system had no consciousness—at least, not yet. But this rant definitely didn't match Ayase's style. That left only one possibility: the system's dormant consciousness had momentarily awakened…
"Yes, it was her intelligence. Perhaps those resources were especially important to her. After receiving 3,000 Goddess Points and 50,000 (5,000 system-injected + 45,000 music skill exchange) Dream Points, she seems to have briefly regained consciousness."
"But don't worry. She won't fully awaken until your eighth or ninth main quest is complete. So there's no need to be concerned," Ayase explained after returning to the system space, clearly understanding Chu Lian's concerns and offering reassurance.
"I didn't expect the system to rely so heavily on Goddess Points and Dream Points…" Chu Lian mused to herself. Now with a clearer understanding, she didn't say more and turned her attention back to reality.
Since Seven Rain Band had finished their performance, the dressing room could no longer be used by them. She had to pack up and return to her class's area.
But someone had been zoning out ever since coming in. No matter how much they called her, she wouldn't respond. Eventually, they were delayed until others arrived and still couldn't leave.
After waiting outside the dressing room for over ten minutes, the people outside were beginning to lose patience. Only then did Chu Lian slowly come back to her senses. Seeing everyone silently watching her and spotting an unfamiliar senior at the door with a stern expression, she immediately understood what had happened.
She stood up, grabbed her things, and apologized nonstop: "Sorry, sorry, sorry… I got too caught up in my thoughts and didn't pack up or leave the dressing room in time. I'm really sorry…"
Her flustered manner and earnest effort quickly defused the tension. Though not everyone was a loli fan, and some preferred mature women, they decided to let it go. After all, she was just a little girl—a bit of trouble was to be expected.
Of course, had they seen the subtle smile on Chu Lian's lips—a practiced curve meant to appear cute and pitiful for sympathy—they might not have forgiven her so easily.
Fortunately, the members of Seven Rain Band were used to this side of her and said nothing. Once she finished packing, they followed the teacher out one by one.
Chu Lian walked last, following behind Li Xiu'er. As she passed the group of waiting students, she suddenly turned around, gave a small bow, and cheerfully shouted: "Onii-chans, arigatou~!"
Hearing those sugar-sweet words, the boys instinctively turned around, only to be met with an angelic smile they couldn't look away from. In that moment, Chu Lian unleashed all her charm, captivating them instantly.
"Hehe, big brothers~ See you next time~ If there's a chance, Lian'er will thank you again for your kindness~" she said as she turned slightly, waved her snowy white hand, then skipped after her teacher.
Hopping happily beside Li Xiu'er, she took her hand and disappeared around the corner, leaving behind a dazed group utterly bewitched.
"Class 3-7's cosplay group 'Dream of Deep Blue,' performing 'Journey Through Dimensions'... all gentlemen aside from the captain are loli fans. Hmph, just a small trick and the trouble's solved. Truly a bunch of hopeless hentai... Oh-hoho~" So thought someone inside, with not a trace of sweetness—just the mocking tone of a loli.
If they heard that, they might cry. To love lolis and be despised by one—unless you're a masochist, that would be truly heartbreaking…