Task Selection

After school in the afternoon, Chu Lian returned home, took a bath, and then locked herself in her room, lying on her bed, thinking about the task and how to complete it.

Although she complained, she knew she couldn't change what had already become a fact. Instead of wasting time, she decided to ask Ayase if there was any way to help her complete the task smoothly.

Clinging to a bit of hope, she entered the system space and found Ayase sitting on a red sofa, wearing a red evening dress, with her long, slender legs crossed, her upper body hidden in the darkness, and holding a glass of red wine, gently swirling it.

She crawled over to Ayase, lay down on her lap, and, in a lazy, cat-like tone, asked, "Ayase, can you give me an easier task? This one is too hard. Not to mention whether I can sing, I don't even know what those cosplayed characters are famous for. And I don't know where to publish the works..."

Ayase took a small sip of her wine, gently stroked her long, silky hair, and said, "Alright, I'll show you the other tasks. You can decide whether to do them or not after seeing them." Out of her sight, Ayase's lips curled into a mischievous smile as she opened a virtual screen in front of her and pointed to the options, letting her choose.

Hearing that she could choose, Chu Lian immediately jumped up, hugged Ayase's waist, and buried her face in Ayase's ample chest, rubbing against it, happily saying, "I knew Ayase was the best to me... Wait, let me see what other options there are."

After taking advantage for a moment, she straightened up and looked at the options Ayase had given. Her excitement quickly faded, and her hopeful mood plummeted to the bottom.

"Main Task Phase 2, Option 2: Debut as a Musical Girl: As an all-round goddess, you must not only write but also sing."

"Task Requirements: Sign with a top-ten domestic music company, release your first album within six months, with no fewer than ten songs, including at least five original tracks, and achieve sales of 300,000 copies within three months. Time: eight months."

This option did allow for a bit more time, but...

She stiffly turned to look at Ayase and caught sight of that devilish smile on her lips, making her feel utterly disheartened.

Forget about this option, forget about it, forget about it. Having someone like her, who lacks both singing skills and musical talent, undertake such a task is simply impossible.

Not just for her—even those with better conditions and greater strength might not be able to achieve it. Considering the domestic music market, while slightly better than in her previous life, it still wasn't very optimistic.

Last year's top-selling album barely exceeded two million in sales, and that was accomplished by an Asian pop star over eleven months. As for her? Well, getting twenty thousand would be good enough.

This option was out of the question. If mastering the cosplay and cover song circles was high difficulty, then this task was abyss-level, impossible for her current self to complete.

She had given up all hope. Ayase's mischievousness was indeed unchanged. She had just been praising Ayase, and this was the result!

Why was it that in other stories she read, people's systems were either a soft, pushable girl or a diligent, brainy steward, while her system took pleasure in teasing her?

"Oh, oh, oh, Little Lian, I heard what you were thinking. Talking bad about me is not okay. I'm sweet and kind, aren't I?" A pair of hands slowly wrapped around her shoulders from behind, pulling her into an embrace. The faint scent of wine in Ayase's breath brushed against her cheek, making her blush, but her words startled Chu Lian.

"No, no, Ayase sister, you must have heard wrong. I was saying that Ayase sister is the best, and Ayase sister treats me the best!" A great man knows when to yield and when to stand firm, let alone a little loli.

Even though she was actually a pseudo-loli, a pseudo-loli is still a loli and has privileges. Being a little timid in the face of danger is nothing; it really is nothing...

"That's better. Little Lian's idea just now was very good. In the future, when tasks are issued, the difficulty level will also be shown so you won't keep saying I always give you the hardest ones. Hehe..." Ayase stuck out her little tongue and licked Chu Lian's ear. After leaving a series of bell-like laughs, she returned to the sofa, lying there with her legs closed, her hair slightly messy, and a seductive look on her beautiful face.

However, Chu Lian dared not look for more than a moment, afraid of what Ayase might do next. Taking a deep breath, she pushed away her messy thoughts and started to look through the task information.

"Main Task Phase 2, Option 3: The Advancing Pianist: The piano is known as the king of instruments and is widely used around the world. As someone striving to become an all-round goddess, you cannot neglect this instrument; you must learn and master it."

"Task Objective: Complete three large-scale solo piano performances within a year, in China, Japan, and the United States, with each performance attended by at least 1,000 people, and a total of 4.5 million views online. Task Time: One year and two months. Task Difficulty: Nightmare." Well, this is even more difficult than the previous two tasks. And Ayase really did put the difficulty level on display.

"Ayase, how many levels of task difficulty did you just divide?" Now that there were different levels of difficulty, she needed to know exactly how many there were so she could make better comparisons when choosing tasks in the future.

"There are seven levels in total: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Difficult, Abyss, Nightmare, and Fantasy."

"However, with your current mindset, you'll probably never complete a Fantasy-level task in your lifetime. The rewards for Fantasy-level tasks are incredibly rare and valuable, with very high exchange requirements in the system, definitely worth your while. Unfortunately, the task levels are based on your current abilities."

"In other words, a task that is Nightmare difficulty for you now might become Difficult or even Advanced as your abilities and other aspects improve over the years."

"Each level's rewards are different. The more difficult the task, the more generous and surprising the rewards, and they are very suitable for you." Ayase was always very serious about the system knowledge, explaining it in great detail.

Although she was a bit depressed about Ayase not having much confidence in her, there was no way around it. She really didn't have the confidence to complete these tasks right now.

Ayase had told her that all the tasks given by the system were achievable within her capabilities. However, how she completed them depended on how much effort she put in.

Obviously, with her current mindset of retreating at the sight of Abyss-level difficulty, completing Nightmare, or even Fantasy-level tasks was simply impossible.

Still, why did she suddenly want to know about the difficulty and rewards of Fantasy tasks?

"Well, it seems your curiosity needs to be satisfied. Look at the next option. I've already moved the only Fantasy-level task for this stage to the next choice for you to see..."

"Oh, and this includes the reward for completing the Fantasy-level task. Also, Fantasy-level tasks are main tasks but not part of the main storyline. They can be considered side main tasks, and whether you complete them or not is optional."

"However, each main task stage only has one Fantasy-level task for you to choose. If you miss this chance, you won't be able to choose it again in the future."

Ayase knew roughly what was on Chu Lian's mind in this system space. So, while she felt helpless about her curiosity, she also wanted to see her reaction, which is why she brought up the task.

Sure enough, after hearing Ayase's words, although Chu Lian was hesitant, she still clicked on the next option's page and began to read: "Main Task Phase 2, Option ? Sub-task 4: Star: Achieve three million personal fans through normal means, with one million die-hard fans."

"Time Limit: Six months, Difficulty: Fantasy."

"Reward: Whisper of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox."

A very brief task description, yet as Ayase said, it's only something to fantasize about, not something to realistically expect to complete. Achieving three million fans might be possible, but getting one million die-hard fans is as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

Ordinary fans might follow you because of a certain statement or work, but most of them like your work, not you.

Die-hard fans, however, like you, not just your work. The former follow you because your work is good, and they like it.

The latter are attracted by your work and thus come to like you, liking you more than your work.

Given her current fame, achieving this was simply impossible.

Ayase, seemingly wanting to further provoke her, listed the attributes of the task reward: "Whisper of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, the legendary charm of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox. Every woman they transform into possesses a world-altering allure."

"The Whisper of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox bestows this talent upon you. Although it is just a small portion, over time, you will gradually become more like the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox."

"Effect: Increases your charm, making every smile and frown endearing. Enhances your musical talent, allowing you to achieve immortal-like accomplishments."

This ability seemed almost divine. She hadn't realized the system could offer such exchanges; its mysteries were still largely unexplored.

"Even though I can't achieve it, I really want it..." She lay on the sofa, murmuring and waving her hand, looking both desirous and uncertain about how to proceed.

After a while, feeling helpless and noticing Ayase's indifference, Chu Lian abandoned her reservations. She got up from the floor and closed the task selection. Since this task wasn't the hardest, she believed she could manage...

Cosplay requires many props and professional photography, which couldn't be rushed. However, covering songs only required a quiet environment and high-quality recording equipment...

The only problem was that she knew nothing about singing or recording.

Seeing her clueless state, Ayase couldn't stand it anymore. She walked over, tapped Chu Lian's head, and said, "Didn't you just complete a side task and get 3,000 Culture Points? Why not use them to exchange for something useful? You're so dumb..."

That tap reminded Chu Lian. Yes, she still had those 3,000 Culture Points she had just earned. Although the items available for exchange were limited, there were still many high-quality ones...

Now the question was, what should her first song be?