White Rose

"Soul Skill 'White Rose' Awakened."

"White Rose: A soul skill that the system has not yet unlocked, currently in a sealed state. However, due to the host's accidental awakening, the following abilities are granted."

"White Blossom: When entering a musical state, the host's body emits a circle of light invisible to ordinary people. Personal musical ability increases by 20, charm increases by 5, musical charm increases by 10, and the host's proficiency in musical abilities increases by 15."

"If the host leaves the musical state for more than ten minutes, this light automatically disappears. The next activation requires a one-hour cooldown. Given the host's physical endurance, it is limited to four hours of use per day."

"White Circle: A circle of white roses radiates from the host's position. Those within the circle who are performing or practicing with the host experience a 50% increase in coordination for five minutes and a 5% increase in musical proficiency for three hours. This circle requires Culture Points to activate, consuming 10 points per minute."

"White Radiance: Unlocked."

"White Emotion: Unlocked."

"White Dream: Unlocked."

"System Alert: Due to unknown reasons, the host prematurely awakened a power beyond their control. Although the system has sealed most of the abilities, the remaining load is still beyond what the host can bear."

"Therefore, the skill's abilities have been suppressed to the lowest level to allow the host to master them. These abilities will grow with the host's strength and will automatically unlock once a certain level is reached."

"System: I had to expend a lot of effort for your sake. Can't you hurry up and increase your strength? With your current physique, you can't even use level 1 Electromaster, let alone level 4 Spatial Movement. Basically, all the abilities you can use are non-combat support skills."

"By the way, you need to quickly earn Dream Points and Goddess Points, because helping you with this used up 3000 Goddess Points and 5000 Dream Points. Back to square one overnight—happy now? Don't thank me. Yawn, I'm going to sleep!"

Seeing the description of "White Rose," Chu Lian felt indescribably happy, as this meant that once she activated this ability, her learning speed for music would increase significantly.

Not only would it save a lot of practice time, but it also wouldn't waste too many Culture Points, which is perfect for her current situation.

However, upon seeing that the remaining skills were in a locked (sealed) state and the system's warning, she felt both excited and helpless.

The exciting part is that the skill's abilities are not limited to just this, but will improve as her strength increases. Before reaching the limit of growth, she effectively possesses a growth-type ability that matches her own strength and circumstances, and doesn't consume too much. Having many such skills wouldn't be excessive.

However, the frustrating part is that she feels like someone holding a great treasure, but unable to open the treasure chest because the key is hidden away. She can only use the small portion of treasure left outside by the guardian. Most of the treasures are still locked away, only to be given to her when she grows stronger. This feeling of being stymied is incredibly frustrating.

In essence, it's just human greed—having gained an important ability, she desires more. But there's nothing to be done about it; who can she blame for her lack of strength? Only herself.

Upon seeing the final two sentences, Chu Lian felt a mix of emotions. She had just checked her stats last week. The Goddess Points, which the system said were the most important, were initially less than 1,400. But due to various events over the past few days, her Goddess Points had increased rapidly, reaching just over 3,000 in three days.

As for Dream Points, the first time she saw them, it was because she helped Wang Tingsi with something, reaching a total of 29,524. The second time, due to reasons she didn't understand, they increased to 47,586. Then, on Monday, she spent 45,000 points to exchange for "Master Level Classical Chinese Music Proficiency," leaving her with 2,586 points.

Although over the past few days they inexplicably increased to 5,500, making her feel both puzzled and pleased, the system suddenly deducted all her Goddess Points and over 90% of her Dream Points, leaving her stunned.

The deductions were too harsh. Seeing the Goddess Points at "99" and the Dream Points at "588," she felt a subtle sense of rejection, followed by a heart-wrenching pain.

These reserves were accumulated with great effort over a long time, and now, in less than a week, she has to start all over again. This is even more painful than losing tens of thousands of Culture Points and hundreds of thousands of Integrity Points!

Ahem, seems like I accidentally revealed something… I didn't say anything… Yeah, I never mentioned that Chu Lian's Integrity Points are practically worthless… (this section is crossed out).

Of course, what surprised her most was that the system's personality had awakened! Previously, Ayase had told her that she existed as a bridge for communication between herself and the system.

Ayase also mentioned that the system had no consciousness, at least not currently. However, this recent outburst didn't seem to fit Ayase's style, suggesting it could only be the system's dormant consciousness briefly waking up...

"Hmm, it's her consciousness. Perhaps these points are extremely important to her. After receiving 3000 Goddess Points and 50,000 Dream Points (5000 from the system's intervention, 45,000 for the master-level Chinese classical music proficiency exchange), she seems to have briefly awakened."

"But don't worry, she won't fully awaken until you have completed the eighth or ninth main quest. So, there's nothing to worry about." Back in the system space, Ayase understood Chu Lian's concerns and promptly explained the real situation to put her mind at ease.

"I didn't expect the system to be so reliant on Goddess Points and Dream Points..." Hearing Ayase's explanation, Chu Lian made a mental note and refocused on reality.

Since the members of the Rain Band had finished their performance, they couldn't continue using the dressing room, so they had to pack up and return to their class area.

However, because someone had been in a daze ever since they came in and couldn't be awakened no matter how they were called, their departure was delayed until someone else arrived.

It wasn't until the people waiting outside the dressing room had grown impatient after ten minutes that Chu Lian finally woke up. Seeing everyone silently watching her, and then looking outside to see a stern-faced senior, she immediately understood what had happened.

As she stood up and gathered her things, she continuously apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize I needed to pack up and leave the dressing room. I'm really sorry..."

Her flustered apology and earnest demeanor melted the anger of the people outside. Though the senior was a fan of mature women and not particularly fond of her, he thought, "Well, she's just a little girl. It's normal to have some issues. Let's just let it go this time."

Of course, if he had seen the small, habitual smile on Chu Lian's face—crafted to appear cute and pitiful to gain sympathy—he might not have forgiven her so easily.

Fortunately, the members of Rain Band were used to her being in such a state, so they didn't say anything. After she finished packing, they followed the teacher out one by one.

Chu Lian walked at the end of the group, behind Li Xiuer. After passing through the group of waiting students, she suddenly turned around, bowed slightly, and loudly said, "Oni-chan, arigato..." (meaning: Big brother, thank you. For convenience, it was directly transcribed phonetically.)

Upon hearing this sweetly saccharine phrase, the waiting students couldn't help but turn around. Seeing her angelic smile, they couldn't look away. After all, Chu Lian had released all her charm at that moment, instantly captivating them.

"Giggle, big brothers, goodbye for now. If there's another chance, Lian'er will thank you again for your kindness..." She turned her head, waved her small, fair hand, and then hurried to catch up with her group.

Skipping over to Li Xiuer's side, she held her hand and they walked around the corner together, disappearing down the corridor, leaving behind a group of utterly enchanted onlookers.

"Class 3-7's cosplay group 'Deep Blue Dream' is performing 'Journey Through Dimensions', a team where everyone except the leader is a lolicon. Heh, with a little trick, all the trouble was resolved. Truly, a bunch of hopeless perverts... oh..." In someone's mind, her thoughts weren't as sweet as her outward demeanor, reflecting the disdain from a loli.

If they had heard her, they might have cried. Being despised by the loli they adored, unless they were masochists (not pointing at any specific chubby person), it would certainly make them "sad".