"..." Shiroha, after hearing her words, sent a long stream of ellipses, clearly at a loss for words. Then, a new line floated across the screen: "You win. Lolis loving nonhuman girls—that setting is just too good."
"Oh, shut up. Let me think about which one's the best choice..." Chu Lian waved her hand dismissively, ignoring Shiroha's teasing as her eyes darted across the list of available races, trying to find one that suited her best.
"Alright, I can eliminate the Mage types. Sure, I've got plenty of long-range techniques myself, but being a full-on mage would still be too much of a stretch. Besides, I don't even like those races much. Slime? Ugh, sticky and gross. Skeleton? No way, I can't go around not being able to see my own beautiful face. Elemental Spirit, Dominion Angel, Spirit, Demon—they look fine, but the problem is I can't even use that many skills efficiently."
"After all, with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Ordinary Punch, and the techniques from the Divine Spirit Art, my strongest abilities are close-combat oriented. Choosing a mage class would be asking for trouble."
"Now, for the Warrior types—these are good. The True Ancestor Vampire stays on the list. Gothic style has its appeal, and I wouldn't mind trying that. But there's already a True Ancestor Vampire in Overlord. That'd be... awkward. I can't even match one of her fingers right now."
"As for Tentacle Creature—ugh, no. I'm not a pervert, thank you very much. Even if it turns into a cute tentacle girl, I'm still not doing it. Someone tell me, what's even good about tentacles besides H-stuff? Hmph. Next, Insectoid—also out. I like nonhuman girls, but not completely nonhuman ones. Mechanical Girl, Battle Angel, and Half-Dragon stay for now—I'll see what kind of designs they have later before deciding."
"Now for the Hybrid types... I love all of them! Cyborgs? Just look at ship girls—they're adorable! Succubus? Well, I'm still growing and don't exactly have that kind of figure... but if I choose it, they'll probably give me a 36E bust, right? If that happens, I'm picking it—let's see who dares call me flat again! Elves are versatile, good for both magic and melee, but there's already that pair of elf siblings in Overlord, so maybe not for now."
"Fallen Angel—similar to Succubus in design, but probably more of the corrupted-holy type. Doesn't really fit me. Medusa—human head, snake body. Losing my legs would make using certain abilities inconvenient. Pass. That leaves the Fox Demon—beast ears and tail? Too cute to resist!"
Chu Lian stared at the list, falling into complete indecision. She was decisive in serious matters, but when it came to personal choices like this, she could never make up her mind easily.
Now faced with so many tempting options, her hesitation was only natural.
After all, it was a woman's instinct. It had to be understood.
What's that? Lolis aren't women?
Oh, right. Let's just say—it's a feminine talent.
"What are you even hesitating for? It's not like you have to decide right now. There's still over three days before you enter the dungeon. You can agonize over it later," Shiroha commented dryly, unable to watch her indecision any longer.
If not for being restricted to official system messages, it would've already been nagging nonstop in her ear.
"I just figured I'd decide early so I don't have to rush later..." Chu Lian replied weakly, smiling sheepishly at Shiroha's message.
"The detailed character visuals won't even appear until after you enter the dungeon. You can just pick based on your preference then," Shiroha reminded her—not because it doubted her ability to choose, but because...
"Wait a second—did you forget something again?"
"Forget something? No, I don't think so. Let me think..." Chu Lian paused, frowning slightly. But the more she thought, the more uneasy she became. Something definitely wasn't right.
"You're just going to ignore your other quest? You only earn dungeon access after completing that and claiming your reward from the system," Ayase said suddenly, opening her eyes from her nap and sighing at Chu Lian's confusion.
"Ah... my hidden-class quest..." Chu Lian froze at Ayase's words, then dropped to her knees, slumping forward with a lifeless expression.
How was she supposed to complete those missions now? In three days, she not only had to prepare for the dungeon but also deal with several other matters. If she suddenly ran abroad to finish the quest, she'd have no way to explain herself—and getting her mother's approval was out of the question.
Ever since returning home yesterday, Li Mingxue had placed her under strict house arrest. Leaving the house for any reason was forbidden, and defying that order meant punishment. And when it came to Li Mingxue's punishments—Chu Lian would rather give up dungeon access for life than go through that again.
"Looks like if I don't help you this time, you're really going to lose out badly. As much as I'd like to make you learn from your mistake, I want to see you grow even more." Ayase sighed softly, stepping barefoot across the floor. She reached out, lifted Chu Lian up, and guided her toward the system screen. Standing behind her, she wrapped her arms around Chu Lian's neck and leaned in close, her cheek brushing against hers as she murmured.
"Ayase... I know I still have a lot of shortcomings. I keep trying to improve, but every time something happens, I end up relying on you to clean up after me. I really feel bad about that." Feeling the warmth of Ayase's heartbeat against her back, Chu Lian inhaled her scent—a faint mix of cherry blossom and starlight—and guilt stirred in her chest.
She always said she wanted to grow stronger, yet she kept making Ayase worry. No matter how much she wanted to ease that burden, she just couldn't seem to do better.
Ayase smiled brightly and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "Don't think like that. I'm here to help you grow. It's my responsibility to help you overcome your obstacles. If you someday stop needing me at all, won't my sense of existence disappear? What if you don't want me anymore then?"
"Even if I forget myself, I'll never forget you," Chu Lian said quietly. Just that one short sentence made Ayase's heart tremble.
That feeling—such pure joy—was impossible to describe.
But she couldn't let things continue like this forever. If they did... when would it ever end?
"You still have three uncompleted quest conditions, right? 'Sales Revenue: 8.75 / 10 million yuan (Incomplete).' 'Cities Visited: 96 / 100 (Incomplete).' 'Countries Visited: 4 / 8 (Incomplete).' Quite a hassle."
"The last two are easy enough. Since your memories have already merged with your past life's experiences, those can count as valid records. You'll just have to pay a small cost to let the system synchronize those memories. Let's see... what's the price?"
Ayase's voice was softer than usual—not her usual teasing or sultry tone, but gentle, almost worried.
"Each city's memory synchronization costs 300,000 Integrity Points, and each country costs 500,000. That's 3.2 million Integrity Points total. Tsk, that's quite a hefty price."
When Ayase spoke the exact numbers, Chu Lian instinctively checked her points. Thankfully, after the recent "daughter" incident, her Integrity Points had surged by about two million, bringing her current total to nearly seven million. Enough to cover it.
"Alright, after that deduction, you'll still have 3.77 million left. But don't celebrate yet—you've still got one more task."
Since Ayase could also see the numbers, she quickly confirmed it. There was just enough.
"The remaining one is the 'Earn 10 million yuan through sales' objective. You're short 1.25 million. It's not hard—you can trade Integrity Points for it. Roughly three points of Integrity equals one yuan. Not directly exchanged, of course—you'll have to convert it into merchandise and sell it."
The moment Ayase said that, Chu Lian's face turned pale. To earn 1.25 million yuan, she'd need to spend 3.75 million Integrity Points. That would wipe out nearly all she had left.
And she'd need to earn another seven million points within three days—or she'd be stuck in permanent debt to the system for life.
"Ayase, tell me the truth—was that shop the system showed me before, the one on Taonia selling the same maid outfit I wore at Miss Sakurako's Café, something you set up?" Chu Lian suddenly remembered that store—the system had recommended it to her earlier. Maybe... just maybe, that was her last hope of completing the quest.
"Ah, yes. That's right. Back when I was still in the Punishment Space, I could still access the system. During that time, I activated my third-level authority and had Shiroha set up that shop according to my instructions. Originally, it was meant to help you complete this quest. Looks like that decision paid off." Ayase sighed softly. That whole trip had been... a rather unpleasant memory.
"Alright. The listed price was 398 yuan. How many have been sold so far?" Chu Lian crossed her fingers, praying it wasn't too many—otherwise, her points wouldn't be enough.
"The selling price is 398 yuan, and around 1,400 units have been sold. It's a bit pricey, so not everyone can afford it. The exchange cost in Integrity Points per outfit is 1,194. Not exactly a bargain, but not a scam either. That makes the total cost around 1.74 million Integrity Points. Worth it, don't you think?"
Well, honestly... if it were an outfit worn by a celebrity or someone she adored, or even one endorsed with their name, she'd probably buy it too.
Even knowing it was expensive—people still would. Just because they liked it.
It was the same as an otaku buying figures or collectors buying books. There was no logic behind it—only love.
"Then I'll use my Integrity Points to buy the outfits and ship them out immediately. They'll pay upon delivery!" Chu Lian said quickly, not even caring about the astronomical cost anymore. All she cared about now was finishing this quest—otherwise, she could kiss that dungeon goodbye.
As for her Integrity... well, she could just throw that away.
"Since the host has chosen to complete the quest using Integrity Points and equivalent experience, the corresponding points have been deducted. Current Integrity: 27,542. Please earn back the same amount within three days, or you will incur a massive debt."
Seeing that message, Chu Lian exhaled in relief. At least it was done.
"Wait a minute! Didn't the system message at the start of the quest say I'd already sold over 5 million yuan worth of products? Why does it now say 8.75 million!?" Chu Lian froze—something didn't add up.
"That's because your popularity increased, leading to a surge in fans buying your merchandise. Since you've returned home and have an upcoming event, projections estimate total sales will surpass 10 million yuan within three days. So by using Integrity Points, you basically just wasted them out of... well, integrity." Shiroha paused for a long moment before sending the message in an overly casual tone.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier!?" Chu Lian's face turned pale. This was a colossal loss.
"You didn't ask. I thought you just had too much Integrity and wanted to get rid of some. ╮(╯_╰)╭" Shiroha's reply came with infuriating calmness. Yet Chu Lian could almost see a black-hearted girl smiling sweetly at her from inside the system interface.
Yeah... she was still too naive.
So then, what about Ayase?
Chu Lian turned her head—