I Want You to Become My Score

"What is he? How dare he compare himself to me?"

When she heard those words, He Wei Ni Ya's brow twitched involuntarily.

She had indeed wanted to test Bai Wei to see what kind of person he was, but she didn't expect the answer she received to be so... simple and blunt.

He Wei Ni Ya was not unfamiliar with this tone and manner of speaking; she had heard it many times in the Girls' Dormitory, not to mention in distant places.

Every night, the girls gathered around the fireplace in the lobby on the first floor of the dormitory would whisper among themselves, "We're both silver rank, why does that XXX have the right to compare with me?" This made He Wei Ni Ya want to laugh.

However, when the target of this sentence structure shifted to the Lord of Holy Sound, and the person who uttered it was someone who looked like an extraordinary individual, He Wei Ni Ya had to seriously consider how true the statement was.

However, she did not voice her doubts, because at this stage, there was no way to obtain a result that could prove the authenticity of the doubts, so it was meaningless.

So He Wei Ni Ya calmly asked, "If it's really as you say, and I want to play the Seven Sound Divine Song, then how can you help me? And what do you want?"

"It's very simple," Bai Wei said with a smile. "I want you to be my musical score, to play a unique melody for me."

He Wei Ni Ya's brow twitched again; she still hadn't expected Bai Wei's answer to be so direct.

"You want me?" He Wei Ni Ya asked.

"Hmm... Although your statement may sound a bit ambiguous at first glance," Bai Wei said with a smile, "It doesn't really matter when you look into it. For certain reasons, I also need to play the Seven Sound Divine Song. But I'm different from others. They would want your life if they knew your identity, but I only want you as a person. Because I'm not Holy Sound person, I can only rely on you to play the Divine Melody."

"Is this why you asked me to bring you to the Holy Sound?"

"Certainly."

"You will surely play the Seven Sound Divine Song too?"

"That's right."

"So that means if I refuse to help you..." He Wei Ni Ya slowed her speech, but her words became clearer, "You'll kill me too, won't you?"

When she asked the question, He Wei Ni Ya felt a little nervous and a little regretful.

She didn't know if it was a good decision to let Bai Wei reveal his true colors at this point.

But before she could think for long, Bai Wei gave his answer, "Of course not... Hehe, I know what you're worried about, but you can rest assured about this. I don't have the habit of killing partners, especially partners who are helpful to me."

"Is that so?" He Wei Ni Ya said. "So, if I refuse to cooperate with you, you will give up playing the Seven Sound Divine Song Melody?"

He Wei Ni Ya did not hide the skepticism in her statement.

"That won't happen," Bai Wei said calmly. "Even if you refuse, I will still play the Seven Sound Divine Song."

"That sounds somewhat contradictory."

"It's not contradictory," Bai Wei said with a smile. "Because I'm quite certain that if you don't cooperate with me, you will definitely be killed by someone else. At that point, I won't have to worry about those things anymore."

Silence.

A long silence followed.

The boat Daphne was on had completely disappeared from sight, and the lake, which never freezes, was surging in the cold wind.

He Wei Ni Ya pressed down her wind-blown hair and said calmly, "That sounds like a threat, Mr. Visas."

"No, it's not a threat," Bai Wei said with a smile. "I'm just stating a fact."

"Is that so?" He Wei Ni Ya said politely. "But unfortunately, what you said will not come true, and you've been wrong from the start."

"Um?"

"I never intended to play the Seven Sound Divine Song alone," He Wei Ni Ya said. "You seem to know something about my past, so you should know that what people who climb up from the Seed Zone want most is an identity, a stable life, and coincidentally, I already have both. So I will strive to maintain my current life and become the real He Wei Ni Ya, rather than risk doing something meaningless. So I'm sorry to disappoint you, I will not cooperate with you, nor will I become your score."

"Yeah?"

He Wei Ni Ya lowered her head and looked at the jade-like middle finger on her left hand.

"You helped me light up the musical notes, and I am very grateful to you, so I am willing to lend you my body temporarily so that you can heal your injuries," He Wei Ni Ya said. "However, I also want to ask you to keep your promise and leave my body once you have recovered, is that alright?"

"Of course, no problem." Bai Wei's tone showed no regret at being rejected, only ease. "I never break my promises, not to any of my partners."

"Is that so?" He Wei Ni Ya nodded slightly. "Then please rest well inside my body. I'm sorry I can't keep you company any longer; I have my own things to do."

"Of course." He Wei Ni Ya heard Bai Wei yawn. "I'm really tired after saying so much. Goodnight, Miss He Wei Ni Ya."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Visas."

He Wei Ni Ya looked up at the snowflakes falling from the sky, then turned around, preparing to leave the dock and return to her dormitory.

But just then, she heard Bai Wei say something leisurely.

"Between life and death, there is another path."

"If you want to choose that path, you can call out my name."

"But from that moment on, you will become my score."

"Please remember, Miss He Wei Ni Ya."

He Wei Ni Ya paused for a moment, but pretended not to hear anything and walked straight toward the ancient castle in the snowstorm.

When I got back to the dormitory, the sun was almost setting, and darkness was frantically swallowing up the afterglow.

Actually, judging from the time, it's still afternoon.

However, the days in Holy Sound are shorter than in other places; it is often completely dark before dinner.

Therefore, the academy's courses are mostly concentrated in the morning. However, this does not mean that students only have half a day to study. On the contrary, the time for the performers to start working hard is after sunset.

In the grove near the dormitory building, you can always hear all sorts of "melodies".

These melodies were naturally created by the students.

In the Holy Sound, a person's value depends on whether he can become a player.

The value of a performer depends on the "tone" he is born with.

The purer and clearer the tone, the more power it contains—power bestowed by the Lord of Holy Sound.

The more chaotic and muddy the timbre, the less power it contains.

This is the origin of the three classes of gold, silver, and bronze. The purer and clearer the same note, the closer it is to gold; the more chaotic and turbid it is, the closer it is to bronze.

But this is not entirely set in stone.

A person's innate timbre can be improved through hard work, and there can be huge differences in timbre even among people of the same caliber.

To improve one's tone, one must rely on practice or medication.

Just like a voice that wants to produce a good sound, it requires both practice and the voice itself. Practice is simple, but if the voice itself is not good, it will be more painful to change it. But ironically, the voice itself is much more important than practice.

He Wei Ni Ya walked slowly in front of the woods, thinking about her conversation with Bai Wei at the dock earlier, while listening to the sounds coming from the woods.

Why is it said that it's only after dark that the musicians put in their best effort?

Because in the forest at night, once the areas are divided, everyone can only hear each other's voices and cannot see each other's appearance, which allows them to practice more confidently and boldly.

The reason why I don't want others to see it is because refining the tone itself is painful and embarrassing.

Walking along the edge of the woods, you can feel it most often. The melody keeps suddenly going wrong, either wailing or completely falling silent, like a broken musical instrument.

If this small grove next to the dormitory weren't separate and not connected to the largest Forbidden Forest, He Wei Ni Ya would have thought that the Snowthorn Beast the school workers had talked about during the day had come here to hunt again.

As she neared her dormitory, He Wei Ni Ya suddenly stopped.

Because she heard a melody coming from the woods that was far superior to the others, like a real swan mixed in with a flock of ugly ducklings.

But more importantly, this melody is the same Seventh Sound as He Wei Ni Ya's.

He Wei Ni Ya then guessed the identity of the musician.

Sure enough, not long after, a tall woman with a tired face emerged from the woods.

It was Olenna.

As soon as Olenna stepped out of the woods, she saw He Wei Ni Ya standing in front of the dormitory gate. She was startled, then her brows furrowed and her eyes were full of vigilance.

"Good evening, Senior Olenna." He Wei Ni Ya greeted Olenna very politely. "Your voice is getting better and better. I think you really have a chance to become a Gold Rank."

He Wei Ni Ya's compliment did not elicit any joy from Olenna; instead, it made her expression even more unpleasant.

"Stop pretending, He Wei Ni Ya," Olenna said coldly.

He Wei Ni Ya sighed softly, "I don't know why you always say that about me. I don't mean any harm. I just want to be your friend."

Before she could finish speaking, Olenna had already lost the will to listen and walked straight toward her.

He Wei Ni Ya instinctively tried to dodge, but she was a little too slow and was completely knocked over by Olenna.

"Ah."

He Wei Ni Ya was knocked down and fell from outside the dormitory into the dormitory lobby, looking quite disheveled.

Olenna coldly replied, "Don't block the doorway and obstruct others from coming and going..."

Before she could finish speaking, Olenna sensed that something was wrong.

She raised her head, turning her gaze from He Wei Ni Ya to the hall, and found more than a dozen female musicians staring at her with expressions of surprise.

"Senior Olenna, Senior He Wei Ni Ya, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, He Wei Ni Ya!"

They found He Wei Ni Ya had been knocked down and immediately ran over, helping He Wei Ni Ya up while looking at Olenna in shock.

"Senior Olenna, why did you hit He Wei Ni Ya?"

"Isn't this a bit too much?"

Olenna's face darkened. She was about to say something when He Wei Ni Ya spoke first, "Ah, it's alright, it's alright. I was the one blocking the door. It has nothing to do with Senior Olenna."

Olenna's expression worsened.

"He Wei Ni Ya!" She took a step closer to He Wei Ni Ya. "Do you..."

"You've gone too far, Senior Olenna!"

Olenna's words were interrupted again by the other players.

What else do you want to do?

"You should apologize to He Wei Ni Ya!"

"We know you are excellent, Olenna, but you should also know that He Wei Ni Ya is a Gold-rank! And you are merely below her!"

Upon hearing this, Olenna's eyes burned with a fire that seemed capable of setting the entire dormitory ablaze.

However, under the gaze of more than ten musicians in the hall, and even more musicians about to enter the dormitory, Olenna knew that nothing she said would make a difference. She could only take a deep breath, grit her teeth, and say to He Wei Ni Ya, word by word, "You wait, I won't be any worse than you... I will also become a Gold Rank!"

After that, Olenna said nothing more, took her things, turned around, and went up the stairs leading to the upper floors.

Her actions naturally aroused dissatisfaction among many people.

"What's with all her arrogance?!"

"She was arrogant and lawless when she was the chief, and now that she's subordinate to He Wei Ni Ya, why doesn't she know how to restrain herself?!"

If words were knives, then the girls' condemnation of Olenna at this moment could practically tear her to pieces.

He Wei Ni Ya said softly, "No, this is my problem. Don't blame Senior Olenna."

"Hey, He Wei Ni Ya, stop taking the blame on yourself. This is her own problem."

"Yes, she's not mentally sound."

"Mistake".

"No, no, no, you don't understand, she's just jealous."

"Anyone can see through jealousy."

"Fool, it's not that you're jealous of He Wei Ni Ya, it's that you're jealous of her brother."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"You guys don't know?" A girl looked around, then deliberately lowered her voice and said in a tone that could only be heard by a dozen or so people present, "Olenna's older brother is Finnis, a senior from the First Academy!"

"Senior Finnis?!" Someone's eyes widened. "Could it be that..."

The girl nodded emphatically.

"Finnis of the second octave of the gold scale!"

"That's her own brother!"

The scene erupted in uproar.

The news was so explosive that all the girls present started talking about it.

Unbeknownst to them, He Wei Ni Ya had already narrowed her eyes slightly.

Back in her room, He Wei Ni Ya put down her books and instinctively reached for the drawer.

But then something suddenly occurred to him, and he looked down at the middle finger of his left hand.

"Mr. Visas," He Wei Ni Ya said calmly, "I don't know if you are awake right now, nor do I know how you perceive the outside world, but I want to say that I am willing to lend you my body to live in, but I need to get a little bit of respect from you."

"Just say what you have to say."

"I need a little privacy." He Wei Ni Ya looked at the middle finger while tugging at her collar, revealing a large expanse of her fair skin. "At least enough to allow me to change my clothes without feeling uncomfortable."

Bai Wei smiled, "Do you have a way?"

"If you don't mind."

"Sure," Bai Wei said nonchalantly. "Just get started."

He Wei Ni Ya glanced at the middle finger again, then took out a roll of paper covered with runes and wrapped it up layer by layer.

Then he lightly tapped his staff and murmured, "Second Sound · Demon Sealing".

The tip of the staff glowed faintly, and accompanied by the melody of two notes, the paper tightened little by little, and the talismans on the paper came to life like leaping musical notes.

After the spell was completed, He Wei Ni Ya did indeed feel the voice in her mind disappear.

It's not that they didn't speak, but that they ceased to exist.

It seems the power of the Lord of Holy Sound is still effective against him... at least against this finger.

He Wei Ni Ya came to a conclusion in her mind.

But she didn't waste any time, because she didn't know how long Eryin's Demon Sealing would last. So she immediately opened the drawer and found the most inconspicuous piece of paper among the stacks of books.

There were several names on the paper.

For example, He Wei Ni Ya (seventh note), Amber (fiveth note), and Finnis (twoth note).

She focused her gaze on Finnis, because next to Finnis was another name— Olenna.

She drew a line on it and wrote, "Maybe related."

But now...

He Wei Ni Ya waved her staff again, and the surging energy changed the small print to "siblings".

The last sentence He Wei Ni Ya said in the previous chapter has been revised.