Flower in the Dust

9527: [Side quest completion updated to 85%.]

Wen Nan was stunned by the other's actions, failing to react in the first instant.

Summer clothes were thin and few to begin with; Wu Yuwei unbuttoned most of her shirt, revealing the fair skin beneath and the edge of nude-colored lace...

Only then did a jolt run through Wen Nan, snapping him back to his senses. He hurriedly stepped forward, pressing down firmly on her hands. "Xiao Wei, don't do this. Even if you gave yourself to me right now, I could never love you—"

"—I don't believe it! I don't believe you!"

Wu Yuwei interrupted him bitterly, yanking her wrists from his grip. She grabbed his wrists in return, forcing his palms against her chest.

"Hey..."

The movement was too fast; before Wen Nan could react, his palms were already touching a soft expanse.

A handful of softness.

He pulled his hands back as if electrocuted, calling out to her again, trying to make her stop.

Yet, the moment he opened his mouth, Wu Yuwei, her shirt still hanging open, threw herself at him regardless, trying to kiss his lips once more.

The fluid she had forced into his mouth earlier still lingered, leaving behind a strange sensation.

It felt tingly and numb, as if a faint electric current were dancing between his lips and tongue—it was bizarre.

Wen Nan instinctively stepped back, putting distance between them to prevent her from touching his mouth again.

Wu Yuwei lunged at empty air, standing there blankly. Her lips trembled, her hands were clenched into fists, and she stared at Wen Nan with eyes full of resentment.

Wen Nan sighed inwardly.

Wu Yuwei was beautiful, with delicate features and fair skin. Seeing such a pretty face looking at him with tear-filled eyes, brimming with longing and grievance, it would be a lie to say he was completely unmoved.

She was slender, lacking many curves, but she had the advantage of height, with straight, long legs. With her shirt open, her slim waist and delicate navel were partially visible.

She had pushed her sleeves down to her elbows, leaving her prominent collarbones, rounded shoulders, and soft arms fully exposed. Her skirt had been torn during their struggle, hanging loosely at her hips, making her look like she was ready to be taken.

Such a sight, falling into Wen Nan's eyes—even if the brain above had no extra thoughts, he couldn't control the brain below from having a few.

But he forcibly suppressed those thoughts.

He did not want, nor was it possible, to consummate that kind of relationship with Wu Yuwei here.

The two fell into a silent stalemate.

Wu Yuwei's gaze shifted slowly from Wen Nan's face, eventually coming to rest on a certain spot.

9527: [Side quest completion updated to 93%.]

Wen Nan spoke: "Xiao Wei, don't—hey!"

He had barely started when she knelt before him without a word, reaching for his belt.

Wen Nan's expression turned cold. He grabbed her hands and shoved her away from him with force.

"Wu Yuwei," Wen Nan said, enunciating each word, "don't demean yourself like this. Matters of the heart and that sort of business cannot be lumped together. I will not change my mind just because of your 'sacrifice' now."

Wen Nan looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I cannot give you what you want. Stop this entanglement."

Having said that, he turned and left without another word.

Wu Yuwei stared at the direction he had vanished, lost in a daze.

She had seen the look in Ye Jiu's eyes just now—it held helplessness, impatience, and disgust, as if she were something to be avoided like a venomous snake.

She had tried everything she could, only to be met with the back of a man walking away with finality.

In this moment, she knew it was truly over between them.

Wu Yuwei's body went limp, and she collapsed onto the cold, blood-stained floor.

9527: [Congratulations, your favorability with Xiao Wei has exceeded 99%!]

9527: [Side quest completion updated to 100%.]

9527: [Congratulations, contestant! You have successfully completed the side quest 'Xiao Wei's Entanglement'!]

9527: [You will be awarded an additional 300 attribute points, to be settled after the trial ends.]

The moment he left the public restroom, a string of system notifications rang out in Wen Nan's mind.

Wu Yuwei's favorability had actually reached 99% through his constant rejection?

Although it was an unexpected path to completion, he shouldn't have to see the "weeping white lotus" routine in future missions, right? That thought made Wen Nan feel much more at ease.

As he was thinking, he accidentally bit down on something hard under his tongue. Wen Nan let out a soft "hiss," only to realize that, at some point, a hard, round bead had appeared in his mouth.

He spat the bead into his palm and looked down, finding it to be a blue gemstone that resembled a pearl.

This...

Could it be that the strange-feeling fluid she had left on his tongue while kissing him had condensed into this?

9527: [Congratulations, contestant! You have obtained an additional side quest equipment reward—Flower's Tear.]

9527: [Flower's Tear:

'To love someone is to humble yourself into the dust, and from there, a flower blooms.']

After realizing her feelings for you, the school beauty Wu Yuwei begged and pestered you relentlessly, yet she could not earn even a shred of change in your heart. In the end, she gave up completely. In that moment, she tasted the bitterness of "unrequited longing" in its entirety for the first time, and finally, amidst the sorrow of her one-sided love, she achieved a form of emotional fulfillment. She left a drop of her essence in your mouth, which merged with your saliva to condense into a Flower's Tear.

The Flower's Tear inherits the properties of the essence within Wu Yuwei's body, allowing the player to boost a specific attribute, skill, or piece of equipment to three times its original effect.

Duration: 3 minutes. Cooldown: 3 hours.

[This item has been permanently bound to your account and is for your personal use only; it may not be gifted or resold to others.]

A direct triple boost?

That is to say, if he first used an Attribute Trial Card to raise his Charisma to 100 points, and then used this [Flower's Tear], he could break through the current Lv.1 minimum level restriction and push his Charisma directly to 300 points?

It sounded like a very useful piece of equipment.

The only issue was the duration; it was far too short. At only three minutes, he wouldn't even be finished with a single cheesy pickup line before he was reverted to his original state.

Furthermore, the cooldown was a staggering three hours—long enough for him to release his energy to the fullest twice over...

It seemed this thing would have to be saved and carefully considered so it could be used at the most critical moment.

Just as he was thinking this, the system prompt rang out in his mind once more.

9527: [Congratulations! You have successfully completed Main Quest 2. Please return to the Trial Zone spawn point—your dormitory—as soon as possible to settle the quest rewards.]