Chapter 40: Flowers in the Dust

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

Wen Nan was startled by her actions, unable to react in time at the very first moment.

It was summer, and there weren’t many layers to begin with. The fabric was thin, and Wu Yuwei had unbuttoned most of her shirt, revealing pale skin beneath, edged with flesh-colored lace…

Only then did Wen Nan snap back to his senses, jolted by the realization. Flustered, he stepped forward and forcefully pressed her hands down. “Xiaowei, don’t do this. Even if you give yourself to me now, it’s impossible for me to like you—”

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe you!” Wu Yuwei interrupted him fiercely, yanking her wrists free from Wen Nan’s grip, then grabbing his hand in return and pressing his palm firmly against her chest.

He gasped.

Her movement was too swift; Wen Nan couldn’t react in time and his palm landed on a softness, fitting perfectly in his grasp.

As if shocked by electricity, Wen Nan snatched his hand back, calling her name again, trying to get her to stop.

But before he could finish, Wu Yuwei, with her shirt hanging open, lunged at him again, desperate to press her lips to his.

The taste she’d forced into his mouth lingered, an odd sensation still on his tongue. It was tingling, almost like a fine current flowed between their lips and tongues—a strange, numbing feeling.

Wen Nan instinctively stepped back, putting distance between them, refusing to let her touch his lips again.

Wu Yuwei missed, standing motionless, lips trembling, fists clenched, staring at Wen Nan with eyes full of unwillingness.

Wen Nan sighed quietly in his heart.

Wu Yuwei was beautiful—delicate features, fair skin. That lovely face, now brimming with tears and longing, with grievance and desire, was enough to move anyone. To say he felt nothing would be a lie.

She was slender, not particularly curvy, but tall and graceful, with straight, slender legs. Now, her shirt hung open, revealing a slim waist and a dainty navel. Her top had slipped to her elbows, exposing her prominent collarbones, rounded shoulders, and delicate arms. Her skirt, tugged in their struggle, hung loosely at her hips, the very picture of vulnerability.

Such a sight, falling into Wen Nan’s eyes, would tempt even a man with no desire. He could not help but feel certain thoughts arise, no matter how hard he tried to suppress them.

But he forced those feelings down.

He didn’t want to confirm that kind of relationship, nor could he, not here, not with Wu Yuwei.

The two of them were locked in a silent standoff.

Wu Yuwei’s gaze slid slowly down from Wen Nan’s face, settling somewhere lower.

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

Wen Nan began, “Xiaowei, don’t—hey!”

He’d only just spoken, but she dropped to her knees before him without warning, reaching up to undo his belt.

Wen Nan’s face darkened. He seized Wu Yuwei’s hand and forcefully pushed her away from him.

“Wu Yuwei,” he enunciated her name, word by word, “don’t degrade yourself like this. Matters of emotion and matters of the flesh are not the same. I won’t change my mind just because you ‘offer’ yourself to me.”

He looked her straight in the eyes and finished, “What you want, I cannot give you. Please, don’t cling to me anymore.”

With that, he had nothing more to say. He turned and left.

Wu Yuwei stared after him, dazed.

She had seen the look in his eyes just now—helplessness, impatience, even disgust, as if he couldn’t avoid her fast enough.

She had tried everything she could, but in the end, all she received was his resolute back as he walked away.

In that moment, she knew—it was truly over.

Her body weakened, and she collapsed to the cold, bloodstained floor.

9527: [Congratulations! Your affection progress with Xiaowei has surpassed 99%!]
9527: [Side quest completion updated to 100%.]
9527: [Congratulations, contestant! You have successfully completed the side quest “Xiaowei’s Entanglement”!]
9527: [You will receive an additional reward of 300 attribute points, to be tallied at the end of the trial.]

The moment Wen Nan left the public restroom, the system notifications began to sound in his mind, one after another.

Wu Yuwei’s affection meter had actually reached 99% through his constant rejections?

Though it was an unexpected route to completion, at least in the following quests, he probably wouldn’t see those tearful eyes of the fragile beauty again. That thought was a relief.

As he pondered this, he bit down absentmindedly and felt something hard beneath his tongue. He hissed softly, realizing that at some point, a small, hard bead had appeared in his mouth.

He spat the bead into his palm and looked down. It was a blue gemstone that resembled a pearl.

Could it be that the strange-tasting liquid Wu Yuwei left on his tongue during the kiss had solidified into this?

9527: [Congratulations, contestant! You have received an extra equipment reward from the side quest—Tear of the Blossom.]
9527: [Tear of the Blossom:
“To love someone is to humble oneself down to dust, and from the dust, a flower blooms.”
After school beauty Wu Yuwei realized her feelings for you, she pleaded, she clung to you, but in the end, she could not win back even a shred of your heart. Finally, she gave up completely. In that moment, for the first time, she tasted the bitterness of unrequited longing, but also found emotional closure in the heartbreak of her one-sided love. She left a drop of her essence in your mouth, which mingled with your saliva and condensed into the Tear of the Blossom.
Tear of the Blossom inherits the properties of Wu Yuwei's body fluids, allowing the contestant to triple the effect of any single chosen attribute, skill, or equipment.
Duration: 3 minutes. Cooldown: 3 hours.
This equipment is permanently bound to your account. It is non-transferable and cannot be sold or gifted to others.]

Triple the effect instantly?

So, if he used an Attribute Experience Card to boost his Charm to 100, then activated [Tear of the Blossom], he could break through the current lv1 cap and raise his Charm to 300?

That sounded like a powerful item.

The only drawback was the short duration—just three minutes. Barely enough time to finish a cheesy pickup line before it wore off and he reverted to normal.

And with a cooldown of three hours—enough time to let loose twice to his heart’s content.

Clearly, this was something to save and use at a crucial moment.

As he was thinking this, the system notification sounded again in his mind.

9527: [Congratulations! You have successfully completed Main Quest 2. Please return to the trial refresh point—your dormitory—as soon as possible for mission settlement.]