He was singing when the door was suddenly pushed open.
Xu Qingqiu stood at the doorway, motionless, watching him.
Chu Tian, too, got a start, nearly hurling his guitar away in his panic.
"Uh... what brought you here?"
"I came to practice my vocals. Can you talk now?"
"Ah? Haha, I can, but it's still a bit tough. My voice doesn't sound too good."
"Mm, I noticed."
Noticed? What does she mean by noticed...?
Chu Tian faced her with a frustrated expression, utterly speechless.
What kind of person is this? Can't she speak properly? What does she mean she noticed? It might not sound great, but isn't that a bit too blunt…
"Your throat is just starting to heal. Can you please not mess around? Wait until it's fully recovered before you try singing again."
"I know you're struggling and want to sing, but now is a fragile time. Singing these broken songs is only hurting your voice more, isn't it?"
"Can't you just slow down? Take it easy."
Xu Qingqiu walked over, took the guitar from him, and spoke earnestly.
But the more Chu Tian listened, the more upset he felt.
What does she mean by broken songs? How are they broken? Aren't these songs good? That was Second-Hand Roses! Who says it's not good?
"How are these broken songs? My songs are fine. Do you want me to write you a couple?"
Are your songs really good? Xu Qingqiu thought. That 'Hey, I say destiny? Or those shoes leaking through the toes?'
As these lyrics from the song earlier echoed in her mind, Xu Qingqiu shook her head resolutely.
"Thank you, but no need. You truly are an outstanding graduate of the music academy; I can't understand how you came up with them."
"I haven't seen you with an instrument for many years. I thought you had given up. Your foundation is solid, and you were excellent once. Now that there is hope, I think you might consider songwriting or composing. It might turn out quite well."
"You never know, maybe one day I'll be singing your songs."
What about the future? Aren't you singing my songs now? Although I didn't write them, I gave them to you, Chu Tian grumbled to himself, losing the mood to continue the conversation.
"You use it. I'm leaving."
On his way back, he was still feeling hurt. Why aren't the songs good? They're great… And what did she mean by that earlier? Does she really think his voice is ruined for life, that he'll never sing again? Does she really not believe in him? What if?
Sitting in his chair, Chu Tian thought for a moment and decided to place his hopes on the system.
Right, I haven't checked all night. I wonder how much my Reputation Points have increased. He hurried to look.
[Host]: Chu Tian
[Reputation Points]: 100W
Songs: 100W
Performance: 0
Literature: 0
Connections: 309
[Personal Skills]: None
[Ability Value]
Singing Skills: Broken Gong Voice
Acting: Broken Gong Voice
Variety Sense: Living Off Looks
A million already? That fast to a million? No, wait! Fuck, does it cap at a million?
He glanced at an exclamation mark next to the Reputation Points.
After clicking on it, a system notification appeared.
[System Notification]: To break through one million Reputation Points, the host must complete a breakthrough task. Please publish a personal work.
Damn! System, are you sick? Why didn't you tell me about the task earlier?
He took a moment to glance at the play count of yesterday's trailer; it was over ten million! And his Reputation Points were only at one million. Does that mean I only earned a tiny fraction of the potential Reputation Points?! Isn't this just screwing people over?
And what a crappy task, too! How am I supposed to publish a work? Sing? With this Broken Gong Voice? Act? Why the hell is 'Broken Gong Voice' also listed under Acting? Does acting even require a voice? Oh right, for reciting lines, but that can be dubbed in post-production, right? And this 'Variety Sense'… what's this about 'Living Off Looks'? I have plenty of Variety Sense, okay? I participated in shows in my previous life, and the audience loved me! How did it suddenly become 'Living Off Looks' here? Seriously, the system has already made all the sarcastic remarks itself. What more can I say? How do I publish a work? I can't actually go write a novel, can I? That doesn't require a voice. Hey? Writing novels might actually work!
Chu Tian immediately got excited and found the system's store, selecting the novels category.
"Web novels, literary novels, classic novels..."
If you want Reputation Points fast, obviously you choose web novels. This doesn't just complete tasks but also earns Reputation Points quickly. Definitely the top choice.
He immediately clicked into the web novels section.
""Candle in the Tomb 1": 10,000,000 Reputation Points? "Immortal-Slaying": 30,000,000 Reputation Points? "Coiling Dragon"..."
Isn't this way too expensive? I only have one million Reputation Points, and your items have an extra zero added to their price? Is this system here to scam me?
"Filter! Price, descending order!"
""Nine Nether Demon Realm": 3,000,000 Reputation Points... "Preaching Martial Arts in the World of Immortals": 3,000,000 Reputation Points..."
Good lord. So, after all that, your lowest price starts at 3,000,000, right? How am I supposed to play this? This is just the system being ridiculously demanding, isn't it?
DING. The system has added a new lottery module. The host may check it.
System, damn you! Are you sick?! First tasks, now lotteries? Are you trying to get me to play a slot machine? If you want Reputation Points, why don't you just say so?
Chu Tian seriously suspected that the system had secretly swallowed over ten million of his Reputation Points, but he had no proof.
What now? What can I do? When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. The only thing to do now is to see what this lottery system is all about.
"System, I want to do the lottery."
DING. The lottery system has been initiated.
Watching the big wheel pop up in front of him, Chu Tian looked on, almost in tears.
"Each lottery draw consumes 100,000 Reputation Points. Prizes include all items in the store. The chance of winning is 20%..."
Hell, so it's really a fleece-the-sheep system, huh? A win rate of only 20%? And it's a freaking 100,000 per try! That means I can only do ten draws at most, right?
"System, start the lottery."
DING. The first lottery draw is locked as a ten-sequential draw. Do you wish to proceed?
"Damn it!" (He mentally slammed his keyboard.)
Chu Tian was about to lose his mind. What the hell is this thing? Is this a system? Are you sure it's not something sent from Heaven to torment me?
Not far from him, the chubby Zhao Yu looked at the imaginary shattered keyboard pieces all over the floor, completely stunned. His shrewd little eyes darted around, and he wisely picked up his laptop and quietly slid to another spot.
Chu Tian was oblivious to his small movements; his heart had already shattered.
This system is too wicked, absolutely inhumane!
With a deep sigh, Chu Tian gritted his teeth and clicked confirm.
Host has confirmed. Lottery begins.
DING. No prize this time.
DING. No prize this time.
DING. No prize this time.
...
DING. You have won the song "Red Roses".
DING. No prize this time.
...
Seriously? After a ten-pull, this is the only thing I got? It really is a 20% win rate. Not willing to give even a little extra, huh? System, you're truly meticulous.
Logically speaking, winning a song was already quite good. He had glanced earlier; the cheapest song cost three million, the same as the novels.
This song was even more expensive. It was clearly a big win, but he was still incredibly annoyed. He constantly felt like he was being fleeced.
And indeed, that was the case.
Watching the Reputation Points that had zeroed out and then started to grow again, Chu Tian knew he was that sheep.
If I want to break through the 1,000,000 limit, I must publish a novel. And to get a novel, I need to keep playing the lottery. As for when I'll actually get one... who knows...