Lan Qingyou, drifting back toward sleep, suddenly jolted as she remembered that the voice she'd just heard belonged to the world consciousness.
She opened her eyes again and listened quietly.
Sure enough.
Just like last time, it didn't take long for the world consciousness to tally the results of this grading period.
【...Grading complete.】
【E-grade: 3,309,158,233 people. Reward: 1,000 obsidian.】
【D-grade: 568,144,284 people. Reward: 100 D-grade monster cores.】
【C-grade: 60,282,518 people. Reward: 10 mana crystals.】
【B-grade: 195,182 people. Reward: 1 D-grade optional tool, 1 optional book.】
【A-grade: 25,684 people. Reward: 1 D-grade optional spell, 1 D-grade optional tool, 1 optional book.】
【S-grade: 13 people. Reward: 1 C-grade optional spell, 1 C-grade optional tool, 1 optional book.】
【Rewards have been distributed. Please choose carefully.】
Is C-grade still the highest tier for rewards?
The world consciousness really is stingy...
Thinking this, Lan Qingyou closed her eyes once more.
To her, no matter what her grade was or what the rewards were, nothing was more important than sleep right now.
The rewards weren't going anywhere; she could check them after she woke up.
When she opened her eyes again, it was already dusk.
"Ahhh—"
Lan Qingyou let out a long yawn, her hands and feet dangling limply as she floated toward the bathroom downstairs.
Seeing this, Steel Wool immediately hopped onto her shoulder.
Her body sank slightly under its weight.
"Steel Wool, have you gotten heavier again?"
Lan Qingyou mumbled listlessly as she flew.
"Squeak?"
Steel Wool stared at her with its large yellow eyes, looking as if it thought she was joking.
"I guess you're growing up."
"Squeak—squeak—"
Steel Wool hopped twice on her shoulder.
"You should be able to fly by now."
At that, Lan Qingyou turned her head to look at Steel Wool.
The girl and the owl stared at each other.
"Squeak."
Steel Wool stopped and rotated its head 180 degrees, leaving Lan Qingyou staring at the back of its snowy-white head, which was speckled with grey markings.
"Don't play dumb with me. Don't think I don't know you fly around every night while I'm sleeping."
Lan Qingyou spoke through gritted teeth.
"Squeak!!"
Steel Wool was startled, but it didn't turn back, looking like it was sweating bullets.
"Heh, playing dumb, are we?"
Seeing this, Lan Qingyou arched an eyebrow. She reached out, grabbed Steel Wool, and tossed it forward.
"Off you go!"
"Squeak! Squeak!"
Flap, flap, flap—
Steel Wool let out a few startled cries as it was thrown, but it quickly beat its wings and flew right back to her shoulder.
"Still going to play dumb?"
Lan Qingyou narrowed her eyes, looking at Steel Wool with a smile.
Steel Wool repeated its trick, rotating its head 180 degrees to give her the back of its head again.
"You little rascal, look at me!"
Seeing it pull the same old stunt, Lan Qingyou felt a surge of irritation. She reached out with her five fingers, gripped the top of its head, and forced it to turn back.
It was getting out of hand. Who taught it to turn its head away every time it was questioned?
Thus, with one refusing to face her and the other forcing a confrontation, a long tug-of-war began.
But how could the tiny Steel Wool be a match for Lan Qingyou?
In a few minutes, she had successfully pried its head around.
To her surprise, the crafty little thing simply squeezed its eyes shut.
Finding no other way, Lan Qingyou simply dropped it at the bathroom door.
After she finished washing up, Lan Qingyou saw Steel Wool playing by itself and ignored it, flying up to her magic desk on the third floor.
"Squeak!"
Steel Wool flew over, landed on her shoulder, and nuzzled her face as if trying to suck up to her.
"Squeak, squeak!"
"Shoo, shoo. I don't need a disobedient child in my house."
Lan Qingyou grabbed Steel Wool, tossed it aside, and spoke with a look of feigned disgust.
"Squeak! Squeak-squeak!"
Steel Wool tried to hop back up to appease her, but every time it took off, Lan Qingyou blocked it with her hand. It hopped around in frustration, tugging at her clothes with its beak and rubbing against her legs.
Lan Qingyou watched Steel Wool quietly, seemingly deep in thought. Then, she floated up and opened the window behind her.
The mana tide had ended over ten hours ago, and it was calm outside.
Aside from the cold wind blowing in and stinging her face slightly, there was no danger.
Whoosh!
Lan Qingyou looked at Steel Wool with a cold expression, then flicked her finger toward the window.
"Squeak—"
Realizing it couldn't escape this time, Steel Wool fluttered a few times and landed on the windowsill. It lowered its head to apologize, looking incredibly pitiful.
But Lan Qingyou wasn't falling for it. She glared at it.
"Fly out and find your own food. From today on, I won't provide you with any more food."
"Squeak."
Steel Wool let out a soft mutter. Seeing the unprecedented seriousness on Lan Qingyou's face, it realized the gravity of the situation.
After one last cry, it reluctantly flew out.
Watching Steel Wool's figure soaring through the air, Lan Qingyou finally nodded in satisfaction.
After all, every fledgling must spread its wings one day.
Now that she knew Steel Wool could fly, she couldn't let it keep scurrying around her like a spoiled child.
Soaring in the sky was what a snow owl was meant to do.
Whether it was flying or hunting, it needed to accomplish those things on its own.
As a human, Lan Qingyou couldn't teach it those skills at all.
She closed the window, then went to the fourth floor to open a window there to leave a way back in for Steel Wool before returning to her magic desk.
The grading results had already come out while she was asleep.
So, when Lan Qingyou opened the rankings, she went straight for the S-grade.
Only thirteen people achieved S-grade this time. Compared to the previous fifty-eight, this wasn't just halved; it was a total decapitation.
But it made sense upon reflection.
After all, the criteria for contribution were far too vague; there was no clear standard at all.
The only thing everyone could be certain of was that 'creating something new, or more accurately, something Kalim doesn't have, would yield a massive amount of contribution points.'
Both Lan Qingyou and certain people in the villa understood this deeply.
As for shelter levels and individual levels, those were even more obvious.
Lan Qingyou's tower was Level 5, which seemed high and came with many new functions. However, within the villa, thanks to Vivian and Shang Chuan, both the vital mana crystals and other ores could be traded freely.
This resulted in almost everyone in the villa having a Level 5 shelter.
In terms of level, it went without saying—Lan Qingyou had barely leveled up at all.
So, despite her earlier display of nonchalance, she was actually quite worried about whether she was among those thirteen S-graders.
It was like a gacha pull; no one knew what would come out.
Rate on N.U.
