Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

After the banquet began, the atmosphere was even more lively than Mi Ye had anticipated.

Lu Yue's two mothers sat at the main table far away, toasting and laughing with several old friends. Their laughter could be heard from several tables away, indicating that they had not yet realized that their daughter had arrived.

The group of young witches sat around a large round table by the floor-to-ceiling window, the table laden with exquisite dishes, and the juices and sparkling wines gleaming amber in the crystal glasses.

But no one was paying attention to eating; they were all chatting.

The topics of conversation bounced around the round table like badminton shuttlecocks.

"Have you heard? Academician Meredith recently published a new paper on the extension of boundary conditions for mathematical magic matrices. It's said to be a sequel to her project from three years ago, and the reviewers gave it a perfect score."

The girl wearing silver-rimmed glasses pushed up her lenses.

"Perfect score? Her last paper was just one point short of a perfect score, wasn't it? Has the reviewer finally been won over this time?"

The girl with the high ponytail picked up some food while making conversation.

"Not only that, I heard from a graduate student that the board of trustees is already discussing increasing her lab funding, and the previous proposal to cut funding was directly rejected."

"Have you seen the video of Academician Meredith confronting the university board at an academic conference? She said she'd cut funding, but first cut my paper citations to zero. That was so cool."

"Speaking of Moon Forest, Reminal won first place in this year's freshman scholarship, right?"

A short-haired girl cut in.

"I read her entrance paper, which was about the interdisciplinary application of magic and probability theory. To be honest, I didn't understand it, but it seemed very impressive."

The conversation then jumped to the elective courses that were about to start: who chose alchemy, who signed up for summoning, and who unfortunately chose an introduction to mechanical magic, a course with a supposedly 40% failure rate.

Then the conversation shifted to a professor's teaching style, mentioning that the professor who taught elemental magic liked to extend class time, the young lecturer who taught necromancy always brought a talking celestial cat as a teaching assistant, and the professor who taught the history of magic could stand on the podium for three hours without drinking a drop of water.

They chatted animatedly, some complaining that there were too many exam points to memorize, some showing off that they made a perfect potion in their last lab class, and some pulling out their phones to show everyone their newly bought limited edition wand with a phoenix feather core and a thousand-year-old sandalwood handle, which cost them most of their allowance for half a year.

The conversation then naturally turned to Qianjing Group's new game.

The short-haired girl slammed her hand on the table, making the plates shake.

"Speaking of which! Have you guys played that new game 'Witch Showdown'? It was released last month. I've already reached Gold rank in ranked matches, mainly playing the Ice Witch, and my win rate is 60%."

"Isn't this game developed by Lu Yue's company?"

The girl with glasses turned her attention to the black-haired girl sitting next to Miya who hadn't said much.

"Luyue, can you give us a hint about which class will be nerfed in the next version? I'd like to see if I should switch my main class now."

Lu Yue held her juice glass, her lips just touching the rim, when she was called on. She put the glass down slowly, her tone as calm as ever.

"I can't say, I signed a confidentiality agreement."

"cut--"

The entire table booed in unison in disappointment, but quickly changed the subject with smiles.

Miye sat next to Luyue, with a plate of creamy baked shrimp that hadn't been touched much in front of her.

She kept her head down, gently poking at the shrimp shells with her fork, but her ears were trying hard to catch every word.

Element configuration, magic circuit, matrix boundary conditions, cross-application of probability theory, magic conductivity of the Phoenix Feather Staff core, derivation of the equivalent exchange formula in alchemy, and the principle of spirit stabilization in necromancy.

In her previous life, Mi Ye was at least a college student, though not from a prestigious university, but taking notes in class was never a problem.

To be honest, she couldn't understand a word of these things now, so she could only silently put down her fork and put her hands back into her jacket pockets.

The contrast between the 260 yuan down jacket and a magic wand worth ten years of her life suddenly made her feel a little anxious.

She wasn't jealous; she just suddenly remembered what Meredith had said to her in the lab.

Magic doesn't depend on where you started, it depends on whether you're willing to learn.

She is willing to learn.

Teacher Bie Chenye taught her to feel the vitality of life just yesterday. She touched the heartbeat of the 800-year-old oak. She can do it. She knows she can do it.

But she couldn't bring herself to say these things.

She couldn't very well slam her fist on the table in front of these upperclassmen from Moon Forest and say, "You know what? I can feel the pulse of the leaves." That would sound like a kindergarten kid telling a group of PhD students, "I learned to count to one hundred today."

The waiter brought over the next dish.

The dish was a whole steamed fish, served on a large plate, requiring two servers to bring it out together.

As the waiter bent down, a corner of the tablecloth was lifted, and a gust of wind happened to slip in through the gap in the French windows, causing the white tablecloth, which hung to the ground, to curve in an arc.

Mi Ye glanced down instinctively out of the corner of her eye, then froze.

The carpet was scattered with specks of light.

They are fragments of stars!

She knew that light all too well!

It lay there quietly on the carpet next to the table leg, half-hidden by the shadow of the tablecloth.

Her pupils dilated slightly for a moment, then she quickly regained her normal expression, but her heart involuntarily started racing.

Lu Yue's family booked the entire banquet hall; this expense is absolutely astronomical.

Her fortune-forging device is triggered by the spending of those around her.

The higher the consumption, the more drops there are, and the better the quality.

She had picked up dozens of fragments in a morning at the department store last time, but the fragments in front of her were colorful, and she hadn't seen a single one in the entire department store before.

Miya's gaze swept across the table.

Everyone was excitedly discussing the professor's cat. The short-haired girl was imitating the way the cat stole experimental materials, while the girl with the high ponytail was laughing so hard she was doubled over on the table.

Nobody noticed her.

Lu Yue was whispering something to the girl with glasses next to her.

Her two mothers were catching up with old friends at another table and didn't even look this way.

Miya took a deep breath, pretended to bend down to pick up the napkin that had fallen on the floor, and then silently slid off the chair and crawled under the table.

A heavy tablecloth hung down behind her, isolating the outside world into a hazy, warm yellow halo.

Mi Ye could still see clearly because there were fragments scattered on the carpet. Pale white light spots were embedded in the carpet fibers like sesame seeds, with a few golden ones mixed in, which shone brighter. The most distant colorful fragment was lying quietly next to the table leg near Lu Yue's seat, emitting a faint iridescent halo.

Miya lay on the carpet, her heart pounding. It felt like discovering a hidden treasure chest in a game.

She looked around to make sure there was nothing else blocking her way, then began to crawl towards her goal using both hands and feet.

Halfway up, she suddenly realized that her posture was not right. Last time, she could elegantly pick up the broken pieces by pretending to tie her shoelaces at the department store, but now she was crawling on the ground and wriggling around like a kitten that had sneaked into the kitchen.

Forget it, I'm already crawling under the table, what do I need to maintain my image for now?

Her fingers touched the first white fragment, which silently melted into her fingertips, and a faint warmth spread from her fingers to her wrist.

Constitution +3

Then came the second one, and the third one.

Her movements became more and more skillful.

With his left hand, he picked up the row of white fragments on the left side of the carpet, while his right hand reached behind the table leg to grab the golden fragment that was hidden by the shadow of the tablecloth.

She shuffled forward, her knees scraping against the carpet. The hood of her windbreaker slipped down and landed on her head, but she didn't care.

When I picked up that golden fragment, a warm current surged from my palm all the way to my shoulder.

[Agility +6]

She bit her lower lip to keep herself from making a sound, but in her heart she was already celebrating with fireworks.

In the dim light under the table, the fragments shone even brighter, like tiny stars fallen onto a dark carpet, and she was picking them up one by one and putting them back into her pocket.

She could feel her body changing in a subtle yet real way.

With more air in my lungs, my vision became clearer, and even crawling on the carpet felt lighter and more powerful than before.

I glanced at the panel and saw that the numbers in the attribute bar were jumping up at a visible speed.

My physique jumped from 38 to 41, and then from 41 to 47. The numbers were scrolling so fast it was like I had a double experience card active.

Finally, she climbed up to the colorful fragment.

It lay quietly at the tip of the carpet pile, no bigger than a fingernail, its light not as dazzling as a golden fragment, but flowing with a soft iridescent halo.

Miya swallowed hard, then extended her index finger and cautiously touched it.

Constitution +30

[Agility +30]

Intelligence +30

【Charm +30】

Miya lay on the carpet, staring wide-eyed at the number on the panel, her mind completely blank.

Holy crap, no way.

Did I just combine a low-probability boost to all attribute points with a 1% chance of getting a colored star fragment?!

She bit her lower lip to keep herself from making a sound, but it was really hard to hold back.

Then more star fragments emerged from the carpet fibers.

A white fragment scattered along the base of the table leg, forming a broken band of light. A golden fragment flickered in the shadows beneath the chair, while another colorful fragment lay quietly next to a high heel closer to the edge.

Miya suppressed her wildly beating heart and nimbly moved between the table legs, keeping her body low to the ground.

With her left hand, she picked up the white fragments from the edge of the carpet, while her right hand reached around the bottom of the chair to grab the gold fragment hidden by the tablecloth's shadow. She shuffled forward on the thick carpet, her movements becoming increasingly practiced and skillful.

As the dishes were served one after another, each time the waiter lifted the tablecloth, new star fragments fell down.

She was like a farmer diligently harvesting, bending over to gather the shining fruits into her body one by one.

Another golden fragment melted into his palm, and a warm current rushed up his arm to the back of his neck.

[Agility +6]

Two white fragments in the shadow of the table leg were touched by fingertips at the same time.

【Charm +3】

Constitution +3

A series of white fragments were swept across the folds of the carpet by my palm, and a warm current felt like fine raindrops hitting my body.

Intelligence +3

[Agility +3]

Intelligence +6

……

The numbers on the panel were jumping wildly.

The numbers scrolled so fast she couldn't even see them.

Her intelligence steadily increased, and each increase made her thinking clearer.

Her charm level has long exceeded the normal range and continues to soar at an absurd rate.

She was so engrossed in the joy of this bountiful harvest that she completely forgot she was lying under the banquet table and that a group of the Moon Forest's chosen ones were toasting each other above her.

Until the very last time, she stopped to catch her breath and casually opened the full panel.

[Body Condition 115]

【Agility 122】

[Intelligence Level 108]

【Charm 203】

All attributes exceed 100.

Miya squatted next to the table leg, her windbreaker hood askew, a patch of dust on her knee, and her hands still in the position of rubbing against the carpet.

She stared at the numbers on the panel for several seconds, her light golden short hair sticking up even more wildly from the intense exercise.

From an F-rank loser to having all her attributes exceeding 100, to be honest, these attributes are more than enough for her to be specially recruited into the Moon Forest.

Miya opened her mouth, almost bursting out laughing, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking silently for a while.

Hmm... But my charm has already exceeded 200. Isn't that a bit too high?

There seemed to be an ominous premonition.

Just then, something stirred in her mind, like something that had been dormant for a long time suddenly turning over.

Miya's smile froze on her face instantly.

Her consciousness was gently pulled by a force, and all the images in front of her blurred for a moment before disappearing completely.

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in her own sea of ​​consciousness.

I walked on the bluestone slabs, with the dark blue night sky overhead, and the red lanterns on both sides of the street still swaying gently in the breeze.

Is this her sea of ​​consciousness?

The alleyways filled with fireworks and the city towers shrouded in mist and rain that Meredith described—this is exactly what it looks like.

As if being pulled by an invisible little hand, she walked along the bluestone path, past the window frames with paper-cuts hanging on them, past the little girl squatting on the street corner teasing a tabby cat, and when she saw her coming, she looked up and smiled sweetly.

Miya smiled at her and then continued walking forward.

At the end of the road was a small open space with a circular pool in the center. The pool was surrounded by smooth pebbles, and the water was the color of the starry sky. Countless points of light moved slowly at the bottom of the pool, like fireflies trapped in a glass jar.

When she draws prizes, the pool glows, the water surges, and it shimmers with light.

But now something's wrong with it.

The pool water was black, deeper than the night, thicker than ink, as if it swallowed up all the light that shone on it, and could not even reflect the image of the pebbles on the edge of the pool.

Miya's heart tightened.

I carefully took two steps forward and bent down to get closer to the surface of the pool.

The black water surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a single ripple.

She seemed to see her own reflection.

She had short, light blonde hair, a round face, and honey-colored eyes—exactly the same face she saw in the mirror every day.

But the reflection wasn't looking at herself.

The reflection's eyes were open, piercing straight through the water and meeting Miya's gaze.

wrong.

No, no, no.

The reflection should move with her movements; if she tilts her head, the reflection tilts her head too; if she frowns, the reflection frowns too.

But at this moment, she stood frozen in place, not daring to move, while the person who looked exactly like her was smiling beneath the water.

Then the reflection beneath the water slowly raised its right hand.

The hand passed through the black water silently, without even causing a ripple.

Black water slid down her fingertips, revealing her fair skin.

Miya tried to back away, but her feet felt like they were nailed to the bluestone slab.

The hand grabbed her wrist, and then the reflection pulled her sharply, causing Mi Ye to lose her balance and fall forward into the pool.

The black pool water submerged her mouth and nose, poured into her ears, and overflowed over her head; she didn't even have time to scream.

The sea of ​​consciousness was completely silent.

The light from the red lanterns swayed gently in the breeze. A cat on the street corner yawned. The little girl with her hair in a topknot glanced up at the open space before continuing to play with the cat.

The wishing well returned to calm; the water remained as black as ink, its surface still and undisturbed, as if nothing had ever happened.

A moment later, a line of text floated up on the wishing well.

The Flash of God