It was already getting late, and Kaz decided to stay in the hospital together with his sister until she finished her surgery.
Louis had nothing else to do and so he returned home, feeling exhausted.
Even when he saw Mrs. Greenwood's dreamscape going online, he didn't bother to enter it and instead took a warm shower.
He already stopped by a street stall for dinner before arriving home, so his plans wound up with crashing into the bed after the shower.
There was no lucid dreaming tonight, but he somehow felt spirituality satisfied, sleeping like a baby.
Perhaps doing a good deed once in a while wasn't so bad after all. However, now he needed to find himself a job.
Next morning arrived quickly, and Louis woke up to last night's dream points income log.
He got 66 points in total, adding to his previous 34 points, rounding up 100 points.
Enough to buy another dream seed.
It seemed that if he didn't interfere in the dreams of his targets, he would receive 33 dream points.
He assumed the system would consume 33 worth of dream points to itself while Fairy also absorbed an equivalent amount for herself.
This was the definition of three-way mutual benefit.
From the previous transactions and with guidance from his intuition, Louis concluded three principles.
He could spend 11 points to send someone into a spontaneous dream, 22 points to send them into a spontaneous lucid dream, and 33 points if he wanted both himself and the target to enter the lucid dream.
However, this would be a one time transaction, unlike using dream points as anchors for future feedback.
In the short term, using points directly was more efficient. He could use 33 points instead of waiting to accumulate 100 for a dream seed.
However, the seed was more cost-effective for long term, especially since he could passively earn back his capital.
Sadly, he was limited to ten slots for dream seeds, so after they were filled up, he'd be forced to spend points for each dream.
At one point, the cost would ultimately exceed the returns, unless the system was upgraded to the next level.
As to when that upgrade would arrive, Louis had a feeling that his intuition would inform him once the opportunity was within reach.
"All those numbers are making me dizzy," Fairy's voice echoed in Louis' mind, much to his surprise.
"Let me help you," she added a moment later with a sighing voice. "Although it's theoretically possible to convert energy into points and vice versa, it's not as easy as you make it out to be. Since the system and myself recovered some energy, I'll unlock the shop for you."
Louis felt something in his body shift, and then, a new system window took form in his vision.
It was a new catalog called the dream shop.
There were a few items available for purchase in the Level 1 shop, and all of them were application cards that could be used with a thought.
Balance: 100P
Dream Seed (100P)
Dream Entry Card (10P)
Subconscious Dream Card (10P)
Lucid Dream Card (20P)
"This is too damn convenient!" Louis exclaimed in delight. "Also, you can communicate with me outside the dreamscape now?"
Fairy responded softly, "Only on the level of consciousness, I still can't take an active part in lucid dreams or influence reality…"
Louis understood, but he didn't mind. Time heals everything.
…
Today, something incredible happened in Classroom D-5.
Louis arrived in class early. Not only that, but he had also piled a stack of books on his desk, and he was revising the study materials.
Everyone who arrived later found themselves dumbfounded, forgetting to take their seats and wait for the first period's teacher.
"Am I seeing things? This dude is actually studying?"
"Okay. Ha! Ha! This was funny. Now, where did the real Louis go?"
"I mean, he did join the study group chat, but I thought it was all a joke."
"He did? I didn't check my phone last night so I didn't know."
"What are all of you doing here, blocking the doorway?" Julie's voice cut through the gossip.
Immediately, the classmates shuffled to their seats with embarrassed expressions.
Julie walked into the classroom with her notes in hand, sweeping her gaze over the room.
The moment she laid eyes on Louis, images of an unspeakable dream surfaced in her mind. Her eyelashes shook slightly, her fists clenched, and her thighs closed up uncomfortably.
However, she took a deep breath before moving her gaze elsewhere. "Everyone get back to your seats. Class is starting soon."
Everyone echoed their agreement and decided not to talk about this unnatural morning.
Although Louis didn't say anything, he was secretly happy with the impact his near 180 flip in attitude had on his classmates.
His connections log now had plenty of new profiles, and although none of them got past the 60% mark, it could at least help him make priorities on who to focus on.
Soon, everyone noticed something odd.
While Louis seemed to be reading the notes and materials, he was actually flipping through them rapidly—almost too rapidly for anyone to believe he was reading anything.
Everyone tacitly agreed in their minds on one thing—this guy is just acting cool.
Louis ignored everyone's thoughts, and the first period's teacher arrived on time.
Although he was a little surprised to see Louis arriving on time, he didn't think too much into it and asked Julie to take today's attendance.
It was the first time in a long time that Louis focused on the teacher's lectures, and even though he wasn't actively participating in the classes, he soon realized that his spirit, thought process, and overall brain activity seemed to have improved.
Is it because my spirit body is improving together with the system? Louis thought to himself, very curious.
He thought the feeling of spiritual elevation was just an illusion, but it seemed like there was more to it than mere satisfaction.
At first, he only planned to focus on subjects with greater emphasis on memory like history, biology, literature, etc.
However, it seemed like he can make an overall improvement?