```html
A message came through on Line.
Uesugi Sakura reached into her pocket for her phone.
The avatar on the screen was a cartoon shark hugging a fiery red chili pepper, and it was a message from Hanamaru Hanabi.
『Sakura, is Aunt Nobuko not coming back today?』
『No』
After Uesugi Sakura replied, the status quickly showed as (read).
『Then come to my house for dinner today. Mom has already prepared the food.』
『Won't that disturb you?』 Though Uesugi Sakura really wanted to go, she said this out of politeness.
The reply came quickly.
『It won't. Mom always welcomes you. With you, Sakura, it's no problem.』
『Alright, I'll come over this evening.』
『Okay』
After seeing Hanamaru Hanabi's final message with an expectant cartoon expression, Uesugi Sakura put the phone back in her pocket.
The Hanamaru family was always very welcoming. Uesugi Sakura looked back at her empty house and couldn't help but feel a twinge of loneliness.
Both her parents were always working late, and there were usually no leftovers at home.
Growing up, dinner was rarely something good, mostly instant noodles, bento boxes, or bread.
Because of this, Uesugi Sakura began to learn cooking herself, though the taste was... not ideal, it was at least edible.
Uesugi Sakura actually had another reason for wanting to have dinner at the Hanamaru's house.
It was that Hanamaru Hanabi's mother, Aunt Meiko, made food that perfectly suited her palate.
Ever since her first visit, store-bought instant noodles, bentos, and bread all tasted like sewage grime, making her detest them.
Sometimes, Uesugi Sakura found herself a bit envious of Hanabi for her constant access to such delicious dinners.
And then upon thinking about her own parents—though one shouldn't criticize behind their backs—the stark contrast made Uesugi Sakura sigh.
"Sigh~."
18:24:56
Uesugi Sakura checked her watch and found there was still some time before dinner at Hanabi's at seven, so she lay back on her bed and resumed working on her own system.
She opened the [Character] interface and browsed through her attributes list.
[Name: Uesugi Sakura]
[Age: 16 years old]
[Height: 174]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Strength: 5]
[Speed: 4]
[Charm: 7]
[Constitution: 5]
[Skills: Reading Lv5 (5/10), Cooking Lv0 (-10/0)]
Reading Lv5: Enhances memory, learning ability, and immersion to a certain extent while reading.
Cooking Lv0: No one likes eating the food you make.
[Special Skills: None]
[Current Status: Normal]
Uesugi Sakura scrutinized each stat, finding it surprisingly accurate.
For instance, Intelligence 7, matched her entrance exam deviation score of 71, approximately.
...
In fact, seeing the cooking experience was -10, Uesugi Sakura fully believed in the panel's accuracy.
Lately, her cooking seemed to be getting worse.
People always say life is about looking forward, but her situation felt like moving backward.
Uesugi Sakura noted a '+' symbol next to each attribute, implying progression.
For example, Speed 4 was (0/8); Speed 5 was (0/10); Speed 6 was (0/20); Speed 7 was (5/40);
Speed 8 would be (1/80)
Speed 9 would be (1/160)
A value of 5 was a dividing point, requiring more points for progression.
Uesugi Sakura figured it out, closed the character panel, and accessed the [Backpack] feature.
She found the Black Gold Card and clicked to use it.
A notification sounded in her mind.
[You used the Black Gold Card from Yog Sotos (gift version). Drawing, please wait...]
[Drawing...]
A special sound effect soon reached Uesugi Sakura's ears.
[Attribute Point ×1]
[Attribute Point ×1]...
Repeating 12 times, the mechanical voice suddenly changed.
[Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1 (Advanced)]
[Attribute Point ×1]...
And so it repeated for another 17 times...
Afterward... there was nothing more.
After waiting a bit longer, Uesugi Sakura confirmed that the so-called top-quality Black Gold Card was exhausted.
[Collecting results, please wait...]
Results were: [Attribute Point ×29], [Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1 (High Rare)], please check.
Note: For the first three times a card is drawn, besides the skill card, all other draws will yield attribute points.
Is this all there is to the so-called top quality?
However, Uesugi Sakura wasn't too frustrated; upon seeing the heartless gacha system, she was prepared; after all, it was a heavensent system, better than nothing.
[Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1]
Description: When executing a specific understood objective, corrects actions with a probability of reaching flawless precision.
Current probability: 10%
Note: This probability is used for extra precision enhancement, not affecting one's own judgment.
After a quick glance at the introduction of [Precise Skill Activation Card Lv1], Uesugi Sakura pressed to use it.
[Skill activated: Precision]
Returning to the character interface, Uesugi Sakura found the 'Precision' attribute added to her skills.
[Precision Lv1 (0/5)]
Seeing it was indeed activated, Uesugi Sakura closed the system interface as she had nothing pressing to do and wasn't in a hurry to allocate attribute points.
18:46:23
She got up, went downstairs, changed shoes at the entrance, and headed to the Hanabi's house next door.
This was a standard single-family Japanese home, surrounded by stone walls, with a small garden with flowers and plants outside. A white sign hanging by the gate bore the name "Hanamaru."
Such a house in the Shinjuku District didn't come cheap.
Uesugi Sakura walked in and rang the doorbell.
With a ding-dong, Hanamaru Hanabi's voice came through the small speaker next to the door: "Sakura, please wait a moment."
Not long after, following a sound of hurried footsteps down the stairs, Hanamaru Hanabi, in a pink jacket, opened the door.
"Good evening."
"Good evening...Sakura."
Hanamaru Hanabi spoke in a small voice, her bright eyes looked at Uesugi Sakura, then showed a sweet smile, continuing to say: "Sakura, come in."
"Okay."
Uesugi Sakura nodded lightly and, without further word, followed Hanamaru Hanabi inside.
They walked into the living room.
The Hanamaru house leaned more modern, with a living room connected to the kitchen, the whole layout feeling very spacious.
As soon as they entered, they saw a middle-aged woman, probably in her thirties, busy in the kitchen.
"Good evening, Aunt Meiko," Uesugi Sakura greeted politely.
Hanamaru Meiko, who was chopping vegetables, hearing Uesugi Sakura's voice, hastily turned around and smiled at her:
"Sakura's here. Good evening, have Hanabi take you to the living room first, the food will be ready soon."
"Alright," Uesugi Sakura nodded in agreement.
Hanabi's mom had a lovely smile, sharing her daughter's vivid purple eyes, not particularly tall, with flowing shoulder-length hair looking exceptionally soft.
Though Uesugi Sakura often met Aunt Meiko, every time she saw her smile, she couldn't help recalling the little girl of the past clinging to her leg, clutching at her clothes with trembling eyes full of fear.
That was over ten years ago when they first met...
Just after speaking, the soup Hanamaru Meiko was making started boiling, with a ding-dong sound of collision. She quickly turned around and turned off the heat.
Watching the bustling Hanamaru Meiko, Uesugi Sakura couldn't help but ask Hanabi beside her:
"Auntie still likes to handle several dishes at once, huh?"
"Mom says cooking this way is faster, and she can manage the time better."
Hanamaru Hanabi craned her little head, glanced over, then turned back to continue speaking to Uesugi Sakura:
"Sakura, have a seat in the living room first. I'll go get some barley tea. Would you like some snacks before dinner?"
"No, it's fine. Just tea is enough."
```