Is There a Bug on Your Desk?

"Good night."

Chen De pulled the blanket over himself.

In the darkness, Qubi curled up beside the pillow, its tail resting by his ear.

"Good night."

Nothing happened that night.

The next day.

He changed into his school uniform, slung on his backpack, and headed out.

As usual, Qubi tucked itself into the very bottom of the backpack, like a lump of premium custom-made plush lining.

Nothing happened on the way.

No Lesser Calamity.

No animals that could speak human language.

No problems that required him to solve them by wearing a skirt.

Chen De felt like even the air was a little fresher today.

At the school gate.

The elderly security guard gave him a look.

This time, he did not point out the way.

"You're here, student."

"Mm."

Chen De calmly scanned his card and entered.

It seemed the old man had accepted the harsh reality that "this little girl really is a high school student."

He entered the classroom.

Compared to yesterday, the atmosphere was much calmer.

No group of seven or eight people swarmed around him.

No barrage of questions.

Everyone was busy with their own things.

Some were copying homework.

Some were eating breakfast.

Some were sprawled on their desks catching up on sleep.

When they saw him enter, at most they looked up to greet him before going back to what they were doing.

Chen De felt a surge of emotion inside.

Wonderful.

The novelty really did only last one day.

He walked to the last row and sat down.

He put away his backpack.

Jiang Ping's seat to his right was still empty.

He probably had not arrived yet.

Chen De lay on his desk, resting his chin on his arms.

He was bored out of his mind.

There were still twenty minutes before first period began.

He stared blankly at the desktop for three seconds.

Then, as if possessed, he extended his right index finger.

An incredibly faint silver-white point of light condensed at his fingertip.

It was so faint it was nearly invisible.

Like a trace of fluorescent light reflected off his fingernail.

He could use magic now without transforming.

Its power was just about zero.

But it was perfect for practicing mental control.

Chen De slowly drew a circle above the desktop with his fingertip.

A silver-white line extended along the path of his finger.

It closed.

A perfect little circle, roughly three centimeters in diameter, floated two or three millimeters above the desktop.

It was nearly impossible to see with the naked eye.

But Chen De could feel its presence.

A faint hum.

A warm sensation.

Like resting his fingertip over a cup of freshly poured warm water.

He drew another one.

The two circles overlapped.

They rotated steadily.

No explosion.

No drifting off course.

A third one.

Still stable.

The night before last, drawing three circles had already left him drenched in sweat.

But today—

The fourth circle took shape.

It stacked on top.

The four circles piled above the desk like a game of Jenga.

Chen De even had enough attention left to glance out the window.

A bird flew past.

He looked back.

The fifth one.

The light at his fingertip trembled slightly.

The expenditure of mental energy began accelerating.

His temples throbbed faintly.

But nothing went out of control.

Five silver-white circles were stacked neatly together.

Slowly rotating.

The corners of Chen De's mouth lifted slightly.

As expected of me.

Qubi's voice came from inside the backpack, pressed extremely low.

"You're practicing in the classroom?"

"What about it?"

"Aren't you afraid someone will see?"

"With light this faint, normal people can't see it at all."

"Normal people can't."

Qubi paused.

"But that good buddy of yours has a tiny bit of magical sensitivity."

"He might notice."

Chen De did not stop moving his finger.

"He won't be able to tell."

"You're that sure?"

"He can't even spot traps in multiple-choice physics questions. How could he possibly spot the Magic Formation I'm making?"

"Those two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other."

"They do in my mind."

Qubi fell silent for a second.

"Instead of talking about this, why not teach me some advanced techniques?"

Chen De changed the subject.

"What you need to do right now is lay the foundation, not learn fancy tricks."

"Can't you teach me a couple of practical moves while I'm laying the foundation?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because at your current level, trying to learn fancy tricks will only blow you up."

"It's not like I've never been blown up before."

"So you want to do it again?"

Chen De did not respond.

He tried making the five circles rotate at different speeds.

The first clockwise.

The second counterclockwise.

The third clockwise.

And so on.

The five circles rotated alternately like a set of precision gears.

The throbbing in his temples became more obvious.

But it was still within his control.

"Your mental energy is recovering faster than I expected."

There was a hint of surprise in Qubi's voice.

"Maybe it's because I slept well last night."

"It has nothing to do with sleep."

"Then what does it have to do with?"

"Talent."

Chen De waited a moment.

"That's it? No other explanation?"

"No."

"Every time you can't explain something, you brush me off with talent."

"Because it really is talent."

"Then quantify it. How talented am I, exactly? S-rank? SSR?"

"I don't use those kinds of ratings."

"Then what do you use?"

"Feeling."

"You're a cat, and you're talking to me about feelings?"

"Doing magic is all about feeling."

"I never realized you were this diligent before."

Qubi suddenly said.

"I wasn't diligent before?"

"Your math grades tell me you weren't diligent in every area."

"I'm bad at math because math isn't fun."

"Making Magic Formations is essentially math."

"But making Magic Formations glows."

"...So you like making them because they glow?"

"Who doesn't like glowing things?"

Qubi apparently felt there was no constructive value in discussing this topic with him.

It chose to shut up.

Chen De continued maintaining the five circles.

He tried adding a little rotational speed to the third circle.

Stable.

He added a little more.

Still stable.

A faint excitement rose in his heart.

It was like when he was on a roll in a game.

Every move felt silky smooth.

"What if I mastered this to the extreme—"

"You're still a long way from the extreme."

"I mean, hypothetically."

"Even hypothetically, you shouldn't be practicing it on a classroom desk."

"No one can see it anyway."

"I'm telling you again, your best buddy might—"

Smack.

The back door was pushed open.

Jiang Ping walked in with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

Two tufts of hair stuck up from his head, making him look like he had only crawled out of bed after his alarm rang three times.

"Morning."

Chen De nodded in response.

Her fingers silently withdrew.

The five circles instantly dispersed.

Without a sound.

Jiang Ping walked to his seat, sat down, and tossed his backpack onto the desk.

Then he let out an enormous yawn.

It was loud enough to startle the three people in the front row who were copying homework.

"What time did you go to sleep last night?"

Chen De asked casually.

"Two."

"Gaming?"

"Yeah."

"Did you win?"

"Lost."

Jiang Ping's tone was full of the numbness of someone who had been thoroughly beaten down by life.

Chen De held back her laughter.

Back when she played with Jiang Ping, they usually lost too.

But at least they lost together.

Now this kid could only take the blame by himself.

A little pitiful.

But it had nothing to do with her anymore.

Jiang Ping lay facedown on his desk, his head tilted toward Chen De.

"You got here pretty early."

"Habit."

"What were you doing? When I came in, I saw you staring at the desk."

Chen De's heart skipped a beat.

"Daydreaming."

"Daydreaming? You stare at a desk when you daydream?"

"Yeah. It's called meditation."

"Meditation by staring at a desk?"

"Haven't you heard? Focusing your attention on a stationary object can improve concentration."

"Sounds like something they'd say on some health show for old people."

"Don't insult wellness."

Jiang Ping did not press further.

He yawned again.

Then he closed his eyes, probably intending to catch a little more sleep before class began.

Chen De waited more than ten seconds.

After confirming that Jiang Ping was already half-asleep.

She extended her right index finger again.

Energy gathered at her fingertip as she drew another circle.

This time, she did not stack five of them.

She tried adding a triangle inside one circle.

Three faint silver-white lines extended from three points at once.

She deliberately slowed the speed.

As they neared the corners, they decelerated in advance.

The three lines closed.

A slightly rounded triangle rested quietly within the circle.

Chen De almost wanted to applaud herself.

Qubi's voice came softly from inside her backpack.

"You're playing around with things that do not belong to the human world in a classroom full of people."

"You make it sound like I'm running a cult."

"More or less the same in essence."

"This is magic."

"To people who don't know any better, it's a cult."

Chen De ignored it.

She formed another Triangle Formation.

The two overlapped.

They rotated in opposite directions.

It consumed far more mental energy than simply drawing circles.

But it was nowhere near her limit.

She even felt she could stack two more—

"Su Xi."

Jiang Ping's voice suddenly rang out.

Chen De instantly withdrew her finger.

Both Triangle Formations dispersed at once.

She turned her head.

"What is it?"

Jiang Ping opened his eyes slightly.

He tilted his head and looked at her desktop.

His expression was a little strange.

"Is there a bug on your desk?"

"...?"

"I had my eyes closed just now, but I kept feeling like something was moving around on your desk."

Jiang Ping rubbed his eyes.

"Several things, flickering on and off."

Chen De's expression did not change.

"You're seeing things."

"No, I really saw them."

"You went to sleep at two. It's perfectly normal for your vision to be blurry right now."

"Double vision means two. I saw several."

Chen De's temple twitched.

Qubi's voice came coldly from inside her backpack.

"What did I tell you?"

Chen De selectively went deaf.

She casually patted the desktop twice.

"No bugs. See? Spotless."

Jiang Ping stared at the desk for two seconds.

"I really don't see anything."

He rubbed his eyes again.

"Maybe I really didn't get enough sleep."

"You're right. You definitely didn't get enough sleep."

Chen De nodded three times in a row.

"I recommend going to bed before ten tonight."

"Ten? What am I, an elementary schooler?"

"Your visual condition really isn't much better than an elementary schooler's."

"...Why do you roast me just like my buddy does?"

The corner of Chen De's mouth twitched.

"Coincidence."