Why Are You Focused on That?

Click.

The new door handle worked like a charm.

The moment he pressed it down, Chen De felt the dull ache in his back ease by about thirty percent.

He tossed Qubi onto the sofa.

"So rough. I could call the police, you know."

"Like hell you will."

Only then did he rub his back and recline.

"Qubi."

The white cat tilted his head.

"I'm here."

"Did the money come in?"

"Yes."

Chen De pulled out his new seven-hundred-yuan phone. A bank notification sat on the lock screen.

Deposit received: 120,000.00 yuan.

He stared at that string of zeros for a full five seconds.

Then his waist stopped aching, his back stopped hurting, and the memory of being swatted by a tail into an iron pillar began to visibly fade.

He sprang upright.

"I'm going shopping."

Qubi glanced out the window. It was pitch-black outside.

"Now?"

"Now."

"It's nine o'clock."

Chen De looked down at his phone.

21:09.

He lay back down.

"Forget it. I'll go tomorrow."

"A sensible decision."

"Not sensible. I can't get everything I need at this hour."

Qubi curled his tail around himself and settled into a comfortable position on the sofa's armrest.

"What are you going to buy?"

"Lots of things."

Chen De stared at the ceiling and started counting on his fingers.

"First, a decent phone. This seven-hundred-yuan one can be my backup."

"You just bought that one."

"And it's already my backup."

"What else?"

"A new mattress."

Qubi's ears twitched.

"A mattress?"

"I've slept on mine for four years. The springs are digging into my back."

"You just made a hundred and twenty thousand, and your first thought is a mattress?"

"A mattress affects sleep quality. Sleep quality affects magic recovery. Magic recovery affects how well I fight on my next job."

Chen De looked perfectly serious.

"That logic is airtight."

Qubi stared at him for three seconds.

"...I suppose it is."

"Anything else?"

"Some good food."

"Such as?"

"Anything that isn't instant noodles."

"...You fought a Fierce Calamity tonight, and your celebratory late-night meal was instant noodles?"

"I added an egg."

Qubi buried his face in his paws and stayed silent for a full three seconds.

"Your spending priorities make you an outlier among Magical Girls."

"How do the others spend their money?"

"Weapon upgrades, special items, magical equipment..."

"Sounds expensive."

"It is, but—"

"I'm getting the mattress first."

"...Suit yourself."

Qubi gave up.

Chen De added another item.

"I need a new electric blanket too. When it gets cold, all I have is the radiator."

"Isn't the radiator warm enough?"

"I can tell what the temperature is outside while sitting in my room."

"...This place has terrible insulation."

"I should buy more groceries tomorrow too. Cooking for myself will save money."

"You can cook?"

"Sure."

"What can you make?"

"...Instant noodles."

"..."

"The kind with two eggs."

"You need to learn to make a proper dish."

"I can fry eggs."

"...At least that isn't instant noodles."

"So I can cook."

Qubi decided to abandon the subject entirely. It was too exhausting.

"You know, of all the Magical Girls I've worked with, you're the first to make a mattress your first major purchase."

"What did the others buy first?"

"One bought a custom weapon, one made a down payment on an apartment, and one bought a dress."

"How much was the dress?"

"Twenty thousand."

Chen De's fingers stopped moving.

"A twenty-thousand-yuan dress."

"She wasn't happy with her transformation outfit, so she wanted to make up for it with something she liked wearing in real life."

"..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Buying a mattress suddenly feels extremely sensible."

"You were sensible to begin with."

Chen De pulled out his phone again and checked the deposit notification. He couldn't keep the grin off his face.

With a hundred and twenty thousand in his account, even the beating he'd taken had been worth it.

After admiring it for a while, Chen De remembered something else.

"Qubi, did you say another Magical Girl was watching me fight?"

Qubi nodded.

"Yes."

"Her magic was stronger than yours, and she had a better figure."

"I understand the first part. What's the second supposed to mean?!"

Qubi tilted his head.

"Exactly what I said. Her chest is bigger, her legs are longer, and she's taller."

"..."

"It's like how you can tell whether a cat is good-looking."

"You're not a cat."

"I am when it suits me."

Chen De felt that continuing this conversation would only make him feel worse.

When he transformed, he was flat-chested and short-legged. That was a fact. He might as well accept it.

He changed the subject.

"Why was she watching me?"

"Maybe she was curious about the newcomer's abilities. Maybe she's a local checking out an outsider. Or maybe she was passing by and stopped to watch."

"Two of those sound like trouble."

"So let's hope it was the last one."

"But a Fierce Calamity's magic draws nearby Magical Girls to investigate."

"So she probably wasn't just passing by."

"You knew that from the start!"

"I said probably."

Chen De rubbed his temples.

"Don't worry. She made no move to intervene. If she'd been hostile, she would have acted while you were struggling most."

"When was I struggling most?"

"When the tail sent you flying."

"..."

"When you slammed into the iron pillar."

"..."

"When you used your sword to push yourself off the ground."

"Can you stop listing them?"

"Anyway, she's neutral at the very least."

Chen De looked down at his hands. When he'd chopped at the Fierce Calamity's joints, the shock had numbed the space between his thumb and forefinger.

"How much stronger is her magic than mine?"

"About two to three times stronger."

"...So she's way ahead of me."

"For now. Keep taking jobs, fight more, earn more, and you'll catch up."

"So I just keep working until I'm a big shot."

"That way of looking at it makes you an outlier among Magical Girls too."

"That lofty stuff about protecting the city doesn't do anything for me. It feels too far removed from real life."

"Don't you think protecting this city is noble?"

"It is. Doesn't change the fact that I need a new mattress."

Qubi stared at him with a complicated expression for a full three seconds.

"Fair enough."

The night breeze slipped through the window, which hadn't been shut all the way.

Chen De locked and unlocked his phone, checking the deposit notification several more times. He still couldn't keep the grin off his face.

Then the screen lit up again.

An unknown number.

Just six words.

"You fought well tonight."

Chen De stared at the message for a long time, then turned to Qubi.

"She has my phone number."

Qubi's ears twitched.

"And she knows you're using a cheap seven-hundred-yuan phone."

"...Is that the point?!"

"Isn't it?"

"Hell no!"

"How did she get my number?"

"Magical Girls have their own ways of sharing information."

"...So my number's already in someone's contact list?"

"Probably."

"You didn't tell me that either."

"You didn't ask."

Chen De gripped his phone and thought for a long while. Then he opened the keyboard and sent three words.

"Going to sleep."

He set the phone facedown on the sofa and lay back down.

Qubi waited a moment.

"She replied."

Chen De flipped his phone over and took a look.

A smiley face.

Just that one emoji. Nothing else.

He stared at the smiley face, unsure whether to be pleased or speechless. In the end, he turned off his phone.

"I'm getting a new phone tomorrow."

"Today you said a seven-hundred-yuan one was good enough."

"That was today."

Qubi swished her tail twice.

"Because she knows you use a cheap phone, you're getting a new one?"

Chen De didn't answer.

A Magical Girl who fought Fierce Calamities used a seven-hundred-yuan phone, and someone had spotted it at a glance.

It was a little embarrassing.

"Fair enough."

Qubi accepted that as a reason.