This Young Master Is a Magical Boy?

That presence slowly emerged from the shadows deep inside the wardrobe behind him.

Su Bai turned.

A star-shaped spirit glowing faintly purple and gold slipped out of the darkness beneath the wardrobe.

It was plump and floated in midair, like a glowing dumpling.

It fixed its tiny, black-bead eyes on Su Bai and spoke in a playful, cheerful voice.

"Congratulations, chosen maiden of pure heart! The Will of the World has answered your prayers! I'm Kabi, your very own guardian spirit! Let's protect the world together!"

Su Bai raised his right hand without a flicker of expression.

Smack.

He slapped Kabi against the wall.

Kabi's entire spirit body flattened against it, and he let out a piercing shriek.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Physical attacks hurt this spirit too! Why would you hit me right off the bat?"

Su Bai said flatly:

"What kind of ridiculous name is Kabi? Look at me. I'm a man. And where did you come from?"

"You'd better explain in five seconds, or I'll stuff you down the toilet and flush."

Kabi struggled free of the wall, floated back into the air, and rubbed his round face.

Then he drifted closer to Su Bai and finally got a good look at him.

A flat chest.

A prominent Adam's apple.

And...

Kabi's beady eyes widened as far as they could go.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

His shriek of despair was loud enough to lift the roof.

"You-you-you-you're a man! How can a Magical Girl be a man?! The gender rules are broken! What kind of absurd timeline is this? Has the Will of the World gone mad?!"

Kabi darted wildly around the room like a headless fly.

Su Bai reached up, snatched him out of the air, and held him tight.

"Talk."

Kabi struggled with all his might, but he couldn't break free of Su Bai's grip.

All he could do was speak with a miserable look on his face.

"Talk about what?! I'm just a spirit born alongside the Will of the World. My job is to guide Magical Girls as they grow. The Will of the World chooses 'maidens with pure wishes' to become Magical Girls... So what are you supposed to be?!"

Kabi flew a circle around Su Bai, the purple-gold glow around him flickering nonstop.

He seemed to be scanning for data.

"Wait. I'm detecting two incredibly strong sources of resonant will... One comes from that Transformation Guide full of over-the-top incantations."

Kabi froze.

"The emotions left in it are terrifyingly intense. The fervor that girl felt when she wrote it was almost religious..."

Su Bai raised an eyebrow slightly.

Kabi kept scanning.

"The other comes from you. Your desperate hunger for money and your single-minded need for power overlapped with the fervor in that guide for one instant... and triggered a resonance with the world."

He summed it up in a voice drained of all hope.

"So you became a Magical Girl. Or... a Magical Boy?"

Su Bai let go.

Kabi immediately flew three meters away, trembling.

Su Bai leaned against the wall and spoke evenly.

"You said you're a spirit guide?"

"Yeah... I provide combat guidance, intelligence support, enemy analysis... and emotional support."

Kabi added weakly, "But I've never dealt with anything like you! My database doesn't even have a manual for Magical Boys!"

"So you're bound to me now?"

"Yeah... Bound for good. If you thrive, I thrive; if you fall, I fall. If you die, I'll fade away too."

Kabi looked ready to cry. "What did I do to deserve this...?"

Su Bai thought for three seconds.

"Do you eat?"

"No! I only need to absorb the magic that spills out during battles to sustain myself."

Su Bai nodded.

"Then I can keep you around."

Kabi: "?"

"Hey! Could you show me a little respect? I'm your partner now! Why do you sound like you're inspecting livestock?"

Su Bai ignored him and walked toward the bed.

Kabi could only float after him, sulking.

Just then, a sharp crash came from Su Xiaoxiao's room next door.

Su Bai's body went taut.

He rushed out of his room.

He pushed open her half-closed door.

Inside, Su Xiaoxiao was rolling wildly across her bed.

Her cheeks were bright red, her eyes sparkled, and she gripped her phone tightly as she muttered things like "Lady Ziwei" and "fan club."

A glass lay shattered on the floor.

Su Bai breathed a sigh of relief.

He fetched a broom and dustpan, returned to her room, and crouched down to quietly sweep the shards into the dustpan, one by one.

Su Xiaoxiao was still lost in her feverish fantasies, grinning foolishly and muttering to herself.

"Lady Ziwei is so cool... With her around, I won't have to worry about Hajige running into monsters when he goes out..."

Su Bai stopped sweeping and glanced at her.

His little sister had grown up under his overprotective care.

On the surface, she was hopelessly obsessed with her fantasies and called him the embarrassing nickname "Hajige" every day.

But deep down, her fear of this cruel world had never truly gone away.

Now, thanks to an "idol," she could finally sleep soundly.

Su Bai returned to his room and locked the door.

He lay back on the bed, only to find he wasn't sleepy at all.

He raised his right hand and spread his fingers toward the ceiling.

Then he tried to focus.

A faint purple-gold light slowly kindled at his fingertips.

It was barely more than a speck, but it was definitely there.

Su Bai stared at the light and spoke calmly.

"Kabi."

The plump spirit drifted out of the shadows, looking languid.

"What... Can't you let me rest for a while...?"

"I can control... magic?"

Kabi's sleepy expression froze.

He flew to Su Bai's hand and circled the purple-gold glow several times.

"That's impossible... Magical Girls have to complete their transformation before they can control magic... You haven't transformed at all!"

Su Bai narrowed his eyes.

"That's why I'm asking you."

Kabi spun anxiously in midair.

"I... I don't know either! There's never been a recorded case of a Magical Girl using magic without transforming!"

Kabi stopped and stared at Su Bai.

"Maybe it's because you, this 'Magical Boy,' are a bug to begin with? When the Will of the World chose you, there might have been some kind of system error..."

Su Bai said nothing. He just watched the faint light at his fingertips.

Kabi asked tentatively:

"Can you sense how much magic you have inside you?"

Su Bai closed his eyes and concentrated.

A moment later, he opened them.

"Not much. But it's there."

Kabi fell silent for a few seconds.

"Forget it. Your case is absurd enough already. One more oddity—using magic without transforming—hardly makes a difference..."

He sighed.

"A Magical Boy. Unheard of. What is the Will of the World thinking...?"

Su Bai lowered his hand, and the light in his palm went out.

He lay back on his pillow and spoke calmly.

"Whatever. As long as I can use it."

Kabi drifted over to his pillow and settled on the bedside table.

"Hey, are you really going to be a Magical Girl... No, a Magical Boy?"

Su Bai didn't answer.

He simply stared at the ceiling, an unreadable emotion flickering deep in his eyes.