Chapter 77: Fixing Code, Lucy's Extra

Lucy, wrapped in a white bath towel with her wet hair dripping, ran into Nate's room, only to catch him holding her underwear.

'I can't show my face anymore!'

'Just let the world end!'

"Give it back!" she yelled, rushing toward him to snatch her undergarment. But as she ran, she slipped, flying forward.

"Ah—!" Lucy screamed, about to land flat on her face.

Nate stood up and caught her, saving her from a hard fall. Fresh out of the shower, Lucy smelled of fragrant body wash.

"Be careful," Nate said helplessly. "Are you trying to break your neck over a pair of underwear? It's not worth dying for."

"Th-thanks," Lucy stammered in shock, before quickly realizing what Nate had said. She immediately snatched her underwear back, embarrassed.

"You shouldn't be talking! This is all your fault! Forget it ever happened!" she fumed, her face turning a deep shade of red as she hurriedly crumpled the black lace underwear in her hand and hid it behind her.

In her panic, she forgot that she was only wearing a bathrobe. The quick motion caused the robe to slip open, exposing her chest.

Nate instinctively made a comparison. His "Six Eyes" ability kicked in, capturing every little detail.

'About the same complexion as Ultear… and about the same size.'

"Ahhhhh!" Lucy screamed.

…

A few minutes later, Lucy had changed into pajamas, though they happened to be Nate's men's pajamas. She sat at the tea table in a duck-like posture, holding a steaming cup of chamomile tea, her face flushed with embarrassment. Every now and then, she shot a resentful glance at Nate.

'I'm so done! He saw everything! This is all his fault!'

'Although it's not exactly his fault… but still!'

'Blame the slippery floor!'

As she took a sip of the tea, the fragrant, almost vanilla-like flavor spread across her tongue. She blinked in surprise.

'This tea is really good, what is it?'

"It's chamomile tea, a gift from the Magic Council chairman," Nate replied, while working on some code, still managing to answer Lucy's unspoken question.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Lucy widened her eyes.

"Our voice chat is still on."

Nate chuckled. "You've been mentally cursing me for a while now, haven't you?"

Lucy froze on the spot.

"You're really pale," Nate teased, making her flush even more.

"Shut up! Forget about it!" Lucy shouted, embarrassed and flustered.

"Stop messing around, can't you see I'm busy?" Nate replied.

After a bit more banter, Lucy finally calmed her shame. Nate shook his head, pushing aside the lovely image of her, and focused back on his code.

Fixing the [Magic Net Express] bug was simple—just switch the sender and receiver. But the voice chat was a bit more complicated. He combed through the code but couldn't find the exact problem.

'But is this even a bug?' he thought. 'Telepathy can already read someone's thoughts, after all.'

Though Nate had only learned the basics of 'Telepathy', this unintended ability to hear inner thoughts seemed to have embedded itself in the deeper code of the 'Magic Net'.

"So, I guess what I need to do now is tone down the voice chat feature."

"Reading people's inner thoughts could be a premium feature—maybe some couples would enjoy it," Nate mused, deciding to leave things as they were. He'd hit a programmer's wisdom: 'If it works, don't mess with it.'

With that, Nate quickly began writing the code for a downgraded version of the voice chat.

In essence, he was "trimming" the feature. The basic version would only transmit spoken thoughts, while the advanced version would also broadcast inner thoughts—with both users' consent, of course.

However, that restriction didn't apply to Nate. He could "help" others enable it if he wanted to.

As he typed away furiously, Lucy sat beside him, silently watching him work while sipping her chamomile tea. Before long, her thoughts wandered, and she blushed again, recalling the embarrassing moments from earlier.

'When I look at him closely… he's exactly my type.'

'He's handsome, one of the Ten Wizard Saints now, and he invented the Magic Net…'

'If he were featured in the "Weekly Sorcerer" rankings, he'd be top of the "The wizard I'd like to be my boyfriend" list for sure!'

'Wait! Did I turn off the voice chat!?'

Lucy suddenly panicked, hastily checking the Magic Net to make sure the chat was off. Only after confirming did she breathe a sigh of relief.

'If he had heard all of that… I would die from embarrassment!'

"All done!" Nate announced as he finished fixing the bug. He turned to see Lucy still blushing and was taken aback.

"Is it really that embarrassing? Want me to strip too, so we're even?"

"Absolutely not, you pervert!" Lucy snapped, shooting him a glare as she set down her now-cold tea and stood up.

"I'm going to bed!"

"Wait," Nate called, standing up and grabbing her arm.

"What now…?!"

As she turned around, Nate leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Lucy's eyes went wide in shock, staring at him in disbelief.

'My first kiss!'

"Feeling better now?" Nate asked with a smile after kissing her for a good ten seconds.

Lucy, dazed and blushing furiously, covered her mouth. She stiffly turned, like a machine stuck in slow motion, and muttered, "I-I-I'm going to bed… goodnight!"

Then, like a startled animal, she dashed out of the room.

'Her reaction is adorable,' Nate thought with a quiet chuckle.

What Lucy didn't know was that, although she thought she had turned off the voice chat, Nate could still hear her inner thoughts. He smiled to himself.

"Ugh, I was too impulsive—shouldn't have rewarded her like that," Nate muttered as he sat back down, chatting briefly with the Magic Council chairman and Jason to ensure they knew how to use the new features.

Once that was confirmed, he synced the update across the Magic Net. After posting an update announcement, he pushed the 'Sync' button.

In an instant, all accounts temporarily lost connection with the Magic Net.

"Finally, I can get a good night's sleep," Nate sighed with relief.

But before heading to bed, he posted a pinned message on the forums:

[Bug Report Thread for the New Update]

'There might still be some crazy bugs lurking around. Better have a feedback channel just in case,' Nate thought.

Finally, he collapsed into bed, too tired to even bother with a bath.

…

Meanwhile, back in her room, Lucy lay tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. Her mind kept replaying the kiss, and she couldn't shake the strange feeling it left her with.

All she could think about was Nate and the overwhelming sensation from their kiss.