The final note dragged on for a long time, as if reluctant to end.
Kiana had her eyes closed, humming softly, her shoulders swaying gently to the lingering melody. It was only then that she realized the backing track had already stopped. The only sounds left in the private room were the hum of the air conditioner and the trailing notes of the screen's standby music.
And so, she opened her eyes.
Shu was sitting right beside her, gripping the microphone in his hand, looking at the perfectly "average" score that had finally popped up on the screen.
The lyrics on the screen had finished scrolling, but Shu didn't move. He just stared blankly at her, as if he still hadn't completely snapped out of the song.
She recalled when Shu had first opened his mouth; his voice had actually been floating. Kiana could hear it.
It was like a person standing on a high ledge, wanting to jump. They take one look down, their legs go a little weak, but they grit their teeth and jump anyway... Hmm, a very vivid image.
And there was also the way Shu had stolen a rapid glance at her right after singing the first line. Even though he was as quick as a thief, Kiana had still caught it.
Hmph, trying to pull a fast one in front of me? Impossible!
Kiana actually wanted to tell Shu he sang really well—so well that she couldn't even find a moment to jump in—but if she said that out loud, wouldn't it mean she was admitting she'd noticed his little covert glance?
How could they keep singing after that?
Therefore, Kiana pretended she hadn't noticed a thing, staring intently at the screen.
Sure enough, keeping her mouth shut was the right move. Shu was noticeably more relaxed by the second line, and his already pleasant singing voice went up another notch...
And then, it happened.
Right after a certain lyric—she didn't pay attention to which one exactly—it felt like it happened in a split second, like someone had flipped a switch.
The entire vibe of the song completely changed...
That person who had jumped off the cliff suddenly discovered they could fly. So, they spread their wings and began to soar.
Yes. A very apt description!
If the first line was like a naturally gifted stat-monster singing for the very first time, the second line was like an advanced vocalist completely letting loose and freestyling.
Then Shu's third line was like having a full-blown holographic movie suddenly slapped across your face, having a fully immersive VR game shoved into your hands, or having a vividly real memory forcefully smeared into your brain.
It was pure emotion. His technique served that emotion like pure instinct, steadily supporting every single word and every vocal run in the lyrics.
In that moment, it was as if nothing else existed in his world except for that song.
Flow state...
Kiana remembered the time on the dance machine. When Shu first stepped onto the pad, he was as stiff as a board, a clumsy goose tripping over his own two feet.
Then, in a similar split second, he suddenly smoothed out.
Snap. It was as if his entire being had been picked up by the music and placed exactly where it needed to be.
She had been surprised at the time, but thinking back on it now... this kind of situation seemed to happen a lot.
In the mall, when Shu was picking out clothes for her, he had clearly only glanced at them for a few seconds before selecting pieces that looked like they had been carefully considered for ages.
And at the snack street, he claimed he was just deducing things, but deductions that accurate...
And there were so many other instances...
So... was Shu a genius?
Shu had seen true geniuses before, and he knew the gap between himself and a real genius was like an insurmountable chasm.
Kiana had also seen true geniuses, so she knew the utterly terrifying level of comprehension a genius possessed in their area of expertise.
For example...
In a fit of absolute rage, she had once entirely bypassed the "walking" stage, evolving straight from a crawling creature to instantly comprehending the "running" skill just to chase down her stupid dad for stealing her pacifier.
Hmm... and her sister, Bianka, had once completely subconsciously mastered the Edge of Taixu just by glancing at it.
But Shu was different from them.
He didn't have that kind of overpowered learning ability that could effortlessly jump from 0 to 100.
So he could only use vastly more complex thinking to bridge the gap between himself and a true genius.
The only way an ordinary person could approach the realm of a genius was to push themselves to their absolute limit, and the best manifestation of that limit was the flow state.
Therefore, no matter what this guy did, he would throw his heart and soul into it. Every time, he would give his all, using every ounce of his strength, leaving absolutely no room for error.
Until he forced himself into the flow state.
...How exhausting must that be?
So exhausting that he had become completely accustomed to this feeling of total immersion.
That must be why Shu hated going out so much... After all, there were simply too many unpredictable encounters outside. If Shu really demanded this level of perfection from himself in everything he did, then his subconscious fear of going outside seemed...
Not entirely unreasonable?
Kiana slowly stopped her humming, turned her head, and spoke softly to Shu.
"How are you feeling right now?"
She put on a very relaxed facade, wanting to snap Shu out of that intense state.
If Shu was really pushing himself to the point of exhaustion all the time, then tonight was the perfect opportunity to let him properly relax.
Yeah, wouldn't it be fine if she just did the singing?
Watch as this young lady uses her beautiful singing voice to heal...
"That felt incredibly satisfying."
Kiana: "???"
Eh?
Wait, who are you?
My Shu could never say something with such a strong, subjective opinion! His dictionary is supposed to exclusively contain words like "It's fine," "More or less," "Whatever works," and "Anything's fine"...
Who are you? You're not my Shu!
"Then who do you think I am?" Shu shot Kiana a look of completely unconcealed exasperation. The expression was so exaggerated...
It was like an anime character coming to life in reality.
Could it be that Shu is actually drunk?
Kiana was shocked, but her brain was also spinning rapidly.
True, Shu had indeed been drinking, but he had only had a single glass of sparkling wine. The alcohol content was so low it might as well have been juice, so he shouldn't be drunk... but it wasn't entirely impossible.
"Shu, stand up and walk a few steps for me, would you?" Kiana decided to test Shu's alcohol tolerance.
Shu stared at Kiana intently for a second, then stood up like a ghost and very naturally walked a perfectly straight line for her.
Then, he sat back down and sighed helplessly at her.
"You don't actually think I'm drunk already, do you..." Shu felt like he had just suffered a massive injustice; he felt Kiana was severely underestimating him.
He really isn't drunk...
Kiana looked at Shu in amazement. His face wasn't flushed, his heart wasn't racing, and his logical thinking was exceptionally clear. She realized he truly didn't have even the slightest hint of intoxication...
No, wait.
The alcohol really did have an effect.
Kiana suddenly realized what state Shu was in.
He hasn't snapped out of his flow state yet!
A person in a flow state inherently filters out a lot of complex information, only conditionally processing the things they are interested in or actively paying attention to.
And alcohol had the saying, "in vino veritas" (truth comes out after wine). Even though most of the time alcohol just made people delirious and slow-witted.
But regardless, being a little tipsy somehow brought one closer to that uninhibited state.
And now, with these two states overlapping within Shu—
Whoa!
A being who subconsciously processes all information through a flow state has been born!
Shu, and you still dare say you aren't a genius?!
Kiana's eyes lit up. She couldn't wait to lean closer to Shu and test it out again.
She wrapped her arms around Shu's arm. This time, Shu let her do as she pleased, showing absolutely nothing but a look of confusion in his eyes.
Even that slight stiffening that usually happened when his arm brushed against something soft—was completely absent!
What a golden opportunity!!