While Vic was plastered against the window searching for the nonexistent "Golden Ticket Chocolates," Enid, with a victorious smirk, flicked her wrist.
Flip.
The Succubus Seduction Guide was turned past the supplementary skills section to the very next chapter.
Vic realized what happened. He closed his eyes in despair, hearing the death knell of his social life ringing loudly.
Enid and Wednesday's gazes were drawn like magnets, instantly focusing on the open page.
The air seemed to freeze in this moment.
On the yellowed paper were illustrations drawn in incredibly fine, detailed brushwork.
The content was so bold, the details so exhaustive, and the postures so... explorative, that they completely exceeded the current knowledge reserves and imagination boundaries of the two girls.
Accompanying the illustrations were calligraphy notes written in flamboyant strokes. The title was earth-shattering:
The Secret Arts Chapter: Union of Soul and Flesh, Ascending to Bliss Together
Below it was a line of small print: "This is the Great Way of Yin-Yang Harmony. Those whose feelings are not deep and whose hearts are not connected must not practice this rashly. Remember this well!"
WOOOOO—
Enid felt a rush of blood shoot straight to the top of her skull. Her entire face turned lobster-red instantly, and visible "steam" practically erupted from the top of her head in a cartoonish fashion!
Her blue eyes went wide as saucers, pupils quaking. Her mouth formed an 'O' big enough to fit an egg.
Her finger trembled as she pointed at the page. Her throat made hh-hh sounds, like a small animal being choked, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.
"Wh... wh-wh-what... what is this stuff?!"
Her voice pitched up so high it cracked. She froze in place like she had been paralyzed; only her ever-heating blush and the "steam" venting from her head proved she was still "alive."
Beside her, Wednesday's reaction was even more... bizarre.
She didn't scream, nor did she blush. Instead, she looked as if her soul had been instantly sucked out of her body.
Her dark eyes completely lost focus, staring blankly ahead. Her lips, usually pursed meticulously, parted slightly and unconsciously.
Her hand holding the stopwatch froze in mid-air, finger still poised to press the button.
Her other hand lifted subconsciously, pressing lightly against her flat chest as if confirming her heart was still beating.
She looked like an exquisite android that had suddenly lost power, fallen into a state of total "system crash."
Vic peeked open one eye. Seeing his two girlfriends in this state, he tilted his head. His eyes rolled, and throwing caution (and dignity) to the wind, a mischievous idea surfaced.
He sat back slowly, reached out, and gently pulled the "source of sin" from the petrified Enid's hands. He closed it and carefully stuffed it into the bottom of his backpack.
Then, he leaned into the space between his two shock-buffered girlfriends. He looked left at Enid's steaming head, then right at Wednesday's vacant eyes.
The corner of his mouth hooked into a smile that was wicked to the bone. Using a tone like a teacher checking if students had memorized their lessons, he spoke faintly:
"So? Illustrated and detailed, explains profound theories in simple terms, right?"
He paused deliberately, enjoying the cute reactions of his girlfriends rebooting, before continuing slowly. Every word scratched at their hearts like a tiny hook:
"You both better study hard, watch carefully, and take serious notes..."
His gaze swept over Enid's burning cheeks and Wednesday's parted lips. He lowered his voice to a demonic whisper:
"Because later... there will be an ex-am~"
He pronounced "exam" with distinct clarity, filled with endless ambiguity and provocation.
BOOM—!
The last shred of reason collapsed completely!
Enid let out a whimper of sheer mortification. She curled up like a cooked shrimp, burying her scorching face deep into her knees, refusing to look up again.
As for Wednesday, the word "exam" seemed to violently hit her reboot button.
Her vacant eyes instantly focused, setting off a storm of emotions—a mix of extreme shame, disbelief, and a trace of... ignited, dangerous curiosity?
She whipped her head around. A breathtaking crimson finally stained her pale cheeks in a delayed reaction. She stared dead at Vic's face, which screamed "punch me."
The next second, she raised her hand. Not to pinch Vic, but to... cover her own eyes. Through clenched teeth, she squeezed out a low growl carrying a tremor:
"Victor Black! You... you are simply... shameless!"
But between her fingers, her ears—red enough to drip blood—betrayed that she was far from calm.
Vic looked at his thoroughly ruffled girlfriends and chuckled smugly heh heh, like a little bear who stole the world's best honey.
"Why bother, why bother~" Vic shook his head like an old sage, feigning a sigh of "I told you so."
"I told you long ago, the content in the back is rated R. Shouldn't have looked, shouldn't have looked."
First, he glanced at Enid, who had curled into a pink shrimp ball, his tone teasing with "as expected":
"My, my. My little Enid has thin skin, so it's understandable she couldn't handle it..."
Then, he shifted his gaze to Wednesday, who had recovered from "petrification" but still had blood-red ears and eyes sharp as knives.
He dragged out his tone deliberately, his voice filled with the mockery of an "unexpected discovery":
"I didn't expect, I really didn't expect... our Miss Wednesday, usually calm as ten-thousand-year-old ice, who takes notes while watching horror movies, would get shy seeing these... hmm, 'academic materials'?"
He leaned closer to Wednesday, almost feeling the cold killing intent radiating from her, yet he continued to poke the bear fearlessly:
"I thought you would use that... uh, frog dissection gaze—purely academic, investigative, and critical—to critique whether the anatomical structures in these illustrations were accurate."
"Oh?"
Wednesday's eyes narrowed slightly, dangerous light condensing like ice picks.
Her pale face showed no expression, but her voice sounded soaked in Siberian frost:
"From your tone... you seem to have done quite a bit of research on such 'academic materials'? It appears you have accumulated a lot of experience?"
This rhetorical question, packed with cold sarcasm, smashed precisely toward Vic.
"Cough, cough!" Vic choked, but a man's pitiful pride and vanity instantly took the upper hand.
He immediately straightened his back, cleared his throat, and tried to put on a "calm and breezy" (but actually "tail wagging at the sky") posture. He waved his hand grandly:
"No, no! I wouldn't say I've accumulated a lot of experience..."
He paused deliberately, then lifted his chin, announcing proudly in a "Bro has seen some waves" tone:
"But at least I'm battle-hardened!"
As soon as the words fell, the car plunged into a weird silence.
Enid finally lifted her still-red face from her knees, blinking her big eyes.
The look she gave Vic was a mix of sympathy and "Keep making stuff up."
The corner of Wednesday's mouth very slowly hooked up into a cold smile with a lethally mocking arc.
"Is that so?"
Her voice was light, but it felt like a silk thread with barbs.
"Boys are like that. Even when they know absolutely nothing, they must posture as if they are battle-hardened veterans."
This sentence was as precise as a scalpel, dissecting Vic's fragile disguise instantly.
"Uh..."
The smugness on Vic's face froze.
And Enid, timely as ever, delivered the final blow. Using a tone like she was chatting about the nice weather, she dropped the bomb that detonated everything:
"Oh~ But, why do I remember... last time Sister Mavis secretly told us..."
She deliberately dragged out her voice, successfully attracting all of Vic's attention, before continuing slowly:
"She said a certain someone can recite the theory backward, but his practical experience score is a big fat zero~"
"He's in the same league as... 'the Monkey King who froze the Seven Fairies with magic, but only knew how to go steal peaches'~"