"Victor, I never knew you had this kind of hobby."
Enid crossed her arms and cast a deep, knowing glance at Victor, who was still covering his face in a futile attempt to play dead. Her tone carried a hint of reproach and a heavy dose of seeing right through him.
"I'm sorry, I'm guilty..."
Victor peeked out with half an eye through his fingers, his voice muffled, filled with genuine remorse and a lingering trace of embarrassment.
Heaven knows what came over him just then.
"Enough! Victor, start the next round!"
Wednesday's icy voice cut through Victor's self-reproach and Enid's teasing.
She had already returned to her seat on the edge of the bed, hands resting flat on her knees, her back ramrod straight. It was as if the person who had jumped up in shock, cheeks blazing red after having the sole of her foot licked, was someone else entirely.
Despite her best efforts to maintain her usual icy demeanor,
the faint blush that hadn't fully faded from her pale skin, and the flame dancing in the depths of her eyes—brighter than ever before—betrayed her utterly uncalm heart.
It was a flame mixed with shame, indignation, unwillingness, and a thoroughly ignited competitive spirit.
"No more! I'm done playing!"
Victor shook his head like a rattle-drum, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a big 'X'.
"If we keep playing, someone's going to get killed! I surrender! I forfeit! Let's just pretend the wager never happened!"
He was genuinely a bit scared. That earlier 'accident' was stimulating enough. If things really escalated... "The stakes are doubled."
Wednesday's red lips parted slightly, uttering four words. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a massive rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand ripples.
Victor and Enid both froze simultaneously, turning to look at her in unison.
Wednesday's gaze met Victor's stunned one calmly. Word by word, she enunciated clearly:
"The winner can have the two losers complete one thing together."
The air seemed to freeze solid.
"T-two? T-together?!"
Enid was the first to react, her sapphire-blue eyes widening into perfect circles, her voice cracking.
"That's so intense?!"
She grabbed Wednesday's shoulders and began shaking her vigorously, exclaiming in a flustered, embarrassed whisper:
"Wednesday! Have you lost your mind?! What if... what if we both lose, then wouldn't we... wouldn't we..."
Perhaps uncontrollable images of something unspeakable flashed through her mind. Enid's face flushed crimson once more, her voice growing smaller and smaller until it was almost a mosquito-like hum.
"I will not lose."
Wednesday's tone was calm and unrippled, yet carried an indisputable certainty, as if victory was already hers for the taking.
Her dark eyes turned sharply towards Victor, holding a naked challenge.
This powerful confidence, instead, acted like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing Victor's desire to retreat and igniting the innate, crazy competitive spirit and refusal to admit defeat in his bones.
"Oh?"
Victor slowly lowered his hands. The playful, joking expression on his face receded like a tide.
He narrowed his peach blossom eyes slightly. Deep within his pupils, dark vortices seemed to be gathering. The corner of his mouth lifted into a curve blending danger and extreme excitement.
His entire aura abruptly changed, switching from his earlier act of admitting defeat and playing dead to something else... a posture of a hunter.
"Well, well... my dear Wednesday, are you that confident?"
His voice lowered, carrying a hint of lazy magnetism, yet also containing a formidable force.
"Don't capsize the boat and end up getting yourself caught in it too, you know~"
He straightened up leisurely, reaching up to sweep back a few strands of black hair that had fallen across his forehead, revealing his smooth brow and eyes that now appeared exceptionally profound.
"Since you've shown such'sincerity'~"
Victor licked his slightly dry lips. His gaze, almost tangible, swept over the battle-ready Wednesday and the bewildered Enid.
"Wouldn't it be a shame if I didn't let you witness my true abilities?"
"W-wait! Stop!"
Watching the atmosphere take such a sharp turn for the worse, Enid quickly waved her hands between the two of them, trying to interrupt the inexplicably ignited conflict.
"I mean... it's just a game of Parcheesi! Why are you two acting like you're fighting for world domination with such burning passion?!"
She looked at the left, at Wednesday who seemed to hold victory in her grasp, her gaze icy. Then she looked at the right, at Victor who had unleashed his full aura, smiling like a sly fox. She felt her head was about to split.
These two, whenever they face off, why do they always so easily steer the atmosphere into some weird hybrid of a Hot-blooded sports anime (hot-blooded sports anime) and a Love Mind Battle (romantic mind game)?!
Wednesday ignored Enid's Make complaints (roast/complaint), silently and precisely resetting the scattered Parcheesi pieces with swift movements.
Victor, meanwhile, flashed Enid a reassuring smile that only made her more uneasy.
"Don't worry, Enid darling, there will be a result soon~"
He cracked his knuckles, the sound crisp. His gaze returned to the board, sharp as a hawk's.
"The game continues. This round, we bet everything."
The Parcheesi dice was tossed high once more, tracing a fate-deciding arc in the air.
This time, the weight of the wager was heavy enough to make the air in the room feel thick and scorching.
The real 'war' was only just beginning.
Wednesday's fingertips unconsciously rubbed a blue game piece. Beneath her ice-cold expression lay absolute confidence.
In her view, the outcome of this showdown was already predetermined—
With her and Enid Joint blockade (joining forces to block/contain him), victory was merely a matter of time.
But she overlooked one variable powerful enough to Overturn all rational calculations (overturn all rational calculations):
The terrifying potential that a hormone-fueled teenage boy, his mind filled with indescribable thoughts and stimulated by a 'huge reward,' could unleash.
With sufficient temptation placed before him, Victor's brain—usually dedicated to Crazy fun (crazy fun) and Acting cute (acting cute)—instantly switched into 'top strategist' mode.
The fragmented theories from the succubus cultivation guide were long forgotten.
What now surged through his mind was a far more profound and deadly crystallization of wisdom from an ancient Eastern land—"Thirty-Six Stratagems" (Thirty-Six Stratagems)!
From this point on, the Chess game (chess game/board game) was no longer a simple matter of rolling dice and moving pieces. It became a peak showdown (confrontation) of psychology and strategy, a bloodless yet Step by step, deadly. (every step fraught with danger) battle!
Thirty-Six Stratagems: Feint to the East and Attack in the West!
Victor pretended to escort (fully escort) one seemingly ready-to-take-off 'decoy' plane, attracting Wednesday and Enid's Concentrated firepower interception (concentrated firepower to intercept). Secretly, he used a precise roll of six to Sent out quietly (silently send) another, truly main-force plane out of the crowded starting area.
Thirty-Six Stratagems: Cross the Sea by a Trick! (Advance by a hidden path)
Just as Wednesday's pieces were about to encircle Victor's, he utilized the rule allowing'stacked pieces to jump.' Using one of Enid's pieces that unintentionally blocked the path as a springboard, he narrowly avoided a Fatal Strike (fatal blow) and instead Go around (circled around) behind Wednesday's main force piece.
Thirty-Six Stratagems: Await the Exhausted Enemy at Your Ease!
Victor was in no hurry to launch all his planes from the start. Instead, he deliberately kept two as 'ambush troops,' forcing Wednesday and Enid to split their attention defending multiple fronts, unable to concentrate their Superior forces (superior forces) to strangulation (annihilate) him.
The Chess game (board game) situation was unpredictable (constantly changing and unpredictable). Victor applied the principles of Reality and Illusion (falsehood and truth), Qizheng (unconventional and conventional), attack and defense (offense and defense) with masterful skill.
Every move seemed random (casual), yet each held hidden mysteries, mobilized (maneuvering) his two girlfriends' pieces until they were Exhausted (running around exhausted).
Enid was Confused and ignorant (muddled) at first, just acting on instinct and Wednesday's commands. But gradually, she too sensed something was off about the atmosphere on the board.
That guy Victor, smiling all harmless and innocent, yet there was a cunning, calculating ruthlessness in his moves. It made her feel like she'd fallen into a spider's web—the more she struggled, the tighter she got entangled.
As for Wednesday, fine beads of cold sweat had already appeared on her temples.
She stared fixedly at the board, her brain operating at an unprecedented speed, calculating every possible outcome.
She found that her prideful logic and computing power (computational abilities) were actually somewhat stretched thin (inadequate/stretched thin) against Victor's so-called Thirty-Six Stratagems.
Since when did this guy... become so formidable?!
However, Victor's 'offensive' extended far beyond mere strategic Strategy (stratagems) on the board.
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