Wang Yue knew perfectly well that there was something wrong with Pandora’s candy. If ordinary sweets could train a person into a dog, the Wrigley Company would have ushered in the cyberpunk era long ago, dividing the world’s oceans with Ferrero and Nestlé to fight over every sugarcane-growing island in the South Pacific.
It took a long while for Pandora’s face to slowly pull back into a coherent expression, though the corners of her mouth remained slumped and her small face stayed stiff.
“I don’t agree!” she cried out in a panic.
She had to be joking. The core of her scheme relied on her Sinful Fragrance. If she couldn’t use her scented candies, how was she supposed to win?
“Are you insisting on using your own candy?” Wang Yue asked.
“Yes, my candy is all from Sunli—”
“Hand the candy over and we’ll distribute them equally. It’s only fair to use the same ones,” Wang Yue said, extending her hand. “Who knows if what you’re holding is actually candy or some supernatural item used for mental manipulation?”
Pandora’s eyes darted around. She felt a growing sense of unease. The more she spoke, the more she exposed herself. This wasn’t a casual negotiation; it was a targeted interrogation!
Wang Yue’s gaze was sharp and deep, like a sashimi blade deconstructing her layer by layer, muscle by fiber, to inspect her internal texture.
A cutting pain radiated across Pandora’s skin. She realized that the strange Senior was right—a dog that had been severely hurt would find it difficult to trust humans again. She couldn’t push the issue of the candy any further. If a third party was brought in to test them, something terrible would happen.
Pandora was particularly terrified of Hush-Name Witches. It was a fear born of the unknown.
“Hush-Name” was merely a title, but in reality, the differences between individual Hush-Name Witches were immense. Their rules, the nature of their Coronas, their hidden trump cards, and their supernatural items were all unique… Furthermore, a Hush-Name Witch was not truly human; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them the personification of disaster.
If a war broke out and a Hush-Name Witch was lured onto the battlefield, the mere radiation from their Corona would cause all living beings within several kilometers to lose their physical forms in an instant. It was nothing short of a natural catastrophe.
Pandora clenched her fists and forced a thin smile, finally agreeing to use the lottery machine.
However, she still had one last card to play.
Even during a brief contact, a small amount of Sinful Fragrance would permeate the candy. It would be enough to trigger the deep-seated yearning for that scent buried in the dog’s memory, provoking an instinctive craving and withdrawal symptoms.
The dog training competition began!
The candies tumbled inside the lottery machine like balls in a powerball drawing.
Each girl took a single piece of candy and held it in their hand. Then, they sat side-by-side in armchairs, each harboring their own secret thoughts.
Dorothy stood by the door, feeling restless. She clasped her hands together and shifted her shoulders awkwardly.
Pandora suddenly stood up. She formed a heart with her fingers toward Dorothy, her lips parting into an “O” shape as her pink tongue flicked against the roof of her mouth. Striking a seductive profile, she spoke in an alluring tone.
“If you choose me, I’ll feed you the candy mouth-to-mouth~”
At the sight of this, Dorothy’s face flushed red. Her neck retracted and her eyes grew frantic; she seemed genuinely tempted for a moment.
Wang Yue’s face darkened. She shot a sidelong glance at Pandora. She hadn’t expected this girl to be so utterly shameless as to sell her own charms just to increase her odds of winning. But, Wang Yue thought, that’s quite the resolve. In that case, I… I suppose I should also…
The young black-haired girl stood with her hands on her hips, leaning forward. Her collar dipped loosely, revealing the slight, snowy-white curves of her chest.
Her cold, distant expression vanished, replaced by a shy peach-colored blush on her cheeks. She knit her delicate brows, her eyes shimmering with a feigned sense of longing as she spoke softly.
“Hey, hey, Dorothy… come play a game with me~”
Dorothy immediately covered her nose, but blood still dripped onto the floor.
Wang Yue looked away, feeling disgusted with herself. Dorothy, she thought, at least you’ll die with a peaceful smile on your face.
“Shall we begin?” Wang Yue asked with a hint of irritation.
“Fine.” Pandora nodded. She had been clutching the candy in her hand for quite a while; the floral scent should be strong enough now.
The two sat back down and opened their hands, revealing the candies between their fingers.
The moment she saw the candy, Dorothy’s eyes widened. Her neck stretched forward unnaturally and saliva began to pool in her mouth, which she swallowed heavily. Then, like a zombie spotting a living human, she reached out her hands and began to stumble forward.
Wang Yue observed closely. She noticed that while Dorothy’s instincts were pulling her toward Pandora, her conscious mind desperately wanted to move toward Wang Yue.
This extreme internal rift caused the pink-haired girl’s eyes to remain fixed on Wang Yue while her body moved uncontrollably in the opposite direction. It was like a train derailment where the conductor stares out the window at the tracks that are slowly drifting away.
Her lavender eyes were filled with struggle and hesitation. Her jaw was clenched so tightly that two hollows appeared in her cheeks, and her entire body was rigid, shivering with cold tremors.
Clearly, just like Lilith before her, Dorothy was fighting her instincts. However, while one had been a fight against self-destruction, this was a fight against temptation.
Wang Yue remained silent, cheering her on in her heart.
The colors of the outside world faded from Dorothy’s vision. Her consciousness retracted inward, focusing entirely on resisting the instinctive craving.
Her mouth emitted a reluctant, raspy sound—a desolate noise like the wind howling through a tunnel. Her muscles trembled with tension and sweat poured off her like sap, making her skin look like oiled iron, gleaming with a hard, wet luster. Her bones creaked with a mysterious rhythm, sounding like a primitive shaman rattling ritual remains…
Dorothy’s neck turned beet-red as she stood frozen between the two of them. She wobbled left and then right, looking as though she were performing a bizarre, haunting dance.
From the right came Pandora’s giggling voice. “Come here. It’s been a long time since you’ve had candy, hasn’t it? Isn’t this your favorite?”
The words were like a devil’s whisper, burrowing into the pink-haired girl’s ears and stabbing into her brain, stirring it frantically.
To the left sat the motionless Wang Yue, providing a powerful sense of connection and hope. She was like a lamp in the darkness, a morning star at dawn, guiding a lost traveler home.
Dorothy finally realized something. Sweetness was impossible to truly remember. No matter how many candies one swallowed, one could never truly recall their flavor; the moment they were eaten, the taste vanished entirely. But beautiful times spent together could live forever in memory.
Tears burst from her eyes, carving two crystal trails down her cheeks. The pink-haired girl felt the invisible leash around her neck snap. She stumbled forward and threw herself into Wang Yue’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Pandora gasped in shock, then forced herself to exhale slowly to hide her loss of composure. She turned her gaze elsewhere, acting like a dog owner who had lost control of their pet but pretended they hadn’t seen a thing. Clapping her hands, she said, “Congratulations, Senior Wang Yue.”
Wang Yue gently stroked Dorothy’s pink hair and pressed the candy into her hand, whispering praise. “You did well, Dorothy.”
Dorothy pushed the candy away. With her eyes closed and her lashes lowered, she leaned against Wang Yue’s lap with an expression of exhausted peace.
“I think…” she murmured, “I don’t like candy that much anymore.”
Pandora pursed her lips in frustration, her mouth shriveling like an old woman’s.
Wang Yue stood up and walked over to her. “It’s time to fulfill the bet, Pandora.”
Pandora shivered. That downward, mocking gaze was terrifying; Wang Yue’s pupils looked like black holes capable of swallowing souls.
And yet, Pandora began to laugh. She laughed even as she shook with fear. Despite being terrified out of her wits, she couldn’t stop the sound. Twitching slightly, she slumped into her chair, unable to cease her hysterics.
Suddenly, a pair of hands pressed against her ribs. A strange power invaded her tissues. She twisted slightly, caught between resisting and inviting the touch.
“It… it tickles…” she laughed.
“You really are quite mad,” Wang Yue remarked.
Wang Yue activated her rule. Her fingertips drew out a grey line, pulling it outward like a loose thread on a sweater. In an instant, Pandora’s twelfth pair of ribs disintegrated!
Wang Yue took a step back and closed her hand. A ball of shimmering, vibrating grey silk strings floated in her palm. These oscillating Life-fibers were heavy enough to equate to the weight of an entire human!
