Her cutesy voice brushed past my ear.
Thanks to the cursed talent [Gift of the Grind King], my mind was too clear, and every warning bell in my head went off.
My logic kicked into overdrive in a tenth of a second.
Seraphina Xavia.
One of this school's rich campus belles.
People talked about her looks and her body, but what really made her famous on the forums was how fast she swapped boyfriends, and there were also ugly rumors about her messing around with guys who already had girlfriends.
After how she acted during break, it was easy to connect the dots.
Seraphina was the kind of girl people back in my old world would call a pick-me.
She didn't want equal attention.
She wanted to stir up competition between guys through hints, flirting, and mixed signals, and then she'd get her kick from watching them fight over her.
That classroom mess started because she casually said, "My throat's a little dry," and to her it was just a show that proved how much pull she had.
And she enjoyed it.
I leaned back and acted like her attention was burning my skin.
My fingers tightened around the book, and I lowered my head like I was flustered, but I kept thinking under my bangs.
How did a top predator like her lock onto me?
The answer was obvious.
It was the standoff with Leo.
I didn't fold, and I didn't swing back, but I used logic and words to break his push without much effort.
That difference caught her interest.
Not attraction. Just curiosity.
She wanted to pluck an unfamiliar flower and see what made it different inside.
If I responded to her the same way I handled Leo in the classroom, and if I stayed calm while I gave a few flat replies to brush her off, then what would happen?
Her interest would only spike.
Her hunt would heat up, and she'd put more time into winning me, and my quiet study routine would get wrecked.
No way.
Wouldn't that drag me into the most corny school webnovel plot?
"The Ice-Cold Goblin Gets Targeted by the Saintess."
"The Pick-Me Heiress Next Door Is Way Too Friendly."
"Runaway Romeo."
Just thinking about those dumb titles made my stomach turn.
My goal was simple.
I would stay a nobody, be a background extra, and then I'd take Province Topper in three years and leave this place behind.
If I got pulled into the center of the story, flunked exams, and rotted in this other world for the rest of my life…
That could not happen.
With that strong urge to survive, my brain built the only way out fast.
I had to make her lose interest, and I couldn't prove I was special.
I had to prove I was ordinary.
So…
Act.
I had to act.
And I had to act hard.
"Hi, Luke."
She greeted me in a voice that was so sweet it felt thick, and it sounded soft enough to drip. "About what happened in class earlier… thank you."
First probe. Here we go.
Her eyes carried a curious smile as she stared at me, so I lowered my head even more.
I stared at a few blades of grass that had been stepped crooked and I refused to make eye contact.
"I-it was nothing…"
The words squeezed out of my throat, low and blurry.
"Th-that… I… I didn't really do anything…"
"How could it be nothing?" Her voice dropped, and it turned into the kind of tone girls use when they share a secret with a close friend.
"You were amazing in the classroom. You said a few things and you sent Leo away, and I just stood there watching."
When I heard that, my black-framed glasses slid down my nose a little, and I quickly pushed them back up.
"Please… stop joking. I just… got l-lucky."
I kept my head down and played shy.
Sera watched me, and the interest in her eyes got stronger.
Was I really nervous, or was I faking it even better than she expected?
No rush. She had time.
"Really?" She tilted her head, and a smooth strand of black hair slipped from behind her ear and fell along the side of her face.
"But I think you're different from them."
With slow, neat movements, she tucked that strand back.
"You were so brave back there. You're really special."
The classic "you're special" trap.
That line was their favorite drug, and it could hook any insecure guy who wanted approval in seconds.
I finally raised my head, and the book was crushed into wrinkles in my hands.
I didn't dare look into her bright eyes, and my eyes slid from her chin to her long neck and then to her fully big breasts before I scrambled back to the ground.
Perfect.
I looked like a virgin loser who got sudden attention from the school belle and felt thrilled, but he also felt so insecure that he didn't dare get any ideas.
"I-I… I…"
My Adam's apple bobbed as I tried to form words, but what came out was a string of broken stutters.
Seraphina let out a small laugh.
She stopped right in front of me, and her expensive perfume hung around her.
That smell was basically poison to any normal 17yo boy.
"Luke?"
As she spoke, she took a tiny step forward, but it carried clear pressure.
Within that half-step, the scent got even stronger as it pushed into my nose.
"Can you answer?" she said, like she was just asking for a small favor. "Just satisfy my curiosity."
Her warm breath felt like it was right by my ear.
To any virgin guy, this was a straight-up nuclear strike.
So my reaction matched.
I acted startled by how close she got, and I kept backing away.
My heel hit a small rock, and I stumbled and almost fell.
Baron reacted fast and grabbed me, so I barely managed to steady myself.
"What's wrong?" Sera put on a hurt look.
She pouted, and that contrast didn't ruin her looks at all, because it made her seem even more tempting.
"Or are you saying you didn't even take Leo seriously?"
Her words cut straight into the core of it.
It was a probe, and it was bait.
She wanted to see if I'd grab the topic and show even a hint of the calm control I had in the classroom.
But what she got was deeper panic.
"N-no! It's not like that!"
I waved both hands while I rambled out excuses.
"I-I was just scared… I was talking nonsense… I don't even know why he left…"
I looked clumsy, but it looked real, like I couldn't wait to clear myself.
My eyes darted around on the ground, and even holding eye contact felt impossible.
"M-maybe… maybe he figured it out on his own… yeah, he figured it out on his own…"
"It's got nothing to do with me, really, nothing…"
I acted like admitting I was good was more terrifying than streaking naked through the field.
Sera's perfect practiced expression stiffened for a split second.
'So that's it…'
She thought she found someone interesting and different, but all she saw now was nerves, cowardice, and stuttering.
Once that maybe-lucky calm mask got peeled off, what was left looked no different from the average guys who crowded around her every day.
Like a cup of plain water.
Flat, boring, and easy to see through.
"Is that how it is?"
Her earlier excitement drained fast.
Her face returned to normal, and her voice went back to the same tone she used on everyone.
"Hmm… then I guess I overthought it."
Like she suddenly remembered something, she tapped her forehead.
"Ah, it's getting late, and my friends are waiting for me to go buy water with them, so… I'm heading over."
She didn't even leave room for a reply.
She stepped back and pulled the distance wide enough to feel safe again.
She waved that wrist with the cute hair tie at the three of us.
"See you next time, Luke, Dexter, Baron."
Then she turned around and walked off with light steps toward her group of girls, and she didn't look back even once.
As for the conversation that made her stop, it was just boring trash she tossed aside.
This new toy broke on the first day she opened it.