A Scummy Alpha and An Award-Winning Omega Actress Fell in Love After an Arranged Marriage - Chapter 48.2

That’s why Yan Bing had invited Sheng Lan again before the broadcast, they needed someone to liven things up.

When Sheng Lan refused, Yan Bing had to rely on ghost-hunting props to compensate for her lack of expressions and banter.

As they talked, Tang Yingyue received a mission card.

Yan Bing had removed her NPC mask, triggering a side quest, a date with the female ghost.

It also unlocked a partner mission: Gain something, lose something.

Tang Yingyue was given a room key.

The host, once again playing with information asymmetry, told her, “The choice is yours wait here for her to find her own way out, or use the key to free her.”

Tang Yingyue hesitated, she and Yan Bing had agreed to wait in place.

The host added pressure: “Don’t you want a mutual effort? She already made one wrong choice. Now she needs your help.”

After some thought, Tang Yingyue decided to go.

Before leaving, she told Lu Xueyin, “I’ll head over first. You might hear me scream later, haha.”

Lu Xueyin hesitated, catching a meaningful glance from the host. Pressing her lips together, she reminded Tang Yingyue to watch her step and remember the door.

Tang Yingyue agreed readily, leaving the fountain area and nearly jogging toward the main door her lively demeanor clashing with her all-black outfit.

With her waiting companion gone and the host also stepping away, only Lu Xueyin and the NPC actors remained by the fountain.

Apart from the sound of flowing water, everything was eerily quiet.

Beyond the doors and windows, the noises from inside the mansion seemed distant, muffled as if from another world.

Lu Xueyin gripped her wrist, where Sheng Lan’s watch rested.

Beneath the strap, her pulse raced, strong and urgent.

It all felt too much like a certain day years ago, as if someone whispered in her ear:

“You’re afraid of ghosts? Then… are you afraid of your own family?”

Memories of the past were dredged up, and only then did she realize that the grievances, helplessness, anger, and loneliness from back then had never truly disappeared.

Buried deep in her heart were scars that had been lashed over and over again.

Not so painful now, yet they would leave a lifelong mark.

During her school days, someone had pursued her, indirectly asking her out through others. Once she arrived, it was hard to leave.

Back then, the methods of courtship were simple and crude. Thinking she was afraid, they assumed she would seek help, so they chose a haunted house as their target.

Lu Xueyin had never been to such a place before. Looking at the shoddy props and cheap lighting, she didn’t feel scared just eager to go home.

Her classmates eagerly pushed for her to agree on the spot, which annoyed her.

Amid the jostling, she didn’t notice stepping on a limp human-shaped prop, triggering a mechanism that made a long-tongued female ghost with half her body dangling from the ceiling drop right in front of her face.

Of course, she was startled by the suddenness.

And because of that, she attracted the attention of certain people.

The drafty classroom in winter was bitterly cold. A small radio sat on the desk, looping the news broadcast from the day her family was murdered.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, but the consequence of resistance was stripping away those people’s so-called “kindness.” Watching them dress up on the spot, they said they’d let her see her father.

Lu Xueyin closed her eyes.

Having endured isolation and emotional abuse, she knew exactly what reaction would make it end quickly.

So she ignored them, pretending she was numb, cold-blooded, and unbothered.

Against the backdrop of the news broadcast, she also pretended not to see their deliberately grotesque, twisted shadow puppets, nor their sarcastic jokes about the deceased.

They soon grew bored and left, while Lu Xueyin stayed alone in the classroom all night.

The door wasn’t locked, and no one outside stopped her, she simply chose not to leave.

Not a single person who claimed to like her came for her.

She looked up. The wind scattered the edges of the clouds, leaving wispy strands drifting, and the moon cast its faint silhouette.

She thought of what Sheng Lan had said to her and carefully considered what she was truly afraid of.

She was afraid of living people pretending to be ghosts.

And she refused to recall the cowardice of that day.

She deeply regretted not slamming the table and unleashing her anger.

The longer time passed, the deeper that thorn embedded itself.

That day’s retreat and forced compromise became an inescapable shadow.

So what she truly feared was remembering how she had cowered, lacking the courage and resolve to stand up for her father when he was insulted.

The host entered and handed her a mission card.

Lu Xueyin snapped back to reality, accepting the key but not stepping down from the platform.

The host asked, “Aren’t you going to find her? She’s waiting for you.”

The mission card read: “The Lost Lover.”

Forty minutes into the broadcast, Sheng Lan still hadn’t found Lu Xueyin, nor had she removed any NPC masks, triggering a side quest.

Lu Xueyin wasn’t going to look for her.

The host repeated the “mutual pursuit” argument they’d used on Tang Yingyue, trying to persuade Lu Xueyin to enter the main house.

Lu Xueyin remained unmoved.

The production team had initially arranged for them to stay outside, creating an information gap.

Now, sending them inside couldn’t possibly be about reuniting them with their partners sooner.

Aside from the two “hide-and-seek” groups, there was also the “role-play” group.

Lu Xueyin suspected this key would open someone else’s door, fulfilling Director Cheng’s initial idea of “infidelity” from the start of the broadcast.

Splitting three pairs apart, leaving two Alphas outside to fight monsters and clear levels.

Thinking about it, it was pretty tragic.

Slaving away for hours, only to come back and find their wives gone.

The host advised Lu Xueyin to consider the live broadcast effect, “Right now, only you and Sheng Lan are still soloing. Judging by her speed, she’s not carefully identifying things. If you don’t go in, she won’t be able to find you.”

Lu Xueyin replied, “It’s precisely for the live broadcast effect that I can’t go in.”

Going in would break their agreement.

Put nicely, it was mutual effort.

Put bluntly, it was distrust.

Not believing Sheng Lan could find her way, so she would go to her instead.

She wasn’t the type to take initiative, and she hated waiting in the dark, but today she was willing to wait.

The reason was unclear perhaps during her emotionally unstable days, Sheng Lan hadn’t shown annoyance or frustration and had even sacrificed some popularity to accompany and comfort her.

Or maybe after too many disappointments, a faint ember still lingered in her heart, making her believe she couldn’t possibly be that unlucky that there would always be someone willing to reach out and pull her up.

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