I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 27

Qi Yan landed hard on the floor.

The pain made her grimace. The floor was cold and unyielding, and the impact sent a shockwave through her entire body, making her internal organs ache.

“Damn it!” Qi Yan felt as if her insides had been jolted by an earthquake. “Why, why didn’t you help me?!”

She glared accusingly at a certain fox spirit who had stood by and done nothing. The worst part was that while she was rolling on the ground in pain, the white-robed fox demon stood beside her completely unharmed, her hands tucked leisurely into her sleeves, not even sparing her a glance.

“You, you heartless woman! No, heartless demon!” Qi Yan pointed a trembling finger at the fox.

Bai Qing lowered her eyes at the accusation, observing Qi Yan’s exaggerated display. “Is the floor comfortable?” she asked.

“Of course not! How could it be comfortable? You try lying on it!”

“You haven’t gotten up yet, so I assumed you liked it.”

Furious, Qi Yan scrambled to her feet and grabbed Bai Qing’s sleeve, refusing to let go. “You’re the one who likes lying around, you stinky fox!”

Bai Qing arched an eyebrow, a faint smirk playing on her lips. “Your courage grows by the day, daring to speak to me like this.”

“Hmph, what’s there to be afraid of? You claim to be some thousand-year-old great demon, but aren’t you just freeloading at my place?”

After living together for a month, Qi Yan had come to understand Bai Qing better. This demon was not only lazy but also gluttonous, especially when it came to meat, any kind of meat! In just this month, her household expenses had skyrocketed. Watching the money disappear with each lavish meat-filled meal, Qi Yan felt a pang of despair, even considering whether she should make the fox go out and perform for money.

As they bickered, they also took in their surroundings. The space was dimly lit and felt vast.

Rubbing her sore lower back, Qi Yan said, “This looks like an amusement park, and an indoor one at that. The setting resembles a large shopping mall, but the lighting is too dim to see clearly.”

“Amusement park? What’s that?” Bai Qing asked curiously.

“Well, it’s a type of entertainment venue in the modern world, filled with large-scale amusement rides.” Qi Yan pointed ahead. “That, for example, is called a carousel.”

Carousels were one of the most common attractions in amusement parks, a large central pillar surrounded by various themed seats. Unlike the simple wooden horses of the past, modern carousels often featured elaborate designs based on different themes.

The one before them seemed to be styled after Disney.

“Where’s the guiding NPC?”

Qi Yan was still examining the carousel when she heard voices behind her.

She turned instinctively and saw six people approaching. Five of them seemed to know each other, while the sixth lagged behind, likely another solo participant like herself.

The leader of the group was a tall, muscular man. He stopped a few steps away from Qi Yan and greeted her, “Hello, are you here alone?”

Alone?

Qi Yan glanced beside her, only to find Bai Qing had already vanished.

At the same time, a voice came from the ring: “I sensed people approaching, so I returned for now.”

Fine. Bai Qing was her trump card better to keep her hidden.

Though Qi Yan knew the fox was simply lazy and disliked being around so many humans, hence her convenient disappearance.

“Hello,” Qi Yan nodded, offering a brief response as a greeting.

Now, the seven players stood together, with the five-member team forming their own faction, clearly leaving the two lone individuals on the outside.

Aside from Qi Yan, the other solitary player was a sharp-looking career woman with a neat short haircut. Just by her stylish tailored trousers and blouse, along with the shrewd aura she exuded, it was easy to guess she might be a high-earning professional in the real world.

“Beep, zzzzzt!”

After a burst of ear-piercing static, the surrounding speakers suddenly crackled to life: “Welcome to the Freemen’s Carnival! This is the largest amusement park in the city no, the entire province! Here, you’ll find every ride you could imagine, and even those beyond your wildest dreams! All the exhilarating, heart-pounding attractions await you at the Freemen’s Carnival!”

“Good evening, our specially invited night-time players! I’m Happy, the night manager of the carnival! It’s now exactly 18:00, the official start of the carnival’s night session. You’ll have 12 hours to experience endless joy and wonder here! Remember by 6:00 AM tomorrow, the night session will officially end, and all of you must leave before then! Do not delay the opening of the day session! Keep that in mind, keep that in mind!”

As soon as his announcement ended, another wave of static screeched through the air.

“Crackle pop!”

After the chaotic noise, the broadcast abruptly cut off.

Immediately afterward, the mall lit up with countless lights, and the carousel in front of them flickered to life as if signaling that the rides were ready and waiting.

The seven players all began to stir with thoughts. Qi Yan studied the carousel, mulling over Manager Happy’s words.

The five-member team huddled together to discuss. A woman in sportswear spoke up first: “Let’s go look for the mall’s exit first.”

“Right, didn’t they say we have to leave by tomorrow morning? We should find the exit first,” another member chimed in.

The five quickly reached a consensus. The tall man who seemed to be their leader glanced at the two lone players and asked out of courtesy, “Would either of you like to come with us?”

The sharp-looking woman with short hair shook her head. “Thanks, but not for now. I’d like to look around here first.”

Qi Yan turned to the tall man and said, “I’ll stay and check things out here too.” She gestured toward the carousel as she spoke.

The man had only asked out of politeness, he wasn’t particularly eager to invite them along. Now that both had declined, he was more than happy to leave without them.

With the five gone, only the two women remained.

The career woman looked at Qi Yan and asked, “Why didn’t you go with them?”

Qi Yan replied, “They’re clearly a pre-formed team. If I joined, I might not earn their trust. I don’t want to assume the worst of people, but in an environment like this, it’s better to stay cautious. Otherwise, I might end up getting sold out without realizing it.”

The woman’s gaze held a hint of approval. “You’re smart. After all, in this game world, players can also be competitors.”

Qi Yan froze at that. She had only cleared the beginner’s instance and wasn’t entirely familiar with the rules of this world, let alone the unspoken dynamics between players. It seemed her newbie protection period was over this time, she had entered a dungeon where everyone else was an experienced player.

“How do players compete against each other?” In the beginner scenario, Qi Yan had established a good cooperative relationship with Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan. As for the other three, the bald guy and the couple their deaths were largely due to their own recklessness. There hadn’t been much direct conflict among the players.

The woman studied her and asked, “Are you still a newbie?”

“Well, you could say that.” She had only completed one beginner scenario so far.

The woman explained, “You should know that when rewards are calculated after clearing a script, those who make outstanding contributions receive higher evaluations. Scripts with higher difficulty already offer better rewards, and if your evaluation is also high, the rewards can be incredibly generous.”

Qi Yan nodded. “I know that. The [Introduction] mentioned it.”

“Don’t think that to get a higher evaluation, all you need to do is rack your brains analyzing the scenario, fighting, or uncovering key clues, ‘Eyes,’ and ‘Heart.’ Even if you think that way, many others looking for shortcuts won’t.” Seeing the confusion in Qi Yan’s eyes, the woman chuckled lightly. “The script world has its own rules, it won’t let everyone in a scenario die every time.”

Qi Yan stiffened at this. Her mind worked quickly, and she grasped the implications almost instantly.

She wasn’t sure if the script’s rules were intentional, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were designed to pit players against each other.

Judging by her expression, the woman knew she had figured it out. She looked at Qi Yan with appreciation and said, “You’re sharp you understood my meaning right away.”

If the script had a rule that not all players could die, then as long as you killed the others and ensured your own survival, wouldn’t that guarantee success?

Fighting ghosts and the script itself was exhausting, but scheming to kill fellow human players? That might not be so difficult.

“Besides, if you form a team, many of the players entering the scenario together will be your allies, giving you an absolute advantage. Even if you don’t target other players, as long as your team uncovers more key information and clues, you’ll get a higher evaluation upon clearing the script.”

As the realization sank in, Qi Yan broke out in a cold sweat.

Seriously? The script hadn’t even officially started yet, and the ghosts hadn’t scared her to death she was already terrified by her own kind.

“You, why are you telling me all this?” Qi Yan studied the woman, sensing she wasn’t entirely straightforward either.

The woman smiled faintly, not hiding her intentions. “Because we’re both alone. If it were just me, I’d be an easy target. In situations like this, having one more ally is always better than an extra unknown risk. So, I’m telling you this upfront, I want to team up with you for this script.”

She was right. After hearing her out, Qi Yan recalled the way the other five players had looked at them and immediately grimaced.

“Unbelievable. The scenario is bad enough, do players really have to fight each other too?”

The woman chuckled softly. “Where there are people, there will always be all kinds of conflicts. Especially in this script world, where lives are tied to those conflicts.”

Qi Yan took a moment to digest the new information before finally asking, “What should I call you?”

The woman’s eyes curved slightly, recognizing that Qi Yan had agreed to the temporary alliance. “Jiang Miao. And you? You look young still in school?”

“I’m Qi Yan, a senior in college.”

“Still so young, not even graduated yet.” Jiang Miao seemed quite emotional, feeling that Qi Yan was too young to be suffering in this script.

Qi Yan inexplicably thought of Tang Shanshan and sighed, “We’re all just unlucky, I guess. In the beginner’s script, I even met a younger girl who hadn’t even finished high school. But let’s not dwell on that. Sister Jiang, why don’t we analyze our current situation first?”

Jiang Miao smiled. “My friends all call me San Shui, you can call me that too. ‘Sister Jiang’ sounds like you’re addressing a heroic martyr.”

Even in such a moment, she could calmly crack a joke. Qi Yan laughed along. “Then I’ll call you Sister San Shui.”

Adding “sister” was polite yet distant, neither too close nor too far just like in a professional setting.

There was a world of difference between “Sister XX” and “XX Jiejie.” A single word could change the tone entirely.

Qi Yan knew her boundaries.

Jiang Miao admired her for it. This college student, not even graduated yet, possessed a rationality and sense of propriety far beyond her peers. Even in this life-and-death horror scenario, she remained composed at least for now. It made Jiang Miao feel that her choice to team up with her was the right one.

“Earlier, the administrator said we have to leave here successfully by 6 a.m. tomorrow. This amusement park is built inside a large shopping mall, so I don’t think finding the exit will be the hard part, it’s figuring out how to leave that’s the challenge,” Qi Yan mused, rubbing her chin. “That other group is probably going to hit a wall.”

Jiang Miao nodded in agreement. “So, what’s your take?”

“Administrator Happy is likely the guiding NPC for this script. He communicates with us via broadcast but doesn’t show himself, so he probably won’t attack us directly. He hasn’t said much, but aside from the 6 a.m. deadline, the other clue we have is ‘experience endless joy and beauty at the carnival.’ In other words, he wants us to play these games.”

As she spoke, Qi Yan looked up at the stationary carousel ahead, her expression complicated.

The danger was obvious, but she couldn’t think of any way to avoid it.

Jiang Miao also stared at the carousel and asked, “Do we really have to ride it?”

Qi Yan shrugged. “You could always wait until those five people run into trouble before deciding. I think if they find the mall exit, something’s bound to happen.”

As for what exactly would happen neither of them wanted to dwell on it.

“Or maybe we could look for this world’s ‘eye’? There might be a shortcut?”

No matter how each script world changed, the most fundamental “eye” and “heart” of the world would always exist. The “heart” was best left alone, no one wanted to confront the boss directly but finding the “eye” might still be possible.

To her surprise, Jiang Miao shook her head. “I don’t think that’ll work. While the overarching rules of the scripts don’t change, small differences always exist. In this script, the guiding NPC explicitly told us how to leave. Under those circumstances, the ‘eye’ is probably the mall exit itself there won’t be any other shortcuts.”

Qi Yan sighed helplessly. “Then I guess we’ll just have to charge ahead.”

As the two analyzed their options, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the northern part of the mall, followed by tremors that shook the ground. Qi Yan quickly steadied herself, her gaze sharpening as she stared in that direction she remembered the other group had gone that way.

The next moment, the broadcast crackled to life again.

“Attention, players attempting to violate rules to force an exit! Repeat announcement: The Carnival Night Show has commenced! Freemen must indulge in unrestrained enjoyment, experiencing to the fullest the joy and wonder of the carnival here! As bold and fearless freemen, you will thrill in adventure after adventure and reap tremendous rewards!”

“Please do not willfully break the carnival rules, or freemen will suffer the consequences!”

The happy announcement ceased again. Qi Yan knew that the five individuals had found the mall exit and tried opening it or something similar, triggering the scenario’s penalty mechanism.

Exchanging a glance with Jiang Miao, she said, “Now the hint is even clearer. Happy’s message means we need to find our way out through these amusement facilities.”

Support I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite)