I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 36

【Sherry’s words seemed to evoke an unpleasant memory, replaying in your mind blurry and indistinct.】

【Under the grayish-white sky, the bus traveled along the mountain road. From time to time, unknown birds flew by, their mournful cries echoing like an ominous omen.】

【You leaned against the window, drowsy and on the verge of sleep.】

【Just as you were about to drift off, a loud crash accompanied a violent jolt of the bus.】

【The world spun before your eyes, and cries and screams filled the air.】

【After an unknown length of time, everything returned to darkness and silence.】

【How could you forget something so important?】

【As more fragments of memory surfaced, your thoughts grew increasingly chaotic.】

【Are you still alive? What happened after that?】

【Your head throbbed with pain, but you couldn’t recall anything…】

The information on the wristwatch was overwhelming, and everyone took a moment to process it, not even noticing when Sherry had left.

After a short while, An Qing, trembling, spoke up, “What does this mean? The deceased is actually me, but I don’t remember?”

As she said this, an uncontrollable chill ran down her spine.

Yu Tingbai glanced at her and calmly reminded, “Think carefully about the initial task requirements.”

Her composed tone miraculously soothed An Qing’s nerves. An Qing obediently tried to recall, feeling something vague surfacing in her mind, though she couldn’t quite grasp it.

At that moment, she heard Wen Ling’s calm voice, “Yi Zhuo, what are you thinking?”

Yi Zhuo hesitated visibly, reluctant to speak.

But Wen Ling had no intention of letting it go. Her gaze was penetrating, as if she could see right through the other.

“Are you thinking that perhaps one of us is the deceased, so our teammates might be unreliable? You want to identify the most likely candidate and enter her name to end this game. Am I right?”

Yi Zhuo gritted her teeth, silently acknowledging the accusation.

She couldn’t understand how Wen Ling had so keenly detected this thought the moment it sprouted in her mind.

“Don’t let Sherry lead you astray so easily that might be exactly what she wants.” Wen Ling’s expression and voice remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the unfolding events. “Let’s start from the beginning and sort this out.”

Wen Ling walked around the living room, found some paper and a pen, and spread them out before the group.

Holding the pen, she wrote three words at the top of the paper:

Wristwatch, Newspaper, Sherry

Shen Siqi looked puzzled at the seemingly unrelated words and asked, “What’s this?”

Yu Tingbai answered the question, “These are the three sources from which we’ve obtained key information since arriving in Dreamland Town.”

“Exactly.” Wen Ling nodded, tapping the pen on the word “Wristwatch.” “First, I believe the information on the wristwatch is genuine because it includes many hints and tasks. If it were fabricated, the game couldn’t proceed.”

The others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Wen Ling continued, “The wristwatch’s storyline says we are a group of lost tourists who stumbled into the town and noticed something amiss. But now, it seems this part of the content is incomplete.”

She paused briefly, giving her teammates time to think.

An Qing pondered for a moment before asking, “If the plot on the wristwatch is real, then all of us were on the bus when the accident happened. That means after we accidentally entered this town, we experienced the accident and, for some reason, forgot about it. Only afterward did we realize something was off like the fact that there are only three eerie households left in the town. The wristwatch’s plot is missing the part about the accident, right?”

Wen Ling glanced at An Qing with a look of surprise, identical to the one Yu Tingbai had given her earlier when she made her deduction, leaving An Qing unsure whether to feel pleased or disheartened.

Ignoring her expression, An Qing added, “Of course, we also need to rule out the possibility that we noticed something was wrong first and then experienced the accident. But that doesn’t make sense logically. If the town was already eerie when we arrived, why would we have gone to pray with the townspeople? So, we can dismiss that possibility.”

Yi Zhuo also caught on quickly and followed the train of thought. Scrolling through the replay of the prompts on the screen, she said, “The initial description of the deceased in the plot was as follows: among the town’s residents, one had already died. The plot also mentioned that we are tourists, and both Rosa and Shirley referred to us as ‘outsiders.'”

“In other words, whether we are alive or dead, what we need to identify is the deceased among the town’s residents. So, the name of the deceased we input must be one of the seven NPCs, not one of the five of us.”

With Yi Zhuo’s explanation, An Qing felt the logic became much clearer.

Shen Siqi patted her chest and murmured, “That makes sense. That was close, too close.”

When Shirley mentioned “five outsider girls” earlier, she had instinctively begun to suspect that one of her companions might be the deceased, even briefly doubting herself.

Fortunately, she hadn’t been led astray. If they had lost trust in each other and someone had entered a teammate’s name, they would have undoubtedly lost the game.

Wen Ling nodded, her pen tip landing once again on the word “newspaper.”

She said, “The clue about the newspaper was provided by ‘Christine’s Aid,’ and the prompt also stated that ‘Christine’s Aid’ guarantees the truth of its answers. So, I believe the information in the newspaper cannot be false.”

“When the accident happened, all seven NPCs and the five of us were on the bus. The NPCs are locals, so their identities were easily confirmed, while we are outsiders, making it harder to verify our identities. That’s why the newspaper stated, ‘The identities of seven passengers have been confirmed.'”

An Qing thought it over and said, “In that case, it doesn’t contradict Shirley’s statement that ‘she knew of five passengers.'”

“Right, I believe there were at least twelve people on the bus,” Yu Tingbai nodded, picking up where An Qing left off. “However, we still don’t know whether Shirley genuinely doesn’t remember being on the bus or if she’s deliberately hiding the fact that she was also on it.”

“Another point: if only one of the seven NPCs on the bus died, and the others survived, then it’s possible that all five of us survived as well.”

“As for how much of what Shirley said is true and how much is false, it’s still impossible to determine.”

Wen Ling circled Shirley’s name on the paper and mused, “She told four stories in total. Among them, the part about us being in the car is true, while the claim that Nancy’s family lived happily appears to be false for now. As for the other two families, we still need to gather more clues.”

“But no matter what, there’s one thing we must remember.”

Yu Tingbai’s tone was calm, yet it carried a compelling authority.

“Regardless of whether we are alive or dead now, the fact that there is a deceased person among the NPCs remains unchanged. The task requires us to identify the deceased among the town’s residents, so we must not suspect each other or recklessly input a teammate’s name in the menu. If anyone does so, it represents the entire team’s judgment.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The situation was changing too quickly, and Shen Siqi felt a bit scared. Clinging pitifully to An Qing’s arm, she asked, “So what do we do next?”

An Qing quickly pulled two candies from her pocket to comfort her.

Strangely enough, even though she was also afraid of such things, being with her teammates made the fear dissipate somewhat. Moreover, when there was someone in the team who was even more timid than her, she seemed to grow a little braver.

Wen Ling said, “I want to go back to the post office. We might find useful clues there.”

Earlier that afternoon, they had just finished studying the newspaper detailing the accident when it grew completely dark. The post office had no electricity, and they didn’t want to waste the remaining battery of their flashlight, so they had returned to their lodgings.

Yu Tingbai added, “I have an idea that also requires a visit to the post office to verify.”

The others agreed. Since it was already past midnight, they finalized their plans for the next day and returned to their respective rooms to rest.

An Qing was increasingly realizing that, for her, the most thrilling part of this game wasn’t the horror elements or the convoluted deductions it was every night before going to sleep.

Yesterday, Yu Tingbai had held her like that the entire night, and she couldn’t help but wonder if today would be the same…

Just then, Yu Tingbai’s arm reached over from behind, skillfully pulling her into an intimate embrace.

Well, it seemed she was destined to be a human pillow again today.

After Shirley’s earlier antics, An Qing was wide awake. She lay quietly in Yu Tingbai’s arms, idly playing with a strand of hair resting on her chest.

“An Qing.”

The person behind her suddenly called her name.

An Qing’s breath hitched, and she responded softly, “Hmm? What is it?”

“Aren’t you afraid that I might actually be the real deceased, hiding among you to confuse everyone and steer the narrative?”

An Qing broke out in goosebumps for a moment, but as she recalled the earlier reasoning process, she quickly realized the other was just deliberately trying to scare her.

Yu Tingbai was truly wicked!

Sure enough, a low chuckle came from behind, brimming with triumphant amusement.

“I scared you again, my apologies.”

An Qing gritted her teeth in frustration, abruptly turned around, and glared with her beautiful eyes, issuing a hollow threat: “I’ll give you one chance to make it up to me, or else.”

She had intended to say, “or else, even if you’re scared, I won’t let you hold me while sleeping,” but at that moment, another realization suddenly dawned on her.

Just moments ago, she and Shen Siqi were scared half to death, while Yi Zhuo was successfully provoked into suspecting his companions. It was Yu Tingbai and Wen Ling who guided everyone through the reasoning process, helping them clarify their thoughts and avoid internal conflict.

How could someone who remained so calm and analytical in the face of such a late-night ordeal possibly be so frightened that they’d need to hold her to sleep? Yu Tingbai, I’ve been fooled by your act!

So, she had no leverage to threaten Yu Tingbai at all, let alone expect her to coax her. Besides, Yu Tingbai would be fine without her, but she’d be in mortal danger without Yu Tingbai. Ugh…

Yu Tingbai met her gaze unhurriedly, taking in every shift in her emotions. Curving her lips into a slight smile, she pressed further, “Otherwise, what would happen?”

Perhaps it was just her imagination, but An Qing felt the arm around her tighten slightly, as if afraid she might run away.

Steadying herself, she racked her brain for an answer. “Otherwise… otherwise, I…”

“Don’t think about it anymore.”

The light and shadows shifted before her eyes as Yu Tingbai leaned in closer, pressing her lips gently against An Qing’s forehead in a soft kiss.

“Does this count as keeping you?”