I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 39

Yu Tingbai pointed at the newspaper spread open on the table and asked, “Did you notice anything unusual?”

An Qing leaned in to take a closer look. After a while, she realized that the dates on those newspapers were irregular, but they had one thing in common each featured a photo of the town’s entrance.

It seemed something was missing.

An Qing carefully recalled and suddenly had a flash of insight.

“There’s a line missing ‘Where Dreams Begin’!”

“Exactly.” Yu Tingbai nodded and gestured for everyone to compare the photos. “The town entrance in the newspapers only has the words ‘Dreamland Town,’ not the ‘Where Dreams Begin’ we saw. And we’ve already deduced that what’s recorded in the newspapers is the truth.”

Yu Tingbai paused here, not revealing the entire reasoning process all at once. This gave her teammates a chance to think and contribute, as well as allowing the audience time to react.

Soon, An Qing voiced the answer, “So what we’re experiencing now is just a dream?”

“To be precise, this is a dream fabricated by the consciousness of the deceased,” Yu Tingbai explained. “Do you remember the legend? Among the group that went to Wuling Mountain to pray, the person with the strongest obsession, no matter how absurd their wish, would see it come true.”

“Among the group that went to Wuling Mountain on April 12th to pray, the person with the strongest obsession happened to die on the way back. So her wish could only manifest in this way. Perhaps because her obsession was too intense, it also trapped several other souls struggling on the brink of life and death the other locals and us, the visiting tourists.”

Wen Ling added, “This also explains why there are no other people in the town. I suspect that we and the other survivors are merely trapped in consciousness. We might have already been rescued, but our bodies are still in a coma.”

An Qing pondered.

So, this dream is the manifestation of the deceased’s wish?

She suddenly thought of the newspapers that contradicted the current situation and had an epiphany. “That’s why the reality we’re in now doesn’t match the newspapers. This place is a world altered by the deceased’s will, while the newspapers record what actually happened in reality.”

Yu Tingbai nodded. “I think so too.”

There are seven people in the town. Whose wish could this be?

An Qing recalled everything she had experienced over the past two days. But the sheer volume of information she had recently received was overwhelming, tangled like a mess, leaving her unsure where to start.

At that moment, Wen Ling suggested, “Why don’t we try substituting each person one by one?”

Shen Siqi asked, “How do we do that?”

Yi Zhuo said, “For example, let’s assume this is Christine’s wish. Do you think that makes sense?”

Breaking it down made the thinking process much clearer.

An Qing tried putting herself in Christine’s shoes.

If she were Christine, the town’s psychic, according to the newspaper’s description, she was deeply in love with her partner, Beth. The two had registered their marriage last month and were living happily. For such a person, the wish she would make during prayers would likely be something like “growing old with Beth” or “good health for her family.”

Kristen would never label Beth as a mere bed partner, nor would she betray Beth. Therefore, this situation couldn’t possibly be Kristen’s wish, and the same applied to Beth.

Moreover, Kristen had given them the opportunity to exchange life points for clues, clearly positioning her as a positive character.

So, she answered Yi Zhuo’s question: “It doesn’t hold up.”

The others shared An Qing’s line of thinking and nodded in agreement.

Shen Siqi had already learned to draw inferences and said, “In that case, Rosa doesn’t fit either.”

Despite their significant age difference, Rosa and Arthur were genuinely in love. As for the rumors about “one seeking looks, the other seeking money,” they were baseless, as Arthur was even wealthier than Rosa.

Thus, Rosa’s wish was likely similar to Kristen’s not a desire for her husband to use dark arts to retain his youth. And Arthur, of course, wouldn’t do such a thing either.

With Kristen and Rosa’s families ruled out, only Nancy’s family remained.

In Nancy’s family, none of the three could be considered happy.

Her husband Cole had a volatile temper, which strained the entire family dynamic.

Everyone in Nancy’s family was unhappy, and the current eerie situation was likely the result of one of their wishes.

Shen Siqi asked, “Is it Shirley’s wish? After all, she insisted that their family was happy. Maybe this is exactly what she wanted?”

Yu Tingbai shook her head. “But if Shirley’s wish was for family happiness, she would surely harbor affection for her husband. And if she did, she would have wished directly for her husband to love her and treat her kindly. The current situation clearly doesn’t align with that.”

“As for Cole, although he appears domineering, he is actually intimidated by his wife and daughter’s sharp fangs and doesn’t dare to cross any real boundaries. So, I don’t think this is his wish either.”

With Shirley and Cole ruled out, only Nancy remained.

Yu Tingbai wasn’t in a hurry. She turned to An Qing, who was sitting beside her, and asked, “If you were Nancy, and your father had abusive tendencies while your mother was gentle and still held naive hopes for the relationship, what would your ideal world look like?”

The first thought that came to An Qing’s mind was: Would she wish for her father to reform and treat her mother and herself kindly?

But thinking of Nancy’s confrontational attitude toward Cole, she quickly dismissed that idea.

After a moment’s thought, An Qing said uncertainly, “She would want to retaliate against her father. But because her mother still had feelings for him, Nancy didn’t eliminate him outright. Instead, she chose to overpower him with overwhelming force, making him obedient to her will.”

Although she couldn’t fully empathize with Nancy’s approach, Nancy’s behavior suggested this was the case, so it was probably close to the truth.

Yu Tingbai nodded approvingly and asked, “And what about her expectations for her mother?”

An Qing thought of the matching sharp fangs shared by Nancy and Shirley and gradually caught on. “She wanted both herself and her mother to have the ability to resist her father, right? Didn’t Shirley mention earlier that there were man-eating monsters nearby and told Nancy to come home early? She probably used that story to scare Nancy often. In Nancy’s subconscious, the image of ‘sharp fangs’ represented immense power, which is why it manifested this way.”

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand,” An Qing said, blinking in confusion and frowning after finishing her thought. “Why would Nancy wish misfortune upon the other two families?”

She felt that Nancy’s character wasn’t inherently bad not the type to drag others down just because she was unhappy herself.

“Nancy didn’t wish misfortune on anyone else.”

Yi Zhuo suddenly spoke up, answering her question.

“Originally, the illusion was only meant to include her own family. But the other dying souls were fragile and got trapped in it as well. Once they entered Nancy’s domain, they could only manifest as how Nancy perceived them in her heart.”

Shen Siqi asked, puzzled, “Are you saying that in Nancy’s mind, the other two families were utterly despicable? Why is that?”

Wen Ling replied, “Because of Shirley.”

“Nancy deeply loved her mother. In her world, everything her mother said was right. Regarding the long-term domestic abuse Shirley endured, Nancy was likely furious and couldn’t understand why her mother remained passive and loving despite her father’s treatment.”

“To maintain the superficial harmony of the family and keep her husband, Shirley lied to Nancy, saying that all families were like this, appearing happy on the outside but each suffering their own misfortunes. These fabricated rumors became Nancy’s reality.”

“Nancy constructed this world for Shirley. Here, the accident only involved five outsiders in the car, while the townspeople remained safe and unharmed, living as Shirley had once described. Both she and Shirley gained the ability to protect themselves and stand up to their violent father.”

“But after all, a dream is just a dream. There will always be bugs and flaws like Christine, the newspaper, and the words at the town’s entrance. These became the key clues for us to solve the mystery. Of course, now that we’ve unraveled it, Nancy’s dream must come to an end.”

After Wen Ling finished speaking, everyone’s expressions showed they were moved both by the tragic story and by the hardships they had endured over the past few days.

An Qing let out a long sigh and suddenly realized how good it felt to work closely with her teammates to achieve a common goal. Perhaps this was what team spirit was all about.

Yu Tingbai’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

She said, “Captain, input the answer.”

Wen Ling nodded. “Alright.”

She opened her wrist device, selected the corresponding option from the dropdown menu, and typed in the two characters for “Nancy.”

[The deceased’s identity is “Nancy.” Confirm?]

Wen Ling clicked “Yes.”

[Congratulations, your answer is correct.]

[Your clearance time is 48 hours, 7 minutes, and 25 seconds, finishing 23 hours, 52 minutes, and 35 seconds ahead of the allotted time. All teammates survived. You have achieved an S-rank rating!]

After reading the message, happy expressions appeared on everyone’s faces.

At the end of each episode of “Survival in the Ghost Town,” the system provided a rating, with S-rank being the highest.

Although the game’s difficulty had been reduced somewhat, achieving an S-rank on their first attempt was a remarkable performance.

Shen Siqi proudly shared her thoughts, “I think this variety show is perfect for high-IQ players like us. Looking back now, it wasn’t really that scary.”

Yu Tingbai chuckled, “Oh really? Should we have the captain request a permanent spot for you with the company?”

Shen Siqi immediately backed down, “Let’s not go that far. We should leave some opportunities for other artists to shine.”

Just then, another prompt appeared on the wrist device:

【Please proceed to the Dream Town screening room to unlock the final storyline.】

An address followed below.

Just then, the production team called, first congratulating them on successfully completing the challenge, then explaining that once they reached the screening room and watched the final scene, they would only need to record a few closing remarks before wrapping up the day’s filming.

The director’s call lasted only a few minutes, but it instantly pulled them out of the heavy atmosphere of the storyline.

Although the sky remained overcast and the scenery along the way was still bleak, An Qing’s mindset had completely shifted. Everything she saw now felt novel and lighthearted, and the fear she had felt earlier had completely vanished.

Shen Siqi bounced cheerfully ahead, flanked by Yi Zhuo and Wen Ling.

An Qing and Yu Tingbai walked behind the three of them.

With the immediate task resolved, An Qing suddenly remembered the verbal agreement between her and Yu Tingbai, and her heart gave a faint, uneasy thud.

Oh no it had already been over a month since their debut.

Lately, things with Yu Tingbai had been going so smoothly, and work had been so busy, that she had completely forgotten to discuss renewing their contract.

But they had already hugged and kissed, Surely she wouldn’t be abruptly fired over this, right?

An Qing glanced at the person beside her, feeling a pang of guilt.

Their microphones were already turned off, and the three ahead were chatting and laughing animatedly. If she quietly brought up something personal, it probably wouldn’t be noticed.

So, An Qing cleared her throat, about to speak, when she heard the person beside her ask, “Do you have any more candy?”

“Yes, yes.” An Qing noticed Yu Tingbai’s slightly pale lips and knew she wasn’t feeling well again. She quickly pulled a piece of candy from her pocket.

As she fawningly unwrapped it, she seized the opportunity to whisper, “Boss, about our contract. hmm?”

Her words were cut short by a soft, unfamiliar sensation.

Yu Tingbai lowered her head and took the candy from An Qing’s fingertips.

Then she lifted her gaze, deftly taking the candy with her lips.

“The 47th one.”

An Qing was stunned. “You.”

“I remember every one.”

Ever since learning that Yu Tingbai occasionally suffered from low blood sugar, An Qing had made sure to keep her pockets stocked with carefully selected candies, offering them to her from time to time.

Most of the time, Yu Tingbai would simply accept and eat them, occasionally murmuring a quiet “thank you.” An Qing never expected that, over all this time, the other had silently kept count of every piece.

A strange emotion surged in her chest both bittersweet and tender leaving her momentarily at a loss for words. Gazing into those beautiful, dark eyes, An Qing mumbled, “Then we… we…”

Yu Tingbai gently intertwined their fingers, turning her face toward An Qing with a soft gaze and a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Qing Qing, every piece of candy you’ve given me can be exchanged for a lot of my time.”