I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 54

Inside the box was a snake.

A lifelike fake snake.

The snake had a diameter of about three centimeters, was entirely black, and was covered in fine scales that shimmered with a cold gleam under the light.

Inside the box, there was also an upright branch with a heavy base attached to the bottom to ensure it wouldn’t tip over.

The black snake was coiled around the branch in a spiral. Its body wasn’t tightly wrapped around the trunk; instead, part of it was attached to the branch while another part was suspended at a distance from it, forming a loop with its opening facing the entrance at the top of the box.

The faint sound the group had heard earlier was the production team pressing a switch, causing the black snake to tighten. Pressing the switch again would slowly release the snake, resetting it as a trap.

The design of this round was such that anyone reaching their hand into the box would fall into the black snake’s loop. Once triggered, the mechanism would cause the snake to wrap around the person’s arm.

The glass beads, which were the mission items, were scattered around the base. According to the production team’s plan, when a guest’s arm got trapped, they would panic. After ten seconds, the snake would release, and the guest would quickly pull their arm out.

The snake’s scales were made of a special material that closely resembled the texture of a real snake, making it easy for anyone to believe there was an actual snake inside the box.

This way, even though the mechanism wouldn’t activate a second time, the guest would find it difficult to muster the courage to reach into the box again, leading to mission failure.

Having one’s arm suddenly wrapped by an unknown object without being able to see what was happening inside the box would greatly amplify the guest’s fear.

The moment Wen Ling reached her hand into the box, everyone held their breath.

Just as planned, her arm fell into the trap, and with a faint sound, the snake tightened as expected.

In past variety shows and performances, Wen Ling had always remained unflappable, calmly handling any unexpected situations with ease, much like a qualified leader who could control the entire situation.

But today, it seemed the “Princess” team leader was about to break character. Who wouldn’t want to see the composed and self-controlled leader lose her cool?

Shu Qingyu and Jiang Ran thought the same, feeling a hint of anticipation.

Shen Siqi covered her eyes, peeking through the gaps between her fingers at the scene across from her, letting out a series of ambiguous murmurs.

She wanted to cheer for Wen Ling but was afraid of being “killed off,” so she resorted to this method.

The moment the black snake wrapped around Wen Ling’s wrist, everyone’s eyes were fixed on her face.

Just when they all expected Wen Ling to scream in panic and struggle desperately, something unexpected happened.

Wen Ling’s arm trembled slightly, but she allowed the snake to remain wrapped around it and let out a soft, questioning “Hmm?”

The others on stage: ???

That’s it? Nothing more?

Meanwhile, the teammates standing behind Wen Ling had no idea what was happening. Seeing her reaction, they rushed to ask.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is it alive?”

Yi Zhuo was the most anxious, her fingers resting on the edge of the box as she pressed for answers: “Does it hurt? Are you okay? What does it feel like?”

Wen Ling shook her arm but couldn’t break free, a hint of regret flashing across her face.

She said, “I’m fine.”

After a pause, she added with dissatisfaction, “It’s just trying to waste my time.”

Sure enough, as soon as the words were spoken, the black snake automatically loosened its bindings.

Wen Ling didn’t pull her hand out but instead began feeling around inside the box for the small balls. As she retrieved them one by one, she remarked, “Good thing I’m quick, I can make up for those few seconds.”

Yi Zhuo was utterly baffled. Judging by the reactions of the “Destiny” members and Shen Siqi earlier, the box should have contained something truly terrifying. Yet Wen Ling’s reaction made it seem as though everyone else had simply overthought the situation.

In no time, Wen Ling had retrieved all the small balls, and the “Princess” members immediately erupted into cheers, eager to move to the front and see what was actually inside the box.

“Wait,” Xu Die stopped them, holding the microphone up to Wen Ling’s lips. “We’d like the captain to guess, what exactly is inside the box?”

She was genuinely curious about what Wen Ling had imagined was in the box to remain so composed.

Wen Ling paused, then said, “I don’t know.”

Xu Die: ???

Not giving up, she pressed further, “Then weren’t you scared? Didn’t you even try to imagine what might be inside?”

Wen Ling smiled. “No, overthinking is too much trouble.”

Xu Die:

How is that troublesome at all?

She sighed and signaled for the “Princess” members to move to the front and finally see the contents of the black box.

An Qing had been burning with curiosity and was the first to rush over. The moment she saw the black snake, she nearly screamed.

“Bai Bai,” she whispered.

Yu Tingbai: “Hmm?”

An Qing said calmly, “My legs feel weak. Help me up.”

Yu Tingbai:

She complied.

Although An Qing knew the snake was fake, its appearance was so realistic that, at first glance, it could easily be mistaken for the real thing. She couldn’t help but admire Wen Ling inwardly truly their captain, fierce and sparing with words.

“Princess” had successfully passed three challenges. As long as they cleared one more, this segment would be complete.

The first three members had all collected all the marbles. As long as An Qing didn’t mess up this round, their victory was practically assured.

An Qing had already made up her mind: no matter what was in the box alive, dead, or a prank toy nothing would stop her from collecting the marbles.

It’s not like she would die, so she might as well be brave!

As she silently encouraged herself, she heard Ji Sen announce, “Well then, the last remaining box belongs to our little An Qing.”

As usual, the final box was meant to build suspense. After An Qing and the others took their positions, Ji Sen continued, “As everyone knows, An Qing is quite brave. She performed remarkably well in the spooky prank segment of the previous talent show and in ‘Ghost Town Survival.’ What kind of performance will she deliver for us this time?”

An Qing:

Could they please not set her up like this? She was genuinely afraid she might crash and burn later.

Ji Sen lifted the black cloth and declared, “The description for this item is something some children love.”

Children love it? Then it probably isn’t too scary, right?

Just as An Qing was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Shu Qingyu say ominously, “My little sister loves catching bugs to play with.”

Jiang Ran added, “My sister likes that too.”

An Qing: !

Goosebumps prickled her skin. What kind of sisters were these? Shouldn’t you two older sisters reflect on yourselves a little?

Chu Ning looked at her and chuckled softly, exuding an air of confidence.

An Qing’s heart skipped a beat. She glanced again at Shen Siqi standing in the distance, who was still covering most of her face with her hands, peeking through the gaps between her fingers.

An Qing’s heart raced. Could it really be bugs inside? Or some creepy thing that kids love?

In reality, the four on the other side had secretly discussed earlier no matter what was in the box for the final round, they would act as if it were something terrifying to scare An Qing.

After all, An Qing was the only one who hadn’t played yet, and the candidate for this round was already decided. All they had to do was frighten her as much as possible.

So, everyone gave it their all, pouring their lifelong acting skills into it, afraid that An Qing wouldn’t believe them.

Their efforts paid off. When Ji Sen announced the start, An Qing hesitated for a moment.

Her slender fingers slowly reached into the opening at the top of the box, cautious and tentative.

An Qing was so nervous she broke into a sweat. She gently felt around twice but sensed nothing.

The onlookers on the other side, never ones to shy away from stirring up trouble, egged her on: “Go deeper, An Qing! What are you waiting for?”

An Qing was on the verge of tears. She wanted to hurry, but her hand just wouldn’t obey. She had already been successfully frightened earlier, and now her body was frozen stiff out of sheer instinctive fear.

Just then, Yu Tingbai suddenly spoke up, “There are cookies inside. Take them out so we can share and eat them.”

Her tone was so certain that An Qing couldn’t help but pause.

Shu Qingyu on the other side grew anxious, “You’re lying!”

Yu Tingbai curved her lips into a smile, “So flustered? Isn’t it because I guessed right?”

Ignoring Shu Qingyu’s protests, she whispered to An Qing, “I can smell something sweet.”

Hearing this, An Qing felt reassured. Yu Tingbai was so clever and rarely made mistakes in judgment. If she was this sure, it was almost certainly true.

So, An Qing plunged her hand straight to the bottom and, sure enough, felt the crinkle of plastic wrapping.

Delighted, An Qing ignored the wrapping and quickly picked out the scattered glass marbles inside.

Yu Tingbai stood by, smiling as she helped collect them, occasionally cheering her on.

“All right, all the glass marbles have been collected! Congratulations, An Qing! Congratulations to ‘Princess’!”

Xu Die was ecstatic, showering them with praise, “As expected of a girl group that’s survived a horror variety show. This must’ve been a piece of cake for you, right?”

An Qing smiled modestly, “Indeed.”

She leaned closer to the box and discovered that the contents were a popular brand of chocolate candies round, about the size of lychees, wrapped in cellophane, looking utterly tempting.

An Qing sniffed but couldn’t detect any scent. Still, chocolate candies weren’t far off from the cookies Yu Tingbai had mentioned. Her fiancée was truly amazing!

Xu Die, clearly curious as well, asked Yu Tingbai, “Tingbai, how did you smell the sweetness? None of us noticed anything.”

Yu Tingbai smiled, “I didn’t smell anything either.”

An Qing: “Oh, I see Wait, what???”

Her eyes widened, “Then why did you say there were cookies inside?”

Yu Tingbai: “I was just making it up.”

An Qing was still confused, “But, what if there really were bugs inside?”

Even the bravest girl would be scared to grope around in a box full of unknown creepy-crawlies.

Yu Tingbai smiled without answering, while Wen Ling kindly replied on her behalf, “Then we’d just sacrifice one teammate.”

Yi Zhuo: “For a glass marble, it’s worth a try.”

An Qing: !

Is this the kind of team spirit that moves heaven and earth?! And to deceive your own fiancée like that, Yu Tingbai, doesn’t your conscience ache?

But the most infuriating part was that even she herself felt that Yu Tingbai tricking her to complete the task was a pretty good deal. After all, nothing in the box was dangerous the only thing to overcome was inner fear.

Thinking about it that way made her even angrier!

After a bit more laughter and banter, Ji Sen and Xu Die opened the box containing chocolates and called out to everyone, “Come on, come on, everyone gets a share.”

The group gathered around, and Xu Die said with a smile, “Let An Qing take the first one, since she was the challenger for this box and just had her feelings hurt.”

Hearing this, An Qing shot another glare at Yu Tingbai before walking over to the box and taking out two chocolates.

Yu Tingbai stood just two steps behind her, watching her with a smile.

“Don’t be mad, Qingqing.”

That single “Qingqing” instantly set the audience ablaze. An Qing, caught off guard, stared at her in shock.

Yu Tingbai remained unfazed, as if nothing had happened.

Couldn’t she be a bit more discreet in public? An Qing fought back the urge to smile, keeping a straight face as she shoved one of the chocolates into Yu Tingbai’s hand.

“Here, eat your candy.”

Xu Die wore an “I get it” expression and immediately chimed in, “An Qing, even though Tingbai tricked you earlier, you still gave her the first piece of candy? Are you not mad anymore?”

An Qing stiffened. She suddenly suspected that Xu Die was secretly a shipper who analyzed every detail, maybe even a fanfiction writer.

“Actually, Qingqing is still mad,” Yu Tingbai explained to Xu Die with utmost seriousness. “Otherwise, she would have fed it to me.”

Xu Die:

Well, there’s the material for tonight’s fanfic.