Transmigrated into the Villainous Scummy Alpha in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 40

The final mission location was inside a shopping mall.

The PD had the staff blindfold all fourteen of them and randomly take them to different spots. He then went to the broadcast room and announced, “The final mission is a name tag elimination game. Clues about three undercover agents scattered throughout the mall can be found. Identify who you believe are the undercover agents and eliminate them. The undercover agents should also act quickly to eliminate the innocent players. The game ends when all seven members of a team have been eliminated.”

As darkness enveloped Lin Qi’s vision, she was still pondering who “Zhaodi” referred to. In her mind, this name was something families with a preference for sons over daughters would give to a girl born long ago, hoping it would “bring a younger brother.”

But society had changed now, divided into alphas, betas, and omegas. Who would still name their child “Zhaodi”?

Could that person be a female omega?

After all, some still favored sons over daughters and alphas over omegas.

Thinking about the regular MC team members, An Zizi and Cheng Wu were alphas, along with two betas. The remaining female omega was Gu Nian’er.

Was it Gu Nian’er?

Recalling her performance throughout the day, she had actually been quite diligent.

Before Lin Qi could finish analyzing, the broadcast started playing an irritating alarm sound: “The name tag elimination mission has officially begun.”

Sighing, she stopped overthinking. The game was simple since she knew she and Jiang Ming were the undercover agents, that meant the other six trainees on the team were all fair game. All she had to do now was find a lone trainee to target.

Having changed back into her white and pink tracksuit at the previous location, Lin Qi kept one hand pressed against her back, securing her name tag as she strolled leisurely. Innocent players wouldn’t attack randomly, so she wasn’t too worried for now.

Over ten minutes passed, and the mall was truly massive. She had already circled the top floor three times, managing to collect all the clues scattered there. One clue, “The undercover agent hidden among the trainees,” pointed to her “tall enough.” Another, “A member of the ‘Listener’ group,” likely referred to Jiang Ming.

The third clue was about the undercover agent in the MC team: “When misfortune comes, slip away first.”

What the hell?

Shrugging it off, she stuffed all three clues into her pants pocket and took the elevator to the next floor. Just as she pressed the button for the sixth floor, she heard the announcement: “Wei Xuanyue, out.”

It repeated three times, leaving her stunned. No way Jiang Ming was lucky if she didn’t get eliminated by someone else. How could she have taken out Wei Xuanyue?

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Lin Qi bumped right into Jiang Ming. “Did you eliminate Xuanyue?” she asked.

Jiang Ming seemed nervous. Glancing behind her, she quickly pulled Lin Qi back into the elevator, heading for the top floor. “No, I didn’t do it.”

“Then who are you hiding from?”

“Tan Yi. I saw her eliminate Xuanyue, and she saw me too, so I ran.”

“Why would Tan Yi eliminate Xuanyue? Aren’t they both innocent?”

Exiting the elevator, Jiang Ming noticed the numbers descending, someone had likely pressed the button, probably Tan Yi chasing her from below. Without answering, she dragged Lin Qi into a movie theater hall, hiding under the seats.

“Do you know who the undercover agent in the MC team is?”

Seeing Jiang Ming ask the question while still catching her breath, Lin Qi patted her back to help her calm down, then pulled out the clue she had just found. “This is what I just discovered: ‘When misfortune comes, one must slip away first.’ I don’t know what it means, but it refers to the mole in the MC team.”

“Misfortune? Must slip away first?”

Jiang Ming took the clue card and studied it carefully, covering one character at times and breaking down another at others.

“Gu! It’s Gu! ‘Must slip away first’ if you remove the three strokes of ‘must,’ you’re left with the character for ‘page.’ Combine ‘misfortune’ with ‘page,’ and you get ‘Gu’!”

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Lin Qi marveled at Jiang Ming’s cleverness while also feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation. “Seriously, who grew up in China, you or me? How come I’m worse at this than you?”

Even the cameraman filming them seemed to find it funny, his hands shaking slightly as he held the equipment.

They then opened two more clues. “‘Good height’ obviously refers to Lin Qi,” the tallest among the eight trainees. “‘A member of The Listener group’ also pointed to Lin Qi, though she might have mistakenly thought it referred to herself.

Jiang Ming stuck out her tongue and pulled out the walkie-talkie hidden in her clothes. “Director, the mole in the MC team is Sister Gu Nian’er, right?”

“Correct answer. Congratulations on completing your secret mission.”

Putting away the walkie-talkie, Jiang Ming met Lin Qi’s puzzled gaze and explained with a smile, “This was my secret mission from the start to guess who the mole in the resident MC team was.”

“Oh, no wonder you didn’t understand.”

Nodding, Jiang Ming didn’t mention how the director had initially explained the convoluted part about each person receiving different clues. She hadn’t fully grasped it but knew only the mole would have access to the other team’s mole’s clues. So, she had pretended to be the mole to gain Lin Qi’s trust, all for the sake of the “Zhaodi” clue.

Speaking of which, what exactly did “Zhaodi” refer to?

“Hey, Lin Qi, what’s the connection between ‘Zhaodi’ and Sister Nian’er?”

Nian’er?!

Suddenly realizing, Lin Qi was speechless. “‘Zhaodi’ in Chinese means ‘to beckon a younger brother,’ reflecting a preference for sons over daughters. And Gu Nian’er, her name means ‘longing for a son,’ which also carries that connotation. That’s probably the link.”

Jiang Ming was equally dumbfounded. She pulled out the walkie-talkie again. “Director, ‘Zhaodi’ and ‘Nian’er’, you’re really something.”

The two were chatting happily when Tan Yi, who had caught up to them, spotted the cameraman. She walked into the screening room and asked Lin Qi, “You’re the mole, aren’t you?”

“I’m not!”

Tan Yi shook her head and produced the clue she had found. “I found one that says the mole hiding in the trainee team has ‘good height.’ You’re the tallest among us, so it has to be you.”

“No! It just says ‘good height,’ not ‘the tallest’!”

Still trying to argue, Lin Qi pressed one hand against the name tag on her back while reaching to help Jiang Ming with hers only to see her flinch away like a startled bird.

Why was Jiang Ming guarding against her?

“I have another clue,” Tan Yi continued. “It says the person is from The Listener group. Only you and Jiang Ming fit, and Jiang Ming’s height is average, so it has to be you.”

Just as she finished speaking, the broadcast sounded again. “An Zizi, out.”

“Why was Teacher An eliminated?”

Frowning, Tan Yi fell silent.

Since I was an undercover agent on Team MC, and An Zizi was also on Team MC, with one person eliminated from each team, it was still six against six. Lin Qi asked, “Let’s set aside Teacher An for now. Tan Yi, why did you tear off Xuan Yue’s name tag?”

The three of them gradually formed a tense standoff, distrustful of each other, each with one hand covering their name tag and the other raised in a defensive stance.

Glancing warily at Jiang Ming, Tan Yi replied, “Because I’m the undercover agent. After walking for a while, I ran into Wei Xuan Yue alone and quickly tore off her name tag.”

“You’re the undercover agent?”

Lin Qi frowned tightly. What the hell? Wasn’t Jiang Ming supposed to be the undercover agent?

Silently moving away from both of them, Lin Qi’s mind raced. Indeed, the “headphones” clue could also point to Tan Yi, who had been wearing headphones and vibing to herself during the acupressure mat game.

Under Lin Qi’s suspicious gaze, Tan Yi felt a headache coming on. “Otherwise, why would I tear off Wei Xuan Yue’s tag? If I were innocent, there’d be no reason to target someone who clearly had no role, right?”

At this moment, she had no idea how furious Wei Xuan Yue was, watching from the “jail” screen, nor did she know the torment she’d endure during the upcoming Labor Day holiday.

Tan Yi’s words sounded both sincere and logical. Just as Lin Qi turned to Jiang Ming, the latter calmly countered, “But it’s also possible you and Xuan Yue just never got along, and you tore her tag out of spite, isn’t it?”

Unable to determine who the real undercover was, Lin Qi slowly backed toward the theater entrance. “Let’s split up for now and look for more clues.”

After running to the second floor and settling into a VR shop, Lin Qi unexpectedly spotted Gu Nian’er walking alone. Regardless of who the undercover was, Gu Nian’er was definitely on the trainee team.

Putting her agility to use, Lin Qi silently approached Gu Nian’er from behind and swiftly tore off her name tag in one smooth motion.

Only when the ripping sound echoed did Gu Nian’er turn around in surprise, realizing she’d been eliminated.

“Undercover Gu Nian’er, out.”

To appear friendly, Lin Qi gave Gu Nian’er a hug, though her face betrayed the joy of having eliminated an undercover. “Sorry about that, Nian’er-jie.”

“You’re the undercover, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, no then how did you know I was the undercover?”

“My clue was ‘Zhaodi’ ‘beckoning a younger brother.’ Isn’t your name, Nian’er, all about ‘longing for a son’?”

Hearing this, Gu Nian’er wore the same resigned smile Lin Qi had when she first figured it out. As staff led her away, she pointed at the camera. “Director, you’re really something. Even my parents don’t realize how much they favor sons over daughters.”

Another hour passed, and the field had dwindled from fourteen to just five. Lin Qi finally found another clue about the trainee team’s undercover. Taking a deep breath, she already had her answer, Tan Yi’s case as the undercover was far more convincing than Jiang Ming’s.

But she didn’t want to admit she’d been fooled all day by Jiang Ming, who seemed as innocent as a little white rabbit?!

How embarrassing was that?

Reluctantly, she opened the clue. It showed an image of two people playing chess, clearly symbolizing “playing chess against each other,” pointing to Tan Yi.

Feeling utterly foolish, Lin Qi addressed the camera following her. “I’m such a dumbass.”

The cameraman had a sense of humor too. He nodded his camera up and down in agreement.

Rubbing her tired eyes helplessly, Lin Qi counted the remaining players on the field. The MC team still had the senior Cheng Wu, along with her and Tan Yi, while the trainee team had Jiang Ming and another very physically fit contestant.

Three against two, still a chance to win.

The top priority now was to find Tan Yi. Lin Qi quickly started running, but before she could take three steps, she heard the announcement: “Undercover Tan Yi, out.”

Girl, I’m so sorry!

Feeling like a complete idiot, Lin Qi changed direction, deciding to go after Jiang Ming first. She had to take her out, or else she’d look like a fool.

But since Tan Yi had been eliminated, it was clear that Jiang Ming couldn’t have done it alone. The two trainees must have been sticking together.

Just then, she spotted Cheng Wu upstairs. Taking the fire escape three steps at a time, Lin Qi found him and said, “I’m the undercover. It’s two against two now.”

“You really are?”

“I really am.”

After a brief exchange of glances, they established a tentative trust. Lin Qi took the lead, scanning the area for the two trainees.

Finally, after another ten minutes or so, the two teams crossed paths.

Lin Qi saw Jiang Ming standing a few meters ahead. Wow, she actually looks guilty. Lin Qi quietly said to Cheng Wu, “Bro, you take Jiang Ming. I’ll handle the other one.”

“What, is Jiang Ming weaker or something?”

This old man really never backs down from a challenge. Lin Qi shook her head. “No, Jiang Ming and I are a CP. It’d be awkward if I tore her name tag.”

“OK, I’ll take care of Jiang Ming.”

Finally convincing the nearly forty-year-old Cheng Wu, Lin Qi sprinted toward the other contestant. With her strength and long legs, even though the other girl was also physically strong, Lin Qi quickly pinned her to the ground, using her body weight to protect her own name tag.

Not caring about physical contact anymore, Lin Qi grabbed both of the girl’s wrists and twisted their positions, flipping them over so she was on top. Lying on the ground, she swiftly tore off the other contestant’s name tag.

But, why did Cheng Wu’s elimination announcement play at the same time??

Lin Qi got up from the floor, still catching her breath, only to lock eyes with Jiang Ming, who was also panting heavily.

“Kid, I just couldn’t keep up with Jiang Ming’s agility.”

As the staff escorted him off, Cheng Wu finally admitted his own clumsiness, leaving Lin Qi to deal with the problem.

After that intense fight, Lin Qi had already expended a lot of energy. She’d thought Cheng Wu would have no trouble with Jiang Ming, how did this happen?

Now she had to be the bad guy.

Normally, it wouldn’t be a big deal. She might’ve even turned her back and let Jiang Ming tear her name tag. But today, this little bunny she thought was so innocent had completely fooled her!

“Jiang Ming, it’s payback time.”

Finally catching her breath, Lin Qi used her long legs to close the distance between them in seconds. She grabbed both of Jiang Ming’s wrists, and the little bunny was no match for the little wolf. In an instant, Jiang Ming was pinned against the wall, unable to move.