Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 1

Warm water covered her head. Qiu Qi’s vision blurred in the scattered light, her brain buzzed, and along with the oxygen being stripped from her body came an overwhelming fear. In this bone-chilling sensation of suffocation, her body was falling endlessly downwards.

No way. Was her bathtub that deep?

To think she was a young woman in the prime of her life, and it was bad enough no one would place flowers by her coffin, but to die such a shameful death?

#22-year-old Qiu Slips and Drowns in Bathtub While Bathing at Home#

Just thinking about that suffocating news headline made Qiu Qi want to chug three bottles of “fat-house happy water” to relieve the stress.

••••

“My Lord, is the water too cold?” A clear, pleasant voice entered her ears. The voice was gentle, but the tone was icy. “Your complexion doesn’t look good.”

It was as if someone was lightly tapping a crisp silver bell by her ear, followed by a surging, tide-like force injecting into Qiu Qi’s heart. The force was fierce and rough, completely disregarding her ability to withstand it.

The dull pain in her chest quickly replaced the pain of drowning, instantly rousing Qiu Qi’s hazy consciousness from the darkness.

“Mmmph—ha!” Qiu Qi surfaced from the water, her hands instinctively flailing in the air, trying to grasp the edge of the bathtub she remembered. But what she touched was the cool, soft texture of skin.

A person?

“My Lord,” the voice sounded again. This time, Qiu Qi was sure she hadn’t misheard.

She wiped the water droplets from her face and opened her sore eyes to follow the direction of the voice.

What she saw was astonishing. The surroundings were completely unfamiliar—she wasn’t in her own bathroom at all.

It was a very large bath, like an indoor swimming pool. The water wasn’t hot; it was ice-cold, the kind that pierces to the bone. But strangely, even though she had been soaking in it for so long, her body hadn’t shivered or stiffened, not even a hint of goosebumps.

Qiu Qi, accustomed to long hours of drawing at her desk, usually had aching elbows, shoulders, and back. But now, all those sensations were gone, as if she had suddenly gained a robust, resilient body. She felt so full of energy she could jump up and perform ten sets of combination punches.

Unconsciousness, an different world, plus a brand-new body… Qiu Qi, being a manga artist herself, was very familiar with this trope—wasn’t this just a classic transmigration plot, and she was even getting the protagonist’s role?

Good, this was too good!

Qiu Qi had long fantasized about transmigrating. This kind of good fortune had finally fallen upon her!

As she thought about it, Qiu Qi couldn’t help but laugh. Soon after, she also noticed the intensely strong gaze from above her head.

Right, there was someone else here.

“Hi…” Qiu Qi had just put on what she thought was a friendly smile to greet them, but she slowly paused after seeing the other person’s face.

—Perhaps “dumbfounded” would be a more accurate description.

The woman’s expression was indifferent and cold. In contrast to her humble address of “My Lord,” her gaze was direct and forceful, steadily staring into Qiu Qi’s eyes. Normally, Qiu Qi might have stared back defiantly and retorted, “What are you looking at?” But she couldn’t do that now… because that face was absolutely to her taste.

It was as if skilled artisans had spent centuries crafting exquisite features: beneath light, elegant brows were a pair of blue eyes with a pure, clear luster like the ocean. Her eyelashes, which curved slightly downwards when she looked down at someone, were the same silvery-white as her hair, and paired with her indifferent gaze, they held a frosty chill.

The woman’s silver hair was lazily draped over her shoulders, soft and silky, flowing downwards, more exaggerated than a shampoo commercial. Qiu Qi’s gaze followed the waterfall-like long hair downwards, landing on her smooth, glistening skin.

Her skin was whiter than if it had a filter applied, her figure was better than a game’s CG, and even her voice was no different from Qiu Qi’s favorite voice actor. Just those few calls of “My Lord” almost melted her bones.

Oh my god.

“Damn…” Qiu Qi met her eyes and couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration, “She’s so freaking beautiful!”

She was truly an undeniable stunner—and she wasn’t wearing any clothes.

As the thought crossed her mind, a rush of heat surged to her head, and warm liquid slowly dripped from Qiu Qi’s nose.

She raised a hand to touch it, then looked down blankly. A conspicuous red stain on her fingertip; she was having a nosebleed…

Qiu Qi’s motto: Enjoy life while you can.

Qiu Qi’s hobbies: Food, beauties, comics.

So, with such an exquisite beauty right in front of her, it was already quite good that she wasn’t drooling. A nosebleed was still a relatively “dignified” reaction.

The woman’s brow subtly furrowed, then quickly smoothed. She probably found Qiu Qi’s overly modern “crude remarks” uncomfortable.

“My Lord, please bathe first.” The beauty didn’t seem to be in a very good mood. Her dim eyes held a hint of grim determination, then she bent slightly and said, “An impure body cannot serve My Lord at night.”

Qiu Qi: Straight to the good stuff right away? This script is great! Does Heaven love me this much?

“No, no, no, you misunderstood, I didn’t mean to take liberties with you…” Qiu Qi blushed as she pulled back the hands she’d instinctively placed on the woman. Then she remembered she didn’t know her name and asked, “Beautiful lady, what should I call you?”

There was some confusion in the woman’s eyes, but her expression remained cool and indifferent. “My Lord, are you joking with me?”

Qiu Qi cleared her throat, ready to skillfully begin the first page of the script.

“It’s like this, I was drowning just now, and after I woke up, I found I couldn’t remember anything.” She said, pointing a finger to her head. “It’s amnesia, do you have that concept here?”

“Pei Yuqing.” The woman answered directly this time, seemingly unfazed by such an outlandish claim.

Now it was Qiu Qi’s turn to be surprised. “No, I said I have amnesia and you just believe it? Aren’t you going to ask me more? Don’t you care that your lover has changed?”

Pei Yuqing lifted her eyelids, seemingly mocking the words “lover” from Qiu Qi’s mouth. “How can one question My Lord’s words?”

“…Alright then.”

••••

This Miss Pei was truly unreserved. Seeing that Qiu Qi didn’t reply, she turned around and began to clean her body as if no one else was there. Water droplets fell from her raised, fair arm, creating ripples on the water’s surface.

Behind her, Qiu Qi instinctively raised a hand to cover her nose, afraid she’d bleed to death in this pool tonight. But once she clearly saw what was on Pei Yuqing’s back, her mood for appreciating the beautiful bathing scene vanished instantly.

On that slender back, precisely at the position of the shoulder blades, two metal rings were firmly embedded. The metal rings were as thick as two fingers, deeply pierced into Pei Yuqing’s flesh. The skin around the edges had begun to take on an unhealthy, transparent whiteness, as if waterlogged, from years of wear.

Qiu Qi couldn’t help but frown, feeling as if she could empathize with the pain Pei Yuqing was enduring.

Her gaze shifted from the unbearable sight of the back. Qiu Qi carefully examined the rings, quickly noticing a pattern on them that was highly similar to the one on the back of her own right hand: a complex beast-head totem.

So, these rings were deliberately put on Pei Yuqing by the original owner of this body?

At this thought, Qiu Qi’s eyes darkened, finally showing a trace of seriousness. She began to analyze the information gathered so far.

Judging by Pei Yuqing’s attitude just now and these cruel collar rings, it seemed these two were by no means a loving, harmonious couple. It was highly possible that the original owner was indeed a brutish pervert who forcibly seized innocent women.

No, perhaps even more than a pervert, she was also cruel and sexless.

With years of script-writing experience, Qiu Qi quickly deduced that if the original owner was truly as heinous as she suspected, her own situation would not be pleasant.

Sure enough, a perfect script with a grand happy ending at the very beginning wouldn’t just fall into her lap from the heavens. 🙂

As if sensing Qiu Qi’s prolonged inactivity, Pei Yuqing turned her head, casting a faint sideways glance, an unconcerned look with no obvious like or dislike, as if the person with the cruelly pierced and ringed bones wasn’t her.

Qiu Qi wasn’t foolish enough to ask if the rings hurt or anything like that. Not only would it fail to convey her sympathy and concern for Pei Yuqing, but it would also needlessly increase the hatred level.

She quickly masked her surprise and the faint panic in her heart, offering Pei Yuqing a smile.

“Apologies, beautiful lady, you’re so stunning I got lost in looking. You go ahead and wash, I’ll go up and wait for you.”

Pei Yuqing nodded in response, her tone neither humble nor arrogant. “Yes, My Lord.”

This demon is truly impatient, can’t even wait for a bath. Thinking this, Pei Yuqing’s eyes immediately turned cold.

Qiu Qi, who had just reached the edge of the pool, shivered abruptly, clutching her shoulders. But she didn’t dare look back, silently scrambling towards the edge of the pool.

She walked towards the clothes rack, but her gaze was drawn to a black-bound book beneath the rack.

—”World Weapon Encyclopedia.”

Shouldn’t that thing be on her desk with her reference books? How did it get here?

Qiu Qi squatted down and opened it. Her full name was emblazoned on the first page, and even the bookmark’s position was exactly where she’d left it last time.

Other transmigrators get cheat codes, but she gets a reference book? Is this script even going to work out?

Qiu Qi clicked her tongue, temporarily set the book aside, and stood up, choosing the smaller-sized ancient costume from the rack to put on.

After slipping into the wide, loose ancient attire, Qiu Qi raised her hands and looked down at the pile of flowing sashes, troubled. As someone who usually wore plain white t-shirts and old-man wide-leg shorts, she had no idea how to wear such elaborate clothing.

Thinking this, Qiu Qi simply tore the sashes from their original places and casually tied them around her waist in a bow, treating it like a bathrobe.

“Splash—” The sound of water passed by her ears. A slender, fair arm reached directly over Qiu Qi’s shoulder and took the remaining set of clothes.

Pei Yuqing seemed to have a naturally pleasant scent about her, fresh and faint, a fragrance that wouldn’t become tiresome no matter how deeply one inhaled.

When she reached over, the dampness clinging to her body unexpectedly pressed against Qiu Qi. Qiu Qi’s back muscles tensed, and she instantly froze in place, standing straighter than a pillar.

What to do, what to do! Although she had once dabbled in drawing some “colorful” manga, she herself was completely inexperienced, a total “virgin chicken.” What was she going to do once they got to bed?

By the way… do they have finger cots in this world?