INSIDER Chapter 87

Lu Chu’s vision blurred, and he found himself standing in the gradually familiar white space again.

The contact between his lips and Seven’s had lasted only a fleeting moment, but Lu Chu’s lips seemed to still hold the warm touch.

He unconsciously curved his lips into a smile, his ears heating up, his eyes misting over with a soft light, and his cheeks flushing with a thin layer of pink.

“Beep——” At that moment, the sound of his wristband pulled him out of his drifting thoughts.

Lu Chu brushed aside the sweet emotions in his mind and looked down at the time on his wrist.

Before the start of the last “round,” the remaining time on his wristband had been 74′59″. After completing a multiplayer task, the remaining time had increased by sixty-five minutes.

Lu Chu didn’t know the rules or basis for the time increase in multiplayer tasks. At the moment, seeing the 139′59″ displayed on his wristband, he was baffled.

As he stared at the unchanging number in deep thought, the “139′59″” suddenly jumped to “134′59″”, and then the previously stationary time began to decrease, second by second.

Lu Chu withdrew his gaze from the wristband and looked at the white space. As expected, a door appeared in front of him.

Without thinking much, he lifted his foot and walked through the door.

——————

The moment he stepped out of the door, his field of vision suddenly widened, and the blinding warm light made it hard for Lu Chu to open his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted to the strong light, Lu Chu finally saw the illusion before him. This was—a playground?

He saw a wide circular rubber track, and he stood in the center of the green artificial turf enclosed by the track. At either end of the turf were two iron soccer goals. Lu Chu looked into the distance; the nearest building to the west had the words “Yifu Building” on it, and the buildings further back looked like a cafeteria. To the east were basketball courts, a library, and other blocked buildings.

This illusion appeared to be a large university campus.

Thinking this, Lu Chu stepped aside a few steps to avoid blocking the path of anyone coming out behind him.

Not sure if Song Gui and the others had come out yet, Lu Chu thought. He had come out as soon as the door appeared, so if anyone had entered the illusion before him, they shouldn’t be far, but the place was so open that apart from himself, he couldn’t see anyone else.

As his thoughts drifted, someone suddenly came out of the door behind him.

Hearing footsteps, Lu Chu turned around to look and found an unfamiliar man. The man had a cold, murderous expression, deep furrows between his brows, a dark and yellowish face, and a fierce look. After coming out, he didn’t look at Lu Chu but instead confirmed his surroundings before walking off in a certain direction.

This man was probably one of the twenty-odd known survivors in this rule, as Song Gui had mentioned.

The next person to come out was Luo Qi.

Seeing Lu Chu, Luo Qi nodded at him, then stood by his side, seemingly waiting for the others to come out.

After that, several more unfamiliar people came out.

In the past, Lu Chu often appeared in the illusion a few steps late, or he went elsewhere after coming out, so it was rare for him to meet others at the same time. This was the first time he had seen so many strangers.

Soon, Song Gui, Qian Zhen, and Yuan Kejie also appeared in the illusion.

Since Seven had told them that their identity was that of players managed by another “rule” and could complete tasks with them, but couldn’t enter the same illusion, none of the others had any doubts or suspicions.

With that, their group was complete.

Song Gui scanned the group: “It’s not convenient to stay by the door to the illusion. Let’s find a quieter place to talk.”

Lu Chu nodded in agreement: “Alright.”

.

They walked to a grove behind the southwest teaching building.

This area seemed undeveloped, with dense, overgrown trees and shrubs, and a nearby small lake covered with green water plants emitting a slight unpleasant odor. Above the lake was a small pavilion that hadn’t been cleaned in a long time; some corners of the eaves had fallen off, and the wooden beams inside the pavilion showed signs of decay from weathering.

Yuan Kejie sighed: “My university had a place like this too. At night, it was a spot for secret dates, wave after wave of couples, or even two men and two women.”

Qian Zhen: “……”

Luo Qi was the first to enter the pavilion. She bent down, picked up a scattered brick from the ground, tossed it up, and caught it. She seemed very satisfied with the brick’s handiness.

Song Gui found a spot to sit down without caring about the dirt and asked the group: “How much time did you all gain? I got sixty-five minutes.”

Everyone had the same number. Lu Chu and the others replied, “Same here.”

“Looks like the time reward for multiplayer tasks is the same for everyone, but it’s not fixed each time,” Song Gui pondered, “It must consider many factors, with various aspects contributing.”

Lu Chu asked, “Like what?”

“Number of people,” Song Gui said seriously.

Yuan Kejie was puzzled: “Number of people?”

“Yeah, the number of people,” Song Gui elaborated, “Specifically, the number of survivors.”

Lu Chu was intrigued: “Explain?”

Song Gui didn’t answer but asked him: “Remember I told you I did a multiplayer task before?”

Lu Chu nodded. Song Gui had mentioned that only he and Luo Qi survived that time, which must have been extremely dangerous.

Seeing him nod, Song Gui continued: “That time, the reward time was twenty minutes.”

Yuan Kejie was shocked: “Twenty minutes?”

“Yeah, twenty minutes,” Song Gui glanced at Luo Qi, “with only Luo Qi and me surviving.”

At the mention of “only two survivors,” Luo Qi raised her hand and struck Song Gui with the brick.

Song Gui immediately got up, agilely dodging her attack.

Only then did Lu Chu recall that every time he saw Luo Qi, she would physically attack Song Gui. However, during the last “round,” Luo Qi had only occasionally taunted Song Gui verbally without any targeted actions.

From another perspective, this might be a form of distinguishing between personal and professional matters?

“Alright, Qi Qi, stop fooling around,” Yuan Kejie intervened, “We don’t have much time. This meeting is to discuss serious matters.”

Hearing this, Luo Qi immediately stopped attacking Song Gui, picked up the brick from the ground, tossed it up, caught it, and then silently returned to her position.

Song Gui asked the group: “What are your thoughts on our cooperation?”

Qian Zhen spoke first: “Trustworthy.”

Yuan Kejie added: “We can rely on each other, no deadweight teammates.” Of course, excluding Song Gui and Qian Zhen’s bad luck.

Luo Qi also said: “Not bad.”

“I think we can continue working together,” Lu Chu concluded with a smile.

Song Gui smiled genuinely, then quickly put on a serious expression: “I agree. From now on, we’re officially on the same side.”

“Next, I want to share some information.”

Luo Qi and the others already knew Song Gui had information they didn’t, and now they looked at him expectantly.

Although Lu Chu didn’t know about this, he could guess what the information might be about.

Song Gui continued: “We all know time is crucial. It’s not only about how long we can stay in the illusion, but also about—”

Lowering his voice, he carefully said, “How to escape this game.”

The others widened their eyes in shock.

Escape… this game.

This was a dream for many players, to escape this endless suicidal game and return to normal life. Even if that life was mundane and unremarkable, it would still be peaceful and fulfilling.

Yuan Kejie asked seriously: “Where did you hear this? Is it reliable?”

“The information came from a previous ‘round’ I experienced. I can’t give too many details because the ‘rule’ will censor it. As for reliability—” Song Gui paused, looking at the group, “I don’t know if anyone has tried it, and if they succeeded, they wouldn’t be able to share their joy and experience with us, so we need to test it ourselves.”

Luo Qi raised an eyebrow: “So, what’s the method?”

Song Gui glanced around and said: “Remember the pattern of the illusion’s appearance?”

How could they forget?

Yuan Kejie replied: “At the same time every day, the door to the illusion opens, leading to different worlds.”

“Exactly,” Song Gui said, “Every twenty-four hours is a cycle. The door to the illusion appears automatically, and the time you can stay in the illusion depends on the time left on your wristband. When the time runs out, you return to your respective blank rooms. But if our wristband time exceeds twenty-four hours, meaning we stay in the illusion for twenty-four hours, what do you think will happen at the moment the illusion cycle resets?”

Everyone fell into thought.

Lu Chu pondered and said: “It’s a key point, a breakthrough.”

“Right,” Song Gui said, “At that point, there’s a possibility of breaking free.”