INSIDER Chapter 100

Everyone except Lu Chu felt a chilling fear creeping down their spines, deeply horrified.

Cao Wenwen’s voice trembled, but to save face, she pretended to be calm, glancing at everyone before sternly saying, “Who is playing this prank? Does anyone find this fun?”

No one responded.

When Cao Wenwen took a step forward, everyone immediately recoiled in terror, with some even pressing themselves against the wall.

Seeing everyone so afraid of her, Cao Wenwen was furious.

When the lights went out, a ghostly figure appeared behind Cao Wenwen, so she was the only one unaware that they had indeed encountered a ghost. She thought everyone was deliberately targeting her. Even when she saw the paper with the word “Death” written on it, she was startled but still believed someone had swapped it while everyone was in a panic.

“A prank?” Du Yangnan retorted, “Do you still not understand what’s happening?”

Ignoring him, Cao Wenwen turned to Chen Hong and asked, “Chen Hong, tell me, wasn’t it someone playing a prank by turning off the lights and swapping the paper?”

Lu Chu looked at Chen Hong in surprise, feeling that Cao Wenwen seemed quite familiar with him.

Chen Hong, irritated, rubbed his temples, not forgetting to comfort Zhang Qian in his arms, and then said, “I don’t know.”

“You…” Cao Wenwen was furious.

At this moment, Lu Chu looked at the paper and said, “It wasn’t done by a person.”

Tang Shizhe asked curiously, “How can you tell?”

“The switch here makes a loud ‘click’ sound when pressed. At that time, everyone was speaking quietly, like in a classroom, relatively silent. The sound of the switch would have been noticeable, but I didn’t hear anything,” Lu Chu explained.

Tang Shizhe recalled and agreed, “Indeed, I didn’t hear anything either…”

“Moreover,” Lu Chu paused and added, “just now, didn’t you all see it?”

With this remark, everyone recalled the ghostly figure that had smiled eerily at them.

One timid girl couldn’t take it anymore and broke down in tears, causing the other girls to panic.

Just as Cao Wenwen was about to say something, Lu Chu succinctly explained the cause of the panic: “When the lights went out, a ghostly figure appeared behind you. Everyone but you saw it.” Hearing this, Cao Wenwen felt a chill behind her and immediately turned to look behind her.

Tang Shizhe confirmed, “Everyone saw it clearly. It couldn’t have been a hallucination.”

At this moment, Cao Wenwen began to feel afraid. With a wandering gaze, she asked the calmest person, Lu Chu, “So… what do we do? Will I die…”

Having been too scared, Du Yangnan had calmed down completely. Hearing Cao Wenwen’s words, he coldly replied, “Isn’t it a bit late to be worried now?”

A girl quietly added to Du Yangnan’s remark, “It’s not us who angered the ghost. Maybe it’s only after Cao Wenwen…”

Hearing this, Cao Wenwen shot a venomous look at the girl, who then hid behind someone else in fear.

Lu Chu remembered something and suddenly asked, “Who remembers the three girls who went to the karaoke room?”

Tang Shizhe realized, “They should be… okay, right?”

“What I’m considering is not if something happened to them,” Lu Chu shook his head, “but if something happened to us.”

Before the game started, the three girls, afraid, had left the card-playing corner and went to the karaoke area. This gathering place was large, and the karaoke area was separated by walls, making it a blind spot from where they were.

In theory, the three girls didn’t participate in the game and should be fine. However, when the lights went out in the hall, they should have seen it from the non-enclosed karaoke room but didn’t react. Moreover, even though the areas were visual blind spots, they weren’t sound blind spots. Loud talking or singing could be heard by both sides.

This eerie situation was troubling—after the girls went over, there was no other noise from the sound system after the game started.

Deeply disturbed, Lu Chu shared his thoughts with everyone.

Panic reached its peak, and even Cao Wenwen, who usually sought attention, was silent.

Tang Shizhe, shivering in fear, turned to Du Yangnan, “Comrade, what should we do next?”

Du Yangnan laughed, “Why ask me?”

“It seems like you know a lot,” Tang Shizhe explained, “and you’ve watched many horror movies from around the world…”

Gao Yong interrupted, “Watching horror movies doesn’t make you an expert. What else can he do but tell ghost stories?”

Du Yangnan was silent.

Lu Chu suggested, “Let’s check the karaoke room first.”

Tang Shizhe agreed, “Makes sense, but what if they’re in the bathroom? If we don’t find them in the karaoke room, do we go to the bathroom?”

Lu Chu nodded in agreement, then looked at the others, “Coming with us?”

Hearing they might have to go to the bathroom, a common horror movie setting, the girls were too scared to move.

Chen Hong wanted to stay and accompany Zhang Qian.

In the end, only Gao Yong, Du Yangnan, Tang Shizhe, and two other boys were willing to go.

“Wait,” Cao Wenwen suddenly said, “I’m going too.”

Du Yangnan advised, “If you’re scared, don’t come. You’ll hold us back.”

Ignoring his advice, Cao Wenwen insisted on going.

The group reluctantly took her along.

.

Leaving the card-playing area, passing the long dining table and pool table, they reached the karaoke rooms.

The rooms had walls on three sides, with one side open about two meters wide, allowing them to vaguely see the screen inside playing a video, but without sound.

Lu Chu was the first to enter.

As expected, the room was empty.

Tang Shizhe swallowed, “Maybe they are in the bathroom.”

“Let’s go check,” Lu Chu said.

The bathroom and kitchen weren’t in the same large room as the entertainment facilities. They had to exit this space, as the entertainment and dining area were separated by a corridor from the kitchen and bathroom. Exiting the entertainment room, they first saw the closed kitchen door, then walked down the corridor to the staircase corner, where the men’s and women’s bathrooms were located.

They rented this gathering place on the second floor of the building.

In the early hours, there were no sounds of passing cars outside. They unconsciously walked quietly.

As they walked, Du Yangnan suddenly said, “Have you heard the saying ‘zombies don’t gather, horror movies don’t split up’?”

Lu Chu nodded; it wasn’t his first time hearing it.

Seeing this, Du Yangnan smiled, “Do you think we are split up now?”

Cao Wenwen, startled, argued, “The ones staying behind are split up.”

Gao Yong thought for a moment, “By numbers, they are more. We are fewer, so it seems we are indeed split up.”

Tang Shizhe tried to lighten the mood, punching Gao Yong, “Don’t scare me.”

During their conversation, they reached the bathroom.

Looking at the two doors labeled “Men” and “Women,” Du Yangnan pointed to the women’s bathroom and said to Cao Wenwen, “You check the women’s bathroom.”

Cao Wenwen’s voice rose, “Why me?!”

“You’re the only girl here,” Du Yangnan said, “we didn’t want you to come, but you insisted. Now that you’re here, do something. If they are in there, what do you expect us men to do, barge in?”

Cao Wenwen, unable to argue, reluctantly walked to the women’s bathroom.

She knocked on the door, “Yang Yue, Tian Jiale, Liu Shengmei, are you in there?”

No response.

Cao Wenwen swallowed and turned the handle.

The handle turned easily; it wasn’t locked from the inside.

“Click—” The door opened.

Seeing no one inside, Cao Wenwen sighed in relief, “No one’s here.”

However, just as she said this, a bloodied head suddenly fell from the ceiling, rolling to her feet.

Time seemed to stop for a few seconds.

“Ahhh—” Cao Wenwen screamed, the piercing sound echoing through the corridor.

At the same time, similar screams came from the entertainment room, followed by chaotic footsteps and the sound of things crashing. Soon, people burst through the door, running towards Lu Chu’s group.

In no time, the dozen people from the room had run out. Two ran into the kitchen, locking the door behind them, causing those following to angrily and fearfully run towards Lu Chu’s group.

The corridor was wide and long, not crowded even with more than ten people.

At the back of the group, Chen Hong, holding Zhang Qian’s hand, shouted to Lu Chu’s group, “Run!”

The fastest runners passed Lu Chu’s group, heading down the stairs to escape the building, but moments later, they were back at the top of the stairs, as if they had run in circles.

Witnessing this, Chen Hong, holding Zhang Qian, didn’t know where to run.

“Bang, bang—” Rhythmic sounds echoed.

Following the sound, Lu Chu’s group saw a headless body staggering towards them from the entertainment room. The neck was jagged and bleeding, soaking the clothes in crimson. The body was pale, leaving bloody footprints with each step.

Looking at the head by Cao Wenwen’s feet, Lu Chu understood it was the same body.

Seeing such a horrifying scene, Tang Shizhe almost lost his voice, grabbing Lu Chu’s arm, “Run!”

Due to the mysterious looping effect, escaping down the stairs was impossible. Some quickly ran into the women’s bathroom, locking the door.

Gao Yong pointed to the men’s bathroom, “Where do we go?”

Du Yangnan ran over and frantically tried the handle, but it was locked from the inside.

Lu Chu stood in front, the headless body getting closer. Tang Shizhe tried to pull Lu Chu behind him.

Lu Chu stood firm. As the corpse reached out with pale hands, Lu Chu side-kicked it, sending it flying. The headless body crashed into the corridor wall, blood splattering, then slid down, twitching twice before going still. The group was silent.

Tang Shizhe, stunned, muttered, “Boss…”