INSIDER Chapter 107

Time was up. Lu Chu bid farewell to Song Gui and returned to his own space.

Following the number provided by Song Gui, Lu Chu found the group task:

“Requirement: Pass the evaluation

Clue: Purge Day

Hint: Don’t trust anyone, whether good or bad.”

Purge Day?

Lu Chu lightly tapped his fingers in the air.

It seemed interesting.

.

He accepted the task and entered the game.

After a moment of dizziness, Lu Chu found himself standing on a wide, sparsely populated street.

The reason this street was sparsely populated wasn’t because it was desolate. On the contrary, there were signs of life everywhere: crowded newspaper stands, neatly trimmed bushes, and smooth, clean roads… Although the doors of the small villas on both sides of the street were tightly closed, the yards were very tidy, indicating regular cleaning and maintenance.

Lu Chu stood in place and waited for a while. Then, Song Gui and the other three suddenly appeared one after another.

This was completely different from the way they had entered games before, where their consciousness would attach to a body within the game. This time, it felt as though their whole beings, inside and out, had entered the game.

Lu Chu and the others exchanged glances, knowing that this game was extraordinary.

They tacitly chose not to make small talk, instead focusing on their surroundings.

The area they were in seemed like the outskirts of a city. Looking eastward, they could vaguely see towering skyscrapers.

They might move to the city center later, Lu Chu thought. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation on his arm. He immediately rolled up his sleeve and saw a rectangular strip on his forearm, glowing faintly blue, resembling a phone battery indicator. It was currently full and displayed “100%” in the center. Seeing Lu Chu’s actions, the others quickly rolled up their sleeves and saw the same thing on their forearms.

“What is this? It looks like a fluorescent screen embedded under the skin,” Yuan Kejie remarked.

Since no one had seen it before, they couldn’t answer.

Lu Chu looked at his forearm, pondered for a moment, and speculated, “Perhaps it’s our life value.”

Song Gui and the others suddenly understood.

Song Gui nodded, “Now that you mention it, it does look like that.”

It was very similar to the health bar of characters in games.

Lu Chu added, “Whether it is or not, remains to be seen.”

Yuan Kejie grinned mischievously and said to Song Gui, “If you want to know if it’s a health bar, why don’t you smash your head against that pillar and see if the ‘100%’ goes down?”

Song Gui didn’t respond, but smiled and raised an eyebrow, making Yuan Kejie sulkily shut up.

At that moment, Lu Chu pointed to a small shop in the distance, “Look at that shop over there.”

The others followed his direction but looked at Lu Chu in confusion.

Lu Chu explained, “The small TV outside the shop seems to be on and playing some program. Let’s go check it out; we might discover something.”

Naturally, the others had no objections.

So, they walked towards the direction Lu Chu had pointed.

When they reached the shop, they indeed saw an LCD TV playing on the display stand outside.

The shop’s metal shutters were tightly locked, as if guarding against something, yet the TV outside was left on, which was quite strange.

The TV was broadcasting news:

“The annual ‘Purge Day’ officially starts at noon today. Since the start of the New Era, the human population has skyrocketed. To reduce the burden on Earth, many countries and regions have introduced corresponding measures…”

Lu Chu’s expression grew serious as he watched the news broadcast on TV.

After one round of the news, it started to loop again.

Lu Chu and the others exchanged glances.

Yuan Kejie said, “So that’s why it’s called ‘Purge Day’…”

Luo Qi sneered, “Because they fear overpopulation, and to maintain law and order and reduce crime, they choose a day where everyone is free from legal constraints to kill each other. The authorities must have shit for brains.”

Yuan Kejie agreed, “Indeed. They claim that because of ‘Purge Day,’ people can vent their grudges, seek revenge, and that for the rest of the year, the country is almost crime-free, with people living in peace and happiness. They even say it maintains order and controls population growth, killing two birds with one stone, calling it the greatest law in the world. It’s pure nonsense.”

Song Gui laughed, “It seems that fighting for survival against other rule-bound people in this game isn’t very safe.”

Recalling the game’s hints and the information from the TV broadcast, Lu Chu furrowed his brow in thought and said, “It feels like, in this context, there are not just players, but also other people in the game.”

Otherwise, how would such a vast world of ‘Purge Day’ operate?

Sure enough, as they talked, two people hurriedly walked around a distant corner, looking cautious and frequently checking the time. As they passed by Lu Chu and the others, they averted their eyes and quickened their pace.

As they passed, Lu Chu vaguely heard their conversation, which went something like this: The time for Purge Day is almost here; we need to hurry home, or it will be very dangerous. Last year, my aunt was beaten to death by those troublemakers because she came home late…

It seemed these two were part of the game world.

Lu Chu looked at the tightly closed doors along the street. There must be more people in the game, but everyone knew what day it was and stayed home. As for the “troublemakers” mentioned by those two, they were probably people who, despite having no grudges against anyone, deliberately chose this day to vent their inner darkness.

Such groups were likely not few on Purge Day.

Group tasks were always more challenging than they initially appeared.

At this moment, Yuan Kejie also sorted out his thoughts. He looked at Song Gui and said, “You said we’d be fighting against other players. I thought it would only be us players killing each other.”

“I thought so too, so this time I was misinformed,” Song Gui apologized sincerely. “I previously heard from someone else that their group task of this type didn’t have any in-game characters. It was my mistake for assuming. That person hadn’t experienced every game, so his situation doesn’t represent the norm. Not every player-versus-player game only has players. My bad. I’m sorry.”

Lu Chu reassured him, “The information you gave us was already enough.”

Luo Qi scoffed, “What’s to fear? Whether it’s players or natives, we just kill whoever we encounter.”

Yuan Kejie thought for a moment and praised, “As expected of Qi Qi.”

Lu Chu added, “Actually, the threat from in-game characters is far less than that from seasoned players. Our main enemies are still the players. But we shouldn’t let our guard down against the in-game characters.”

Song Gui agreed.

“One more thing,” Lu Chu continued, “the life points on our arms are unique to players. Wearing long sleeves can hide them, and players hunt each other. So, we can disguise ourselves as in-game characters to reduce our target size.”

“At the same time, we must be cautious. Our enemies could be lurking anywhere,” Song Gui added.

Just then, noon arrived.

The sirens symbolizing the start of Purge Day sounded one after another, reminding people to hide quickly or regret it later. The streets, already sparsely populated, became even more deserted as households shut their doors, leaving only a few brave souls wandering outside.

A gunshot rang out, breaking the desolate silence, followed by the agonized cries of a man being shot. The struggle and cries lasted less than a minute before falling silent.

With the first death, the lawless Purge Day officially began.

——————

The nearby villas were all occupied, unlike previous games where they could easily find an empty house to hide in.

For the annual Purge Day, most households installed complex security systems, with sturdy steel plates on doors and windows, making it difficult to break in. Under such heavy protection, unless someone was suicidal enough to run outside, or someone had a deep-seated grudge and went to great lengths to kill them, people generally survived until noon the next day when Purge Day ended.

However, there were always those who risked going out and forgot the time, exposing themselves to the deranged individuals of Purge Day.

Not far ahead, they saw six people cautiously approaching.

Leading the group was a man in his thirties, wearing glasses and sporting a noticeable beer belly. Beside him was a heavily made-up woman, dressed in a beautiful red dress, with a shawl and ten-centimeter high heels, walking gracefully despite the situation. Behind them were four students, two boys and two girls. One boy looked frail and shifty-eyed, the other tall and strong. One girl had short, clean-cut hair and a delicate face, while the other seemed lively, with long black hair and a pretty face.

These people were clearly a temporary group, inexperienced in combat, constantly looking around nervously. The first two and the last four were obviously two separate small groups.

Lu Chu glanced at them, knowing he couldn’t underestimate them, but they were indeed—too weak.

Yuan Kejie stared at them, lost in thought.

“Yuan Kejie, what are you thinking?” Song Gui called out.

“Nothing,” Yuan Kejie shook her head, speaking with unusual sincerity, “I just feel that those people over there are a typical setup for a team wipe.”

Author’s Note:

The inspiration for this game about Purge Day comes from the movie “The Purge.” I quite like this type of movie, and if you’re interested, you can check it out.