INSIDER Chapter 134

Lu Chu softly voiced his thoughts and then looked at Song Gui, “What about you? What’s your wish?”

Song Gui chuckled, “Me? I hope I can still find a job when we get back, haha…” He started laughing uncontrollably.

“Heh, it’s not funny at all,” Luo Qi’s mocking voice drifted over from behind them.

Lu Chu turned his head and saw Luo Qi and Yuan Kejie standing there, arms crossed, watching them.

Soon after, Qian Zhen also arrived.

During this time, a burly man walked out and deliberately brushed past Song Gui, causing him to stumble. The man then quickly walked away and disappeared around the corridor bend.

Song Gui steadied himself, shrugged, and looked indifferent, “I said it, this place is so small, it’s inevitable to run into people you don’t like.”

Lu Chu was surprised, “Are you familiar with that guy?”

“Not really,” Song Gui explained, “We just did a duo mission together once. Although we succeeded, we couldn’t stand each other and went our separate ways.”

Yuan Kejie got interested, “What was it that you couldn’t stand about each other?”

Song Gui stated the facts, “I didn’t agree with and tried to stop him from forcibly taking and brutally killing an NPC he liked in the game. He thought I was hypocritical.”

“…” Yuan Kejie was silent for a moment, then cursed loudly, “Damn! That scumbag!”

Luo Qi and Qian Zhen also looked at that man with disdain.

Lu Chu frowned, feeling that the guy’s actions couldn’t simply be described as “scummy.”

Song Gui added, “But due to the rule ‘players can’t harm other players,’ I couldn’t do anything to that scum. He’s very cunning, and I couldn’t find a chance to get him trapped by the dangers in the game. So, after that mission ended, we parted ways.”

Yuan Kejie angrily said, “That kind of scum will die a horrible death sooner or later.”

Lu Chu and the others nodded in agreement.

“Alright, let’s not talk about him anymore,” Song Gui calmed the angry Yuan Kejie and the other furious members, “Let’s find a quiet corner nearby to discuss our next steps.” Hearing this, Lu Chu and the others understood that he had found a new, suitable multiplayer game.

This time, the illusion was a complete art exhibition venue, but the doors at the entrance and exit couldn’t be opened. The so-called “quiet” places were limited to the exhibition’s lounge and restrooms.

Looking at the map of the exhibition, they noticed that the burly man had just headed towards the lounge.

Thus, the lounge was eliminated from their options.

Yuan Kejie decisively said, “Let’s go to the women’s restroom!”

Song Gui stroked his chin, “Makes sense, I haven’t been to the women’s restroom before.”

Yuan Kejie hesitated, “You have a point, I haven’t been to the men’s restroom either… So should we go to the men’s restroom or the women’s restroom?”

Qian Zhen: “…”

After a brief silence, Lu Chu glanced at Luo Qi and said, “The women’s restroom…”

Upon hearing this, Song Gui and the others’ eyes lit up as they looked at Lu Chu with a knowing expression, “Didn’t expect you to be this kind of Lu Xiao Chu?”

Lu Chu spread his hands helplessly, “I was thinking, Luo Qi is underage, still a kid. It’s not appropriate for her to go to the men’s restroom.”

Luo Qi: “…”

Yuan Kejie nodded, “Right, we can’t leave a lasting shadow on a child’s pure heart. Let’s go to the women’s restroom.”

With that, she waved grandly and pointed towards the restroom.

Luo Qi sneered, “You guys are the real kids.”

Despite her words, she obediently followed the group to the women’s restroom.

In the illusion, places like “restrooms” were seldom visited because, for reasons unknown, the players in the illusion didn’t need to eat, drink, or excrete. Thus, restrooms became relatively quiet, undisturbed places.

The exhibition’s restrooms weren’t large but were exquisitely and luxuriously decorated. The walls were adorned with finely crafted reddish-brown tiles, and since no players used them, they were impeccably clean.

The five of them stood by the pristine and elegant sinks in the women’s restroom, with a large spotless washbasin and mirror behind them.

Song Gui sighed, “So, women’s restrooms don’t have urinals.”

Lu Chu: “…”

Yuan Kejie laughed and said to Song Gui, “Bro, you make it sound like you just found out.”

Song Gui shrugged.

Luo Qi checked the time on her wristband and urged, “Let’s get to the point. I still want to eat something.”

Lu Chu chuckled, “There’s food here?”

Luo Qi nodded, “Of course, where there are people, there’s food.”

Yuan Kejie patted Luo Qi’s shoulder, “Didn’t expect such a philosophical statement from a little girl.”

Luo Qi glanced at Yuan Kejie like she was looking at an idiot, and Yuan Kejie touched his nose, looking innocent.

Song Gui said, “I’ve indeed found a multiplayer game worth trying.”

He shared the details of the mission with the group. After memorizing the information and discussing it for a while, they dispersed.

Song Gui had some matters to confirm with Lu Chu, so they walked together.

As they strolled through the gallery, Lu Chu turned his head, “Any questions?”

Song Gui nodded, “I want to confirm if you remember your birthplace.”

“I do,” Lu Chu affirmed.

His parents had repeatedly told him he was born in the town’s central hospital, room 403 of the obstetrics department. They had even taken him, blind at the time, through the streets to the hospital, explaining its layout in detail and showing him every corner under the pretext of an eye examination.

Satisfied with his response, Song Gui said, “Good, then our task now is to find a way to enter the same game…”

As Song Gui spoke, his voice trailed off. Lu Chu followed his gaze to see the burly man who had bumped into Song Gui standing there, staring at a painting.

The man had noticed Song Gui and Lu Chu’s presence and suddenly smiled, looking at the predominantly red painting before him, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

He turned to face Lu Chu and Song Gui.

Lu Chu then saw the man’s surprisingly refined face, at odds with his burly frame, but his eyes held a sickening perversion and greed.

Song Gui clicked his tongue and shook his head, “Wang Jianjia, your eyes didn’t reveal so much before. You could at least fool me. Look at you now, a disgusting pervert who deserves a beating.”

“I’m a pervert? What about you people?” Wang Jianjia sneered, “A bunch of cowardly, laughably stupid fools. We are here because we were chosen, selected by the ‘rules’ to become gods controlling the lives and fates of people in each game world. We don’t age or die, traveling through countless worlds. We should enjoy completing each mission with divine perspective. But you see this as a punishment?”

Song Gui turned to Lu Chu, “This guy’s crazy. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Lu Chu nodded, “Let’s go.”

They ignored Wang Jianjia and walked away together. Wang Jianjia watched them leave, not angry, but showing a bloodthirsty smile.

.

After talking with Song Gui for a while, the time on Lu Chu’s wristband ran out. He bid farewell to Song Gui and returned to his own space.

Following Song Gui’s instructions, he found the multiplayer mission—

“Objective: Break the curse

Clue: The Witch’s House

Hint: Be careful, the curse has already made this place perilous”

This mission seemed intriguing. The requirements, clues, and hints indicated a Western fantasy world centered around demons and curses, unlike the Eastern mythological worlds Lu Chu had experienced.

Lu Chu was interested.

Without hesitation, he chose the mission and stepped through the door that appeared.

After a dizzying sensation, Lu Chu found himself in a vast estate.

The sky was dark, with a deep blue starry night overhead, surrounded by silence. The air was still, occasionally stirred by a gentle breeze. The meticulously manicured gardens, with maze-like hedges, were dark green with hints of purple in the night. In the center was a grand flowerbed full of blooming flowers, behind which stood a grand mansion, somber and gray like a castle.

“Lu Chu! There you are!” A voice called out.

Lu Chu turned to see a boy standing outside the estate’s ornate iron gate, waving at him, “How did you get in there? Come out, everyone’s waiting for you to join the barbecue!”

Lu Chu looked at the large locked iron gate, took a few steps back, and with a running start, leaped up and nimbly climbed over the three-meter-high gate, landing smoothly on the other side.

The boy clapped in admiration, “Awesome! Really awesome!”

Lu Chu smiled, “Let’s go.”

“Sure, let’s go.” The boy led Lu Chu to the nearby gathering spot.

From a distance, Lu Chu saw a large table surrounded by about twenty young people on an open field with three small barbecue grills set up.

Among them were the seven from earlier.

Song Gui, Yuan Kejie, Luo Qi, and Qian Zhen were also there.

Lu Chu felt that the timing of the “rules” was quite peculiar—although he had returned to his own white space earlier than the others, he quickly chose a mission and entered, yet they all managed to gather at the start of this game.