As Alex thinks aloud, Rishi and Tereza listen carefully. "The main characters," Alex begins, "are mostly focused on fighting off foreign gangs hired by the NFFA. Dmitri, the local gang leader who’s not with the NFFA, ends up becoming a hero by saving a lot of people. But that’s about it for them, I don’t think we need to get involved in their fight. Then there's that psycho, Skeletor, the guy who first came up with calling it the 'Purge.' He’s a dead end. He’ll die during that conflict."

Alex pauses, trying to recall more. "The real twist was about how the NFFA orchestrated it all and tricked everyone, right? There was a woman, Dr. Updale… I think she was called the Architect. She was the brains behind the experiment—the data, science, all of it. She starts to realize things are off, that Sabian, the Chief of Staff of the NFFA, is using the gangs and the weapon drops to skew the experiment."

Rishi nods, "Sabian couldn't have her exposing that, so he silenced her, right?"

"Exactly. He knocked her out, took her to Staten Island, and then left her to be killed by the hired gangs," Alex adds thoughtfully. "But what if that’s something we could prevent?”

Alex continues discussing the lore as if unable to stop, with Rishi and Tereza nodding thoughtfully at his final question. Rishi, ever the analyst, offers, "We might as well try! Saving a main character destined to die could shift things in unexpected ways. The Realm might reward unique outcomes. But is she even alive at this point in the story?"

"I don’t know," Alex responds, frustration slipping into his voice. "All I remember is that she was originally in the NFFA headquarters, but where is that supposed to be? The movie’s too chaotic, glossing over the details on purpose."

Rishi, already thinking ahead, takes out his phone. “Hold on—I see. It’s actually close by. Drive east toward the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. If they’re traveling from headquarters, that’s the most logical route they’d take into Staten Island.”

Tereza turns the car around and drives exactly as Alex feared she would: like a total lunatic. Alex grips the seat, genuinely terrified as they swerve and speed down the road. The way Tereza weaves through obstacles has him close to throwing up. "This is hell. I just want to go home," he mutters to himself, pressing his eyes shut in the back seat.

They finally reach the bridge, which is fully blocked off by the authorities. Nobody’s supposed to get through.

"Well, looks like we missed it. Too bad," Alex says, stepping out of the car and gulping in fresh air, relieved he didn’t actually throw up. He glances back, shaking his head. "You’re the worst driver I’ve ever been stuck with. Next time, please warn me so I can run in the opposite direction."

Tereza only grins, pats him on the head, and leans in to whisper, "Pussy," with a smile that’s way too sweet.

"Bitch!" Alex shoots back, walking away from her.

He can’t help the shiver that runs through him or the blush creeping onto his face. "Dude, what’s wrong with you? Are you actually developing a fetish for dominant women?" he wonders to himself, slapping his cheeks to erase the last thirty seconds from his mind.

Rishi pulls them back to reality. "There’s something happening over there! Look, the barrier’s been pulled aside. A car’s entering—it’s a white van, looks like some kind of utility vehicle."

"Quick, back in the car! Lights off, and follow them," Rishi orders. They scramble back into the car, Tereza at the wheel, and tail the van from a distance. She navigates the dark roads with her typical reckless abandon, nearly crashing multiple times. Alex grits his teeth, biting back the urge to scream at her. Instead, he focuses on the task at hand, his eyes locked on the white van ahead, as the clock strikes 6 AM. They have only one hour left.

[It is now 6 AM. Remaining players: 3

Remaining players’ locations will be revealed in 5 seconds for the duration of 60 seconds.

Mission will end at exactly 7 AM]

Tereza finally pulls into a nearby parking lot, entering from an angle different from the van they’ve been following. Weapons drawn, they slip out quietly, positioning themselves behind concrete pillars as they observe the scene unfolding.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The van halts in the middle of the parking lot, and a woman is roughly thrown to the ground, Alex signals to the others that it’s indeed the Architect, Dr. Updale. Moments later, as the van pulls away, six masked men suddenly appear and begin to close in on her. Clearly, these men are in league with the NFFA, here to eliminate her.

Without hesitation, Alex, Rishi, and Tereza take aim, each assigning themselves two targets. Before the attackers can reach the terrified woman, they unleash a coordinated assault. Rishi and Tereza each manage to take down one of the masked men, while Alex’s practiced Pistol Proficiency lvl 2 kicks in. His shots are deadly accurate, taking out two targets immediately. As the remaining men turn in panic, Alex takes advantage of the split second to dispatch the other two.

"Nice shooting, my friend!" Rishi praises, impressed. "I didn’t realize how valuable your Pistol Proficiency would be here. You practically wiped out those siblings and now this whole crew with standard guns!"

They hurry over to the shaken Dr. Updale, carefully escorting her to the car and driving to a secluded park, well away from any cameras.

Tereza finally speaks up, “What now?”

Dr. Updale, still stunned, looks between them, confusion and fear etched on her face. "Who are you people? Why did you save me?"

Alex, Rishi, and Tereza attempt to bargain with Dr. May Updale, but she’s disoriented, clearly not fully grasping the situation. “Maybe she’s drugged?” Alex mutters, frustrated as they try to make sense of her unfocused responses.

"Get rid of her," Tereza suggests coldly, her expression unreadable. "Maybe she’ll drop something."

"Wrong," Alex replies firmly, "NPCs don’t drop items. The system doesn’t lie about its mechanics."

Rishi nods in agreement. "Alex is right—the system has rules. While there’s room for interpretation and sometimes things it doesn’t mention, it doesn’t outright lie. There’s value in keeping her alive, at least until we find a way to leverage her."

With a calculated stare, Rishi turns back to the Architect, his tone darkening. "Lady, you have ten seconds to bribe us, or this isn’t going to end well for you."

But Dr. Updale only stammers, pleading desperately for her life, her words offering nothing of worth to them.

Alex sighs, clearly annoyed. "This woman is the Architect of the Purge. She’ll be responsible for countless deaths and the country’s decay. Maybe handing her over to the NFFA is better, let them deal with her in a more... permanent way.”

Rishi’s eyes widen slightly as he processes this idea, then nods with sudden excitement. “Stop, Alex. That’s actually a brilliant angle. Tereza, get us back to the parking lot. Quickly!”

On the drive back to the parking lot, they spot a security camera mounted in an obvious location. Rishi grins, his plan crystallizing. After picking up a phone from one of the fallen mercenaries, he holds it up to the camera with Dr. Updale clearly in the frame.

Barely two minutes later, the phone rings. Rishi answers with a sweet, almost mocking tone. “Hello there, Mr. Chief of Staff. Quite the busy night you’ve had, haven’t you? Too bad there are only 30 minutes left—just enough time to make things... interesting in tomorrow’s news.”

“What do you want?” Arlo Sabian, the NFFA’s Chief of Staff, demands, sensing he might be able to strike a deal with this shrewd negotiator.

Rishi’s grin only widens as he continues. “You have exactly 30 minutes to bring us the most valuable item in your possession. Just one try. Impress us, and we’ll make sure Dr. Updale here takes no more interviews—she’ll be out of the picture for good, no questions asked. Disappoint us, though, and she’ll be front and center at the next news station.” Rishi glances at the architect, who, in her terror, finally begins to realize her own precarious position.

Precisely 25 minutes later, the white van returns. A frightened man steps out, and Alex immediately has his gun aimed at him, making the visitor freeze. With shaky hands, he pulls out a heavy suitcase and places it just out of view of the camera.

“Open it,” Rishi commands in that same syrupy tone. The man pops open the suitcase, revealing stacks of crisp hundred-dollar bills. On top, he places a sealed letter. “D...do you accept?” he stammers.

Rishi nods, takes out a gun, and without hesitation, shoots Dr. Updale in front of the camera. The courier, visibly relieved, darts back into the van and speeds away.

[It is now 7 AM. Remaining players: 3

Remaining players’ locations will be teleported back to the Fantasy Realm in 0 hours, 0 minutes and 54 seconds. Any Hostile action will lead to immediate Soul destructions.

Final Rankings:

[Current ranking:

1. Player 13 - 13

1. Player 3 - 13

3. Player 2 - 7]

“Hurry, we’re out of time!” Alex shouts urgently. He sprints to the suitcase, hastily stuffing the document and as much cash as possible into his inventory. To his surprise, the document doesn’t fit in his special inventory, so he quickly places it in his normal inventory, catching a glimpse of a blue glow indicating its quality.

Rishi and Tereza move just as fast, grabbing handfuls of cash and stuffing it away. Together, they manage to secure most of the money in the final seconds before everything goes dark and they feel the pull of teleportation whisking them back.