Chapter Summaries

Kim Geun-seok prepared an elaborate defense at Uvs Lake while Great Xia retaliated against South Korea by conquering its Instances. As Bear Country’s army approached, Choi Tae-won’s forces detonated a minefield beneath its leading tanks.

• Kim Geun-seok completed the trenches and weapons deployments around Uvs Lake and grew confident that they could stop Lin Ye.
• Park Seong-man learned that Great Xia had conquered nearly a thousand South Korea Settlement Instances, including Kim Chan-hoon’s, and ordered Level 2 or higher Goryeo people to attack easy Great Xia Instances in retaliation.
• Kim Geun-seok spotted a huge force approaching from Bear Country and sent Choi Tae-won’s armored motorcycle corps to investigate and attack.
• Choi Tae-won led eight thousand armored motorcycles to a chokepoint, concealed his troops, and prepared anti-tank guns beside a minefield.
• Choi Tae-won watched five Armata T-14 tanks enter the minefield, triggering a chain of explosions that engulfed all five tanks.

Choi Tae-won’s ambush failed when mines and anti-tank guns could not damage the five Armata T-14 tanks, which then devastated his forces. He ordered the surviving Choi family challengers to retreat toward Uvs Lake and draw the tanks toward the trenches.

• Choi Tae-won celebrated after his mines appeared to disable five Armata T-14 tanks and ordered another barrage from the anti-tank guns.
• Choi Tae-won sent motorcycle cavalry toward the blast site to inspect the tanks and copy their technology.
• The five Armata T-14 tanks restarted unharmed and opened fire, killing motorcycle riders and destroying the anti-tank guns and ambush positions.
• Choi Tae-won survived the bombardment with a head wound, then ordered his remaining forces to flee toward Uvs Lake and lead the tanks toward the trenches.

Choi Tae-won’s armored motorcycle force was surrounded and destroyed by a massive Russian Bear tank assault, and he died before he could report what he saw. Kim Geun-seok learned that the force had been wiped out and ordered his army to prepare for the approaching battle.

• Choi Tae-won tried to escape the attacking Armata tanks but found thousands more closing off every route around him.
• Choi Tae-won called Kim Geun-seok to warn him about the Russian Bear tanks, but the Armata barrage killed him and wiped out his force.
• Kim Geun-seok saw explosions near Uvs Lake, checked the Instance backend, and found that only forty thousand people remained.
• Kim Geun-seok told Lee Jae-yong and Park Jeong-yong that Choi Tae-won had fallen and ordered them to ready the trenches and Howitzer Vehicles.
• Kim Geun-seok rushed from the tent and climbed into his command vehicle as the Russian Bear army advanced.

Kim Geun-seok’s planned trench defense was devastated by Bear Country’s Armata T-14 tanks, and his forces were defeated in a brutal tank battle. After losing hope, Kim Geun-seok shot himself and was punished by the Firmament.

• Kim Geun-seok ordered Park Jeong-yong’s troops to ambush Bear Country’s tanks from the trenches and preserve some tanks for capture.
• Bear Country’s tanks halted outside the trenches, detected the hidden troops, and destroyed the defenses with long-range fire, killing Park Jeong-yong and reducing the Instance population to 25,000.
• Kim Geun-seok sent twelve thousand Kim 7V Tanks and thirteen thousand Howitzer Vehicles into a direct assault against the Armata T-14 formations.
• Bear Country’s tanks overwhelmed the Korean forces with stronger armor, automatic defenses, and T-16 recovery vehicles that repaired damaged tanks during combat.
• As the Instance population continued to fall, Kim Geun-seok shot himself and received a Firmament penalty of 320,000 points deducted and a three-day personal Instance suspension.

The third opening of Lin Ye’s Winter Is Coming Instance ended after Bear Country’s tanks destroyed the Korean Settlement’s army, leaving no challengers alive. The Firmament closed the Instance and awarded Lin Ye 56.32 million points.

• Bear Country’s forces destroyed the Korean Settlement’s remaining tanks, wiping out all challengers in the Instance.
• The Firmament announced the Korean legion’s failure and displayed the Instance statistics, including a 0% clearance rate and 10% completion.
• Livestream viewers discussed the overwhelming strength of Bear Country’s tanks and Kim Geun-seok’s defeat.
• The Winter Is Coming Instance closed, and the Firmament told Lin Ye that no one had cleared it and that it had earned 56.32 million points.

Lin Ye collected his points from Winter Is Coming and Raging Waves, then persuaded the Firmament to expand Winter Is Coming to five million challengers. The Instance was set to open the next day with time acceleration enabled, leaving Lin Ye expecting a massive points haul.

• The Firmament calculated Lin Ye's rewards, including a penalty for Kim Geun-seok's suicide, and awarded Lin Ye 1.18 million points after his Points-Doubling Card was applied.
• Lin Ye reached 6.24 million total points and rose to 43rd on the Hero Ranking, while Kim Geun-seok fell to 53rd.
• The Firmament reviewed Winter Is Coming and announced that it would temporarily raise the Instance capacity to one million challengers.
• Lin Ye insisted on setting the capacity to five million, and the Firmament accepted after warning him about the risks of a mass clear.
• The Firmament announced an additional Amnesty Day and activated Time Acceleration for Winter Is Coming before its opening the next day.

Lin Ye challenged the South Korea Settlement to send five million challengers into his Winter Is Coming Instance, escalating the conflict with Great Xia. After the Instance ended, Kim Geun-seok faced his father Kim Chan-hoon’s fury for choosing suicide instead of fighting to the end.

• Lin Ye filmed a video taunting Kim Geun-seok and raising Winter Is Coming’s capacity to five million, challenging the South Korea Settlement to wager its people.
• The escalating conflict between Great Xia and South Korea drew worldwide attention as Lin Ye appeared to invite the entire South Korea Settlement to fight him alone.
• Kim Geun-seok returned from the Instance exhausted and distressed after losing and choosing suicide to escape the battle.
• Kim Chan-hoon slapped Kim Geun-seok twice and condemned him for killing himself in the Instance, calling it cowardly and shameful.
• Kim Chan-hoon showed Kim Geun-seok the news, and Kim Geun-seok was stunned by the public reaction.

After South Korea’s defeat, public outrage and Great Xia’s attacks pushed Park Seong-man to accept Lin Ye’s challenge to Winter Is Coming and wager the South Korea Settlement’s future. He ordered the Four Great Families to gather forces, hinting that South Korea would recruit challengers from beyond its own Settlement.

• Kim Geun-seok learned that South Korean public opinion had turned against him and that Great Xia had launched Group Assaults on South Korean Instances.
• Kim Chan-hoon blamed Kim Geun-seok for provoking Lin Ye and instructed him to shift blame to the other three families and claim his suicide had been accidental.
• Park Seong-man confronted Kim Geun-seok, Choi Tae-won, Park Jeong-yong, and Lee Jae-yong over the failed challenge and showed them Lin Ye’s call for South Korea to face him in Winter Is Coming.
• Park Seong-man announced that he would accept Lin Ye’s challenge and wager his command and the South Korea Settlement against victory and Lin Ye’s technology.
• After Kim Geun-seok warned that South Korea lacked enough Level 2 challengers, Park Seong-man ordered the families to spend their points raising more and said they could recruit a five-million-strong force from outside South Korea.

Park Seong-man planned to recruit other settlements to join South Korea in challenging Lin Ye’s Winter Is Coming Instance. He asked Minamoto no Yorimitsu to ally with him, but the Dahe ruler refused, and Park tried to provoke him into reconsidering.

• Park Seong-man ordered Kim Geun-seok to accompany him on recruitment visits and tasked Choi Tae-won, Park Jeong-yong, and Lee Jae-yong with gathering a million South Korean fighters.
• Park Seong-man announced South Korea’s wager through the media and traveled with Kim Geun-seok to the Dahe Settlement.
• Park Seong-man asked Minamoto no Yorimitsu to ally with South Korea and join the Winter Is Coming Instance challenge.
• Minamoto no Yorimitsu rejected the alliance, saying Dahe should recover rather than enter South Korea’s conflict with Great Xia.
• Park Seong-man insulted Dahe’s Bushido Spirit, attempting to provoke Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

Park Seong-man proposed that South Korea and Daiwa join forces to attack the Winter Is Coming Instance by sea, land, and air, and Minamoto no Yorimitsu considered the alliance. Xiaochuan supported the plan but urged Yorimitsu to stay out of the Instance, offering to lead Daiwa’s troops in his place.

• Minamoto no Yorimitsu threatened Park Seong-man for insulting Daiwa, but Park provoked him by pointing out the opportunity to avenge Dahe Settlement’s losses in Raging Waves.
• Park Seong-man proposed that South Korea and Daiwa attack the Winter Is Coming Instance together in Total War Mode, with Daiwa handling naval warfare and South Korea providing aerial strength.
• Minamoto no Yorimitsu considered the alliance and asked Prime Minister Xiaochuan for his opinion.
• Xiaochuan agreed that a joint attack could be Daiwa’s best chance, but advised Yorimitsu to avoid risking a demotion from LV4.
• Xiaochuan offered to enter the Winter Is Coming Instance in Yorimitsu’s place and command Daiwa’s elites.

Park Seong-man secured Daiwa’s cooperation by promising points, then traveled with Kim Geun-seok to recruit the Nirmaner Settlement as another ally against Lin Ye. The chapter left them arriving in Lothric, where Kim learned how thoroughly the settlement devoted itself to Instance warfare.

• Xiaochuan and Minamoto no Yorimitsu agreed to let Daiwa cooperate with Park Seong-man’s Settlement, and Park promised to provide points in return.
• Aboard the plane, Kim Geun-seok questioned whether Daiwa could be trusted, and Park explained that Daiwa’s hatred of Lin Ye and desire for profit made it a useful ally.
• Park identified the Nirmaner Settlement as the land-warfare ally they needed and flew with Kim to its city of Lothric.
• Kim saw Lothric’s grim, nearly empty streets and learned that its residents spent their lives challenging or creating Instances.
• Kim learned that Nirmaner had four Dungeon Designers at LV4 or above, a TOP3-ranked leader named Adolf Schiller, and around five million residents, all above Level 2.

Park Seong-man secured an alliance with Xi'er of the Nirmaner Settlement for a joint challenge of Lin Ye’s Winter Is Coming Instance. As Park and Kim Geun-seok left, they believed their coalition had assembled powerful sea, land, and air forces against Lin Ye.

• Park Seong-man warned Kim Geun-seok that Xi'er was dangerous and unpredictable before they met him at the Cathedral of Maria.
• Xi'er destroyed a painting he had just finished, then heard Park’s proposal to join the South Korea and Dahe Settlements in a Total War Mode challenge.
• Xi'er agreed to the alliance because he admired Lin Ye and wanted to challenge his Instances, not for technology or benefits.
• Xi'er ordered Park and Kim to leave the cathedral district after Park questioned his motives, so they departed immediately.
• On the plane, Park reflected that the coalition’s navy, army, and air force were now assembled, while Kim mocked Lin Ye for not expecting their reinforcements.

Azure Star announced that South Korea had formed an alliance with the Daiwa and Nirmaner Settlements to challenge Lin Ye’s five-million-capacity Winter Is Coming Instance. Great Xia’s commanders, who had been attacking South Korean Instances, understood Lin Ye’s challenge as an opportunity to strike the settlement hard.

• The Firmament granted Azure Star an Amnesty Day and suspended all Instances except Winter Is Coming for its selected challengers.
• South Korea announced that it would challenge Winter Is Coming alongside the Daiwa and Nirmaner Settlements, drawing powerful figures such as Xi’er, Mansch, Guderian, and Erwin Rommel into the alliance.
• Azure Star’s public opinion shifted against Lin Ye, with many expecting the alliance to conquer Winter Is Coming and erase him.
• Ding Chang, Li Yunlong, Deng Xian, Zhao Shun, and other Great Xia leaders discussed their attacks on South Korean Instances and recognized Lin Ye’s challenge as a strategic chance to weaken South Korea.

After South Korea allied with the Dahe and Nirmaner Settlements to attack Winter Is Coming, Ding Chang and Li Yunlong worried that Lin Ye would face overwhelming odds and offered to help. Lin Ye checked the news and participant list, recognizing a formidable lineup of rivals as the Instance challenge drew near.

• Li Yunlong, Ding Chang, and the others planned to attack South Korea while its elites entered Winter Is Coming, hoping to strike the vulnerable Settlement and avenge Zhao Jianyu.
• News broke that South Korea, Dahe, and Nirmaner had formed an alliance, alarming Great Xia’s leaders and changing the scale of the threat to Lin Ye.
• Ding Chang called Lin Ye directly and asked what help he needed, explaining that Great Xia could not transfer enough points or provide the required safety points in time.
• Lin Ye heard about the alliance for the first time, checked the news, and opened Winter Is Coming’s participant list.
• Lin Ye recognized the formidable challengers, including four Level 4 experts and familiar rivals Park Seong-man, Xiaochuan, and Kim Geun-seok.

Lin Ye welcomed the alliance of the Nirmaner, South Korea, and Dahe Settlements, confident that his Winter Is Coming Instance could withstand their five million challengers and eager to test Azure Star’s strongest settlement. As the Instance’s opening countdown began, Park Seong-man and the Dahe leaders prepared to lead their forces against Lin Ye.

• Lin Ye recalled gaining little useful technology from past challengers, but looked forward to obtaining advanced designs from the alliance’s powerful settlements.
• Lin Ye explained that Bear Country’s later-stage weapons, including experimental Cold War projects and the Hand of God system, would make Winter Is Coming difficult to defeat, then reassured Ding Chang and ended their call.
• Two hours later, Park Seong-man gathered Kim Geun-seok, Choi Tae-won, Park Jeong-yong, and Lee Jae-yong and declared that South Korea would prove its strength; he planned to lead the campaign himself.
• At the Dahe Settlement, Minamoto no Yorimitsu charged Xiaochuan and Yamamoto Sanjūhachi with commanding the campaign, and Yamamoto vowed to reclaim what he had lost at Pearl Harbor.

As five million challengers entered the Purgatory-level Winter Is Coming Instance, Xiaochuan and Xi'er rallied their forces for a showdown against Lin Ye. The challengers chose their spawn points, setting the stage for the conflict across Earth Online.

• Xiaochuan left the Emperor's residence and rallied the Great He Clan, intending to prove himself in Winter Is Coming and reclaim the throne from Minamoto no Yorimitsu.
• Xi'er emerged from the Cathedral of Maria and led Mansh, Guderian, Rommel, and the Aryan people in a rousing declaration of strength.
• The Firmament sent five million challengers into Winter Is Coming as spectators and top-ranked designers crowded into the livestream.
• The Firmament announced that Instance time would pass much faster than real time and offered four spawn points.
• Park Seong-man chose Stick Country with one million Aerial Warfare elites, while Kim Geun-seok, Choi Tae-won, Park Jeong-yong, and Lee Jae-yong chose Malaysia with five hundred thousand Army soldiers.
• Xiaochuan and Yamamoto Sanjūhachi chose Eastern Ocean Island with one and a half million Daiwa naval elites, while Xi'er and his three generals chose Tank Country with two million people.

Five million challengers entered the Winter Is Coming Instance and split across four spawn points to attack Bear Country. The Firmament appointed commanders and established Total War Mode, leaving them free to choose when to begin their assault.

• Park Seong-man and the other leaders divided the challengers among Tank Country, Stick Country, Eastern Ocean Island, and Malaysia to encircle Bear Country.
• The Firmament transported the commanders and their forces to their assigned spawn points and warned repeat entrants that Bear Country might give them special attention.
• The Firmament activated separate national management systems and appointed Adolf Schiller, Park Seong-man, Xiaochuan, and Kim Geun-seok as commanders.
• The four commanders voted for Total War Mode, allowing challengers to use land, naval, and aerial weapons without a time limit.
• The Firmament set the war objective as capturing Volgograd, Saint Petersburg, or Moscow, while challengers who submitted to Bear Country within half an hour would lose 20 points.

The Instance began with all challengers committed to war against Bear Country, and the four settlements assembled enormous land, sea, and air forces. Xiaochuan launched the first attack by ordering a naval strike on Vladivostok.

• The alliance barred challengers from surrendering or privately communicating with Bear Country, and the Firmament confirmed that the war questline had begun.
• Daiwa, Stick Country, and Tank Country prepared vast forces of warships, aircraft, tanks, and other weapons for the battle.
• The Instance published the settlements’ weapons lists, revealing millions of combat units across land, sea, and air.
• Xiaochuan declared war on Bear Country and ordered Commander Yamamoto to lead five hundred thousand troops in an attack on Vladivostok.

Yamamoto Sanjūhachi and Park Seong-man began the alliance’s attack on Bear Country by targeting Vladivostok, coordinating five hundred thousand warships and five hundred thousand aircraft. They reached the city and prepared to strike, but its defenses remained unseen.

• Xiaochuan assigned Yamamoto Sanjūhachi half of Daiwa’s warships, and Yamamoto planned to send South Korean forces into the attack first.
• After Eastern Ocean Island declared war on Bear Country, Firmament opened an encrypted channel for the four countries’ commanders.
• Yamamoto Sanjūhachi and Park Seong-man agreed to coordinate a land and air assault, with Vladivostok chosen as the nearest target.
• Yamamoto led five hundred thousand warships from Wu Hai Arsenal toward Vladivostok while Park Seong-man declared war and flew five hundred thousand aircraft toward the city.
• Yamamoto reported that his fleet was in position as Park’s aircraft circled Vladivostok, whose harbor appeared to have no visible defenses.

Yamamoto Sanjūhachi’s fleet attacked Vladivostok, but ten Borei nuclear submarines intercepted the bombardment and disappeared beneath the water. The submarines became Bear Country’s main defense while its larger forces were still on their way.

• Yamamoto Sanjūhachi ordered the fleet and Goryeo’s fighters to bombard Vladivostok.
• Bear Country’s harbor defenses launched shells that intercepted the attack and tore a hole through the fighter formation.
• Park Seong-man spotted ten submarines surfacing and told Yamamoto Sanjūhachi where they were.
• Yamamoto Sanjūhachi ordered his fleet to track the submarines, but all ten quickly vanished underwater.
• The chapter revealed that the submarines were Borei Type 955 strategic nuclear submarines designed by Lin Ye and patrolling near Vladivostok.