Recaps

Shen Hao read players’ accounts of Instance bosses who had grown intelligent and cruel, while they remained unaware that Demons were controlling the bosses. Their posts also overlooked Xiaobai, and the chapter ended with the players debating the changes without realizing that players were behind the bosses.

• Shen Hao read online accounts from players who had been tortured and killed by newly intelligent Instance bosses, then revived with most of their experience lost.
• Players described brutal encounters in the Executioner’s, Silent City, Headless Knight’s, and Home of Evil Ghosts Instances, with some blaming Bai Shuang for their deaths.
• Players’ accounts shared three features: they returned to life with lost experience, bosses tortured them cruelly, and Instance buffs failed to make the bosses beatable.
• Shen Hao realized Xiaobai’s ability had made the survivors overlook the doll, keeping her presence hidden from other players.
• Players speculated about bugs and the Lord of the Netherworld’s return, but they did not know that players were controlling the Instance bosses.

Shen Hao read players' theories about the abnormal Instances and learned that clearing one could grant extraordinary rewards, including the chance to become a Divine System Ability User. He concluded that the current crisis was different from past occurrences because he was a Demon opposing the players, and suspected a power linked to the Lord of the Netherworld had brought him into the game.

• Shen Hao read a forum comment advising players to kill themselves immediately when they encountered an abnormal Instance, and worried that this would deprive him of Fear Points.
• Shen Hao decided to conceal his identity as the boss longer and leave players with hope so they would keep trying to defeat him.
• Players speculated that the next abnormal Instance would be SS-rank or higher, and Shen Hao thought his own next Instance would likely be at least that rank.
• A player claimed that abnormal Instances had appeared several times before, became almost impossible to clear, and granted huge rewards to anyone who succeeded, including the potential to become a Divine System Ability User.
• Shen Hao reasoned that earlier abnormal Instances had not involved Demons and that the current one was caused by him rather than a game mechanic.
• Shen Hao inferred that the game's creator wanted players to eliminate the Lord of the Netherworld's remaining power, while another power, possibly connected to the Lord, had brought him into the game.

The Alliance Guild explained how players could identify and survive Anomalous Instances, revealing permanent bonuses that made players eager to enter them. Shen Hao feared the growing bonuses would turn him into a farmable boss, resolved to let no prey escape, and received notice that he had matched into a new Instance.

• The Alliance Guild announced that players could clear an Anomalous Instance by killing its boss and described signs such as special bonuses, intelligent bosses, and multiple teams.
• The Alliance Guild revealed that surviving an Anomalous Instance could grant permanent, stackable bonuses and urged players to prepare carefully for its boss.
• Players celebrated the prospect of Anomalous Instances and focused on becoming stronger rather than the Alliance Guild's warning about the Netherworld's awakening.
• Shen Hao concluded that the growing player bonuses threatened to make him a farmable boss and resolved to kill every player who entered his Instances.
• Shen Hao received a game-system notification that he had matched into a new Instance.

Shen Hao studied public guides for the SS-difficulty Monster Factory Instance and learned how players had nearly figured out how to kill its boss. He considered their strategies and prepared to enter as the mad scientist, where he would need to keep players from clearing the Instance too easily.

• Shen Hao learned that his next game would take place in the Monster Factory and read its background description.
• Shen Hao reviewed guides explaining that players could use blue liquid from the factory's monsters to mask their scent and survive near the boss's laboratory.
• Shen Hao learned that the mad scientist had pursued perfection, conducted experiments, and become a mindless monster after failing to complete his research.
• Shen Hao read that the boss could be weakened by making him go berserk until his energy cores were damaged, while an underground monster could join the fight.
• Shen Hao considered players' suggestions to lure the boss out with his notes or use his research to modify themselves, then recognized that he would have to account for those strategies.

Shen Hao entered an Instance as the Mad Scientist and examined the scientist’s grotesque body and abilities, wondering whether the scientist’s legacy was a Demon organ. When the players entered the Instance, Shen Hao left the laboratory to begin the hunt.

• Shen Hao checked his tasks and wondered whether the Mad Scientist’s legacy was a Demon organ.
• The system transformed Shen Hao into the Mad Scientist, whose body relied on blue energy cores for its strength and rapid recovery.
• Shen Hao examined the Mad Scientist’s abilities, including summoning a pet, modifying enemies, and resisting mental attacks, and learned that destroying the energy core was his weakness.
• The players entered the Instance, and Shen Hao left the laboratory to hunt them.

Cao Wenzhe, Du Ze, Jiang Wen, Zhu Heng, and Gan Lingling entered an SS-rank Instance and debated whether it had become anomalous. Gan Lingling's Shaman-type premonitions warned them to avoid the boss, but Zhu Heng and Cao Wenzhe wanted to attempt the nearly completed clear; the group remained divided as Zhu Heng sought Jiang Wen's support.

• Cao Wenzhe asked whether the Instance was anomalous, and Jiang Wen explained that an SS-rank Instance nearing a clear was a likely candidate.
• Zhu Heng and Cao Wenzhe welcomed the chance at an Anomalous Instance's rewards, while Gan Lingling and Du Ze feared its boss and the 90% experience loss.
• Cao Wenzhe suggested treating the Instance as normal and pursuing its clear by drawing the boss out of the laboratory and destroying the final energy core.
• Gan Lingling said her Shaman-type premonitions warned her that the Instance was anomalous and urged everyone to wait safely instead of fighting.
• Du Ze sided with Gan Lingling, and Zhu Heng turned to Jiang Wen in hopes of gaining her support for attempting the clear.

Gan Lingling convinced the team that they were in an Anomalous Instance too dangerous to explore, and the group decided to prioritize survival over rewards. She led them away from the Monster Factory toward the edge of the Instance, though she warned their chances remained poor.

• Cao Wenzhe and Zhu Heng urged the team to explore the Anomalous Instance for its permanent bonuses, while Gan Lingling insisted her predictions showed that entering the factory would lead to their deaths and lost experience points.
• Gan Lingling threatened to leave and withhold her support if the others explored, prompting Jiang Wen and Du Ze to abandon the idea.
• Cao Wenzhe and Zhu Heng agreed to stay with the group for now, hoping the others might change their minds or that they could explore briefly before the teleportation point opened tomorrow.
• Gan Lingling used her ability to choose a route leading away from the Monster Factory and toward the Instance's edge, saying it was their only hope of survival.

Gan Lingling led Cao Wenzhe, Zhu Heng, Du Ze, and Jiang Wen through the monster-filled city, using her danger-sensing ability to avoid threats and help Du Ze kill infected from a distance. They reached the Instance’s edge and hid in a house to wait for the teleportation point, but Gan Lingling felt that grave danger was still approaching.

• Gan Lingling persuaded the other four to follow her plan and led them away from the Monster Factory and its boss.
• Gan Lingling sensed threats along their route, and Du Ze used her shared vision to kill an infected person before it could summon nearby monsters.
• The group reached the Instance’s boundary but decided not to leave, since dying outside it would prevent them from reviving.
• Gan Lingling chose a nearby house as a place to rest until the teleportation point appeared, despite sensing that they remained in danger.
• Gan Lingling shared her vision with Du Ze, who killed three infected people inside the house, and the group settled in to rest.

Shen Hao maxed out Mental Perception, traced the five players, and replayed their recent actions to learn they were hiding rather than exploring the Instance. As the players debated whether to stay hidden, Gan Lingling sensed that someone was watching them.

• Shen Hao grew impatient when the players failed to reach the Monster Factory and decided to search for them.
• Shen Hao spent nearly ten thousand Fear Points to max out Mental Perception, gaining the ability to track auras and replay past events.
• Shen Hao followed the five players' auras and used Demon Power to learn they planned to hide and survive the Instance.
• Cao Wenzhe and Zhu Heng argued that the group should explore, while Gan Lingling, Jiang Wen, and Zhu Ze urged them to remain cautious.
• Gan Lingling suddenly sensed that someone was watching the group.

Gan Lingling sensed Shen Hao tracking the group with Mental Perception and temporarily blocked him. Cao Wenzhe led the players back toward the Monster Factory to search for the BOSS’s legacy, while Shen Hao returned to the factory to wait for them.

• Gan Lingling warned the group that Shen Hao was using Mental Perception to watch them and was closing in.
• Cao Wenzhe argued that hiding was pointless and proposed returning to the Monster Factory to search for the BOSS’s legacy while Shen Hao had lost track of them.
• Gan Lingling blocked Shen Hao’s perception for up to half an hour and agreed to lead the group back to the factory.
• Shen Hao realized Gan Lingling had blocked his ability and returned to the factory, expecting the players to come there.

Gan Lingling led Cao Wenzhe, Zhu Heng, Jiang Wen, and Du Ze into the Monster Factory after the group decided that entering offered their best chance of survival and clearing the Instance. They reached the building believed to contain the boss’s laboratory, and Cao Wenzhe led them toward the basement, encouraged by the boss’s apparent absence.

• Gan Lingling chose to trust her reasoning and lead the group to the Monster Factory despite her growing unease.
• Du Ze killed the scattered infected on the way, and Gan Lingling sensed four modified monsters and around twenty or thirty infected inside the factory, but no sign of the boss.
• The group bypassed most of the infected and quietly killed one they could not avoid before reaching the three-story building.
• Gan Lingling warned that her feeling of danger had intensified, but Cao Wenzhe led everyone into the building anyway.
• Gan Lingling sensed no danger in the basement, and Cao Wenzhe used the Instance guide’s map to find the stairs and lead the group down toward the laboratory.

The group searched the boss’s laboratory, where Jiang Wen found the mad scientist’s experimental notes and learned the inheritance’s whereabouts. Before she could share more, Gan Lingling discovered the boss had been hiding in a pile of corpses and was already at the building’s entrance.

• Cao Wenzhe led the group into the laboratory to search for clues before the boss returned.
• Gan Lingling warned that the boss had seen them, and Jiang Wen found the mad scientist’s experimental notes.
• Jiang Wen read that the scientist had obtained a powerful heart and used it in experiments, including on a Demigod, and eventually found a clue to the inheritance’s location.
• Gan Lingling realized the boss had been hiding in a pile of corpses inside the factory and warned that he had reached the building’s entrance.

Jiang Wen and the others escaped the Instance BOSS by finding a hidden passage beneath the laboratory, then searched underground for the transplanted heart. After the group received the Instance’s buff, Gan Lingling sensed the heart’s direction but was seized by the BOSS’s tentacles.

• Jiang Wen revealed that her notebook linked the heart to a Demigod turned into the scientist’s obedient pet, which was somewhere underground.
• Gan Lingling sensed another level beneath the laboratory, and Cao Wenzhe ordered everyone to find its entrance before the BOSS arrived.
• Gan Lingling used her remaining mental power to locate a hidden passage beneath the tenth floor tile, and Zhu Heng pried it open so the five of them could escape downstairs.
• The group searched underground until the game system granted them the Instance’s buff, restoring Gan Lingling’s mental power.
• Gan Lingling sensed the heart’s approximate direction and led the group onward, but the BOSS’s rotting tentacles caught her and dragged her away.

Gan Lingling was captured by the mad scientist, who tortured her with a corrosive concoction and his regenerative blood. As her teammates searched for the Instance’s heart, the scientist began cutting into her, leaving her to hope for death.

• Cao Wenzhe led the group toward the heart after they failed to rescue Gan Lingling from the tentacles.
• The tentacles dragged Gan Lingling to the laboratory, where she saw the mad scientist and learned his body had been transformed by out-of-control heart cells.
• The mad scientist forced Gan Lingling to swallow a corrosive concoction that burned through her stomach and caused her unbearable pain.
• The mad scientist used his blood to make Gan Lingling regenerate, forcing her to endure the corrosive pain again instead of dying.
• The mad scientist lifted Gan Lingling and used scalpels to cut through her clothes and skin, while she thought death was the happiest thing in the world.

Jiang Wen, Du Ze, Zhu Heng, and Cao Wenzhe searched for the heart they believed could help them defeat the BOSS, while Gan Lingling endured the BOSS’s torture. They found the Demigod’s corpse with its heart missing, and just as they decided to fight anyway, Cao Wenzhe’s barrier shattered and the BOSS appeared.

• Jiang Wen and Du Ze asked their teammates to kill them if the BOSS caught them, but Zhu Heng and Cao Wenzhe urged them to keep searching for the heart.
• Cao Wenzhe used his ability to create a barrier that could prevent the BOSS from awakening the Demigod.
• The group found the Demigod’s corpse and discovered that its chest was empty and its heart was gone.
• Cao Wenzhe suspected that the BOSS had taken the heart, leaving the group without their hoped-for advantage.
• Zhu Heng and Cao Wenzhe convinced the others to fight the BOSS rather than give up, and then Cao Wenzhe’s barrier shattered as the BOSS appeared.

The boss transformed Gan Lingling into a monster and forced her body to explode, destroying Cao Wenzhe’s barrier. After the survivors inhaled something from the blast, Du Ze and Zhu Heng developed an unbearable itch, and Du Ze tried to kill himself.

• The boss’s blood transformed Gan Lingling, and he controlled her body until a violent force made her explode against Cao Wenzhe’s barrier.
• Cao Wenzhe warned Du Ze, Jiang Wen, and Zhu Heng that the boss was nearby, and the four decided to search for him.
• Du Ze and Zhu Heng began feeling an itch inside their bodies, while Jiang Wen and Cao Wenzhe realized the explosion’s airborne substance might be responsible.
• Du Ze recognized the boss’s trap and sent steel nails flying toward himself to end his suffering.

Du Ze and Zhu Heng were captured by the boss’s tentacles and tortured by parasitic bugs while Cao Wenzhe and Jiang Wen were immobilized by a strange force. After Du Ze and Zhu Heng died, Cao Wenzhe and Jiang Wen realized their own torment was next.

• The boss’s tentacles stopped Du Ze from killing himself and bound Zhu Heng as well, leaving both men unable to move or scratch their unbearable itches.
• Cao Wenzhe and Jiang Wen recognized that the group could not defeat the boss and decided to kill themselves before they were captured.
• A strange scarlet color appeared, and an irresistible force froze Cao Wenzhe and Jiang Wen before they could harm themselves.
• The bugs inside Du Ze and Zhu Heng hatched and devoured their flesh, causing prolonged agony until both men died.
• Cao Wenzhe and Jiang Wen heard the screams stop and feared that they would be the boss’s next victims.

Shen Hao forced Jiang Wen to choose between being tortured and cutting Cao Wenzhe into a thousand pieces, promising to let her end her own life afterward. As Jiang Wen approached Cao Wenzhe with a scalpel, Cao secretly gathered power to self-destruct.

• Shen Hao withdrew the tentacles from the two corpses and turned his attention to the remaining survivors, Jiang Wen and Cao Wenzhe.
• Jiang Wen begged Shen Hao to kill her, while Cao Wenzhe secretly prepared to use his self-destruct ability as his restraints weakened.
• Shen Hao offered to let Jiang Wen die easily if she cut Cao Wenzhe into a thousand pieces while keeping him conscious.
• Jiang Wen accepted the offer, took a scalpel from Shen Hao, and walked toward Cao Wenzhe.
• Shen Hao warned Jiang Wen that Cao would not be able to kill himself, while Cao hurried to gather enough power to self-destruct.

Jiang Wen tortured Cao Wenzhe to satisfy the Instance BOSS, but his attempt to self-destruct failed and injured her. After the BOSS demanded that she cut off her hand, he refused to let her die and stopped her from stabbing herself.

• Jiang Wen cut Cao Wenzhe repeatedly after he failed to convince her that the BOSS would break his promise.
• Cao Wenzhe gathered enough strength to self-destruct, but a force weakened the blast and left him alive with severe injuries.
• The explosion mangled Jiang Wen's right hand, so she asked the BOSS to let her kill herself.
• The BOSS told Jiang Wen to cut off her right hand first, then demanded that she cut a piece of flesh from herself before he would let her die.
• Jiang Wen realized the BOSS was toying with her and tried to stab herself, but the BOSS stopped her and approached.

After completing the Instance, Shen Hao collected the Monster Maker’s useful inventions and returned to the real world with the Demon Heart. Believing he could withstand its power, he began cutting open his chest to replace his own heart with it.

• Shen Hao killed Jiang Wen and Cao Wenzhe, gained 4,000 Fear Points, and chose to stay in the Instance to collect its useful items.
• Shen Hao filled his inventory with equipment from the laboratory and left the Instance with the Demon Heart.
• Shen Hao checked his gains in the real world and confirmed that he had inherited the Monster Maker ability.
• Shen Hao took the Demon Heart into his bathroom, cut open his chest, and prepared to remove his beating heart for the transplant.

Shen Hao replaced his heart with the demon’s heart, which flooded his body with power and caused a terrifying red-cloud phenomenon across several cities. As people’s fear rapidly earned him Fear Points, he raised his level to 30, but the points kept pouring in.

• Shen Hao removed his own heart and replaced it with the still-beating demon’s heart, and his body healed within minutes.
• A surge of power overwhelmed Shen Hao, so he released it into the sky, forming a vast vortex of dark red clouds with a demonic face.
• People across several cities woke in terror and panicked at the sinister phenomenon.
• Shen Hao realized the demon’s heart had caused the spectacle and anticipated earning a huge number of Fear Points.
• The system rapidly awarded Shen Hao Fear Points until he reached his limit, so he raised his level to 30 and increased that limit to 300,000.

After the red-cloud phenomenon ended, Shen Hao gained new powers from the Demon Heart and reviewed the announcement for a special Anomalous Instance. He expected to join the difficult event as its boss when it opened the following month.

• Shen Hao reached level 30, raised his attributes, and accumulated 290,000 Fear Points as people continued to fear the strange phenomena.
• Shen Hao discovered that the Demon Heart had enhanced his existing abilities and granted him Eye of Cause and Effect and Ruler of All Things.
• Shen Hao realized he could spend Demon Power to replace the usual cost of abilities, making them stronger and allowing him to use Possession on otherwise resistant targets.
• Shen Hao entered the Alliance Guild forum and read an announcement that a difficult special Instance connected to Anomalous Instances would open next month.
• Shen Hao concluded that he would have to participate as the Instance's boss, even though the event might put him in danger.

Shen Hao read players’ reactions to the upcoming Special Instance and the Monster Factory Instance, enjoying the prospect of experts gathering to hunt him. As he browsed theories about the Anomalous Instance boss, players wondered whether the same figure was a player.

• Players discussed the upcoming Special Instance, hoping to earn a spot and speculating that only top players could qualify.
• Shen Hao decided to enter more Instances and grow stronger before the Special Instance next month.
• Shen Hao read Monster Factory reviews in which players described Jiang Wen’s betrayal and the BOSS’s torture and body modification.
• Shen Hao found a post listing the Anomalous Instance BOSS’s abilities and suggesting that the BOSS might be played by a player.

Shen Hao read a player’s theory that the Anomalous Instance boss was a growing player connected to the Lord of the Netherworld, and he reflected on his own uncertain connection to the Lord and the Demon. When a commenter claimed that players had survived Anomalous Instances, Shen Hao used the Eye of Cause and Effect to investigate and found a glowing line leading to the answer.

• Shen Hao read a post speculating that the Anomalous Instance boss was either a player with unusual abilities or the Lord of the Netherworld recovering his strength.
• The poster advised players to kill themselves in Anomalous Instances, avoid making deals with the boss, and stay out of instances, while other players argued about whether survival was possible.
• A commenter claimed that several people had escaped an Anomalous Instance and obtained permanent bonuses, surprising Shen Hao because he believed none of his targets had survived.
• Shen Hao activated the Eye of Cause and Effect using the comment as a clue and saw a glowing line among countless connections.

Shen Hao used the Eye of Cause and Effect to discover that players could gain Anomalous Instance bonuses without entering, and traced one such player, Meng Jie, to his home. He prepared to act against Meng Jie, who suddenly sensed danger.

• Shen Hao overheard two men discuss how one player had skipped the Home of Evil Ghosts Instance with an item and still received its bonus after his teammates died.
• Shen Hao deduced that the missing member of the four-person team had been Meng Jie, who used the item to avoid the Instance while earning its reward.
• Shen Hao learned Meng Jie was a level 29 player with Witch System abilities who had used his powers to pressure people for money.
• Shen Hao contacted Meng Jie through their thread of cause and effect and observed him at home.
• Meng Jie, enjoying his newfound strength, abruptly stood up from the sofa after sensing danger.