Chapter Summaries

Zhu Yan left [Merry Happy Land] with a newly created identity and returned to the real world near No. 178, Plum Garden, where signs suggested another instance was beginning. At the police station, Guan En concealed the plague risk from Captain Huang and noticed dark patches that might indicate Captain Huang was infected.

• The [Monster Tram] carried Zhu Yan through several stations while the art student's typewriter created a new identity and supporting documents for him.
• The announcer told Zhu Yan that his new information had been implanted in the human system, and he got off at No. 178, Plum Garden.
• After returning to the real world, Zhu Yan heard a woman and child crying and hurried away as he suspected an instance was about to break out nearby.
• At the police station, Guan En withheld information about the [Plague Ghost] and [Plague Exemption Period] because he feared isolation would prevent him from finding a cure.
• Guan En asked Captain Huang to let him go home to sleep, then noticed matching black patches on Captain Huang's arm and neck.

After returning to his apartment, Zhu Yan evaded a police investigation by disguising himself and presenting a valid identity card. He woke later to messages about a strange envelope, a Player Forum, and the coming descent of horror.

• Zhu Yan returned to his rental, washed up, and fell into a deep sleep.
• Captain Huang and a colleague visited Zhu Yan under the pretense of an anti-scam campaign and questioned him about his identity and family.
• Zhu Yan used a changed appearance and a valid ID card to convince Captain Huang he was not the player they sought.
• After leaving, Captain Huang discussed checking Zhu Yan's records and noted a dark patch appearing on his arm; his colleague also reported a growing patch on his skin.
• Zhu Yan woke in the afternoon and read group-chat messages claiming someone in Bailu City had received an envelope with a badge and ability card and heard that horror was about to descend.

Zhu Yan learned that [Merry Happy Land] had begun spreading, as reports of sudden deaths and a deadly incident at Myriad Forms Plaza surfaced. He entered the [Player Personal Center] to check his status.

• Zhu Yan read a chat group owner's account of players receiving badges and ability cards, including one ability called "Fish in Troubled Waters."
• Zhu Yan saw that Bailu City had been placed under lockdown amid reports of sudden deaths.
• Zhu Yan read police warnings advising residents to avoid Myriad Forms Plaza and report strange voices or small black envelopes.
• Zhu Yan overheard a video account describing Pseudo-humans emerging from a coffee shop at Myriad Forms Plaza and eating people before returning inside.
• Zhu Yan discreetly entered the [Player Personal Center].

After the Devouring Villa instance, Zhu Yan checked his improved abilities, bought a storage ring, and searched the Player Forum for information about Witch. He found a panicked post from another player whose forced mission involved Witch arriving at her home in thirty minutes, and opened her profile to look for more clues.

• Zhu Yan reviewed [Complaining] and [Humiliation], noting their limits against high-level players and horror creatures.
• Zhu Yan overheard rumors about a lockdown and an outbreak in Bailu while checking the online store.
• Zhu Yan bought and bound the [Savings Silver Ring], which provided five cubic meters of storage and kept food fresh and warm.
• Zhu Yan searched the Player Forum for Witch and found posts by a player called User Has Been Deregistered.
• Zhu Yan read the player's account of a ritual, a mysterious voice, and a forced mission requiring Witch to visit her home in thirty minutes.
• Zhu Yan noticed the reference to the 'Lesser Key of Solomon' and opened the player's profile to read her second post.

Zhu Yan read a player’s updates about a Witch and a Demon entering her instance, then decided to stock up on food without drawing attention. The player’s later posts showed her being attacked and failing her task, with only ten minutes left to live.

• Zhu Yan inferred that the player’s ritual had connected her to a Demon, which had come to collect payment alongside the Witch.
• Zhu Yan left the dumpling shop and planned to buy extra food discreetly because shortages and chaos were coming.
• The player reported that the Witch arrived with a black cat, acted friendly, and offered to speak to the Demon for payment.
• The black cat attacked the player, and she reported losing both thighs and suffering a broken neck.
• The player woke to find that she had failed her task and had ten minutes left to live.

Zhu Yan weighed risky ways to find the [Witch] while stocking up on supplies, eventually deciding a lower-level player might help him draw out the [Demon]. The chapter left him without a suitable teammate and unaware that a deadly outbreak was unfolding at the city hospital.

• Zhu Yan searched the Player Forum for information about [Demons], then rejected summoning one because the [Demon] and [Witch] could kill or exploit him.
• At the city center hospital, a police officer's body melted into purplish-black liquid, triggering panic as people reported another patient with the same symptoms downstairs.
• Zhu Yan filled his cart with food and household goods while considering whether he could enter [Merry Happy Land] and face the [Witch] and [Demon] himself.
• Zhu Yan reasoned that a lower-level player could perform the ritual while he stayed outside, then enter shortly before the instance began to avoid facing the bosses directly.
• Zhu Yan considered asking Guan En to help but realized Anwu City was too large for him to find Guan En.

Zhu Yan met Guan En in the old district and learned that Guan En had helped trigger a plague outbreak among police officers and medical workers. With the police station sealed and Guan En exposed to the infection, the two agreed they needed each other to survive.

• Zhu Yan spotted Guan En waiting in the old district, changed back to his original appearance, and approached him after confirming that plainclothes officers had left.
• Guan En told Zhu Yan that the plague had begun when an officer went door to door, and admitted that he had infected the officer while Zhu Yan took the blame.
• Guan En explained that infected officers and medical workers had fallen ill and died, prompting the police to suspect Zhu Yan had made a deal with the [Plague Ghost] to spread the plague.
• Guan En said the police station had been sealed, surveillance areas had been disinfected, and plainclothes officers had been quarantined, leaving him free to meet Zhu Yan.
• Guan En told Zhu Yan that they were both desperate to survive and had to rely on each other.

Zhu Yan and Guan En planned to attract the [Demon] using a ritual altar, hoping to find a way to keep Guan En alive. They arranged to meet after Guan En bought ritual supplies, and Guan En asked Zhu Yan for a phone number so he could contact him when he heard the broadcast.

• Guan En told Zhu Yan that Bailu City was managing food and quarantine zones under centralized control, and that Zhu Yan’s aunt wanted him dead but would soon enter another instance.
• Guan En asked Zhu Yan to help him survive, and Zhu Yan shared what he knew about the [Witch], the [Demon], and three polluted forum posts.
• Guan En searched online and found a local seller offering crystals, candles, a wand, and a brass sword for an altar.
• Guan En ordered the supplies and arranged a pickup, then explained that he planned to learn the ritual from a video site and try to attract the [Demon].
• Guan En gave Zhu Yan his address and asked him to leave a phone number so Guan En could notify him when he heard the broadcast.

Zhu Yan waited near Guan En’s hotel room while Guan En prepared a ritual to summon [Witch] and obtain vaccine doses. When [Demon] appeared in the emergency stairwell, Zhu Yan used his aristocratic-lady disguise and invoked [Eye of the Abyss] to intimidate it.

• Zhu Yan traveled to the Fortune Source Hotel and chose the emergency stairwell near room 1030 as his hiding place.
• Zhu Yan transformed into a high-level horror creature while Guan En returned with ritual supplies and arranged an altar in his room.
• Guan En grew uneasy about a chill near the emergency exit and asked Zhu Yan to come over, but Zhu Yan told him to begin the ritual while he waited.
• As Guan En recited the prayer and two candles went out, [Demon] floated up the stairwell toward Zhu Yan.
• Zhu Yan claimed that a friend of [Eye of the Abyss] had foreseen a good show, and [Demon] feared that the club had come to collect a payment.

Guan En wished for a cure to the plague, while Zhu Yan manipulated [Demon] into granting the wish as part of a crueler scheme. [Demon] entered the room believing Zhu Yan would stop the other player, unaware that Zhu Yan planned to deceive both sides.

• Guan En wished for medicine to cure the plague or for himself and his friend to become healthy and immune.
• Zhu Yan confronted [Demon] in the emergency stairwell and learned that Guan En had wished for a cure to Plague Ghost disease.
• Zhu Yan used [Complaining] to frighten and weaken [Demon], then criticized its plan to kill the players without granting their wishes.
• Zhu Yan ordered [Demon] to grant Guan En's wish first and let the players believe they had survived.
• Zhu Yan told [Demon] to work with [Witch], offer the players what they wanted without demanding payment, and make their hopes rise before betraying them.