Chapter Summaries

Shen Miaomiao decided Golden Wind should pursue a hostile takeover of Dream by undermining confidence in Dream VI and buying shares, while Kornik counted on Dream VI and Yunwei’s Alien: Endless Dark Tide to restore their companies. The chapter ended as Kornik watched a preview of a police assault on a hijacked Boeing 747.

• Shen Miaomiao learned Dream was valued at nearly 15 billion dollars and resolved to drive its value down so Golden Wind could acquire a controlling stake.
• Shen Miaomiao saw that Yunwei’s Alien: Endless Dark Tide would be the first game using Dream VI and recognized it as a chance to shake market confidence in Dream.
• Kornik spoke confidently with President Walker, believing Alien: Endless Dark Tide would help Vendi and Dream reclaim their strength.
• Bedang brought Kornik a tablet showing a dark, immersive scene of police surrounding a Boeing 747 after negotiations had broken down.
• A commanding officer ordered the units to begin the assault.

Golden Wind unveiled Rainbow Six: Siege with a trailer showcasing coordinated, destructible, multi-route counterterrorism assaults, drawing intense excitement from viewers. Kornik recognized the release as a direct challenge to Yunwei, and the gaming industry watched the two blockbuster titles collide.

• GIGN operators used a scouting vehicle, a transforming ballistic shield, and coordinated breaches to rescue a VIP from extremists aboard a hijacked aircraft.
• The trailer revealed Rainbow Six: Siege, developed by Golden Wind and Melancholy Blues Studio on the Golden Engine.
• Kornik realized Golden Wind had released Rainbow Six one week after Yunwei's Alien: Endless Dark Tide and feared the new game was aimed at him.
• Golden Wind publicized its engine partnerships, expert consultants, and research with counterterrorism teams as Rainbow Six gained widespread attention.
• Game companies watched eagerly as Rainbow Six's popularity rapidly rivaled Alien: Endless Dark Tide.

Dream played Vendi’s newly launched Alien: Endless Dark Tide and initially found it to resemble Left 4 Dead, while Gu Sheng recognized its deeper similarities to Alien Swarm and praised its cooperative action features. He predicted that the game’s fixed missions would soon grow repetitive without Steam Workshop support, leaving its long-term success in doubt.

• Dream bought Alien: Endless Dark Tide for eighty dollars and started its opening chapter with George, Sap, and an AI teammate.
• Dream and his viewers noticed the game’s familiar safe room, equipment layout, and interface, and joked that Firebird had copied Left 4 Dead.
• Little Nezha complained to Gu Sheng that Firebird had copied too much, but Gu Sheng explained that the game also borrowed from Alien Swarm and incorporated abilities and items resembling those in Overwatch and APEX.
• Dream’s team learned the game’s weapons and abilities, fought waves of aliens, and entertained viewers with their lively playthrough.
• Gu Sheng concluded that the game’s fixed routes and lack of Steam Workshop support would make repeated playthroughs monotonous after the initial excitement faded.

After Yunwei celebrated the first-day sales of Alien: Endless Dark Tide, Gu Sheng explained why he had delayed Rainbow Six Siege: Golden Wind planned to use a cheap Left 4 Dead workshop mod as a substitute that would undermine Yunwei’s expensive game. Chu Qingzhou understood that Yunwei’s success might soon turn into trouble.

• Kornik celebrated Alien: Endless Dark Tide selling more than 700,000 copies on its first day and predicted strong weekly sales.
• Chu Qingzhou questioned Gu Sheng about delaying Rainbow Six Siege while Yunwei’s game drew praise and high sales.
• Gu Sheng told Chu Qingzhou that he had spoken with Wang Xiaoming and expected Yunwei’s game to lose momentum because of its high price and lack of a creative workshop.
• Gu Sheng revealed that Golden Wind had arranged for a third party to release a Left 4 Dead workshop mod with gameplay and content matching Alien: Endless Dark Tide.
• Chu Qingzhou realized that players could use the cheap mod as a substitute while waiting for Yunwei’s game to go on sale.

Kornik celebrated Vendi’s strong launch of "Alien: Endless Dark Tide" and poured another $350 million into promotion, expecting sales to keep climbing. Instead, third-day sales plunged to 370,000 copies, and Bedang showed him a popular mod offering a cheap substitute built from "Left 4 Dead" and Yiyou x2.

• Review outlets praised "Alien: Endless Dark Tide," and Kornik increased its promotional budget by $350 million.
• Kornik saw that sales had fallen to 370,000 copies on the third day and reacted in alarm.
• Bedang came to Kornik’s office to report a problem with the game’s sales.
• Bedang showed Kornik a popular SNG forum post promoting a $0.50 substitute mod for "Alien: Endless Dark Tide."

Kornik watched a Left 4 Dead MOD for sale on Steam Workshop cut Endless Tide’s sales in half, then saw Golden Wind launch Rainbow Six Siege before he could respond. Big Brother A+ began the new game’s training missions and chose a Russian operator with a cluster charge.

• Kornik saw a forum post about a Left 4 Dead MOD surge to the top of the SNG Forum’s trending list, with players praising its resemblance to Endless Tide and its price of 0.5 dollars.
• Kornik realized the MOD had helped cut Endless Tide’s sales in half and considered forum outreach, PR campaigns, and a future price adjustment.
• Kornik received a notification that Golden Wind had launched Rainbow Six Siege, leaving him no time to organize a response.
• Big Brother A+ started Rainbow Six Siege, completed its first training stage, and reached the hostage-rescue mission at Chicago Mansion.
• Big Brother A+ discovered that he could switch operators through his tactical watch and selected a Russian operator equipped with an AK-12 and a cluster charge.

Brother used a scouting drone to search the mansion, found the hostage on the second floor, and prepared a breach-and-rescue plan. He placed cluster charges on the bedroom windows and readied a smoke grenade, leaving the assault about to begin.

• Brother used a scouting drone to inspect the mansion, but a white mask shot down the first drone when it entered the kitchen.
• Brother carefully scouted the first floor and found white masks guarding nearly every room, but no hostage.
• Brother sent a second drone upstairs and located the hostage in the southeast bedroom, guarded by three white masks.
• Brother circled to the mansion's south side and used a grappling hook to reach the bedroom windows.
• Brother attached cluster charges to the boarded windows behind the hostage and prepared a smoke grenade for the breach.

Big Bro repeatedly botched a hostage rescue while testing breaching gadgets, then discovered a heavily armed extremist lurking nearby. The chapter ended with the enemy catching him and detonating an explosive at point-blank range.

• Big Bro used a scatter charge, which detonated throughout the room and killed the extremists, the hostage, and himself, causing the mission to fail.
• Big Bro restarted, breached the bedroom with the correct charge, and found the hostage missing; he killed the three enemies but was left with almost no health.
• Big Bro used a drone to locate the hostage in a second-floor utility room and spotted a bulky extremist carrying C4 in the adjacent walk-in closet.
• The extremist appeared behind Big Bro, and a red light flashed before the C4 exploded.

Gu Sheng’s return of Explosion Bro to the VR shooter scared Big Brother A+ offline, while five streamers jumped into an unprepared multiplayer match. Their defenders picked operators and fumbled with their gadgets as XTT barricaded an entrance, then panicked at enemy scouting drones.

• Explosion Bro detonated on Big Brother A+ during immersive training, triggering an automatic VR disconnect as viewers laughed at his reaction.
• Qiezi, Dong Gua, XTT, Liu Di, and Old Ma formed a squad and queued for a match without learning the operators’ skills.
• The squad entered a Consulate defense match and selected Castle, Kapkan, Doc, Pulse, and Smoke to defend the Lobby and Press Room.
• The streamers tested their gadgets haphazardly while XTT installed a Dragon Scale Board at the south main entrance.
• XTT mistook the attackers’ scouting drones for enemies and fired at them, while Old Ma wandered off alone to explore the basement.

Old Ma defended the Consulate’s basement garage by using toxic gas to stall Thermite after he breached the garage door. As another attacker rushed his position, Old Ma fired his shotgun, but the chapter ended before revealing the result.

• Old Ma wandered into the basement garage and heard an attacker tampering with the garage door.
• Thermite blasted through the garage door with a charge, startling Old Ma, who survived the explosion by taking cover behind a van.
• Old Ma threw toxic gas at Thermite and called for help, while Thermite retreated and fired toward him.
• Old Ma used another gas canister and taunted Thermite from behind the van, waiting for the attackers to approach.
• Hearing an attacker rush around the van, Old Ma raised his shotgun and fired at close range.

Liu Di killed Blitz by luring him into booby traps, while Dong Gua searched the second floor with his heartbeat detector and stumbled into IQ. The chapter ended as IQ aimed her suppressed pistol at Dong Gua and gunfire erupted.

• Blitz blinded Old Ma with his shield and bashed him to death in the underground garage.
• Liu Di fled from Blitz and killed him with several booby traps placed in a doorway.
• Dong Gua resumed searching the second floor for a heartbeat source after the explosion distracted him.
• IQ tracked an electronic device upstairs and found Dong Gua crawling along the corridor with his heartbeat detector.
• Dong Gua asked IQ to believe he was taking pictures, and a gunshot followed.

Qiezi killed Dong Gua by mistaking his revolver for a healing gun while the attackers planted the bomb at the main entrance. As XTT searched the surveillance feeds for a way to defend the site, he saw Liu Di downed in the basement and a masked, bald man carrying a huge hammer approach him.

• Qiezi shot IQ in the head and then accidentally killed the downed Dong Gua with his revolver instead of healing him.
• XTT reported that Hotshot’s team had breached the main entrance, smoked the site, and started planting the bomb.
• Liu Di rushed back through the basement spiral staircase to help defend, but gunfire cut off his response to XTT.
• XTT checked the surveillance cameras and spotted Liu Di crawling through the basement, badly wounded and terrified.
• A masked, bald operative carrying a massive hammer emerged from a camera blind spot and advanced toward Liu Di.

XTT and Doctor Qiezi were left to defend the planted package against Gazi, whose sniper and smoke vision made defusing seem impossible. Doctor Qiezi drew Gazi’s fire outside the Consulate, but after Gazi killed him, pounding sounded at the lobby entrance.

• Sledge executed Liu Di beneath XTT’s hiding place and shot out the surveillance camera, but Doctor Qiezi killed Sledge before he could kill XTT.
• XTT explained that Hotshot had planted the package in the exposed lobby entrance and suspected Gazi could see through smoke, leaving the defenders unable to defuse safely.
• Gazi taunted the defenders from the front alley, then used smoke to relocate after a camera revealed his position.
• Doctor Qiezi walked outside and fired at Gazi’s original position, using a self-revival shot after Gazi’s sniper fire knocked him down.
• Gazi killed Doctor Qiezi with a headshot, then turned toward the lobby when he heard pounding at its entrance.

XTT’s team used a Dragon Scale Board to shield Qiezi while he defused the bomb, giving Orange Team a last-second victory. Rainbow Six then surged in popularity, prompting professional teams to form divisions and forcing Gu Sheng to reconsider adding the game to the Golden League.

• XTT realized they could use their remaining Dragon Scale Board to block the sniper and let Qiezi disable the defuser.
• Gazi fired at the board and tried to break through, but Qiezi completed the defuse with 0.1 seconds remaining, winning the round for Orange Team.
• Players praised the match and discussed Rainbow Six’s strategies, memes, and map knowledge as the game rapidly gained attention worldwide.
• Rainbow Six’s popularity soared across forums and media, and dozens of esports teams announced professional divisions.
• Gu Sheng considered adding Rainbow Six to the Golden League after teams began preparing for competition.
• A campaign to break Yunwei’s spirit began as Rainbow Six’s overnight success continued.

After Rainbow Six Siege sold 7.5 million copies in two weeks, Shen Miaomiao realized she could not earn a rebate by making Golden Wind lose money. Gu Sheng decided to hasten Dream’s collapse before the Tokyo Game Show, and Shen proposed a new game to challenge Yunwei and Dream directly.

• Chu Qingzhou reported that Rainbow Six Siege had sold 7.5 million copies in two weeks, outperforming Alien: Endless Dark Tide by 43%.
• Shen Miaomiao lamented that Golden Wind’s success made it increasingly difficult to lose money and earn a rebate.
• Gu Sheng noted that Dream’s market value had fallen after Rainbow Six Siege’s success but that investors were still hoping Dream VI would turn things around.
• Gu Sheng said Golden Wind needed to release another game to accelerate Dream’s collapse before Yiyou x3 launched at the Tokyo Game Show in four months.
• Shen Miaomiao proposed making a game in the same genre as Alien: Endless Dark Tide to expose its shortcomings and further undermine Dream and Yunwei.

Shen Miaomiao proposed pricing Golden Wind’s new game low enough to deepen Illusion Dream’s troubles, and Gu Sheng agreed to lead its planning. A month later, pew received a mysterious email during a livestream, whose sender said they were about to be sent 1,400 meters underground by the “Warden.”

• Shen Miaomiao argued that Golden Wind should price its new game low to make it harder for Illusion Dream’s Endless Tide to recover.
• Gu Sheng agreed with Shen Miaomiao’s proposal and took charge of the project’s implementation and planning.
• A month later, pew and Jack played the Alien Tide map on a livestream, where pew accidentally left Jack behind among the monsters.
• A new email notification appeared in pew’s VR pod, despite his belief that he had disabled email alerts.
• Pew opened the email, whose sender said they did not know where it would arrive and were about to be sent 1,400 meters underground by the “Warden.”

Streamer pew discovered a new Golden Wind horror game through an email from Miles Upshur and watched its reveal trailer. The game was GTFO, a four-player survival shooter set in a dangerous underground facility where players had to avoid waking its monsters.

• pew read Miles Upshur’s message from a mining site owned by Dreyfus Industries, where Miles investigated an inexplicable underground excavation and asked him to preserve the attached footage.
• pew opened the unreleased footage as viewers celebrated Miles’s return and urged him to watch.
• The trailer showed a helmet-camera team descending more than a thousand meters into a subterranean facility filled with grotesque creatures and signs of a hidden threat.
• The team’s stealth gave way to a violent battle with monsters, gunfire, traps, and alarms before a voice warned, “Shh... don't let them hear you...”
• Golden Wind revealed the game as GTFO, a difficult four-player co-op shooter in which players had to conserve ammunition and stay quiet to avoid awakening monsters.

pew and Jack started GTFO, Golden Wind’s new co-op horror game, and chose heavily armed loadouts before deploying. The chapter ended as pew opened his eyes in a cold, vast mechanical space.

• pew watched GTFO’s trailer and learned that the new game was a multiplayer horror shooter priced at $40.
• pew regretted buying Endless Tide for $80 after seeing GTFO’s price and discussed the game with his viewers.
• Jack and pew selected weapons and machine-gun turrets for their first GTFO deployment.
• pew and Jack launched into the game, where pew heard machinery and sprinklers in a dark, cavernous space before slowly opening his eyes.

pew and Jack descended a thousand meters into a dark factory and encountered sleeping monsters near the eastern gate. Jack’s gunshot startled a packed horde, leaving them surrounded by awakened creatures.

• pew and Jack rode pods down the mine shaft to a factory marked Zone-80.
• They searched the dim factory and approached the eastern gate, hearing no monsters at first.
• pew spotted a Gaping Sleeper beside Jack and warned him not to move.
• Jack shifted his foot, disturbing the Gaping Sleeper, and noticed a Tumor Growth Sleeper nearby.
• Jack fired despite pew’s attempt to stop him, revealing more than a dozen sleepers and waking the monster horde.

Jack and Pew’s first run in GTFO ended in a quick team wipe after gunfire awakened a horde, while A Yin’s squad began adapting to the game’s stealth-focused mechanics. The chapter left A Yin frozen near a randomly placed Sleeper as Brother Shu used a bio tracker to scout ahead.

• Jack’s gunfire awakened hidden Sleepers, and the monsters overwhelmed Jack and Pew in less than five minutes.
• Jack and Pew returned to the loadout screen and realized that loud firepower could make GTFO more dangerous.
• A Yin, Brother Shu, Liu Liu, and Zhuang Zhuang wiped even faster, then adjusted their equipment and tactics around stealth, melee weapons, and support tools.
• The squad returned to Level A1, where Brother Shu’s bio tracker detected a Sleeper around the corner and warned A Yin not to move.
• A Yin stayed frozen while Brother Shu joked that he had saved the team by scouting ahead.