Chapter Summaries

Shen Miaomiao coaxed Gu Sheng away from his weekend work so they could make dumplings together, while Gu Sheng’s friends arrived hoping to meet his supposed girlfriend. They discovered Shen Miaomiao was living with Gu Sheng, and Lu Bian’s panicked greeting accidentally delighted her as the group prepared to share dinner.

• Shen Miaomiao pretended to be hurt by Gu Sheng’s distracted responses until he shut down his work and agreed to spend time with her.
• Shen Miaomiao volunteered to buy groceries for dumplings while Gu Sheng prepared the dough at home.
• Lu Bian and Da Jiang arrived to meet the woman they believed was Gu Sheng’s girlfriend and guessed her appearance from the belongings by the door.
• Shen Miaomiao returned with groceries, and Lu Bian blurted out, “Big brother and sister-in-law, happy New Year,” before Gu Sheng drenched him with water.
• Shen Miaomiao invited Lu Bian and Da Jiang to join them for dumplings and promised to order more food.

After Shen Miaomiao got drunk at dinner, Gu Sheng cared for her and promised to spend Sunday with her at an amusement park. The next day, while his coworkers tried to reach him about the game’s heirloom designs, Gu Sheng was on a date with Shen Miaomiao at Binjiang Happy Valley.

• Shen Miaomiao drank too much beer at dinner, and Lu Bian and Da Jiang joked that Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao were the “Laba Garlic Couple.”
• After Lu Bian and Da Jiang left, Shen Miaomiao made Gu Sheng play games and chess with her until she fell asleep beside him.
• Gu Sheng took a photo with Shen Miaomiao, carried her to bed, and promised they would visit an amusement park the next day.
• Wang Xiaoming, Da Jiang, Lu Bian, and Jiang Yun approved the first drafts of the Legends’ heirlooms and tried to contact Gu Sheng for his review.
• Gu Sheng replied that he was on a date, while Shen Miaomiao met him at Binjiang Happy Valley and brought him ice cream.

Shen Miaomiao and Gu Sheng settled into a routine of weekly dates while Golden Wind’s Apex Legends drew intense anticipation ahead of its launch. The first trailer premiered to a huge audience and revealed its Legends, fast-paced fights, and Wraith’s Void abilities.

• Shen Miaomiao and Gu Sheng continued their Saturday dinner routine and spent Sundays going on dates together.
• News reports and player discussions tracked Apex Legends’ development, its invitation-only launch, and rival shooters’ release delays.
• Golden Wind announced that Apex Legends’ first and only trailer would premiere at eight that night, and Zhou Shuyi watched it with millions of viewers.
• The trailer opened with an old man stabbing an Apex Legends newspaper before introducing Wraith, Marvin, and Mirage during a fight over a supply capsule.
• The trailer showed Wraith rescuing Mirage from Caustic by dodging his fire, stabbing him, and throwing him through a Void portal.

The APEX trailer revealed a battle royale where Legends used Pilot-like skills, and ended with the reveal of elderly Sam Gu Sheng and the game’s title. The trailer sparked excitement across the gaming world, while journalists debated whether its skill-based design and unknown microtransaction model could succeed.

• Wraith, Mirage, and Pathfinder fought together for a golden reward, but Wraith escaped a grenade blast and shot at the rival squad from cover.
• The trailer revealed Sam Gu Sheng as the founder of the APEX Invitational, and his announcement of APEX sent viewers into a frenzy.
• Xu Xiaolin and the Tiantiian Game News staff praised the trailer but questioned whether combining FPS gameplay with skills would repeat the failure of Cataclysm of the Gods.
• Xu Xiaolin said APEX’s microtransaction model remained uncertain, then assigned his staff to write reports while gaming media rushed to cover the game.

Qiezi, Dong Gua, and Maozi entered APEX as soon as it launched and dropped into the crowded Skull Town, where Qiezi fled a crowd of players using Pathfinder’s grappling hook. Their first chaotic match showed players that APEX’s abilities and movement created a much faster-paced battle royale than PUBG.

• Qiezi, Dong Gua, and Maozi formed a squad, selected Wraith, Mirage, and Pathfinder, and immediately queued for their first match.
• Qiezi chose Skull Town as their drop zone, and the squad launched from the dropship with boosters amid a sky crowded with other players.
• Qiezi landed in Skull Town and was mobbed by players shouting in public voice chat, so he used Pathfinder’s grappling hook to escape.
• Dong Gua and Maozi searched nearby buildings for weapons while gunfire spread through Skull Town and the squad struggled to find loot.
• As the match unfolded, the players and media recognized that APEX’s skills, movement, and dense combat made its pace fundamentally different from PUBG.

Dong Gua and the Russian fought through a chaotic Wraith duel before racing to retrieve Qiezi’s respawn card as the safe zone began closing. On another battlefield, Octane Sr. wiped out Teacher Piao and Tuanzi’s squad, and Teacher Piao recognized him as the world’s top TTF parkour trial player.

• Dong Gua and an enemy Wraith traded gunfire, punches, and Void abilities without landing a meaningful hit until the safe-zone countdown interrupted their duel.
• Qiezi told Dong Gua and the Russian to retrieve his respawn card, and they hurried to collect it so they could bring him back.
• Teacher Piao picked up Teacher Ma’s respawn card, and Tuanzi marked a nearby respawn point for them to use.
• Octane charged Teacher Piao and Tuanzi; they attacked through Tuanzi’s smoke but realized he had red armor.
• Octane used a stim and jump pad to down Tuanzi, then killed Teacher Piao with two Wingman headshots and eliminated their squad.
• Teacher Piao recognized Octane’s ID and realized he was Octane Sr., the world’s top TTF parkour trial player.

Octane fought through the final circle, reached thirty kills, and became the Defender with a midair Kraber shot that thrilled viewers. After discovering his Twitch stream, fans watched him open his sensory pod to reveal himself, though the chapter ended before describing his appearance.

• Teacher Piao and the viewers saw Octane had twenty-six kills and watched him approach the final circle as five squads remained.
• When the fifth ring closed over the housing area, several squads clashed, and Octane charged into the battle, killed Lifeline, and knocked Bloodhound.
• Octane escaped Pathfinder with a wall jump, then killed him with a shotgun, bringing his kill count to twenty-nine.
• Octane used a jump pad to evade Valkyrie's missiles and shot her with a Kraber, earning thirty kills and the Defender title.
• Viewers found Octane's Twitch stream, and Teacher Piao donated two thousand dollars as fans celebrated Octane's victory.
• Octane told viewers he had promised to reveal himself if he achieved thirty kills and became Defender, then opened his sensory pod.

Gu Sheng revealed that he had based APEX’s Legend Octane on the real player Octane, who had lost both legs in an accident, and arranged a livestream to honor him. As Octane showed off custom prosthetic legs from Golden Wind and vowed to return to the battlefield, viewers praised the gesture, and Teacher Piao decided to look for something to buy in APEX.

• Shen Miaomiao watched Octane’s stream with Gu Sheng and teased him about the young player’s looks, while Gu Sheng praised Octane’s skill.
• Octane revealed that he had lost both legs in an accident and thanked Golden Wind and Sam Gu for creating a Legend based on him.
• Gu Sheng explained that he had contacted Octane after APEX was approved and adapted Octane’s real-life story into the Legend’s biography.
• Octane showed the custom carbon-fiber prosthetic legs Golden Wind had made for him, put them on with his family’s help, and said he hoped to return to the battlefield.
• Viewers celebrated Golden Wind’s gesture, Shen Miaomiao praised Gu Sheng, and Teacher Piao said he would look for something to buy in APEX.

Teacher Piao showed viewers APEX’s inexpensive Season Pass and its generous cosmetic rewards, including a Pilot set and a Level 100 helmet with BT’s voice and Titanfall-style interface. Players enthusiastically spent money, leaving Shen Miaomiao worried that Gu Sheng’s nostalgia-driven rewards had undermined her plans; Teacher Piao then noticed an heirloom trial experience.

• Teacher Piao opened APEX’s store and explained that the 38-yuan Season Pass offered free and premium reward tracks with rewards across 100 levels.
• Teacher Piao browsed the rewards, drawing viewers’ attention to Pilot gear, a Wingman skin, and the Level 100 helmet associated with Lastimosa and Cooper.
• Teacher Piao discovered that the helmet changed the interface and system voices to evoke Titanfall and BT, then spent 700 yuan to buy levels and unlock it.
• Shen Miaomiao realized Gu Sheng had used players’ affection for Titanfall to encourage spending and feared the consequences for her plans.
• Teacher Piao equipped the Pilot set, prepared to enter the training ground, and asked what the heirloom trial experience meant.

Teacher Piao tried an heirloom butterfly knife in APEX and was amazed by the motion-assist technology that let him perform elaborate flourishes. As he began buying loot boxes to obtain it, Shen Miaomiao realized his spending would cost her money and collapsed into a gloomy salted-fish pose.

• Gu Sheng explained that heirlooms were rare, random loot-box cosmetics and could be tried in the training range.
• Teacher Piao tested the butterfly knife and discovered motion-assist technology performed its intricate inspection sequence for him.
• Gu Sheng told Lu Bian to upgrade the motion-assist system, arguing it would support future games and make cosmetics more appealing.
• Teacher Piao decided to buy a hundred loot boxes after falling in love with the butterfly knife.
• Shen Miaomiao calculated that Teacher Piao's purchases would cost her money, then slumped over the sofa when Gu Sheng said he would probably need many more boxes.

Teacher Piao opened APEX loot boxes on stream, spending nearly 40,000 yuan before finally obtaining Octane’s butterfly knife and completing his collection. Shen Miaomiao watched in horror as his spending drained her rebate pool.

• Teacher Piao opened his first hundred boxes and received Bangalore’s heirloom kukri, prompting him to buy five hundred more.
• Teacher Piao failed to get another heirloom in the next five hundred boxes, then bought another five hundred and received a healer’s shock baton.
• Teacher Piao kept buying boxes in increasingly large batches as he chased Octane’s butterfly knife, while Shen Miaomiao worried about the money draining from her rebate pool.
• Teacher Piao opened 7,892 boxes over four hours, collecting numerous heirlooms before finally obtaining Octane’s butterfly knife and completing his APEX collection.

After Apex’s launch and Teacher Piao’s forty-thousand-yuan spending spree, the game earned strong sales, praise, and player enthusiasm, leaving Shen Miaomiao worried about her rebate losses. As Golden Wind celebrated Apex’s success, a letter from Neon Komeila Digital Entertainment arrived, setting up the next development.

• Shen Miaomiao panicked over the rebate losses caused by Teacher Piao’s spending, then coaxed Gu Sheng into taking her out for late-night barbecue.
• News of Teacher Piao’s spending spread, and players and reviewers praised Apex’s skins, fair monetization, and gameplay.
• Apex players showed off ambushes, long-range harassment, and aggressive ranked pushes as the game surged to the top of motion-simulator battle royales.
• Golden Wind celebrated Apex’s success while Shen Miaomiao feared the results of the seven-day period.
• Shen Miaomiao received a letter from Neon Komeila Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.

Komeila sought to partner with Golden Wind to revive its shelved horror-game IP, Silent Hill, and invited Gu Sheng to serve as special Chief Game Director. Gu Sheng recognized the landmark potential of the project and welcomed the chance to make it, but he wanted to negotiate the terms carefully.

• Shen Miaomiao learned that Komeila had specifically requested Gu Sheng, then heard that the company wanted to cooperate with Golden Wind on a horror game for the Neon Tokyo Game Festival.
• Moriya Tetsuya proposed reviving Komeila's unfinished Silent Hill project, arguing that Golden Wind's profitable Psychological Horror games showed the genre could succeed in sensory pods.
• Jouetsu Kagemasa approved Moriya's plan after hearing Phasmophobia's sales figures and agreed to pursue a partnership with Golden Wind.
• Chu Qingzhou told Gu Sheng that Komeila wanted to co-develop Silent Hill and appoint him special Chief Game Director.
• Gu Sheng recognized Silent Hill's importance and agreed the collaboration was worth considering, while deciding that Golden Wind needed to settle the terms carefully.

Shen Miaomiao and Gu Sheng negotiated a collaboration with Komeila to reboot Silent Hill, agreeing to an expedited pilot arrangement while the formal partnership was processed. Gu Sheng was hired as the project’s Chief Game Director and prepared to travel to Japan to make a demo, while Shen Miaomiao set the project’s system timer and rebate multiplier.

• Shen Miaomiao and Gu Sheng agreed to consider Komeila’s proposal to jointly develop Silent Hill, with Komeila providing the IP and most of the funding.
• Moriya Tetsuya proposed hiring Gu Sheng separately to create a playable demo while the companies completed their formal partnership approvals.
• Chu Qingzhou confirmed that the hiring arrangement complied with company procedures, and Shen Miaomiao accepted after hearing Komeila’s offer.
• Moriya offered Gu Sheng $300,000 to serve as Silent Hill’s specially appointed Chief Game Director, and both sides agreed that Gu Sheng would travel to Japan in one week.
• Shen Miaomiao added ninety days to Silent Hill’s unlocked system project form, raising its rebate multiplier by ninety times.

After signing a cooperation agreement with Komeila, Gu Sheng recognized that the company had once rejected Silent Hill in favor of a cash-grab sequel and grew wary of revealing his plans. He decided to make a cryptic, polished demo first and asked the system to unlock Silent Hill P.T.

• Golden Wind and Komeila signed a labor contract and NDA, and Komeila transferred two hundred thousand dollars while giving Gu Sheng creative control over the game.
• Gu Sheng read Komeila's fragmentary proposal and recalled the plot and psychological horror of Silent Hill 2, including James's murder of Mary.
• Gu Sheng discovered that Komeila had chosen Proof of Yin-Yang: Hundred Ghosts Night Parade over Silent Hill ten years earlier and suspected the company might undermine the project again.
• Gu Sheng decided to withhold the full game's proposal and reconsider the demo, making it cryptic and aiming for ceiling-level quality.
• Gu Sheng called on the system and asked it to unlock Silent Hill P.T.

Gu Sheng settled on using Silent Hill P.T. as the Trial Play demo for Komeila’s reboot, tying its haunted murder house to the main game’s story. After explaining his plans to Shen Miaomiao, he learned that APEX’s final settlement was imminent.

• Gu Sheng decided that Silent Hill P.T. would serve as the demo, with its story echoing the main game while remaining separate.
• Shen Miaomiao mistook Gu Sheng’s grim description and sharpened cleaver for a threat, so he teased her into singing before explaining the project.
• Gu Sheng explained that the linked stories would also guard against Komeila reversing course on their collaboration.
• Shen Miaomiao stopped Gu Sheng from smoking after dinner and insisted they go shopping for his trip to Neon.
• Shen Miaomiao’s alarm reminded her that APEX’s final settlement was due in two minutes, and she rushed Gu Sheng to open Huayudian’s data statistics platform.

Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao discovered that APEX had earned 62.44 million yuan in its first week, while its 58.2% paying-player ratio revealed that their player-friendly monetization model had succeeded. Because the project narrowly lost money after platform cuts, Shen Miaomiao received a 528,000-yuan rebate, and the pair ended the chapter awkwardly celebrating their shared success.

• Shen Miaomiao imagined how much she could have earned if Golden Wind's past games had all lost money, then looked forward to using the upgraded system on future projects.
• Gu Sheng explained that free games usually gained paying players gradually and doubted APEX could recover its costs in one week.
• Gu Sheng refreshed Huayudian's data and found APEX at the top with an unusually high 58.2% paying-player ratio.
• Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao checked APEX's seven-day revenue and saw it had earned 62.44 million yuan.
• The system settled APEX as a 48,000-yuan loss and paid Shen Miaomiao an elevenfold rebate of 528,000 yuan.
• Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao celebrated the successful monetization model, stopped short of embracing, and awkwardly exchanged congratulations.

APEX’s first-week paying-player ratio of 58.2% sent the game industry scrambling to study Golden Wind’s battle-pass model. Gu Sheng left for Neon to begin work on Silent Hill P.T. after Shen Miaomiao packed his luggage and Lu Bian urged him to recognize her feelings; he resolved to focus on the project first and pursue his ambitions as a game developer.

• Industry professionals discussed APEX’s 58.2% paying-player ratio on the Huaxia Game Developers Forum, and companies began studying Golden Wind’s battle pass and stat-free purchases.
• Shen Miaomiao packed Gu Sheng’s suitcase for his business trip to Neon, and the two shared a warm farewell hug.
• Lu Bian and Da Jiang teased Gu Sheng during the drive to the airport, and Lu Bian told him Shen Miaomiao’s care showed she wanted him to think of her.
• Gu Sheng considered Lu Bian’s advice and decided to show more initiative toward Shen Miaomiao, but he prioritized the upcoming Silent Hill P.T. project.
• Gu Sheng headed to Neon determined to become the King of Horror Games and eventually reach the top of the gaming world.

Gu Sheng arrived in Japan to negotiate Komeila’s Silent Hill project, pitching a full game with parallel stories and securing a larger demo budget. After the welcome banquet, he returned to his hotel and video-called Shen Miaomiao.

• Gu Sheng met Moriya Tetsuya and Komeila’s executives at the airport, then rested at a hotel before attending their welcome banquet.
• Gu Sheng explained that PT’s story and the full game’s story would follow separate paths that converged at the same destination.
• Moriya asked whether the design was too complicated, and Gu Sheng assured him he had confidence in the proposal.
• Moritani told Gu Sheng that Komeila had raised the demo budget to three million dollars, allowing him to use the Phoenix Engine.
• Gu Sheng asked Moriya about Komeila’s businesses and development philosophy, then returned to his suite and called Shen Miaomiao.

While Gu Sheng led Komeila’s team into developing Silent Hill P.T., Shen Miaomiao imagined expanding Golden Wind into other industries to pursue fortune while Gu Sheng pursued fame. After a month, Yuki found a photo of Gu Sheng with Shen Miaomiao in his wallet and recognized her.

• Shen Miaomiao considered using profitable game projects to fund loss-making ventures in other industries, but decided to wait until Golden Wind had more capital.
• Gu Sheng introduced himself to Komeila’s thirty-person team, explained the Silent Hill P.T. design, and began development alongside them.
• Gu Sheng’s approachable style and generosity made the P.T. team popular across Komeila and boosted its enthusiasm for work.
• A month into development, Gu Sheng approved the art team’s animation work and asked Yuki to buy him peach oolong tea.
• Yuki opened Gu Sheng’s wallet to pay for the drinks, saw a photo of him with Shen Miaomiao, and exclaimed in surprise at recognizing her.