Chapter Summaries

Joshua entered a detailed scene from Beauty and the Demon inside a space where the consciousnesses of living beings gathered. A mysterious Black Robe figure prevented him from leaving, and Joshua stayed to watch Belle and the Demon Prince dance.

• Joshua returned to the Bone Duke's castle and learned from the white bird that he was in a space where the consciousness of every living being gathered.
• Joshua discovered that the forest beyond the castle was only an unreal backdrop and that many people's shared impressions had formed the Beauty and the Demon scene.
• Joshua entered the ballroom, found Belle and the Demon Prince dancing, and realized he could not affect the scene or its objects.
• A Black Robe figure appeared, confirmed that she was preventing Joshua from leaving, and called him the creator of the place.
• The Black Robe figure refused to let Joshua leave, so he sat down and watched Belle and the Demon Prince dance.

Joshua discovered that Heart Lock could enter the World Tree Consciousness Space and draw him into films, so he planned to make a horror movie to teach her a lesson. After Heart Lock watched Beauty and the Demon, she suffered overwhelming sorrow and then entered Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, while Joshua returned to Ciri and decided they should go back to Nolan.

• Joshua watched Beauty and the Demon with Heart Lock, who laughed throughout the film before breaking down in grief at the Demon Prince’s death and vanishing.
• Heart Lock woke outside the Bastion Fortress overwhelmed by sorrow, rejected the offer to feed on humans, and used the World Tree Leaf to enter another film.
• Heart Lock watched a garden scene from Hachi: A Dog’s Tale and felt warmth as a dog ran to its elderly owner, while Joshua was pulled into the same Consciousness Space.
• Joshua left the film early and found Ciri grilling meat; he told her they should return to Nolan so he could make a horror movie before building the server.

Joshua asked Ciri what frightened her as he considered making a psychological horror movie, then visited Gray Robe to investigate symbols copied from a little girl's arm. Gray Robe identified them as part of a blueprint for a Magic Automaton and revealed the manuscript ended with “We failed”; Joshua then asked about a place where all living beings’ consciousness gathered.

• Joshua discussed horror with Ciri, who said she feared finding the kitchen’s last food eaten by a rat and described her sister Helan’s fear of wandering spirits.
• Joshua visited Gray Robe’s Mage Tower with Ciri and showed him symbols copied from a little girl’s arm.
• Gray Robe compared the symbols with an ancient manuscript found in Nolan’s Underground Ruins and identified it as a method for creating a Magic Automaton.
• Gray Robe explained that the manuscript called this the only way to survive an apocalypse and ended with the words “We failed.”
• Joshua asked Gray Robe whether he knew of a place where every living being’s consciousness gathered, and Gray Robe turned solemn.

Joshua sought information about the owner of the mysterious arm and learned about Things from Beyond, then attended the Council of Sages to hear Black-robed One explain their threat. The chapter ended with Joshua disputing Black-robed One’s claim that the Consciousness Space was empty, saying he had recently visited and found it was not.

• Gray Robe told Joshua that Black-robed One and Blue Robe had been investigating an obscure religion and lent him a book about Things from Beyond.
• Gray Robe explained that a device described in the book could lock a living being’s thoughts and emotions, and invited Joshua to hear Black-robed One’s research at the Council of Sages.
• Joshua attended the council as an observer while Black-robed One described Things from Beyond as beings that could enter the world through believers and the Consciousness Space.
• Black-robed One warned that Things from Beyond would feed on the emotions gathered in the Consciousness Space as the World Tree withered.
• Joshua interrupted Yellow-robed One’s mockery and said that he had recently visited the Consciousness Space and found it was not empty.

Joshua discussed the floating continent in the Consciousness Space with the Black-robed One, who connected it to the legendary Hall of Valor and an ancient account of dead heroes fighting again. After learning that fictional movie characters had appeared there, Joshua planned to use them against the Things from Beyond and said he first needed to drive an outsider from the Consciousness Space.

• The Black-robed One found an ancient passage about heroes gathering in the land of origin and asked Joshua whether he had encountered any legendary heroes in the Consciousness Space.
• Joshua named Belle, the Demon Prince, Loyal Dog Xiao Ba, Professor Parker, and other fictional movie characters, surprising the sages.
• The Black-robed One explained that movie characters might appear because many people held concrete images of them, and read that dead heroes had fought again in the land of origin.
• Joshua suggested the characters might resist the Things from Beyond, prompting the Black-robed One to warn that the threat had once nearly destroyed the world.
• Joshua declared that he could draw on characters capable of killing gods and would first drive an outsider from the Consciousness Space.

Joshua and Ciri headed to the White Thorn Flower Theater to discuss a new movie based on the dangerous Heart Lock automaton. White Thorn Flower Jazz, frustrated by his own film’s failure and hoping for Joshua’s next script, rushed to his private Screening Hall after learning Joshua was there watching 'Miserable Notes.'

• Joshua told Ciri that Heart Lock absorbed human emotions and required human souls, and he planned to make a movie about it.
• Ciri warned that the automaton’s unreliable, forbidden design would get them arrested if the authorities saw its blueprint.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz reviewed Nolan’s box office rankings, where 'Shawshank Redemption' stood fourth behind 'Avatar,' 'Leon: The Professional,' and 'Beauty and the Demon.'
• White Thorn Flower Jazz lamented that his own movie had performed poorly and fell short of Joshua’s work.
• A servant told White Thorn Flower Jazz that Joshua was in his private Screening Hall watching 'Miserable Notes,' and Jazz hurried there.

Joshua gave White Thorn Flower Jazz the outline for a new horror film, The Shining, and told him to film it in Aserkelo. Jazz read the completed script overnight, and its unsettling story left him feeling watched in his bedroom.

• Joshua reviewed White Thorn Flower Jazz's films and asked whether Falosi had frightening stage-play scripts, learning that such plays had been outlawed.
• Joshua gave White Thorn Flower Jazz notes for a new film called The Shining, asked him to find suitable actors, and said the filming would take place in Aserkelo.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz searched his troupe for actors, but struggled to find a six-year-old boy and twin girls of the required ages.
• A crow delivered the completed script to White Thorn Flower Jazz in the middle of the night.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz read The Shining twice, and its strange story made him feel that someone was watching him.

Joshua met with High Elf elders to discuss compensation for his work in Aserkelo, then proposed building a new street in the Forgotten Land with businesses and facilities. He began investigating the High Elves’ economy and learned that the sacred tree paid them wages and supplied goods through vending machines.

• Joshua told Elder Queitoan, Elder Enya, Arl, and Zhi Ye that his work for Aserkelo deserved compensation, but he postponed deciding what he wanted.
• Elder Enya offered priests to serve Joshua, and he stopped her when she suggested sexual services.
• Joshua marked the Forgotten Land map and proposed building a new street with movie theaters, restaurants, studios, and other facilities while leaving the area under High Elf administration.
• Joshua explained that the High Elves would feel hunger more often as the sacred tree restored its energy supply, and proposed a Food Street to recruit them.
• Joshua asked about High Elf currency and income, and Zhi Ye explained that the sacred tree distributed wages and sold goods through a magical vending machine.

Joshua planned to build Aserkelo Amusement Park to bring the High Elves into contact with the outside world, starting with a Food Street. After waking, he recruited Ciri to create mountain scenery for filming The Shining at the Forgotten Land Hearthstone tavern, and they began preparing the set.

• Joshua learned from the elf elders and the World Tree's consciousness that Aserkelo retained advanced facilities and functioning currency circulation.
• Joshua announced plans for Aserkelo Amusement Park and told Elder Queitoan and Elder Enya that Aserkelo needed to interact with the outside world.
• Joshua asked the elders to send High Elves with cooking talent to learn for the Food Street, then dismissed them.
• Joshua told Ciri he planned to film The Shining at the Forgotten Land Hearthstone tavern and asked her to create illusions for the set.
• Ciri created a miniature illusion of the tavern and surrounding mountains, and Joshua helped shape the scenery to resemble the film's estate.
• Joshua said White Thorn Flower Jazz had sent a Text Message and that they could begin work.

Joshua visited White Thorn Flower Theater to prepare a film adaptation of The Shining, despite White Thorn Flower Jazz’s fear of the script. Jazz introduced the cast, and Joshua began working out how to portray the twins.

• Joshua found White Thorn Flower Jazz exhausted and learned that the script had made him fear unseen ghosts.
• Joshua summoned the Daytime Banshee photography team, frightening Jazz before explaining that they had worked together on previous films.
• Joshua insisted that audiences would enjoy a horror film and confirmed his decision to produce The Shining.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz introduced the boy actor and a rescued half-demon girl as possible cast members for the twins, while Joshua noted that the boy’s older brother Leon was studying in Falosi.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz volunteered to play the lead, and Joshua considered using illusions to solve the twins casting problem.

Madam Ma Linna taught Elder Queitoan’s High Elves to bake while Joshua prepared to film The Shining at Aserkelo. After the World Tree announced that Aserkelo had briefly escaped the evil thing’s control, the chapter shifted to Chains Father, who learned that Heart Lock might have entered the Origin.

• Madam Ma Linna welcomed seventeen of Elder Queitoan’s High Elves and began teaching them baking at the Hearthstone tavern.
• Joshua prepared the Daytime Banshees and the troupe actors to film The Shining while he waited for wild High Elves to arrive.
• Aserkelo shook as the World Tree told Joshua that it had temporarily broken free from the evil thing’s control.
• Chains Father sent his believers rushing after a golden potion in the Frost Country ruins.
• A woman in a wheelchair told Chains Father that Heart Lock had absorbed enough energy to have entered the Origin, and that she needed to be brought back for investigation.

Zhi Ye and Wen Enna finished a baking lesson and set out to bring cookies to Aurelian at the Black Pigeon headquarters. They encountered blood flooding the Hearthstone tavern’s corridor and a frightening man, until Joshua appeared behind them.

• The Royal Baker praised Zhi Ye and Wen Enna’s cookies while criticizing the other High Elf apprentices and Elder Queitoan.
• Wen Enna asked Zhi Ye about the Black Pigeon headquarters so she could bring snacks to Aurelian, who had texted that she was there.
• Zhi Ye and Wen Enna went to ask Joshua for help getting to the headquarters, but found scarlet liquid flooding a corridor in the Hearthstone tavern.
• The women fled around a corner and encountered a manic-looking human man, whom Joshua identified as White Thorn Flower Jazz before reassuring them.

Joshua directed the Daytime Banshees as they filmed The Shining, frightening Zhi Ye and Wen Enna with White Thorn Flower Jazz’s performance. Later, he discussed Aurelian’s changing view of Nolan and prepared to promote the film, learning that the Dark Elf’s misleading stills had scared Princess Foya.

• Joshua finished filming a storeroom scene in which White Thorn Flower Jazz terrified Zhi Ye and Wen Enna with his crazed performance.
• Zhi Ye and Wen Enna agreed to go with Joshua to Black Pigeon, where he planned to discuss The Shining’s promotion.
• Aurelian told Joshua that exploring Nolan had made her recognize how narrow and tragic her former life had been.
• Joshua asked the Dark Elf whether promotion for The Shining was ready, and she revealed that the film’s cheerful promotional stills had frightened Princess Foya.

Galolie learned that Joshua’s new movie, The Shining, was premiering and persuaded Mrs. Si to postpone filming so they could travel to Nolan. As they reached a hidden Teleportation Portal, Galolie saw Foya warn her not to watch the movie but had no time to ask why.

• Galolie complained to the Movie Club about her exhausting role in the TV series, and its members discussed the show’s female lead and death flags.
• Kindler of the Flame announced a new movie premiere, prompting Galolie to tell Mrs. Si that Joshua’s film was showing.
• Mrs. Si confirmed Joshua’s The Shining announcement on the Spellcaster Forum and postponed the afternoon’s filming.
• Galolie read discussions and watched the trailer for The Shining as Mrs. Si took her toward Nolan.
• Foya warned Galolie not to watch the movie, but the Magic Mechanical Vehicle arrived at the hidden Teleportation Portal before Galolie could ask why.

Joshua hosted an unofficial premiere of "The Shining," where Sophia eagerly collected autographs and Galolie asked about Foya’s unusual silence. The guests entered the Screening Hall, and the film was about to begin with Joshua seated between Ciri and Galolie.

• Sophia persuaded the Yellow Robe to bring her to the premiere, then got autographs from Tylinn and Joshua and asked to learn Elven.
• Mrs. Si asked Joshua about the film, and he advised her to watch with someone she knew; Galolie then asked about Ciri and Foya.
• Joshua told Galolie that Foya was in a bad mood after being frightened by the script and said he would visit the Demon Realm later.
• The invited guests, including I Nuo, Zennas, Helan, and Sansa, gathered before Joshua led nearly a hundred people into the Screening Hall.
• Joshua sat beside Ciri as the lights dimmed, while Galolie took the seat on his other side and the screen began to glow.

Galolie and the audience watched Joshua’s horror film, The Shining, as its unsettling score and scenes of ghosts frightened her. Yellow Robe fell asleep and called the film boring, while Galolie and Ciri each clung to Joshua during the screening.

• Galolie questioned Joshua about The Shining’s eerie score as the film introduced the family and the estate’s violent history.
• The film showed Tony speaking through the little boy, blood flooding a corridor, and the twin girls appearing, frightening Galolie.
• Yellow Robe fell asleep during the screening, and Sophina woke him; he said the film was more boring than he expected.
• The little boy saw the twins again, prompting Galolie to hug Joshua’s arm.
• Ciri hugged Joshua’s other arm and said she was scared, though Joshua noted the truly frightening part had not yet begun.

Galolie and the other audience members watched the horror film grow increasingly disturbing, while Sophina struggled to contain her fear. When Sophina’s magic rampaged, it destroyed the Screening Hall’s fragile objects and plunged the theater into darkness as the film’s frightening sounds continued.

• Galolie recognized the Twin Little Girls as the ghosts of the girls killed by the previous caretaker, then watched the film nervously as Madam Si refused to let her look away or distract herself on the magic net.
• As the manor became snowbound, Galolie covered her eyes when the dead twins appeared, while Joshua checked whether she was all right.
• Sophina told Yellow Robe that something bad was inside the manor, and they watched an attendant suddenly appear behind the bar in the film.
• When the film revealed that the woman in the male lead’s arms was a rotting old hag, Sophina’s gathered magic erupted.
• Sophina’s rampaging magic destroyed the Screening Hall’s fragile objects and blacked out the theater, while the film’s sounds continued and terrified audience members screamed.

A sudden blackout during the premiere of "The Shining" triggered panic among the audience, but the Yellow Robe explained that Sophina had lost control of her magic. Joshua calmed the Screening Hall and restarted the film after many frightened viewers left.

• When the screen went dark, Galolie clung to Joshua while Ciri hugged him and reached for her grimoire.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz lit a Source Crystal Stone, intensifying the audience's panic, until an Illumination Spell restored the light and shattered the spellcasters' runes.
• Joshua calmed Zennas and the audience as the Yellow Robe announced that Sophina's magic had caused the blackout.
• Joshua allowed frightened viewers, including some of the women in the audience, to leave, while Sansa stayed beside Helan and Sophina returned to her seat.
• Joshua had the attendant rewind the film, then returned to his seat as the premiere resumed.

Galolie watched The Shining terrify its audience, while Mrs. Si challenged Joshua over making a film that offered fear instead of happiness. Joshua defended horror as a source of curiosity and excitement, then left as the premiere audience began to recover; he prepared a gentler poster and a parental-supervision warning for the film’s release the next day.

• Galolie realized that the aristocrats at the ball were ghosts, and watched the father go mad and attack his family with an axe.
• The Shining ended in stunned silence, leaving Galolie shaken and the audience too frightened to applaud.
• Mrs. Si questioned Joshua’s choice to make a frightening film, and he argued that audiences could enjoy fear and curiosity from a safe distance.
• Ciri told Joshua that she had once taken her sister to an abandoned manor and enjoyed watching her get scared before helping her drive away the ghosts.
• White Thorn Flower Jazz asked about the film’s poster, and Joshua chose a more realistic one with a warning that young children should watch with their parents.

Joshua saw that audiences were struggling with The Shining, while the Bone Duke gave it a low score and viewers argued about it online. In Frost Country, Mother used Heart Lock to let Chains Father and Thorns enter the source's world through her dream.

• The Bone Duke reviewed The Shining with a score of 6.0, and Joshua worried that the film had disappointed its audience.
• Ciri told Joshua that The Shining was drawing complaints from viewers and that the Spellcaster Forum's discussion section was arguing about the film.
• In Frost Country's underground ruins, Thorns told Chains Father that the sacrifice was at a critical moment and questioned his mission.
• Thorns gave Mother a World Tree Leaf that could connect to the Magic Web, and Mother ordered Chains Father to bring an agent to her.
• Mother let Chains Father and Thorns share Heart Lock's senses and enter the source's world through her dream, and both collapsed unconscious.