Chapter Summaries

A girl with amnesia awakened in the Beyonder world after accidentally swallowing a Sequence 7 Beyonder Characteristic. The officers identified her as Alice Kingsley, a Lucky One of the Monster Pathway, leaving her to begin learning about her new situation.

• In a dream, the girl called Huanhuan saw a man die and accidentally swallowed a sparkling crystal that emerged from his body.
• She awoke in a room with two uniformed officers and could remember neither her past nor her name.
• After seeing a vision of a girl following a white rabbit into a hole, she introduced herself as Alice Kingsley.
• The officers explained Beyonders, Pathways, and Sequences, and Alice confirmed that she was a Sequence 7 Lucky One of the Monster Pathway.

Alice spent three years studying in Tingen City while trying to understand her missing memories and her unusual arrival in the body of a wandering girl. She remained under the Nighthawks’ observation, still unsure who Huanhuan had been and what price her new Beyonder abilities might demand.

• Alice recalled that Huanhuan had been a student in a modern world and that a girl from her memories had been a close friend, but she could not recover their personal details.
• Alice learned from the case file that the body had belonged to a wandering child named Alice, whose age and surname were unknown.
• Alice learned that a Sequence 7 Beyonder had died after falling, and that she had picked up his Beyonder Characteristic and become the new Lucky One.
• Alice learned that Backlund’s examiners had found her unusually normal, while divination revealed her pathway’s Monster, Robot, and Lucky One Sequences.
• The Nighthawks kept Alice in Tingen City and arranged intensive lessons instead of missions, and Alice adapted to studying for more than ten hours a day.

On her first day of mysticism lessons, Alice’s visions warned her that she could not look at Klein Moretti without risking death. After hearing Klein speak a Chinese name connected to her past, she left with an invitation for him to meet her at the cathedral.

• Alice greeted Rosanne and went to Dunn Smith’s office, where she saw an omen of death surrounding him.
• Alice saw a blurred man in two visions and asked Dunn whether he had another visitor, saying she might die if she saw him.
• Dunn introduced Alice to Klein Moretti, and Alice kept her eyes closed because her spiritual premonition warned her not to look at him.
• As Alice left, she remembered the name Klein Moretti and saw a young girl from her past in a vision, who appeared to say “Zhou, Ming, Rui.”
• Klein reacted in Chinese, and Alice recognized the language, turned toward his voice with her eyes closed, and invited him to find her at the cathedral.

Alice and Klein discussed their shared memories of Earth and the possibility that Alice had transmigrated after dying. Alice then recalled a girl reciting a prayer to the Fool before the vision vanished.

• Alice asked Klein about the name Zhou Mingrui, and Klein admitted it was his own name.
• Alice described remembering a girl called Huanhuan, who spoke Chinese and seemed to have been her classmate on Earth.
• Klein asked whether Alice remembered how she had died, and Alice recalled intense pain after Huanhuan screamed for her to be careful.
• Alice remembered Huanhuan calling her a naturally born monster, which Klein recognized as a reference to the Sequence 9 Lucky One pathway.
• Alice experienced a vision of Huanhuan praying to the Fool in Chinese, then asked Klein whether he had heard of the Fool.

Alice met Old Neil at Nighthawks Headquarters to begin studying Mysticism and discovered that he was researching Emperor Roselle’s coded diary. After recognizing its writing, she read an entry about Roselle finding someone trapped in a storm and darkness.

• At lunch, Alice asked Klein about The Fool, but his fearful reaction led her to stop pressing him.
• Dunn brought Alice to Nighthawks Headquarters, where Old Neil greeted her as the Lucky One.
• Alice saw ominous eyes watching Old Neil, restrained her fear, and asked to begin studying Mysticism.
• Old Neil explained his research into Emperor Roselle’s coded diaries and let Alice read a page.
• Alice recognized the diary’s Simplified Chinese writing and read Roselle’s account of discovering someone trapped in a storm and darkness.

Alice read Roselle’s diary with Old Neil, learned more about potion digestion, and revealed that her spirituality warned her against looking at Klein. After Alice prayed to The Fool and was brought above the gray fog, she recognized Klein as Zhou Mingrui and met Justice and The Hanged Man as Miss Fortune.

• Alice read Roselle’s diary and noted the Apprentice, Diviner, and Marauder pathways, along with his claims about potion digestion and acting.
• Old Neil began teaching Alice divination, and Alice told him her spirituality warned her whenever Klein came near.
• Alice prayed to The Fool and was pulled above the gray fog, where she recognized Klein as Zhou Mingrui and The Fool.
• Klein introduced Alice to Justice and The Hanged Man as Miss Fortune, and Alice used manifested glasses to look at Klein without her spirituality screaming.

At the Tarot Club, Alice revealed that she was a Beyonder of the Monster Pathway and warned Audrey about the dangers of acting too deeply as a Spectator. After the meeting, Alice asked Klein about the gathering and their shared past, then struggled to decide whether to warn the captain about Mr. Neil.

• Audrey asked why Alice had closed her eyes, and Alice explained that her spirituality warned her she would die if she saw something.
• Klein described Alice as a fortunate Lucky One, and Alice said she could not look at Mr. Fool because she belonged to the Monster Pathway.
• After Alger and Audrey traded for the Spectator Potion formula, Alice asked whether acting as a Spectator could change Audrey's personality and sense of self, prompting Alger and Audrey to thank her.
• Once the Tarot Club ended, Alice asked Klein where the gathering was and requested that he share any clues in Roselle's Diary about their transmigration; Klein agreed.
• Back in her room, Alice debated warning the captain about Mr. Neil and flipped a coin, which landed on the result meaning she should not say anything.

Alice warned Dunn that a strange pair of eyes was leading Old Neil toward death, and Old Neil was sent away for treatment before his symptoms became severe. At the second Tarot Club gathering, Klein explained potion acting, while Alice wondered who the potion’s guards were and Audrey asked what would happen if an ordinary animal drank a Sequence 9 potion.

• Alice decided to speak with Dunn the next morning rather than visit Blackthorn Security Company at night.
• Alice told Dunn that a pair of nearly transparent eyes was leading Old Neil toward death, and Dunn ordered her not to alarm him.
• Old Neil received an examination and was sent away for treatment, leaving Klein and Alice without their Mysticism teacher again.
• At the second Tarot Club gathering, Klein explained that acting meant following the potion’s name and temperament, like using an invitation to pass the guards of a castle.
• Alice wondered where the guards came from and whether gods might be involved, while Alger shared information about the Blasphemy Slate.
• Audrey asked what would happen if an ordinary animal drank a Sequence 9 potion, and Alice’s question about whether she had a friend who did so flustered her.

Alice joined Dunn on an investigation into the Alfalfa massacre and learned that Triss, a suspected Beyonder, might be in Tingen. After dreaming of Triss as a woman amid a bloody disaster, Alice went to Dunn and described her prophetic dream.

• Dunn brought Alice to assist the Church of Steam and Machinery with the Alfalfa massacre investigation.
• Dunn conducted a Dream Inquiry and used a ritual to produce a portrait identifying Triss as a suspected Sequence 8 Instigator who might belong to the Aurora Order.
• The Machine Heart team reported that Triss had been seen entering Tingen after leaving Enmat Harbor, and Dunn informed the Nighthawks about the wanted criminal.
• Alice dreamed of Triss moving toward the docks before a blood-red disaster, where Triss appeared as a woman in a black dress.
• Alice went to the professionals' headquarters and told Dunn about her dream.

Alice joked with Leonard about her dream before agreeing to visit the Underground Market with him and Klein. After Klein encountered the Underground Market’s half-monster, he and Alice discussed why looking at Klein caused the Monster’s eyes to bleed, leaving Klein pondering the source of his unusual nature.

• Leonard asked Alice about her dream, and she teased him before describing Triss as a beautiful woman.
• Leonard invited Alice and Klein to visit the Underground Market and told Alice about its half-monster, who had no matching potion available from the Three Churches.
• Leonard revealed that a Lucky One had left behind only a Sequence name and Sequence Characteristics, and Alice suggested he had appeared to deliver them to her.
• Klein told Alice that the Monster had screamed and begun bleeding from the eyes after seeing him.
• Alice connected the Monster’s reaction to the warning not to look directly upon a god, prompting Klein to consider whether his Gray Fog Space was involved.
• Alice told Klein that coincidences gathered into a book beneath a Writer’s pen.

Alice investigated Tris's abandoned residence with the Mandated Punishers and learned through Dream Divination that Tris had become a Witch named Trissy. After her divination of Trissy's location was blocked, Alice returned to Blackthorn Security Company and spent the day telling everyone the news.

• Dunn sent Alice to Lower Iron Cross Street to investigate Tris's temporary residence after the Mandated Punishers lost his trail.
• Alice's Dream Divination showed a woman in a dark dress, and a coin reading suggested that Tris had become Trissy.
• Alice's attempt to divine Trissy's current location was interfered with, but another vision showed a book marked Witch passing from a woman to a man.
• Alice told the Mandated Punishers that Tris had become a Witch and explained that the Assassin Pathway's Sequence 7 potion changed him into a woman.
• Alice returned to Blackthorn Security Company and told Leonard and the other people there that Tris was now the Witch Trissy.

Alice visited the Underground Market with Leonard, where a Monster Beyonder said he had forgotten what he saw in her because of the chaos. She decided to seek out the School of Life, then browsed the stalls and bought a silver amulet she knew had no effect because she thought it was pretty.

• Alice encountered a pale, blood-eyed man in the Underground Market, and he said he had forgotten what he saw in her because of the chaos.
• Leonard told Alice that the School of Life was the only organization with the Monster Pathway's starting Sequence, and explained that abilities from different Sequences might come together at Sequence Four.
• Alice asked Leonard to leave her alone, then browsed the Underground Market by herself.
• Alice spotted two correctly inscribed amulets but chose a useless silver one because it was pretty.
• Alice paid the stall owner three soli for the silver amulet without haggling.

After dreaming of 2-049, Alice recognized it as a Sealed Artifact and warned Dunn that something had affected it. She saw the shadow of death around Dunn briefly waver, but could not explain what she knew, and left without learning whether the Antigonus Family Notes were involved.

• Alice dreamed of a grinning puppet, drew it from her dream, and showed its portrait to Dunn, who identified it as 2-049.
• Alice saw the shadow of death around Dunn waver, but kept her knowledge hidden because her intuition warned her against revealing it.
• Alice returned to Dunn's office and reminded him that something had affected 2-049, causing the shadow to waver again.
• Dunn told Alice that the Nighthawks had recovered the Antigonus Family Notes and suspected they were connected to 2-049.
• Alice asked to view the notes from a distance, but Dunn refused until the Cathedral had rated them.

Alice joined the Tingen City Divination Club after discovering that Klein Moretti was a member, and began offering divinations for six pence. The chapter ended as a young man arrived and asked Angelica for a divination.

• Rozanne told Alice that Klein was becoming a full member and complained about having to work night shifts.
• Alice found the Divination Club and discovered Klein Moretti listed in its catalog, though he was not there.
• Alice paid five pounds to join the club, filled out her membership form, and received a cufflink from Angelica Barrehart.
• Alice said she could perform divinations and set her price at six pence after tossing coins.
• Alice let Angelica choose her drink, and a young man with a yellowish face and dull red eyes arrived seeking a divination.

Alice used divination to investigate Bogda Jones’s liver disease and directed him toward a possible cure in the East District. As she refused extra payment, she glimpsed a childhood memory warning her to use luck sparingly.

• Alice met Bogda Jones at the Divination Club and agreed to divine for him for six pence.
• Alice used Tarot Cards to predict a bad outcome for Bogda’s surgery, then sent him out while she sought another answer in a Dream.
• Alice discovered Rosen’s Folk Herb Shop at 18 Vlad Street and dreamed that she could find a Monster in the Underground Market.
• Alice told Bogda to search Vlad Street for places connected to Rosen, and he offered her a pound, which she refused.
• Alice saw a childhood memory of herself writing, “Use luck sparingly; never squander it.”

Alice visited Rosen's Folk Herb Shop to ask the Fat Apothecary about the Monster Pathway, then learned that Dunn had entered Hainas Vincent's dream and seen a disturbing vision. Worried that Dunn might have encountered a god, she asked whether Sequence Potion names merely described their effects.

• Alice followed Bogda to Rosen's Folk Herb Shop and asked the Fat Apothecary where she could find a monster.
• Alice told the Fat Apothecary she had accidentally swallowed a Sequence 7 Lucky One Beyonder Characteristic and left him her contact information.
• Alice heard that Dunn had entered Hainas Vincent's dream and that Hainas had died before Dunn came out.
• Alice checked on Dunn, who said he had seen a naked man nailed to a huge cross in the dream.
• Alice connected Dunn's vision to the Hanged Man Tarot Card and asked him whether Sequence Potion names existed only to reflect their effects.

At the Tarot Club meeting, Audrey asked about finding the Psychology Alchemists, while Alice sought information about the School of Life and Monster-pathway Beyonders. Alger introduced the True Creator and the Aurora Order’s search for Him, and Mr. Fool called Him the Fallen Creator.

• Audrey asked Alger where to find the Psychology Alchemists, and Mr. Fool advised her that strict acting could digest her Spectator potion within months.
• Audrey asked whether Mr. Fool planned to add members, and Alice suggested that new members should undergo strict review.
• Alice requested information about the School of Life and Monster-pathway Beyonders, explaining that she had become a Beyonder through luck and knew little about the organization.
• Alger explained that the School of Life was a concealed organization with a master-disciple system and Apothecary and Monster pathways, and Alice kept her commission open.
• Alger said an Aurora Order Listener was searching for the True Creator, described the being’s forms and worshippers, and Mr. Fool called Him the Fallen Creator.

At the Tarot Club, Alice and the others discussed gods, believers, and secret organizations, while Audrey and Alger agreed to seek information and arrange a transaction with Alice. The next morning, Alice learned that Madam Daly was being transferred to Backlund and suspected the Church had recognized her rapid advancement as evidence of the acting method.

• Alice speculated that gods' conditions might affect their believers and that believers might help Beyonders resist corruption from divinity.
• Audrey agreed to look for leads on the School of Life and Monster pathway Beyonders, while Alger requested money or gems and gave Alice a transaction location.
• Alger explained the Moss asceticism and the Hidden Sage, and Alice described how the Hidden Sage forced knowledge upon Mystery Pryer pathway Beyonders.
• Alice explained that men who drank the Witch potion became women, confusing Audrey and Alger, before Klein ended the Tarot Club gathering.
• Alice met Madam Daly at the Blackthorn Security Company and learned that Daly was being transferred to Backlund.
• Alice wondered whether Daly's rapid advancement had revealed the acting method to the Church's higher-ups.

Alice attended a welcome dinner for Klein at the Blackthorn Security Company, where she teased him and enjoyed a second ice cream. That night, a lucid nightmare made her fear that an unknown power had tampered with her dreams and memories, but prayer to the Evernight Goddess calmed her and let her sleep again.

• Dunn introduced Alice to the Nighthawks and toasted Klein as their newest full member.
• Alice joked that Klein's fate held a secret that must not be looked upon directly, embarrassing him in front of the group.
• Alice asked for another ice cream while Klein waited for his steak, then accepted Dunn's refusal of a third serving.
• Alice became lucid in a dream filled with desserts and realized that someone might have tampered with her dreams and memories.
• Alice woke beneath the Evernight Goddess's sacred emblem, prayed for restful sleep, and returned to a pleasant dream.

Above the Gray Fog, Alice warned Klein that the coincidences surrounding him might not be aimed at him and that the Castle of Origin could be dangerous. She left him questioning who had arranged her path and whether the castle’s true owner could replace him.

• Klein told Alice that he had divined that his coincidences had been arranged, and Alice realized she had never tried to divine her own past.
• Alice concluded that the hidden force was probably not targeting Klein, then explained that invisible threads had guided Dunn’s Fate toward death for years.
• Alice said she had kept quiet because she feared speaking outside the Castle of Origin would reveal her knowledge, though she was unsure whether Dunn was the actual target.
• Alice reminded Klein that the dead Lucky One’s Beyonder Characteristic had seemed deliberately delivered to her and asked who had sent it.
• Alice warned Klein that he might be an intruder in the castle and asked what would happen if its true owner replaced him.