Chapter Summaries

Wen Xishu 001 questioned the Pisces Mech about the conspiracy behind the Three Towers War and the gathering of his counterparts, while Wen Xishu in Universe 045 confronted the possibility that only one world could survive. The chapter left Wen Xishu uncertain but urged by Wen Chaohua not to let his other self suffer the same loss.

• Wen Xishu 005 witnessed the wounded Leo Mech battling several God Mechs in Universe 001 and realized the assembled fighters were not targeting him.
• Wen Xishu 001 learned that the Pisces Mech had lost its body to an Outer Domain Forbidden Mech and described how Outer Gods had exploited the Three Towers War.
• Wen Xishu 001 told Pisces that his friends had died, that the war's rules seemed rigged by Outer Gods, and that his Eye of Sorrowful Sequence had shown him a tragic ending.
• Pisces questioned Wen Xishu 001 about the Drunkard who had given him the Eye and led him to consider whether the gathering of his counterparts was a contest to choose a true self.
• Wen Chaohua explained that Universe 045 had no Constellation war or Three Towers, and Wen Xishu considered it a world worth preserving.
• Wen Chaohua urged Wen Xishu not to lose his way and asked him not to let the other Wen Chaohua suffer if Little Tree could not return.

Wen Chaohua helped Wen Xishu reject the temptation to abandon his world, and Wen Xishu reunited with the Blue Star version of himself in the Strange Tower. When the Tower began a contest that would preserve only one of their worlds, Wen Xishu refused to deny his own past, though the choice meant condemning the other version and his world.

• Wen Chaohua argued that Wen Xishu should repair his own world rather than choose an easier world, and Wen Xishu decided to believe his world was real and worth saving.
• Wen Xishu bid farewell to Wen Chaohua and returned to the Strange Tower lounge, where the Blue Star version of himself also reappeared.
• The two Wen Xishus discussed their experiences, and Wen Xishu learned that the Blue Star Wen Chaohua had believed his brother's stories about the Otherworld.
• The Strange Tower announced a round two-point-five contest in which occupants of shared rooms had to choose which of their worlds was better, with the other world and its occupant erased.
• The Blue Star Wen Xishu begged to return home, but Wen Xishu chose not to deny his own world and apologized to him.

Wen Xishu killed his Blue Star counterpart to protect his own world, then joined forces with the powerful Wen Xishu 001 for the third round. The surviving versions of Wen Xishu learned they would have to cooperate with their teammates to eliminate other teams, while Wen Xishu insisted that even the strongest version of him was not necessarily destined to be the last.

• Wen Xishu killed Wen Xishu 045, whose world then disappeared, and waited for the next round.
• Wen Xishu 001 killed Wen Xishu 005, while Wen Xishu 098 refused to kill Wen Xishu 007 and asked him to pursue the best possible ending.
• After forty-four participants survived, they paired with new roommates during an hour of communication, and Wen Xishu was matched with Wen Xishu 001.
• The game announced that each team had to eliminate members of other teams in a dangerous survival trial.
• Wen Xishu shook hands with Wen Xishu 001 and said he would work with him, insisting that 001 was not necessarily the last version of himself.

Wen Xishu and Wen Xishu 001 entered the paired board game, where teams raced toward a central throne while navigating luck, misfortune, and combat. After the rules left Wen Xishu exposed to a deadly attack, 001 summoned Sagittarius to protect him, and the pair survived into the third round.

• Wen Xishu and Wen Xishu 001 learned that the twenty-two teams had to cross a game board and reach its central throne, which could seat only two players.
• Wen Xishu 001 assigned himself the Lucky Path and the attack role, leaving Wen Xishu with the Fateful Path and the defense role.
• Wen Xishu 001 rolled a one and gained an attack opportunity he could not use, while Wen Xishu landed on a smiling-face square that protected him this turn but removed his defense next turn.
• Wen Xishu 001 rolled a three and received Memory Reinforcements, while Wen Xishu drew Memory Nemesis and faced the Ghost Bride without defensive abilities.
• Wen Xishu 001 summoned Sagittarius as his reinforcement, deterring the other teams from attacking Wen Xishu, and the pair survived into the third round.

Wen Xishu 001 visited Albert in Universe 046 during the Old Acquaintance event and received advice that strengthened his resolve to kill the other Wen Xishus. Meanwhile, Wen Xishu reported a game bug before falling into the Otherworld Void and found himself meeting Scorpio instead of facing a dangerous event.

• Wen Xishu 001 and Wen Xishu advanced onto separate event spaces, and Wen Xishu fell into the Otherworld Void after 001 chose not to support him.
• Wen Xishu 001 arrived at the Bunker in Universe 046 and reunited with Albert, who recognized that he had lost everything and was not the Wen Xishu he knew.
• Wen Xishu 001 asked Albert whether he should kill the other versions of himself, and Albert urged him not to waver while reminding him that his own world still had companions and hope.
• Wen Xishu 001 thanked Albert and returned to the game after deciding he would kill the others.
• Wen Xishu met Scorpio beside a bonfire in the Otherworld Void, where Scorpio explained that reporting a bug had earned him a safer encounter.
• Wen Xishu asked which world's Scorpio he was.

Wen Xishu learned from Scorpio about the Three Towers’ conflict with the Outer Gods and the deadly fate binding the Constellations, then returned to the board game with Wen Xishu 001. After several rounds of deaths and shifting alliances, their team surged into the lead, and 001 nearly completed the pieces needed to summon the Destroyer God as their duel approached.

• Scorpio told Wen Xishu that Universe 001 resembled his own, warned him to climb the towers while seeking the best endings, and explained that the Constellations’ mutual slaughter spiraled after the first death.
• Wen Xishu returned to the board, where five teams lost their Fateful Path members and Wen Xishu 001 eliminated Artist Wen Xishu with a basic attack.
• Wen Xishu refused the God of Fate’s Trickery’s offer to exchange fates and strength, while 001 warned him that the Outer God’s tempting gifts carried an even greater price.
• Wen Xishu survived attacks by activating Terrain Advantage, which altered the board and helped his team advance more smoothly.
• Wen Xishu and 001 reached the front of the board after gaining powerful scoring items, while 001 collected the Destroyer God’s Hand, Feet, and Head and approached the remaining Body square.

Wen Xishu 046 fell into a lethal shattered-mirror space, and Wen Xishu 001 opened a gate to gather people from across their world to save him. Their voices pulled 046 back from despair, and 001 realized the game had already changed him before he prepared to explain what he had learned.

• Wen Xishu 046 landed on a shattered-mirror interaction space and became trapped in overwhelming despair, while 001 chose to open the Golden Gate and seek help.
• 001 summoned people from across the Bunker, the Three Towers Battlefield, and other lands, and they accepted the danger and entered the vortices to help 046.
• The voices of the people 046 had saved reached him through the mirror fragments, dispelled the Black Dust, and helped him recover.
• 001 saw the bonds and mutual support surrounding 046 in a new light and realized the game was already over.
• As 046 prepared for the next turn, 001 told him he needed to explain something important.

Wen Xishu 001 revealed that the Battle of a Hundred Selves was a simulated trial designed to eliminate Wen Xishu, and warned him about the Outer Gods and the Heart of Fusion. After 001 forfeited and sacrificed his universe, Wen Xishu won the battle and was sent toward the Guiding Grounds, anticipating the Heart-Questioning Trial.

• Wen Xishu 001 explained that his universe and the other universes were simulations, and that the Outer Gods had empowered him to kill Wen Xishu.
• Wen Xishu 001 warned Wen Xishu not to use the Heart of Fusion again, revealing that it was not the answer to the Constellations' cursed fate.
• Wen Xishu 001 forfeited the battle, destroying his universe and granting Wen Xishu the relic Outer Domain Nemesis.
• Wen Xishu reached the Central Throne, became its sole owner, and won the Hundred Selves Survival Battle.
• Wen Xishu prepared to proceed to the Guiding Grounds and wondered what the Heart-Questioning Trial would ask.

Wen Xishu completed the realm of a hundred selves and received new rewards, including a way to escape dangerous tower challenges and an evolved Sequence. He returned to the Bunker, where Albert was ready to discuss what Wen Xishu 001 had revealed.

• The Three Towers Guide offered Wen Xishu a forced tower exit service that could save him from a challenge but lowered his maximum rewards and cost experience and levels, and he accepted it.
• Wen Xishu questioned the Guide about its connection to the Outer Gods, then entered the Heart-Questioning Trial and answered questions about his identity, helping other selves, and 001.
• Wen Xishu received increased tower levels and attributes, an evolved Realm of Sole Self that drew amplified traits from other selves, and the Maze of a Hundred Selves Facility.
• The people Wen Xishu had summoned for help returned to the Bunker without understanding what had happened, and Wen Xiange began recording who had joined the rescue.
• Xun Hui and the other experts tried to make sense of their experience, while Albert recognized the returning Wen Xishu as the one from his world and invited him to ask questions about what 001 had said.

After learning from Albert that the Bunker was a tower whose stages depended on humanity’s progress in the Three Towers, Wen Xishu discovered that the middle stage would bring outsiders tasked with assassinating Bunker residents. He and Albert planned to strengthen the Bunker’s defenses, and Wen Xishu prepared to revisit the Wen Family Old Residence for clues.

• Albert explained that Wen Xishu had nearly died in the trial and revealed that his strongest version had shared information about the Bunker’s origins and fate.
• Albert told Wen Xishu that the Bunker was the fourth tower and would remain in its early stage until its people made progress in the Three Towers.
• Albert explained that the Bunker’s middle stage would bring Tower Challengers who had seven days to complete tasks, including assassinating residents who could influence the Three Towers War.
• Wen Xishu and Albert agreed to strengthen security and organize patrols while seeking ways to detect or stop Tower Challengers.
• Wen Xishu decided to rest for a day in the Bunker before returning to the Wen Family Old Residence to look for clues.

Almi accepted a Hunter City mission to kill Wen Xiange before he mastered his persuasive ability and entered the Bunker. After witnessing Wen Xiange’s warm welcome and the devotion of thousands of followers, Almi began to reconsider his target as the chapter ended with Wen Xiange inviting him to join the Xishu Divine Church.

• Almi claimed the mission to kill Wen Xiange or deprive him of his core ability, then entered the Bunker through a Guild portal.
• Albert and the other leaders discussed how difficult it would be to identify Tower Challengers amid the Bunker’s existing population and security problems.
• A member of the Xishu Divine Church mistook Almi for a tower climber and offered to take him to Wen Xiange.
• Almi followed the church member to Wen Xiange’s gathering and was astonished by the vast crowd and the reverence surrounding the First Elder.
• Wen Xiange welcomed Almi onto the platform, praised him as a hero, and invited him to join the Xishu Divine Church.

Almi entered the Bunker intending to assassinate Wen Xiange, but the church’s welcome and the Bunker’s generosity gradually changed his loyalties. On the sixth day, he revealed that he came from Hunter City, and Wen Xishu offered him a way to return safely and help the Bunker liberate the city.

• Almi joined the Xishu Divine Church and was moved by the Bunker’s abundant food and Wen Xishu’s achievements.
• Wen Xiange took Almi’s suggestion as inspiration to bring the church’s work beyond the Bunker.
• Over several days, Almi repeatedly found chances to kill Wen Xiange but abandoned them as he admired him and came to see the Bunker as a true refuge.
• After confronting his own desires in the Maze of a Hundred Selves, Almi decided he would not let the Merchants’ Guild enslave him again.
• Almi told Wen Xiange that he came from Hunter City, then gave Wen Xishu and Albert information about the city and its hunters.
• Wen Xishu promised to help Almi return safely and asked him to help build the Bunker and eventually liberate Hunter City; Almi pledged to complete the mission.

Wen Xishu learned that Almi had completed his mission by helping remove Wen Xiange from the Xishu Divine Church’s leadership, then revisited Wen Chaohua’s recording and uncovered more about his transformation into Gemini. The recording ended before revealing the full plan, leaving Wen Xishu determined to raise his Magic Resistance and continue climbing the tower.

• Almi told Wen Xishu that Zheng Zai was an assassination target and shared what he knew about the Merchants' Guild and Hunter City.
• Wen Xishu explained how removing Wen Xiange from his post could satisfy Almi’s mission, and Almi agreed to trust his plan.
• On the seventh day, Almi returned to Hunter City, while Albert arranged protection for Zheng Zai.
• Wen Xishu returned to the Wen Family Old Residence and replayed Wen Chaohua’s photograph, which revealed that Wen Chaohua had become Gemini’s elder brother after a plot involving Gemini, Pisces, and Capricorn.
• Wen Chaohua said that he and others had turned the tables on the Three Towers and that the key to victory lay within them, before the recording ended.
• Wen Xishu concluded that Wen Chaohua was Gemini and decided to begin another tower-climbing journey to increase his Magic Resistance.

Wen Xishu entered Pen Town on floor sixty-six, where he and five other Challengers had to follow mysterious rules to survive and uncover the town’s secret. After Hamlanter was killed for ignoring the voice’s instructions, Wen Xishu chose the third pig’s house, though the voice warned that danger might await inside.

• Wen Xishu realized that his memories of Almi had vanished, then rolled three twos and unlocked the Hidden Triple achievement.
• Wen Xishu activated the forced tower exit service and entered Pen Town, where a voice warned the Challengers about points, the Unknown, and the town’s rules.
• Wen Xishu met Da Mo, Martina, Hamlanter, Reed, and Sheen, who came from different cities and groups.
• Three piglike voices invited the group to shelter from the Unknown, and Hamlanter was killed after trying to use his flute to get an answer.
• Wen Xishu chose the third pig’s house based on the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs, despite the voice’s warning about what might be inside.

Wen Xishu and his two companions survived the first stage at Pig Third’s door by exploiting the rule protecting the pig’s belongings, and Wen Xishu earned the highest score. As the next stage began, a prompt drove them to seek water, and Wen Xishu heard a chilling woman’s laugh that Reed could not hear.

• Wen Xishu chose Pig Third’s house, and Pig Third’s trick split the players among the three houses.
• Wen Xishu, Reed, and Sheen reached Pig Third’s doorless brick house, where a prompt demanded that one of them block the entrance with their body.
• Wen Xishu volunteered, persuaded Reed and Sheen to vote for him, and stood motionless as a bell-ringing monster and hundreds of hopping vampires passed by.
• The game awarded Wen Xishu fifteen points and a rest period, and he explained that he had survived by making himself seem like one of Pig Third’s protected possessions.
• As the next stage began, Wen Xishu heard a woman’s icy laugh while Sheen and Reed complained of thirst, but Reed could not hear it.

Wen Xishu and Reed survived the kitchen’s deadly thirst trap, then faced the Gourmet’s hunger test at dinner. Wen Xishu used the cursed water to make the Gourmet drink, turning Chu Renmei against him and leaving the two monsters fighting.

• Sheen drank from the kitchen faucet and was killed by Chu Renmei, whose hair consumed his body.
• Wen Xishu stopped Reed from drinking, and they endured the remaining thirty minutes until their thirst vanished and they earned five points each.
• Wen Xishu questioned the old butler about the town’s houses, but the butler refused to answer whether owners could be awakened early.
• Wen Xishu and Reed arrived at the Gourmet’s dinner, where they saw Martina presented as food and learned the Gourmet wanted them to provide sashimi.
• Wen Xishu tricked the Gourmet into drinking cursed tap water, summoning Chu Renmei, who attacked the Gourmet as the hunger rule ended.

After defeating the Gourmet, Wen Xishu and Reed searched the house and found a notebook revealing that a magical pen and its owner had created the house and its monsters. They survived the sleep scenario by telling the two-headed monster a frightening story, but dawn brought another approaching challenge.

• After the Gourmet died, Wen Xishu received fifteen points and led Reed to search the house for clues.
• Wen Xishu found a notebook describing a magical pen that could create the house and its inhabitants when used by its owner.
• When overwhelming drowsiness struck, Wen Xishu and Reed hid above the bed, but a two-headed monster found them and forced Wen Xishu into a dream.
• Wen Xishu told the monster a frightening story, putting it to sleep and freeing himself and Reed from the drowsiness.
• Wen Xishu and Reed left the bedroom, reached the bonfire, and learned that their story had earned them five points and immunity to drowsiness.
• As the Monastery bells rang, a blurry figure appeared and the bonfire flickered, signaling the next challenge.

Wen Xishu and Reed faced a Monastery trial that pressured them to open the doors or let a ritual finish. Wen Xishu disrupted the ritual by removing and destroying the chanting half-head, and the pair reached a Bonfire before being directed toward the Classroom for information about the Pen Master.

• A chinless nun led Wen Xishu and Reed into the Monastery hall, warned them not to open the doors, and shut them inside with a ritual scale.
• Voices outside urged Reed and Wen Xishu to open the doors, while a half-head on the scale chanted and the ritual advanced.
• Wen Xishu reasoned that the nun had never forbidden them from interrupting the ritual, then removed the half-head and stomped it to stop the chanting.
• The Monastery brightened and a Bonfire appeared as Wen Xishu and Reed survived the trial.
• An Exile outside revealed that the next room was the Classroom, and the Pen Master awarded Wen Xishu and Reed ten points each.

Wen Xishu and Reed faced a composition challenge in which their written descriptions of three paintings would become reality. Reed gave Wen Xishu the only pen, and Wen Xishu began writing after realizing the paintings could be interpreted in more than one way.

• Wen Xishu found books crediting Morson with many works and a booklet that predicted the classroom’s events.
• The teacher showed paintings depicting Reed killing Wen Xishu, Wen Xishu dying in a library, and Wen Xishu fading away after asking, “Who am I?”
• A voice told Reed that he could keep the only pen and finish early to survive, or give it to Wen Xishu and risk both their lives.
• Wen Xishu reasoned that the challenge had a solution, and Reed trusted him and handed him the pen.
• Wen Xishu reconsidered how a picture could be described, then began writing rapidly.

Wen Xishu used the Pen Master's rules to turn his answers into real protections, helping Reed exorcise an evil spirit and gaining a defense against mental invasion. After writing a theory about the Pen Master’s identity and imprisonment in the final painting, Wen Xishu left the outcome uncertain, warning Reed that they might either escape soon or die.

• Wen Xishu described Reed’s flames as sacred and wrote that Reed would expel the evil spirit possessing him, granting Reed flames that could resist mental attacks.
• Reed drove the evil spirit out of Wen Xishu, and Wen Xishu passed the first painting.
• Wen Xishu reframed the second painting’s library as his inner world and gained a guardian ability that defended against mental invasion.
• Wen Xishu connected the tower’s legends, the Pen Master’s pen, and the three towers, then wrote that the Pen Master was a bestselling author hiding inside the town he had created.
• The Pen Master sighed at Wen Xishu’s elaborate interpretation, and Wen Xishu told Reed that they might clear the place soon or be killed.