Chapter Summaries

Wen Xishu traveled back to the decisive moment in John’s past and challenged John’s hatred of money, urging him to reconsider turning Doomsday into a real apocalypse. Scorpio accepted Wen Xishu’s argument and ended their game, and Wen Xishu’s mission concluded with Scorpio claiming that Wen Xishu owed him a favor.

• Scorpio offered Wen Xishu a chance to change John by reloading the moment when John was about to accept the apocalypse, wagering Wen Xishu’s Faux Fate Compass if he lost.
• Wen Xishu confronted John with secret details from Doomsday and argued that John’s resentment of money had distorted his understanding of his friends, Catherine, and the joy of games.
• John remembered the happiness he had shared with his father and began to fear the apocalypse he had agreed to bring about, while Wen Xishu explained that Doomsday was a good game but the real apocalypse was awful.
• Scorpio froze John and the world, then said their contract could not be changed, but Wen Xishu trusted John’s kindness and explained that John had created an Easter egg to protect disabled players.
• Scorpio chose not to reinforce John’s hatred of money, and Wen Xishu received a notification that his mission had ended.
• Scorpio told Wen Xishu he owed him a favor, and Wen Xishu agreed to repay it.

Wen Xishu returned to the original Doomsday after John’s transformation reset the other players into an easier version, then uncovered the conspiracy behind the apocalypse and found Catherine in the protected game-world John had created for her. After reading John’s letter, Wen Xishu urged Catherine to recognize his gift and decide whether to remain there, completing her hidden quest as she chose to stay connected to John.

• Scorpio explained that Wen Xishu’s Cheating Knife would gain experience through use, then vanished as Wen Xishu returned to the Strange Tower and received notices that John’s transformation had made Wind City’s Doomsday easier for other players.
• Wen Xishu found Charles Yang’s corpse, removed his collar, and searched Charles’s computer, learning that Charles and twelve other Island Guests were among the Thirteen Disciples behind the planned apocalypse.
• Wen Xishu left the Golden Tower by jumping from its sixtieth floor, raced across Wind City, and reached the office building where he found Catherine behind a protected doorway.
• Catherine showed Wen Xishu the game worlds John had left for her, then opened a box after Wen Xishu identified himself as a player and he read John’s letter explaining his sacrifice to protect her.
• Catherine mourned John and said she no longer wanted to remain alone, so Wen Xishu told her that John’s gift was his way of staying with her and offered to help if she chose to leave.
• Catherine cried as she understood Wen Xishu’s words, and her hidden quest, Catherine’s Decision, was completed.

Wen Xishu completed Catherine's Decision, gained authority over Wind City, and chose not to use it to kill his companions. After learning the Great Devourment would bring Strange Tower anomalies into the Bunker, he returned with a Level Six Library and warned Albert that the disaster was coming.

• Wen Xishu received the Savior of Wind City title and GM permissions, while Catherine decided to search the games behind the other doors for John's clues.
• Wen Xishu added allies to Wind City's whitelist, rejected the temptation to kill Zhang Hai, Kate, Child-Faced Wolf, Ye Lingfeng, and Blind Man, and exited the game.
• The Black Deception Head explained the Great Devourment and its connection to insufficient Strange Tower exploration, and Wen Xishu chose a Level Six Library for the Bunker's Second Floor.
• Wen Xishu returned to the Bunker, met with Albert, and told him the Great Devourment was coming.

Wen Xishu learned how the coming Great Devourment threatened the Bunker, reclaimed his name, and was publicly recognized as a rising legend. After revealing that he had gained control of Wind City, he learned from Liu Jinsen that Wen Chaohua had helped slaughter nearly half the Slaughter Tower's Ladder Ranking, leaving him determined to investigate his brother's motives.

• Albert explained that the Great Devourment would send many dangerous vortexes into the Bunker and said it would likely arrive within ten days.
• Albert told Wen Xishu that he could reclaim his name, offered him protection and a role as the Strange Tower Assault Team's safety adviser, and revealed that Liu Jinsen would become his assistant.
• Wen Xishu told Albert that he had become Wind City's lord, astonishing Albert, who decided to enter the Slaughter Tower to verify the claim.
• At the Academy assembly, Albert announced the coming Great Devourment and publicly revealed that Wen Xun was Wen Xishu, warning anyone who threatened him.
• Liu Jinsen told Wen Xishu that Wen Chaohua and Wen family members had ambushed top-ranked fighters in the Slaughter Tower with the help of its monsters, killing nearly half of the Ladder Ranking.
• Wen Xishu said he would neither defend nor stop investigating Wen Chaohua, then told Liu Jinsen that the Xishu Divine Church might help with the Great Devourment.

With the Great Devourment approaching, Wen Xishu chose to climb the Strange Tower rather than make a public speech, and used the Madman's Dice to triple his entry floor while resetting his attributes to rookie status. He arrived at the Forty-Second Floor, studied the rules of a deadly Visitors mission, and was awakened by a knock at his door shortly after nightfall.

• Wen Xishu told Liu Jinsen that he would climb the tower to seek another facility, while the Security Bureau, Xishu Divine Church, Six Great Families, and Gambling Stone Association prepared to respond to the approaching Great Devourment.
• Wen Xishu activated his Login Device, rolled three ones on the Madman's Dice, and selected Triple High, Three-Phase Power, and Minimalism, raising his entry floor to the Forty-Second Floor and resetting his attributes to level one.
• At the Rest Area, Wen Xishu met Wang Ying and gave his team advice about their Qi City mission before beginning his own climb.
• Wen Xishu entered a house in Deer Island City, found the previous owner's rules and a revolver, and deduced that he had to admit companions while watching for Visitors who could imitate humans.
• After sleeping during the day, Wen Xishu woke at 7:01 p.m. to three knocks at the door, marking the first night's danger.

Wen Xishu faced a series of visitors at his door and used their behavior and the television’s clues to infer how the Forty-Second Floor’s monsters infiltrated homes. After letting Takahashi Mariko and Fukang Tetsuya inside, he saw another Fukang Tetsuya outside warning that the one indoors was a monster, just as the indoor Fukang approached him.

• Wen Xishu recognized that the first visitor’s pounding was an illusion meant to frighten him into opening the door, and he taunted the silent monster until it disappeared.
• Takahashi Mariko arrived seeking shelter, and Wen Xishu let her inside after questioning her and warning her to obey him.
• The television showed disturbing footage and revealed clues about monsters, while Wen Xishu admitted Fukang Tetsuya after a suspicious first version vanished.
• The television warned that probing too deeply could break a monster’s disguise, so Wen Xishu realized that questioning his guests could trigger their transformations.
• A second Fukang Tetsuya appeared outside and warned Wen Xishu not to trust the Fukang inside, who then stood and walked toward him.

Wen Xishu resisted monsters trying to end their dormant periods early, learned to keep Mariko docile by returning her affection, and turned away a tramp after suspecting a trap. As more visitors arrived, he realized the monsters could exploit the rules too and prepared to question Fukang Tetsuya about the maze outside.

• Wen Xishu beat Fukang Tetsuya back into submission and concluded that monsters inside tried to end dormancy by making him recognize them as inhuman.
• Wen Xishu recognized the Delivery Worker as a fake when it tried to persuade him to open a window, then inferred that some monsters disguised themselves to lure residents outside.
• Mariko conjured grotesque visions, but Wen Xishu soothed her by praising her familiar appearance, prompting him to suspect that increasingly intimate affection could prolong her dormancy.
• Wen Xishu persuaded Mariko to protect him while he slept, creating a tense balance between her and Fukang Tetsuya.
• Wen Xishu refused entry to a tramp who offered to remove one unclean thing, then learned the supposed television rule had been a fake tramp's imitation.
• Wen Xishu realized the monsters knew and exploited the rules, decided to question Fukang Tetsuya about the maze outside, and heard another knock at the door.

Wen Xishu turned away a corrupt police officer, questioned Fukang Tetsuya and Takahashi Mariko about Deer Island, and admitted Sanshin Hanzo to make the monsters in his house keep one another in check. He survived the first night, learned that four real humans remained on the island, and faced the escalating demands of Mariko’s extended infiltration period.

• Wen Xishu refused to let the corrupt police officer investigate, persuaded him to leave, and learned about several dangerous figures on Deer Island, including the intelligent serial killer and the Host.
• Wen Xishu made Fukang Tetsuya explain that Deer Island’s paths formed a maze, then questioned him and Takahashi Mariko about the Gourmet, the Doctor, and the mysterious Misfortune Mage.
• Wen Xishu let Sanshin Hanzo into the house, resisted his mental attack with a kick and a gun threat, and ordered him to speak only with Fukang Tetsuya and Takahashi Mariko.
• Wen Xishu watched Sanshin Hanzo try to tame Fukang Tetsuya, while the monsters extended their Infiltration Periods and maintained a tense balance in the house.
• At six in the morning, the television announced that Wen Xishu had survived the first night and that four real humans were still alive on Deer Island.
• Takahashi Mariko asked Wen Xishu to share her bed as the next step in their intimacy, and her living hair began slipping under his clothes.

On the second night of the Deer Island Game, Wen Xishu resisted Mariko, learned to use Prayer, and endured escalating mental invasions while trying to identify a real human visitor. After realizing that the game’s true objective was not to let humans into houses but to help them leave, he sent a frightened visitor away with a message and awaited the result of his gamble.

• Wen Xishu dreamed of a talisman-covered statue and a police officer who said that restoring order on Deer Island required opening a door.
• Wen Xishu unlocked Prayer, tested his authority over Mariko, Sanshin Hanzo, and Fukang Tetsuya, and tried to summon a human visitor.
• Wen Xishu resisted a three-handed monster and saw through Fukang Tetsuya’s trap, which had used a fake Prayer notification and a disguised monster at the door.
• Wen Xishu spoke with a terrified short-haired visitor who said the house owners had been assimilated and pleaded not to be let inside.
• Wen Xishu connected his dream, the monsters’ reactions, and the visitor’s fear, then allowed the man to leave and asked him to pass a message to another house.
• The television revealed that its supplementary rules came only after people figured them out and that monsters were compelled to enter houses, where they might become unable to leave.

Wen Xishu outmaneuvered the monsters on Deer Island, survived the second night, and earned an Invitation Letter to the Desire Tower. After briefly meeting Wen Renjing in the Rest Area, he returned to his mission on the Forty-Second Floor.

• Wen Xishu deduced that the house contained monsters and that each monster had a different condition for leaving, then used his logic and gun to keep Fukang Tetsuya, Mariko, and Sanshin Hanzo from acting openly.
• Wen Xishu survived the second night without firing a bullet, while his rules and threats kept the monsters from forcing their way out or killing him.
• In a dream, the police officer told Wen Xishu that Mage wanted to invite him into the world of those days if he survived the third night and continued to understand Mage.
• Wen Xishu woke on the third night, received an Invitation Letter from the police officer, and activated it to leave Deer Island temporarily.
• In the Desire Tower Rest Area, Wen Xishu met Wen Renjing, learned that people were hiding in the tower to avoid the approaching Great Devourment, and discussed the dangers of the Island Nation.
• Wen Xishu returned to the Forty-Second Floor mission, while Wen Renjing wondered how Wen Chaohua had shaped Wen Xishu's extraordinary abilities.

Wen Xishu escaped a hospital on Deer Island, where a government-backed plan had turned the island into a laboratory for radiation-induced evolution, and followed the Faux Fate Compass to Master Lingqing. Lingqing revealed that a Ruinbringer was manipulating repeated loops and influencing seven key people; Wen Xishu decided that the future-only restriction on violence did not bind him and prepared to fight back.

• Wen Xishu learned from Fujian Yibo that patients sought surgeries to evolve, then escaped the hospital while a six-legged Evolved Species pursued him.
• Wen Xishu beat a convenience store owner for information and learned that Deer Island was a sealed experimental zone where authorities promoted mutation as preparation for the apocalypse.
• Wen Xishu used the Faux Fate Compass to find Mage and climbed to a ruined temple, where Master Lingqing let him enter after Mr. Murata attacked him.
• Wen Xishu told Master Lingqing that he came from the future, and Lingqing explained that a Ruinbringer was changing events through repeated loops and winning over seven people from Wen Xishu's future.
• Wen Xishu realized the Ruinbringer was reshaping the reputations of Mariko and others, then declared that he could use violence and might slaughter his way through Deer Island.

Master Lingqing told Wen Xishu how the Ruinbringer had manipulated Deer Island and how he had tried to protect its survivors. Wen Xishu accepted a Spirit Guidance rune, set out to kill the seven mutants and find the Ruinbringer, and left Watanabe dead after learning the Gourmet’s final thoughts pointed toward the god behind the island’s plans.

• Master Lingqing recounted how his visions of the dead brought him to Deer Island, where the Ruinbringer framed him and the Island Nation’s policies turned residents into mutants.
• Master Lingqing explained that he had created barriers to seal away the Radiation Mutants and the seven powerful dual mutants, and he gave Wen Xishu their locations.
• Wen Xishu revealed that he had returned from the future and vowed to kill the seven before confronting the Ruinbringer; Master Lingqing gave him the Spirit Guidance rune.
• Wen Xishu infiltrated the Evolutionary Restaurant and overheard Watanabe Fūcun discussing his experiments and the god who had helped him.
• Wen Xishu killed Watanabe and the Councilman, then read Watanabe’s final thoughts with Spirit Guidance and began uncovering the truth about the god.

Wen Xishu identified Hoshino Ushiro as the Ruinbringer impersonating Murata and tracked him to the dump. He killed Hoshino and the island’s remaining Strange Aptitude figures, then set out to see Master Lingqing.

• Wen Xishu reasoned that Hoshino Ushiro had killed Murata and used Kinoshita Jiping’s parasitic ability to impersonate him, then followed his compass to the dump.
• Hoshino Ushiro prepared to switch bodies and reassured himself that Wen Xishu could not find him, but Wen Xishu arrived and confronted him.
• Wen Xishu tricked Hoshino into calling the other Strange Aptitude figures to the dump, then killed Hoshino Ushiro with Limit Break Kick.
• Takahashi Mariko, Fukang Tetsuya, Sanshin Hanzo, the doctor, and the delivery driver arrived and Wen Xishu killed them, leaving six headless corpses in the attic.
• Wen Xishu washed the blood from his face, reflected on the ruined stories of Deer Island, and decided to go see Master Lingqing.

Wen Xishu finished the Deer Island mission after killing its seven dangerous figures, and Master Lingqing decided to travel to Hujiang to confront the source of the apocalypse. A changed version of the Strange Tower floor placed Wen Xishu outside the safe houses, where he used Lingqing’s Wooden Fish to find the surviving humans and enter their refuge.

• Wen Xishu returned to Master Lingqing, explained why he had killed the seven figures, and questioned whether there was a better path than killing.
• Master Lingqing chose to build a refuge for Deer Island’s survivors and then go to Hujiang to confront the source of the evil; he gave Wen Xishu his Wooden Fish, and the two promised to meet again.
• A fate simulation showed Master Lingqing being captured and tortured in Hujiang before escaping with other subjects to form the Demon-Cleansing Monks, while Wen Xishu attracted Libra’s attention.
• The Strange Tower restarted the Forty-Second Floor with changed rules, requiring Wen Xishu to find a human refuge among monster-occupied houses before the strong moon period.
• Wen Xishu used the Wooden Fish to distinguish monsters from humans, then entered a monster house under false pretenses before moving on.
• The Wooden Fish revealed a house protected by Lingqing’s talismans, and the short-haired man welcomed Wen Xishu inside as the strong moon period began; Wen Xishu completed the mission.

Wen Xishu returned from the Strange Tower with a Level 7 Safe House and rewards that increased every Bunker resident’s lifespan and Magic Resistance. As the Great Devourment began, Albert gathered Wen Xishu’s companions and the Bunker’s forces to prepare for the first vortex.

• Wen Xishu learned that his Magic Resistance had reached 51 and that the Great Devourment had begun, while the Guide explained his Level 6.5 rewards and the Safe House’s abilities.
• Albert rejected the Security Bureau director’s plan to arrest and execute impoverished residents who might mutate.
• Wen Xishu told Albert about his Magic Resistance, triggering a Bunker-wide notification granting everyone two years of lifespan and +2 Magic Resistance for a month.
• Wen Xishu explained the Safe House to Albert, who decided to gather elites and use it as a command center against the Great Devourment.
• Albert invited Jin Shan, Yue Yun, and Nissen to join the response team, and they agreed.
• The Xishu Divine Church, assault teams, Gambling Stone Association, Elders, and Security Bureau directors assembled outside the Safe House to face the coming threat.

Wen Xishu organized teams in the Safe House as the Great Devourment’s mutation stage began, and the Bunker’s forces fought a growing wave of Mutants. After Albert and the others helped contain the threat, the vortices descended, leaving Wen Xishu’s team ready to enter the next stage.

• Wen Xishu explained the Safe House’s functions, and Albert described the two stages of the Great Devourment: Mutants followed by dangerous vortices.
• Wen Xishu chose A Miao, Xiao Jin, Yue Yun, Nissen, and Zheng Zai as his team, while the other leaders and fighters formed their own groups.
• Mutants appeared across the Bunker, including Raphinha, the boy who transformed after being beaten, and Tokugawa Keiryu, whom Albert killed with a single punch.
• Xun Hui killed Marshall after finding him urging the troops to execute Raphinha, then continued patrolling with Wen Renjing.
• The Bunker’s forces fought hundreds of Mutants, while Albert personally killed 137 of the 329 that appeared in four hours.
• The vortices descended, and Wen Xishu called on his team to take the field as the Safe House began analyzing them.

A massive Great Devourment filled the Bunker with vortices, and the Safe House revealed their Strange Tower dangers and requirements. Wen Xishu led his team into the rapidly expanding orange Evil Artifact Sealing Chamber, where he arrived on an unknown Strange Tower floor with the Mad Dice and Scorpio's Cheating Knife active.

• Vortices appeared throughout the Bunker, with the Second Floor containing nine orange vortices and the lower levels facing widespread danger.
• The Safe House analyzed vortex details, and Wen Xishu used the results to assign targets and explain how teams could survive white and blue vortices.
• Wen Xishu revealed that he had 51 points of magic resistance and chose to handle the orange vortices while other fighters focused on less dangerous ones.
• The Safe House identified the fast-expanding Evil Artifact Sealing Chamber as a chaotic, evil orange vortex that had already absorbed 145 people.
• A Miao, Yue Yun, Zheng Zai, Nissen, and Xiao Jin agreed to accompany Wen Xishu into the vortex, and the six left the Safe House together.
• Wen Xishu and his team were pulled into the orange vortex, where he received prompts for the Madman's Dice and Scorpio's Cheating Knife before arriving on an unknown Strange Tower floor.

Wen Xishu organized the Bunker survivors in the Evil Artifact Sealing Chamber and investigated the cellar’s clues. After a woman and her child died in a shadow trap, he deduced that they had to open 28 jars before the rules opened them automatically, and the group prepared to choose how to proceed.

• Wen Xishu chose Upside Down from the Madman’s Dice and organized roughly two hundred people into four teams led by himself, the Ling brothers, Fang Tianhen, and Lang Haidu.
• Wen Xishu spotted the number 29 on the prayer-room mural and realized its magical influence was weakened by his high Magic Resistance.
• A child broke a jar and became trapped in a black shadow; when his mother tried to save him, the shadow swallowed them both while Wen Xishu told everyone not to approach.
• Wen Xishu returned to the mural and saw its number drop from 29 to 28, then inferred that the group needed to open at least that many jars before the rules opened them themselves.
• Wen Xishu warned that the jars might contain food, useful items, or a deadly artifact, and the group agreed to trust him and begin deciding how to open them.

Wen Xishu opened the first jar and obtained a Godslayer Finger, then learned from the dying Ayuoweiqi that the goddess could be killed and that jar items could turn people into servants or guards. He organized the survivors to open jars in monitored teams, and the chapter ended as Ling Chen began opening one.

• Ling Fu argued against sacrificing the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, so Wen Xishu volunteered to open the first jar and demonstrate the risks and rewards.
• Wen Xishu opened the jar Ayuoweiqi had identified and found a Godslayer Finger that could detect jars containing the goddess's items.
• Wen Xishu confronted Ayuoweiqi, who revealed the goddess's resurrection plan and warned that her body parts could transform people into servants or guards before dying while declaring that she could be killed.
• Wen Xishu explained the game's dangers, ordered people to open jars in teams with witnesses, and coordinated the next round of openings.
• Ling Fu's group sent Ling Chen to open a jar, and Ling Chen smashed it onto the floor as the others watched.

Ling Chen found an Escape Key in a jar and gave it to Ling Fu, while the group continued opening jars and survived a deadly attack after Fang Tianhen became Shoe Woman’s Divine Guard. A Miao then uncovered Sculpting Mud, a powerful item that could copy objects from the scenario, giving Wen Xishu’s group a major new advantage as they prepared to continue.

• Ling Chen opened a jar containing an Escape Key and chose to stay, giving the key to Ling Fu.
• The group discovered that opening jars unlocked food, and Bao Longtao found a hammer that could stun shadows and rescue their victims.
• Fang Tianhen found Shoe Woman’s Skirt Sash, became a Divine Guard, and attacked Wen Xishu, but Zheng Zai and the others restrained him while Yue Yun killed him with a strike to the temple.
• Wen Xishu put Ling Fu in charge of Fang Tianhen’s squad, and Bao Longtao used his hammer to save people caught by shadows in later jars.
• A Miao opened a jar and found Sculpting Mud, which could copy items from the scenario and create a Divine Guard loyal to whoever opened the jar.
• Wen Xishu told Zheng Zai to protect A Miao and kept the Sculpting Mud in reserve.