Chapter Summaries

Ji Yan used a fake alliance with Eerie Grandmother to make Eerie Mother believe he had chosen the old ghoul over her, then killed the monster impersonating Grandmother with a Black Scale. He went to confront Eerie Sister, continuing his plan to deceive the Cozy Cabin’s ghouls and obtain the final reward.

• Ling Lu saw one hunchbacked shadow climb the stairs, then met another Eerie Grandmother, who took her to the kitchen to make breakfast.
• Ji Yan told Eerie Mother that he had accepted the blade from Eerie Sister and Eerie Grandmother and would choose Grandmother to keep the family intact.
• Eerie Mother sensed the Fallen Matriarch’s scent and attacked the monster disguised as Eerie Grandmother after Ji Yan activated a Black Scale.
• Ji Yan used the Black Scale to kill the monster, reassured Eerie Mother that only she and her son belonged in the family, and headed for Eerie Sister’s room.
• Ji Yan told Eerie Sister that he had killed Grandmother and claimed their mother was hiding in her room.

Ji Yan deceived the Eerie family by presenting substitute heads as trophies, raising their favorability and unlocking Grandmother’s 100% reward, the Key of Authority. When Eerie Mother and Eerie Sister stopped at 95% and a noise came from upstairs, he rushed to investigate before they could expose his scheme.

• Ling Lu found Ji Yan bloodied after he claimed to have killed the Eerie family members upstairs and handed her two heads to bring to Grandmother.
• Ji Yan checked the family’s favorability and revealed he had used substitute corpses to trick Order and build trust with the real Eerie family.
• Ji Yan told Grandmother he wanted her to remain in Number 444, and her favorability reached 100%, unlocking the Key of Authority.
• Ling Lu asked Ji Yan to help her with her Main Quest sequence, but a noise from the ceiling drew his attention.
• Ji Yan saw that Eerie Mother and Eerie Sister’s favorability had stalled at 95% and sprinted upstairs, fearing they had discovered his deception.

Ji Yan conquered Eerie Sister and Eerie Mother to claim Number 444’s final rewards, including two Keys of Authority and a mysterious planter. As he prepared to leave before the cabin refreshed, Eerie Mother noticed signs that Eerie Grandmother might not be dead and began shaking the house.

• Ji Yan distracted Eerie Sister with a puzzle, secretly pocketed three pieces, and reached 100% favorability to unlock the Key of Authority.
• Ji Yan went upstairs and received Eerie Mother’s newly planted, potentially boss-level eerie plant as a gift.
• Ji Yan reached 100% favorability with Eerie Mother and obtained the Farming Bishop’s Key of Authority.
• Eerie Mother told Ji Yan to take Eerie Grandmother’s corpse downstairs, then said the old woman’s death seemed suspiciously easy.
• Eerie Mother noticed Eerie Grandmother’s scent and a faint black handprint on Ji Yan’s shoulder, then began shaking the entire floor as she sought the truth.

After Eerie Mother discovered Ji Yan had deceived the family, the Cozy Cabin’s three Eeries turned against him and sealed off his escape. As Ji Yan and Ling Lu faced Eerie Grandmother’s attack, Ji Yan summoned the Red Embroidered Shoes, and a crimson bridal gown appeared before him.

• Eerie Mother forced her way between floors and discovered that Eerie Grandmother and Eerie Sister were alive, while Ji Yan fled as the family’s favorability collapsed.
• Ji Yan threw the growing metal potted plant into Eerie Sister’s bedroom and ran downstairs, with Ling Lu following him toward the front door.
• Eerie Mother sealed the Cozy Cabin, and Eerie Grandmother darkened and caused Ji Yan’s and Ling Lu’s bellies to swell.
• Ji Yan used an item from the Tool Bar, revealing a pair of Red Embroidered Shoes as Eerie Grandmother closed in and Ling Lu collapsed.
• A crimson bridal gown appeared before Ji Yan, and a voice asked whether he wanted to live.

The Eerie Wedding Dress rescued Ji Yan and Ling Lu from Number 444, but Ji Yan was struck by Eerie Sister’s dream attack as they escaped. The Wedding Dress crushed the Eerie Doll on Ji Yan’s shoulder, yet he fell asleep and entered an endless Abyss dream.

• The Eerie Wedding Dress attacked Eerie Grandmother and forcibly killed the pregnancy seeds inside Ji Yan and Ling Lu.
• Eerie Mother sealed Number 444 with roots and sent a counterfeit Wedding Dress and other plant Eeries against the Eerie Wedding Dress.
• The Eerie Wedding Dress fought through the Eerie Dolls, escaped Number 444 with Ji Yan, and left Ling Lu behind as the family members turned on one another.
• After the Wedding Dress freed Ji Yan from the silk wrapping, he realized Eerie Sister was attacking him through a dream and struggled to stay awake.
• The Eerie Wedding Dress crushed the Eerie Doll on Ji Yan’s shoulder, but Ji Yan lost consciousness and fell into an endless Abyss dream.

Ji Yan became trapped in Eerie Sister’s dream, where time seemed to pass without end, and narrowly escaped when the Eerie Wedding Dress used its background story to summon its owner. He woke in the ruined Cozy Cabin just as the bell marked two thirty in the morning, then looked up at the battered cabin with a stiff expression.

• Ji Yan found himself stripped of his abilities and possessions in a dark void and tried to endure the dream until Order erased the Family Ghosts at two thirty.
• Ji Yan counted the seconds repeatedly, grew desperate when the dream continued, and distracted himself by recalling details from past Dungeons.
• Eerie Dolls appeared around Ji Yan, making him realize Eerie Sister was still present and that he had not been trapped forever.
• Eerie Sister sent a dangerous White Ghost Shadow after Ji Yan, but a jade hand tore through the dream, erased the ghost, and seized him.
• Ji Yan woke beside Number 444 and learned from the Eerie Wedding Dress that its owner had pulled him from the dream.
• The bell rang once to mark two thirty, and Ji Yan looked up at the ruined Cozy Cabin with a stiff expression.

After Order erased Number 444 and the three Eeries, Ji Yan unlocked South Town and learned he had to continue the Main Quest there. Ling Lu survived the destruction, but her malformed pregnancy seed and the Eerie Infant put Ji Yan in immediate danger.

• Order demolished Number 444 and the three Eeries, then rebuilt the cabin as Ji Yan watched.
• The Eerie Wedding Dress told Ji Yan to go to the Myriad Fire Ancestral Hall in South Town with the Red Embroidered Shoes, then vanished.
• Order advanced Ji Yan's Main Quest progress to 35%, unlocked South Town, and closed the West Town trials.
• Ji Yan encountered Ling Lu, who survived Number 444's destruction and claimed the Eerie Infant had been killed.
• Ji Yan sensed Ling Lu's killing intent and learned Eerie Grandmother had planted a malformed pregnancy seed inside her.
• The Eerie Infant appeared behind Ji Yan and touched the back of his neck.

Ji Yan used the Key of Authority to control Ling Lu’s Eerie Infant and made her his assistant by arranging for a new embryo to consume the malformed one inside her. The two entered South Town, where Ji Yan spotted the familiar Ferrywoman of Eerie.

• Ji Yan seized control of Ling Lu’s Eerie Infant and offered to remove the malformed embryo in exchange for her becoming his assistant.
• Ji Yan used his authority over the Fallen Matriarch’s sequence to make a new embryo develop in Ling Lu, which would consume the malformed embryo over twelve hours.
• Ling Lu agreed to follow Ji Yan, and they used the map route to enter South Town, the Elite Zone.
• The South Town notice described trials, roaming Free NPCs, and dangerous hidden areas, including the Mass Graveyard.
• At dawn, Ji Yan surveyed South Town’s Free NPCs and recognized the Ferrywoman of Eerie.

Ji Yan and Ling Lu met the Ferrywoman of Eerie, who warned Ji Yan about the bloody calamity in South Town and gave him two sandalwood incense sticks. At dawn, South Town’s administrator assigned them to a large-scale trial, leaving Ji Yan to decide how to respond.

• Ji Yan spoke with the Ferrywoman of Eerie, who identified his bloody aura and warned him not to enter Myriad Fire Ancestral Hall or Paper Figure Ancient House.
• The Ferrywoman of Eerie gave Ji Yan two sandalwood incense sticks and said he could light one in each forbidden location if he entered.
• Dawn arrived, and South Town’s administrator gave Ji Yan and Ling Lu keys and black cards for a town-wide trial.
• The administrator assigned Ji Yan to 202 Manjing Street and told them to arrive before nine or face a mandatory nighttime trial.
• Ji Yan and Ling Lu decided to return separately, learn the trial rules, and choose what to do next.

Ji Yan joined the Elite Zone’s large-scale trial and learned it was a team-based battle between four sectors, with players assigned roles as Sword Arbiters or Sword Wielders. The trial began with Ji Yan assigned as a Sword Wielder, while the Stealth Player’s comparison to a game mode proved incomplete.

• Ji Yan reached a boarded-up building and found a gathering of Eerie Disciples waiting for the trial to begin.
• Ji Yan concealed himself in a dark corner, where he encountered a fellow Hidden Hunter who explained the trial’s team-based rules and restrictions.
• Ji Yan realized Ling Lu had been assigned to another sector and might become his enemy.
• At nine o’clock, a raven announced that one player in each sector would be a Sword Arbiter and the rest Sword Wielders, with teams tasked to protect their base and kill rival Arbiters.
• Ji Yan received the Sword Wielder identity and asked the Stealth Player how the trial resembled Biohazard Hunter mode.

Ji Yan and the other players learned the trial’s rules, revealed their identities, and assigned teams to attack another area and defend their own base camp. The trial began with Ji Yan joining an escort mission toward Area C, while he suspected the plan would go wrong.

• Ji Yan and the Stealth Player discussed the trial’s rules and suspected the announced game was only its first stage.
• The Blood-Eyed Raven revealed that two Sword Wielders had hidden identities and that Sword Arbiters would lose their privileges and ghostly items.
• The players identified the Dull Prophet as their Sword Arbiter and revealed that the Sword Wielders included two Hidden Hunters, three Bloodthirsty Monarchs, a Life Attendant, a Paper Ghost Shaman, and two Nightmare Rangers.
• The Dull Prophet organized the players, assigning Ji Yan and five others to escort her on an attack while the remaining players guarded their base camp.
• After the trial began, the Paper Ghost Shaman folded the Dull Prophet into paper, and Ji Yan and the other Hidden Hunter vanished into the mist to protect her as they headed for Area C.

Ji Yan and the Area A players infiltrated what the Game Panel identified as Area C's home base, only to discover they had been lured into a hidden Easter egg area. A deadly Hidden NPC attacked them as they found themselves trapped inside.

• The Paper Ghost Player sent paper cranes to scout Area C's home base and spotted two Sword Wielders and the raven inside.
• Ji Yan proposed capturing the raven without killing it, and the group infiltrated the building while Ji Yan left an object hidden by the threshold.
• The group found two long-dead players controlled by a Puppet Master's strings, discovered the raven was missing, and realized the building had no exit.
• The Game Panel warned three times that they had entered a dangerous hidden Easter egg area and attracted a Hidden NPC.
• A pale-eyed ghost appeared in the darkness and killed the Paper Ghost Player by smashing his head.

The Eerie Monk trapped the players in the Blood Moon Bell Tower and killed the Paper Ghost Player while its True Damage staff threatened everyone else. Ji Yan forced the monk back with a bluff, found something on the floor, and urged the others to run toward the Eerie Monk as it prepared its ultimate move.

• The Eerie Monk attacked the Paper Ghost Player, whose head exploded, and the Prophet Female Player was exposed when her ghost paper turned to ashes.
• The players realized they were inside the Blood Moon Bell Tower, where the Eerie Monk's staff could bypass their privileges and kill them.
• The Eerie Monk struck the healer, severing her right arm, while the Stealth Player searched for an escape and Ji Yan examined the room.
• Ji Yan confronted the Eerie Monk with his eerie blade and made it retreat by exploiting its fear of injury.
• The Eerie Monk began charging its ultimate move, and Ji Yan told the others that running toward it was their safest option.

Ji Yan and the others escaped the Blood Moon Bell Tower with help from the Burning Death Eerie, then learned that a Space Traveler had stitched parts of the Dungeon together to trap them. As they searched for the Area C base, an attacker ambushed the Prophet Female Player, and Ji Yan sprang his own trap by cutting off the attacker’s hands.

• Ji Yan ordered the Burning Death Eerie to slap the Nightmare Player, then charged with the Prophet Female Player through the Eerie Monk’s attack and escaped the Blood Moon Bell Tower.
• The Burning Death Eerie brought the Stealth Player, Nightmare Player, and healer out too, and the Game Panel confirmed that the Eerie Monk’s hostility had been removed.
• Ji Yan explained how the Space Traveler sequence could stitch areas together, and told the others to inspect the terrain for the lines separating them.
• Ji Yan sent the Prophet Female Player to hide in a corner, but pale hands emerged from the darkness and slashed her back before the Burning Death Eerie pulled her away.
• Ji Yan revealed that he had baited the attacker and severed its hands with his Eerie blade.

Ji Yan used Glasses Girl as bait to discover a route into Area C’s base camp, where Space Traveler Gui Tu prepared to capture Area A’s Sword Arbiter. While the team argued over their next move, the Gluttony Witch appeared and was captured by the Stealth Player.

• Ji Yan lured Area C’s Sword Arbiter through a spatial suture line, severed his hands, took the Arbitration Dagger, and entered the crack leading to Area C’s base camp.
• Space Traveler Gui Tu ordered the Puppet Master to attach corpse hands to Blondie and planned to deliver Area A’s Sword Arbiter to him, but noticed that something had followed Blondie’s hand back through the suture.
• The Stealth Player took charge of the group after Glasses Girl was healed, then threatened Nightmare Player during their argument.
• The veiled Gluttony Witch arrived and asked whether the entire raiding squad was present.
• The Stealth Player appeared behind the Gluttony Witch, held a blade to her throat, and warned her not to remove her veil; she agreed to stay still.

Ji Mei used her Desire Privilege to enthrall the players who had captured her, turning them against their goals and each other. After revealing her face, she killed the Stealth Player with his own knife, leaving the healer and Prophet Glasses Girl captivated.

• The Nightmare Player and Stealth Player struggled to resist Ji Mei’s influence while trying to question and control her.
• Ji Mei persuaded the Nightmare Player that he could not bear to kill her, and he abandoned his mission to see her face.
• The Stealth Player stabbed his own hand to resist Ji Mei, but the Nightmare Player killed himself after Ji Mei tore out his heart.
• The Stealth Player stopped the healer and Prophet Glasses Girl from attacking Ji Mei, choking the Prophet Glasses Girl as he defended her.
• Ji Mei removed her veil and enthralled the healer and Prophet Glasses Girl with her face.
• Ji Mei took the Stealth Player’s knife and stabbed him through the throat, killing him.

Ji Yan infiltrated Area C’s base and defeated the Sword Wielders, but the Space Traveler escaped with Blondie and trapped Ji Yan inside a space-woven building. Ji Yan waited calmly for Ji Mei to enter, while she learned how badly the team had been beaten and called the men useless.

• The Tongue Curse Death Servant tried to force Hidden Hunters to recite “Yellow Crane Tower,” but Ji Yan avoided the curse because he was an Eerie Game Master.
• Ji Yan used a clone illusion and Coffin Nails to attack the players, then resisted the Nightmare Rangers’ dream trap with the Key of Authority.
• Ji Yan triggered a Nightmare Privilege that put nearly every player to sleep, while the Space Traveler escaped with Blondie and left the building layered with Space Privilege.
• Ji Yan had Burning Death Eerie seize the Blood-Eyed Raven and waited inside the trapped building for his enemies to return.
• The Space Traveler told Ji Mei that Ji Yan had taken down his team, and Ji Mei criticized the men for being useless.

Ji Yan escaped Ji Mei by teleporting back to his oil-paper umbrella, only to find the Space Player and Blondie dead and their heads left as a taunting message. After the Eerie Wedding Dress captured Gluttony Witch, the Nightmare Ranger, the healer, and Glasses Girl, Ji Yan learned that a woman in white might be nearby.

• The Space Player sent Ji Mei to Ji Yan's location, while Ji Yan learned that Glasses Girl's health had fallen below 20%.
• Ji Mei approached Ji Yan, but he teleported away and left the Eerie Wedding Dress to confront her.
• The Space Player and Blondie picked up Ji Yan's oil-paper umbrella and were killed by an unseen attacker.
• Ji Yan returned to the umbrella and found the Space Player and Blondie's heads inside, marked with a taunting message.
• Blood Sis warned Ji Yan that a woman in white was in the area, and the Eerie Wedding Dress brought him the captured Nightmare Ranger, Gluttony Witch, healer, and Glasses Girl.

Ji Yan returned to Area A and found its base camp destroyed, then accidentally triggered the Blood-Eyed Raven’s death and learned that the Sword Arbiter had to be devoured for the survivors to join another area. With time running out, he decided to kill Glasses Girl and use her as food.

• Ji Yan learned that Area A was under attack and hurried back with the nurse and Glasses Girl, carried by Burning Death Eerie.
• They found the base camp in ruins, with its defending players dead and hanging from the wreckage.
• The nurse stepped on a skull near the Blood-Eyed Raven, triggering its death and Area A’s fall.
• A hidden operation allowed the Sword Wielders to devour the Sword Arbiter and join another area before the round ended.
• Ji Yan pulled out a table knife and advanced on Glasses Girl, intending to kill and devour her.

Ji Yan exposed a staged headquarters invasion as a deception created by an Eerie Game Master, and he, the nurse, and Glasses Girl returned to the real District A headquarters. The first offensive and defensive round ended, leaving Ji Yan wary of the peer who seemed to be targeting him.

• Ji Yan cut open a corpse and revealed a desiccated mummy beneath its fresh-looking skin, stopping the nurse from attacking Glasses Girl.
• Ji Yan identified the culprit as an Eerie Game Master whose privilege had deceived both the players and the Game Panel.
• The nurse, Glasses Girl, and Ji Yan discovered they were three kilometers from the real headquarters and returned to District A.
• At the real headquarters, they found Raven alive, the three Bloodthirsty Monarch disciples dead, and the remaining Gluttonous Maw and Nightmare Ranger players injured.
• A broadcast announced that the first offensive and defensive round had ended.