Chapter Summaries

Gawain used his upgraded Prophecy Power to see Maple Father’s past and learned why the old man distrusted him. At a meal, Gawain offered a way to control Supernatural Beings in exchange for a Strange Seed, and Maple Father considered adopting the Eastern Continent’s approach.

• Gawain saw a memory of Maple Father confronting a young man who had betrayed him after receiving a Strange Seed, then rescuing two dying women from a burning house.
• Gawain realized Maple Father would only trade with him and deduced that the old man wanted to control Supernatural Beings.
• At the cafeteria, Gawain offered Maple Father a method for controlling Supernatural Beings in exchange for a Strange Seed suitable for himself.
• Gawain explained that sharing knowledge and democratizing power had helped ordinary people restrain those who held power.
• Maple Father understood that supernatural power could be democratized or Supernatural Beings could be separated from ordinary people, and he dismissed the limits of applying those ideas in Miken.

Gawain obtained a silver-white Strange Seed from Maple Father in exchange for helping him pursue a path for Ordinary People, then revealed that he wanted to reverse time to before the nuclear explosion. With his new power and allies, Gawain returned to Ryan’s forest and prepared an automated weapons assault to force Ryan to cooperate.

• Old Man argued with Gawain about whether prophecies could solve the problems facing Ordinary People, then agreed to swear an oath with him before the Colossus.
• Three days later, Gawain and Maple Father made their oaths, and Gawain received a silver-white Strange Seed that burrowed into his chest and abdomen.
• Gawain told Maple Father he wanted to turn time back to before the nuclear explosion and said they needed to find someone who could read memory saves.
• Gawain returned to Ryan’s forest with Maple Father and twenty armed warriors, then ordered them to set up cannons, machine guns, and rocket launchers aimed at Ryan’s wooden house.
• Gawain called out to Ryan and threatened the power of his Golden Finger, prompting Ryan to reveal that his Save and Load ability only worked within the forest.

Gawain surrounded Ryan’s forest with the Ant Army and decided to destroy it after Ryan failed to talk his way out of trouble. As the ants devoured the forest and sought Ryan’s power, Wenren Sheng reflected on the contrasting strengths and weaknesses of Gawain and Zhao Han.

• Gawain released hundreds of millions of mutated ants, astonishing Maple Father and terrifying Ryan with the full scale of his power.
• Ryan tried to excuse his past actions and persuade Gawain to spare him, but Maple Father warned Gawain that Ryan would betray them again.
• Gawain ordered the Ant Army to attack, and the ants began devouring the forest while Ryan protested that its destruction would cost Gawain the power he wanted.
• Red Ants happily ate and reproduced, hoping to gain Ryan’s power, while Wenren Sheng allowed Fat Doll to continue.
• Wenren Sheng learned that Little Illusion had often played with Fat Doll and praised her for caring for her family.
• Wenren Sheng compared Gawain’s broad-reaching prophecy and poor survival skills with Zhao Han’s limited foresight and ability to avoid danger.

Wenren Sheng deduced that the forest operated as data, while Gawain’s Ant Army cornered Ryan and forced him to seek an escape. Ryan revealed that his save-and-load power depended on a forest barrier that took a long time to retrieve, leaving him trapped as Gawain’s forces waited him out.

• Wenren Sheng reasoned that the forest was data that could be reversed and restored, explaining how the Space Fortress worked.
• Ryan sent hundreds of thousands of animal predators against Gawain’s Ant Army, but they were vastly outnumbered.
• Ryan set the wooden house ablaze and threatened to keep his power from Gawain, so Gawain sent Maple Father northeast to find the Nun Milia, who could summon rain.
• Gawain foresaw Ryan restoring the forest with his loading ability and ordered his people to camp there and wear Ryan down.
• Ryan realized he could not escape quickly because retrieving the forest barrier took a long time, and losing it would cripple his save-and-load power.

Gawain and Milia tried to wear down Ryan’s power and save Miken, while Ryan attempted to turn Milia against Gawain and summon reinforcements. As the battle escalated, Wenren Sheng decided to send the Mystery Seekers to pursue the Time Power.

• Milia returned with Maple Father and agreed to help Gawain try to reverse time and save Miken.
• Ryan reset the forest and lured Milia with promises of power, claiming she possessed Time Power and warning that Gawain might betray her.
• Milia rejected Ryan’s offer and told Gawain about his attempt to turn her against him.
• Ryan sent birds to seek reinforcements, while Gawain sent flying ants to intercept them.
• Wenren Sheng spoke with the tentacle in his fish tank, then decided to dispatch the Mystery Seekers.

Mei Guangzhan was assigned to assist Xie Dong on a mission in Miken, where Supernatural Beings were about to battle over Time Power. After arriving in Puppets, Mei Guangzhan hoped to slack off but instead spent a year and a half of simulated time studying the mission materials with Xie Dong.

• Zhao Han announced a mission in Miken, and Xie Dong chose Mei Guangzhan as his assistant.
• Mei Guangzhan followed Xie Dong to the Equipment Department and selected a low-profile humanoid Puppet for the mission.
• Xie Dong and Mei Guangzhan arrived in Miken and had their Puppets sleep to leave traces of daily life.
• Xie Dong took Mei Guangzhan into Weiqi World, where they spent a year and a half studying Miken's database on Supernatural Beings.

Xie Dong brought Mei Guangzhan to the forest to investigate the Time Power and quickly recruited over a hundred Supernatural Beings with a high-paying offer. As competing teams gathered around the forest, Gawain and Milia began building an alliance to secure the power and restore Miken.

• Xie Dong and Mei Guangzhan visited the forest marketplace, where rival groups tried to recruit them and Xie Dong said they would seek the Time Power.
• Xie Dong booked a secure hotel room and advertised high daily pay for anyone willing to join his team, attracting over a hundred Supernatural Beings.
• Gawain, Milia, and Maple Father discussed how competing teams might help Ryan escape in exchange for access to the Time Power.
• Milia told Gawain that many local Supernatural Beings would support their effort if they signed an agreement to use the power to restore Miken.
• Gawain agreed to sign a fair agreement and decided to build a broad coalition called the Angel Alliance.

Mei Guangzhan agreed to infiltrate the Angel Alliance for Xie Dong and find out how to seize Time Power, while Wenren Sheng watched the rival factions maneuver over Miken. In the Demon World, Little Illusion called the Greater Angels fake, hinting that she had discovered something about the world.

• The Supernatural Beings split into the Angel Alliance and Business Alliance, and Old Peter called for unity before his resurrection ticket undermined his appeal.
• A man urged the Supernatural Beings to become game players so they would no longer fear death, while Mei Guangzhan reflected on the loss of freedom that came with the Game Emulator.
• Xie Dong tasked Mei Guangzhan with infiltrating the Angel Alliance to uncover how to seize Time Power, and Mei changed his appearance and joined them.
• Wenren Sheng decided to leave the Miken conflict alone and projected his consciousness into Big Cat in the Demon World.
• Wenren Sheng found Little Illusion riding Big Cat while commanding an army, and she said the Greater Angels were too fake, making him suspect she had discovered a secret.

Wenren Sheng discovered that Heroes of Might and Magic units were streams of source power, raising questions about what supported the Demon World’s reality. Meanwhile, Miken’s alliances defeated Ryan and the Ant Army consumed the forest, evolving as Ryan lost his power and warned that the ants were demons.

• Wenren Sheng used Eagle Eye and Little Illusion’s reminders to realize that the Heroes of Might and Magic units were made of source power, unlike Big Cat.
• Mei Guangzhan told Xie Dong that the Prophet’s Ant Army could gain the ability to reload a save by devouring the forest, and Xie Dong demanded a thousand reload chances in exchange for joining the attack.
• Three days later, Miken’s two Great Alliances launched a joint offensive, defeated Ryan, and drained his power as the Ant Army devoured the forest.
• The ants gathered into a stadium-sized ball and emitted light as they evolved, while Gawain told Maple Father that he regarded the ants as an independent companion.
• Ryan screamed that the ants were a devil and had stolen power bestowed by God, while Gawain reflected on endless human desires and recognized familiar game advertisements in his vision.

Fat Doll demonstrated a domain that let the Ant Army restore and expand Miken’s forest, revealing how much more powerful Ryan’s ability became in different hands. Ryan died and became part of the domain, while Gawain, Milia, and Maple Father prepared to carry out their agreement under supervision.

• Fat Doll told Wenren Sheng and Little Illusion that he had learned a domain, then demonstrated it through the Ant Army.
• The Ant Army rebuilt the forest and expanded its territory to nearly ten thousand square kilometers, surpassing Ryan’s former control.
• Ryan endured the crowd’s mockery until he died in his cage and became an insignificant piece of data within the domain.
• Gawain told Milia and Maple Father that he had not foreseen Ryan’s death and regretted losing the chance to ask about his Time Power.
• The Ant Army withdrew the forest, and Gawain set out with supervisors who would oversee the restoration of Miken’s people.

Gawain and his companions entered East Island to seek a way to save Miken, discovering a modern city hidden behind rules that made local people unable to see them. After the Red Ants led Gawain to a mountain, he encountered a power that scrambled time and realized it might let him reverse time to save Miken.

• Gawain and his companions received approval to enter East Island and read the rules requiring them to remain invisible to locals and avoid interacting with them.
• A player guided the group from Osaka Port to a hotel, where he explained that reality and illusion depended on how people viewed them.
• Gawain surveyed the city and saw that its apparent comfort rested on squalid conditions, though its residents seemed content within their illusion.
• The Red Ants rushed toward a mountain after Gawain heard a scream, and strange scenes of dates and seasons changing out of order appeared before him.
• Gawain realized the mountain concealed a power that could let him control time, potentially allowing him to reverse time and save Miken.

Gawain watched Detective Tsukikage Den solve the murder at the isolated villa, where the Old Butler confessed after being exposed. When Gawain left, the season had abruptly changed to Christmas, revealing why the Red Ants had gathered: solving the case had caused the instance to jump forward in time.

• Gawain entered the isolated villa and learned that its owner, Matsuda Masao, had been found murdered while the road down the mountain was blocked.
• Detective Tsukikage Den questioned the six survivors, and the writer, singer, lawyer, and businessman accused one another as their motives came to light.
• Tsukikage Den identified Matsuda Hironao as the killer, explaining that he had used a rotating hall, a recording, and a pipe to fake his alibi.
• Matsuda Hironao exposed himself by blurting out that he had erased the victim's dying message, then broke down and claimed their world was fake.
• Gawain left the castle and realized that the case's resolution had advanced the instance from summer to Christmas, explaining the Red Ants' arrival.

Gawain left the castle after the rescue arrived, and the Red Ants consumed it, erasing it from memory. Back home, Wenren Sheng refused Little Illusion’s demand to take Fat Doll’s Time Power, and Fat Doll felt moved by his fairness.

• Gawain realized Tsukikage Den had seen through the dream but chose to keep others from waking to the truth.
• Rescuers arrived the next morning, and the group crossed a temporary rope bridge away from the castle.
• After investigators collected evidence, the Red Ants devoured the castle, and no one remembered it had existed.
• Fat Doll reported the East Island Instance’s changes to Wenren Sheng, who recognized that its timeline had shifted dramatically.
• Little Illusion demanded Fat Doll’s Time Power, but Wenren Sheng refused and explained why she should not take what Fat Doll had earned.
• Fat Doll was moved by Wenren Sheng’s fairness and resolved to grow stronger and fulfill Gawain’s expectations.

Wenren Sheng questioned Fat Doll about its instinctive use of Time Power, while Gawain investigated the East Island Instance and its hidden real and dream layers. Gawain learned that Tsukikage Den helped maintain the instance, but the Red Ants still needed far more to eat before they could scramble time.

• Wenren Sheng sent Little Illusion back into the Republic of China Illusion to teach her a lesson, then asked Fat Doll about devouring Time Power.
• Fat Doll said Time Power tasted like honey and that its domain appeared as soon as it thought of using it.
• Gawain reasoned that the East Island Instance had a real layer and a dream layer, and that the instance scrambled the dream world's timeline when people discovered the truth.
• Gawain used the Red Ants to investigate Tsukikage Den and learned from his hidden diary that he maintained the instance and sent people who saw the real layer to Green Mountain Hospital.
• The Red Ants ate crime scenes, weapons, mechanisms, and evidence, but showed Gawain they still needed more to eat before they could scramble time.

Gawain observed Tsukikage Den, who secretly knew the Truth but convinced himself that the dream layer was reality. After Tsukikage Den solved a student’s attempted murder, Gawain investigated Green Mountain Hospital and was caught in its mental-evaluation trap.

• Gawain overheard Tsukikage Den sleep-muttering that the dream layer was fake and that anyone trying to break it was a madman.
• When Senior Xiao Song fell from a window, Gawain used the Red Ants to save him and disguised the rescue as a lucky landing.
• Tsukikage Den identified Teacher Isonoko as the culprit, and the teacher confessed after Tsukikage Den pointed out the victim’s phone in his pocket.
• The Security Guards sent Teacher Isonoko to Green Mountain Hospital, prompting Gawain to investigate the place.
• At the hospital, the Doctor exposed Gawain to a mental evaluation, and the staff took him away after he answered a bathtub riddle incorrectly.
• Two high school students discussed how the hospital trapped people through evaluations and kept them as free labor.

Gawain endured a month of confinement and drugging until madness gave him a glimpse of the truth of time. Wenren Sheng admired his choice, while Fat Doll sought Little Illusion's help to find out whether Gawain could recover.

• Gawain refused to ask the Red Ants for rescue and endured a month of injections, medicine, and tests in the hospital room.
• Gawain hallucinated that he was a king, dismissed his burdens, and briefly fought to regain his resolve before falling back into madness.
• Zhang Zhendong and Dong Zhenzhang noticed Gawain's condition as they inspected the hospital's patients, then left without helping him.
• Gawain glimpsed a light behind which lay ultimate darkness, and Wenren Sheng recognized that his madness had brought him into contact with the truth of time.
• Fat Doll visited Little Illusion, helped her with the laundry, and asked whether Gawain could survive his madness; Little Illusion said she could save him but could not leave her confinement.

Gawain realized he had misread his first prophecy and blamed himself for the catastrophe, then died by suicide after Tsukikage Den’s words convinced him that death would wake him from a dream. The color changes on Red Ants suggested Gawain had left behind a coded message, which Wenren Sheng sent to the Mystery Exploration Department to decipher.

• The Little Girl and Red Ants discovered that Gawain had mistaken his prophecy about Miken’s mushrooms and feared that curing his madness would lead him to kill himself.
• The Little Girl disguised herself as Wenren Sheng and persuaded Tsukikage Den to investigate Gawain’s psychological state.
• Four days later, Gawain smashed himself to death in the hospital, believing that death would free him from a dream.
• Little Illusion realized Tsukikage Den’s remark that dreams were the opposite of reality had led Gawain to mistake the real hospital for a dream.
• Red Ants changed color over several days, and Wenren Sheng recognized the sequence as Spectrum Code and sent it to the Mystery Exploration Department for decoding.

Wenren Sheng and Little Illusion examined a story revealed by the Red Ants’ spectrum, in which a beast-slaying Hero was drawn into Master Barry’s household after his father died. Wenren Sheng concluded that nobody won, and the story left Gawain facing the question of whether he could defeat his posthumous self.

• The dark-skinned boy returned from killing a giant beast chief and found villagers demanding repayment from his father, Old Man Yang.
• Master Barry’s Butler offered the boy a marriage contract in exchange for his service, but the boy found that Old Man Yang had hanged himself and died.
• The boy married Master Barry’s daughter, raised a son, and refused to save the village when giant beasts attacked, leaving it to be destroyed.
• Decades later, the boy’s grandson changed his surname from Ba back to Yang, and the Ba family disappeared.
• Little Illusion asked who had won, and Wenren Sheng said there were only losers before posing Gawain’s trial: whether he could defeat his posthumous self.

In the Origin Realm, Gawain reflected on his past life and resolved to save his world before reincarnating in an intact McKen Town. He hired Detective Bobo to investigate the truth behind McKen’s destruction, and Bobo traced the first nuclear missile to a submarine.

• Gawain considered how hardship shaped the villagers’ choices and reaffirmed that he had to save his world.
• Gawain met Detective Bobo, a dwarf private investigator, in a restored McKen Town and asked him to uncover the cause of the world’s destruction.
• Gawain showed Bobo the devastated world by crushing a heart pulled from his chest and promised him a large reward.
• Bobo searched the ruins, questioned survivors, and investigated the first nuclear missile’s launch site.
• Bobo traced the missile to a submarine and told Gawain that each clue would help reveal the truth.

Gawain and Dwarf Bobo searched Gawain’s memories for evidence about who stood behind Clown and the nuclear launch, but Gawain’s Red Ant companion revealed that the Truth was bound by a fatal restriction. Gawain returned to life in Green Mountain Hospital, with the answer still beyond his reach.

• Dwarf Bobo argued that Clown might have been only a front for someone who controlled the submarine, and Gawain realized the Eastern Continent People might know who caused the disaster.
• Dwarf Bobo searched Gawain’s memories and demanded access to his brain, but Red Ants erupted from it and devoured him.
• Wenren Sheng told Fat Doll that revealing the Truth to Gawain could help him move on, since Wenren Sheng had already moved his people into the Fragment World.
• Fat Doll, disguised as Dwarf Bobo, demanded Gawain’s money and future income, then exploded when it tried to speak the Truth.
• Gawain concluded that the Backstage Black Hand had placed a fatal restriction on anyone who revealed the Truth, and followed the Red Ants back to the real world.
• Gawain resurrected in the morgue of Green Mountain Hospital, frightening Zhang Dong and another man who had come to collect his body.