Chapter Summaries

Alice and Lybia explored Ginza with Asuna, Nao, and Panshilgon, while Asuna and Nao competed to pay for the sisters’ shopping. After watching evidence sent by Katsuo, Panshilgon suspected Sun Yue had found a unique monster quest and was planning to exclude her and Katsuo.

• Alice and Lybia recognized Seiya in a Ginza game poster and trailer featuring his tournament highlights, surprising Asuna and Nao.
• Panshilgon struggled to pay after revealing her severe debts, while Asuna and Nao argued over who should buy clothes for Alice and Lybia.
• Alice and Lybia offered to pay with their Security Bureau black cards.
• Katsuo sent Panshilgon a video showing Sun Yue seeking help from Seiya and Saika-0 while keeping his plans secret.
• Panshilgon inferred that Sun Yue might have discovered a unique monster storyline quest and intended to leave her and Katsuo out.

Panshilgon tried to locate Seiya and Sun Yue, hoping to join their hunt for a unique monster and earn enough to repay her debt. After Seiya received her provocative shopping video, he called her and threatened to make her the star of one of his own short videos.

• Panshilgon asked Yu Chenhui where Seiya and Sun Yue were, hoping to join their unique-monster hunt and profit from the rewards.
• Yu Chenhui lamented that Seiya and Sun Yue had found multiple unique questlines while he had failed to trigger one himself.
• Panshilgon sent Yu Chenhui a video of herself with Asuna and Alice, and Seiya recognized it as a scheme to stir up trouble.
• After reaching Fevtiha, Sun Yue searched for an Awakening Mentor who could grant level-99 players a Sub-class.
• Seiya logged out, called Panshilgon, and demanded to know what she was plotting before threatening to make her the female lead in a short video.

Panshilgon teased Seiya about selling her body to pay off her debts, then questioned him about the unique storyline he and Sun Yue had triggered. Seiya revealed their encounter with Night Raid Lycaon but refused to share anything about their destination, Fevtiha, leaving Panshilgon intent on bargaining for that information.

• Panshilgon jokingly offered to sleep with Seiya instead of letting a stranger benefit from her need to pay off debts.
• Panshilgon asked Seiya whether he and Sun Yue had triggered a unique storyline involving a Supreme Species, and Seiya confirmed they had encountered Night Raid Lycaon.
• Seiya said they had defeated Lycaon's Doppelganger and gained the status Guiding Lamplight and the Ex unique storyline Dispelling the Night is the Lamp of Courage.
• Seiya warned Panshilgon that Saiga-0 had joined their party and already knew about Lycaon, so the information would not help her extort the Black Wolf guild.
• Panshilgon inferred that Seiya and Sun Yue had been heading to Fevtiha for another Supreme Species storyline, but Seiya refused to tell her what awaited there.
• Panshilgon offered to trade sexual favors for information, while Seiya reminded her that she had just claimed she would not sell her dignity.

Panshilgon left Asuna and Nao and went to Fevtiha to uncover the unique scenario information Seiya and Sun Yue had been seeking. She found Rust and Molde, who agreed to share what they knew about Abyssal Kukanid in exchange for seeing Shangri-La Frontier’s robots, and Panshilgon offered to show them machines from Gravekeeper Vezavimon’s vault.

• Panshilgon excused herself from helping Asuna and Nao shop so she could investigate the unique scenario in Fevtiha.
• Panshilgon reasoned that Seiya and Sun Yue had learned about the scenario from someone in Fevtiha and searched the town’s taverns for their contact.
• Panshilgon met Rust and Molde, who were waiting for Sun Yue to discuss Abyssal Kukanid and the unique scenario.
• Panshilgon told Rust and Molde that Sun Yue had sent her ahead because he could not teleport to Fevtiha.
• Rust stopped Molde from sharing their information until Panshilgon fulfilled Sun Yue’s promise to show them robots.
• Panshilgon offered to show Rust and Molde Divine Era Machinery stored in Gravekeeper Vezavimon’s vault.

Panshilgon beat Sun Yue to Rust and traded access to Divine Era Machinery for information about Abyssal Kukanid’s storyline. The Great Pirate Sukuwood appeared to recruit the group, but Sun Yue’s Lycaon Curse frightened him, and Panshilgon claimed credit for triggering the encounter.

• Rust told Panshilgon that the Great Pirate Sukuwood could be found by beating up tavern troublemakers and would recruit players to search for the Ghost Ship.
• Panshilgon followed Rust to the tavern and beat up the NPCs, completing her trade before Sun Yue and Seiya arrived.
• Sun Yue accused Seiya of betraying him, but Seiya forwarded a video to prove he had not given Panshilgon the information.
• Rust explained that Panshilgon had claimed to be Sun Yue’s friend and had shown him the robots he wanted to see.
• Sukuwood arrived to recruit capable people, then trembled at Sun Yue’s Lycaon Curse while pretending to act tough.
• Panshilgon told Sukuwood that she, not Sun Yue, had beaten up the tavern thugs.

Sukuwood recognized Seiya and Sun Yue as the people he sought, but quest rules required Panshilgon to invite them into the unique scenario, giving her leverage to demand a larger share of the spoils. As the group sailed toward Abyssal Kukanid, Seiya studied the scenario’s title for clues, and violent waves and dark clouds suddenly engulfed the ship.

• Sukuwood recognized the curses on Seiya and Sun Yue but could only invite Panshilgon, who had completed the prerequisite quest, to sail.
• Panshilgon offered Seiya and Sun Yue places in the campaign against Abyssal Kukanid in exchange for a larger share of the loot.
• Sun Yue and Katsuo resented Panshilgon’s control over the scenario, while Rust took offense at Sun Yue questioning his strength.
• Seiya considered how the ocean environment and the scenario title, "Apostle Who Pierces the Abyss," might reveal how to defeat Abyssal Kukanid.
• Violent waves rocked the pirate ship, and dark clouds covered the previously clear sky.

Seiya and Sun Yue encountered a ghost ship instead of Abyssal Kukanid, where endless Merman Zombies threatened to overwhelm their pirate ship. They discovered that only zombies killed aboard the ghost ship stayed dead, and the others joined them there to fight as Sukuwood charged into battle.

• A black mist swallowed the pirate ship, and a ghost ship appeared as Merman Zombies began spawning aboard it.
• The zombies kept multiplying and growing stronger, overwhelming the pirate crew and putting Rust and Molde under pressure.
• Seiya and Sun Yue boarded the ghost ship and noticed that its monsters spawned less often while they fought there.
• Seiya and Sun Yue discovered that zombies killed off the ghost ship respawned there in double numbers, while those killed aboard it disappeared for good.
• Rust, Molde, and Seka-0 boarded the ghost ship to help kill the zombies, and Sukuwood charged aboard with his blade before Panshilgon followed.

Seiya realized Sukuwood was essential to the unique story quest when the Merman Zombies targeted him, and the group rescued him before he could die. After identifying the quest as an escort mission tied to finding Abyssal Kukanid, Seiya revealed his Golden Lion Cub identity, and the group asked Sukuwood for clues about his father.

• Seiya warned the group to protect Sukuwood when the Merman Zombies swarmed him, and Rust, Panshilgon, Seiya, and Sun Yue stopped the attacks.
• Seiya concluded that Sukuwood had to survive because his missing father could lead them to Abyssal Kukanid.
• Sun Yue revealed that Seiya was the legendary player Golden Lion Cub, shocking Rust, Molde, and Seika-0's group.
• Panshilgon asked how they could find Abyssal Kukanid, and Seiya questioned Sukuwood about his father's capture and any clues he had left behind.

Seiya realized the Abyssal Maw was a route into the abyss, not a death trap, and stopped Sun Yue from trying to evacuate Birak and Emil by air. As the Ghost Ship was pulled into the vortex, enormous tentacles revealed the scale of the monster lurking below.

• Sukuwood revealed that his father's logs described a Ghost Ship offered to the Abyssal Lord, and the sea erupted into a powerful vortex.
• Sun Yue brought out Mecha-Vermilion Bird to rescue Birak and Emil, but Seiya stopped him, warning that its depleted Aether Reactor could not carry them safely to shore.
• Seiya deduced that the vortex was the Abyssal Maw and that being swallowed by it was their intended passage into the abyss.
• As the Ghost Ship drifted toward the vortex, colossal tentacles rose from the sea, confirming that escaping by air would have put Birak and Emil in danger.
• Seiya and the others remained aboard the Ghost Ship as its unusual protection let it pass through the chaos, and they recognized the tentacles as belonging to Abyssal Kukanid.

After the Ghost Ship vanished into a current vortex, Seiya and the others awoke in the upside-down underwater city of Laleias, where game functions were restricted. Seiya found Sun Yue drawing a horde of Abyssal Servants toward him, while Sun Yue and Araba fled a giant oarfish.

• Seiya and Panshilgon awoke together in Laleias and discovered that the map, teleportation, and chat functions were restricted.
• A giant oarfish tore through the city as Sun Yue fled ahead of it with Emil, Birak, and the fishman Araba.
• Panshilgon abandoned Seiya to handle the commotion, and Sun Yue led the pursuing monsters straight toward him.
• Sun Yue recalled that he had encountered Araba while searching Laleias and intervened when Abyssal Servants were hunting him.
• Araba explained that the Abyssal Servants replenished their numbers and swarmed toward loud noises, and that Sun Yue's attack had drawn more of them.
• After night fell, a giant oarfish appeared and chased Sun Yue and Araba.

Sun Yue led a Giant Oarfish toward Seiya and his companions, who joined him in attacking the nighttime monster. After their coordinated assault left it badly wounded but alive, Seiya sent Birak in to finish it off.

• Sun Yue fled from the Giant Oarfish while Araba explained that deep-sea monsters appeared at night in Laleias and warned that they could wait until daytime to escape it.
• Sun Yue spotted Seiya and Panshilgon and ran toward them, planning to team up against the Giant Oarfish rather than keep fleeing.
• Seiya struck the charging Giant Oarfish with The Roarer, then used a grappling hook to anchor himself and slow his recoil.
• Emil restrained the Giant Oarfish with a Magic Chain while Sun Yue pierced it with a crystal pillar.
• Seiya hit the Giant Oarfish's eye with Slayer, then grabbed Birak and threw her toward its head to deliver the final blow.

Seiya and his companions defeated the Giant Oarfish, then learned from Araba about Laleias’s strange day-and-night cycle and its self-restoring ruins. With Abyssal Kukanid still missing and a countdown running, Seiya proposed that they search the town in groups.

• Birak smashed Seiya’s Slayer into the Giant Oarfish, destroying it, and complained that Seiya had thrown her without asking first.
• Rust, Seka-0, Sukuwood, and the others arrived, and Seiya and Sun Yue noticed the Giant Oarfish had left behind no drops.
• Seiya and Sun Yue compared the Oarfish to Night Raid Lycaon, while Araba explained that Laleias’s Abyssal Servants also vanished without leaving anything behind.
• As the ruins around them rebuilt themselves, Araba explained that the town’s surroundings reset when night ended and suspected the Abyssal Alliance Leader was responsible.
• Seiya suggested splitting into groups to investigate Laleias during the safer daytime and regrouping at night to share what they found.

Seiya and the others compared their discoveries about Laleias’s four specialized Generals, while Seiya explained that the city and its monsters were imagined by Kukanid. The Queen’s Log revealed how to dispel Kukanid’s Delusional State, but Seiya suspected the four Generals held a deeper purpose.

• Sun Yue reported that he and Emil had encountered General Kuriou Kudira, a sealing-magic monster near the southern tower.
• Panshilgon, Rust, and Seika-0 described three other Generals, each with specialized defenses that made certain forms of combat ineffective.
• Seiya explained that the Queen’s Log said they needed to take the Reversal Keystone from the Core Throne and place it in Past Glory to dispel Kukanid’s Delusional State.
• Seiya concluded that Laleias and its respawning monsters were products of Kukanid’s imagination, while the four Generals were real and might be parts of Abyssal Kukanid.
• Seiya questioned why the game designers had placed four optional Generals in Laleias if defeating them served no purpose.

Seiya and his group deduced that Feng Jiang could weaken Abyssal Kukanid, while Shangri-La Frontier's creators debated whether to preserve the monster's intended difficulty. Tsukuri Sosei raised Abyssal Kukanid's base stats, eager to test the group she saw as true Pioneers.

• Seiya explained that the game's unique storylines included ways to weaken unique monsters, and he suspected Feng Jiang served that purpose for Abyssal Kukanid.
• At Utopia Company headquarters, Tsukuri Sosei criticized Tenchi Tsumu for weakening her original unique monster designs, while Tenchi defended his changes as necessary for game balance.
• Tsukuri Sosei prepared to increase Abyssal Kukanid's difficulty, but Tenchi warned her that the group had already discovered Feng Jiang and would notice if it changed.
• Mokuto Yejing stopped Tenchi from intervening and said Tsukuri was excited because Seiya and his group seemed like genuine Pioneers.
• Tsukuri Sosei adjusted Abyssal Kukanid's base stats before the monster appeared.

Seiya's group found an apparent Abyssal Kukanid chained beneath Laleias's castle, but Seiya suspected it was an illusion rather than the real Unique Monster. The group retreated before wasting their supplies and skills, leaving them to continue investigating the mysteries of Reversed City Laleias.

• Seiya's group searched Laleias's main castle and discovered a gigantic chained octopus identified by a game notification as Abyssal Kukanid.
• Birak, Emil, and Araba attacked Kukanid under the cursed status Abyssal Misperception, and the group fought the creature.
• Seiya ordered everyone to retreat, and Sun Yue and Panshilgon carried Emil and Birak out as Rust and Molde followed.
• Seiya and Sun Yue explained that Kukanid lacked the overwhelming presence of a true Unique Monster and was likely an imagined creation that could revive after defeat.
• Panshilgon concluded that the false Kukanid had forced them to spend supplies and skills they could not replenish inside Laleias.

Seiya and the others chose to face Abyssal Kukanid at full strength instead of weakening it by defeating the four Feng Jiangs. After defeating the Grasping Shark Monster and embedding the Reversal Keystone into Past Glory, they shattered Kukanid’s Delusional State and encountered its Fantasy State.

• Seiya and Sun Yue favored challenging Abyssal Kukanid at the highest difficulty, and Panshilgon and Seika-0 joined their choice.
• Rust pressured Molde to agree, and the group decided to face Kukanid without first defeating the four Feng Jiangs.
• Tsukuri Sosei stopped planning to alter Kukanid’s stats when she realized the group wanted to challenge its full strength.
• Seiya and the others defeated the Grasping Shark Monster guarding Past Glory on Nostalgia’s Top Floor.
• The group embedded the Reversal Keystone into Past Glory, shattered Kukanid’s Delusional State, and encountered Abyssal Kukanid: Fantasy State.

Seiya and the others battled the Abyssal Kukanid’s Fantasy State, discovering that they had to force its tentacles to retreat before it would transform. After all eight tentacles vanished, Kukanid entered its third form, the Imaginary State, and the raid faced a new threat.

• The Abyssal Kukanid appeared in its Fantasy State and inflicted Terror on the NPCs with Abyssal Gaze, so Seiya had Emil and the others withdraw.
• Seiya and Sun Yue drew Kukanid’s tentacle attacks while Panshilgon, Rust, and the others damaged its tentacles.
• Panshilgon worked out that each tentacle would retract into a magic circle after taking enough damage, and Seiya’s group confirmed her theory.
• Rust retreated to the rear after realizing that fighting outside a mecha required different physical coordination than piloting one.
• After every tentacle retracted, Kukanid transformed into its Imaginary State, holding eight differently colored Holy Grails in its tentacles.

Seiya and the others discovered that Abyssal Kukanid’s Holy Grails granted it changing damage immunity in its Imaginary State. The chapter left them facing a monster that had just negated both ranged and melee attacks, with its abilities still unknown.

• Rust and Molde’s ranged attacks were deflected when Kukanid’s orange Holy Grail glowed, and Seiya suspected the Grail caused the immunity.
• Seiya and Sun Yue found that their melee attacks damaged Kukanid, revealing that it was immune to ranged attacks at first.
• Seika-0 charged in, but Kukanid’s yellow Holy Grail negated her attack and its tentacle nearly struck her before Seiya pulled her clear with a Grappling Hook Gauntlet.
• Seiya had Rust test Kukanid again, but her arrows were deflected, showing that it now resisted both ranged and melee damage.

Seiya and her allies discovered that Kukanid’s eight Holy Grails each granted a different defensive or reversal ability, and adapted their attacks to slowly reduce its HP. They had learned all eight abilities, but Kukanid’s overwhelming power left the raid a long, dangerous fight.

• Seiya ordered Emil and Molde to use Magic Blade together, and their attacks hurt Kukanid while its orange Holy Grail’s ranged negation was inactive.
• Seiya explained that the orange Holy Grail negated ranged damage and the yellow one negated physical damage, while Panshilgon concluded Kukanid could use only one Holy Grail’s power at a time.
• Seiya, Sun Yue, Panshilgon, and the others coordinated around Kukanid’s attacks and gradually learned the effects of all eight Holy Grails.
• The group adjusted its formation to counter Kukanid’s changing defenses and steadily lowered its HP, though probing the abilities had nearly wiped out the party twice.
• Seiya realized that defeating Laleias’s four Feng Jiang first might have prevented Kukanid from using four of its Holy Grail abilities, but the group had chosen the highest difficulty.

Seiya and his team struggled against Abyssal Kukanid’s third form as its Holy Grails repeatedly disrupted their attacks and exploited their exhaustion. After three hours, they finally defeated the Imaginary State, though Seiya alone fought without showing signs of mental fatigue.

• Kukanid’s immunity abilities restricted effective damage to only a few attackers at a time, slowing the raid and exhausting Sun Yue and Panshilgon.
• Kukanid used the Green Holy Grail to disguise which power he was wielding, nearly causing Seiya’s group to be wiped out.
• The Cyan Holy Grail reversed characters’ genders, changing Sun Yue, Seiya, and Seka-0 in different ways without stopping the group.
• Kukanid’s Blue Holy Grail swapped character attributes, leaving Seiya and Sun Yue vulnerable by disrupting their agility-focused builds.
• The Purple Holy Grail reversed damage and healing, causing the group’s attacks to restore Kukanid’s health whenever they misread his ability.
• After three hours of combat and short rests taken in turns, Seiya’s group defeated Kukanid’s Imaginary State, while Seiya showed no mental fatigue.