Chapter Summaries

Angel learned about April First’s missing sister, Qixia, and promised to search for her. He then urged April First to become a Fashion Magician so he could help gather intelligence, revealing that Zuniga’s pendant held an Initial Page that could make him a magician in the Box Garden.

• April First told Angel how Qixia had raised him, how she disappeared, and how his efforts to trace her work and friends had found no clues.
• Angel said he had asked someone to investigate Qixia and would use Fashion Magic if ordinary inquiries failed.
• Angel explained that April First needed to become a Fashion Magician to access the wider intelligence Angel sought about his world.
• Angel recognized the pendant April First received from Zuniga and revealed that it contained an Initial Page that could make him a magician in the Box Garden.
• Angel explained that the pendant could provide April First with experience, but becoming a magician in reality remained the most important goal.

Angel explained two ways April First could become a magician in reality: trade information with Zuniga for the Initial Page or seek out a Fashion Demonic Beast himself. April First chose to rely on himself, and Angel used the Potential Eye to assess him before considering which Demonic Beast might suit him.

• Angel told April First he could become a magician by relying on others, such as trading information about the Mountain Folk to Zuniga for the Initial Page, or by finding a Fashion Demonic Beast himself.
• Angel warned that dealing with Zuniga carried risks and that rumors might not correspond to anything in reality, while their challenges could endanger April First if they lasted too long.
• April First chose to rely on himself because he wanted control of his future and believed Angel was his guide and teacher.
• Angel used the Potential Eye on April First and found he had five-star potential in summoning, education, psychology, and horticulture, as well as a gentle nature.
• Angel considered Fashion Demonic Beasts related to education, psychology, and horticulture but had not yet chosen one for April First.

Angel let April First choose a Demonic Beast after studying the low-level compendium, while Vera’s compensation turned out to be a special book page Angel could not use. April First settled on the Gossip Fiend to help him find information about his missing sister, and Angel found a possible location for one, though he still needed to confirm the lead was real.

• Angel gave April First the low-level Demonic Beast compendium and explained that he could choose several candidates to pursue.
• Angel opened Vera’s elmwood box and discovered the Afterword Page: Basic Increment, which could boost energy-point gains by 5% on basic Demonic Beast pages.
• Angel found that he could not attach the page to his Variety Elf, so he agreed to pass it to Laplace when they next traded.
• April First chose the Gossip Fiend because finding information about his missing sister had troubled him for five years, and he also considered several beasts related to education and psychology.
• Angel’s Designated Rumor search found no current rumors about the other candidates, but it revealed a possible Gossip Fiend location in a ventilation duct at Bell Chime Apartments on Pulu Street, valid for two days.

April First woke in reality with memories of Box Garden Dream and tested Angel’s claims by visiting the Public Security Directorate and digging up buried money in Upside-Down Alley. Convinced Angel had told the truth, he bought sleep medication and began assembling a reporter outfit to attract the Gossip Fiend.

• April First recalled Angel’s instructions to find white stone bricks in Upside-Down Alley, dress well, and return to Box Garden, along with Angel’s news of progress regarding his sister Qixia.
• April First accompanied his neighbors as they took a barefoot boy to the Public Security Directorate and confirmed that its interior matched what he had seen in his dream.
• April First found the white stone tile in Upside-Down Alley, dug up an iron box containing about 5,500 Modern Coins, and accepted Angel’s instructions as true.
• April First bought sleep medication and decided to dress as a gossip reporter to improve his chances of attracting the Gossip Fiend.

April First followed Angel’s lead to the Gossip Fiend intelligence point at Bell Chime Apartments, while Angel arranged Laplace’s departure from Modern City. After Laplace showed Angel the first available footage of Sigmund in the Dark Corner world, they watched a huge creature approach Sigmund through a corridor window.

• April First assembled a low-profile gossip reporter outfit by renting expensive accessories and traveled to 44 Pulu Street in the North Fourteenth District.
• Angel arranged for Lizi to secure the private room after April First’s body faded, then prepared to help Laplace leave Modern City.
• Laplace logged out and returned at the Modern City Instance entrance, where she told Angel her main body had captured flickering images of Sigmund in the Dark Corner world.
• Laplace shaped the shared footage with Angel’s illusion nodes, revealing Sigmund injured but still exploring a bright, windowless corridor.
• Sigmund stepped into a dark, damp corridor with windows overlooking endless water, where an unseen shadow drew closer with every window he passed.
• Angel and Laplace saw a vast form block the third window and reveal an enormous eerie green eye staring at Sigmund.

Angel and Laplace watched footage of Sigmund trapped in a dark underwater corridor, where an unobservable giant whale and a Partygoer worked together to pull him into the deep. The footage ended with Sigmund alive but in dire straits, leaving Angel and Laplace waiting for the signal to return.

• Sigmund sensed a watcher beyond the corridor windows, but each time he looked, the creature vanished from view.
• Laplace speculated that the giant eye belonged to a creature with a weakened unobservable trait, and Sigmund hurried onward while the whale followed him outside.
• Sigmund encountered a brightly dressed Partygoer, which lured him with an invitation before turning its balloons into a spiked mace.
• The Partygoer smashed a corridor window, and the rushing water swept Sigmund and the Partygoer into a whirlpool.
• A gigantic whale revealed itself and swallowed Sigmund and the Partygoer, after which the footage went black.
• Laplace said Sigmund was not dead, though they could not tell what had happened because the footage signal had stopped.

Angel considered sending Modern City mages into the Dark Corner if Sigmund died, and wondered whether April First could become a reality anchor for other NPCs. April First investigated a rumor beneath Bell Chime Apartments, overheard a celebrity party, and was discovered by Lizi before collapsing, leaving her to suspect he had encountered a challenge quest.

• Angel and Laplace discussed using investigators’ recorded clues to help future explorers survive the Dark Corner, and Laplace went to challenge the Hairstyle Beast.
• Angel considered recruiting Modern City mages to explore the Dark Corner and speculated that April First might help ordinary NPCs become Dreamseeing NPCs by acting as a reality anchor.
• Angel looked toward Bell Chime Apartments and saw national idols and mages attending an erotic banquet beneath the building.
• April First searched the basement for a red pillar, found a ventilation duct, and overheard a conversation about the Charm Sweetheart group.
• Lizi caught April First at the ventilation duct, recognized him as a stranger who knew her name, and prepared to take him in for questioning.
• April First suddenly collapsed into an unresponsive coma, leading Lizi to wonder whether he had encountered a challenge quest.

April First entered a challenge space where he had to use three possessions to uncover gossip about the Night-Traveling Nobles. Meanwhile, Angel waited as Algalong studied two new traits, then answered its question about why enchantments became unstable on Orichalcum.

• April First learned he was in a challenge space with two hours to possess a rat, a female dancer, and a patrolling knight and uncover gossip about the Night-Traveling Nobles.
• Angel found Algalong researching Sorrowful Love and Zero Thought, and Benbo explained that Algalong had become eager to study Fairyland Instances because of Angel.
• Angel and Benbo discussed the Dream Crystal Plain’s instances, and Benbo said Algalong’s admiration for Angel had grown into respect and reverence.
• Algalong asked Angel why enchantments on chips became unstable and produced patterns when they touched Orichalcum.
• Angel explained that the patterns resulted from several factors working together: Nightmare Illusion power captured the material’s emotions, and Orichalcum served as the medium that displayed them.

Angel and Algalong discussed how to identify emotional materials, then spent the night exchanging alchemical ideas before an emergency drew Algalong away. Angel returned to the Artifact Embryo Factory and found Laplace watching ongoing imagery from Sigmund.

• Algalong lamented that it could not identify emotional materials until Angel explained Hertz's ability to detect emotional signals in Dream Crystal Plain.
• Angel proposed using Dream Crystal Plain's Fashion Magic and other Instance systems to derive a method for identifying emotional materials that could work in reality.
• Angel and Algalong discussed Orichalcum's new traits, then clashed over alchemical techniques, with Angel demonstrating Fantasy Alchemy.
• Algalong agreed to continue their alchemical exchange in Dream Crystal Plain and took Angel's imagined Login Device to study his Fantasy Alchemy bottleneck.
• Mystic Dragon reported an accident at the Artifact Embryo Factory in Unfallen King City, so Algalong left to handle it.
• Angel returned to the factory and found Laplace awake after contacting her true body about Sigmund's continuing imagery; she asked whether he wanted to watch it with her.

Angel and Laplace watched a live image of Sigmund being towed through the sea by a masked woman, while Laplace recounted how she completed her salon challenge mission. The pair surfaced in a storm to refill their masks, leaving Angel to suspect the liquid was Oxygen Breath Factor.

• Angel supplied illusion nodes so Laplace could show the Empty Mirror Sea's live image of Sigmund, conscious but being towed underwater by a masked woman.
• Laplace explained that she completed the salon challenge mission by collecting six emblems through payments, a normal challenge, and giving a lock of hair, earning the Fashion Magic Book and becoming an apprentice magician.
• Laplace showed Angel the Hairstyle Beast's panel, and they discussed its Hair Gel Hand ability and the puzzle fragments she still needed.
• Angel told Laplace that his conversation with Algalong had taught him about forging but had not helped him break through his Imaginary Alchemy bottleneck.
• After another hour, the masked woman checked with Sigmund, then towed him to the surface, where they refilled their masks from a bottle during a storm.
• Angel realized the masks had been filled with liquid by the pair and wondered if the bottle contained Oxygen Breath Factor.

Angel and Laplace watched Sigmund reach the Moonlight Sea of Illusory Dreams, where Zaina and her fellow followers brought him ashore and helped him recover from Oxygen Breath Factor hallucinations. The chapter ended with Sigmund seeking a quiet place to settle his mind and hiding a thin booklet beneath the Fire God Light Wheel.

• Angel reasoned that Oxygen Breath Factor had enabled Sigmund and Zaina to breathe underwater, while its hallucinations likely explained why Sigmund had barely moved.
• Angel and Laplace glimpsed the Phantom Moon Eye in the sky and confirmed that Sigmund had arrived at Dark Corner's 265th level, where he had little time to become a follower or leave.
• Zaina met up with eight masked people and helped them drag Sigmund to an island, where they removed their masks and revealed themselves as followers of the Phantom Moon Eye.
• Zaina explained that Sigmund was still seeing illusions and needed rest, while Sigmund thanked her and asked for a quiet place to settle his mind.
• After Zaina led the others away, Sigmund took a thin booklet from his robes and placed it beneath the Fire God Light Wheel.

Sigmund showed Laplace and Angel the records of his journey through the Dark Corner, revealing how he met Zaina and escaped Ambraiser. He entered a guarded facility inside Moon Island’s mountain before the unstable feed cut out, while Angel later logged into Modern City to meet Laplace and wait for April First.

• Sigmund aimed the Fire God Light Wheel at the Dark Corner Guide so Laplace and Angel could read his recorded actions.
• The guide revealed that Sigmund had been swallowed by Ambraiser, met Zaina inside it, and escaped by using the Ether Converter to drain its ether energy.
• Sigmund and Zaina traveled through the sea and rested in an underwater corridor before heading to Moon Island.
• Zaina led Sigmund to a hidden mountain entrance, where masked guards confronted him and escorted him inside; the livestream then stopped.
• Angel and Laplace agreed to meet in Modern City, and Angel logged in to wait for Laplace and April First.

Angel watched Hua Yuan escape Hidden Waters using waterproof stockings, then waited for April First to log back in. April First returned with his first Gossip Fiend puzzle piece, but revealed that Lizi had discovered him in reality.

• Hua Yuan altered her stockings into a waterproof covering, escaped Hidden Waters, and reached Companion Star Lake, where she celebrated that Cherry's ether sickness had been cured.
• Angel concealed Laplace as she arrived at the Fashion Guild, gave her two puzzle pages, and directed her to Kang Mu to activate the Smoke Screen Scholar puzzle.
• Lizi's box containing Qixia's bones was delivered to Angel's private room for the Return Home task.
• April First logged in again and told Angel he had passed the Gossip Fiend challenge and obtained his first puzzle piece.
• April First said that although no one else had discovered him during the challenge, Lizi had found him.

Lizi questioned April First about the hidden figure who had guided him to Bell Chime Apartments and used the favors she had done him to persuade him to talk. After connecting the figure to her investigation into six missing women, she learned that April First would seek his permission before revealing anything.

• April First recounted how he encountered Lizi, attracted a Gossip Fiend, and woke in her home after completing his challenge mission.
• Lizi laid out April First’s movements and challenged him to explain how he knew where to find the Gossip Fiend, then concluded that someone had directed him.
• Lizi argued that she had saved April First, protected him from being found, and risked herself when he called her name, so he owed her three favors.
• Lizi revealed that she was investigating six missing women, including a relative, and suspected the case was connected to the people below Bell Chime Apartments and April First’s guide.
• April First said the matter had nothing to do with the man behind him, but asked to consult him before sharing any information.

Angel advised April First on whether to tell Lizi about the Box Garden Dream, and April First chose to be honest with her before logging out. When April First returned, he had received his first Wonderland Quest, and Angel invited him to join the Dream Mirror Organization.

• Angel explained the possible consequences of telling Lizi about the Box Garden Dream and left the decision to April First.
• April First decided to tell Lizi and asked Angel how to answer questions about him; Angel said he could tell the truth or lie.
• April First logged out, then returned an hour later with Wonderland information and a quest visible to him.
• Angel explained that the quest meant the Box Garden had recognized April First as a registered citizen.
• Angel invited April First to join the Dream Mirror Organization, hoping he could help anchor the real world he came from.

Angel invited April First to join the Dream Mirror Organization and encouraged him to trust in his potential. April First accepted after learning the organization was not evil, and Angel then discovered that his magic book might connect his progress in Box Garden Dream to reality.

• Angel reassured April First that awakening as a Dreamseeing made him special and invited him to join Dream Mirror.
• Angel described Dream Mirror as an exchange meeting that shared knowledge and intelligence, and April First agreed to join after confirming it would not harm his world.
• Angel set April First an assessment to become an official magician in reality, requiring him to complete more Gossip Fiend challenges.
• Angel noticed April First's Fashion Magic Book and realized that his progress in Box Garden Dream might be reflected in reality.
• April First agreed to test whether using the Initial Page in Box Garden Dream changed his real magic book, and Angel asked what he had told Lizi and how he had received the Wonderland information.

April First told Lizi that he met Angel in dreams, but Lizi dismissed the Box Garden as a deception and challenged him to find what was hidden behind a painting in the dream. After April First reported a new exclusive quest, Angel explained that the quest could turn Lizi into a Dreamseeing subject.

• Lizi deduced that April First met Angel while dreaming, but doubted Angel's identity and the truth of the Box Garden.
• April First recounted his experiences in the Box Garden, while Lizi argued that Angel had fabricated the dream and its details.
• Lizi challenged April First to discover what was hidden behind a painting in her home by checking the Box Garden version.
• April First told Angel about Lizi's challenge, and Angel identified graffiti behind the painting as surveillance made by the Graffiti Kid.
• April First revealed his exclusive quest to contact Lizi in Wonderland and develop her into a Dreamseeing subject.
• Angel explained to April First that Dreamseeing meant being awakened and that Wonderland referred to the Box Garden.

April First completed his exclusive mission by anchoring Lizi as a potential Dreamseeing citizen, then learned that Lizi had found information about his missing sister, Qixia. After waking in reality, he asked Lizi what was hidden behind the oil painting in her home.

• Angel explained that Lizi would enter the Box Garden by temporarily controlling her counterpart's body, while April First would retain complete control over himself.
• April First hesitated to open the box containing Qixia's remains, and Angel told him that finding information about his sister would require the real Lizi's cooperation.
• Lizi arrived in the Box Garden, and April First accepted the prompt to develop her into a Dreamseeing citizen, completing his exclusive mission and earning a Reality Anchor.
• Angel asked Lizi what was behind the ethnic-style totem painting in her living room.
• April First woke in Lizi's home, found her preparing to leave, and asked her what was behind the painting.

April First tried to convince Lizi that the Box Garden was real, but she remained skeptical and arranged for friends to watch over her while she entered a dream. After April First followed her into the Box Garden, Lizi confirmed she had arrived there herself and spoke with Angel.

• Lizi challenged April First’s answer about the Eye of the Rubik’s Cube and concluded that Angel had supplied it rather than April First seeing it in the Box Garden.
• April First told Lizi that she had been anchored and would enter the Box Garden when she slept, prompting her to decide to meet Angel in a dream.
• Lizi summoned Laila, Caspian, and Matilda to monitor her as she slept and to watch for signs of a dream-controller.
• After Lizi’s sleep showed no unusual activity, Laila allowed April First to take a sleeping pill and enter the dream as well.
• April First awoke in the Box Garden beside Angel and the real Lizi, who recognized the food as identical to its counterpart in reality.
• Angel told Lizi that the Box Garden was not a recreation but a reflection of reality.

Lizi entered Box Garden and questioned Angel and April First about its reality and her identity there. After learning she was Vera’s assistant and Angel’s partner in the altered Box Garden, she was asked to help with April First’s missing older sister.

• April First nervously greeted Lizi, and Angel explained that he had invited her to eat rather than reach an agreement with her.
• Lizi tested whether April First was real by asking about the medicine box, then said she would judge Box Garden for herself after speaking with Dew.
• Lizi showed Angel Vera’s contact card and asked why she had it; Angel explained how awakened people differed from their non-awakened counterparts.
• Angel said his arrival had altered Lizi’s path in Box Garden, where she had become his partner and Vera’s assistant.
• Angel revealed that April First’s older sister had gone missing and asked Lizi to help.