Chapter Summaries

The group discussed the remaining Wonderland stages and weighed the risks of Night City Evening Bell against the benefits of earning its observer’s favor. They agreed to prioritize stages with known information, while Gabriel insisted that he would enter a stage this time.

• Gabriel explained that Angel on Earth required flying units and recommended leaving the time-consuming Scabuji Front until last.
• Gray Porcelain described Night City Evening Bell’s ghostly day-and-night setting and warned that no team had been reported returning from it.
• Rabbit Girl argued that entering the stage could earn the favor of its observer, while Montedan and Maggie recommended tackling better-understood stages first.
• Maggie encouraged Gray Porcelain by recounting how Mind Masters had repeatedly destroyed the god Aruma’s manifestations.
• Gabriel said he did not mind which stage they chose after Scabuji Front, but insisted that he had to enter one this time.

Angel considered which secondary challenge stage Rabbit Hole should tackle and provisionally favored hunting the Angel on Earth, while searching the Player Camp for more information. He learned that the stage’s hazards included lethal ground and air defenses, and that the Angel on Earth carried a Pure Domain that killed the impure on contact.

• Laplace declined to join the battle or decide the stage, so Angel weighed the four objectives and favored hunting the Angel on Earth over the Boundless Ghosts or the Scabuji Front.
• Rabbit Girl declared that the team would choose the Angel on Earth, and Gabriel, Laplace, Montedan, Maggie, and Gray Porcelain agreed before Angel asked them to discuss the decision further.
• Angel returned to the Player Camp and learned that a Lairen team had earned extra completion credit when a trap they left behind killed a respawned monster in the Scabuji Front.
• Angel heard a Leaf Clan captain report that strong winds scattered his squad in the Angel on Earth stage, where Ground Fungus Spore Threads, the Red-Line Umbrella, and the Air Balloon Fungus killed or endangered them.
• Angel learned that the captain had also been killed by the residual wave of the Angel on Earth's Pure Domain, which instantly judged impure creatures and killed them.

Angel brought Babaregon to Text Manor, where it shared the Divine Dragon Team’s findings about the Echo Library. Babaregon revealed how to anticipate Book Sprite trials and locate a hidden rift, giving Rabbit Hole valuable intelligence as it considered tackling the stage.

• Angel returned to Text Manor with Babaregon, who agreed to recount the Divine Dragon Team’s Echo Library experiences.
• Babaregon explained that clusters of certain book categories near a Book Sprite predicted the subject of its trial, and that nearby books could contain the answers.
• Babaregon described the Echo Library’s easily missed environmental puzzles, including a Raven ornament that concealed a passage.
• Babaregon said the Divine Dragon Team avoided trials outside its strengths and eventually found a rift after locating four Book Sprites.
• Babaregon revealed that the rift looked exactly like empty air and could only be found after the Text Panel’s radar gave its location.

Babaregon explained how rifts were tracked and why the person guarding one needed to be able to fight. Angel then shared new intelligence about Angel on Earth's instant-death Pure Domain, prompting the group to postpone choosing that stage until they understood what counted as pure.

• Gray Porcelain asked Babaregon about markers near rifts, and Babaregon explained that Book Sprite trials unlocked a Guidance Radar whose overlapping arrows narrowed down moving rifts.
• Babaregon warned that rifts attracted Book Demons and explained how the Divine Dragon Team had been eliminated after leaving an artist unable to fight at a rift.
• Angel returned to Text Manor and shared information from Lairen's team about the Scabuji Front and from the Woodleaf Clan team about Angel on Earth's abilities.
• Angel told the group that Angel on Earth's Pure Domain killed anyone who failed its unknown purity requirement, while the Red-Line Umbrella and Air Balloon Fungus abilities could block both ground and air.
• Maggie and Montedan debated whether holding to one's original heart could define purity, and the group concluded the standard had to be quantifiable rather than subjective.
• Angel and the others agreed to consider other stages before challenging Angel on Earth because they did not yet know how its Pure Domain judged purity.

Angel led the Rabbit Hole Team in choosing its next Wonderland stage, and Montedan argued that the Echo Library offered the best chance to secure a valuable observer. After the team unanimously chose it, Angel and Rabbit Girl began selecting participants, leaving Gray Porcelain afraid it would be sent in.

• Angel used an anonymous vote to compare the Echo Library with the Night City Evening Bell, and most votes favored the Echo Library.
• Montedan explained that the Night City Evening Bell's observer might already spend all fifty scoring points before Rabbit Hole arrived, while the Echo Library risked being conquered first by another team.
• Angel and the others discussed Montedan's reasoning and unanimously chose to challenge the Echo Library.
• Angel said he and Rabbit Girl would each take a participant spot, and Gray Porcelain insisted that Gabriel should take another.
• Angel and Rabbit Girl turned toward Gray Porcelain to choose another participant, and Gray Porcelain pleaded for them to select someone else.

Angel learned that Wine Cup had returned to the Shaping Workshop instead of joining the Rebels, choosing to approach Pinocchio as an ordinary employee so she could find its true body without risking detection. She began mapping the workshop’s employees with Pinocchio’s help and left with a small clue about how its true body differed from its clones.

• Angel watched the streams and learned that Ice Woman had invited Wine Cup to the Rebels’ secret base, but Wine Cup declined because she wanted to preserve her ordinary-employee identity while getting closer to Pinocchio.
• Wine Cup explained that Pinocchio’s Spiritual Intuition might detect a change in her stance if she joined the Rebels, and Ice Woman agreed to let her investigate alone for now.
• Ice Woman reunited with Na, Mud Duke, and Milk Dragon at the secret base, where they held their first meeting and planned how to rise to power.
• Wine Cup returned to the Shaping Workshop, reported her dormitory inspection to Pinocchio, and suggested contacting employees to investigate the source of danger.
• Pinocchio brought Wine Cup to the underground cocoa-pipe network and used its Human-Faced Balloon clone to identify which employee corresponded to each room.
• Before leaving to meet the Snow Women, Wine Cup learned that Pinocchio’s true body did not need the distinctive laughter used by its clones.

Angel entered the Player Camp under a dense natural night fog and used God's-eye view with Extrasensory Perception to gather intelligence. After learning a useful Book Sprite trial tactic and spotting reports of the Wraith in the Mist, he recognized it as the Living Dead of Mist Swamp Instance and began searching for it.

• Angel logged into the Player Camp early and found it blanketed in unusually thick natural fog.
• Angel combined God's-eye view with Extrasensory Perception to sort players' text bubbles by their emotional intensity.
• Angel learned that the Pirus Team planned to send its most knowledgeable member alone when they expected to meet a Book Sprite, and he saw how Rabbit Hole could use the tactic.
• Angel read that the Wraith in the Mist had appeared again and recognized it as the Dreamseeing Living Dead whose direct contact could open the Mist Swamp Instance.
• Angel immediately activated God's-eye view and searched the fog for the Living Dead.

Angel discovered that Kemei had triggered the Mist Swamp Fairyland Instance by touching the Wraith in the Mist and had entered it. After hearing Darkman explain what happened, Angel concealed the instance entrance and took responsibility for Kemei’s safety.

• Angel found a crystalline dead tree where the Wraith in the Mist had appeared and recognized it as the entrance to the Mist Swamp instance.
• Darkman rushed back with the Terrain Survey Team, intending to enter the instance and retrieve Kemei, who had touched the Wraith and vanished into the mist.
• Darkman and his team encountered Angel beside the dead tree, and Darkman recounted how Kemei had entered the instance.
• Angel connected Kemei’s actions to his concern for his son Wes and warned Darkman not to enter the unassessed instance.
• Angel hid the Mist Swamp entrance with an illusion and told Darkman he would handle the situation and ensure Kemei’s safety.

Angel inspected the newly opened Living Dead of Mist Swamp instance and contacted Kemei, who had entered alone. Kemei shared the quest and his circumstances, while Angel began assessing what the instance might hold.

• Darkman asked to remain by the dead tree and enter the instance, and Angel agreed to reconsider after Gray Porcelain assessed its danger rating.
• Angel used his authority and Box Garden perspective to inspect the instance, locating Kemei following a caravan of people riding giant earthworms.
• Angel contacted Kemei and explained that Darkman had returned and wanted to enter; Kemei asked Angel to keep Darkman out and apologized for acting against instructions.
• Kemei described the quest to uncover the truth behind evil spirits in the misty swamp and the rumored Forty Thieves, noting that the objectives could change because a Dreamseeing person was involved.
• Kemei told Angel he was currently safe in a resource-rich forest where his scouting and survival experience could keep him alive for years.

Kemei reported his discoveries in Mist Swamp to Angel and planned to shadow a suspected merchant caravan while searching for clues about the Forty Thieves and the Evil Spirit. Angel warned him against provoking the group for information and began using his support to create a miniature model of the area.

• Kemei told Angel that he had heard human voices in Mist Swamp and had followed several figures through the fog.
• Kemei described the group as a possible merchant caravan, noting its guards, leaders, and Many-Legged Pack Leeches, and suspected it had come to meet someone in the swamp.
• Kemei proposed tracking the caravan and possibly infiltrating the Forty Thieves, but Angel warned him not to risk being attacked just to learn their identities.
• Angel explained that Kemei should account for future teammates and Angel's own support, then told Kemei to wait.
• Angel's power stirred and compressed the surrounding fog into a miniature three-dimensional sand table before Kemei.

Angel gave Kemei a Mini Map and illusion nodes that could store it or briefly conceal him, improving his chances of navigating Mist Swamp. After ending their conversation, Angel spotted the instance’s living-dead Dreamseeing, the rumored Wraith in the Mist, but found no information explaining its nature.

• Angel gave Kemei a real-time Mini Map for the area around him and a Large Map that revealed terrain as he explored.
• Angel taught Kemei to store the Mini Map among illusion nodes and use them for temporary Phantom Concealment, warning him to prioritize his safety.
• Angel told Kemei that Darkman had brought Gray Porcelain and that he would share the rating after it was complete.
• Angel surveyed Mist Swamp and saw a corpse-like knight whom he identified as the instance’s living-dead Dreamseeing, known as the Wraith in the Mist.
• Angel found no information about the living dead and concluded that he would need to investigate the humans in Mist Swamp.

Angel judged Mist Swamp to be a low-to-medium E-rank Instance, then helped Darkman prepare to form a team while Kemei tracked a supply caravan. Kemei learned the caravan served the Forty Thieves, and Angel wondered whether the bandits stayed in the swamp because of the Dreamseeing One.

• Angel suspected the bandits hiding in the dead-tree cave were tied to Mist Swamp's main storyline because their cave entrance matched the Instance's crystalline creation.
• Gray Porcelain rated Mist Swamp as low-to-medium E-rank, and Angel said he might enter it with Gray Porcelain after Sixfold Platter if it remained uncleared.
• Angel discreetly gave Darkman details about the Instance's five-person limit, swamp environment, and likely enemies, prompting Darkman to leave and form a team.
• Kemei reported that he had approached the caravan using Angel's minimap and overheard that its members belonged to the Flute Merchants' Guild in Dawn City.
• Kemei learned the caravan was delivering supplies ordered by the Forty Thieves, and Angel wondered whether the bandits remained in Mist Swamp because of the Dreamseeing One.

Angel told Luigi about the newly descended Mist Swamp Instance and asked him to investigate its real-world connections through the Uriel Instance. After the rankings updated with Rabbit Hole still in first place, Rabbit Girl led the team toward the Echo Library.

• Angel confirmed that Darkman was gathering teammates to enter Mist Swamp and saw Gray Porcelain making his way toward the Player Camp.
• Angel showed Luigi an illusion containing Mist Swamp information and asked him to seek clues through people connected to Dawn City; Luigi agreed.
• Luigi told Angel that the mist around the Uriel Instance had surged after a duel without any visible expansion, and Angel promised to investigate.
• Angel arrived at the Player Camp and learned that Maggie had gone to Rabbit Town while the others waited for the rankings.
• The Golden Country settlement appeared, leaving Rabbit Hole in first place with 240 points and the Singers Team in second with 90.
• Rabbit Girl rallied Gray Porcelain and led the team to enter the Echo Library.

Angel entered the Echo Library’s Nightmare Dream state, solved his sealed study’s entry puzzle, and examined the real library through his god’s-eye view. He found the being they were meant to seal inside a giant cocoon, but the World Will warned him against looking further, leaving him wary of the danger ahead.

• Angel confirmed that the Rabbit Hole Team had been separated into sealed rooms and used his god’s-eye view to locate his study’s exit.
• Angel spotted a book-shaped elf atop a glowing bubble, then pulled a fluorescent magenta booklet from a shelf and opened the doorway.
• Angel entered a circular hall, read the stage instructions, and learned that the team had to close three rifts at the same time.
• Angel searched the real Echo Library and found Book Sprites and Book Demons throughout its collections, but could not locate any rifts.
• Angel saw a giant cocoon in a hidden basement space and stopped trying to look inside after the World Will warned him that doing so could bring danger.

Angel and his team passed the Echo Library’s entry assessment and chose to investigate the stage rather than retreat over Angel’s suspicion that the being they must seal might be a true god. The chapter left them preparing to challenge Book Demons in the northern corridor and gather clues from their dying words.

• Gabriel escaped his puzzle by pulling every book from a shelf, Gray Porcelain solved its odd-object puzzle, and Rabbit Girl finished the time-consuming task of arranging books to spell out a diary.
• Gray Porcelain used its Danger Sense to choose the southern corridor as the safer route, but Angel paused the group to discuss the possible danger of the stage.
• Angel warned that the being they were meant to seal might be a true god, then proposed gathering intelligence in normal mode before deciding whether to retreat or attempt the perfect mode.
• Angel explained that Book Demons might reveal information about the being through their dying words, as Treta’s team had learned the name “It” from one before.
• Rabbit Girl and Gabriel supported Angel’s plan to challenge Book Demons and piece together their clues, while Gray Porcelain recovered from Gabriel’s tentacles.

Angel investigated the Book Demon’s hiding place in the Mimetic Corridor, solving a pair of hidden-space puzzles before entering the Dragon Simulacrum’s chamber. The Book Demon selected Angel for its test and attacked with a shadow version of him, but Angel blocked the attack and countered.

• Angel sent the Rabbit Hole group back to the Art Corridor and walked alone through the Mimetic Corridor to locate the Book Demon behind the Dragon Simulacrum.
• Angel found another hidden space behind a butterfly simulacrum and asked Rabbit Girl, Gabriel, and Gray Porcelain to help solve its puzzle.
• The group noticed that cracks on the books forming the butterfly’s wings connected into a pattern, opening a doorway to an empty room.
• Angel assembled the Dragon Simulacrum’s missing heart, opened its hidden doorway, and found the Book Demon among piles of books.
• The Book Demon selected Angel for its test and created a shadow version of him, which summoned a rain of fire.
• Angel protected himself with an illusion-made dome and sent nine Phantom Limbs toward the shadow.

Angel defeated a Book Demon and discovered that it had returned to its birthplace to leave an aphorism, revealing hidden information about “He.” The group continued onward and found a new puzzle at a blocked corridor, where Rabbit Girl proposed that two books and their circled seconds held the clue.

• Angel analyzed the Book Demon as a fragile, high-attack enemy and defeated it with a White Mist Phantom Limb.
• The Book Demon flew to the Butterfly Simulacrum’s hidden space, crumbled into ink, and left the aphorism, “I chose pen and ink in order to receive His inspiration.”
• Angel learned that Book Demons returned to their birthplaces to leave life-distilled aphorisms, but that rubbings could only be made in Perfect Clear Mode.
• Angel explained the discovery to the group, and they agreed to seek more Book Demons and collect their aphorisms to learn about “He.”
• At a wall blocking the corridor, Gray Porcelain spotted two black-spined books in a clock Simulacrum, and Rabbit Girl found circled seconds in one book and suggested they were the clue.

Angel, Rabbit Girl, Gabriel, and Gray Porcelain solved the wall puzzle and entered a corridor where statues tested their knowledge of magical creatures. Rabbit Girl correctly identified nearly every creature, but the group stalled at the final Starlight Inchworm statues, and Gabriel proposed using its dangerous Dark Word Spirit to guide their choice.

• Gray Porcelain deduced that the books indicated a knocking rhythm and location, and Rabbit Girl knocked four times at the wall’s three o’clock position, opening a passage.
• Angel reflected that Gabriel’s exuberant praise had helped Gray Porcelain overcome its fear, and the group continued down the corridor toward a Book Demon.
• The group encountered light barriers guarded by pairs of statues, and Rabbit Girl used her knowledge from the Empty Mirror Sea to choose the correct magical creatures through the ninth barrier.
• Rabbit Girl recognized the final statues as Starlight Inchworms but could not tell which carving was accurate, so she suggested guessing together.
• Gabriel proposed cursing someone with its Dark Word Spirit so every luck-based choice would go wrong, but Angel balked at the curse’s unpredictable dangers.

Angel and his companions split up to pursue a Book Sprite and a Book Demon, and Angel began the Book Sprite’s sculpture trial. He answered its first statue-identification question correctly, leaving four questions remaining.

• Angel used information from Luolun to identify the Starlight Inchworm statue and open the path forward.
• At a fork, Angel sent himself toward the Book Sprite while Rabbit Girl and Gabriel went to find the Book Demon, and Gray Porcelain stayed behind.
• Angel walked the Flying Book Road and used his God's-eye view to discover that the Book Sprite’s trial concerned carving and sculpture.
• The Book Sprite randomly selected Statue Appreciation, a five-question trial requiring Angel to identify each statue by name and creator.
• Angel correctly identified the first statue as Watcher of the Tides, created by Silas Walker.

Angel passed the Book Sprite’s trial and unlocked a Guidance Radar that pointed toward the rift. The Rabbit Hole Team gathered in a hidden space after Gabriel defeated the Book Demon, which left a proverb about tracing someone’s marks.

• Angel used information from books in the real Box Garden to answer all five of the Book Sprite’s questions and received a Location Cursor and Guidance Radar.
• An Observer noticed that Rabbit Hole had found a Book Demon proverb and added the team to her observation priority list.
• Angel returned to the fork and waited with Gray Porcelain until Rabbit Girl reported that Gabriel was fighting the Book Demon.
• Rabbit Girl explained that the team had opened the hidden space by reassembling a youth’s male armor, and Angel joined her and Gray Porcelain there.
• The defeated Book Demon left the proverb, “I carve words to trace the marks He left behind,” and Gabriel described tricking it into dropping its book before attacking.