Recaps

At Divine Skin Manor, William Berens received a score of 96 for his actions in Green Lake Town, earning the chance to meet the First Gentleman. White Owl Chamberson led him toward the manor’s depths, where an ancient presence tried to separate his skin from his body.

• George Chamberson announced the assessment scores, and several examinees received scores of 80 or higher.
• Chamberson awarded William Berens 96 points and praised his investigation, alliance with a Sick One, and destruction of the disease’s source in the lake.
• After the other examinees left for the Acceptance Ceremony, White Owl Chamberson offered to take William to meet the First Gentleman and warned him to endure any discomfort in his skin.
• Chamberson led William through hidden passages and down a spiral staircase beneath the manor.
• An eerie whisper made William feel that his skin wanted to leave his body, but Little Grape’s warning and support brought him back to his senses.

Yi Chen met the First Gentleman, Alexis Jin Claude, and received a large piece of Gentleman's Skin as his examination reward. Claude sensed a death-related force in Yi Chen during the transfer, and urged Chamberson to ensure Yi Chen received basic training before Yi Chen and Chamberson returned to the review hall.

• Chamberson warned Yi Chen not to speak an ancient name and asked him to describe his experiences at the Seven-Day Graveyard.
• Chamberson unlocked the lowest level of the manor, where Yi Chen saw Alexis Jin Claude suspended above an underground church altar.
• Claude invited Yi Chen to accept his skin, but interrupted their contact when he sensed a tug of death and a small black vortex within Yi Chen.
• Yi Chen received a living piece of Gentleman's Skin measuring 10 cm by 10 cm and placed it in a black box.
• Claude told Chamberson to arrange basic training for Yi Chen, then Yi Chen and Chamberson returned to the examination review hall.

Chamberson explained that the Gentleman's Skin connected Yi Chen to a system of professions, then guided him through the ritual. In the Old Hall, Yi Chen discovered three extraordinary profession letters and was left to choose among them.

• Chamberson told Yi Chen that the Gentleman's Skin was a medium that would let him choose a profession, and explained the four letter colors and their risks.
• Yi Chen joined the examinees in the ritual chamber and placed the Gentleman's Skin over his head as the priests began the ritual.
• The ritual drew Yi Chen's Consciousness Body into the Old Hall, where he found the skin covering three letters.
• Yi Chen uncovered a blue letter, a black letter, and a purple letter, and was stunned by the rare choice before him.

Yi Chen chose the Purple Letter after weighing its connection to his past against the plant and death paths offered by the other letters. He returned to the ritual chamber with his head smoking and no visible emblem, prompting George Chamberson to examine him.

• Yi Chen considered the Blue Letter's plant path and the Black Letter's death-related path, then discovered that the Purple Letter bore his graduation thesis.
• Yi Chen reasoned that the Purple Letter could let him develop both plant and death traits, recalled how books had shaped his life, and opened it.
• Yi Chen returned to the ritual chamber after the letter's information blazed into his eyes and brain.
• Edmund, Dagobert, and Julianna emerged with their chosen profession emblems branded on their bodies.
• George Chamberson found no emblem on Yi Chen and entered the formation to examine him.

After Yi Chen completed his profession selection, Professor Chamberson discovered a strange Professional Emblem formed by his brain and took responsibility for his lodging and clothing arrangements. Yi Chen explained why he had chosen the Purple Letter, and Chamberson became his first Mentor in Zion, preparing to guide him through Custom Clothing.

• Chamberson examined Yi Chen and found a book-shaped Professional Emblem formed by the grooves at the back of his brain.
• Chamberson announced that the examinees had two days to arrange Custom Clothing before their training began, and he took charge of Yi Chen's arrangements.
• Chamberson treated Yi Chen to a meal, where Yi Chen and Little Grape eagerly devoured the food.
• Yi Chen told Chamberson about the blue, black, and purple Letters he had encountered and explained that he chose the Purple Letter to pursue knowledge while balancing two attributes.
• Chamberson accepted Yi Chen's reasoning, became his first Mentor in Zion, and explained that Custom Clothing would help him inspect the changes from his profession.

Yi Chen followed Professor Chamberson to a secluded tailor shop in Chasm-Street to have his Gentleman's Skin made into custom clothing. After Chamberson left for a meeting, Yi Chen found the shop and met its unusual tailor, who recognized the rare skin and agreed to begin the complicated customization.

• Chamberson explained that the organization supported tailor shops outside its grounds and led Yi Chen into the lower district to visit an old tailoring friend.
• A ringing public telephone summoned Chamberson to a meeting, so he gave Yi Chen his owl business card and directions to the tailor shop.
• Yi Chen concealed his face and the black box, then entered a dark, sculpture-filled Gothic building at the end of the street.
• A masked, two-toned-suited shop owner descended the stairs and asked why Yi Chen had come.
• Yi Chen revealed the Gentleman's Skin, causing the stone sculptures to shed layers of stone, and the shop owner told him to put it away before inviting him to begin Full Customization.

Yi Chen completed the measurements and fitting for his first Gentleman's Attire at Kolor Ivan’s Nameless Tailor Shop, while learning that his unusual background and Purple Letter made the work especially demanding. As the outfit neared completion, he encountered a fellow examinee who proposed an intimate exchange of body inspections.

• Kolor Ivan introduced himself, questioned Yi Chen about his background and Letter selection, and decided Full Customization would take twenty-four hours.
• Ivan told Yi Chen to stay at the Tailor Shop in silence while he worked on the outfit using the Gentleman's Skin.
• Yi Chen slept at the shop and underwent repeated strange measurements and fittings until Ivan approved a sixth sample outfit.
• With an hour left before completion, Yi Chen went downstairs after hearing footsteps and met a masked, colorfully dressed examinee who had ranked second in the assessment.
• The examinee pressed his mask against Yi Chen, asked how he had killed the Watcher, and offered an equivalent exchange of body inspections.

Yi Chen visited Shopkeeper Ivan’s Tailoring Room to try on the custom clothes made from the Gentleman's Skin. When the finished suit resonated with him, Ancient Script appeared in his vision, identifying his profession as Student.

• Yi Chen refused Jin’s inappropriate invitation, and Jin followed him to meet Shopkeeper Ivan.
• Shopkeeper Ivan brought Yi Chen into the Tailoring Room and explained the outfit he had designed around life, death, and knowledge.
• Yi Chen entered the Finished Clothing Fitting Room and examined the custom shirt, waistcoat, trousers, suit, and overcoat.
• Yi Chen tried on the clothes, which resonated with his body and activated his mind.
• Ancient Script appeared in Yi Chen’s vision and displayed his profession as Student.

Yi Chen inspected his attributes and Diseased Trait, then received a tailored suit and a Zion backpack from Shopkeeper Ivan. Ivan urged him to treat the suit as a complement to his character, and Yi Chen stayed at the shop for a final comfort check before reporting to the academy.

• Yi Chen examined his inspection results, which showed his unique Student profession, attributes, Diseased Trait, unknown soul substance, and the risks posed by Little Grape..
• Shopkeeper Ivan carefully checked Yi Chen's measurements and confirmed that the outfit had an error margin of only 0.09%.
• Shopkeeper Ivan gave Yi Chen a Gentleman's Backpack that let him switch between his suit and overcoat in less than a second.
• Shopkeeper Ivan added a tie, glasses, and a G&D handkerchief, then told Yi Chen that true nobility came from surpassing his past self.
• Yi Chen thanked Shopkeeper Ivan and agreed to stay at the shop for a day so Ivan could ensure the clothes remained comfortable.

After leaving the Tailoring Room, Yi Chen reflected on his new outfit and career while learning more about the dangers and limits of becoming a gentleman. Professor Chamberson took him to begin special training at Arfros Tistic Academy, where he would report the next day.

• Jin invited Yi Chen to form a mission team, then briefly threatened him with a sudden display of killing intent before entering the Tailoring Room.
• Yi Chen and Little Grape discussed earning skin, reaching the Human Limit, and the conditions under which Little Grape might kill him.
• Professor Chamberson arrived, praised Yi Chen’s outfit, and decided to start a special training plan immediately.
• Chamberson wrote a note for Ivan and took Yi Chen toward Arfros Tistic Academy, a sealed academy where most gentlemen trained.

Yi Chen arrived at Arfros Tistic Academy with Professor Chamberson and learned about its courses, requirements, and unusual layout. While waiting in Chamberson’s office, he opened a history book and discovered that the world had an entirely new geographical system.

• Professor Chamberson guided Yi Chen and Little Grape through the academy’s railway entrance and introduced the Twin Towers, where the academy taught Gentleman Studies and Pathology.
• Chamberson explained that New Gentlemen had to reach the Human Limit within two years and complete at least one Gentleman Mission each month, but he would control Yi Chen’s free time until he was ready for missions.
• Yi Chen learned how the academy’s buildings corresponded to parts of the human body and entered Chamberson’s office in the Fetal Heart Chapel.
• While Chamberson worked on his training schedule, Yi Chen browsed a bookcase and opened World History.
• Yi Chen saw the world map unfold and realized the book described an entirely new world system, while the emblem on the back of his head began to writhe.

Yi Chen learned about the continents and the Gray Zone, but found no books explaining the disease’s origin. After spending two hours reading every book in the study, he told Professor Chamberson he had finished them all.

• Yi Chen rapidly read a world history book and learned the names and features of the continents, including that he was in Quechua.
• Little Grape explained that the Gray Zone had five levels, that high-level zones blocked travel between continents, and that the highest level allowed no one to return.
• A white owl warned Yi Chen that books about the disease could become disease mediums and said he would need to become stronger to learn more.
• Yi Chen read every book in the bookcase, and his Intelligence attribute rose slightly.
• Professor Chamberson returned with a detailed special-training schedule and was stunned when Yi Chen said he had finished all the books.

Yi Chen discussed his rare profession and the Human Limit with Professor Chamberson, then asked for physical training despite his intelligence-focused abilities. After testing Yi Chen’s strength and reflexes, Chamberson agreed to arrange training with an eccentric instructor and sent him to settle into his dormitory.

• Yi Chen demonstrated that he had read Chamberson’s books in just over two hours, and Chamberson learned that Yi Chen’s profession granted mastery of Old Living Script and the ability to raise intelligence by devouring diseased brains.
• Chamberson explained how Gentleman's Skin connected people to the growth system and said that crossing the Limit Membrane required a matching relic.
• Yi Chen asked for physical training, and Chamberson said he would give him a letter to take with his Owl Business Card to an eccentric instructor after the Pathology course.
• Chamberson tested Yi Chen’s exercises and reactions, and Yi Chen revealed that he had trained when he was young.
• Chamberson judged that Yi Chen’s body could reach the limit and told him to adapt to his new outfit, prepare for class, and move into his assigned dormitory.

Yi Chen settled into his new life at the school and arrived for his first Pathology class at the Weirsterman Teaching Building. As the classroom lights went out, a crowd of deformed Living Corpses poured through the door.

• Yi Chen recalled the harsh conditions at the Orphanage, then locked the memories away and moved into a dormitory apartment.
• Yi Chen reviewed Professor Chamberson's packed training schedule and looked forward to his Pathology class.
• Yi Chen met Edmund, who admired Yi Chen's suit, and learned that their Pathology teacher had once caused a student's death through improper teaching.
• Yi Chen and the other students passed security checks and climbed to classroom #203 in the sealed Weirsterman Teaching Building.
• The lights went out as deformed Living Corpses surged through the classroom door.

At Weirsterman Teaching Building, Yi Chen recognized that the apparent Living Corpse attack was a test and uncovered Teacher Hogney Zede. After Zede taught a disturbing anatomy lesson, Yi Chen gave him Professor Chamberson’s letter and business card, and Zede agreed to take him for special training despite warning that it could kill him.

• When the tungsten lamps went out, Living Corpses poured into the classroom, and the students prepared to fight.
• Yi Chen noticed irregularities, greeted one Living Corpse as a gentleman, and revealed Teacher Hogney Zede beneath the disguise.
• Zede explained that the corpses were disinfected teaching materials, then demonstrated human anatomy by having a Living Corpse dissect him.
• After class, Yi Chen stayed behind and gave Zede Professor Chamberson’s handwritten letter and business card.
• Zede accepted Yi Chen for special training, warned that he could not guarantee his safety, and took him along.

Yi Chen followed Hogni Zed into a heavily secured underground office and learned that the academy closely monitored the disgraced associate professor. Professor Chamberson watched their meeting and explained that he had sent Yi Chen to Zed to improve his physical abilities, while Ms. Oresa promised to help keep him alive.

• Yi Chen followed Zed down through the sealed teaching building and learned that the academy would execute Zed if it deemed him to be escaping.
• Yi Chen entered Zed's underground office, where surveillance eyes monitored every room, and Little Grape explained that Zed had no concept of eyes in his body and could not regenerate them.
• Professor Chamberson watched the surveillance footage and reassured himself that Yi Chen and Zed had met without incident.
• Chamberson told Ms. Oresa that he had sent Yi Chen to Zed because of Zed's unmatched talent in physical training.
• Ms. Oresa said she would pay closer attention to Yi Chen and do her best to prevent his death.

Teacher Zed put Yi Chen through a six-hour examination to study his body and determine how to develop his physical potential. Yi Chen survived the ordeal, and Zed concluded that his body was well suited to Zed’s training methods.

• Teacher Zed showed Yi Chen the academy spaces he could use and took him to his human body laboratory for an examination.
• Yi Chen calmly lay on the operating table as restraints locked him in place, and Zed began cutting into his body to study its internal structure.
• Zed sustained Yi Chen with vitality through a vascular connection as the examination continued for six hours, until Yi Chen lost consciousness.
• Yi Chen awoke in the temporary corpse-storage room, checked that his body was intact, and found black lines marking its structure and measurements.
• Teacher Zed brought Yi Chen food and the detailed examination report, praised his endurance, and explained that he had identified Yi Chen’s potential and path toward the Limit Membrane.

Yi Chen asked whether he could match Dagobert’s strength, and Zede explained that he would instead train Yi Chen to reach his own physical limits. Zede led him to a gruesome underground gym and started him on a spiked treadmill, leaving the story with Yi Chen running under Zede’s watch.

• Yi Chen asked if he could develop strength like Dagobert, and Zede said Dagobert had an innate talent that Yi Chen could not match within two years.
• Zede told Yi Chen he would focus on the physical quality best suited to him and promised he could reach his physical limit with intensive training.
• After Yi Chen finished eating, Zede led him through a secret passage to his underground training chamber, which the academy approved for use.
• Zede ordered Yi Chen to run on a spiked treadmill until his stamina was completely depleted, explaining that the training would help him gain control over his body.
• Yi Chen removed his clothes, strapped himself to the treadmill, and was connected to a blood-circulation system as Zede watched him begin running.

After six months of grueling special training under Zede, Yi Chen finally shed his damaged skin and transformed, increasing his Physique from 2 to 3. With the half-year deadline eleven days away, he emerged from the training with a body better suited to him and a new path for further growth.

• Edmund and the others noticed Yi Chen's deteriorating condition, but he rejected their help and continued special training in Zede's Paradise.
• Professor Chamberson offered to end Yi Chen's training and arrange treatment, but Yi Chen chose to continue; Chamberson secured a mission delay of up to half a year.
• Over the following months, Yi Chen's health and hair gradually recovered, though his Physique remained at 2 as he followed Zede's demanding routine.
• Eleven days before the deadline, Yi Chen kept training past his usual limit, and Zede told him to follow what his body wanted.
• Blood Mist poured from Yi Chen as he ran, and he shed his damaged skin while new, healthier skin formed beneath it.
• Yi Chen's exertion destroyed the treadmill, and his Gentleman's Skin showed that his Physique had risen from 2 to 3 and his Diseased Trait proficiency had increased.

After Professor Chamberson tested Yi Chen’s unusual physique and reminded him to choose risky missions, Yi Chen left the Academy and joined Edmund Mariano’s team at Gentleman Hall. A supervisor noticed Yi Chen’s First Gentleman credential and ordered the team’s index recalculated so they could receive special missions.

• Professor Chamberson praised Yi Chen’s inherited physical trait, and Yi Chen said he was ready to leave for Zion’s Gentleman Hall.
• Yi Chen traveled by train out of the Academy and felt sunlight awaken the plants within him.
• Edmund Mariano and two teammates met Yi Chen at the station, and Yi Chen agreed to join their team for missions.
• The team registered Yi Chen at Gentleman Hall, where an employee noticed his First Gentleman credential and reported it to a supervisor.
• A supervisor ordered Yi Chen to count as three times the New Gentleman index and directed staff to assign the team relatively special missions.

A Gentleman Hall supervisor brought Edmund’s team three challenging missions after sizing up Yi Chen, and the squad considered the risks and rewards of recovering secret medicine from the ruined Twilight Clinic. They chose that mission and planned to prepare before departing tomorrow or the day after.

• A Gentleman Hall supervisor arrived after a long delay and personally presented the team with three missions of increased difficulty.
• Edmund read the mission briefs for a village sacrifice, disappearances at an apartment building, and secret medicine recovery at the Twilight Clinic.
• Julianna recommended the secret medicine mission because it offered a rare chance to obtain Source Fluid and advance in rank.
• Yi Chen agreed that the mission had both benefits and risks, and Edmund selected it while asking the team to prepare before setting out.

Edmund’s team read the classified report on the False Moon Incident, which described the destruction of Vinal City and the emergence of an Open Source Patient. The account reminded Yi Chen of Teacher Zed’s lesson on pathogenization stages and the special method needed to kill an Open Source.

• Edmund and the team agreed to accept the mission and followed the supervisor to a private room in Gentleman Hall’s middle-level area.
• The supervisor gave them ten minutes to read the classified report about the False Moon Incident.
• The report revealed that Moonscar, an Open Source Patient disguised among Vinal City’s residents, caused a mass infection that killed nearly all local investigators and left Doctor Maco critically wounded.
• Yi Chen recalled Teacher Zed’s lesson explaining how infected people progressed from the Pathogenization Stage through Pathological Transformation to the Open-Source Stage.
• The lesson stated that Open Source beings had a health-like tubular structure tied to Primal Disease, and that their life force had to be depleted before they could be truly harmed.

Yi Chen and his team accepted a mission to retrieve the Twilight Clinic’s secret medicine, though he suspected the False Moon report was incomplete. Professor Chamberson arranged to escort them, and Edmund helped Yi Chen prepare for the trip, ending with the pair entering an expensive lamp shop.

• The supervisor explained that Yi Chen, Edmund, and their teammates had to search the abandoned Twilight Clinic for the final bottle of Twilight Silver Liquid or photograph the clinic if it was missing.
• Yi Chen questioned the accuracy of the False Moon report, and the supervisor admitted that confidential details had been removed and the account modified.
• Professor Chamberson confronted Supervisor Aige about sending the newcomers on a potentially dangerous mission, then decided to escort the team himself.
• Edmund bought supplies for the journey and urged Yi Chen to replace his worn civilian Kerosene Lamp.
• Yi Chen and Edmund entered Helios' Sacred Fire, where Yi Chen saw the high prices and considered leaving.

Yi Chen and his squad prepared for a high-difficulty mission to Vinal City, where Edmund bought him a costly Kerosene Lamp and explained the organization’s secret medicines during the journey. The carriage continued toward their destination as Yi Chen learned how Doctors and Clinics produced these powerful but risky treatments.

• Edmund bought Yi Chen the crow-decorated Kerosene Lamp called The Crow's Night and asked him to repay half its cost after the mission.
• Julianna tied Yi Chen's long hair into a bun, and Edmund suggested he upgrade his hand axe if the squad found valuable materials.
• Edmund treated the squad to a day of meals and massages before they submitted their mission documents at the Gentleman Hall.
• The squad boarded an organization carriage and set out for Vinal City, a 51-kilometer journey expected to take three and a half hours.
• Yi Chen asked what secret medicine was, and Edmund explained how Doctors and Clinics produced healing, combat, and potential medicines from Sick Ones, along with their dangers.

Yi Chen and Edmund discussed the secret medicine, clinic practices, and the possibility that it was connected to the False Moon Incident. Their carriage crossed the ruined Vinal City, where Yi Chen sensed hidden observers, before reaching the Twilight Clinic outside the city.

• Yi Chen questioned Edmund about whether the secret medicine’s ingredients and the False Moon Incident were connected, and Edmund explained that clinics obtained Sick Ones through regulated hunts.
• Yi Chen and Little Grape discussed the mission and agreed that Little Grape would help spot Sick Ones and receive the grapes of those they killed.
• Edmund chose to drive the carriage directly through Vinal City so the group could assess the danger on the way to the Twilight Clinic.
• As the carriage crossed the ruined city, Little Grape detected up to three Sources of Peeping watching from the shadows, and Yi Chen warned the others.
• The carriage left Vinal City and reached the countryside near the hilltop Twilight Clinic.