Chapter Summaries

William began the Fertility Ritual and resisted being absorbed by the simulated womb. After studying murals of a Perfect Larva, he used their movements to sculpt his newborn form, remaining inside as the exit opened.

• Lainey explained that the hanging ritual could cause permanent assimilation, while Black Sheep Liya pressured William to proceed.
• William consulted Yellow Skin, then asked his Black Umbilical Cord to give him the chance to undergo the ritual; it formed a noose for him.
• William hanged himself and entered the Mother of the Flock’s virtual Palace Body, where a burst of stimulation from the Mad Brain awakened him.
• William, in infant form, discovered murals depicting a Perfect Larva and began copying their birthing postures to sculpt his body.
• The Palace Body opened an exit that would remain open for only half a minute, but William stayed immersed in the movements and did not notice it.

William completed the Fertility Ritual by performing every fetal posture, then was reborn with a Perfect Born Body and a Birth Gate. As the sheep gathered around him, Mother returned to the Palace of Sheep.

• Liya watched William perform increasingly difficult fetal postures as the umbilical cord’s exit began to close, while Laine prayed for him to wake.
• The umbilical cord closed and William’s body went limp, but he did not assimilate until after he had completed all the postures.
• The black egg reduced William to a fetus, then rebuilt his body, fusing the Thorned Iron Chain into his bones and forming a Birth Gate.
• The umbilical cord became a Blockage Band around William’s neck, separating death from new life, and his clothing reported that he had reached Stage Four.
• William inspected his renewed body as the sheep crowded around him, then Mother’s return sent a wave of pressure through the Palace of Sheep.

William met the Mother of the Flock, who examined his newly transformed body and learned of his visit to the Cancer Palace. She accepted his Cancer Crystal as lodging payment and let him remain in the Palace of Sheep to study fertility and pursue a pathway.

• The flock carried William to the Mother of the Flock, and he examined his new Perfect Born Body on the way.
• The Mother of the Flock revealed her inhuman form and summoned William to inspect his body.
• The Mother of the Flock examined William’s Birth Gate and learned that he had visited the Cancer Palace and met her sister’s followers.
• William gave the Mother of the Flock the Cancer Crystal Madam Olena had given him.
• The Mother of the Flock accepted the Cancer Crystal as lodging payment, allowed William to stay and study fertility, and warned him to treat Lainey well.

William obtained the Sheep Mother’s approval to spend time with Lainey, then inspected the changes in his Memory Palace and spoke with the restrained Yi Chen. He planned to adapt to his reborn body before seeking the Duke’s guidance on the path ahead.

• The Sheep Mother granted William temporary goat status and agreed that he could spend time with Lainey, while also urging him to try producing a living fetus.
• William asked to be paired with Lainey, and the Sheep Mother ordered them to leave together.
• William declined to pursue physical intimacy with Lainey because she was too young and instead examined his Perfect Offspring body alone.
• William found that the Memory Palace had been reinforced with metal chains and that Yi Chen was shackled inside the aquarium.
• William told Yi Chen he would seek the Duke’s advice after adapting to his reborn body, and Yi Chen offered to help with death-related challenges on the path.

William explored the special room formed from Mother’s body and connected to the Newborn Forest, where he climbed its main tree and gazed at the stars. Lainey joined him and, sharing his tranquility, discovered a new Life Pathway.

• Lainey dressed in a handmade village-style dress and admitted to Thirteen that she liked William.
• William entered the special room alone, found a cylindrical device, and connected his Birth Gate to it.
• William’s consciousness entered the Newborn Forest, where he climbed its main tree and synchronized his Nebula Body with the stars.
• Principal Deslin sensed William gazing at the stars in the Old World and wondered when he would return.
• Lainey joined William through the same connection, shared his tranquil Star River, and recognized a new Life Pathway in the forest.

William and Lainey gained insights in the Newborn Forest, and William discovered that his Astrologer nature had combined with Newborn to create Platinum Blood and a new teleportation technique. After Little Grape returned with news of a blood plague in Zion and Principal Deslin’s reassurance, William resolved to leave and find his path.

• The Mother of the Flock sensed Lainey’s new insight and recognized William as an Astrologer whose celestial body had fused with Newborn and become stained with Platinum Blood.
• William and Lainey awoke in the secret chamber, where Lainey said she had found the path best suited to her.
• Lainey noticed the silver-white Platinum Blood around William’s Birth Gate, and William discovered he could use a nearly effortless technique he called Newborn Teleportation.
• William and Lainey spent more than a week together exploring the Palace of Sheep and discussing Newborn.
• Little Grape returned and reported suspected infected bloodfolk in Zion, Galon’s role in containing the blood plague, and Principal Deslin’s message that William should focus on his own journey.
• William’s desire to stay with the flock vanished, and he told Little Grape they would leave to find his path.

William left the Flock’s territory and traveled by Living Train toward Duke’s Guild, where a Silver Mask’s appearance revealed that the guild was nearby. The Golden Mask welcomed him into the canyon after removing his eyes, while Little Grape and Thirteen stayed behind.

• William said goodbye to Lainey, who asked whether they could have children once she became an adult, and then boarded a Black Roundworm Train.
• William guided the train toward Duke’s Guild using his Mark of Transaction and learned that he could claim compensation for the earlier attack at Marginal Skin Plain.
• After two days, the train stalled and silver masks appeared, but they vanished when one recognized William’s Mark of Transaction.
• William and his companions got off at a dark canyon, where the Golden Mask said Duke had allowed William to enter without his eyes.
• The Golden Mask removed William’s eyes and led him into the canyon in a Golden Suit, while William left his clothes with Little Grape and asked her and Thirteen to wait safely.

William asked Duke about finding a pathway suited to his illness, and Duke directed him to the Fear Circus. After deciding to seek it out, William studied the locations where it had appeared before and discovered that a folded map singled out one of his suspected locations.

• William entered the company’s core stronghold with Golden Mask, endured sensory deprivation, and asked Duke for help finding his pathway.
• Duke reminded William that he had already pointed him toward the Fear Circus and offered to sell more clues through gambling.
• William left Thirteen with Duke for safekeeping and asked Black Roundworm Company for the circus’s past appearance coordinates.
• William copied the coordinates into The Memory Palace and narrowed them to more than ten possible locations.
• William ate half of Duke’s meatball, and the map accidentally folded to reveal one of his suspected locations.

The Andersons, a couple living in Meniere Town, followed strange circus tickets to search for their missing son Dennis. They found his headless corpse in the audience, then had their tongues cut out by an attendant and were told to endure the show for a chance at freedom and rewards.

• Meniere Town flourished as a captive zone where infected humans built families and a peaceful community.
• Augus and Giselle Anderson found two strange circus tickets in their mailbox and resisted the tickets’ pull to search for Dennis at home.
• The Andersons realized Dennis was missing and followed the tickets’ guidance toward a mysterious circus with other townspeople.
• The couple entered the circus audience area and found Dennis sitting in the front row, apparently calm.
• When Augus grabbed Dennis, the boy’s severed head fell from his headless corpse, and an attendant cut out both parents’ tongues.
• The attendant told the Andersons to quietly watch the show and said audience members could earn freedom and rewards by enduring it.

William learned that the Fear Circus could only be entered with an invitation, so he arranged to receive one by becoming a resident of Meniere Town. After accepting the invitation from Catherine, he reached the circus and chose its deserted Recruitment Passage.

• William arrived in Meniere Town and discovered that many residents had left to seek the Fear Circus.
• He followed the townspeople to a gray wasteland, where they disappeared into an Unknown Space he could not see or enter.
• William returned to town, bought resident status and a property, then waited at home until a circus ticket appeared in his mailbox.
• William accepted the invitation carried by the ticket after hearing Catherine's voice, and the invitation transported him to the circus.
• William reached the Circus Tent, passed over the audience passage, and approached the Recruitment Passage.

William read the circus’s recruitment and audience rules, then entered the Recruitment Passage to apply for Magician’s Assistant. He passed the preliminary test with an escape trick and was sent to the Magic District for the actual review.

• William decided he wanted to join the circus to investigate the unknown path and chose the Magician’s Assistant position rather than watch performances as an audience member.
• As William entered the Circus Tent, Catherine secretly kicked him into the abyss beneath the passage.
• William landed in a metal cage before ten masked recruitment officers and confirmed his application for Magician’s Assistant.
• When asked to demonstrate magic, William used Silver Moon’s visual illusion and Newborn Teleportation to escape the cage unnoticed.
• The recruitment officers approved William’s preliminary test and escorted him toward the Magic District for the actual employment review.

William learned how the circus operated and that it fed on spectators’ fear before entering the magician’s review. He exposed the fake Gian as Ulise, impressed him with his ability, and was told that Lord Gian would still need to approve him as an assistant.

• Diamond 7 explained the Poker Face ranks and roles, and told William that the circus earned its income from spectators’ fear.
• William realized that accepting the circus ticket had planted a fear-related seed in his Nightmare Room, then took the elevator to the magic floor for his review.
• The fake Gian rejected William, but William challenged him and revealed his ability by staging his own death and frightening him.
• William identified the disguised worker as a leather slave and introduced himself as William Berens.
• Ulise admitted that William had barely passed the review and led him onward to await Lord Gian’s personal approval.

William joined Gian’s branch of the circus as a Magician’s Assistant, hoping to learn about the abyss. Gian offered to teach him abyssal knowledge in exchange for collecting Fear Solution during performances, while warning him about Catherine’s completed Nightmare Pathway.

• Ulise led William through the Magic District and warned him not to knock on Gian’s Black Door, but the door opened as William approached.
• Gian welcomed William inside, asked about his teacher and the human organization, and learned that William had chosen the assistant position to study the abyss.
• William admitted that he had traveled the Original Tomb’s abyssal route, and Gian officially accepted him as an assistant.
• Gian let William train with other assistants and promised abyssal knowledge if he collected three liters of Fear Solution at the performance one month later.
• Gian pinned a Magic Hat badge on William and warned him that Catherine was interested in him and had completed the Nightmare Pathway.

A young woman from the Clown House visited the neighboring factory and asked to leave to investigate someone interesting who had joined the circus. Meanwhile, William began his magic training with Skin Slave Ulise, whose forgotten Human Skin Mask came alive at the end of the chapter.

• The young woman asked her boss for the day off to visit Uncle Gian and recruit someone interesting, then escaped the factory when the clown's flesh erupted into Tentacles.
• Gian explained that William needed to perform and earn the Boss's approval to become a full circus member, then sent him to train with the assistants.
• William asked Skin Slave Ulise to teach him magic, and Ulise showed him his Disguise Room and explained Magic Houses, currency rewards, and the Fear Shop.
• William noticed a gloomy woman's mask that Ulise did not remember making; when Ulise touched it, the mask grew black eyes and the other masks in the room also came alive.

William reunited with Catherine in the Magic District, where she showed him the circus and brought him to the Clown House. The chapter ended with Catherine offering him a valuable Fear Collectible if he passed an Apprentice Clown trial with increased difficulty, and William accepted.

• Ulise vomited black liquid and tentacles as Nightmare invaded his Magic House, but William called Catherine and stopped her from punishing Ulise.
• Catherine reunited with William, explained that her Nightmare could alter reality, and asked how he had reached the circus so quickly.
• William said he sought a pathway compatible with Mr. Gian, and Catherine took him by roller coaster to the Clown House.
• Catherine described how she had become a Sub-Clown after the previous one died and the factory was left empty.
• Catherine offered William a Fear Collectible if he tried the Apprentice Clown trial at a higher difficulty, and William agreed.

William accepted Catherine’s one-hour assessment and entered a nightmare that revealed how she became a nightmare-being and joined the Clown House. As he experienced her past, At sensed the Cancer Palace’s scent and headed toward the neighboring factory.

• William agreed to let Catherine guide him through a compressed nightmare of her first visit to the Clown House.
• Catherine pierced William with iron wires, attached her true body to his spine, and began forming the deep nightmare.
• As a young girl in the dream, Catherine was captured by the factory’s dancers and hung among them, where her migraine intensified under torture.
• Catherine fell asleep, dreamed of killing her enemies, and woke to find she had torn apart the dancers and devoured their brains, transforming her migraine into a nightmare.
• Magician Gian recognized Catherine’s talent and gave her education and training after the Head Clown was imprisoned.
• At sensed the Cancer Palace’s scent and made his way toward William’s factory.

William heard Catherine's story of how she became a nightmare before Mr. Art's arrival forced him to confront the clown's overwhelming malice. Catherine rescued William from Art and continued their tour of the circus, promising to introduce him to another mad one.

• Catherine explained how her childhood at the circus and Magician Gian's care helped preserve her goodwill despite her nightmare transformation.
• Mr. Art arrived, and William used Limit Release before severing his wires and cautiously greeting him.
• Art sniffed William and questioned him about his visit to the Cancer Palace and whether he had seen the woman who ruled the Knight Order.
• Catherine pulled William away from Art, hid him in a burlap sack, and carried him off before Art could continue questioning him.
• Catherine and William left on the roller coaster, and she promised to show him the circus's other departments and introduce him to a brutal mad one.

William and Catherine visited the circus’s Beast District, where William encountered the grotesque creations of the Beast Tamer. Their Mad Brains resonated, and the two bonded as Mad Ones, leaving Catherine stunned when she returned.

• Catherine led William through the circus to the Beast District and warned him that the Beast Tamer’s creations were unusual.
• William saw a grotesque sheep-like beast in its pen and questioned whether it had been made through Flesh Stitching.
• The Beast Tamer emerged and corrected William, calling his creations “beastification”; his Mad Brain resonated with William’s.
• The Beast Tamer hurled Catherine away, but William stayed after sensing no killing intent from him.
• William and the Beast Tamer exchanged the Mad Ones’ greeting and admired each other’s Mad Brains.
• Catherine returned with a dagger and found William and the Beast Tamer embracing while discussing the sheep.

William met Zoke Atkin, the Fear Circus’s head Beast Tamer, who explained how he transformed selected Sick Ones into dangerous beasts and described his Fear Beast Mask. Zoke invited William to join his zoo, but William chose to stay with Gian for guidance on his unknown Pathway, and the chapter ended with Zoke and Catherine competing to show him around.

• Zoke explained that he selected and physically tamed unusually vicious Sick Ones before using his Beastification Mad Brain to awaken their beastly instincts and genes.
• Zoke told William he had killed the Mad One Taff and made his Fear Beast Mask from Taff’s skull and materials from the circus.
• Zoke invited William to join the zoo as a Beast Tamer, but William said he needed to stay with Gian to learn about his unknown Pathway.
• Zoke offered William his protection and asked whether Catherine had coerced him; William said she had only invited him to the circus.
• Zoke told Catherine to leave and take William on a tour himself, but Catherine refused, so William suggested that all three tour together.

William, Zoke, and Catherine entered the Acrobatic Troupe’s territory after learning about its leaders and dangerous visitor rules. A green-eyed rabbit jumped onto William’s shoulder, where it felt less like an animal and more like a person’s hand.

• Zoke described the circus’s Demon Feast and argued with Catherine about their cooking and relative strength.
• Catherine explained the Acrobatic Troupe’s leadership, warned William about its top-ranked leader, and showed him the visitor precautions.
• The three followed warnings through the Acrobatic Troupe’s maze of soundstages, where performers practiced grotesque body-splicing routines.
• A green-eyed rabbit appeared, rejected Catherine’s carrot, and landed on William’s shoulder, making him freeze at the strange sensation.