Chapter Summaries

After defeating the Magma Fire Monster, Linsey woke in a vast underground hollow before a colossal, apparently dormant being. He explored the tunnels and crafted new flame equipment, but a rumbling voice stopped him and asked whether he was leaving.

• Linsey discovered that the rocky eye belonged to a huge creature beneath the mountains, and its neutral map marker suggested it had not harmed him.
• Linsey put away his torch, used his map to choose a southern tunnel, and ate a grilled fish while crafting a Magma Crest and another Flame Mark.
• Linsey claimed the achievement for defeating his first Fifth-Stage prey, which increased his investigation speed against creatures from the First to Fifth Stage.
• The ground began to shake as Linsey prepared to continue, and he understood the creature's voice asking, "Cute little one wearing a lovely flower wreath, are you leaving?"

Linsey encountered a colossal rock creature in the Underground World, which explained the Elemental Realm’s ancient history and offered to send him out. Choosing knowledge over immediate safety, Linsey asked to learn about the past, and the creature introduced itself as Sura Mo.

• Linsey realized his Treant Flower Crown had made the rock creature favorably disposed toward him, and he thanked it for saving his life.
• The rock creature explained that the Elemental Realm was recovering under an Ancient Covenant and recounted the Second Abyss War, when it merged with the last remaining land to repair the world.
• Linsey told the creature that humans had arrived only 120 years ago and that an expedition had come to explore the edge of the world.
• The rock creature offered to send Linsey out on its hand, but Linsey chose to stay and ask about the past and the world.
• The creature identified itself as the Spirit of the Mountains, Sudu Bocimeng, and told Linsey he could call it Sura Mo.

Linsey learned that his gaming skills made him a Fifth Stage Ascendant, despite lacking the source essence that normally comes with advancement. He offered Sura Mo the Glorious Bullet as the basis for a deal: he would hunt the Dragon Beast if Sura Mo protected the people through the coming harsh winter.

• Linsey asked Sura Mo whether it could stop the Dragon Beast from threatening the Elemental Realm, but Sura Mo said it could not act beyond the world while repairing it.
• Sura Mo explained that Linsey's abilities put him at the Fifth Stage, though his skills had not fused with source essence.
• Linsey realized his gaming skills from his previous life had already reached the Fifth Stage by the world's standards.
• Linsey showed Sura Mo the Glorious Bullet and proposed a deal to hunt the Dragon Beast in exchange for protection during the harsh winter.
• Sura Mo became friendly toward Linsey as he asked it to safeguard the people while he set out to hunt the Dragon Beast.

Linsey negotiated with Sura Mo to help defeat the Dragon Beast in exchange for allowing humanity to remain in the Elemental Realm, then questioned the ancient Elemental Creature about the abyss wars, Righteous Walkers, and the worlds beyond. Sura Mo warned that winter would be exceptionally long, and Linsey hurried back to his people as his Dragon Slayer quest rewards increased.

• Sura Mo agreed to Linsey's request and promised to let humanity remain in the Elemental Realm if Linsey killed the Dragon Beast.
• Sura Mo described the ancient abyss war, saying the abyss was defeated at two distant battle sites, and explained what Righteous Walkers were.
• Sura Mo told Linsey that it had never heard of Law Knights and described several worlds beyond the Elemental Realm, along with the ancient tradition of expeditions.
• Sura Mo warned Linsey that an exceptionally long winter would unsettle his people, so Linsey asked to be sent back.
• Linsey saw that his Escape the Predicament quest had become Dragon Slayer and that its rewards had greatly increased.

As winter continued to spread across the Hidden Borderlands, Ju decided to leave town and attempt a break through Black Mountain despite his mother Dan’s warning. Dan discovered he was gone and rushed after him, but Suo Mu Jin stopped her to talk.

• Ju and Dan discussed the worsening winter, dwindling game, and the town’s refusal to risk another counterattack.
• Ju saw Anna tending the farmland and reflected on Linsey’s solo journeys, his father’s bravery, and Suo Mu Jin’s plan to cross Black Mountain.
• Ju told Dan he wanted to break through Black Mountain, but she warned him that Anrui controlled the town and rejected the idea of sneaking away.
• Ju secretly left home with his clothes, bow, arrows, and weapons while Dan slept.
• Dan discovered Ju was missing and hurried outside, but Suo Mu Jin stopped her to discuss something.

Dan joined Suo Mu Jin's group to search for Ju, but left them when she reached Anrui at the town entrance. Anrui blocked Suo Mu Jin and the other Awakened from leaving, declaring that he was fulfilling his duty as Town Chief.

• Suo Mu Jin told Dan that Ju had taken supplies and left town the night before, then offered to help her find him as his group prepared to break through Black Mountain.
• Dan agreed to go with Suo Mu Jin, but she and the merchant found Anrui waiting alone at the eastern entrance to town.
• Nine Awakened gathered behind Suo Mu Jin, forming a standoff with Anrui as the group prepared to leave.
• Dan told Anrui she was going after Ju, and Anrui let her pass after asking her to return to lead the town's hunters.
• Suo Mu Jin and his group followed, claiming they were going to help Dan, but Anrui blocked their way and ordered them to return.
• Anrui accepted that stopping the group was his duty as Town Chief and said he was fulfilling it.

Anrui fought Awakened who tried to leave town during the endless winter, while Suo Mu Jin slipped away amid the battle. After Alan and his allies joined the melee, Anrui broke free and pursued Suo Mu Jin, ordering Alan to show no mercy.

• Anrui knocked unconscious an Awakened who tried to pass him and leave town.
• The Awakened attacked Anrui together, but he held them off with his Advantage Strike techniques.
• Anrui pierced one attacker’s chest with his Long Dagger, killing the first person in the battle.
• Anrui spotted Suo Mu Jin retreating and called for Alan and his allies to stop the remaining attackers.
• Alan led his Awakened into the melee, allowing Anrui to break away and chase Suo Mu Jin.

Anrui pursued Suo Mu Jin, who had poisoned him and nearly killed him, but Linsey arrived and forced the merchant to reveal the antidote. Linsey then told Anrui and Suo Mu Jin that he had found a safe place and had a way to defeat the Dragon Beast.

• Anrui caught Suo Mu Jin outside East Town, but the merchant used his abilities to withstand Anrui’s attacks and reveal that he had poisoned him.
• Suo Mu Jin explained that he had arranged the poison through people around Anrui and prepared to kill him while the poison weakened his body and source material.
• Linsey returned and pinned Suo Mu Jin’s arm to the ground with an arrow, stopping him from killing Anrui.
• Suo Mu Jin refused to reveal the antidote until Linsey tossed him a Walnut Coin, compelling him to disclose that it was in a brown Glass Bottle in the warehouse.
• Linsey retrieved the antidote, and Anrui took it before asking whether Linsey could defeat the Dragon Beast.
• Linsey confirmed that he had a way to kill the Dragon Beast and said he had found a safe place where it could not harm them.

After defeating Suo Mu Jin’s rebellion, Linsey prepared to leave East Town for Black Mountain, where he intended to confront the Dragon Beast. He said goodbye to Red Moon at the church as snow fell outside.

• Linsey told Anrui about the ancient Elemental Lifeform beneath the mountains, and Anna arrived to care for her poisoned father.
• Anrui chose to keep Suo Mu Jin alive because he still had uses, while Alan arrived with guards after the fighting ended.
• Linsey found the backpack and Wilderness Cloak Qiao Er had made for him and worried about what would happen to his captured friend.
• Linsey claimed the rewards for completing The World's True Face, improved his attributes, received Sura Mo's Mountain Blessing, and chose the Mountains Crest.
• Linsey visited Red Moon at the church, told her he was leaving, and thanked her before they parted.

Linsey reached a mountain range infested with Corrupted Poison Spiders and decided to kill their Fifth Stage leader so he could cross safely. After studying the spiders and preparing for combat, he entered the forest to increase his kill count.

• Linsey approached the spider-filled mountain range and set up a temporary shelter while planning how to cross it.
• Linsey rejected burning the entire mountain and decided to kill the Fifth Stage Corrupted Poison Spider leader to disrupt the spiders' hierarchy.
• A Spider Crisis task appeared, offering Spider Poison Corpse Water and Attribute/Skill Experience Points as rewards.
• Linsey studied the Corrupted Poison Spider's traits and learned that its brain and abdomen were weak points and that fire was recommended.
• Linsey noted that he needed thirty-eight more kills for his spider-related title to evolve, then took a wooden bow and entered the forest.

Linsey reached the Spider Fear Breaker achievement after killing 300 Corrupted Poison Spiders and received a Parasitic Bee Egg. He tested both rewards, finding that spiders feared him and that the egg could rapidly kill them and produce a reusable egg.

• Linsey used his map and Silent Edge to kill Corrupted Poison Spiders from beyond their detection range, carefully taking their bodies away without disturbing the nest.
• After his kill count passed 300, Linsey earned the Spider Fear Breaker title and a Parasitic Bee Egg, while the next achievement required 1,500 kills.
• Linsey tested his new title by approaching three spiders; one fled in terror, and he shot it as it escaped.
• Linsey attached a Parasitic Bee Egg to another spider, which quickly died as the egg hatched and produced a new egg inside its body.

Linsey used captured animals as bait to draw the Corrupted Poison Spiders away from their territory and create an opening to approach their Fifth Stage leader. He tracked the leader’s movements and lay in wait to shoot it in the abdomen.

• Linsey studied the Corrupted Poison Spiders’ habits and learned that their abdomens had low fire resistance and that the strongest spider claimed the best prey.
• Linsey captured magical beasts and wild animals in the Hilly Area, then transported them to the edge of the Mountainous Forest Area.
• Linsey fired his Flame Flintlock Gun to send the prey fleeing into the forest, drawing hungry Corrupted Poison Spiders toward them.
• Linsey used the map to track a Forest Wolf until the spiders killed it, then spotted the Fifth Stage Corrupted Poison Spider approaching the prey.
• Linsey hid in a tree along the leader’s route, aimed an arrow embedded with a Parasitic Bee Egg at its abdomen, and prepared to attack.

Linsey ambushed a Fifth Stage Corrupted Poison Spider with an arrow carrying a Parasitic Bee Egg, then crippled it when it tried to survive by mutilating itself. He approached the dying spider to question it about the Dragon Beast on Black Mountain.

• Linsey shot the Fifth Stage Corrupted Poison Spider with an arrow carrying a Parasitic Bee Egg.
• The Parasitic Bee Egg began devouring the spider from inside, so the spider stabbed its own abdomen and collapsed.
• Linsey revealed himself to the wounded spider, and the other Corrupted Poison Spiders saw their leader in danger.
• The spider offered Linsey treasure in exchange for its life, and Linsey approached it to learn more about the Dragon Beast it served.

Linsey interrogated the captured Corrupted Poison Spider about the Dragon Beast and the dangers ahead, learning that a powerful Tree Mother controlled a vast territory and that most resistance had been wiped out. Though the spider offered treasure in exchange for its life, Linsey aimed his flaming arrow at its head and declared he would kill it.

• Linsey questioned the Corrupted Poison Spider, which said the Dragon Beast had ordered it to monitor the World Boundary and was close to completing its advancement.
• The spider revealed that the Dragon Beast had ordered it to let some magical beasts escape, though it did not know why.
• The spider warned Linsey about the powerful Tree Mother, whose territory would take a hundred days to cross or several hundred days to bypass.
• The spider said the world’s resistance had been wiped out, though scattered remnants might still survive.
• The Corrupted Poison Spider offered to reveal its treasure, but Linsey refused the bargain and pointed his flaming arrow at its head.

Linsey killed the Corrupted Poison Spider, crafted a rapid-fire short bow, and claimed rewards from the mission and Hunting Notes achievement. Equipped with new goggles that enhanced his vision, he entered a vast web-covered forest to search for the treasure the spiders had mentioned.

• Linsey killed the Corrupted Poison Spider with a Flame Armor-Piercing Arrow and collected its materials.
• Linsey crafted Spider Silk Night Shadow, tested its rapid firing speed, and watched the remaining spiders flee.
• Linsey collected five bottles of Spider Poison Corpse Water and received Crimson Spider Eye Goggles for the leader kill achievement.
• Linsey equipped the goggles and entered the enormous web-covered forest, where the spiders fled from him.
• Linsey opened the map and continued deeper into the forest to find the treasure.

Linsey endured the spiderweb-choked forest, discovered the Corrupted Poison Spider’s hidden hoard, and found a rare Aetal Iron Dagger that could be used to craft an Indestructible Blade. After crossing the mountain range by dawn, he faced the vast world ahead and realized his journey had only just begun.

• Linsey found a concealed cave beneath thick spiderwebs and entered it to search for the Corrupted Poison Spider’s treasure.
• Linsey discovered coins and miscellaneous junk, then found an unusually heavy Aetal Iron Dagger and saw that it could be used to craft an Indestructible Blade.
• Linsey took the coins and dagger, cut through the webs, and left the spider-infested forest.
• Linsey traveled through the night, crossed the mountain range, and reached the far side of the Mountainous Forest Area at dawn.
• Linsey looked out over the vast land and understood that crossing the world would be a long journey.

Linsey endured four and a half months of solitary travel across the wilderness, then noticed an unexplained drop in temperature and sent a bat to scout ahead. The bat reported that a cold, icy plain lay in front of him.

• Linsey talked to an imaginary friend, measured his journey by the 137 stones he had collected, and reflected on the loneliness of traveling alone.
• Linsey ate grilled coyote meat, consulted his map and expedition records, and continued east toward the Black Mountain World.
• Linsey noticed that the wind was no longer lifting sand and found the soil darker, stickier, and cooler than expected.
• Linsey removed his temperature-resistance equipment and considered whether the change came from an unusual temperature zone or the nearby swamp.
• Linsey sent a bat ahead to scout, and it returned with a report of a cold, icy plain.

Linsey investigated an increasingly cold swamp and discovered a slumbering Glacier Elemental whose presence might explain the unnatural freeze. After failing to wake it, he received a quest to uncover the swamp’s mystery and resolve its crisis.

• Linsey followed a yellow map marker into the swamp, where the temperature fell and the pools gradually froze.
• Linsey found a motionless Glacier Elemental and used Simulation Management to learn that it was slumbering.
• Linsey suspected the Glacier Elemental might be a survivor driven from its home by the Dragon Beast and tried to wake it so he could negotiate.
• The Glacier Elemental did not respond, and Linsey’s Task Bar issued the quest “Ice Crystal in a Temperature Difference Dilemma,” offering a Secret Treasure Map and an RPG Module upgrade.

Linsey accepted a task to resolve an Ice Crystal’s dilemma and tried unsuccessfully to wake a hibernating Glacier Elemental. After his scout bat was killed, he tracked a hostile creature deeper into the Frozen Swamp and narrowly avoided its attack.

• Linsey accepted the challenge and tried several nonviolent ways to wake the Glacier Elemental, but it remained unresponsive.
• Linsey sent a summoned bat to scout the swamp, then waited beside the sleeping elemental while the bat searched.
• Linsey learned that the bat had died and spotted a Red Dot on his map, so he headed east to investigate.
• Linsey found more sleeping Glacier Elementals and raised himself above the sparse trees to survey the swamp.
• Linsey spotted a large black-scaled lizard beside an unfrozen pool, and it turned its hostile gaze toward him.
• Linsey dodged as the lizard blasted the top of his earthen pillar into dust.

Linsey fought a Black Scale Lizard Dragon and discovered that its airflow shield and air-burst attacks made it resistant to his weapons and explosives. After the monster injured him, Hunting Notes revealed its weaknesses, leaving Linsey to find a way to strike its unprotected abdomen in the cold swamp.

• Linsey noticed the Black Scale Lizard Dragon destroying his earthen pillar with bursts of compressed air and prepared to test its abilities.
• Linsey lured the charging monster over Flame Bombs, but its airflow shield let it emerge almost unscathed.
• Linsey found that Spider Silk Night Shadow could not pierce the shield and that the Iron Horn Great Bow only scratched the monster’s scales.
• The Black Scale Lizard Dragon predicted Linsey’s route and blasted him into the weeds, injuring his chest.
• Hunting Notes identified the enemy as an Awakened Fifth Stage Black Scale Lizard Dragon and listed low temperatures and its unprotected abdomen as weaknesses.