Chapter Summaries

Lu Ban and the others concluded that the Spirit Torch could form the magic net’s defense and bind gods as its core. They realized the imprisoned god on the Blood Moon might solve their problem, leaving them to figure out how to reach it.

• Xiya explained that the Spirit Torch’s kindling came from contamination suppressed by the magic net, and Lu Ban compared it to Cleansing Fire.
• Jost proposed using the Spirit Torch to burn gods and bind them as magic-net nodes, while also protecting the network from contamination.
• Xiya recalled that the Spirit Torch had burned atop the Gray Tower around a god at the magic net’s core.
• Stone suggested creating a god by leaving a mark, but Xiya explained the requirements for becoming an Old One.
• Lu Ban wondered whether he might be the god required for the task, but Xiya and Trist rejected the idea.
• Lu Ban pointed out that a god was already imprisoned in the Blood Moon and suggested finding a way to bring it into the magic net.

Lu Ban warned the players that a major Demon Tide would arrive in six months and called for them to build defenses and a Gray Tower. He gave them enchanted farming tools to speed construction, while an argument broke out among the players in the fields.

• Lu Ban summoned the players and warned that they had six months to prepare for a larger Demon Tide.
• Lu Ban announced plans to build a Gray Tower and fortifications to protect Sunset Town.
• The players eagerly discussed the new construction phase and ways to defend the town.
• Lu Ban transformed farming tools into magical construction aids and distributed them to the players.
• Old Eggplant used his enchanted shovel to turn soil into cement-like material.
• Old Eggplant heard players arguing in the fields before he could continue imagining what they might build.

Old Eggplant helped the players settle a dispute over how to defend against the Demon Tide, then logged out when Morning Star ran low on power. After noticing Cage’s stable performance, he found that Lu Ban had opened recruitment for a second batch of players with relevant technical skills.

• Old Eggplant listened as Old C and Tanuki argued over whether to build one large fortress or scattered gun emplacements to face the Demon Tide.
• Old Eggplant proposed a main fortress surrounded by smaller fortifications, and Old C and Tanuki made peace to plan the defenses together.
• Old Eggplant realized that the observation tower could become the Gray Tower and felt moved by the chance to help build it, but he logged out when Morning Star nearly ran out of power.
• Old Eggplant judged Cage’s frame rate and latency to be exceptionally stable after charging, showering, and eating.
• Old Eggplant checked the forums and saw that Lu Ban had begun recruiting a second batch, prioritizing applicants with skills such as architecture, engineering, and communications.

Old Eggplant read players’ reactions to the first monster attack, then decided to relearn his field of study so he could help build Night Country. Meanwhile, a second batch of skilled professionals joined the test, and they entered Night Country wearing their helmets.

• Old Eggplant read forum posts about the monster attack and laughed at players who dismissed the closed-beta testers’ struggles.
• After failing to understand construction tutorials, Old Eggplant regretted neglecting his studies and ordered books to refresh his knowledge.
• Lu Ban finalized a second batch of test players, including experts from engineering, science, medicine, and other fields.
• The newly selected players put on their helmets and entered Night Country.

Wang Hao joined the players designing fortifications in the Night Country, where his architectural expertise helped improve their plans. Meanwhile, Zhou Changqing described his communications experience and received a booklet outlining the group’s magical studies.

• Wang Hao entered the Night Country and volunteered his architectural skills to help build defenses against the Demon Tide.
• Wang Hao examined the fortress and Gray Tower blueprints, identified structural weaknesses, and proposed improvements.
• Old C welcomed Wang Hao and the other professionals, and Wang Hao wondered what purpose the central tower served.
• Zhou Changqing explained his experience establishing communications networks in remote regions to Xiya and a young man.
• The young man gave Zhou Changqing and his colleagues basic materials, including a booklet titled “Magic: From Beginner to Master.”

Zhou Changqing discovered that the magic textbook proposed building a network to let mages use magic while limiting their exposure to its pollution. Realizing that this was the task he had been recruited for, he sought help from his communications colleagues and shared the book’s introduction with them.

• Zhou Changqing struggled to understand the textbook’s explanation of magic and its spells.
• Zhou Changqing read the blueprint for a magic network and understood how it would remotely handle magic’s pollution, much like cloud computing.
• Zhou Changqing realized that he and the other testers were expected to build the magic network using their communications expertise.
• Zhou Changqing logged out and asked his work group for a network communications plan, explaining that he needed help building a magic network in the game.
• Zhou Changqing returned to the game several times, compiled the book’s introduction, and uploaded it to the work group.

Wang Hao designed a fortress for Sunset Town but lacked the steel needed to build it, so he hoped the players exploring the Black Forest would find iron ore. Old Eggplant's expedition found a promising deposit in a crater, only to discover it was part of a gigantic monster rising from the lake.

• Wang Hao planned a sturdy fortress, but the Night Country's scarce metal made reinforced construction impossible.
• Old Eggplant led elite beta testers deeper into the Black Forest, where contamination increased the group's fear and unease.
• A scout found a huge crater, and Old Eggplant's compass indicated that the blue-black rocks there were likely iron ore.
• Old Eggplant and several players examined the rocks and marked their location for testing.
• A giant, six-legged monster rose from the lake as the ore around the crater tore free, and Old Eggplant recognized it as a possible Wild Boss.

After Old Eggplant’s group discovers that the enormous monster is an Iron Lizard, Xiya identifies it as a rare source of steel, and Lu Ban sends the players on an expedition to face it. The players eagerly prepare to leave town, despite knowing the monster can kill them painfully.

• Old Eggplant and the other players are crushed by the Iron Lizard, then report their discovery to Trist.
• Xiya explains that the Iron Lizard is a Crystalline Organism and a valuable source of steel, so Trist agrees to join the expedition against it.
• Lu Ban argues that the new players need to experience danger before the Demon Tide and summons them to hear about the monster.
• Lu Ban tells the players that the expedition suffered heavy losses and that defeating the monster is necessary to obtain resources.
• The players enthusiastically gather their weapons for the expedition, while Stone questions why they willingly face painful deaths.

Lu Ban prepared a livestream of the players’ Great Expedition to publicize the game and recruit a third batch of skilled players. Meanwhile, Zhu Wei unexpectedly understood a spell while reading Zhou Changqing’s magic book, but a mysterious girl stopped him before he could cast it.

• Lu Ban arranged for Li Zijian to contact media outlets and planned to livestream the Great Expedition as publicity for recruiting new players.
• News of the expedition and official livestream spread worldwide, exciting viewers eager to watch the players face the Night Country’s monsters.
• Zhou Changqing’s colleagues used simulations to test a fortress’s ability to withstand the Demon Tide, and Zhu Wei stayed late to review a magic book.
• Zhu Wei suddenly understood the first spell and began gathering power at his fingertips as a strange voice urged him to try it.
• A mysterious girl appeared behind Zhu Wei, covered his hand, and warned him not to be too curious, interrupting the spell.
• The simulation finished, and Zhu Wei returned to his senses; he could no longer understand the magic book and left the office.

Zheng Li watched Lu Ban’s official livestream to judge whether Night Country’s reportedly extraordinary graphics were genuine gameplay or promotional deception. The broadcast opened on a forest so realistic that Zheng Li questioned whether he was watching performers in a live-action film.

• Zheng Li anticipated the livestream because he had been unable to enter Night Country and had no way to see its gameplay firsthand.
• Lu Ban released a short preview showing players walking through a town, building, and farming, and Zheng Li suspected it was filmed footage enhanced with special effects.
• At eight in the evening, Zheng Li entered the crowded official livestream and blocked the comments to see the broadcast clearly.
• The livestream opened on a dark, lifelike forest that startled Zheng Li and briefly left him forgetting to breathe.
• The camera moved into the forest, where a tense group carrying weapons advanced, and Zheng Li recognized several players but wondered whether they were performers in a live-action film.

Zhou Changqing nervously joined the players’ expedition into the Black Forest, while a livestream of their approach stunned viewers and technology executives in the real world. The players reached the crater where the Iron Lizard rested, and the broadcast left the executives fearing Lu Ban’s technology had made their industry obsolete.

• Zhou Changqing feared dying in the realistic game but looked forward to exploring the Black Forest and fighting the Iron Lizard.
• The second batch of players advanced through the forest in formation, with veteran players guarding the perimeter.
• Viewers and hardware industry executives watched the players’ journey on a livestream and marveled at Morning Star’s visuals.
• An executive and his colleagues discussed Morning Star’s overwhelming technology and the collapse of their company’s stock price.
• The players reached a devastated clearing and found the massive, metallic Iron Lizard resting in a crater as they prepared to attack.

Players used catapults to draw the iron lizard away from the pits, then climbed onto its body and attacked its weak points with supernaturally enhanced weapons. Old Eggplant stabbed its head, and the wounded beast suddenly stopped moving.

• The players fired stones from catapults, damaging the iron lizard's metal hide and drawing its attention away from the pits.
• The iron lizard crushed a catapult and two players as the others rushed toward its body.
• Old Eggplant pierced the iron lizard's tail with his modified longsword while other players climbed onto the beast and spread out across it.
• The players stabbed through the iron lizard's shell, and Old Eggplant climbed to its head and drove his sword into it.
• The iron lizard thrashed violently, shaking many players loose, but then its movements suddenly froze.

Trist killed Iron Lizard with a powerful shot that also vaporized Old Eggplant and more than a dozen other players, while Lu Ban revealed that the players had drawn the monster’s attention as part of their plan. The players gathered around Iron Lizard’s corpse to loot it, and Zhou Changqing joined them, eager to see the rewards.

• Iron Lizard froze and turned toward the forest before a blinding beam struck it, vaporizing Old Eggplant and more than a dozen players while melting half the monster’s head.
• Trist holstered his revolver after blasting a crater through the forest and gravely wounding Iron Lizard.
• Trist and Lu Ban confirmed that they had used the players to draw Iron Lizard’s attention so Trist could attack it.
• Lu Ban announced victory and told the players to clear the battlefield, prompting them to speculate that the monster’s defeat had been scripted.
• Zhou Changqing emerged from behind a tree and joined the players gathering around Iron Lizard’s corpse to look for loot.

After Iron Lizard was defeated, Zhou Changqing and the other players harvested its body and ate its roasted meat, but a dangerous parasite emerged and killed him. Zheng Li watched the livestream and became even more eager to play Cage as interest in the game surged and the players prepared to build the Gray Tower.

• The players harvested Iron Lizard's ore and meat, and Zhou Changqing began eating the roasted flesh.
• Zhou Changqing discovered a parasite in Iron Lizard's body, and it leapt onto his face and ate much of his head.
• A player killed the parasite and warned everyone to search Iron Lizard's body carefully; Zhou Changqing's body turned to dust.
• Zheng Li watched the livestream, recognized the parasite's danger, and decided Cage was the one game he would choose to play forever.
• The livestream caused a surge of interest that crashed Silent Media's mail server, while the players began planning construction of the Gray Tower.

Zhou Changqing studied magic with Jost and learned that magical creatures’ cores and flesh contained dangerous pollution. After logging off, he questioned whether the Night Country was becoming more real to him than his ordinary life, then saw his reflection smile when he had not.

• Zhou Changqing struggled to learn magic while Jost explained that modern magic had been made more complex to raise the entry threshold and protect people from pollution.
• Trist brought Jost the Iron Lizard’s condensed core, and Jost warned Zhou Changqing that the core contained more pollution than the creature’s flesh.
• Zhou Changqing realized he had eaten Iron Lizard meat but dismissed the risk because he believed the game’s pollution could not affect reality.
• Zhou Changqing logged off and reflected on how the Night Country felt more real than his life outside the game.
• Zhou Changqing saw his reflection smile even though he had not smiled himself.

Zhou Changqing encountered a ghostly fourth floor after an elevator carried him to a nonexistent level of his residential complex. He entered a strange room and tried to give a monstrous old man water, only to find the teapot pouring blood.

• Zhou Changqing saw his reflection behave strangely in the bathroom mirror, then dismissed it and went downstairs.
• The elevator stopped at an empty floor and then opened onto a pitch-black fourth-floor corridor that should not exist.
• Zhou Changqing walked toward a faintly glowing red door, hearing footsteps and encountering a floating face identical to his own.
• Zhou Changqing found papers sealing the wooden door, entered a simple room, and saw an old man seated at a table.
• The old man twisted his head around and asked Zhou Changqing for water, but the teapot poured blood.

Zhou Changqing escaped an encounter with a blood-drinking old man, who then possessed his body and entered a helmet that led to another world. The old man was destroyed by a blueprint there, while Zhou Changqing began to suspect something was wrong with his reflection.

• The old man drank blood, attacked Zhou Changqing, and was apparently killed by Zhou Changqing’s punch before disappearing along with the fourth-floor illusion.
• The old man appeared in Zhou Changqing’s bathroom mirror, entered his helmet, and took on Zhou Changqing’s form in another world.
• The old man followed a thin young man to a laboratory, where the young man showed him a blueprint that painfully bound his soul and made his body collapse.
• Green smoke and faint wails escaped the helmet and vanished as Zhou Changqing ate at a nearby restaurant.
• Zhou Changqing remembered that his face might have been missing from the mirror and dropped his chopsticks.

Wang Hao surveyed Sunset Town’s completed defenses as a vast swarm of insects emerged from the Black Forest, signaling a monster migration and the approaching Demon Tide. The players began defending the fortress with cannons, but the swarm surrounded the town and stretched beyond sight.

• Wang Hao admired Sunset Town’s rapidly built fortress, gray tower, and advanced defenses as the third batch of beta players helped the town outpace the Night Country’s other regions.
• Wang Hao spotted clouds gathering over the Black Forest, and the players mobilized after shouting that monsters were attacking.
• Jost watched the players assemble, while Trist went to the fortress watchtower and found Stone observing the approaching threat.
• Stone identified the advancing monsters as a swarm of insects as a storm darkened the sky and debris swept toward the fortress.
• The players loaded and fired cannons at the swarm, destroying many insects, but the immense black mass continued to surround Sunset Town.

Jost struggled with the decision to develop Spirit Torches, knowing they would require countless future sacrifices, while players fought the Thousand-Legged Demon Tide in a brutal defense. Trist’s Simulated Sunflare saved the town from the insects that broke through, and Xiya concluded that the Night Country’s current strength was not enough.

• Xiya explained that Thousand-Legged’s endless insect swarms had been manageable in her era but posed a grave threat without Spirit Torches and large numbers of mages.
• Jost hesitated to add Spirit Torches to the magic net because doing so would cause tens of millions of people to die in the years ahead.
• The insect swarm struck the fortresses, and Wang Hao, Stone, Trist, and the other players fought amid heavy casualties as viewers watched Lu Ban’s livestream.
• Trist used Simulated Sunflare to blind and destroy the insects flying over the town, preventing them from harming its residents.
• Xiya told Jost that the Night Country could not withstand the monsters with its current strength, while Jost appeared to have made his decision.

As the Demon Tide approached, Jost worried that Sunset Town could not survive and read his mentor’s warning against the magic net. Despite his failing health and the risks, he resolved to keep building it, while Trist urged him to move forward before they went to discuss the town’s defenses.

• Jost surveyed prosperous Sunset Town and feared the approaching Demon Tide would destroy nearby settlements and overwhelm the town.
• Jost read his mentor’s reply, which warned of the magic net’s flaws and urged him to return to the royal palace for treatment.
• Jost reaffirmed that he would complete the magic net, even if he had to give up everything.
• Trist joined Jost and discussed his fear that the Night Country would remain trapped in endless destruction.
• Trist said he would sacrifice his life to save the world and urged Jost to move forward before they left for the defense meeting.