Recaps

Qianhuan and the others discovered students worshiping an unseen being in an underground cavern, and the Director explained that the Gray Domain’s supreme will suppresses those with Authority from becoming gods. As the group speculated that Copper Furnace might have escaped and become an Evil God, they began praising the being, and Qianhuan realized the cavern’s ritual might brainwash anyone who entered into becoming its believer.

• Fluoxetine and Zuo Xi jumped into the dark opening, and Qianhuan followed them to investigate.
• Qianhuan found more than a hundred students kneeling in a crude underground cavern and worshiping empty space while Fluoxetine poked at them.
• Bandura said the students were performing a sacrifice to a higher being, and the Director explained that the Gray Domain’s supreme will prevented beings with Authority from becoming gods.
• Qianhuan suspected Copper Furnace had escaped the Gray Domain and become an Evil God who had trapped them in the projection.
• White Sand, Zuo Xi, the Director, and others began praising the being, and Qianhuan suspected the ritual had turned them into its believers.

Lin Yu staged five parallel versions of the school’s underground encounter with an Evil God, playing every character except each drama’s true protagonist. As the performances ended and the scattered souls returned, Lin Yu concluded that his elaborate act had fulfilled the Death game’s condition for a great performance.

• Bandura saw a scarlet eye appear among the believers and began hearing the Evil God’s offer, while Qianhuan remained conscious and looked for a way to act.
• White Sand judged the offer to be a transaction and argued that keeping him alive would be valuable to the Evil God.
• Lin Yu revealed that the five players had never truly assembled and that he had played the other characters across five parallel dramas.
• Lin Yu explained that he had erased his memory of each drama’s protagonist so he could identify the true players by comparing their performances.
• The supporting characters’ roles ended, their divided consciousnesses and souls returned to their bodies, and Lin Yu declared the performance great.

Lin Yu joined Stiller at the siege of a city in Xia Jin and prepared to help the Half-Demons seize it. His arrival and display of wind manipulation lifted their spirits and accelerated their advance.

• Lin Yu left the memory illusion after trapping the Tier 3 Players, knowing that killing them there would only wake them.
• Lin Yu teleported to Stiller's command post and learned the Half-Demons were attacking a city under Xia Jin's Ming Zi Department.
• Stiller explained that the city's defenses were weak because its elite forces were away at the Northern Border of Sanqiu.
• Lin Yu told Stiller to hold the command post while he flew to the front line using Butterfly Wings and an ability that manipulated wind.
• The Half-Demons cheered Lin Yu's arrival and fought harder as they advanced on the city.

After the half-demons secured a city and established a foothold, Lin Yu gave their leaders final advice before completing the game and returning to the Settlement Space. He received four achievement evaluations and eight non-exclusive item rewards, then turned his attention to the other five Players.

• The half-demons occupied a city and formed a defensive territory along the border between Xia Jin and Sanqiu as the battle ended.
• Lin Yu told the half-demons that he and Great Shaman Stiller would leave, and advised them to rely on themselves, adapt to changing circumstances, and learn from mistakes.
• Lin Yu urged the half-demons close to him to avoid fanaticism, listen to their people, and prevent a new Demon Race from arising among them.
• After battlefield cleanup finished, Lin Yu cleared the game and received seven days of Survival Time plus four evaluations that granted eight non-exclusive items.
• In the Settlement Space, Lin Yu chose not to inspect his rewards yet and looked toward the other five Players, who were still reflecting on the game's final events.

The Players recovered in the Settlement Space after escaping the illusion, though their memories of its ending were blurred. White Sand threatened Lin Yu and argued with the others, while Fluoxetine and Zuo Xi confronted each other over Lin Yu and ended up exchanging strange jokes; Lin Yu hoped they would fight, but wanted both of them to die by his own hand.

• The Players emerged from the Instance with hazy memories, and White Sand complained that the others had freeloaded off his contribution to their escape.
• White Sand threatened Lin Yu and Qianhuan, then warned Pen Name and Fluoxetine to stop protecting Lin Yu.
• Fluoxetine asked Zuo Xi why she was interested in the Director and revealed that she had brought him into the Death game and nearly killed Zhu Ming.
• Fluoxetine and Zuo Xi exchanged threats and jokes about meeting at Sayram Lake, leaving the other Players puzzled.
• Lin Yu hoped Fluoxetine and Zuo Xi would fight without anyone dying, because he wanted to kill them both himself.

Lin Yu completed the Rank Advancement Trial’s prerequisite missions and received a blueprint for an Exclusive Item. Its roleplay-based abilities seemed perfectly suited to him, but its name, Empty Shell, left him sensing malice from the Death game.

• Lin Yu completed both Rank Advancement missions and received his Exclusive Item blueprint.
• The blueprint required him to fuse Abyssal Gaze, Whale's Tear, Poetry Flower, and Ancient Noise by carrying them while using his abilities and items.
• Lin Yu saw that the item would let him imitate known entities and gain reproducible abilities, strengthened by audience belief.
• Lin Yu imagined using the item to imitate others and planned to ask Senior Sister Shen Bingmiao to arrange a meeting with the Grandmaster.
• Lin Yu saw that his future Exclusive Item was named Empty Shell and sensed malice from the Death game.

Lin Yu unlocked Map Permission after completing his third Rank Advancement Trial and discovered teleportation points in the Wilderness and Mist Island. He reviewed eight newly obtained Items, which greatly strengthened his Witchcraft and gave him new avenues for gathering materials and learning more techniques.

• Lin Yu confirmed that his Exclusive Item Blueprint was named Empty Shell, then learned that obtaining the blueprint had also qualified him to unlock Map Permission.
• Lin Yu used the Map to view the Six Realms and discovered teleportation points in the City That Never Sleeps and on Mist Island’s 6th Island.
• Lin Yu planned to investigate whether Abyssal Gaze, Whale’s Tear, Poetry Flower, and Old-Sun Noise could be found in the two realms with teleportation points.
• Lin Yu examined four Witchcraft-related Items: an Unfinished Totem Pole, a Dragon Bone Sword Staff, a Wind Riding Bracelet, and Incomplete Northern Spirit Witchcraft Notes.
• Lin Yu recognized that the Items complemented his Ancestral Spirit and Wind Vein Witchcraft and planned to study Spirit Race and human Witchcraft further.

Lin Yu examined four witchcraft Items and four additional rewards, assessing how they could strengthen him and Zhu Ming. The crude statue depicting him deepened his understanding of Ancestral Spirit Witchcraft and the origins of totems, sacrifices, and rituals.

• Lin Yu reflected on how wind vein and Ancestral Spirit Witchcraft complemented his abilities, then set aside assigning the witchcraft Items to one of his identities.
• Lin Yu inspected a strange white mushroom and decided not to eat it until he could test its effects and side effects.
• Lin Yu examined a Giant Elephant Horn that could summon an adult Earth Horn Giant Elephant and considered how it could strengthen Zhu Ming.
• Lin Yu tested the Raccoon Tribe’s headscarf, noting its toughness and its agility, strength, and night-vision benefits, while worrying about the tribe’s fate.
• Lin Yu recognized himself in a Half-Demon’s crude sage statue and, reflecting on its maker’s hopes, gained fresh insight into totems, sacrifices, rituals, and Ancestral Spirit Witchcraft.

Lin Yu realized that sorcery worked through belief-driven resonance and gained fragments of five Players’ souls and memories through his performance. After obtaining the Exclusive item blueprint, he told Shen Bingmiao that his item was named Empty Shell, and she warned that he might be unable to open the Heart Domain.

• Lin Yu used his insight into sorcery’s resonance principle to learn a small amount of water control without analyzing the Water Prayer Necklace.
• Lin Yu revealed that the Ancient Notebook had retained soul fragments and memories from Qianhuan, Bandura, White Sand, Fluoxetine, and Zuo Xi, which he planned to investigate.
• Lin Yu left the bathroom and told Shen Bingmiao that he had obtained his Exclusive item blueprint.
• Lin Yu told Shen Bingmiao that his Exclusive item was named Empty Shell and that the name seemed connected to earlier guidance.
• Shen Bingmiao asked whether the item resembled acquiring other people’s abilities and whether Lin Yu felt ready to open his Heart Domain.
• Shen Bingmiao warned Lin Yu that his current state might prevent him from opening the Heart Domain at all.

Lin Yu asked Shen Bingmiao how to open his Heart Domain, which he needed to advance toward godhood and resurrect his elder sister. She warned that his many immersive roles were scattering his identity and abilities, but Lin Yu resolved to unify them without giving up acting.

• Lin Yu said he could not accept stopping at Tier 3 because he needed greater power to face his enemies and pursue his goals.
• Shen Bingmiao asked Lin Yu whether he thought he was the Director, prompting him to recognize that his acting might complicate his sense of self.
• Shen Bingmiao explained that opening the Heart Domain required understanding himself, the world, and his abilities, and warned that his many roles could pull them apart.
• Lin Yu said he would find a way to reunify his roles and cognitions while continuing to act in daily life.
• Lin Yu declared that he would attempt what ordinary people could not do, and Shen Bingmiao conceded that he had exceeded her expectations.

Lin Yu learned that Copper Furnace was moving against Order and helped draw other factions into investigating it. After Fu Luo’s investigation led to Gao Shan’s death, Fu Luo sent Lin Yu a hidden warning before the killer murdered him.

• Shen Bingmiao warned Lin Yu that Copper Furnace included former Players and might soon act, while Lin Yu revealed he had exposed the organization to several factions in an Instance.
• Shen Bingmiao left for Order’s headquarters and asked Lin Yu to lead the team and watch over the Drama club members the next day.
• Lin Yu reviewed Li Hua’s list of personnel sent to South China and suspected Order was responding to dangers beyond Copper Furnace.
• Fu Luo emerged badly wounded from the reservoir and regretted that Gao Shan had sacrificed himself to help Fu Luo escape their Instance.
• Fu Luo realized the killer had trapped him with a mind imprint, but he bypassed it by sending Lin Yu a warning before destroying his phone and confronting the killer.
• The killer struck Fu Luo with silver light, and Fu Luo fell while remaining confident that the killer’s crimes would be avenged.

Lin Yu rushed to the reservoir after receiving Fu Luo’s message, but Fu Luo had already been murdered, and Lin Yu arrived too late to save him. As the Order investigated Fu Luo and Gao Shan’s deaths, Lin Yu vowed to find the killer, while Li Hua questioned him at the scene.

• Lin Yu flew from Yanjing to the reservoir and found Fu Luo fatally wounded, but Old Zheng told him Fu Luo’s soul had already dissipated.
• Lin Yu put Fu Luo’s woolen hat back on, thanked him for his message, and vowed to avenge him.
• Li Hua and Nicholas oversaw the investigation and learned that both Fu Luo and Gao Shan were dead and that the killer had concealed their methods.
• Li Hua ordered the Central China Order to prioritize the case, investigate the victims’ recent Instance teammates, and provide compensation to their families.
• Li Hua questioned Lin Yu about arriving first, and Good Night angrily defended him before Lin Yu asked him to stay calm.

Lin Yu answered Li Hua’s questions about arriving at Fu Luo’s murder scene, while Good Night defended him and Li Hua promised to submit an assessment. Li Hua then revealed that Sherlock and Gao Shan had been investigating the bounty on Lin Yu, raising the possibility that someone in the Order had killed them.

• Lin Yu told Li Hua that the Administrator helped him locate Fu Luo’s phone and that he used a rare talisman to reach the scene quickly.
• Lin Yu denied affecting the corpse or crime scene, and Li Hua said the organization would assess his actions with Nicholas involved.
• Good Night argued that Lin Yu deserved compensation for trying to save Fu Luo, but Li Hua said the organization alone would decide.
• Lin Yu admitted he was grieving but said he wanted to uncover the truth about Fu Luo’s murder.
• Li Hua asked how likely it was that someone in the Order had killed Fu Luo, then explained that Sherlock and Gao Shan had been investigating the bounty on Lin Yu.
• Li Hua said Gao Shan’s records suggested someone with sufficient authority and a connection to the bounty could have had both the motive and means to murder Gao Shan and Sherlock.

Li Hua revealed the suspected mole within Order and laid out a dangerous South China operation to protect the Player Mutual Society election. Lin Yu grew concerned that the Hidden Organization might be cooperating with the Marauders and decided to investigate them through Yayu.

• Li Hua told Good Night that a Hidden Organization might have placed a bounty on Lin Yu and planted a mole within Order, then recruited Good Night to help investigate.
• Li Hua revealed that Good Night would become Jiang City Captain General and that he and Lin Yu would nominally command the reinforcements sent to South China, while Li Hua secretly directed the operation.
• Li Hua said Benevolent King would offer his [Non-exclusive items] to the Player Mutual Society’s new president, and that the Marauders already knew about the reward.
• Li Hua disclosed that the Diviner had trapped the Grandmaster inside an [Instance], leaving her unable to oversee events as usual.
• Lin Yu suspected the Hidden Organization might be cooperating with the Marauders and decided to use Yayu’s identity to investigate their plans.

On the train back to Yanjing, Lin Yu entered the Ancient Notebook’s Information Space to test its ability to reconstruct memories and create Information Lifeforms. He opened a memory containing a Soul Fragment and found himself in an old residential complex from Qianhuan’s past.

• Lin Yu took the Ancient Notebook out on the train and connected his consciousness and soul to it.
• He explored the Notebook’s Information Space, which appeared as a home formed from his own core memories.
• Lin Yu used the door to access a reconstructed memory scene, with a Soul Fragment helping the Notebook fill in details.
• He realized the scene was probably from Qianhuan’s memories and found the old residential complex unexpectedly modest.
• Lin Yu released his Mental Power and quickly located Qianhuan.

Lin Yu entered Qianhuan’s memories and discovered that Qianhuan’s real name was Shen Lian and that he secretly posted magic videos online while dressing in a maid outfit. Lin Yu memorized Qianhuan’s account name, realizing he had uncovered a secret unknown even to the Freedom Alliance.

• Lin Yu climbed into Qianhuan’s home and learned from his grandmother that Qianhuan’s real name was Shen Lian.
• Qianhuan’s grandmother opened his bedroom door and found him wearing a maid outfit and taking selfies.
• Qianhuan explained that he dressed up to fulfill a promise to his online fans after reaching one hundred thousand followers.
• Qianhuan’s grandmother accepted his explanation and offered to follow his account, but he hurriedly hid his phone.
• Lin Yu memorized Qianhuan’s account name and realized the Freedom Alliance apparently knew nothing about it.

Lin Yu used the [Ancient Notebook] to create an Information Lifeform from fragments of Qianhuan’s soul and memories. After feeding it information about Qianhuan, he brought it closer to self-awareness and turned to the next step: building a place where such beings could live.

• Lin Yu explored Qianhuan’s memory and learned about his family, work as a blogger, and close relationship with his grandmother.
• Lin Yu decided he could use what he learned about Qianhuan to jokingly threaten him through Zhu Ming’s identity and demand hush money.
• Lin Yu activated the [Ancient Notebook]’s ability to create an Information Lifeform from the unstable Soul Fragments in Qianhuan’s memory.
• The newborn Information Lifeform initially imitated Qianhuan but lacked self-awareness and could not manage complex reactions.
• Lin Yu fed the being memories and information about Qianhuan, making it more substantial and bringing it close to consciousness.
• The being recognized Lin Yu as the “Director,” and Lin Yu declared the first step successful before beginning to plan an environment for Information Lifeforms.

Lin Yu used the Information Authority to create a growing Information Lifeform modeled on Qianhuan, then entered a second reconstructed memory space containing Bandura. There, he witnessed Bandura being blamed for a patient’s daughter murdering her father after following the psychologist’s advice.

• Lin Yu discovered that an Information Lifeform could develop through interaction with a constructed environment and began considering how such replicas could help him predict people’s actions.
• Lin Yu created a corridor of memory spaces and placed Qianhuan’s reconstructed life in a room labeled “Serial Number 1: ‘Magician.’”
• Lin Yu opened the second door and entered a scene reconstructed from Bandura’s soul fragment and memories.
• Bandura watched a patient’s family protest outside the mental health center as reporters and police gathered.
• The vice president accused Bandura of causing a murder, explaining that a fifteen-year-old patient had stabbed her father and credited Bandura with helping her find a way out of her suffering.
• Bandura defended his work, saying a doctor’s duty was to help patients trapped in suffering.

Lin Yu watched Bandura defend his decision to guide a girl toward confronting the source of her trauma, even though she had killed her father. The memory ended with Lin Yu realizing Bandura might become Schreiber’s first ally in the Psychology Society.

• Lin Yu listened as Bandura’s senior colleague accused him of causing a girl to murder her father.
• Bandura argued that psychotherapy should help individuals confront the trauma behind their suffering, which he believed often came from other people.
• Bandura insisted he had not told the girl to kill anyone and accepted that he might go to prison, but rejected being treated as abnormal.
• After the memory ended, Lin Yu recognized that Bandura’s beliefs matched his conduct in the Death game.
• Lin Yu considered recruiting Bandura as Schreiber’s first ally within the Psychology Society.

Lin Yu reconstructed White Sand’s memories as an Information Lifeform and watched him perform an improvised spirit-medium ritual for a sick child, then collect payment. White Sand split the money with the van’s driver, whom Lin Yu recognized as the Diviner.

• Lin Yu transformed Bandura into an Information Lifeform, supplied his memories, and created a scene in which he survived.
• Lin Yu entered White Sand’s memory and watched him perform a spirit-medium ritual for a sick boy.
• White Sand told the boy’s family that he was cured and accepted a thick envelope of cash.
• White Sand left in a van and gave half the payment to the driver as a referral fee.
• Lin Yu recognized the driver as the Diviner when he saw his eyes in the rearview mirror.

Lin Yu studied White Sand’s memories and learned that White Sand had a close, unusually equal relationship with the Marauders’ Diviner, as well as a strong appetite for money. He tested whether impersonating the Diviner could make White Sand abandon his bounty mission, then moved on to Zuo Xi’s memories.

• Lin Yu inferred from White Sand’s memories that he had known the Diviner before joining the Death game and likely had an occult background.
• Lin Yu turned White Sand’s soul fragment into an Information Lifeform and entered its mental world disguised as the Diviner.
• Lin Yu asked White Sand to give up hunting him, but White Sand refused because the bounty was too valuable.
• Lin Yu concluded that their friendship meant White Sand could not simply be controlled through the Diviner’s authority.
• Lin Yu left White Sand’s scene and entered Zuo Xi’s memories to continue his investigation.

Lin Yu entered Zuo Xi’s unusually vivid, objective memories and found her alone at school, reading a Literature Club magazine. He learned that she had joined the club because she was fascinated by the talented Senior Sister Meng Yang, whose story she considered astonishing for a seventeen-year-old.

• Lin Yu resolved to be especially wary of Zuo Xi and Fluoxetine because both were intelligent and curious about him.
• Lin Yu entered Zuo Xi’s memories and found them more complete and vivid than the other Soul Fragments’ memories, with no strong emotional atmosphere.
• After classes, Zuo Xi stayed alone in her classroom while her classmates left for dinner and activities.
• Zuo Xi opened the Literature Club’s sample magazine and skipped most of its contents to read a short story by Meng Yang.
• Zuo Xi judged Meng Yang’s writing to be the work of a literary genius and recalled that curiosity about the Senior Sister had led her to join the Literature Club.

Zuo Xi reflected on Meng Yang’s literary talent and cheerful personality, hoping to understand the pain beneath her stories. Her curiosity was interrupted when police arrived at school and students reported that Meng Yang had died.

• Zuo Xi recalled how Meng Yang’s short story had drawn her into the Literature Club and made her curious about the contrast between Meng Yang’s writing and her sunny life.
• Zuo Xi described how Meng Yang had encouraged her writing and repeatedly reached out to her during club activities.
• Zuo Xi decided to discuss Meng Yang’s latest story with her at the next Literature Club activity and hoped their growing friendship would help answer her questions.
• A police car arrived at the school, and students returning from dinner spread news that someone had died.
• Students said the dead person was Meng Yang, leaving Zuo Xi feeling nauseous.

Zuo Xi set out to find the boy suspected of murdering Meng Yang after school rumors falsely turned the killing into a story about her cheating. She found his dead body near the mountain and, after unlocking his phone, discovered that he really had been Meng Yang’s boyfriend and that the chat records appeared to support the rumors.

• Rumors spread through Shuda Affiliated Middle School that Meng Yang had cheated on her boyfriend from outside school, who killed her after confronting her.
• Unable to tolerate the rumors becoming the accepted story of Meng Yang’s death, Zuo Xi decided to find the missing suspect.
• After leaving school, Zuo Xi rode to the mountain where police and rescue teams were searching for him.
• Zuo Xi searched in a different direction and found a dead high school-aged boy in an abandoned bungalow by the roadside.
• Zuo Xi used the boy’s fingerprint to unlock his phone and found photos and messages indicating that he had been Meng Yang’s boyfriend since middle school and that her cheating may have motivated the murder.

After discovering that Meng Yang had plagiarized a Russian writer’s work, Zuo Xi uncovered messages showing Meng Yang had championed her own rejected manuscripts. Zuo Xi vowed to become a writer, while Lin Yu realized he could use what he had learned to approach her disguised as Meng Yang.

• Zuo Xi visited Meng Yang’s parents and searched Meng Yang’s room for clues about who she had been.
• Zuo Xi found that Meng Yang had adapted unpublished Russian novels translated by her father and passed them off as her own.
• Zuo Xi discovered messages showing Meng Yang had praised Zuo Xi’s rejected manuscripts and considered recommending her for a writing competition.
• Zuo Xi saw a photo of herself with Meng Yang and declared that she would become a writer.
• Lin Yu understood Zuo Xi’s feelings and decided that appearing before her disguised as Meng Yang might have an unexpected effect.