Recaps

Lin Yu persuaded Veil Valetti to help destroy the Oil of Fear by burning it, despite the risk to Winter Mountain and its remaining inhabitants. After confirming Veil Valetti was willing to sacrifice his lingering consciousness, Lin Yu prepared to make the stable oil unstable.

• Lin Yu explained that he planned to destroy the Oil of Fear physically by setting the vast underground mass alight.
• Veil Valetti warned that the fire could destroy Winter Mountain and kill Lin Yu and his companions, but Lin Yu challenged him to accept the necessary sacrifice.
• Veil Valetti agreed to cooperate but argued that the Oil of Fear might burn too slowly and the developing monster could isolate itself or extinguish the flames.
• Lin Yu concluded that Veil Valetti was trustworthy after the researcher admitted he no longer wanted to preserve his remnant consciousness.
• Lin Yu asked whether Veil Valetti feared death and proposed making the stable Oil of Fear unstable.

Lin Yu confirmed how the Oil of Fear worked and secured Veil Valetti’s help in influencing the monster. After resting and renewing his immunity to the Dream Manufacturing Device, he prepared to make the monster notice him.

• Lin Yu questioned Veil Valetti about the Oil of Fear’s ability to create fear in reality and how much Veil could influence the monster.
• Lin Yu deduced that Veil had altered the outposts and kept the monster from noticing him in dreams, and Veil confirmed he could cause simple confusion.
• Lin Yu asked Veil to make the monster notice him in about forty hours and keep the other Players trapped in their dreams.
• Lin Yu rested while Veil kept him from encountering the others in dreams, then learned that three companions had died and lost the abilities Otaku, Henchman, and Thief.
• Lin Yu used Veil’s belief to renew his immunity to the Dream Manufacturing Device, then asked Veil to make the monster witness his existence.

Lin Yu deceived Cha by inventing a traumatic past for himself, using the monster’s ability to read fear to make it take a solid form. He and Veil Valetti set the monster ablaze, triggering a massive explosion beneath Winter Mountain.

• Veil Valetti merged into the black oil while Lin Yu drew Cha’s attention and challenged it from a maintenance tunnel.
• Cha conjured frightening figures, but Lin Yu showed no fear, so they vanished.
• Cha formed a towering monster and made Lin Yu experience the fabricated memories of a boy named A-Hu whose miner father died in a fire.
• Lin Yu revealed that he had created the false memories to deceive Cha and make its fear-based power solidify the monster.
• Lin Yu threw Veil Valetti the Black Oil Torch, and Veil Valetti ignited the monster from within, causing a massive explosion.

Lin Yu survived the Frozen Winter Mountains Instance as Veil Valetti died in the burning ruins. In the Settlement Space, Lin Yu received multiple bonus rewards and began claiming items, including a torch and a supply box that used Fear to generate food and water.

• Veil Valetti watched the oil of fear consume the ruins and burn away his soul, relieved that the monster and its means of replication had been destroyed.
• Lin Yu awoke in the Settlement Space after timing his escape to coincide with the explosion and found that only five other Players had survived alongside him.
• Lin Yu received the basic reward of seven days of Survival Time and three additional rewards for his performance and for completing Veil Valetti's Hidden Mission.
• Lin Yu's retained reward-doubling privilege let him benefit from the additional rewards, and he claimed the Non-exclusive item Fear Torch.
• Lin Yu claimed Chat's Supplies, a wooden box that generated biscuits and clean water using Fear as raw material.

After completing the Rank Advancement Trial, Lin Yu became a Tier 1 Player and used Tongue of Deception to obtain both Profession Items instead of choosing just one. He left the advancement space with Mask and Fake in his Item Space, having spent one use of Tongue of Deception.

• Lin Yu received Fear Lens, Activity Map, Ancient Notebook, and a Truth Company B-3 Level Permission Card as rewards for his completed missions.
• Lin Yu entered a separate space and learned that both Rank Advancement missions had been evaluated as complete, making him a Tier 1 Player.
• Lin Yu was offered a choice between the Profession Items Mask and Fake, whose abilities could strengthen his Fraudster strategies.
• Lin Yu used Tongue of Deception to claim that his Game Administrator ability could grant him both items, and the lie came true.
• Lin Yu received Mask and Fake in his Item Space and confirmed that the use of Tongue of Deception had succeeded.

After completing the Rank Advancement Trial and becoming a Tier 1 player, Lin Yu weighed the dangers still ahead and decided to use his new [Mask] to pursue a risky plan. He left for southern Jiang City, heading toward an address near Li Nian’s home.

• Lin Yu emerged from the freezer, canceled his scheduled text message, and confirmed that he had advanced to Tier 1 with two bound [Profession Items].
• Lin Yu considered the threats posed by the Freedom Alliance, the Psychology Society, and the dangers inside the Death game, and resolved to keep growing stronger.
• Lin Yu used [Mask] to disguise himself as an experienced player called Old Yao and asked Tycoon to let him join Jiang'an Hall.
• Tycoon arranged an assessment for Old Yao on Thursday evening, while Lin Yu secretly planned to use the false identity to avoid organizational ties.
• Lin Yu bought several outfits at Jiang City's night market, then took a taxi to an intersection near Li Nian's home address.

Li Nian met Zhu Ming, a veterinarian seeking to join the Freedom Alliance before her Rank Advancement Trial. Zhu Ming passed Li Nian’s preliminary test, and Li Nian agreed to tell the others about her.

• Li Nian waited in her villa, bored, until she heard someone enter through the courtyard door.
• Li Nian found Zhu Ming in the living room with her Rottweiler and confronted her with a Utility knife.
• Zhu Ming introduced herself as a veterinarian and said she wanted to join the Freedom Alliance for protection before her seventh Instance and Rank Advancement Trial.
• Li Nian threatened Zhu Ming and questioned why she chose the Freedom Alliance over Order, but Zhu Ming calmly explained her choice.
• Zhu Ming argued that reaching Li Nian’s living room and asking to join had already satisfied the Alliance’s preliminary requirements, and Li Nian accepted her and promised to tell the others.

Lin Yu planned to infiltrate several organizations under false identities and considered traveling to Yu Province to join the Marauders. In Zhengcheng, detective Fu Luo searched for May’s real identity, convinced that May had lied about being a medical student.

• Lin Yu left Li Nian’s villa and resolved to pursue membership in the Freedom Alliance, the Marauders, and the Psychology Society using multiple identities and phone numbers.
• Lin Yu decided to contact the Marauders next and considered going to Yu Province after seeing what Tycoon planned for Jiang'an Hall.
• In Zhengcheng, Fu Luo searched graduation records for May, whom he had met in a Game, but found no matching medical student.
• Fu Luo concluded that May had lied about being a medical student and set out to discover May’s True Name.

Fu Luo traced an erased Jiangcheng Experimental Middle School student while searching for Lin Yu, but his investigation triggered a warning from Hacker’s associate. She ordered him to stop and threatened expulsion over an upcoming matter.

• Fu Luo searched school records and discovered someone had been erased from a Class Seven graduation photo and other school materials.
• Fu Luo found a Three Good Students notice listing an unfamiliar student surnamed Lin, then tried to download its attachment.
• The Internet café’s computers turned red, its occupants collapsed, and a message told player 'Sherlock' that he had crossed the line.
• Fu Luo guessed that 'Hacker' was behind the warning, and Hacker confirmed it before the computers returned to normal.
• A hooded girl appeared beside Fu Luo, ordered him to stop investigating, and warned that his performance in an upcoming matter could lead to expulsion.
• The girl disappeared into the screen, then reached out to slap Fu Luo when he swore.

Lin Yu used his disguise and new accounts to attend Tycoon's trial for joining the Jiang'an Society. After a bizarre fast-food errand, Tycoon declared him accepted and began adding him to the Jiang'an Hall group chat.

• Lin Yu arrived at Tycoon's abandoned restaurant with new phones, SIM cards, social media accounts, and a forum ID.
• Tycoon gave Lin Yu three brocade pouches with instructions for a trial mission, and Lin Yu traveled to 115 Jiuhuai Street.
• Lin Yu followed the notes to order a Big Mac meal at Golden Arches and returned with the food without incident.
• Tycoon ate the meal, announced that Lin Yu had passed, and invited him to join the Jiang'an Hall group chat.
• Tycoon told Lin Yu to scan the group code using the Forum app instead of WeChat.

On the taxi ride, Lin Yu pieced together why the Psychology Society, the Freedom Alliance, and Tycoon had taken an unusual interest in him, and grew wary of the Psychology Society’s motives. After joining Jiang'an Hall through its APP, he began reading the organization’s private guides to prepare for his next Instance.

• Lin Yu realized that the Forum’s APP connected players and that joining its network had made Tycoon trust him, while Tycoon’s earlier use of WeChat suggested he treated Lin Yu unusually.
• Lin Yu reasoned that the Psychology Society assessed players’ potential and had targeted him, while the Freedom Alliance and Tycoon had also recognized his abilities.
• Lin Yu suspected the Psychology Society had sinister motives and resolved to grow stronger quickly.
• Lin Yu joined the Jiang'an Hall group chat as Old Yao, where Tycoon introduced him as a Thief nearing advancement.
• Lin Yu browsed Jiang'an Hall’s private files and opened Shadowless Hand’s guide to Thief advancement.

Lin Yu studied the Thief’s advancement trial and Profession Items, then memorized guides for numerous other Professions to prepare for disguising himself as someone who had completed Rank Advancement. He called a woman from a new phone and left the connection open, and she recognized him as Zhu Ming and promised to contact him by text.

• Lin Yu read Shadowless Hand’s guide and learned about the Thief’s Rank Advancement Mission and its [Magic Pouch] and [Quick Blade] options.
• Lin Yu suspected Li Nian’s Utility knife was a [Quick Blade] and noted that its attack depended on the Thief’s timing and skill.
• Lin Yu studied more than a dozen Profession guides and memorized their advancement trials and Profession Items.
• Lin Yu decided to disguise himself as a Rank-Advanced Profession in a future Instance and possibly use that identity in the real world.
• Lin Yu called a woman from a new phone, and she identified him as Zhu Ming and said she would text him shortly.

Lin Yu received the Freedom Alliance’s demanding entry assessment and decided to travel to Zhengcheng in Yu Province. He left Jiang City by hiring a black-car driver, beginning his journey while avoiding official ticket records.

• Lin Yu reviewed the Freedom Alliance’s three entry tasks and decided to work through them gradually, hoping to finish two that week.
• Lin Yu altered his appearance, requested leave from school and his older sister, and went to Jiang City General Bus Station.
• Lin Yu hired a black-car driver to take him to Zhengcheng in Yu Province for 2,500 yuan and agreed to leave immediately.
• The driver asked Lin Yu to wait while he called his family before the long journey.

Lin Yu traveled to Zhengcheng to find Sherlock, using a former client’s directions to locate the detective’s advertisement. He reached Sherlock through the phone number and was put on the line with Fu Luo, who had yet to speak to him.

• Lin Yu paid the unlicensed driver and arrived at the Yu Province bus station after a bumpy overnight ride.
• Lin Yu asked local unlicensed taxi drivers where to find Sherlock, and a tattooed former debtor told him to search the old town’s urban-rural fringe.
• Lin Yu found Sherlock’s boastful detective advertisement near Zhengcheng No. 3 Elementary School and called its number from a secondhand phone.
• A woman who answered at Yufu Supermarket recognized the number as Little Luo’s and promised to call Lin Yu back about his big job.
• The woman put Lin Yu on the phone with Fu Luo after waking him and insisting that Lin Yu was a big customer.

Lin Yu hired Fu Luo, also known as Sherlock, to find Heavenly Artisan, a wanted Tier 1 player in the Marauders. Fu Luo quickly located him near an unfinished development in southern Zhengcheng, and the two prepared to go there.

• Lin Yu revealed to Fu Luo that he was May and asked him to find a player in the Death game.
• Lin Yu identified his target as Heavenly Artisan, a wanted Marauders member, and offered Fu Luo a share of the bounty.
• Fu Luo agreed to help for twenty percent of the reward and found Heavenly Artisan's location within minutes.
• Fu Luo explained that Heavenly Artisan was likely near a major unfinished development in southern Zhengcheng, where the former construction-company executive often spent time.

Lin Yu and Fu Luo traced Heavenly Artisan, Chen Zhitie, to the unfinished Jiuxi Yuan housing estate, where he likely lived in the apartment he had bought. Lin Yu prepared to confront the Tier 1 killer and asked Fu Luo to call in backup once the fight began.

• Lin Yu reviewed Fu Luo’s information about Heavenly Artisan and asked how Fu Luo had found his location.
• Fu Luo explained that Heavenly Artisan had killed five players to conceal the murders of a supplier and a construction worker, both of whom were connected to his former company.
• Fu Luo traced the victims’ connections to Jiuxi Yuan and discovered that Heavenly Artisan had bought an apartment there.
• Fu Luo described Heavenly Artisan’s isolated childhood, and Lin Yu concluded that the unfinished apartment had been his idea of a home and a source of anger.
• Lin Yu confirmed that he was a Tier 1 Quack Doctor and asked Fu Luo to call more people from Order when the confrontation began.

Lin Yu used [Counterfeit] to make Fu Luo believe he was a Tier 1 Quack Doctor and turned a counterfeit syringe into a real [Profession Item]. He and Fu Luo reached Heavenly Artisan’s hideout, where Lin Yu went to confront him while anticipating reinforcements and a dangerous clash.

• Lin Yu activated [Counterfeit] after Fu Luo believed he was a Quack Doctor, and the disguised syringe transformed into a real [Profession Item].
• Lin Yu and Fu Luo arrived at Jiuxi Yuan and found signs that Heavenly Artisan lived in the east apartment on the fifth floor.
• Lin Yu told Fu Luo to wait outside and call Order only after hearing a gunshot, while Fu Luo estimated the reinforcements’ arrival times.
• Fu Luo warned Lin Yu that the Marauders might come to protect Heavenly Artisan and that other groups could turn the confrontation into a larger fight.
• Lin Yu walked into the dark unfinished building, nervous but excited to face Heavenly Artisan and the powerful players who might arrive.

Heavenly Artisan prepared to ambush the Player he believed had come for him, but Lin Yu appeared on his balcony and attacked to collect the bounty on his head. The chapter ended with Lin Yu swinging a black staff at Heavenly Artisan.

• Heavenly Artisan recalled that A Nian had stolen his Bone Crusher and realized he was still without his preferred weapon.
• Heavenly Artisan watched surveillance footage of two Players entering Jiuxi Yuan and prepared to ambush the one coming to his apartment.
• Heavenly Artisan drank a potion that tripled his physical attributes for fifteen minutes and waited behind the door with his claw hammer.
• Lin Yu appeared on Heavenly Artisan's balcony, revealed himself as Nine Waters, and announced he had come to collect the bounty.
• Lin Yu rushed at Heavenly Artisan and swung a black staff toward his head.

Lin Yu escaped Jiuxi Yuan by impersonating Heavenly Artisan and convinced Almond that he had survived an attack. After changing back into his own appearance, he planned to watch the Marauders and Order clash.

• Fu Luo heard a gunshot upstairs, called Brother Shan for backup, and watched Chen Zhitie fall from a window and attack him.
• May chased Chen Zhitie from the building, but Chen punched Fu Luo unconscious and fled toward the southern exit.
• Almond picked up Chen Zhitie in her taxi, and he blamed a soldier connected to the Freedom Alliance for attacking him and burning his house.
• Chen Zhitie said he would head to the Marauders' base, then got out of Almond's taxi in Zhengcheng's old district.
• Lin Yu changed out of his bloodstained clothes, resumed his own appearance, and decided he still had time to watch the Marauders and Order fight.

Lin Yu killed Heavenly Artisan and used a staged struggle and a convincing performance to take over his identity. After returning to Jiuxi Yuan, he convinced Fu Luo that he had tried to save him, just as a senior Order officer arrived and said the pursuit of Heavenly Artisan had begun.

• Lin Yu killed Heavenly Artisan with the [Fear Torch] and [Syringe], then used his phone, clothes, and Items to stage a struggle and disguise himself as him.
• Lin Yu returned to Jiuxi Yuan, where he woke Fu Luo and claimed he had rescued him from a serious head injury.
• Fu Luo praised Lin Yu as a trustworthy friend and said they might still earn points by giving Order a lead.
• A Third-rank Police Supervisor arrived and said Order had begun pursuing Heavenly Artisan, while Fu Luo introduced Lin Yu as May, a doctor.

After Fu Luo praised Lin Yu to Gao Shan, the Order captain recognized Lin Yu’s strength and offered to recommend him for membership. Lin Yu accepted the opportunity while insisting he would complete the remaining assessments fairly, and Gao Shan promised to help him and credit him for Heavenly Artisan’s injuries if they found him.

• Fu Luo introduced Lin Yu to Gao Shan and praised his loyalty, righteousness, and role in driving Heavenly Artisan away.
• Gao Shan learned that Heavenly Artisan was missing his Bone Crusher and praised Lin Yu for defeating him despite the handicap.
• Lin Yu reflected that his combat strength ranked among the strongest Tier 1 players, aided by his ability to use two professions through Replica.
• Gao Shan offered Lin Yu a chance to join Order and promised to vouch for him through one round of the background assessment.
• Lin Yu said he was from Jiang City and would complete the remaining assessments without special treatment, declining Gao Shan’s invitation to settle in Zhengcheng.
• Gao Shan accepted Lin Yu’s choice and promised to help him through the forum and award him points for Heavenly Artisan’s injuries if Order found him.

Lin Yu watched the Order and the Marauders’ powerful players clash in Zhengcheng and realized he still needed to grow stronger to take revenge on the Psychology Society. After leaving the fight, he disguised himself as Heavenly Artisan and visited a pool hall, where the blond man recognized him and handed him a set of keys.

• Gao Shan left to support the Order members fighting the Marauders, and Lin Yu saw Fu Luo off with a reminder to get checked at the hospital.
• Lin Yu checked the Marauders’ APP and learned that the Order and Marauders were fighting near the old flour mill in Zhengcheng.
• Lin Yu went to the flour mill and watched the Order’s Zhengcheng Captain General battle the Marauders’ Brawler leader while other high-ranking players fought nearby.
• Lin Yu concluded that he could not yet defeat Tier 3 players and left, resolving to become stronger before seeking revenge on the Psychology Society.
• After his [Mask] cooldown ended, Lin Yu took Heavenly Artisan’s appearance to a pool hall, where a blond man recognized him and gave him a string of keys.

Lin Yu, disguised as Heavenly Artisan, followed Lei Zi into the Marauders' underground Zhengcheng base and announced a commission to recover Heavenly Artisan's stolen Item and retaliate against his attacker. He offered one hundred thousand yuan for help, with five hundred thousand for Tier 1 experts.

• Lin Yu persuaded Lei Zi to leave his shift and guide him into the Marauders' base beneath the billiard hall.
• Lei Zi opened the hidden entrance, and the two descended through an old air-raid passage into the base.
• Lin Yu observed the base's training area and lounge, where Marauders members mocked Heavenly Artisan over his lost hammer and defeat by Order.
• Lin Yu said he felt guilty for involving Big Brother in a fight with Order and announced a commission to retrieve his Item and take revenge on his attacker.
• Lin Yu offered one hundred thousand yuan for assistance and five hundred thousand to any Tier 1 experts who joined.

Lin Yu led a group of Marauders to Jiang City to recover the Bone Crusher from Li Nian and confront the Doctor who had attacked him. With three Tier 1s in the group, they prepared to pressure A Nian and hunt the Doctor, though Almond admitted she disliked seeing blood.

• Lin Yu used Heaven's Artisan's stolen inheritance and Items as he traveled with six Marauders in a rented van.
• Lin Yu told the group he intended to confront A Nian and kill May May, a Tier 1 Doctor from Jiang City who had attacked him and summoned Order.
• Almond and Red Fuji noted that the group had three Tier 1s, and Red Fuji agreed to help defeat the Doctor in exchange for two of his dropped Items.
• Lin Yu joked that Almond should fight the Doctor while he and Red Fuji supported her, but Almond refused because she disliked seeing blood.

Lin Yu warned Li Nian about the Marauders in Jiang City and borrowed Heavenly Artisan’s [Bone Crusher] to carry out a plan. Disguised as Old Yao, he told Tycoon the Marauders were hunting a local doctor and asked for support.

• Li Nian learned that Marauders had come to Jiang City and told Zhu Ming that she was Tier 2 and could handle the threat.
• Lin Yu borrowed Heavenly Artisan’s [Bone Crusher] and asked Li Nian to arrange an apparent meeting with the Marauders around two that afternoon.
• Lin Yu changed his appearance and, as Old Yao, messaged Tycoon that Li Nian planned to negotiate with the out-of-town Marauders.
• Lin Yu met Tycoon and revealed that the Marauders also intended to kill a Tier 1 doctor from Jiang City who had caused them heavy losses.
• Lin Yu told Tycoon he had a rough plan and needed support.