Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu arranged for Chen Zhuo to meet an old acquaintance who could help him search for someone, while keeping his own identity and motives concealed. Chen Zhuo discovered that the expert was Xia Yue, the girl he believed had died in the first Instance.

• Lin Yu offered to introduce Chen Zhuo to an experienced Player and arranged to meet him after school.
• After eating a cheap hamburger meal, Lin Yu gained the Stingy Rich Man buff and stored it in the Blissful Immortal Pot as Immortal Wine.
• Lin Yu instructed Hannah to rehearse lines for a staged encounter.
• Chen Zhuo hurried out of school to meet Lin Yu and wondered whether his expert acquaintance might be someone from his Group Chat.
• Lin Yu introduced Xia Yue, and Chen Zhuo recognized her as the girl he thought had failed to clear the first Instance.
• Lin Yu explained that Xia Yue had survived behind Chen Zhuo, and Xia Yue confirmed that she had been there all along.

Lin Yu disguised himself as Xia Yue and negotiated with Chen Zhuo, who believed Lin Yu’s fabricated explanation and mistook the illusion for the real Administrator. Chen Zhuo explained why he preferred hiring experienced Players to teaming up, then urged Xia Yue to search his forum ID for a post that would explain his confidence.

• Lin Yu used Hannah’s illusion to make his apparent departure convincing while he stayed disguised as Xia Yue.
• Chen Zhuo assumed his high potential had caused an experienced Player to join his Novice instance, but Lin Yu said the soldier and Lone Wolf had been the strongest candidates.
• Lin Yu introduced himself as Zhu Ming, and Chen Zhuo explained his forum ID, “Ai-chan Is My Life,” and asked to be called Xiao Zhuo.
• Chen Zhuo said he had hired experienced Players for his third and fourth Instances after nearly dying when he tried to become a solitary powerhouse.
• Lin Yu warned that repeatedly hiring help would eventually exhaust Chen Zhuo’s points, and Chen Zhuo told him to search his forum ID and read his post.

Lin Yu learned how Chen Zhuo had amassed points by repeatedly selling valuable Instance finds and agreed to join his next escort job. He invited Li Nian to fill the final spot, and she eagerly accepted despite Lin Yu’s warnings about her reliability and price.

• Lin Yu found Chen Zhuo’s Forum post offering 300 points each to two people who would help him clear an Instance.
• Chen Zhuo explained that he had earned points by selling valuable Items and using the proceeds to hire veteran escorts for his earlier Instances.
• Lin Yu explained why Chen Zhuo’s unusually high bounty had attracted few applicants, and Chen Zhuo thanked him for accepting the job.
• Chen Zhuo asked Lin Yu to recommend another reliable expert, and Lin Yu offered to call someone of a higher tier who would need payment in cash or Items.
• Lin Yu called Li Nian and offered her the remaining spot; after teasing him, Li Nian said she was on her way.

Lin Yu introduced Chen Zhuo to Li Nian to negotiate help for Chen Zhuo’s next Instance. Chen Zhuo joined their team after learning Li Nian was the Phantom Thief, and Li Nian thanked Lin Yu for helping her secure a buyer for Forum Items.

• Lin Yu explained Chen Zhuo’s commission to Li Nian and let them negotiate the price.
• Li Nian offered Chen Zhuo two options, and he chose to pay 1,000 points for her best effort to get him through his next Instance.
• Li Nian revealed that she was A Nian, the Phantom Thief and a member of the Freedom Alliance, shocking Chen Zhuo.
• Chen Zhuo used his Three-person Team-up Card to team up with Li Nian and Lin Yu for the next Instance.
• Li Nian thanked Lin Yu for introducing her to Chen Zhuo and helping her find a purchasing agent for Forum Items.

Li Nian explained how she deduced that Lin Yu had fooled the Psychology Society and Fluoxetine by faking his death. Lin Yu confirmed most of her conclusions and left her eager for his Freedom Alliance assessment and the next instance.

• Li Nian revealed that she had stolen the Psychology Society’s evaluation roster and found Xia Yue’s classified rating and Jiang City records.
• Li Nian deduced that Lin Yu had fooled Fluoxetine and the Psychology Society, faked his death twice, and sought the Freedom Alliance after realizing he could not stay out of danger.
• Lin Yu confirmed that Li Nian’s account was mostly correct, while privately celebrating that she had accepted the story he had constructed for Xia Yue.
• Li Nian said the Freedom Alliance would welcome Lin Yu and looked forward to the next night’s instance and his joining the group.

Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Chen Zhuo entered the Despair Train Express game aboard a speeding three-wheeled scooter, where they learned they needed to obtain a ticket to clear the instance. After the train announced that six passengers had boarded, Li Nian attacked something invisible in their seemingly empty carriage.

• Lin Yu met Li Nian and Chen Zhuo at Shengjiang Plaza Subway Station, where Chen Zhuo took them to his grandmother’s three-wheeled scooter.
• Chen Zhuo drove the scooter with Lin Yu and Li Nian squeezed into the back, and the vehicle suddenly accelerated as midnight arrived.
• The three were transported into a futuristic train and learned that the game was called Despair Train Express and required them to obtain a ticket.
• Li Nian warned Lin Yu that the instance was savage, so Lin Yu took out his pistol and the Fear Torch while Li Nian readied a utility knife.
• The train announced that six new passengers had boarded at D-4, D-5, and D-13, and Li Nian threw her knife at something invisible in their carriage.

Lin Yu used his fear-burning torch to reveal and destroy the invisible spirits attacking the group aboard the train. After Chen Zhuo nearly exposed Lin Yu’s identity, Lin Yu redirected the conversation and asked Li Nian what the train was about.

• Li Nian explained that her sunglasses let her see incorporeal creatures, then revealed that the spirits were weak but everywhere and could cause deadly cold.
• Lin Yu used his torch to expose the pufferfish-like spirits, which fled from its flames.
• Lin Yu ignited the spirits on himself and Chen Zhuo, triggering a chain reaction that spread pale flames through the train car.
• Chen Zhuo began to call Lin Yu the Administrator, but Lin Yu stopped him and reminded him to keep the identity secret.
• Chen Zhuo covered by praising Lin Yu’s torch, and Lin Yu asked Li Nian what the train was about.

After Lin Yu and Li Nian discussed how he obtained the Fear Torch, Li Nian explained that the Despair Train belonged to Truth Company, a powerful alchemy-focused force. With the monsters burned away, the group prepared for the next trial.

• Lin Yu told Li Nian that a friend who owed him a favor had given him the Fear Torch, and Li Nian teased him about his relationship with May.
• Li Nian tried to claim that the Freedom Alliance required background checks, but Lin Yu called out her fabricated rule.
• Li Nian explained that the Despair Train was an express train belonging to Truth Company, and Lin Yu described the company's soul-conversion alchemy.
• Li Nian demanded points from Chen Zhuo for sharing classified information, briefly took his Honeycomb Charging Shield, then returned it.
• The last invisible pufferfish burned to ashes, and Li Nian told the others to prepare for the next trial.

Li Nian used her hidden ability to shut down seven robots that attacked the group aboard the train. After the fight, she called her gloves and elusive movement her trump card and claimed that robots and puppets were easy prey for her.

• Li Nian explained that several more trial rounds awaited them and that they would eventually need to obtain a ticket from a powerful monster.
• Seven armed robots entered the train car, and Li Nian told Lin Yu to protect Chen Zhuo while she handled them herself.
• Wearing thin white gloves, Li Nian evaded the robots' volleys and touched each machine, causing all seven to shut down.
• Chen Zhuo praised Li Nian's performance, and she emerged from beneath a seat, tossed scarlet beads onto the table, and called her ability her trump card.

Lin Yu and Li Nian explained how Li Nian defeated the Hate Sentries and discussed Tier authorities before an Elite Monster appeared. As the enemy charged, Lin Yu and Li Nian prepared to fight together.

• Li Nian explained that she had defeated the Hate Sentries by removing their Vengeance Crystal cores and kept the crystal as her spoils.
• Lin Yu guessed that Tier 2 authority allowed people to bring certain things out of an Instance, while Li Nian offered to explain more and he declined.
• Li Nian gave Chen Zhuo a toy spinning top, then warned him to retreat when a tall man marked F-6 appeared with an electric baton.
• Chen Zhuo activated the Honeycomb Charging Shield, while Lin Yu used three Immortal Brew buffs and told Li Nian that his revolver had six bullets with different effects.
• Li Nian recognized Lin Yu's Mithril Standard Revolver and promised to cover him; Lin Yu's trust caused the Counterfeit to become genuine.
• The F-6 Elite Monster roared and lunged at Li Nian.

Li Nian and Lin Yu worked together to subdue the tall, thin man in the gray uniform aboard the carriage. The man was left asleep under [Mercy], while Li Nian and Lin Yu prepared to tie him up.

• Li Nian stole a card from the tall, thin man and drew him toward Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu fired [Doctrine], whose threads bound the man, but he broke free and seized Li Nian.
• Li Nian distracted the man with a blade, then used a Paralysis Potion to weaken him and escape his grasp.
• Lin Yu fired [Mercy], putting the man into a deep sleep, and told Li Nian to move farther away before they tied him up.
• Li Nian explained how she had used the potion, and Lin Yu admitted he had not known the next bullet would be [Mercy].

Lin Yu and Li Nian subdued Veil Valetti, a Truth Company security leader, and decided to bring him along for questioning. With Chen Zhuo carrying the captive, they entered the dark passage between carriages and discovered rows of jars filled with watching eyeballs.

• Li Nian tied up Veil Valetti and revealed his Truth Company identification card, hoping to question him about the Despair Train.
• Lin Yu warned that Veil Valetti might be irrational, but Li Nian planned to try to get him to cooperate once he woke.
• Li Nian told Chen Zhuo to carry Veil Valetti, and Lin Yu secured the captive to Chen Zhuo's back before they headed for the next carriage.
• Li Nian shone her flashlight into the dark carriage connection, revealing rows of jars filled with eyeballs that all turned toward the group.

Li Nian and Chen Zhuo investigated a sealed door guarded by a password terminal, and Lin Yu opened it with Veil Valetti’s Identity card. The group noticed that Veil and the unconscious employee shared a surname, raising questions about their connection.

• Li Nian examined the strange eyeballs in a container and guessed they were surveillance devices.
• Li Nian used the thin, tall man’s Identity card, but the terminal demanded a four-digit dynamic password.
• Li Nian searched the unconscious man for clues while Lin Yu decided to open the door quickly.
• Lin Yu swiped Veil Valetti’s Identity card, and the door opened without requiring a password.
• Li Nian, Chen Zhuo, and Lin Yu noticed that Veil Valetti and the employee both had the surname Valetti.

Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Chen Zhuo searched the luxurious D-12 dining car and found it apparently safe. After Li Nian woke the bound Pankto Feng Valetti, they realized he could communicate and might not have attacked them willingly.

• Lin Yu declined Li Nian’s offer of Mist Island Manor wine, while Li Nian drank a glass and briefly lost focus.
• Li Nian removed Pankto Feng Valetti’s mask, and Lin Yu noticed his features somewhat resembled Veil Valetti’s.
• Li Nian sprayed water on Pankto Feng Valetti and woke him.
• Pankto Feng Valetti demanded to know who had bound him, and Lin Yu and Li Nian realized he could communicate and might not have acted of his own will during the earlier attack.

Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Chen Zhuo discovered that Pankto’s suppressor had malfunctioned, but Pankto’s shock at learning he was on the Despair Train and had become an exiled team leader sent him into a new panic. Li Nian and Lin Yu restrained him and told him that he was in the future.

• Chen Zhuo inspected Pankto’s back and found his suppressor damaged, and Pankto apologized for attacking them while it was malfunctioning.
• Pankto offered to compensate Li Nian and recommend the group to Truth Company, then became confused when she told him they were aboard the Despair Train.
• Lin Yu showed Pankto his Identity card, revealing that he was a C-2-level field operations team leader, and Pankto panicked at the sight of his changed identity and appearance.
• Pankto accused them of being spies and demanded that the test end, so Li Nian and Lin Yu restrained him with a gun and a blade.
• Li Nian told Pankto that they were exiles on the Despair Train and that he appeared to be several years in the future, and Lin Yu welcomed him to it.

Pankto explained that the Despair Train had been turned from a failed transit project into a prison whose passengers’ despair powered the City That Never Sleeps. Lin Yu invited Pankto to join them in searching for a way off the train, but Pankto’s reaction to Veil Valetti’s identity card and notebook revealed that Veil was his great-granduncle.

• Pankto described how the Despair Train’s unstoppable furnace led Truth Company to convert it into a prison and energy supplier.
• Lin Yu asked Pankto about the ticket rumored to let passengers leave, but Pankto said he knew nothing about it.
• Lin Yu invited Pankto to cooperate with him and Li Nian in finding a way off the train, but Pankto asked for time alone.
• Lin Yu showed Pankto Veil Valetti’s identity card and notebook to earn his trust.
• Pankto recognized the identity card and revealed that Veil Valetti was his great-granduncle.

Lin Yu recruited Pankto Feng Valetti after learning about his family’s long search for Veil Valetti, then led the group through the door to carriage D-3. There, they found a blood-soaked carriage and the man responsible, whom Li Nian recognized as Brother Wang.

• Pankto Feng Valetti joined Lin Yu’s team and told him how his grandfather and father had tried to uncover what happened to Veil Valetti.
• Lin Yu told Pankto that Veil’s fate was roughly known, and Pankto thanked him before worrying whether he would escape the Instance.
• The group found four doors at the end of the dining car and discussed which carriage to enter.
• Lin Yu used Veil Valetti’s card to open the door marked D-3, and the group entered the carriage.
• The group found a dozen recently killed people and a man cooking spaghetti behind the bar.
• Li Nian recognized the man as Brother Wang, who was surprised to see her in the Instance.

Lin Yu met Wang Yuyang and his girlfriend, Pan Yuqiang, during an Instance and learned that she was a B-Class assassin in the Psychology Society's Executive Department. Pan Yuqiang recognized Lin Yu as the S-Class potential newcomer who had failed to become a Player.

• Li Nian introduced Lin Yu and Chen Zhuo to Wang Yuyang, the Freedom Alliance's designer.
• Wang Yuyang cooked pasta and explained that he often brought his girlfriend, Yuqiang, into Instances with Team-up Cards.
• Li Nian told Lin Yu that Wang Yuyang's girlfriend belonged to the Psychology Society, making Lin Yu wary.
• Pan Yuqiang emerged from a pile of corpses carrying scraps of a ticket and introduced herself as Citalopram, a B-Class operative.
• Pan Yuqiang recognized Lin Yu from internal files as the S-Class potential newcomer who had failed to become a Player.

Lin Yu used the Tooth of Prophecy to make the players believe Xia Yue’s fabricated backstory and blame the Psychology Society for mistakenly attacking her. The group then learned that a high-ranking Truth Company employee was likely aboard the Despair Train.

• Lin Yu challenged Pan Yuqiang’s claim about Xia Yue’s S-Class potential and explained that the Psychology Society had mistaken her for an ordinary person who had not become a player.
• Lin Yu described the harm caused by the Psychology Society’s operation and used the Tooth of Prophecy to make Wang Yuyang, Pan Yuqiang, Li Nian, and Chen Zhuo believe that he had died twice.
• Wang Yuyang, Pan Yuqiang, and Li Nian apologized and comforted Lin Yu, accepting the story he had told about Xia Yue.
• Pankto searched the corpses in Car D-3 and found a communicator reserved for Truth Company supervisors, department heads, and directors.

Lin Yu and the others learned how the Despair Train rewarded violence and how Truth Company’s confidential communicator worked. Pan Yuqiang explained the train’s factions and weapon attacks, leaving the group aware that a devastating Great Purge occurred roughly every seventy-two hours.

• Pankto explained that the confidential communicator required an authenticated, calm, conscious user, and Lin Yu confirmed its description before sharing it with the others.
• Pankto identified the communicator’s dead owner as a likely gang member rather than a company supervisor, and Wang Yuyang said the man had held authority in the dining car.
• Pan Yuqiang revealed that she had questioned the newly dead with her Spirit Summoning Ring and learned about the Despair Train’s layout and rules.
• Pan Yuqiang said passengers could earn supplies and Ticket Fragments by harming people with souls and emotions, then assemble enough fragments into a ticket to leave the train.
• Pan Yuqiang described how veterans hunted newcomers or tried to recruit capable ones, and explained that Truth Company deployed random weapons every twenty-four hours and began a train-wide Great Purge about every seventy-two hours.