Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu rested in the Healing Place while Jue slept, confident that he had gained the advantage in their deception. Two injured groups arrived, and the barbarians accused a human party led by Stiller of poisoning their water.

• Lin Yu reasoned that Jue would trust her own firsthand conclusions about him and continued recovering beside her.
• Three barbarians brought their poisoned companion to the Healing Place, where the Furnace Fire suspected blood-type snake venom.
• The barbarians said they had encountered a group of humans before the poisoning, and the Furnace Fire asked about the victim’s symptoms.
• Six humans arrived seeking treatment for a companion bitten by a snake, and a barbarian accused them of poisoning the water.
• Lin Yu recognized the humans’ leader as Stiller and watched to see what would happen in the Healing Place.

Stiller defended his group against a barbarian’s accusation that they had poisoned his brother, while Lin Yu observed the players’ trust in Stiller and considered helping him. The confrontation escalated toward violence as Stiller realized the Black Marsh World’s residents were far more volatile than he expected.

• Stiller denied that his group had poisoned the barbarian’s brother and accused the barbarians of trying to shift blame for their own internal conflict.
• The players backed Stiller, and Lin Yu judged that Stiller had earned significant authority within the group but wondered whether some members distrusted him.
• Jue woke and watched the argument, eager to see how the Healing Place’s ban on fighting would be enforced.
• The barbarian threw his still-living brother to the ground, drew a bone blade, and threatened to butcher the humans.
• Stiller saw that the barbarian’s rage was nearly at its limit and realized that a few words could drive Black Marsh World residents toward a fight.

Furnace Fire stopped a fight at the Healing Place and treated an injured barbarian and a wounded Player. Lin Yu used the [Mind-Reading Mirror] to spot hostility and unease beneath the calm, then sent Hannah to speak with Stiller about spreading the news of the "Rakshasa" before tensions erupted.

• Furnace Fire transformed into a Flame Giant and ordered the barbarian and Stiller not to fight in the Healing Place.
• Furnace Fire refined medicine that expelled the poison from the barbarian's big brother, then treated a woman's Rending Tooth Beast wound with painful medicinal powder.
• Lin Yu used the [Mind-Reading Mirror] to detect doubt among the barbarians and hatred, jealousy, and anger among Stiller's Players.
• Lin Yu decided Stiller needed to spread the news about the "Rakshasa" quickly and asked Hannah to go speak with him.

Stiller struggled to keep his unstable team together until Lin Yu instructed him to spread rumors about a Rakshasa, using the turmoil around them to make others believe Lin Yu was one. Lin Yu also warned Jue that the Healing Place might not be safe, leaving them to prepare for trouble.

• Stiller worried that tensions, a troublemaking player, and a newly joined Bounty Hunter could cause his team to fall apart.
• Old Zheng explained why the Death game players and the original trio made the team difficult to lead.
• Hannah relayed Lin Yu's instruction for Stiller to spread rumors about the Rakshasa as soon as possible.
• Stiller understood that Lin Yu wanted him to improvise a clumsy performance while Lin Yu filled in the gaps.
• Lin Yu hoped the deception would earn enough belief to help him gain the ability to transform.
• Lin Yu woke Jue and warned her that the Healing Place might not be safe.

Stiller spun Furnace Fire a horror story about a mysterious red, four-armed monster in the forest, drawing the gathered Players’ attention. He ended by claiming that the creature had torn a Blood Rakshasa in half, leaving the others focused on his tale.

• Stiller approached Furnace Fire and asked about a supposedly incomprehensible creature he had encountered during the Glory Festival.
• Furnace Fire boasted of its knowledge, while Jue and the other Players listened to Stiller with growing curiosity.
• Stiller claimed that a Blood Rakshasa had pursued him through a dense forest after he refused its challenge.
• Stiller said he lost track of the Blood Rakshasa, heard disturbing sounds and smelled blood, then turned back to find it.
• Stiller described a gigantic crimson monster with four arms holding the Blood Rakshasa and tearing it in half.

Stiller used a deliberately suspicious but truthful account of a red-skinned, four-armed monster to make the Healing Place consider that a Rakshasa had appeared. Furnace Fire identified it as a Rakshasa, then exposed inconsistencies about his own age and claimed he had seen one a century ago, leaving Lin Yu satisfied that the rumors had stirred attention and confusion.

• Stiller described a red-skinned, four-armed monster that had easily killed a Blood Rakshasa, and Jue wondered what kind of creature it was.
• Furnace Fire identified the monster as a Rakshasa, prompting the people at the Healing Place to react to the vanished race's return.
• Lin Yu instructed Hannah to guide Stiller as he challenged Furnace Fire's claim that he had seen a Rakshasa.
• Furnace Fire admitted he was only three hundred years old and insisted he had seen a Rakshasa a hundred years earlier, while the barbarians called him a liar.
• Lin Yu concluded that Furnace Fire's claims had muddied the waters and drawn attention to the Rakshasas.

Lin Yu used Hannah’s ink to plunge the tent into darkness, then combined his items to move unseen and exploit Furnace Fire’s weakness. He weakened the monster with water and blood, found its core, and fired at it as it began rekindling its flames.

• Lin Yu recognized that Stiller was following his instructions and used Furnace Fire’s claim about seeing a rakshasa to deepen everyone’s uncertainty.
• Lin Yu told Hannah to create darkness, and her ink mist swallowed the light throughout the tent.
• Using [Shady Corner] and the [Water Prayer Necklace], Lin Yu moved through the darkness and guided Stiller to Furnace Fire’s furnace.
• Lin Yu poured water and blood onto Furnace Fire, weakening its flames and revealing its core.
• As Furnace Fire struggled to rekindle its flames, Lin Yu aimed the [One-Shot Hit Revolver] at its core and fired.

Furnace Fire went out after a gunshot during the darkness, and the barbarians revealed that its death could halt the Glory Festival and trigger an investigation. The Players suspected a Psychology Society member had caused the crisis, while Lin Yu concealed his amusement at the confusion he had helped create.

• Jue and the other Players gathered around the extinguished Furnace Fire and found Stiller unharmed nearby.
• Two barbarians explained that Furnace Fire had been the Healing Place's notary, and that a notary's death could prevent the Glory Festival from continuing and lead to an investigation.
• The Bounty Hunter blamed a Player, while others argued that the culprit might not have known the consequences or could have acted deliberately.
• A lone-wolf Player suggested that the Psychology Society might have caused the crisis to make the Instance more difficult, and Jue agreed the culprit needed to be found.
• Lin Yu warned that the organizers would notice Furnace Fire's death and that another notary remained inside the venue, while privately relishing the turmoil.

After the Furnace Fire’s death, Jue and Stiller urged the players to find someone to present as the culprit before the arbiter arrived. Lin Yu planned to steer suspicion toward the Rakshasa, but the unremarkable man suggested choosing someone with a gun, and the Bounty Hunter fled.

• Jue gathered the players and said they needed to hand over a culprit before the arbiter arrived.
• Stiller agreed that presenting a culprit could keep the players from being blamed for the Glory Festival’s disruption.
• The unremarkable man proposed sacrificing someone whose background was unknown, and Jue argued that the culprit had to be someone the arbiter would believe could have done it.
• The Bounty Hunter suggested blaming an injured woman, provoking an argument among the players.
• The unremarkable man said they should look for someone with a gun, prompting the Bounty Hunter to run, and he urged the others to chase him as their candidate.

Lin Yu realized the mysterious man was using an effect like the Psychology Society’s [Arrogant Tongue] to drive people into madness, then confronted him directly. The man killed himself before answering, but Lin Yu recognized the power’s connection to Nian.

• The Bounty Hunter, two barbarians, and injured people began fighting as the mysterious man’s influence spread.
• Old Zheng identified the effect as [Arrogant Tongue], which amplified hostility and could turn the weak-willed into madness.
• Lin Yu concluded that the mysterious man was connected to the Psychology Society but was not one of its members.
• Lin Yu rushed the mysterious man, grabbed him by the throat, and demanded to know who he was.
• The mysterious man stabbed his own neck and disappeared after saying he would remember Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu recognized the strange power as belonging to Nian.

After Nian’s puppet died, Lin Yu deduced that Nian could be controlling several players and resolved to trap the detective in the instance. As chaos continued at the Healing Place, Lin Yu persuaded Jue to help him stop it rather than flee, and they prepared to act.

• Lin Yu realized Nian’s suicide did not end the chaos and suspected that Nian had multiple player puppets.
• Lin Yu sensed that Nian had formed a belief in him and recognized that Nian had connected him to Rakshasa through the clues he had revealed.
• Jue packed supplies and urged Lin Yu to escape before the Arbiter arrived, but Lin Yu said they should end the farce at the Healing Place.
• Lin Yu asked Jue to help quiet the chaos while he confronted the troublemakers, and Jue agreed to support him with her folding bow.
• Jue took the high ground as Lin Yu called for the operation to begin.

Lin Yu and Jue subdued the maddened occupants of the Healing Place, then Jue exposed Lin Yu's false Player identity and learned he was the Rakshasa with a secret purpose. She chose to keep cooperating and proposed tricking the arbiter instead of letting Lin Yu attack him.

• Lin Yu and Jue used restraints and Jue's paralyzing arrows to subdue the Players and NPCs in the Healing Place.
• Jue questioned Lin Yu in private about pretending to be a Player, and he admitted he was concealing his true identity and had a separate purpose at the Glory Festival.
• Jue deduced that Lin Yu was the Rakshasa and had dealt with the flame spirit, then assured him she meant no harm.
• Jue said she wanted to keep cooperating with Lin Yu for the benefits and asked what he planned to do when the arbiter arrived.
• Lin Yu said he would quickly deal with the arbiter, but Jue proposed tricking him instead.

Jue and Lin Yu explained the chaos at the Healing Place to a newly arrived arbiter, concealing their role in what had happened. After the arbiter calmed the contestants and announced an investigation, Jue pointed suspicion toward the Rakshasa.

• A blood-painted arbiter entered the Healing Place, and Jue won his favor by praising his bearing.
• The arbiter asked about the extinguished Furnace Fire and the bound contestants, and Jue claimed that she and Moro had subdued them after they went mad.
• Lin Yu supported Jue's story, and the arbiter praised their strength before using his bone staff to calm the contestants.
• The arbiter told the contestants that the Healing Place had been attacked, that its overseer was dead, and that he would investigate the incident.
• Jue told the arbiter that the Furnace Fire had spoken with a human about the Rakshasa before the darkness began.

Jue manipulated the notary into believing a Rakshasa had infiltrated the Glory Festival, while Moro revealed the festival’s hidden bloodline ritual. The notary identified Moro as the suspected Rakshasa, and Moro accepted his challenge.

• Jue linked Shuo’s attack, the Rakshasa rumors, and a missing man to persuade the notary that a disguised Rakshasa was sowing panic at the festival.
• The notary explained that a Rakshasa might be trying to win the Glory Festival and awaken an Ancestral Bloodline.
• Moro revealed that the festival’s ancient ritual could also grant Rakshasa blood to other races, and claimed the Blood Rakshasa founder had gained their lineage by winning.
• The notary questioned Moro’s knowledge, then suspected he was a Rakshasa after noticing his name and recalling strange, brutal deaths among the contestants.
• The notary challenged Moro to prove he was not a Rakshasa, and Moro stood to face him.

Moro and the Arbiter fought bare-handed at the Healing Place, revealing that both had been holding back and that Moro had gained a slight advantage. They drew their weapons and left to continue the battle elsewhere, vanishing before Jue and the others could follow.

• Moro and the Arbiter clashed at the Healing Place, astonishing the Players and natives with their speed and strength.
• Jue and the onlookers realized the men were fighting bare-handed and had not yet used their full strength.
• The Arbiter drew his Bone Staff after admitting the tent was too small, and Moro drew his spear in response.
• The Arbiter and Moro charged outside to continue their fight, but Jue and the others lost track of them.

Nian used Nightmare to control people and search for Lin Yu, then considered whether Lin Yu was hiding under another identity. Meanwhile, Lin Yu revealed that the battle with the adjudicator had been staged with Stiller, and the two left the scene with Stiller complaining about his role.

• Nian revealed that he had controlled the dead Player, a wounded barbarian, and other informants while searching for May May, but had found no trace of him.
• Nian suspected Lin Yu might be hiding or disguised as Stiller, Jue, or even an NPC, and planned to use the Rakshasa as bait.
• Lin Yu ended the staged battle in the forest and praised Stiller for acting as the adjudicator.
• Stiller removed the beast-bone mask and asked Lin Yu to give him a clothed role next time.

Lin Yu revealed that the notary and the fight with Blood Rakshasa had been staged by him, Stiller, Hannah, and Old Zheng to convince the Healing Place’s audience. He then freed the flame spirit Shuo through a deal, using Fraud and the belief he had built to keep the other notaries away.

• Stiller, Hannah, and Old Zheng helped Lin Yu stage a fake notary and a convincing fight between Blood Rakshasa and the notary.
• Lin Yu explained that the act had succeeded because the real notary would only appear after a serious violation, and everyone believed the notary would expose any impersonator.
• The audience’s belief in Lin Yu surged, empowering him and confirming that they had accepted his performance.
• Lin Yu opened the jar containing Shuo, revealing that the earlier gunshot had covered a deal rather than a murder.
• Lin Yu had promised to take Shuo away in exchange for ensuring the other notaries stayed away and the Healing Place seemed normal; Shuo had agreed.

Lin Yu let rumors about his false identity as Rakshasa spread while preparing both to reach Tier 3 and to abandon that goal if the risks grew too high. After gathering spoils and belief, he planned to search for Nian and eliminate the threat.

• Lin Yu deceived Shuo again, sealed the flame spirit in a jar, and waited for rumors about Rakshasa to spread.
• Lin Yu reasoned that the notaries would be unlikely to suspect someone was impersonating Rakshasa, even if they investigated the rumors.
• Lin Yu decided to hunt for spoils while keeping open the option of pursuing Tier 3 through deception or abandoning it if necessary.
• Lin Yu gathered fangs from a slain beast and felt his belief grow as the Glory Festival entered its second night.
• Lin Yu decided to gather a little more belief, then search for Nian's hiding place and try to leave him trapped in the Instance.

Rumors about a Rakshasa infiltrating the Glory Festival spread among contestants and reach the Ten Great Tribes’ representatives. As the representatives weigh the reports, they learn the alleged Rakshasa’s claims could explain the origins of the Blood Rakshasa Clan.

• Contestants repeatedly spread rumors that a Rakshasa had infiltrated the Glory Festival after the first day’s incident.
• The Ten Great Tribes’ representatives gathered in a tent near the grounds and received updates from the arbiter Jiang Rong, who reported no confirmed encounter or deaths.
• A representative from Mountain Green questioned whether the Rakshasa was real, suggesting the rumors might have mistaken a powerful human contestant for one.
• The Toothbone Tribe representative said the reports matched records of true Rakshasas and described claims about the Glory Festival’s original rewards and Rakshasa bloodline power.
• The Toothbone Tribe representative connected the Rakshasa’s talk of transformation and bloodline concentration to unanswered questions about the Blood Rakshaka Clan’s origins.

Jue killed a wolf and discussed the Players and Moro the Rakshasa before confronting a Player who could control people through dream games. Lin Yu watched from hiding as Jue used her crow’s Item to discover Nian’s location, leaving him with the information he wanted.

• Jue collected the wolf’s eyeball and reflected on keeping a low profile while worrying about the unusual Players in the Instance.
• A Player approached Jue and explained that he controlled people by defeating them in games inside their dreams.
• The Player questioned Jue about the mysterious Player who had spoken with Furnace Fire and accused her of having a confederate.
• Jue killed the controlled Player, then used her crow’s Item to ask where the dream-invading Player was hiding.
• Lin Yu, concealed in a tree, learned that Jue had revealed Nian’s hiding place.