Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu climbed the tower with Li Nian and found a human-sized floor containing Room 505, whose number matched the note he had mistaken for a distress signal. He met a girl there who seemed to recognize him, so he pretended to know her, and she greeted him as “my dear Xia Bao.”

• Chen Le climbed the tower stairs on foot while Lin Yu and Li Nian used movement Items to get ahead and waited for him partway up.
• Lin Yu asked Li Nian about the tower’s dry floors, and Li Nian suggested its water system had failed or been shut down before the city sank.
• Lin Yu reached the fifth floor and found a human-sized corridor lined with numbered rooms, then left Li Nian by the entrance to wait for Chen Le.
• Lin Yu recognized the ornate number on Room 505 as the room number written on the note and realized it had invited him to meet someone there.
• A young girl opened Room 505, and Lin Yu pretended to recognize her after noticing she recognized him; she greeted him as “my dear Xia Bao.”

Lin Yu posed as Xia Yue while speaking with a woman who had known her before entering the Death game. The woman revealed her old feelings for Xia Yue and recounted how she entered the game, before Lin Yu asked how she had later died and become trapped in Pure Ruins.

• Lin Yu followed the woman into her apartment and pretended to be Xia Yue, despite not knowing their shared past.
• The woman said she had last seen Xia Yue after graduation and had entered the Death game during her second year of university.
• The woman revealed that she had confessed to Xia Yue on graduation day, then blocked her and chose a university far away because she feared being hated.
• The woman explained that she had recreated her former Yanjing apartment in Pure Ruins after becoming trapped there.
• The woman said she entered the Death game after falling headfirst while trying to climb into her apartment through a window without her access card.
• Lin Yu asked the woman how she had died a second time and become trapped in Pure Ruins.

Lin Yu learned that the girl had been deceived by her lover, Eye Corner, whose request to carry demon remains to the Nether Void Realm preceded a catastrophic apocalypse that killed her. He agreed to investigate Eye Corner and suspected she might be connected to Sister Zhao.

• The girl admitted she was dating someone else and explained that she had once loved Lin Yu, but Lin Yu congratulated her and asked how her relationship had led to her death.
• The girl recounted how Eye Corner asked her to deliver demon remains to a Divine Attendant, after which the Nether Void Realm fell into turmoil and its god went mad.
• The girl said Eye Corner promised to address the crisis, but a devastating soul-shock and tsunami destroyed the realm; the girl's Anchor Point failed, and Eye Corner's life-saving measure preserved her consciousness.
• Lin Yu questioned whether Eye Corner had deliberately trapped the girl, then asked her to help him find what caused the apocalypse so he could destroy the Nether Void Realm.
• The girl described Eye Corner as an Actor who often used a Western kitchen knife, and Lin Yu wondered whether Sister Zhao was involved.

Lin Yu realized that the girl who had reunited with him was likely a projection formed by the Authority of Desire, and that her appearance had been part of a scheme. After she suddenly froze, a higher-order being appeared, and Lin Yu demanded to know who it was and why it had come.

• Lin Yu connected the Nether Void Realm’s apocalypse and the girl’s survival to Lin Zhao, then suspected that the girl’s soul had been assimilated by the Authority of Desire.
• Lin Yu explained that the girl had used Desire to recreate her old home and might have become a projection, but she insisted she was alive and promised never to hurt him.
• The girl said she remembered what had happened, then froze as her mental and soul fluctuations vanished.
• A higher-order being appeared beside the bedroom railing and said it had expected Lin Yu, whom it called Zhu Ming, to recognize the deception so quickly.
• Lin Yu refused to explain why the scheme had failed, demanded the being identify itself, and said he hoped it had come to kill him rather than ask for a favor.

Lin Yu learned that the God of Desire and Revelry had been trapped in the Nether Void Realm after a player stole its revelry authority and weakened its control over desire. The God of Desire asked Lin Yu to preserve the Azure Sea Sky Dome, which protected it from being erased by the realm’s World Will.

• Lin Yu recognized that the cushion-headed being was a former god connected to the desire authority, and it introduced itself as the God of Desire and Revelry.
• The God of Desire explained that another god had stolen its revelry authority and that the God of Ocean and Storm had already been dead when it arrived in the Nether Void Realm.
• The God of Desire revealed that a woman had coerced it into destroying the God of Ocean and Storm’s remains and releasing two authorities, then arranged for the God of Banquets to steal its revelry authority.
• The God of Desire said the Azure Sea Sky Dome kept it trapped but also protected it from being erased, and that shutting it down would cause its self to disappear.
• Lin Yu said he did not want to oppose the woman, so the God of Desire asked him to damage the Azure Sea Sky Dome and make sure it could not be shut down easily.

Lin Yu negotiated with the God of Desire, rejecting his promises of friendship and support while demanding tangible compensation for helping him survive. He accepted a Desire Mark and knowledge of divine arts in exchange for keeping the God of Desire alive, and also learned how to maintain [Azure Sea Sky Dome].

• Lin Yu refused to keep [Azure Sea Sky Dome] open for the God of Desire and exposed the weakness of his promises by revealing that his supposed allies in the Prison Mountain Realm were dead, suppressed, or gone.
• Lin Yu said he hated the God of Desire for using an old friend to scheme against him, then demanded compensation worth more than [Azure Sea Sky Dome].
• The God of Desire offered Lin Yu the ability to borrow the power of desire and to become his Chosen of God, but Lin Yu accepted only the divine arts and the Desire Mark.
• The God of Desire placed a golden Desire Mark on Lin Yu and transferred knowledge of divine arts and [Azure Sea Sky Dome]'s basic structure and functions into his mind.

Lin Yu received the God of Desire’s knowledge about the [Azure Sea Sky Dome] and led Li Nian and Chen Le to its core, intending to shut it down. As they prepared to enter the water sphere, a breach opened above them and four familiar Tier 4 experts arrived as Night Watcher reinforcements.

• The God of Desire gave Lin Yu the power and research he needed, and Lin Yu promised to find a way to free him.
• Lin Yu reunited with Li Nian and Chen Le, then led them to the eighth floor and the enormous water sphere at the heart of the [Azure Sea Sky Dome].
• Lin Yu explained how to shut down the device and told Li Nian to wait outside while he and Chen Le entered its dense, energy-filled water.
• A breach opened in space, and a long-haired middle-aged man announced that Night Watcher reinforcements had arrived.
• Chongming, Robin, Mountain Sparrow, and Tengshe dropped through the breach, startling Chen Le.

Lin Yu faced Tengshe and the Night Watchers after luring them into Ruins City, intending to hold them off while Chen Le summoned reinforcements. He claimed he could stop the four enemies for half an hour and threatened to use hostages, leaving his plan unclear.

• Lin Yu realized Tengshe, Chongming, Robin, and Mountain Sparrow had entered Ruins City after his suggestion prompted the Night Watchers to reinforce the area.
• Chen Le explained that his home-ground advantage and control of five Nine Treasures made the Night Watchers wary, and said he would negotiate to let Lin Yu and Li Nian leave.
• Lin Yu asked Chen Le to summon Comedian and Inventor, then promised to hold off the Night Watchers for half an hour using his new powers related to Desire.
• Lin Yu tried to convince the Night Watchers that they had come to the wrong place, but Chongming saw through the deception and corrected the others.
• Lin Yu admitted he was confident enough to face them and warned that he would use hostages to threaten them.

Lin Yu revealed that he had gained access to the authority of Desire and used the Undersea Ruins’ puppets against the Night Watchers. He left Tengshe engulfed in golden light and experiencing his desires, while Chen Le continued preparing to fish for the Nine Treasures.

• Lin Yu threatened to kill Order's Director, but Mountain Sparrow guessed that Lin Yu would not harm someone he loved and concluded the threat was a bluff.
• Lin Yu admitted that his conversation had bought time for himself, while Chongming noticed Chen Le preparing to fish.
• Lin Yu used the authority of Desire to command the Undersea Ruins’ puppets to swarm the Night Watchers.
• Tengshe crushed the leading puppets with giant hands of smoke, triggering a chain reaction that engulfed him in golden light.
• Lin Yu revealed a doll-like phantom and said he had made Tengshe face his own desires.

Lin Yu used the God of Desire to immobilize Tengshe and attack the Night Watchers, then relied on a serpentkin summon to put Mountain Sparrow to sleep. Chongming and Robin remained to face him.

• Lin Yu summoned the God of Desire, whose power trapped Tengshe in Desire and let Lin Yu turn his attention to the three Night Watchers.
• Chongming protected Mountain Sparrow and Robin from the God of Desire’s attacks, while Mountain Sparrow summoned characters from his manga manuscripts.
• Lin Yu attacked the group with the Fear Torch, combining fear with Desire’s corrupting influence.
• Chongming disrupted Lin Yu’s charge, and Robin and Mountain Sparrow struck him with a summoned spike and their manga characters.
• Lin Yu’s apparent body burst into ink, revealing that he had used a trick to get behind Mountain Sparrow.
• Lin Yu summoned a serpentkin that put Mountain Sparrow to sleep, then caught him as he fell.

Lin Yu used Mountain Sparrow and the God of Desire to lure Chongming into a series of traps, while Robin tried to restrain him. Chongming learned how Desire worked and wounded Lin Yu, but carrying Mountain Sparrow on her back let his cold freeze her in place.

• Lin Yu knocked Mountain Sparrow unconscious with the Death Sleep Technique and used him to block Chongming’s Chain Blades.
• The God of Desire trapped Chongming in an illusion, but Robin helped free her; Chongming deduced the ability’s conditions and warned Robin.
• Lin Yu threatened to reveal Chongming’s desires, but she refused to surrender and attacked him, cutting his thighs.
• Robin’s vines bound Lin Yu, and Chongming took Mountain Sparrow and carried him over her shoulder.
• Mountain Sparrow’s cold seeped into Chongming and froze her, while Lin Yu revealed that her loyalty had let him bypass her Body Protection Qi.

Lin Yu, disguised as Zhu Ming, used borrowed divine power to incapacitate Tengshe, Chongming, and Mountain Sparrow, then faced Robin. Robin revealed her ultimate Copy Art trump card: a soulless reproduction of Grandmaster Gu Mo, whose formidable fists left Lin Yu searching for a way to exploit the copy’s vulnerability.

• Lin Yu used the God of Desire’s power against Tengshe, froze Chongming with Frost, and put Mountain Sparrow to sleep.
• Lin Yu challenged Robin to fight, and Robin admitted she feared killing him because she might lose a friend the Director cared about.
• Robin warned that she would use her strongest methods, and Lin Yu attacked her alongside the God of Desire.
• Robin used Copy Art to summon a reproduction of Grandmaster Gu Mo, whose powerful fists made Lin Yu realize the painter herself was the copy’s weakness.

Lin Yu stopped Robin from using her copied Grandmaster attack by convincing her that killing him would endanger Director and their companions. He then trapped her in a desire vision of a comfortable life with friends, leaving her caught in the illusion.

• Lin Yu charged at Robin and used [Tooth of Prophecy] to make her believe that his life was bound to Director's and that killing him would harm their companions.
• Robin lowered the copied Grandmaster figure and said she would capture Lin Yu without killing him, hoping he could atone in the Eternal Prison.
• Lin Yu called Robin by her Real Name and used [Narrative Trick] to trap her in a vision of her ideal future.
• Robin's vision showed her living with friends, sharing her artwork online, and going out to eat hotpot with Lin Yu and the others.

Lin Yu and Li Nian entered the [Azure Sea Sky Dome] to alter the city’s environment, but Tengshe broke free and pursued them through its crushing waters. Lin Yu slowed him with water control while Li Nian tried to steal one of his [Items] and accidentally took a trash can.

• Li Nian praised Lin Yu for defeating the Night Watchers, but Lin Yu warned that Tengshe would soon escape and asked her to prepare for what came next.
• Lin Yu and Li Nian swam toward the [Azure Sea Sky Dome]’s core so Lin Yu could adjust the city’s environment to their advantage.
• Tengshe broke free, entered the water sphere, and rapidly closed in on them despite its intense pressure.
• Lin Yu used the [Water Prayer Necklace] to send a powerful current crashing into Tengshe and slow his pursuit.
• Li Nian used her gloves to steal an object from Tengshe but pulled out a trash can, and Lin Yu realized Tengshe was holding his breath rather than using an underwater-breathing [Item].

Lin Yu trapped Tengshe in a repeating illusion created by combining the Authorities of Destiny and Calamity, forcing him to relive the worst calamity of his life. Tengshe tried to escape and then attacked Lin Yu, who ended the chapter by using Tengshe’s knife to cut his own throat.

• Lin Yu sent Li Nian toward the Azure Sea Sky Dome and used Destiny and Calamity to ensnare Tengshe in a Karma Illusion.
• Tengshe awoke as a weakened homeless man beneath a bridge and learned that Lin Yu had placed him in a calamity tied to his past.
• Tengshe jumped into the river to escape, but the illusion collapsed and reset, bringing him back beneath the bridge.
• Tengshe accused Lin Yu of trapping him in a Groundhog Day loop and decided to kill him with a rusty knife.
• Lin Yu seized Tengshe’s wrist and used the knife to slit his own throat.

Tengshe fled after Zhu Ming slit her own throat, hid her body beneath the bridge, and returned to the routines of his homeless past to figure out where and when he was. As he wandered the city, he reflected on how naturally solitary life still suited him.

• After a police siren approached, Tengshe threw the knife into the river and ran, but the police car passed without stopping.
• Tengshe disguised Zhu Ming's body as a sleeping homeless person beneath the bridge and scrubbed away the blood trail.
• Tengshe went to a church-run relief center, ate part of a meal, and set out to explore the familiar streets.
• Tengshe recognized landmarks from his homeless years and wondered whether wandering suited him better than socializing.
• Tengshe recalled a hippie musician friend from an underpass who had vanished without explanation.

Tengshe recalled how his family’s financial collapse, expulsion from school, and a chaotic shooting at a fast-food restaurant led to his first-degree murder charge. Facing a sentence he could not accept, he asked his friend to help him escape, and the friend agreed.

• Tengshe remembered that his father’s terminal illness and his stepmother’s departure had forced him to support his father while working abroad.
• After customs seized goods from Tengshe’s personal shopping business, he was expelled from school and faced losing his visa.
• A tall art student offered Tengshe a place to live, and they shared a rundown attic apartment for two months.
• Tengshe followed his roommate to a fast-food restaurant, where he saw him shot and fired a gun in the ensuing chaos.
• Police charged Tengshe with first-degree murder after the restaurant owner collapsed, and his friend arrived with a lawyer.
• Tengshe asked his friend to help him escape, and his friend agreed.

Tengshe relived a day in which he remembered escaping prison, losing his father, and settling into life as a homeless man before waking beneath the bridge again. Lin Yu revealed that Tengshe’s greatest Calamity had already happened, though he had failed to notice it, and challenged him to find the answer in the day’s events.

• Tengshe recalled how he escaped prison, learned that his father had died, and drifted into a peaceful but lonely life as a homeless man.
• Tengshe revisited the area near his university, built a concealed shelter in a discarded trash bin, and fell asleep after drinking expired beer.
• Tengshe woke beneath the bridge with his memories intact and found Zhu Ming’s figure waiting for him again.
• Lin Yu admitted that she remembered the previous run and could see what Tengshe did after her apparent death.
• Tengshe questioned where the Calamity was in an illusion depicting an ordinary day, and Lin Yu told him it had already occurred unnoticed.

Tengshe continued living through repeated one-day loops in Lin Yu’s illusion, refusing to panic until Lin Yu revealed the person hidden in his memories. The chapter left Tengshe confronting Lin Yu’s claim that Ruan Min, also known as Celine, had been his girlfriend.

• Tengshe rejected Lin Yu’s warning and spent the next several loops following his routine and searching the city for a way out.
• On the twelfth loop, Lin Yu asked why Tengshe remained so calm, and Tengshe said he believed Lin Yu had a greater purpose than merely delaying him.
• Lin Yu admitted that he had pieced together the full truth behind Tengshe’s tribulation and wanted to see Tengshe’s reaction when he learned it.
• Lin Yu asked why Tengshe had avoided returning to school and pointed out that the many classmates who had helped him might actually have been one person.
• Lin Yu named Ruan Min, whose English name was Celine, and told Tengshe that she had been his girlfriend.

Lin Yu forced Tengshe to confront his forgotten past with Ruan Min, revealing that his memories concealed a devastating trauma. Tengshe returned to his college and discovered that Ruan Min had been killed in a school shooting by a homeless musician he once knew.

• Lin Yu reminded Tengshe that Ruan Min had been his girlfriend and that he had stood her up before fleeing prison to spare her from becoming a fugitive.
• Lin Yu suggested that Tengshe had forgotten Ruan Min because something terrible had happened to her, and told him to recover his memories or remain trapped in the illusion.
• Tengshe recognized that the forgotten trauma was connected to the day he left Ruan Min and entered his former college despite the police cordon.
• Tengshe found the gunman dead by suicide in the stadium, along with Ruan Min and several other victims.
• A female voice behind Tengshe said he could have prevented the calamity but had not, and called it a shame.