Recaps

Happy Stick and the players rushed to defend Kuder’s second line and confronted the Silver-tier gnoll warlord Kenport Bonechewer. As the players fought Kenport and others hunted the wanted gnolls, Murphy arranged rewards for their efforts and Kuder offered to retrieve prized weapons from his homeland.

• Happy Stick and Meow Brother discussed finishing Hog’s wanted-list quest, reaching the dungeon boss, and how to divide its loot.
• After Murphy ordered Kuder to withdraw, the players arrived in time to protect the second line of defense and surrounded Kenport.
• Reed Name’s bullets failed against Kenport’s hunting blessing, and Kenport’s sweeping flail badly injured or killed several players.
• Meow Brother and Lady Water healed the survivors, while Great Shark and Wanderer Zhou urged weaker players to retreat and hunt other wanted gnolls.
• Murphy sent Femis and Kuder to support Scarlet Castle, took Kuder’s crimson greatsword as a reward for the players, and told Kuder that legendary equipment would appeal to them.
• Kuder agreed to retrieve his former ranger-knight weapons from Nant, while Murphy remained to deal with Kenport.

The players defeated Ken Porter after a coordinated fight that turned against him when his bestial transformation left him vulnerable to aerial attacks. They claimed his loot and Murphy’s reward chests, while Hog escaped with Ken Porter’s injured dire wolf; the war at Crimson Castle remained unresolved.

• Ken Porter broke through the shield fighters and nearly killed Madam Water, but Professor Chen’s gargoyle and the players’ reinforcements kept their formation from collapsing.
• Xiao Weiming knocked Ken Porter’s helmet off, and Stinky Treasure poisoned him, allowing Frostfang’s Claw and the other players to disarm and overwhelm him.
• Ken Porter purged the poison and transformed into a stronger beast, but the players kept their distance and wore him down with attacks from the air.
• Ka Qituoni struck Ken Porter from above, Yaya poisoned him with bone daggers, and Brother Cat decapitated him as the players celebrated their dungeon clear.
• Hog watched Ken Porter die, then approached his injured dire wolf with meat and a healing potion before leaving the encampment.
• The players collected Ken Porter’s equipment, and Murphy presented them with two treasure chests while reminding them that Crimson Castle was still under siege.

Murphy oversaw the players’ random distribution of Kenport’s loot before returning toward Scarlet Castle, where the defense was holding and northern allies had arrived. Cheche died after his return scroll sent him to a dangerous place in the astral realm, and Murphy led the players to meet Knight Valand and the Sico heavy cavalry.

• Murphy activated random loot rolls to distribute Kenport’s belongings and promised the players they could search the camp after the fighting at Scarlet Castle ended.
• Sister Pomegranate, Professor Chen, Niu Niu, and other players won valuable weapons and equipment, while the players prepared to return to the castle.
• Murphy contacted Hog Bonechewer and allowed the gnoll to keep one-third of the spoils, then returned to the Blood Vulture Corridor with a scroll.
• Cheche’s return scroll sent him to the astral realm, where a huge snake killed him; his Calculation Orb returned with a recording of his final cries.
• Maxim reported that Scarlet Castle’s defenses were holding, and Adele reported strange signals from the north.
• Murphy contacted Knight Valand, learned that the Sico cavalry was coming to support them, and led the players toward the battlefield.

Valand and the Sico Winged Cavalry charged the gnolls attacking Scarlet Keep, while the young Count of Sico joined them and rallied the knights to overcome the shame of their past defeat. Their charge broke through the gnoll formation as they began reclaiming the Winged Cavalry’s lost glory.

• Valand and Lady Sunny prepared five hundred Winged Cavalry knights to charge the gnoll vanguard at Scarlet Keep.
• Valand urged the knights to hold their heads high, but the young Count of Sico spoke to them about their past defeat and their duty to fight.
• The young Count of Sico ordered the knights to follow her and charge as the cavalry spread their psionic wings and accelerated.
• Valand led the Winged Cavalry into the gnolls, killing a brute captain and tearing through their formation.

The Winged Cavalry shattered the gnoll vanguard’s morale, allowing Transia’s defenders to launch a counterattack and rout the attackers. Murphy planned to force captured gnolls into labor while pursuing a darker plan to reduce their numbers before the Black Calamity, as Happy Stick decided he wanted to become a cavalryman.

• The Winged Cavalry charged through the gnoll formation twice, splitting it and sending much of the vanguard fleeing.
• Little Ashina attacked the panicked gnolls, while Maxim, Adele, the Witch Hunters, and the Bloodsworn Knights led Transia’s counterattack.
• Murphy realized Countess Sickle’s Winged Cavalry had dwindled to 475 riders and discussed using captured gnolls to build a major road.
• Murphy demanded that gnolls surrender and revealed his plan to domesticate them, while Triss objected and struck fleeing troops with a dimensional meteorite.
• Happy Stick declared that he wanted to become a cavalryman, and his companions teased him about his many ideas of romance.

After the gnolls were routed, Transia’s forces pursued survivors and began organizing prisoners while players hunted stragglers for points. Countess Sharon arrived with the winged cavalry and asked Murphy’s help to restore her health; Murphy agreed to examine her before deciding whether to turn her into a vampire.

• Sir Porterman received Mirian’s order to join the Witch Hunter militia, send captured gnolls to a quarry camp, and take only those who surrendered peacefully as prisoners.
• Meow Brother and other players recruited hunters to pursue gnoll stragglers, while vampire players returned to the sewers to hunt ghouls in the daylight.
• Murphy, Triss, Femis, and Mirian welcomed Count Sico, the Great Vulture Knight Valand, and Sunny to Scarlet Castle.
• Countess Sharon revealed her mechanical left hand and explained that she had replaced body parts lost while fleeing two years earlier.
• Valand asked Murphy to turn Sharon into a vampire so her lost body parts and fragile health could be restored, offering the winged cavalry and County of Sico’s support in return.
• Murphy agreed to help and told Femis to prepare for a full-body examination of Sharon.

Triss examined Countess Sharon and found that the psychic plague was rapidly killing her, so Murphy offered to save her by making her a vampire. Varland and Sunny negotiated Seko County’s allegiance in exchange, and Murphy agreed to the cure and set terms for their alliance.

• Triss examined Sharon and warned that, without the forest’s protection, she would begin turning undead within seventy-two hours.
• Murphy explained that his Blood of Sin could cure Sharon but would bind her to her elder, while Sunny claimed source blood could later undo the pact.
• Varland offered Seko County and its mountain tribes’ allegiance in exchange for Sharon’s cure, and Murphy asked how many people lived there.
• Murphy required the mountain tribes to honor their pledge, return plains-dwellers to Cadman County or Seko County, and help rebuild the winged cavalry to at least two thousand.
• Murphy offered to embrace Sharon himself and find source blood, while warning that she would be unable to pass on the Sekomel bloodline.
• Sunny revealed that she was descended from the Nierman tribe, whose history included Triss as an elder.

Murphy performed a costly deep Embrace to cleanse Sandra Sharron’s psionic plague and restore her health, limbs, and life. After Sharron drank Origin Blood and severed their blood pact, Murphy discovered that the attributes and talent she had granted him remained, suggesting he had found a way to exploit the system.

• Triss explained that saving Sharron required cleansing her blood and a deep Embrace, and Murphy chose to do it himself despite the danger of severe weakness.
• Murphy learned from Triss that the mountain folk’s forest protection came from Avalon, but Lady Sunny rejected the possibility of Sharron seeking the God of Nature’s aid.
• Murphy drew out and purified Sharron’s decayed blood, then used an Elite template and sacrificed half his blood to restore her body and regrow her missing limbs.
• Sharron drank Origin Blood and severed her blood pact with Murphy, who suffered fifteen days of weakness after the Embrace.
• Murphy realized that Sharron’s attribute gains and Forest’s Protection talent remained after the pact ended, and he considered repeatedly using Embraces to exploit the apparent system bug.

Murphy and Triss completed their agreement with Sandra Sharon Seacombe Lasombra, welcoming her into the Blood Eagle Clan and recognizing her as Countess of Seacombe. Sharon accepted a role teaching engineering and helping rebuild Transia, while her forces joined its defense; the chapter ended with Triss advising her to choose a less over-the-top name for her new faction.

• Murphy and Triss warned Sharon about controlling her new vampire bloodlust, and Murphy explained the powers he had given her.
• Murphy invited Sharon to become Scarlet Castle's engineering instructor, revealed that his warriors came from another plane, and offered her a role repairing their weapons and developing new ones.
• Sharon told Murphy that the plague had made Seacombe City uninhabitable for at least twenty years, and Murphy proposed turning Seacombe County into Transia's northern rear base before promising to rebuild the city.
• Murphy placed the Seacombe Winged Cavalry under Baron Maxim's overall military command while allowing Knight Varland to rebuild it according to mountain traditions.
• Sharon swore loyalty to Transia and joined the Blood Eagle Clan as Countess of Seacombe, and Triss granted her the right to establish a faction before scolding her over its proposed name.

Murphy let Triss access the player forum and taught her to act as his assistant, Little Cui. Her first update announced new factions, NPCs, and the Knight career, while Murphy fell asleep beside her.

• Murphy celebrated the settlement of Westcoast and began drafting a development announcement, but Triss interrupted him with wine and asked for access to the player forum.
• Triss explained that she wanted to study the players’ knowledge after seeing Lumina’s periodic table, and Murphy warned her that the authorities in their world had noticed the connection between worlds.
• Murphy copied forum functions onto Triss’s orb and named her Little Cui, then taught her how to post announcements and interact with players.
• Little Cui posted an update adding the Earl of Westcoast’s Lands, Sharon, the Winged Cavalry’s Knight career, the Bloodclaw Clan, and other game changes.
• Triss read the forum comments and found Murphy asleep in her arms, then kissed him and wished him good night.

Mud Truck led the players back to the Gnoll camp to recover loot, where they discovered that the Phantom Thief Pangolin had taken the main haul and left a message. The note triggered a reputation-guidance quest directing the players to meet Pangolin in Smugglers' Wood after the Gnoll Disaster ended.

• Femis and Lady Adele discussed recruiting players as warriors and what rewards might attract them.
• Mud Truck organized the unaffiliated players to search the Gnoll camp and collect equipment, unusual items, and valuables.
• Mud Truck and the veteran players noticed that someone had sorted and removed much of the valuable loot, leaving some goods behind for the players.
• Zhou the Scholar gave Mud Truck a note from Pangolin, who promised to return the players' share in Smugglers' Wood.
• Mud Truck triggered the quest "The Phantom Thief's Message" and told the players to accept it and finish searching the camp.

After meeting Countess Sharon, TouchMePoor helped her settle into Crimson Castle and discovered her engineering work and firearms collection. Sharon persuaded him to spend far beyond his means on her wares and hints about a hidden treasure, leaving Happy Rod to rush back and confront her.

• With Murphy asleep, TouchMePoor visited a newly opened room in Crimson Castle and met Sharon, who corrected the players' cover story by giving them a detailed Seres tribal origin.
• Sharon triggered a quest asking TouchMePoor to help organize her room, then revealed that she was Countess of Sico and leader of the Crimson Claw faction.
• TouchMePoor appraised Sharon's mechanical prosthesis, praised her engineering, and eagerly tried to buy the firearms she showed him.
• Sharon told TouchMePoor that her gun collection was not for sale, but he insisted he could pay, so she began soliciting funds for it.
• Happy Rod learned that Sharon was asking TouchMePoor for 50,000 gold coins for the guns and 150,000 gold coins for a possible hidden vault, and he hurried back to intervene.

Happy Stick left Blood Vulture Corridor with plans for Xico City's underground vault and recruited Meow Brother to help explore it. Meanwhile, Loyal Bro impressed Countess Sharon with a handmade rifle, earned an engineering class change, and cut off his right hand to try her prosthetic, only to learn it was for the left hand.

• Happy Stick and Mo Ni Qiong left the vampire mechanic after paying for Xico City's vault plans and taking on a debt, and Mo Ni Qiong reassured Stick before flying back to camp.
• Loyal Bro arrived to see the mechanical engineer, admired Happy Stick's new trench gun, and then headed into Blood Vulture Corridor to meet Countess Sharon.
• Happy Stick examined the vault plans and arranged an in-person meeting with Meow Brother to hire his team for the treasure hunt.
• Loyal Bro showed Countess Sharon a handmade rifle, and she tested it by firing into a wall and accidentally breaking Madam Triss's bottle of Frozen Moonlight.
• Countess Sharon approved Loyal Bro's work and granted him the Apprentice Engineering Mechanic class, so he cut off his right hand to qualify for a prosthetic.
• Countess Sharon told Loyal Bro that her available prosthetic was for the left hand, leaving him regretting his hasty decision.

Marshal Loren returned to the Pioneer Fortress, assessed Governor Murphy’s victories against the gnolls, and learned that border troops’ negligence had left East Prussian villages exposed. He ordered the failed garrisons replaced and arranged military aid and a delegation for Transia, leaving Murphy’s supplies cleared for delivery.

• Marshal Loren resumed supreme command of the Pioneer Legion as General Soros briefed him on Murphy’s defeat of the gnoll warlord and the weakened but still formidable West Cico Winged Cavalry.
• General Soros reported that gnolls had crossed into East Prussia and raided three villages, killing or injuring more than two hundred people after border troops abandoned their posts.
• Marshal Loren ordered Pioneer Legion soldiers to take over the failed defense zones, launched a hunt for gnolls, and decided to send surplus border troops to Murphy as manpower aid.
• Marshal Loren and General Soros arranged weapons, retired artillery, and equipment donations for Transia, and appointed Colonel Fraser to lead a military observation group there with Soros’s younger son as his adjutant.
• Marshal Loren approved the release of the Capet family’s production lines to Murphy and said he considered the vampire governor a worthy potential opponent.

Loyalist sold guns and disability insurance to Count André, who struggled with the brutal treatment his new blood thralls would face. Grand Duchess Shani praised André’s growing resolve, then warned that Murphy’s rule over Transia would soon face serious challenges.

• Loyalist showed off his mechanical prostheses, sold firearms to players, and promoted disability insurance to Count André.
• André bought one hundred firearms and one hundred insurance policies to equip and protect his incoming blood thralls.
• Grand Duchess Shani praised André for learning to distinguish loyalty from duty and told him that his sister’s palace sword guards were on their way.
• André accepted that Murphy deserved to rule Transia and said he had never wanted the fief’s throne.
• Shani asked André to arrange a meeting with Triss and Murphy, then warned that Murphy’s real troubles were about to begin.

Murphy learned that he had secured all of Transia and unlocked guild and outpost systems, then received Nordtov’s recognition of him as governor and news of incoming reinforcements. When he discovered that both kingdoms were sending large numbers of troublesome prisoners and unwanted soldiers along with their aid, he objected that Transia was being treated like a dumping ground.

• Murphy’s territory update declared him King of Transia, unlocked guild and outpost features, and showed that Transia had come under his rule.
• Murphy told Adele to have Mirian publish guild management rules and work with Natalie on a department to manage guilds.
• Grand Duke Shani recognized Murphy as Transia’s governor on behalf of the Wolf Queen and said Nordtov would help build a defensive line north of the Filthy Swamp.
• Shani said six thousand prisoners and fifteen hundred support troops were on their way, including troublemakers and inmates, while Murphy received Marshal Loren’s offer of ten thousand blood thralls and fifty thousand Plantagenet border guards.
• Murphy condemned the kingdoms for sending their castoffs to Transia, and Triss defended him and dismissed Shani.

Colonel Fraser Scandell III Capet received orders to lead a military observation mission to Transia, where the Black Calamity threatened to erupt. After he and Miss Bici called off their expected marriage for now, they agreed to remain friends and investigate Miss Mirian’s claim to the Beverly inheritance.

• Colonel Fraser received orders to lead the Plantagenet Kingdom’s military observation mission to Transia and prepared to leave in three days.
• Miss Bici asked Fraser to take her to Transia to visit her grandfather, Lord Kuder, who had become a vampire magistrate.
• Fraser and Miss Bici admitted they did not love each other and agreed to remain friends, postpone marriage discussions until after the Black Calamity, and avoid family pressure.
• Fraser offered Miss Bici responsibility for the Capet family’s factory project in Transia, then showed her a bracelet design linked to the Beverly family.
• Miss Bici identified the bracelet as a Beverly family crest, and Fraser explained that Miss Mirian, who gave him a pistol, was Baron Beverly’s illegitimate daughter and heir.
• Fraser asked Miss Bici to help secure justice for Miss Mirian’s inheritance, despite her father’s plans to acquire the Beverly estate.

Murphy and Mirian debated how to manage prisoners and reinforcements, while Professor Malcolm proposed a graduated labor system that made use of their skills. Murphy then checked player rewards and equipment, and discovered that Edward Spencer Gangrel had sent him a dangerous sword cane as a pointed gift.

• Murphy and Mirian disagreed over assigning freed blood servants and northern reinforcements to hard labor, while Murphy argued they needed to be registered and kept under control.
• Professor Malcolm proposed employing the prisoners and reinforcements to make military supplies, with mines, roadbuilding, and trench digging as escalating punishments for those who refused to work.
• Murphy reviewed the players’ scores and realized his equipment reserves would soon run out, prompting him to seek information about the Blood Eagle Clan’s hidden armories.
• Murphy caught Triss trying to put two gift boxes into her psychic bag and learned Edward Spencer Gangrel had sent armor for both of them as a token of temporary reconciliation.
• Murphy appraised his gift, a masterwork sword cane carrying the Wolfsbane plague, and recognized Edward’s accompanying message as a challenge from an ancient enemy.

Murphy used the armor Edward had gifted him and began planning to recruit skilled craftspeople for the Blood Eagle Clan. Through his Alpha account, he recruited role-players and Banzai Happy Stick to prepare for upcoming stronghold and frontier tests, leaving both players eager to organize their groups.

• Murphy put on the masterwork armor Edward had made and inspected its abilities before deciding the Blood Eagle Clan needed its own skilled armorers and craftsmen.
• Murphy contacted Knight of Honor Taipal and explained that the development team was recruiting role-players to test stronghold gameplay, asking him to vet candidates and submit names.
• Murphy told Knight of Honor Taipal that guilds could control and name their own strongholds, and Taipal agreed to recruit for the Rapid Current Knights.
• Murphy asked Banzai Happy Stick about the fighting in Transia, then offered him a role testing war-oriented stronghold gameplay on a future front near the Filthy Swamp.
• Murphy warned Banzai Happy Stick that the front could face intense pressure after winter and asked him to keep the stronghold plans secret until the selection process was confirmed.
• Banzai Happy Stick accepted the test role and said he would gather and vet former comrades, while Murphy told him to have them apply and send a list.

Murphy recruited skilled players to expand Transia’s manufacturing tests and arranged rewards for bringing in craftspeople. He also relied on A-Cha to recruit ordinary players, and A-Cha began gathering students interested in game testing.

• Murphy created the Manufacturing Masters' Guild forum group and warned Triss to pose as an role-playing enthusiast.
• Graceful and Generous Lady Water, Master Broken Blade, and Hundred-Forged Horse discussed their manufacturing work and asked to see more of the game’s designs and weapons.
• Murphy asked the three players to recruit trustworthy craftspeople, promising workshop opportunities and other in-game rewards; they agreed to invite people from their networks.
• Murphy considered how to recruit both professional and ordinary players, deciding that Saien and Taipal could help with promotion while A-Cha recruited at school.
• A-Cha told students that his dormmates were pursuing game testing, then agreed to make a group for interested recruits while warning them not to disrupt the team.

Professor Malcolm and Funa prepared for winter and learned they would receive hereditary titles and fiefs, while Lao Qu landed the final kill that ended the Gnoll Calamity quest and made the top ten. As players prepared to claim their rewards, Meow Brother sought help opening his team’s keys, but Pomegranate Sis sent him to Yaya and Frostfang Claw instead.

• Professor Malcolm worried about winter preparations, refugees, and the approaching Black Calamity while he and Funa discussed sending their children to Chardo Port in spring.
• Mirian announced that Funa would become an Administrative Knight and Malcolm an Administrative Baron, with fiefs in the Andmar Hills or County of West Cobo to choose from.
• Lao Qu shot the final gnoll, triggering the end of the Gnoll Calamity quest and earning a fifty-point bonus that placed him tenth on the leaderboard.
• Lao Qu offered Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car the chance to open his Family Warrior Chest Key, and Car agreed to try to bring him good luck.
• Meow Brother asked Pomegranate Sis to open his group’s keys, but she refused and told him to ask Yaya and Frostfang Claw instead.

Murphy instructed Natalie on turning the warriors’ rewards into a randomized treasure-chest event and urged her to use rare chest prizes to launch quests for the 150 replica Holy Blades. The chapter ended with Murphy placing Natalie’s parents’ paired weapons in separate chests, hoping two warriors would win them and reunite them.

• Murphy told Natalie that the gnoll-hunting campaign had reduced Transia’s gnoll population to a safe level and proposed making the campaign an annual Adventurers’ Guild duty.
• Natalie explained that she was struggling to organize the Warrior’s Guild, and Murphy suggested using its taxes to fund the Avalon Church.
• Murphy demanded that Natalie prepare 327 decorated chests and randomly distribute rewards among them, including common prizes, disappointing prizes, and rare high-value items that could trigger quests.
• Murphy proposed using clues to the 150 replica Holy Blades as rare quest rewards, explaining that the warriors’ adventures would create stories that could strengthen the Avalon Church.
• Murphy offered Natalie her father’s sacred oak warhammer, Unyielding, and shield, Unbreakable, but she let him place them in separate chests as rewards for two different warriors.

The players gathered at Scarlet Castle for the Gnoll Calamity rewards, while Mo Ni Qiong arranged a lavish barbecue and Meow Brother arrived with news of a successful deal. Meow Brother recruited Frostfang's Claw to open the team's keys for luck, and the chapter ended as the settlement began and Amber joined Niu Niu to open a chest.

• The players returned to Scarlet Castle to celebrate the event rewards, and Pomegranate told the students what she expected to receive.
• Mo Ni Qiong arranged a five-star hotel seafood barbecue for the players and planned to pick up Pomegranate himself.
• Meow Brother and Brother Bang logged in drunk, then Meow Brother hinted that their business negotiations had gone well.
• Meow Brother gathered forty-five hunting keys and asked Frostfang's Claw to open them, offering him five keys as payment.
• Natalie asked Amber whether the warriors' bad luck was a curse, and Amber said Lady Triss had supposedly cursed them over rumors about her.
• Amber hurried over to help Niu Niu open a chest as the rewards settlement began.

Murphy and Maxim delivered rewards to the Adventurers' Guild, where players opened their hunting chests and Yaya found the legendary hammer Unbeaten. Meow Brother traded for its matching shield Unbroken, while Murphy prepared to reveal his own family treasure chests.

• Murphy and Maxim brought ten enchanted Family Warrior Chests, elite armor sets, and a legendary saber to the Adventurers' Guild camp.
• Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car found a Masterwork saddle, and Murphy revealed that he had marked certain chests to ensure treasures went to suitable players.
• Yaya found the ancient Avalon relic hammer Unbeaten, which Meow Brother gave to Sanwudou after identifying its powerful abilities and set effect.
• Meow Brother sought the matching shield Unbroken, and Water Lady's group traded it to him for the Crimson Witch's staff, allowing Sanwudou to complete the set.
• Murphy told Natalie that her amusement had ended and announced that it was his turn to distribute the ten family treasure chests.

Murphy rewarded the highest-ranked players with specialized equipment and a famed blade after the blind-box event, while planning to recruit thousands of players for Transia. The chapter ended with Pomegranate keeping the unusable Cold Night Blade until Catbro could meet her challenge, as Niu Niu warned her against getting too close to him.

• Murphy calculated that rewards and new invitation slots could help him build a force of three thousand players before the Black Calamity.
• Murphy and Maxim presented ten family chests to the top-ranked players, and Cheche and Old Qu drew ghoul sword-and-shield sets they could not use.
• Little Ashina bought the unwanted set from Cheche and Old Qu, while Catbro, Pomegranate, and Niu Niu received class-appropriate Grand Duke's bodyguard armor.
• Murphy hinted that Catbro could become the second Tribune of the People, then presented him with a famed weapon case that Catbro gave to Pomegranate under their agreement.
• Pomegranate discovered that the Cold Night Blade had requirements she could not meet and challenged Catbro to defeat her three times to win it back.
• Niu Niu stepped between Pomegranate and Catbro and scolded his sister, who threatened to expose his relationship with his paper-doll wife.