Recaps

Plaguefang’s gnoll warlocks destroyed an East Prussian outpost and advanced toward Banks City, prompting the Plantagenet forces and Transia’s Torrent Knights to mobilize. Colonel Fraser authorized Peachie’s force to join the defense, and the chapter ended as the knights rode out to face the undead army.

• Plaguefang’s warlocks annihilated most of an East Prussian outpost with a meteor spell, then marched on while Hogg arranged for survivors to call for help.
• Colonel Fraser learned that gnolls had destroyed outposts and villages, and he ordered his troops to reinforce the front as Marshal Loren’s cavalry rode out.
• Mirian offered the Torrent Knights’ rapid-response force, and Fraser accepted temporary authorization after learning Peachie commanded it.
• Peachie and Liwen prepared their knights, while Taipal rallied the Torrent Knights with a speech about fighting the undead in the Holy Light’s name.
• More than three hundred Torrent Knights rode toward the battlefield as Marin worried aloud about the danger facing the rookies.

The player groups received a story event asking them to help East Prussia’s defenders hold out against gnoll warlocks and their undead army. As the students reached the burning battlefield, they coordinated with the battered Pioneer Legion, whose surviving soldiers prepared to counterattack alongside Transian reinforcements.

• Madam Water realized the event could help Transia recruit residents for its census drive and set out with Little Ashina to join the fight.
• Leading Pigeon led the student group toward East Prussia, where they found the land ablaze and planned to extinguish the fire, rescue survivors, and target the gnoll warlocks.
• The students received Taipal’s message to prepare the Plantagenet soldiers for a counterattack and search for the gnolls’ summoning site.
• A Bloodclaw gnoll called to the flying players, while A-Cha went to deliver the reinforcements’ message to the Pioneer Legion’s defensive line.
• A-Cha met the wounded second lieutenant, who reported that only 130 of the original 540 soldiers remained but promised they would join the counterattack.

Taipal and the Torrent Knights reached Banks City to reinforce the battered Pioneer Legion, then launched a coordinated charge against the gnoll undead army. They killed Gnoll Shaman Blighttooth, though Hog’s poison had already left him near death before Miss Biji landed the final blow.

• Taipal and Uncle Fuding discussed the Pioneer Legion’s devastating losses as the Torrent Knights rode toward the battlefield, while Miss Biji ordered Taipal to observe from the rear.
• Taipal and the knights saw the bodies of fleeing villagers, then Uncle Fuding led the first charge through the undead before Miss Biji’s knights advanced in a second wave.
• A-Cha and Meow Shark guided the knights toward the gnoll shamans and used a sun bomb to destroy the undead birds attacking them.
• Hog ambushed Blighttooth with poisoned blades, slashed his throat, and retreated into the shadows as the shaman staggered and began to die.
• Miss Biji charged Blighttooth and burst his head with her lance, taking the final blow as the players noticed the gnoll shaman’s dire-wolf reins had dropped.

Madam Shui persuaded the others to let the undead ritual run its course and evacuate East Prussia’s residents toward Torrent Castle, giving the Torrent Knights a chance to gain settlers and construction points. Marshal Loren learned of the evacuation and ordered warnings and troops deployed, while fuming that Transia had again profited from a disaster.

• Cheche and Good Pigeon considered using an Astral Rift to destroy the necromantic ritual, but Madam Shui told them to wait for her arrival.
• Madam Shui argued that the ritual would soon weaken on its own and that evacuating residents was safer than using a destructive psychic spell or trying to clear every undead creature.
• Madam Shui proposed that the Torrent Knights guide nearby residents to Torrent Castle, and the group agreed to begin evacuations despite Miss Piqi’s objections.
• The Torrent Knights organized two groups totaling six hundred evacuees, while news of the undead disaster spread through nearby towns and panicked Banks City.
• Marshal Loren learned that the Torrent Knights were moving residents into Transia and ordered East Prussian towns warned of the coming Black Calamity and recruit regiments sent to destroy the remaining undead.

The Riptide Knights rescued refugees from the Marlowe disaster while Murphy assessed their growing independence and considered how to test Grand Duchess Shani’s ties to Twilight. Shani arrived in Borne to assist Turner, making clear that she resented Murphy and Triss’s test but intended to help expose Twilight.

• The Riptide Knights continued fighting the undead near Marlowe and escorted more than 800 refugees toward Riptide Fortress.
• Liwen warned Peachy that the Plantagenet Kingdom and Transia might one day go to war, but Peachy avoided choosing a side and sent Liwen to report her battlefield exploits to Fraser.
• Murphy praised the Riptide Knights’ independent handling of the crisis, while Adele estimated they might recruit up to 10,000 people from the affected region.
• Murphy suspected Grand Duchess Shani might be connected to Twilight and decided to test her by sending Turner and the Shadow Stalkers into her territory.
• Shani confronted Turner in Borne and agreed to help him destroy the Snegov family’s Twilight-linked operation, though she complained about Murphy and Triss’s test.

Cat Bro, Turner, and the Shadowfist Sect attacked the Snegov family fortress in Bernie City, where they uncovered prisoners marked for a ritual. Big Shark and the Eagle of Star-Soul entered the tower and encountered a transformed monster, while Turner identified it as a spider demon tied to the Dark World and shadow elves.

• The Eagle of Star-Soul and Cat Bro noticed that members of the Snegov family were following them and reached the Thorn Clan headquarters.
• Turner ordered the Shadowfist Sect to capture the Snegov family before it fled, while Grand Duchess Shani prepared to suppress the local Thieves' Guild.
• Sister Pomegranate and Cat Bro infiltrated the fortress as Turner and the others blasted through its gate and fought the gang members.
• Sister Pomegranate discovered prisoners with strange symbols and warned the group that the Snegov family was conducting a ritual.
• Big Shark and the Eagle of Star-Soul entered the tower, where the Snegov family godfather transformed into a monster and hurled Big Shark through the wall.
• Turner rescued Big Shark and identified the monster as a spider demon connected to the Dark World, shadow elves, and the Twilight.

Turner and the monks defeated and captured the transformed Snegov patriarch, then searched the family’s fortress for clues and valuables. They found evidence linking the Snegov family to Twilight and a spider brooch that Cat Bro associated with Lady Adele, leaving her background under suspicion.

• Cat Bro and A-Lin charged the drider but were struck by confusion spells, while Turner fought it and the other monks joined the battle.
• Turner incapacitated and froze the drider before its death curse could take effect, then sent the others into the tower to search for Twilight connections.
• Star Soul Eagle showed the group the Snegov family’s treasure and property deeds, but Teacher Li proposed returning the ill-gotten wealth to the city and keeping only what the Shado-Pan needed.
• Cat Bro explained that refusing the dirty money could earn Turner’s favor, and the group agreed to keep usable equipment while returning the rest to Lord Murphy.
• Sister Pomegranate uncovered hidden letters and a spider brooch, and Cat Bro recognized its pattern from Lady Adele’s clothing and suspected a link to her shadow elf heritage.

After the Shadow Sect brought rescued prisoners and a frozen drider back to Scarlet Keep, Murphy and Triss investigated the creature and its ties to shadow elves. Triss speculated that Avalon had been corrupted and that the Spider Lady embodied the corrupted part of her divinity, but Grand Duchess Shani’s arrival interrupted their discussion.

• Sister Pomegranate decided to take the rescued civilians to Scarlet Keep until Lady Triss could confirm they were safe, and Turner promised to train the group in the monk path.
• Adele identified the seized crest as belonging to the Mejwa family and agreed to ask Lord Bella to help decipher the letters from the Snegov estate.
• Triss began binding the frozen drider with her time-controlling ritual and explained that it was a failed version of a shadow elf transformation tied to the Spider Lady, Avalon.
• Triss told Murphy she suspected Avalon had been corrupted and that the Spider Lady represented the corrupted part of her divinity.
• Bonnie arrived to announce that Grand Duchess Shani was waiting for Murphy and Triss.

Murphy and Triss learned from Duchess Shani that the Thieves' Guild had been plundering heroes' tombs for Dusk, while Murphy revealed Dusk's undead army and its ties to other threats. Shani agreed to deepen cooperation, and Murphy proposed an anti-Dusk alliance that would let his warriors serve the Thorn Clan at Fort Klime.

• Duchess Shani reported that Dusk had corrupted most of the Thieves' Guild outpost in Borne, and that her purge had killed twenty-seven spider demons.
• Shani revealed that the guild had spent five years robbing heroes' tombs and stealing the remains of at least eight Gold-tier and thirty-five Silver-tier heroes.
• Murphy told Shani that Dusk had already fielded an undead army in Sico City, and Shani decided to investigate the Thieves' Guild headquarters and report her findings to Lord Paine.
• Murphy identified Lady Cecilia's Wolf-Griffin faction as another part of Dusk, while Triss warned Shani that Dusk might also be working with the gnolls behind the Black Calamity.
• Murphy proposed a little anti-Dusk alliance and offered to let his warriors serve the Thorn Clan at Fort Klime in exchange for reputation and clan items.

Brother Cat and Master Yang visited A-Feng at the House of the Dead, where he remained under Bella’s care while studying necromancy and training battlefield medics. As Brother Cat and Master Yang left to search for the Ghost Codex, A-Feng began teaching his students surgery with a gruesome practical lesson.

• Brother Cat reunited with A-Feng and told him that he and Master Turner had uncovered the Twilight cultists’ connection to Transia’s troubles.
• Master Yang told A-Feng that his mother’s application to visit had been approved, and A-Feng agreed to prepare for her arrival.
• A-Feng complained that Bella was making him study necromantic lore, while Brother Cat suggested he could pursue both monk and lich professions.
• Master Yang and Brother Cat decided to travel to the Filthy Swamp to search for the Ghost Codex so A-Feng could leave the House of the Dead.
• A-Feng explained that Murphy had assigned him to train medics, including teaching them amputations under the army’s prosthetics and vampire-recruitment policy.
• A-Feng demonstrated emergency surgery on an injured gnoll, frightening several students into fleeing before he laughed at their reaction.

Murphy announced True Otherworld’s first server maintenance to implement human racial talents and character customization, then forcibly logged out the players and began applying the updates. As maintenance began, he and Triss discussed the players’ paths toward Silver rank and Murphy’s own plans to study history before undertaking his Silver Trial.

• Murphy and Triss announced a two-to-four-hour server shutdown, prompting players across Transia to leave dungeons and find safe places to log off.
• Murphy planned additional save points and checked on players scattered across the region as the shutdown countdown continued.
• Murphy used his administrator privileges to log out nearly every player and began applying the collected human race templates, while leaving Pants Off A-Feng connected.
• Triss told Murphy that the new racial talents would help players pursue their Silver Trials, and they discussed whether any could reach Silver before the Black Calamity.
• Murphy boasted about how Silver-ranked heroes could change Transia’s standing, but Triss challenged him to begin his own Silver Trial.
• Murphy said he would master two more vampire sword techniques, study summoning, and learn history from Triss.

Murphy’s update introduced face sculpting and racial choices, prompting players to debate the risks of changing appearances and the new talents. Meanwhile, Old Yang prepared to leave for Jiangxi while Madam A-Mei resolved to enter the game and help Ah Feng obtain a book from a group of gnolls.

• Murphy’s Alpha 3.1 announcement revealed face sculpting, one-time human race and talent choices, new forum assistants, and bug fixes.
• Players discussed racial talents and appearance templates, then realized that changing faces could make NPCs fail to recognize veteran characters and cost them goodwill.
• Several players considered using face changes to evade consequences, while Honorary Knight Taipal and Doing It Pretty Well warned them against wrongdoing in Transia.
• Old Yang told Madam A-Mei he had to travel to Jiangxi for a family banquet and urged her to stop blaming herself for Ah Feng’s condition.
• Madam A-Mei said she wanted Ah Feng to recover and decided to enter the game to help him obtain a book from the gnolls.

After the update, Murphy watched veteran and new players return to Transia and organize around their guilds’ work. Madam Mei reunited with her son A-Feng in the Dead’s House, while Murphy reflected on the happiness he had helped bring them.

• Players woke in the Midnight Chamber after the update, and most chose racial talents suited to their existing roles and fighting styles.
• Murphy observed fifty newcomers arrive, including Sirak Fenda’s EVE veterans, Happy Stick’s retired combat engineers, and Samoyedlia, who agreed to help with Transia’s construction plans.
• Madam Mei revealed she had been pretending to customize her face while listening, and Murphy told her that A-Feng was waiting in the Dead’s House.
• Madam Mei found A-Feng in the underground passage and embraced him, apologizing for the accident that had separated them.
• A-Feng comforted his mother and welcomed her to the other world, while Murphy watched their reunion and considered recruiting the couple into his service.

Ripmeat learned that Plaguefang’s expedition had failed and sent Hogg to delay the Transians while the Plague Toxin clan pursued the Bone-Biter King’s treasure. Uneasy about danger and bound to Twilight’s aid, Ripmeat prepared to continue the search, while Hogg received deadly potions from Crippleclaw for his doomed warriors.

• Hogg reported Plaguefang’s defeat, and Fangscrape’s account confirmed that the gnolls had strayed into a Transian patrol and unleashed a Netherworld Curse near Marlow Town.
• Ripmeat ordered Hogg to attack the Transians building defenses outside the swamp, and Hogg agreed in exchange for a chance to join the Plague Toxin clan if his own clan was lost.
• Ripmeat’s divination warned that the treasure hunt could cost it its life, but it contacted Origin for help finding the Bone-Biter King’s treasure in Ningjin Nanka territory.
• Origin promised to send a subordinate to help Ripmeat find the gnolls’ symbol of civilization, while demanding that Ripmeat help her in return.
• Hogg visited Crippleclaw, who gave him a bag of rage-inducing potions and a rough recipe so Hogg’s warriors could make a final, destructive stand against the Transians.

Hogg completed his mission for Murphy and planned to expand the Bloodclaw clan into Blightplague Town, while Niu Niu and Amber’s scouting mission ended in an ambush. After Niu Niu confessed his feelings and Amber kissed him, he woke back in his own world, regretting that he had nearly died before they could talk more.

• Hogg told his guards that the Bloodclaw clan had already chosen Murphy’s side, ordered them to avoid provoking the Xilan people, and looked forward to claiming Blightplague Town.
• Amber and Niu Niu discussed their different worlds and their uncertain future as they made their way toward the extraction point.
• A purple scouting spell exposed the scouts, and a psionic lightning bolt knocked Niu Niu and Amber from the sky before gnoll warlocks and skeletons surrounded them.
• Niu Niu and Amber fought together to break through the skeletons, but Niu Niu collapsed from his injuries and the cost of Berserk.
• As Niu Niu expected to die, he confessed that he loved Amber and had rejected a girl from his own world because of her; Amber kissed him before he died.
• Niu Niu woke in his own world, realized he had nearly achieved a one-life clear, and invited his friends to barbecue.

Adele reported that the Plague Clan was concentrating its forces while searching for the Bonechewer King's hoard, and Murphy chose to launch an assault rather than let them leave the swamp. He ordered Adele and Phemis to design a player-guided campaign leading to Plague Town, preparing to open the new team dungeon.

• Adele reported that the Plague Clan had filled Filthy Swamp with weaker undead and planned to search for the Bonechewer King's hoard before withdrawing.
• Adele presented Murphy with options to ignore the Plague Clan or attack it, and Murphy rejected waiting because his warriors wanted a new challenge and he refused to tolerate the enemy near Transia.
• Adele proposed mobilizing the warriors through a Bloodclaw-mapped route to clear the skeleton armies and strike Plague Town, despite the risk of heavy casualties.
• Murphy studied the swamp map and decided to turn the route to Plague Town into a new team dungeon and event for his warriors.
• Murphy assigned Adele and Phemis to create the dungeon's quest chain and combat plan, then announced that Team Dungeon No. 003, "Land of the Rotten," was about to go live.

An in-game announcement revealed that Transia’s factions were preparing a multi-front assault on the Blightclaw gnolls in Filthy Swamp, while players discussed the new operation and foreign reputation factions. The chapter ended with players showing off wind griffins gained from an escort quest and proposing an aerial cavalry unit.

• Administrator Alpha posted reports from Transian factions accusing the Blightclaw clan of threatening the region and calling for warriors to attack Filthy Swamp.
• Old Soldier of the Qing Dynasty analyzed the attached map, outlining the gnolls’ defenses and recommending a coordinated assault on Blightclaw Town.
• Players discovered new investigation quests leading into Filthy Swamp, while Lumina Sunscar explained that Krim Fortress and the Pioneer Legion were foreign support factions rather than player allegiances.
• Meow King and Electronic Succubus Lao Qu showed off wind griffins they had received from the mountain folk, and Thirty-Year-Old Smoke proposed forming Transia’s First Aerial Cavalry Company.

Murphy visited Femis at the Scarlet Devil Mansion to discuss the design of Team Instance 003, “Land of the Rotting Dead.” Femis outlined a guild-based assault on Filthy Town, and she and Murphy shared confidence that Transia could resist the Black Calamity with the heroes’ help.

• Murphy decided the players would lead the swamp battle while the Cadman People's Army continued training, making it a final test of their combat readiness before the Black Calamity.
• Murphy flew to Femis’s mage tower, where she was overseeing its completion and had named it the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
• Femis showed Murphy a map of Filthy Town and explained that its warlock tower could be temporarily overloaded for up to six hours by a targeted psionic countermeasure.
• Femis proposed that adventurers’ guilds take turns attacking Filthy Town during those six-hour windows, with three preparatory routes and optional efforts to seize other psionic nodes granting buffs.
• Murphy praised Femis’s instance design, and Femis said the undying heroes could keep returning as long as Transia continued to fight.

The Scarlet Beasts reached the Filthy Swamp first and planned how to claim a front in the assault on Plague Town, while other guilds formed their own alliances. The chapter left the players preparing to compete over the swamp’s fronts and rewards, with Happy Bang’s allies now rivals.

• Leading Pigeon and the Scarlet Beasts used Hogg’s map to reach the Bloodclaw outpost and realized the swamp was too vast for one guild to handle alone.
• A-Cha proposed coordinating with other guilds to divide the three attack routes and have each guild try to clear a front before joining forces if necessary.
• The Scarlet Beasts planned to recruit experienced players and enlist allied small guilds, including the Scholars' Mason Brotherhood, the Eight Demons, and the Shadow Sect.
• Meow Brother told Happy Bang that the Big Bird Guild would not join his faction and had instead allied with Madam Water’s Silvermoon Guild and Taipal’s Torrent Knights.
• Meow Brother and Happy Bang declared themselves rivals and planned to compete over who would plant their flag on Plague Town’s tower first.

Brother Bang accepted a strategic partnership with Anthem of Loyalty while insisting that their relationship remain confined to the game. Murphy launched the Shadow of the Swamp event, which divided the players into three fronts and made clearing the swamp dungeon a race for Hall of Fame honors and their rewards.

• Brother Bang worried that Meow Brother had abandoned their cooperation, and Merya explained that Meow Brother needed to pursue his own ambitions.
• Vagabond offered an alliance between Anthem of Loyalty and Brother Bang’s squad, and they agreed to cooperate in-game, including training new players in the swamp campaign.
• Murphy published the Shadow of the Swamp event after learning that the Crimson Beasts had captured an outer outpost of the Skeleton Army.
• The event assigned guilds to southern, northern, and western fronts, set a forty-day deadline, and linked victory to clearing the Land of the Rotting Corpses dungeon.
• Murphy announced that successful guild members would enter Transia’s first Hall of Fame and receive commercial discounts, medals, and statues.
• Old Huo rallied his associates to identify and support the team most likely to secure the event rewards.

The student players advanced through the swamp while A-Cha devised a plan to use command rods to scatter the skeleton army and persuaded Major Ron to prove the Plantagenet soldiers’ worth by defending captured outposts. Ron accepted the challenge and led his officers toward the front, determined to earn respect through battle.

• Treasure Cove and Lion's Pride backed the Crimson Hammer and Sickle, while the other player-governed villages supported their own teams.
• A-Cha ordered Cheche to obtain command rods from Hogg so the players could drive skeletons away and advance faster.
• Major Ron asked Ge Bao to let the Plantagenet soldiers join the battle, but A-Cha and Ge Bao challenged them to defend three outposts through the night first.
• Major Ron accepted the challenge and took the outpost locations, prompting A-Cha and Ge Bao to laugh about NPCs now trying to earn players’ favor.
• Ron told his junior officers the battle was their chance to establish themselves, then prepared to lead willing soldiers to defend the outpost.

The students left the captured outposts to the Plantagenet soldiers while Ge Bao, Cheche, and A-Cha'en organized a hunt for the undead commanders. As Major Ron’s troops fought off a night assault at Outpost Three, a dazzling ball of light revealed a dangerous enemy caster.

• Major Ron used a speech agreed upon with Colonel Fraser to keep the officers from backing away from the fight, and four hundred Plantagenet soldiers moved into the three captured outposts.
• Ge Bao cast a detection spell while Cheche headed to Outpost Two, and A-Cha'en coordinated the students’ plan to find and eliminate the liches controlling the skeleton army.
• Murphy watched the students prepare their ambush, asked Lady Adele to protect them, and fell asleep while Adele secretly checked the forum and its entertainment updates.
• The skeleton army attacked Outpost Three, and Major Ron shot two skeleton mages while his soldiers held the defenses against the surrounding force.
• Major Ron and Lieutenant Bob compared the attack favorably to earlier battles until a high-level enemy caster appeared and unleashed a dazzling ball of light.

Ge Bao and the other players defeated undead commanders attacking the outposts, then Ge Bao stabilized Major Ron’s badly wounded adjutant and offered him a mechanical prosthetic through Transia’s disability insurance. Major Ron accepted the offer and vowed that his troops would remain in the fight.

• Ge Bao, Coo-Coo Chicken, and Meow Shark ambushed and killed a necromancer at Outpost Three, while A-Cha escaped a trap set by three underworld knights and elite skeletons.
• Coo-Coo Chicken and Meow Shark questioned the captured necromancer and learned that he had a mage tower near Bernet City.
• Ge Bao found Major Ron’s adjutant near death from the will-o’-the-wisp blast and used blood to stabilize him before arranging transport to a field hospital.
• Ge Bao offered Major Ron disability insurance and a mechanical prosthetic for his adjutant, and Ron agreed to pay for the procedure.
• Major Ron refused to withdraw his troops and declared that they would stay and fight for victory.

Afeng operated on Lieutenant Robinson, a badly burned soldier saved after shielding Major Ron, while Murphy and Natalie discussed expanding medical care through the Avalon Church. Robinson’s recovery became the first case for Sharon and Loyal’s disability insurance, and they began designing him a combat prosthetic arm.

• Lieutenant Robinson regained partial awareness during surgery and feared that undead captors had taken him from the battlefield, but Afeng and Bella kept him sedated as they treated his wounds.
• Afeng debrided and stitched Robinson’s injuries, explained skin grafting to Bella, and finished the operation before Bella administered healing magic and nutrients.
• Murphy asked Natalie to have the Avalon Church work with Afeng on medical training and a practical handbook for ordinary people, and Natalie described Crow’s growing influence over her guild and church.
• Countess Sharon and Loyal arrived to make Robinson the first beneficiary of disability insurance and began designing a mechanical arm, with Loyal persuading Sharon to add one weapon.

Loyalty agreed to help develop incendiary weapons for Happy Stick’s plan to clear a supply route through the Filthy Swamp, while Murphy considered backing the operation. After finding Triss away, Murphy secretly entered her laboratory and discovered a dissected forest elf whose identity and connection to the elven king raised new questions about Triss’s research.

• Loyalty discussed a mechanical prosthesis for Second Lieutenant Robinson and reviewed the progress of the arsenal’s rifle and ammunition production.
• Dou gave Loyalty Happy Stick’s plan to burn a route from the Maginot Line to Plaguetown, and Loyalty proposed developing white phosphorus weapons while asking the players to enlist Triss and other alchemists.
• Dou argued that the players should cooperate across guilds to support Transia’s survival, then set off to persuade Triss with fine wine.
• Murphy overheard Loyalty and Dou’s conversation and decided that clearing a military road through the Filthy Swamp could help Transia reach the Dark Mountains.
• Murphy found that Triss had gone to Treasure Bay after players offered her drinks, then secretly used her laboratory key to investigate her research.
• Murphy found a dissected corpse identified as Luna Christine Emargill and realized she was a forest elf from the same clan as the current elven king.