Recaps

Murphy recruited Nefertari into Femis's Scarlet Witch's Mansion and arranged for A-Feng to study necromancy under her. As the six-month closed beta ended on February 17, 1112, players across Transia prepared to log off, leaving their work and companions behind until the server reopened in three days.

• Murphy gave Nefertari a preserved blood sample, and she agreed to join Femis's Scarlet Witch's Mansion after negotiating for a Tower of the Dead Moon in Xike City.
• Murphy introduced A-Feng to Nefertari, who accepted him as her student and planned to take him to meet her mentor, Lord Bayek.
• The closed beta countdown began, and players traveled to save points or returned to Scarlet Castle to take commemorative photos and hand over their duties.
• Master Broken Blade and the other craftsmen discussed plans for their workshop, while Niu Niu promised Amber he would return after three days.
• Meliya kissed Happy Rod and revealed Murphy's secret mission to keep him in Transia, then the server shut down.

Murphy began the three-day internal test upgrade after shutting down the Otherworld summoning, then surveyed Scarlet Castle and discussed the players’ place in Transia with Triss. Triss revealed that faith in the Holy Light was stirring in the subspace, and she proposed that Murphy secretly purify the Lord of the Hunt’s divine remains to accelerate the Holy Light’s birth.

• Murphy expelled the players for a three-day version upgrade and planned to add new race templates, including a gnoll questline.
• Murphy flew over Scarlet Castle and saw the city continuing its routines, though the locals and Adventurers’ Guild felt the players’ absence.
• Triss explained that Transians viewed the undying players as returned heroes and agreed that a Hall of Heroes could shape their belief into a tradition or faith.
• Triss told Murphy that Holy Light belief had begun stirring in the subspace and that its growing church could clash with the faiths of Avalon, Su, and Vam.
• Murphy chose to spread the Holy Light in Transia and eventually the Plantagenet Kingdom, while Triss suggested secretly purifying the Lord of the Hunt’s divine remains to hasten its birth.

In Chardo Port, Sharon investigated reports of a mysterious will inhabiting machines while Lady Sunny’s health worsened and Professor Malcolm arranged for her to return to Transia. The chapter ended with Sharon seeing an uncanny light in her unwound mechanical squirrel’s eyes, suggesting the machine spirit was real.

• Murphy and Triss advanced their plan to create the Holy Light as a god by building its faith and seeking a divine vessel from the Lord of the Hunt.
• Sharon told Lady Sunny that a mechanical squirrel had moved by itself and described local stories of machines acting on their own.
• Lady Sunny said Chardo Port was harming her and her unborn child, and insisted she needed to return to Transia.
• Professor Malcolm learned that Perfect Shipping would transport machinery to Transia and arranged for Lady Sunny to accompany the shipment with a letter for Murphy.
• Sharon saw the mechanical squirrel tilt its head and noticed an uncanny light in its ruby eyes.

While waiting for the game update, Cheche used combat instincts learned in the game to stop two punks from attacking a pregnant neighbor. Afterward, he showed his sister the game and warned her to focus on her exams before trying to enter Transia.

• Cheche complained about the update delay and planned with his dorm buddies to grind reputation at Blackflame Pass once the new version launched.
• During a COVID testing line, Cheche knocked down two bleached-haired punks who were shoving his father and threatening a pregnant neighbor.
• Cheche's father stopped him from continuing to attack the punks, and the security guard took them away.
• Cheche told his curious sister that his fighting moves came from gaming and showed her clips from his adventures in Transia.
• Cheche's sister caught him watching a clip of Villantse transforming into a spider, teased him about his taste, and returned to studying.
• Cheche told his sister not to seek a testing slot before her exams and urged her to become someone who contributed to society.

Loyal Bro and Mengha briefed senior officials on the growing True Otherworld community and the discoveries made in Transia, including effective alchemical medicines and evidence of the Golden Age. Lord Qin urged the government to focus on understanding the game helmet and suggested bringing a mysterious woman home to help.

• Loyal Bro reported that more than 100,000 people were following True Otherworld and that undercover agents had infiltrated Transia and gained influence over the new Transia Tavern app.
• Mengha concluded that Transia was likely in another universe and described replicated potions that treated illnesses and enhancers that improved volunteers' physical abilities.
• Mengha presented evidence that Transia had once possessed advanced Golden Age technology, including biological engineering and Lord Murphy's kinetic-energy neutralization devices.
• Lord Qin argued that the government should prioritize studying the game helmet, citing how it let him walk and gave A Feng and Little Ashina new lives.
• Lord Qin suggested that someone might be able to study the helmet and proposed bringing that lady home.

Loyal and Uncle Qin planned to support Transia’s fight against the Black Calamity while searching for Sister Cement, who had been abducted and was testing a homemade device to reach another world. Her experiment left her near death, but Murphy detected her call and traced her location, setting up another intervention.

• Loyal learned that the task force had received more funding and authority, but would face a review in six months with demanding progress targets.
• Uncle Qin told Loyal and Mengha that Sister Cement had been moved, ordered preparations to help Transia defeat the Black Calamity, and reserved about fifty slots for people with special skills.
• Sister Cement activated her homemade Prometheus device, briefly separated from her body, and returned with her mind and body badly out of sync.
• FBI agents dismissed Sister Cement’s failed experiment as a chance to improve the device and ordered the recruitment of three hundred test subjects.
• Murphy detected an unknown call, traced it to Sister Cement on an island near the Windward Isles, and saw that she was close to death.

Murphy contacted Loyal Bro with Sister Cement’s location and warned that her condition was irreversible, prompting a rescue plan for her and Ruyi. He then spoke to Sister Cement through their cross-dimensional connection, offered her a chance to be resurrected in Transia, and urged her to destroy her research before the Warp shadows could follow her signal.

• Murphy realized Sister Cement’s attempt to contact Transia had exposed her to the Warp and messaged Loyal Bro with her coordinates and dire prognosis.
• Loyal Bro alerted Old Master Qin, who ordered a discreet operation to rescue Sister Cement and bring Ruyi back from Europe.
• Madam Shui agreed to pass the warning to Ruyi while Sister Cement remained gravely ill in the hospital.
• Murphy reached Sister Cement through their connection, explained that her body was failing, and offered her a second chance as a citizen of Transia.
• Murphy warned Sister Cement to destroy her research because dangerous Warp entities might trace her signal to Earth, and she accepted responsibility for the danger she had caused.
• Sister Cement punched an FBI agent who tried to assault her, and Murphy welcomed her to the Hall of Heroes of Transia.

Murphy and Triss discussed Cement’s contact with Earth and the risks of sharing creation knowledge, while Murphy prepared to add gnoll templates to the player options. He met Captain Paula’s returning airships and inspected a major shipment for Transia, including steam walkers, weapons production equipment, prostheses, and news from Chardo Port.

• Triss urged Murphy to bring Cement to Transia and warned that her discovery could expose Earth to the Warp, while Murphy said the Creator’s protection made that unlikely but worried Earth’s researchers might open a psychic channel.
• Murphy and Triss discussed adding gnoll templates for players, and Murphy arranged for Triss to receive administrator access to the Transia Tavern app and its search engine.
• Raven Nevermore alerted Murphy to the arrival of Captain Paula’s airships, and Murphy approached the Lucky after its crew briefly prepared to defend against him.
• Murphy greeted Lady Ishar Taylor and discussed the gold-burning ore deal, while Captain Paula reported that Professor Malcolm had helped secure supplies from Chardo Port.
• Murphy inspected five unarmed steam walkers, three bullet-production lines, an industrial machine, and two thousand mechanical prostheses, along with other equipment and correspondence.
• Captain Paula told Murphy that Lady Sharon had arranged for more retired walkers, and that a pregnant hillfolk woman had returned to Transia hoping to fight gnolls for her child’s prenatal education.

Murphy received weapons and machinery from Chardo Port, including chainswords that he designated as Transia’s warriors’ symbols, while the players celebrated the launch of the Transia Tavern app and its new development materials. The chapter ended with players discussing livestream permissions and preparing for the announced game update the following night.

• Three airships from Perfect Shipping Company docked outside Crimson Keep, where Mirian and the militia prepared to unload their cargo.
• Mirian discovered that Sharon had sent 500 capacitive burst guns and 50 chainswords for the Blood Eagle Clan, and Murphy ordered the weapons delivered to the Maginot Line and more chainswords commissioned.
• Murphy tried a chainsword, declared it would become a symbol of Transia’s warriors, and asked Mirian to record him wielding it.
• Transia Tavern went live, and players filled the new app with videos, articles, and discussion of official development materials.
• Players discovered that the app could livestream gameplay, discussed the application process, and reacted to the new version announcement ahead of the next night’s game session.

Murphy prepared the Beta 1.0 launch while the forum announced a sweeping game overhaul, including new interfaces, class paths, quests, and NPCs. Players reacted to the update and its new characters, while Niu Niu worried that Amber might judge his behavior.

• Murphy continued refining five new race templates for the launch, while Triss monitored the forum using Old Flywheel's upgraded computational orb.
• The development team posted the Beta 1.0 update notes, detailing new computational-orb modes, reorganized class paths, thousands of quests, and improved NPCs.
• Players crowded the forum to discuss the update and praise new characters, especially Captain Paula.
• Niu Niu admitted to Smoke that he feared the testing team had noticed his inappropriate behavior and wondered whether Amber would prefer him as a half-elf.
• Smoke told Niu Niu he was beyond saving and joked that he had a whole forest of romantic prospects.

The True Otherworld development team announced six new playable race options and detailed their traits, abilities, and faction restrictions, while warning that players would remain confined to Transia until the second main quest chapter ended. After players celebrated the update online, Triss and Murphy discussed monetization, and Murphy decided to consider random skin draws.

• The development team announced new playable races, including Shadow Elves, Half-Elves, dwarves, Halflings, Sangai, and two Gnoll forms, and offered players a chance to change their character's race.
• The announcement described each race's starting traits, racial abilities, faction standings, and progression paths, and said players would need to wait until the end of Transia's second main quest chapter to travel to other regions.
• Xiaoweiming posted the most-liked comment praising the update, while Cheche and other players clamored for the game to launch.
• Triss suggested charging players to curb their enthusiasm for Transia, but Murphy said eager players like Xiaoweiming would gladly pay.
• Murphy considered replacing a planned consumables gift pack with a lottery for random skins and said he would prepare more legendary skins.

With players furious over the delayed update, Murphy and Triss calmed them by raffling game slots and character skins. The giveaway brought celebration and bad luck alike, while Mrs. Ashina won a slot and prepared to join her daughter in Transia.

• Players flooded the forums and Transia Tavern demanding that the new version open early and that more headsets be distributed.
• Triss urged Murphy to soothe the impatient fans, and Murphy agreed to raffle 30 game slots for displaced farmers newly arrived in his territory.
• Murphy and Triss announced raffles for game slots and character skins, including rare appearances for Lord Murphy and Lord Payin.
• Great Shark was muted for spamming the forums, then won the Legendary skin Ice Bay Beast—Sikmael Slayer; Meow Brother and the Black Hand Clan Council received mostly Gray skins.
• Brother Huo won the Legendary skin Natural Saint—Old Finnock's Mount, and Madam Shui demanded that he transfer it to her.
• Mrs. Ashina won one of the 30 game slots and learned her headset would arrive in eight hours, allowing her to explore Transia with Little Ashina.

Murphy led Transian troops through a portal to reinforce Blackflame Pass against a kobold assault, while newly logged-in players prepared to join the battle. Meow Brother received a chainsword and learned that Murphy needed players on the front lines immediately.

• Murphy learned that Rending Claw kobolds had tunneled through Blackflame Pass's first three defensive lines and were threatening Lord Hiss's forces.
• Murphy sent seven hundred handpicked shock troops through a portal to the fourth line of defense, with Maxim and the Transian battle standard leading the charge.
• Murphy arrived on the battlefield, gave an exhausted elven ranger a trench gun, and cut through the attacking kobolds as Transian reinforcements followed.
• Meow Brother logged in, kept his Kateran race, and traded in his computing orb for an Expert Adventurer Assistant.
• Meow Brother received a custom chainsword as a Hall of Fame reward and refused his friends' offers to buy it.
• Meow Brother and his companions saw Murphy's call for help, received the notice about Vam's blessing and the battlefield's casualty limit, and set out for Blackflame Pass.

Happy Stick and the other players received rewards as Chapter One ended, and the Main Quest, “Dark Tides,” began with the Battle of Blackflame Pass. After learning the scale of the Black Calamity, Master Qin planned to sacrifice the forward positions for time and turn the Filthy Swamp into a trap-filled battlefield.

• Happy Stick received a chainsword and an expert-model adventurer assistant from Meliya, then left with the Kudman Raiders for Blackflame Pass.
• The developers announced that Chapter One had ended and listed rewards for the players’ accomplishments, including reinforcements, blessings, supplies, and Winged Cavalry support.
• Happy Stick and Master Qin gathered with the players in Shadowvale, where the Main Quest, “Dark Tides,” triggered and set the Battle of Blackflame Pass as its first stage.
• The quest revealed that the Splitclaw Clan had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, with millions more gnolls across the Dark Mountains, and warned that the Blackflame Pass, Shadowvale, Filthy Swamp, and Maginot Line battles would follow in sequence.
• Master Qin said the players could not hold Blackflame Pass or Shadowvale, ordered untested players to the Filthy Swamp, and told the guilds to produce mines and prepare traps there.

Great Shark went berserk against the kobolds at Blackflame Pass while Meow Brother and Little Hand followed him into a tunnel. Lord Heather kept the defenders fighting and sent Shield Dwarves to clear the tunnels, then learned Fort Valor was surrounded by the Rending Claw Clan and its Victory Blood Banner was threatened.

• Great Shark used his Beast of Ice Bay appearance and Varm Beheader to slaughter kobolds, activating two Ancestral Powers as he fought.
• Little Hand urged Meow Brother to save Great Shark after he charged into a kobold burrow, but Meow Brother began a secret mount trial instead and shouted for Great Shark to join him.
• A vampire knight asked Lord Heather whether the Blood Oath Knights should relieve Murphy’s Transian forces, and Heather refused after realizing the Blood Eagle Clan was recruiting through battlefield revivals.
• Lord Heather rejected the proposal to abandon the tunnel-ridden defense lines and appointed Major Clete to lead Shield Dwarves in clearing the tunnels beneath the second line.
• Major Clete told Lord Heather that Shield Dwarves from Transia, including Rok Hammer and his brothers, were fighting alongside the Transians, and Heather invented a story that they were secret descendants of Sir Vant.
• An elven ranger reported that the Rending Claw Clan had surrounded Fort Valor and threatened its Victory Blood Banner, and called for reinforcements.

Ashina fought at Blackflame Pass while her mother, Mrs. Judy, joined the game hoping to reunite with her. Murphy sent Judy and twenty-nine other newcomers to Courage Keep during the gnoll assault, where Judy discovered that Transia was not the peaceful place Ashina had described.

• Ashina felt an unexplained sense of foreboding as the Silvermoon Troupe fought kobolds, and Lady Dorothy reported that gnolls had emerged from the tunnels at Position One.
• Mrs. Judy received a game helmet, entered True Otherworld, and asked Murphy to place her near Ashina.
• Murphy recommended that Judy create a half-elf gunslinger named Cowgirl Judy and arranged for her to spawn at Courage Keep with twenty-nine other newcomers.
• Cowgirl Judy met Terra Nova and Ruyi Knows My Heart as the other newcomers hurried out to face the battle.
• Judy took a hunting rifle and followed the players outside, where she saw gnolls assaulting Courage Keep and realized Ashina had misrepresented Transia as peaceful.

Players at Blackflame Pass organized a rescue mission after gnolls besieged Fortitude, where 30 newly spawned players were trapped. As reinforcements headed out, Madam Judy treated a wounded halfling assassin at the fort, who screamed because she operated without giving him anesthetic.

• A random mission revealed that thousands of gnolls were attacking Fortitude and 30 level-one players, including Cowboy Judy, were trapped there.
• Lord Qin gathered troops to rescue his recruits, while Lady Shui coordinated support from other teams and sought winged cavalry.
• Little Ashina learned that her mother, Madam Judy, was trapped at Fortitude and flew there with Sister Pomegranate; other players also set out to reinforce the fort.
• At Fortitude, Madam Judy removed an arrowhead from a wounded halfling assassin while Yu Xiaohe and The Chief Says I'm Handsome restrained him, and he screamed that she had not given him anesthetic.

As gnolls and kobolds breached Fort Valor, the trapped newcomers helped defend the fort until Mrs. Judy fought off attackers and killed a gnoll warlord. Little Ashina and Sister Pomegranate arrived with reinforcements, turning the battle and reassuring the exhausted defenders.

• Earth priests collapsed the kobolds’ tunnels, while Fort Valor’s soldiers and the players used bombs and firearms to hold off the attackers.
• Mrs. Judy treated wounded soldiers, then killed two kobolds and a gnoll that broke into the storeroom.
• The players and dwarf riflemen repelled another attack, but armored wyverns brought gnoll raiders to the watchtower to destroy its crimson flag.
• Sister Pomegranate ambushed the gnoll warlord beneath the flag, and Little Ashina knocked it from the tower.
• Mrs. Judy shot the fallen warlord dead, then reunited with Little Ashina as winged reinforcements arrived and drove back the gnolls and kobolds.

After the battles at Blackflame Pass and Fort Valor ended, Transian plans to fortify Fort Valor drew the attention and blessing of Gaia. The chapter ended with the followers of Vam and Su contesting the new holy site, prompting Master Yuri to call for reinforcements.

• Murphy helped the Transians retake Positions Two and Three at Blackflame Pass, but the Splitclaw gnolls held Position One behind a supernatural ward, and Lord Heather vowed to reclaim it.
• At Fort Valor, Cowboy Judy killed the invasion commander, and Knight Valand and Happy Stick led the defenders to rout the remaining gnolls and kobolds.
• Samoyelia presented plans to turn Fort Valor into a pentagonal bastion, and an Earth Priest traveled to Shadowvale to verify his claim that Gaia was granting blessings there.
• Gaia delivered an oracle to the Earth Priest, directing the dwarves to aid Fort Valor's construction and prepare for a closer connection between gods and mortals.
• After a Ravager priest fought Master Yuri on the road to Fort Valor, Master Yuri told Mia to summon a unit of Winterfang ascetics to defend Su's holy site.

Murphy hunted down a Cleaving Claw silver warlord to advance his Silver Trial, using his companions and powers to defeat the gnoll squad. Afterward, Palanno reported that the Wise Wolf needed Murphy’s help with a new strategy involving the Plague Venom and Broken Tooth clans, and Murphy agreed to meet her the following night.

• Transian players took on the dangerous task of clearing kobold and gnoll tunnels in exchange for dwarf chainmail, guns, and ammunition.
• Lainnia recognized that Lord Murphy had arranged easy missions to improve her standing among the Bloodsworn clans, but knew she needed a genuine achievement to earn a jar of source blood.
• Murphy tracked a Cleaving Claw vanguard squad and killed its hunting priest with a shot from Night Luck before using his powers to eliminate several more gnolls.
• Murphy, George, Raveno, and Necessary Evil fought the remaining enemies, and Murphy defeated the silver warlord and consumed its blood essence for his Silver Trial.
• Palanno told Murphy that the Wise Wolf had reached the Plague Venom clan, which the Cleaving Claw clan was recruiting, and that it wanted to discuss a strategy that might also involve the Broken Tooth clan.
• Murphy agreed to meet Palanno the following night and warned her not to act rashly.

Lord Heather prepared to defend Blackflame Pass as the Rending Claw Clan isolated the region, while disputes over the Brass Dwarves’ priorities exposed deep divisions among the defenders. Murphy left his soldiers under Heather’s command and departed for the Dark Mountains to support Overlord Payn’s undertaking.

• A report told Lord Heather that the Rending Claw Clan had wiped out eight outposts and cut off Blackflame Pass from the surrounding region.
• Lord Heather concluded the assault was a diversion, then ordered Captain Dames to harass the gnolls and Colonel Kadel to prepare his gunners and Ironhearts for a counterattack.
• Colonel Kadel urged Heather to let Transia’s soldiers fight, but Heather exposed his unauthorized prospecting and ordered him to equip the Brass Dwarf soldiers within seven days.
• Murphy overheard Heather punch Kadel and reflected on whether brimstone profits had corrupted the Brass Dwarves and threatened Transia’s future.
• Murphy warned Heather that Kadel might resent her, left his soldiers under her command, gave her a computing orb, and departed for the Dark Mountains.

Murphy left Blackflame Pass with Adele, vampire nightwalkers, and Count Andre for a discreet operation, while Shadow Valley and Wolf Castle became busy training hubs. In Wolf Castle, Terranova met Neferetari, received a scarab egg, and began imagining how to breed it into a broodmother.

• Murphy departed Blackflame Pass with Adele, vampire nightwalkers, and Count Andre, leaving Vesta in temporary command of the remaining White Mountain fighters.
• Vilansel and General Maxim managed Shadow Valley as players gathered there, while Neferetari trained newcomers in spiritual energy and undead control at Wolf Castle.
• A-Feng demonstrated his Hand of Decay and Ghostfire Swarm to Neferetari, who praised his talent and urged him to keep practicing.
• Terranova arrived with Ruyi, Cowboy Judy, and Little Ashina, then overwhelmed Neferetari with questions about mummies and the Land of Origins.
• Neferetari gave Terranova a champion scarab egg in spiritual amber and explained scarab care, bonding, and the possibility of turning a dead beetle into a Dead Moon Scarab.
• Terranova asked whether she could raise her beetle into a broodmother, and A-Feng joked about her becoming the Blade Queen before she embraced the idea.

Terra Nova learned about the Sangha’s scarab traditions and decided to pursue scarab training, while Ruyi began studying computing orbs with Old Flywheel. Ruyi proposed joining forces to hack Chardo Port’s machines, leaving Old Flywheel intrigued but alarmed by her ambition.

• Nephthys explained the Sangha’s many scarab lineages and told Terra Nova that becoming a scarab trainer would require studying with masters in the Land of Origin.
• Terra Nova decided to pursue scarab training, and Little Ashina told her that Ruyi had gone to Scarlet Castle to study engineering.
• Ruyi demonstrated how she could reset a computing orb’s data, prompting Old Flywheel to test her and discuss the principles of steam engineering.
• Ruyi told Old Flywheel she wanted to learn how to exploit vulnerabilities in computing orbs rather than build them.
• Ruyi proposed creating viruses to disable or seize control of Chardo Port’s machinery and invited Old Flywheel to become her hacking partner.
• Old Flywheel admitted the idea was brilliant but warned Ruyi that her plan was extreme.

Ruyi began studying psionics so she could develop data viruses, while Lady Judy entered the game and set out to explore despite Little Weiming’s worries. Meanwhile, Murphy’s force reached the Dark Mountains, where he ordered a series of night raids against gnoll forces to strengthen Hogg’s standing.

• Old Flywheel gave Ruyi his psionic difference engine research and told her to master psionics before pursuing her programming plans.
• Lady Judy rejected Little Weiming’s offer to join her group and persuaded her daughter to fly her toward Blackflame Pass for an adventure.
• Murphy traveled through the Dark Mountains with Bonnie and Adele while Bonnie slaughtered the bandits and sickle-clawed beasts that ambushed them.
• Adele reported that two gnoll armies were nearby and that their route passed through a clan allied with the Rending Claw Clan.
• Murphy ordered Adele and Bonnie to attack the two gnoll columns while he went to wipe out the clan ahead, sparing female gnolls and cubs but killing every adult male.

Murphy joined Hogg to deal with the Plague Clan’s fractured leadership and the undead army hidden beneath its valley. After learning that Dusk had infiltrated the clan and that a Clawsplit envoy was on the way, Murphy assigned Palanno to handle the envoy and took on the Dusk agent as the Plague warlocks began fighting to choose their new chieftain.

• Murphy defeated the gnoll warriors in a small clan’s camp, spared its females and pups, and flew with Adele toward the Plague Clan’s territory.
• Palanno told Murphy that Flesh-Ripper’s death had sparked a power struggle in the Plague Clan, which was worsened by a secret undead army beneath its valley.
• Hogg asked Murphy to help secure the valley and its skeleton army, explaining that the army could aid the Wise Wolf faction and benefit Transia.
• Hogg and Flesh-Ripper revealed that a servant of Dusk had infiltrated the valley and backed Flesh-Ripper’s seventh disciple in a purge.
• Murphy sent Adele and Bonnie to scout, assigned Palanno to deal with the approaching Clawsplit envoy, and prepared to confront Dusk’s agent.
• Flesh-Ripper declared that one of the seven exiled warlocks should become the new chieftain, and the warlocks immediately began fighting among themselves.