Chapter Summaries

Meow Brother’s forum post revealed the Avalon Church’s classes and sparked discussion, while players gathered at sewer entrance No. 7 to watch Like a Tiger Climbing a Tree attempt the Black Iron Trial without taking a hit. Murphy watched the challenge and considered turning the fight into an arena, prompting Adele to reveal her painful connection to arena fighting.

• Meow Brother posted information about the Avalon Church’s power system, and players discussed its classes, skills, and equipment on the forum.
• Players gathered at sewer entrance No. 7 to watch Cat Bro’s trial and bet on whether he would lose health.
• Like a Tiger Climbing a Tree prepared with gear, buffs, and enchanted weapons before entering an arena where an elite ghoul leader was trapped.
• Murphy watched the match with Maxim, Count Andre, and Adele, and suggested naming a future arena the Fight Club.
• Adele told Murphy that she had been born in a shadow elf slaveholders’ arena and asked to leave because the spectacle troubled her.

Catbro defeated an elite ghoul without a scratch during a public challenge, earning Murphy’s praise and a wager that Count White Mountain would write a poem for Transia. Far away, General Loren learned that the Tower of Rings’ psychic hunters had been wiped out and planned to investigate the organization and confront Murphy.

• Murphy and Count White Mountain watched Catbro challenge an elite ghoul while Transia’s survivors and players cheered, and they wagered that Catbro would kill it without a scratch.
• Catbro dodged the ghoul’s attacks and struck back, but the creature hurled poisoned bone spurs and forced him to change tactics.
• Catbro fought with two swords, beheaded the ghoul, and used a bloodstone ornament to escape its explosive burst unharmed.
• Murphy told Maxim to train Catbro, while Count White Mountain agreed to write “Song of Transia’s Dawn” after witnessing the victory.
• Aboard a steam train, General Loren read Major Fraser’s report about the Tower of Rings strike force’s defeat and prepared to deliver secret reports to King Louis.
• General Loren suspected Murphy had stolen his cargo and said he would find a chance to beat him up.

King Louis IX learned of a disaster linked to the Tower of Rings and ordered General Loren to prepare to destroy it if it failed to explain itself. He appointed Loren marshal and sent him to command the Old Guard, leaving the kingdom on the brink of conflict with the psychics.

• King Louis IX hosted General Loren for afternoon tea and discussed the Plantagenet Kingdom’s growing power and his plans for imperial recognition.
• General Loren gave King Louis a report describing a contained disaster and theories linking it to the Tower of Rings.
• King Louis asked Loren how quickly he could uproot the Tower, and Loren outlined plans ranging from a swift strike to a six-month campaign.
• Loren proposed inviting the Winter Wolf Church to help end the fighting within three days, but warned that doing so would give Nordtov influence in the kingdom.
• King Louis rejected that option, ordered Loren to march on Whitecliff if the Tower failed to provide a satisfactory explanation, and appointed him marshal of the Old Guard.

Marshal Loren questioned Edward about the Wolfsbane Clan’s role in Cadman City and learned that the Tower of Rings was already purging its own leadership, ending the king’s threatened punishment before it began. With war against the psychics seemingly averted, Loren arranged to meet the lord of Transia and was pressed by his priest to return to Silverkeep and face his family’s marriage plans.

• Marshal Loren confronted Edward about the Wolfsbane Clan’s involvement in Cadman City, and Edward denied directing the wider plot while offering clan troops to serve the king.
• Edward told Loren that the Blood Eagle Clan had killed six hundred Tower of Rings hunters and that Lady Shani and the Thorn Clan had joined the attack.
• Edward revealed that the Master of Shaping had ordered the hunters’ mission without the Tower of Rings leadership’s approval, and that the sealed Whitecliff territory was undergoing a psychic power struggle and purge.
• Marshal Loren concluded that the Tower of Rings’ punishment had ended before it began, then instructed Major Fraser to arrange a meeting with the lord of Transia for the next day.
• Marshal Loren offered Major Fraser leave to marry before the Black Calamity, but Fraser refused, and Loren ended their transmission.
• The Silver Dwarf priest urged Marshal Loren to return to Silverkeep and marry Livfrosa, but Loren insisted he would wait until the Black Calamity was over.

Murphy and his advisers prepared for a remote meeting with Marshal Loren, weighing Transia’s need for Plantagenet recognition against its ties to Nordtov. After Triss explained how Transia could use the Black Calamity to balance rival powers, she told Murphy that Femis was returning with instructions from Lord Payin.

• Marshal Loren sought a remote meeting with Murphy to discuss defenses against the Black Calamity and sending Plantagenet soldiers into southern Transia.
• Mirian urged Murphy to meet Loren and secure Plantagenet recognition of his governorship, while Maxim warned against appeasing the kingdom that had destroyed Cadman City.
• Murphy rejected the idea of currying favor and planned to use the Wolf Queen’s appointment letter to speak with Loren as an equal.
• Triss explained how Transia could leverage the Black Calamity to obtain aid and balance the Plantagenet and Nordtov kingdoms.
• Triss declined Mirian’s request to become her political adviser, then told Murphy that Femis was returning with instructions from Lord Payin.

Murphy rejected Triss’s proposal that he marry Femis, then prepared for a diplomatic conference with Marshal Loren. The meeting began with Loren insulting Murphy, leaving him poised to answer back.

• Triss explained her suspicions about Lord Pahyng’s knowledge of Femis’s origins and proposed that Murphy marry Femis, but Murphy angrily refused.
• Murphy told Triss that Femis should be free to choose her own future, and he redirected their discussion to handing the Andmar Hills and contact with the Plantagenet Kingdom over to her.
• Major Fraser warned Murphy about Marshal Loren’s formal preferences and sensitivity about his height, while the players groomed Murphy for the conference.
• Triss opened a long-distance psychic conduit, and Murphy met Marshal Loren, who accused him of stealing his belongings and mocked his makeup.

Murphy negotiated with Marshal Loren over Transia’s defenses and resources as the Black Calamity approached, while trading threats over the stolen computing orbs. They struck a conditional deal for prisoners, border troops, and Murphy’s appointment as governor if Transia survived.

• Murphy provoked Marshal Loren by calling him “Shorty,” then answered Loren’s threat of invasion by warning that an attack could spark a Third War of the Night and draw in Transia’s vampire allies.
• Loren asked Murphy to stop a wolfkin vanguard from using the war against the Black Calamity as cover for atrocities, and Murphy agreed to deal with them.
• Murphy demanded the return of ten thousand captured blood thralls and control of Plantagenet border troops; Loren agreed to release the troops under professional officers and Murphy’s responsibility for their supplies.
• Murphy demanded weapons, machine tools, and the production lines taken from Xico City, and Loren directed him to negotiate with the Capet family, which held them.
• Murphy asked King Louis to appoint him governor of Transia, and Loren offered a sealed decree that would become Murphy’s if Transia survived the Black Calamity.

Major Fraser negotiated with Murphy over the Capet family returning West Ke City's production lines to Transia, then returned home to discuss the deal with Count Lyon. His father approved the arrangement and revealed that Miss Beatrice, Fraser’s fiancée, would manage it.

• Major Fraser prepared to teleport home for his first vacation since the war and received a call from Murphy before departing.
• Murphy offered the Capet family factories and a monopoly on Transian war supplies in exchange for returning the production lines from West Ke City; Fraser negotiated tax exemptions and agreed to consult his father.
• After the call, Murphy warned Mirian about rich young men, and Mirian chose the name Mirian Cynthia Morland in honor of her mother.
• Major Fraser returned to Skanderbeg Castle, where Count Lyon welcomed him and told him that Miss Bich of House Sivier had been waiting at the manor.
• Fraser told Count Lyon about the agreement with Murphy, and his father urged him to grant Transia a favor by waiving the tax reductions and putting Miss Beatrice in charge of the deal.

Murphy left Mirian to negotiate for stolen industrial production lines while he watched Banzai Happy Stick lead the players into a sewer vault. The players defeated the ghouls and uncovered a hidden treasure, triggering an achievement and a secret quest.

• Murphy told Mirian to handle negotiations with the Capet family and prioritize recovering the production lines.
• Murphy flew into the sewers and watched as Banzai Happy Stick assembled players to break into a gangster vault.
• Banzai Happy Stick's team blasted open the vault entrance, fought through ghouls and traps, and reached a room filled with coins and chests.
• Banzai Happy Stick and the players defeated three elite ghouls guarding the treasure.
• Banzai Happy Stick collected coins and unlocked the server-first "Treasure Hunter" achievement, triggering the hidden quest "Murphy's Troubles."

Banzai Happy Stick and the other players divided the gang’s treasure and agreed to trade its gold for real money at a rate of one to ten after administrator Alpha approved. The chapter ended with Poor You in Touch offering to invest three million yuan in Brother Stick’s future treasure-hunting business.

• Banzai Happy Stick’s group found the gang’s ledger, safe, property deeds, bank drafts, and gemstones, then negotiated how to divide the spoils.
• Little Ashina proposed converting the treasure into real-world money, while the group debated the exchange rate and what to do with the deeds and weapons.
• Meow Brother asked administrator Alpha about their planned transaction, and Alpha approved it as long as it did not disrupt the testing project.
• The players finalized the exchange at one to ten, with Alpha Company serving as notary, and Little Ashina arranged to store the gold.
• Poor You in Touch asked Banzai Happy Stick to form a treasure-hunting company and offered to invest three million yuan.

Banzai Happy Stick considered Buy Me Poor’s offer to fund his team, while Murphy discovered Kudell fighting the undead in Cadman City’s ancient sewers. After restoring Kudell’s strength, Murphy invited him to lead sewer-clearing efforts with help from the players, and Kudell accepted that he might need assistance.

• Buy Me Poor offered to invest in Banzai Happy Stick’s treasure-hunting business, and Banzai Happy Stick said he would discuss it with his brothers.
• Meow Brother told Banzai Happy Stick that he planned to build an independent information-broker team.
• Murphy followed the sounds of battle into the ancient sewers and found Kudell fighting ghouls and wraiths alone.
• Murphy and Kudell fought the undead together, then Murphy gave Kudell source blood that healed his damaged blood pact and restored his strength.
• Murphy invited Kudell to serve as Tribune of Scarlet Castle and asked him to guide and train the players helping clear the sewers.
• After Murphy left, Kudell considered accepting help because the undead threat underground was too large for him to handle alone.

The game introduced hidden treasure hunting, the ancient sewers, and the Fight Club as players reacted to new features and achievements. Murphy decided to begin rebuilding Scarlet Keep, leaving a construction worker summoned to present his unfinished plans as the city’s prospective chief planner.

• Meow Brother offered players three possible treasure leads, and administrator Alpha announced the new treasure-hunting feature alongside the ancient sewers, Fight Club, and other updates.
• Cat Bro received the first Glorious Gladiator achievement, agreed to challenge Pomegranate Sis, and entered the ancient sewers, where Tribune Kudel watched him suspiciously.
• Murphy told Mirian and Professor Malcolm that Scarlet Keep needed six new residential districts built within two months.
• Professor Malcolm warned that the city lacked construction specialists, so Murphy assigned the Saxon mountain folk to lead the work once the blood thralls returned.
• E-Sis Adele summoned the construction worker to present his unfinished city plans to Murphy, leaving him alarmed at the scale of the task.

Tianxuan Construction Worker brought Murphy an unfinished plan for Scarlet Castle, overwhelmed by the scale of the city-design task. Murphy clarified that he only needed a practical town for at most two hundred thousand people and encouraged Tianxuan to continue, leaving the winter housing plan in his hands.

• Tianxuan Construction Worker accompanied Lady Adele through the Blood Eagle Corridor and learned that children from the survivor camp were visiting on its first open day.
• Murphy told Tianxuan that winter was approaching and asked how his city plan was progressing.
• Tianxuan admitted he had not completed the plan and showed Murphy an elaborate draft that included seven streets for the administrative district.
• Tianxuan suggested Khrushchyovka-style housing but explained that the city lacked cement.
• Murphy explained that he wanted a modest town, not a megacity, and said psionics could shape stone into houses.
• Murphy reassured Tianxuan that he would not blame him if the housing plan failed and urged him to do his best.

The construction worker worried over Murphy’s assignment to design a major building project, but encouragement from the Pallien sisters and a gift of glasses helped him regain his confidence. After logging out, he discussed a practical apartment block and centralized heating with his roommate, then their professor examined the plans and spotted unusual features in the city’s layout.

• The construction worker returned from touring the Blood Vulture Corridor and fretted that his plans might cause casualties when the Crimson Castle was rebuilt.
• Miss Pallien encouraged him, and Miss Pallien the younger gave him glasses sent by their mother from Batasin City.
• The construction worker logged out and discussed his game’s construction plans with his roommate, proposing stone structures and centralized heating for an apartment block.
• Their professor returned early from Germany, criticized the students’ initial design, and examined the game company’s city blueprints.
• The professor noticed multiple levels in the sewer system and two large unmarked underground cavities beneath the inner and outer city.

Touching Poverty completed his Black Iron Trial by killing an elite gnoll, then asked Murphy to help him contract with Stinky Treasure before the scorpion-lion’s wild nature fully awakened. Murphy warned that the contract would severely limit Touching Poverty’s summoning abilities, but agreed to help after he accepted the cost.

• Construction Worker of Destiny told the forum group that his advisor had found an unmarked cavern beneath the outer district, and Banzai Happy Stick planned to gather people to explore it.
• Touching Poverty reached level 10 and prepared to challenge an elite gnoll with help from Stinky Treasure and several astral summons.
• Touching Poverty used his summons and a rifle to kill the gnoll elite, though he was badly injured in the fight.
• Touching Poverty showed Murphy the gnoll claws that proved he had completed the Black Iron Trial and asked for help contracting with Stinky Treasure.
• Murphy warned that contracting with the giant astral scorpion-lion would leave Touching Poverty unable to summon other astral creatures for a long time, but Touching Poverty insisted he would not abandon it.
• Murphy agreed to help and gave Touching Poverty a list of ingredients to prepare before returning in two hours.

Murphy helped Mony Qiong establish a contract with the manticore, then learned that Pinewood Village had joined Count Cadman's domain and opened seventy new player slots. After Little Ashina grew wings and tried to fly with Lumina, Murphy rescued them from a fall, but three other newly winged players died attempting the same stunt.

• Murphy used a ritual and a harsh fight to help Mony Qiong form a mental bond and beast contract with Stinky Baby the manticore.
• Little Ashina grew blood wings and tried to take Lumina flying despite lacking training, and Murphy rescued them as they fell into the city rift.
• Murphy received word that Pinewood Village had joined Count Cadman's domain, bringing the territory's population above ten thousand and freeing seventy tester slots.
• Murphy scolded Little Ashina and Lumina, assigned Mary to train them, and fined them for their reckless flight attempt.
• Invincible Tyrannosaurus Car Car, A-Cha'en, and Spicy Gugu Chicken jumped from a cliff after growing wings and died, prompting Murphy to threaten further reckless flyers with Blood Eagle cages.

Murphy consulted Mirian about recruiting 70 new warriors and planning how to govern Transia’s villages while rebuilding Scarlet Castle. He selected the next batch of players and sent their invitations, leaving the forum buzzing as applicants discussed the game and the need for skilled craft testers.

• Murphy woke Mirian and told her he would recruit 70 warriors from the Saxon region.
• Mirian recommended assigning some recruits to administration and scholars to practical work, while Murphy outlined plans to reorganize villages into collective farms.
• Mirian proposed using trusted warriors to manage new settlements for returning prisoners and emphasized the need for combat specialists against gnoll bandits.
• Murphy selected 70 applicants, including administrative candidates, students, and people with manufacturing skills, then sent them game-test invitations.
• The newly invited players celebrated on the forum while other applicants asked about guilds, test access, and ways to qualify as craft testers.

Seventy new players entered the game, and Murphy discovered several unusually skilled recruits among them, including a possible investigator with firearms-making abilities. The players met their new jobs and companions, while Madam Water and the women in Lumina’s group discussed the mysterious game and their lives outside it.

• Murphy summoned seventy new players and identified Madam Water as a gifted tailor and healer, alongside skilled smiths, a leader, an animal keeper, and a firearms craftsman.
• Murphy suspected that Border City Drifter, Micro Reed Fool, and Mr. Ziwei were connected because all three had the Information Gatherer trait.
• You're So Poor introduced Explosive Belly to Stinky Treasure, and Belly considered buying an Animal Speech skill book to help care for the scorpion-lion.
• Life's Going Great declined You're So Poor’s suggestion that he take an administrative role, and You're So Poor flew off on Stinky Treasure to avoid discussing his family.
• Madam Water examined a vampire gown with Ashina and the other women, then revealed that her helmet had arrived while she was traveling by yacht in international waters.

Murphy arranged vampire registration and planned the relocation of fifteen villages while preparing to welcome Femis and recruit in northern Transia. He launched the players’ first career-selection quest, prompting players to pursue administrative work, combat, and blacksmithing, and Brother Semi encouraged Pretty Good at Making a Scene to become an official.

• Triss criticized Touching Your Poverty for choosing to fight with a manticore, then gave Murphy the new Blood Eagle Clan family structure to sign.
• Murphy asked Triss about recruiting the Xike winged cavalry and settling northern Transia; she warned that the cavalry served their forest and that annexing Count Xike’s lands could bring them into conflict.
• Adele told Murphy that Mirian had begun relocating fifteen villages with guards, veterans, supplies, and plans for five collective farms, and Murphy issued the players a career-selection quest.
• Meow Brother recruited Master Broken Blade and Master Hundred-Forged Horse to build a prototype flying sword, offering to fund their experiments and give them a town lot for a smithy.
• Touching Your Poverty dragged Pretty Good at Making a Scene toward the administrative office, but Brother Full-Risk Semi arrived with four armed women guards and urged him to pursue a position of power.

The administrative career path opened to players with new ranks, guards, management tools, and demanding duties, while newcomers began choosing posts across the domain. The Whole Thing's Going Great decided he needed secretarial assistants more than bodyguards and arranged to bring real-world employees into the game.

• Baroness Mirian welcomed the new administrative players, and Full-Cover Semi explained the career's ranks, guard benefits, and work-based advancement to Good Pigeon and Ge Bao.
• The players discovered that administrative characters had green processing orbs and a Domain Management interface, while Scholar Wang, Scholar Li, and Scholar Sun prepared to intern at Forward Camp.
• Full-Cover Semi warned the three students that managing Transia's workers would be difficult and advised them to study prison management and concentration camp memoirs.
• The Whole Thing's Going Great learned that his quest involved building a collective farm and managing at least five hundred people, then decided to seek assistants instead of guards.
• You Did That Pretty Well arranged for four company secretaries to apply as in-game assistants, but Touching You Makes Me Poor objected to having two assigned to him.