Chapter Summaries

Hogg sought Murphy’s help after the Bonechewer King’s spirit tasked him with killing the soon-to-be-born Lord of the Hunt. Murphy explained that Hogg could refuse, then urged him to lead a gnoll effort to stop the coming corruption, beginning by claiming the Civilization Slate.

• Hogg contacted Murphy and explained that the Bonechewer King had ordered him to kill the Lord of the Hunt during the Black Calamity.
• Murphy examined the Bonechewer King’s skull, and Triss identified its spirit as a fading living saint-spirit that could not compel Hogg.
• Murphy warned Hogg that gnolls could be corrupted by the fallen Lord of the Hunt and urged him to assemble a god-slaying team with help from the Bloodbound Knights and Avalon Church.
• Murphy proposed that Hogg become the gnolls’ spokesperson for civilization by retrieving the Civilization Slate from the Dark Mountains.
• Hogg planned to infiltrate the Plague-Poison Clan by becoming Tearflesh’s apprentice, and Murphy offered to introduce him to Lady Shani and the Thorn Clan.

Murphy responded to Hogg’s warning by seeking Lord Payin’s help and preparing to recover the gnolls’ civilization tablet, while the Black Calamity gathered in the Dark Mountains. At the Maginot Line, Joy Stick proposed luring the gnolls through the western flank to weaken Transia’s rivals, but Murphy rejected the plan for now and left it as a backup.

• Murphy told Lord Payin about Hogg’s dream and the imminent birth of an evil god, and Payin ordered a binding curse contract while promising to send Palanno to Transia.
• Lord Payin said Meat-Ripper and the civilization tablet were likely somewhere between Filthy Swamp and Barren Mountain, and Murphy vowed to search Bafomet Gorge and lead the expedition himself.
• Lord Payin warned Murphy that the Black Calamity’s army had assembled in the Dark Mountains and that Transia needed to gather its forces within a month.
• Joy Stick showed Murphy the Maginot Line and explained how its fortresses, tunnels, artillery positions, and trenches would defend Filthy Swamp.
• Joy Stick revealed that he had deliberately left the western flank open so the gnolls might threaten Cato and force the Plantagenet Kingdom to bear the cost of the war.
• Murphy refused to adopt Joy Stick’s proposal as the main plan, but accepted it as a backup and said Triss’s otherworldly yellow gunpowder could provide fire support if production increased.

Samoyelia oversaw construction of the Maginot Line and met the Silver Dwarf priest Ilyich, whose expertise improved the defensive plans. Ilyich agreed that Samoyelia could seek a place in Gaia’s Temple by proving the fortress through the Black Disaster, and asked to meet Professor Chen.

• Samoyelia ordered the foremen to redo a trench that failed to match his plans and continued inspecting the construction.
• Marcus the Bloody Spear brought Samoyelia to the labor camp, where a dwarf priest had arrived to bless the defenses.
• Samoyelia challenged Ilyich’s access to the blueprints, and Ilyich proposed reinforcements against spells and psionic attacks.
• Ilyich recounted how the Skybridge he designed was destroyed in a war, and Samoyelia promised his defensive line would only be used for defense.
• Ilyich told Samoyelia he could earn acceptance into Gaia’s Temple by proving his skill with the Maginot Line, then asked to meet Professor Chen.

Old Chen discovered strange crystals in Scarlet Castle’s Great Rift, and Silver Dwarf architect Ilyich identified them as raw Burning Gold. Murphy realized the find might indicate a hidden vein beneath the city and hurried to tell Triss.

• The construction worker prepared the Stone Masons' Guild office to welcome Silver Dwarf architect Ilyich while Old Chen surveyed the Great Rift with his apprentices and players.
• Old Chen found unusual crystals in the rift and concluded they had formed through prolonged exposure to astral energy, then recruited Lumina and Little Ashina to help study them.
• At the guild office, Little Ashina accidentally spilled the mineral samples, and Ilyich recognized them as raw Burning Gold.
• Murphy heard the keyword through the Computing Orbs and rushed to Triss, who explained that raw Burning Gold was closely guarded dwarf knowledge.
• Murphy told Triss that Ilyich had confirmed the discovery and concluded that a Burning Gold vein lay beneath Scarlet Castle.

Professor Chen coaxed Ilyich into explaining the burning gold trade and its mysterious properties, while Murphy and Triss investigated the ore deposit beneath Crimsonhold. Triss suspected the ore was connected to the Subspace and began searching beneath the ruined Hall of Sacred Blood.

• Professor Chen kept the discovery of raw burning gold in Crimsonhold quiet and persuaded Ilyich to discuss the ore over Seris liquor.
• Ilyich confirmed the sample was raw burning gold, described its processing and trade, and agreed to share more if Chen visited Gaia's Temple after the war.
• Ilyich explained that burning gold's origins remained unknown and recounted Minx Steam Valve's theory that its uses came from an energy field formed through interaction with psionics.
• Murphy and Triss considered whether astral energy or the Subspace had caused the ore to form, and Triss rejected astral energy as the source.
• Triss took Murphy to the ruins of the Hall of Sacred Blood and told him to excavate the site, where she expected a purer vein might lie.
• Murphy suggested posting a quest so players could dig, and Triss agreed to do so.

Explorer Zhou began secretly investigating possible burning gold deposits beneath the Hall of Holy Blood, while A-Cha posted a guide comparing Transia’s available race templates and recruiting for his guild. The forum discussion ended with news that 300 new game slots would open in three days for the Festival of Holy Blood.

• Zhou arrived at the Hall of Holy Blood to oversee the excavation, but impatient newbies triggered a collapse that killed two players and injured others.
• Zhou rescued two survivors, learned that a tree and tangled vines remained beyond the rubble, and ordered the players to plan a safer excavation.
• Murphy secretly tasked Zhou with searching the tainted ruins for burning gold ore and warned him that revealing the quest would make it fail.
• Zhou accepted the quest for a severely damaged Gryphon Lion battle armor reward, then abandoned his forum post after receiving the Oath of the Blood Eagle secrecy restriction.
• A-Cha published a guide ranking the Xilan, Highlander, Nord, Kett, and vampire templates, then used the post to recruit students for the Scarlet Beasts.
• Forum users discussed the approaching Festival of Holy Blood before Kuchi the Aviator shared news that 300 game slots would open in three days.

Murphy and Mirian prepared Transia for a growing influx of refugees and discussed how to celebrate the Blood Feast. The official event announcement launched on the forums, setting up festival quests and a player challenge against Murphy, while Triss arranged to empower the challengers.

• Mirian told Murphy that refugees were arriving in Transia with help from Shani and Andre, and that Rapids Fort was managing their quarantine and registration.
• Murphy gave Mirian a set of personal armor and decided the Otherworlders should organize Blood Feast activities, including a challenge in which up to forty players could fight him for his martial arts notes.
• Triss offered to enhance the challengers and disappeared to discuss the plan with Femis, Maxim, and Adele.
• Lore-hunters shared the Blood Feast's origins, and the forums adopted a vampire-themed design with a limited-time avatar filter.
• Xiaomi posted the official event announcement, listing festival-support quests, recommendation letters for Murphy's challenge, Triss's potions and buffs, and guild performance rewards.
• Players reacted to the announcement by discussing the challenge and gossiping about Murphy and Triss's apparent quarrel.

Meow Brother and the Silvermoon Pride guild planned booths for the Saintblood Festival, hoping to earn support and strengthen their organizations. Madam Shui arranged an Otherworld fashion show and invited Shen Yu to discuss a possible venture in Transia, leaving Shen Yu to meet Madam Shui’s husband about it.

• Meow Brother gathered the Big Bird Group to discuss Lord Murphy’s challenge and planned a booth featuring storytelling and comedy to promote foreign culture.
• Little Hand left the video conference after reporting that he felt ill and was isolating from his family.
• Madam Water proposed an Otherworld fashion show, and the Silvermoon Pride members prepared to train and model traditional outfits with help from Shen Yu and Xiu Hua.
• Madam Shui said Shen Yu could discuss building a venture in Transia with her husband, who handled the family’s affairs.
• Madam Shui teased Shen Yu by saying she was less of a romantic threat than Madam Triss or Madam Xiani.

Scarlet Castle prepared for the Bloodfest as players and locals celebrated, while Little Ashina discovered that the Avalon Church’s popular storytelling had turned real events into outlaw-style tales. As she worried about competing with the church’s performance, Broken Blade Master and Hundred-Forged Horse finished a weapon they planned to give Murphy as a Bloodfest gift.

• Residents decorated Scarlet Castle for the Bloodfest, and players gathered in festive red robes to celebrate.
• Little Ashina visited Shy Blossom’s food stall, bought snacks for the orphanage children, and heard First Day of Abstinence tell a popular story about Natalie and Little Amber.
• Little Ashina found Amber and Niu Niu in the crowd, and Amber explained that the church’s embellished stories had helped attract thousands of believers.
• Little Ashina worried that the church’s faith-boosted performance would outshine her own Bloodfest stage and decided to seek a counterplan with Madam Water.
• Broken Blade Master and Hundred-Forged Horse finished a sword as a Bloodfest gift for Murphy, hoping their weapon and accessories would help them win the festival.

Murphy toured Scarlet Keep as its residents and players prepared for the Blood Festival, then introduced André to Rose Knight Palanno, who agreed to help escort Hogg and search for Ripper. At dawn, Lady Water’s fashion show captivated the festival crowd and left Palanno eager to see more of Transia’s spectacles.

• Murphy admired the festival preparations, including André’s ice sculpture and the players’ planned performances and charity poker tournament.
• Triss summoned Murphy because Palanno had arrived, and Murphy brought André to meet the Rose Knight.
• Palanno praised André but refused to bless his pursuit of the Wolf Queen, warning that she had devoted herself to her country.
• Murphy confirmed Palanno had come to protect Hogg and proposed that André’s trackers and Lady Leinnia’s group assist him while they searched for Ripper.
• Palanno agreed to stay for the Blood Festival before joining Murphy’s expedition to the Wasteland Mountains.
• Lady Water’s fashion show drew the festival’s largest crowd, and Palanno showered the Four Beauties with roses before asking to buy clothes and see more performances.

The first day of the Blood Festival drew crowds to Scarlet Keep, and Mirian reconciled with Fraser before bringing him to see the players’ gift for Murphy. Murphy accepted their replicas of Enma, the Black Knight suit, and a notorious chair, then announced a heroes’ challenge.

• The Silvermoon Pride troupe’s booth dominated the morning vote, while Lady Water received large orders for desert-style dancer outfits and Old Huo’s charity gambling tournament began.
• Fraser toured the festival, recorded his observations for a travelogue, and met Mirian over lunch, where they apologized for their earlier conflict and discussed their relationships.
• Mirian took Fraser to Blood Eagle Cloister, where Biji remained hostile but learned that Fraser had sent his family a letter ending their engagement.
• The players presented Murphy with replicas of Enma, the Black Knight suit, and a wooden chair, calling the items “Power.”
• Murphy sat in the chair with Yamato and announced that the heroes’ challenge would begin.

Murphy prepared to challenge the players during Bloodfest, dressing as the Black Knight and carrying the Yamato they had made for him. As the players planned their tactics and gathered NPC support, the chapter left them confident but wary about facing him.

• Murphy appraised the Yamato, praised its makers, and decided to teach the players a lesson with the weapon they had gifted him.
• Triss suggested Murphy wear the Black Knight outfit and bring the white chair, but refused to let him dye his hair white.
• Murphy scheduled a weeklong challenge with daily attempts, while players opened forum betting pools and discussed how to fight him.
• The players planned to use swordsmanship, psychic attacks, traps, buffs, and a risky stimulant, while seeking ways to counter Murphy’s summons and magic sword.
• Players reported that Palanno and Shani had appeared to support the challenge team, prompting A-Cha'en to warn that their chances had just fallen.

On the fourth day of the Blood Feast, Governor Murphy faced forty elite players in the eagerly anticipated Governor’s Challenge, while locals and spectators watched in the sewers and through a psychic broadcast. Murphy entered the battlefield with Yamato, and the players charged as the fight began.

• The village chiefs promoted their farms’ products at street booths, but crowds flocked to the Governor’s Challenge instead.
• Major Ron and Fraser watched the psychic broadcast, and Fraser explained why Transians respected rulers who proved their strength in battle.
• The Blood Rat Gang interviewed the challengers, including Ge Bao and Great Shark, before Murphy gave a defiant message to his people.
• Murphy rose from his Pava chair with Yamato and double-jumped into the arena, startling the challengers.
• Great Shark activated Blood Thirst and charged, and all forty players rushed at Murphy as his allies prepared to fight.

Forty challengers fought Lord Murphy in the arena, but his swordsmanship, summons, and hidden weapons overwhelmed their planned tactics. Madam Triss’s support briefly turned the tide, yet Murphy’s ultimate attack left only a few players standing, and Cudell resolved to resume training.

• Giant Shark and A-Lin charged Murphy, who used Killing Intent Draw to nearly empty their health bars before the shield tanks and Master Yang engaged him.
• Murphy switched sword styles, wounded the melee fighters, and summoned George, who had become an Astral Alpha Wolf; George and Rich Bro’s manticore fought while the players suffered their first casualties.
• Murphy killed Madam Shui and Belly, parried the psychics’ binding spells back at them, and Happy Stick temporarily banished Necessity of Evil.
• Teacher Li disarmed Murphy and reduced his boss health bar by a quarter, but Murphy activated his Crimson Darts and killed several players at range.
• Madam Triss buffed the challengers and seized control of Murphy’s darts, but Murphy used Celestial Acceleration and Astral Slowness to cut down the remaining attackers with a sweeping ultimate move.
• Cudell admitted Murphy’s new moves could hurt him and vowed to resume ascetic training, while Master Yang conceded defeat.

After Murphy’s victory, Shani brought him and Triss intelligence linking the Dusk necromancy faction to a vampire called the Source and asked to enter Murphy’s Creation Site. Murphy shared his suspicions about the Source and revealed that he had seen visions of Eden too, leaving Shani convinced the images could explain the vampires’ origins.

• Shani told Murphy and Triss that the Helms Rangers had recovered and purified three stolen golden skeletons, formed an alliance to reclaim stolen remains, and planned to help track the Source in Transia.
• Shani said her Thorn Clan hunters would help Hogg hunt Ripper, but asked to join Murphy at a Creation Site because vampire grand dukes experienced visions connected to the Creator’s lost history.
• Murphy agreed to let Shani visit the Creation Site, and Triss confirmed that she and other vampire grand dukes had seen fragmented visions that grew more disturbing after her own investigation.
• After Triss left, Murphy told Shani that he suspected the Source was Luna Christine Emagil, a dead forest elf and likely Triss’s first blood descendant; Shani insisted the Source was a living vampire and shared clues tying her to the Sangha Empire.
• Murphy told Shani that he had seen visions resembling the grand dukes’ memories and identified the place in them as Eden, which he believed had been destroyed in a cataclysm.
• Shani concluded that the visions could reveal how vampire clans originated and why they were associated with the Seven Deadly Sins.

The players reviewed their defeat by Murphy and planned new tactics for the next Governor’s Challenge. Meanwhile, Adele escorted Hogg back toward Scarlet Castle, where Hogg warned her about her feelings for Murphy and received a mysterious bone saw containing a familiar voice.

• Teacher Li and the other players analyzed Murphy’s attacks and discussed ways to survive his dimensional slash and improve their accuracy.
• Sanwudou, Madam Shui, Bragging Without Hands, and the other players proposed buffs, healing plans, terrain tricks, and attacks against Reverno to defeat Murphy.
• Meng Haha proposed using the Last Stand spell to damage Murphy through a self-destruct attack, and Old Yang suggested strengthening it with Victory Wine.
• Adele gave Hogg a dangerous box recovered from Wolf Fort and offered him options for where to stay while he planned his next move.
• Hogg told Adele that she was in love with Murphy and advised her to ally with Triss, then opened the box and heard Crippleclaw’s voice from the bloodied bone saw.

Broken Blade Master and Hundred-Forged Big Horse arranged equipment for their smithy and learned about the hardship in Chardo Port’s shantytowns. After finding Ashen the Builder heartbroken over the Palen sisters’ departure, they got him drunk and urged him to confess; he broke into their residence and declared his love for both sisters, while the brothers were detained for trespassing.

• Broken Blade Master and Hundred-Forged Big Horse gave Professor Malcolm a shopping list and money for forging equipment, and asked him to find blacksmiths or apprentices in Chardo Port.
• Mrs. Funa explained that Chardo Port’s industrial growth had displaced local humans and created vast shantytowns where refugees struggled to survive.
• Broken Blade Master and Hundred-Forged Big Horse found Ashen the Builder crying after he learned the Palen sisters would leave for four years to study in Chardo Port.
• The brothers bought Ashen the Builder wine and urged him to tell the sisters how he felt, then escorted him to Mrs. Palen’s residence.
• Ashen the Builder broke through the gate, confessed that he loved both sisters and could not choose between them, and the sisters took him inside.
• Officer Black Cat’s constables stopped Broken Blade Master and Hundred-Forged Big Horse and took them in for trespassing.

Sheriffs recruited blacksmiths to design weapons, while new players arrived for the festival and Hundred-Forged Mustang learned that Madam Shui’s husband had entered the game to find her. Mr. Fire and Heartbroken Mr. Yuan set out to find their wives, with Mr. Fire urging his companion to accept Orchid’s freedom rather than try to bring her back.

• Chief Black Cat and Half an Ear took Master Broken Blade and Hundred-Forged Mustang to meet Lord Kudel, who hired the smiths to design police weapons and offered support for their business.
• Hundred-Forged Mustang met Loyal Bro at the Midnight Chamber as nearly 170 new players arrived, including Turret and Nuclear Bomb.
• Country-Holding told Mustang that one newcomer was searching for his wife, and Mustang suspected he was Madam Shui’s husband.
• Madam Shui told Mustang not to help her husband find her because she was still angry with him.
• Mr. Fire and Heartbroken Mr. Yuan left the chamber to search for their wives, and Mr. Yuan recounted how Orchid had once left him to travel.
• Mr. Fire advised Mr. Yuan to accompany Orchid rather than try to bring her back, and the two men continued on their way.

Bro Huo and Yuan entered Scarlet Castle, where their attempt to stop thieves disrupted a Blood Rat Gang rookie test. Madam Shui reunited with Bro Huo, explained the misunderstanding, and took him to register, while asking him not to investigate the game’s secrets.

• Ashina and Meng Haha watched Bro Huo and Yuan from the city square as Lumina scolded them for gossiping about the couple.
• Yuan spotted pickpockets stealing from festivalgoers and followed them into an alley while Bro Huo blocked their escape.
• Bro Huo and Yuan captured several thieves, including children, and tied them up before Bro Huo went to find the peacekeepers.
• Madam Shui immobilized Bro Huo and explained to him that the thieves were Blood Rat Gang rookies taking part in an authorized test.
• Madam Shui gave Bro Huo beginner gear and took him toward the Adventurers’ Guild, while Orchid was left to handle Yuan.
• Madam Shui invited Bro Huo to see the city and asked him not to investigate what lay behind the game.

Players discussed Brother Huo and prepared for the coming war as Orchid and Yuan reconciled on new terms. Murphy defeated the players in their arena challenge, then prepared to cheat in the next round with a weapon from the All-Things Device.

• A-Cha worried that the Black Calamity might overwhelm Transia, and Happy Stick explained that his guild would serve as a mobile reserve force and urged him to trust Murphy and General Maxim's plans.
• Orchid told Yuan she had enjoyed traveling alone, but Yuan said he would pursue his own journey; Orchid offered him one last chance to keep up with her through the Explorers' Association.
• Murphy fought the players in the underground arena, but their coordination, buffs, and healing kept them alive until he killed Three or Five Buckets and defeated the remaining healers.
• Murphy used the All-Things Device to summon a revolver and planned to force the players into the astral plane, where Mannis would be waiting.