Chapter Summaries

Murphy arranged to acquire and arm halfling airships with help from Old Flywheel and the Bloodfear Fleet, while Transia’s commanders and players explored the Good Fortune. Sir Serak Fenda became so captivated by the airship that he resigned to pursue his own grand voyage.

• Paula met with Mirian to discuss cooperation, and Murphy asked Old Flywheel to help obtain airships and modify their computational orbs.
• Old Flywheel proposed buying old airships and ordering five to ten new ones before the Steam Lords could intervene, while offering to fund part of the plan.
• Claire told Murphy that the Bloodfear Fleet would provide money, and Murphy promised the Blood Eagle Clan would help the fleet in return.
• Maxim, Kudel, Adele, Femis, Happy Stick, Master Qin, and other commanders boarded the Good Fortune to study airships and revise Transia’s military plans.
• Sir Serak Fenda announced his resignation to Taipal, Fording, and Uther so he could pursue a grand airship journey into the sea of stars.

Murphy discussed the Black Calamity and his plan to obtain machinery from the halflings, then worked with Old Flywheel to redesign the players’ calculating-orb interface. The new orbs would gain expanded real-time features and translation at the cost of a bulkier parallel system, while Old Flywheel remained unwilling to settle in Transia.

• Triss warned Murphy that deploying the halflings’ airships could damage relations with them, but Murphy argued that the Black Calamity made obtaining their machinery urgently necessary.
• Triss’s attempt to make RDX caused an explosion in her laboratory, and she restored the room with her law of time before resuming her experiments.
• Old Flywheel said his wife would bring about thirty third-generation-and-a-half calculating orbs to Transia and explained that he would modify their software by hand.
• Murphy offered Old Flywheel access to Creator technology and a place of creation in exchange for engineering work, but Old Flywheel declined to commit himself to Transia.
• Murphy showed Old Flywheel a new player-interface design with character status, equipment, quests, a minimap, chat, and projected caller images.
• Old Flywheel proposed parallel orbs for the requested status scanning, data storage, and written translation, and Murphy approved the added functions and an arm-worn design.

Murphy arranged for Flywheel to finish the upgraded player interface and asked Adele to strengthen Transia’s intelligence network while she oversaw the Shadow half-elves’ migration. He then summoned the gods and secured their agreement to bless his fighters through altars, while they gave him urgent demands and warnings.

• Murphy told Adele to consult Andre about finding the Thieves’ Guild’s spies, while she reported on the half-elves’ migration and the growth of Vam’s faith.
• Murphy gave Adele Wayfarer armor and equipment to protect her during dangerous operations and her trip to Shadow Valley.
• Murphy summoned the gods using symbolic tokens and proposed that warriors offer sacrifices at altars in exchange for temporary combat enhancements.
• The gods agreed to help Murphy’s forces, but urged him to deal with Dusk, find the Heart of the World, aid the shadow elves, and win the coming wars.
• Gaia warned Murphy not to prevent the coming change in the dwarves’ fate, while Avalon asked him to fulfill his mission and win every battle.

Murphy planned future game updates and flew over Xike County, where he discovered Nefertari recruiting undead to help cleanse Xike City. He invited her to become an honorary elder of a newly founded Transian Moon Cult, and she agreed to teach its members if they were smart enough.

• Murphy drafted plans for new NPC questlines, dungeons, crafting systems, and gear, then finished the closed beta 1.0 user manual.
• Murphy flew too far during his nighttime patrol and reached Xike County, where he saw mountain folk training and settling in the grasslands.
• Ravenov led Murphy to Xike City, where he spotted Bella, Bernice, and undead gathered near a ruined church.
• Nefertari arrived and organized the undead to destroy the remaining wraith rituals and help restore balance to the Netherworld's will in Xike City.
• Murphy questioned Nefertari's promise to recruit the undead into the Death Moon, and she explained that they could serve as her personal honor guard.
• Murphy founded a Transian Moon Cult and offered Nefertari Creator relics to become its honorary elder; she accepted and asked to meet her apprentices.

Murphy persuaded Nefertari to share necromantic knowledge and discussed how the people of Sangha guarded the Creator’s legacy. As they set out to meet her first Transian apprentice, Murphy offered to help restore her Bom tribe’s prestige by sending foreign warriors to fight in its name.

• Murphy planned to give players more orthodox training in their classes, including having Nefertari teach death magic and shamanic knowledge.
• Nefertari gave Murphy her Book of the Dead and explained how death apprentices could bind undead and build necromantic constructs from materials in Xike City.
• Nefertari said she could control only a few hundred undead without sacred relics, and explained that the people of Sangha guarded the Creator’s legacy alongside the ancient nation of Kalem.
• Nefertari rejected Murphy’s idea for an artifact that could command all undead, warning that it would violate the dead’s freedom and provoke the Underworld Kings.
• Murphy and Nefertari prepared to meet her first Transian apprentice, and she traveled on her scarab Pengpeng instead of her sleeping hound Sanchez.
• Nefertari told Murphy that she had died at twenty-four and described her Bom tribe’s former prestige; Murphy offered to send foreign warriors to restore its renown using her blood.

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.