Chapter Summaries

Murphy secretly manipulated the Blood Eagle Vault rewards while players cleared the instances, and Kaqi Tony Tai reported his encounter with the Witch Hunters. Meow Brother received the next step of his hidden quest and planned to investigate their base in Morland Village.

• Ge Bao's team defeated an astral hound in the second vault, and Sister Pomegranate claimed its rare drop before the group found veteran gear and a psionic technique manual.
• Meow Brother's team found no useful loot in the first vault, while Murphy secretly prepared tailored rewards there for Mud Truck's group and punished players who spread rumors about him.
• Kaqi Tony Tai told Murphy about the Witch Hunters, embellishing his role in the encounter, and Murphy praised him and sent him to collect a reward.
• Kaqi received veteran armor and two psionic weapons, then told Meow Brother that the Witch Hunters in Morland Village knew about his sword.
• Meow Brother's hidden quest advanced, directing him to search the Witch Hunters' base for a replica of the Avalon Holy Blade and secrets of the Avalon Church, so he planned to hire help for the trip.

Murphy planned the next operation in Cadman City while Meow Brother infiltrated Morland Village to learn how to wield the imitation Avalon Holy Blade. Natalie gave him a nature figurine to begin an Old Church advancement trial, hoping his new powers would drive a wedge between Murphy and his warriors.

• Maxim reported that the outer city had been scavenged and urged Murphy to begin his plan as astral energy returned, and Murphy announced the next operation would start the following night.
• Meow Brother approached Morland Village without armor or weapons, and Natalie let him inside after he explained how his group had buried Porter and the other dead.
• Natalie and her squad beat Meow Brother, then answered his questions about the Holy Blade and the Old Church when he insisted he wanted to learn their power.
• Natalie gave Meow Brother a nature figurine and instructions for calling upon Avalon, advancing his hidden quest and providing a key class-advancement item.
• Natalie told Amber she hoped Meow Brother's trial would provoke Murphy and divide him from his warriors, while Murphy watched and dismissed any guilt he felt.

Murphy prepared to reward the players who had rescued more than 460 locals and completed a major hidden quest, while Happy Stick’s team headed toward a rumored gang hideout beneath the sewers. Lumina and the other quest-triggering players submitted their reward requests, and Murphy began arranging them before setting out to find supplies and equipment.

• Happy Stick’s team pursued rumors about a gang hideout and blacksmith’s shop beneath the seventh sewer entrance, hoping to find money and equipment.
• Lady Adele told Murphy that the survivors had been rescued from the outer district and praised the players’ efforts.
• Murphy asked Lumina what reward she wanted for completing the major hidden quest, and she explained that players should investigate the world rather than rely on NPCs for clues.
• Lumina asked for an elf-related reward, while Jie Chong and Brother Black Silk requested combat manuals and weapons, and Mud Truck and Shovel requested tools for restoring the camp’s production.
• Murphy decided to provide Lumina with a shadow-elf sword art and prepared weapons, manuals, and farming supplies for the other players.

Lumina and the other players received rewards for rescuing Cadman City's survivors, while Murphy announced a campaign to burn the Astral Shadows from the ruins. The new quest began with a 48-hour deadline, and the players planned to join after logging back in.

• Lumina, Jiechong, and Brother Black Silk arrived at the survivor camp with other players to claim the hidden quest rewards and deliver supplies.
• Mirian thanked the players before the survivors, and Mud Truck and Shovel received the deed and equipment for Nur's Farm Tools.
• Brother Black Silk and Jiechong received skill manuals and weapons, then were kissed by four women they had rescued.
• Lady Adele gave Lumina a copy of the Mejewa Family Secret Sword Manual and warned her in Elvish to avoid dangerous pursuits.
• Murphy announced Operation Great Burning and a new quest to purge the Astral Shadows from Cadman City's ruins within 48 hours.
• The players discussed joining the quest after logging in again, while Lumina remained focused on learning about Adele and elves.

Bro Stick and Meow King agreed to pause guild recruitment and build favorability with important NPCs, while Sister Pomegranate’s players began sharing swordsmanship knowledge and competing for recruits. In Cadman City, Lumina was rescued by Niu Niu and Sister Pomegranate, who asked to join her group, and Lumina offered her an IQ test before deciding who would lead.

• Bro Stick and Meow King told the players to focus on earning NPC favorability and advancing the story instead of forming guilds, while explaining how skills and character levels improved.
• Black Silk Under Keyboard described the requirements for learning advanced swordsmanship, and the group learned that Sister Pomegranate’s students had posted part of their translated manuals online.
• Meow King revealed he was pursuing a hidden class quest, while Bro Stick demanded the players share their manuals and learned that Sister Pomegranate was negotiating with another player.
• Murphy’s Great Incineration plan gathered over a hundred volunteers, and Lumina entered Cadman City alone to test alchemical fire oil on astral shadows.
• An astral hound knocked Lumina down, but Niu Niu struck it before it could kill her, and Sister Pomegranate invited Lumina to join her team.
• Lumina declined to join a guild but offered to consider Sister Pomegranate for her group if she scored over 135 on an IQ test, while Niu Niu called Lumina over to finish off the wounded hound.

Lumina completed a test of alchemical fire against astral shadows and received advice from Triss about pursuing a versatile path and finding a possible elven bard in Cadman City. Murphy retrieved the Nocturne Psionic Grand Barrier’s underground cores as the citywide burning began, while Old Finoke prepared to wait until the astral rift closed before confronting the vampires.

• Lumina burned astral shadows with fire oil, completed her quest, and traded an astral jawbone to Triss for notes on the Eye of the Wilds spell.
• Triss advised Lumina that a bard might suit her wish to combine combat skills and psionics, and mentioned a possible former elven traveler at the Bloodfang Tavern.
• Murphy returned with Maxim and Adele after retrieving the three underground cores of the Nocturne Psionic Grand Barrier, and told Triss the militia would burn the outer-city ruins over the next two days.
• Murphy reported that ghouls and water ghouls had appeared in the sewers, and Triss warned that wraiths would follow the astral shadows.
• Old Finoke saw fires in Cadman City and recognized that the vampires were deliberately burning parts of the ruins to fight the astral shadows.
• Old Finoke ordered the hunters to wait until the astral rift closed before moving against the vampires, and warned them not to harm survivors.

As the survivors burned the Astral-tainted outer city, Murphy resolved to build a city where vampires and humans could live under his rule. The Astral rift began to weaken, and Lumina and Sister Pomegranate found a group of crazed vampires emerging from it.

• Meow Brother and his companions delivered fire oil, and Meow Brother promised to attempt a class change the next day.
• Triss warned that the weakening rift could collapse and sweep away anything nearby, while Murphy sensed its energy fading.
• The survivors burned through the outer city and saw the enormous rift where Cadman City had once stood, grieving the loss of their home and its people.
• Murphy told Triss he planned to unite vampires and humans in a fairer city, and Triss urged him to find a way to arm the players.
• Lumina and Sister Pomegranate spotted a group of crazed vampire beggars crawling out of the rift and called for help.

Murphy examined the surviving Blood Eagle guards and learned from Lord Jade that Salokdar had caused a man-made disaster in the corridor. Jade offered Murphy the Grand Duke’s Seal fragment and urged him to kill Femis and help found a new Blood Eagle Clan, and Murphy agreed to serve as his hidden sword.

• Murphy and Triss went to inspect Jade and the other Blood Eagle survivors, who had escaped the inner city severely weakened and mentally corrupted.
• Femis concluded that the guards had survived by hiding from the astral pollution, but she rejected Murphy’s suggestion that other clan members, possibly her father, might still be alive.
• After Adele left, Jade revealed that Salokdar had unleashed a horror in the corridor and accused Femis of abandoning the guards during her escape.
• Jade asked Murphy to secretly give Femis a vial and kill her, offering him the crimson fragment of the Grand Duke’s Seal and a place in his planned new clan.
• Murphy identified the fragment as a miraculous artifact that could grant its bearer the title of Blood Eagle Grand Duke, then told Jade he would serve as his sword in the darkness.

Murphy confronted Femis over her secrets and demanded she choose between joining him and the Witch Hunters against Jade or dying as part of his plan to defeat Jade’s crew. The chapter ended with Adele blocking the tower’s exits as Murphy pressed Femis to decide.

• Murphy left with Jade’s offer, while Jade later ordered Maxim to drug and hide Lady Triss to pressure Murphy.
• Maxim warned Lumina about Jade’s plan, then gave her the potion and ordered the warriors to arm themselves and ambush the weakened vampires while he protected Triss.
• Murphy accused Femis of concealing her motives and her connection to the Blood Eagle Clan; Femis revealed she was not an ordinary vampire, sought the truth about her origins, and had called the Blood Covenant Knights to Transia.
• Murphy said he had already set a plan in motion and offered Femis a choice: help him and the Witch Hunters kill Jade’s followers, or die as bait for his Black Iron trial.
• Adele emerged behind Murphy armed with a rapier and hand cannon, blocking the exits as Murphy demanded Femis make her choice.

Lumina Sunscar rallied the players to defend the camp from hostile vampires while Sister Pomegranate escorted Mirian to negotiate with the Witch Hunters. Maxim took Madam Triss away from the coming danger, and Mirian and Sister Pomegranate reached the Witch Hunters, who agreed to take them to Natalie.

• Lumina Sunscar shared a time-sensitive group quest and warned that hostile vampires could overrun the camp and reclaimed outer city if the players failed.
• The players arranged a tactical briefing, planned to use camp guards and militia for support, and prepared to fight together.
• Mirian and Sister Pomegranate rode toward Morland Village, where four Witch Hunters blocked their path and sent a scout to fetch help.
• Norman returned and escorted Mirian and Sister Pomegranate to Natalie, thanking Mirian and warning her never to lie before the Witch Hunter captain.
• Maxim drove Madam Triss away from Cadman City and promised to protect her while he helped Lord Murphy face the coming danger.

Mirian negotiated with Golden Knight Finok for the Witch Hunters to help Murphy destroy Jade’s vampire force and protect the survivors. Finok assigned Natalie and several squads to the camp, while Major Fraser joined them to document the operation.

• Finok questioned Mirian about Murphy’s proposal and the Blood Eagle Clan’s sealed refuge.
• Mirian explained Jade’s arrival, Murphy’s motives, and the danger to the survivors, then pleaded for the Witch Hunters’ help.
• Natalie agreed to protect the survivors and hunt the vampire fanatics, while insisting that her feud with Murphy would continue.
• Finok placed Squads One through Five under Natalie’s command and ordered them to defend the camp and hunt the vampires.
• Major Fraser said he would accompany Natalie and record the battle for the king.

Murphy prepared Femis, Adele, and the players for a surprise attack on Jade’s group, while the players poisoned the vampires’ blood supply and organized their forces. As Femis and Adele parted ways in the sky, the players received their mission and moved out to begin the battle for Cadman City.

• Murphy reassured Femis that the Witch Hunters would help the players attack Jade’s group, explained that Jade planned to kill Femis himself, and said Triss could protect herself from Maxim.
• Murphy ordered Adele to pursue her own targets, and Adele and Femis exchanged farewells before flying in opposite directions.
• Mud Truck Iai and the players condemned Jade’s vampires for draining the camp’s residents, while Meow Brother and Lin Bei Dog Paddle mixed the Daylight Potion into a blood cocktail for them.
• Happy Stick divided the players into groups and assigned their attack positions, while Forklift Operator arranged riflemen and the city’s self-defense forces for support.
• The players received the mission “Fangs in the Dark” and charged toward Cadman City to hold off Jade’s group.

Jade’s vampires were ambushed in their hideout by Murphy’s fighters, weakened by drugged cocktails and alchemical bombs. As the battle spread outside, Femis confronted Jade while the players and Cadman City defenders hunted the fleeing vampires, and Lumina faced the last one to reach her.

• Jade and the vampires drank blood cocktails secretly mixed with a daylight potion, then Witch Hunter bombs shattered their concealment barrier and weakened them.
• Femis attacked Jade as more than thirty armed fighters charged the house, where Niu Niu and Sister Pomegranate led the players’ assault.
• A-Cha killed a vampire at close range but was then tackled and killed, while the players forced some vampires back into the house.
• The remaining vampires fled in different directions, but riflemen and Lumina’s upgraded Automatic Hunter Crossbow shot several from the sky.
• Lumina shot down more vampires with her crossbow and shotgun, then drew her sword as the last vampire reached her.

Lady Adele and the Witch Hunters fought vampires fleeing Cadman City while Maxim confronted Arthur over his betrayal and their opposing loyalties. Maxim wounded Arthur after luring him into a fight that continued into dawn, and warned him to take the duel seriously.

• Lady Adele killed a weakened vampire and continued hunting to earn the right to make a request of Murphy.
• Natalie’s Witch Hunters ambushed four high-ranking vampires in a forest illusion, while Major Fraser and Miss Mirian joined the fight with guns.
• Arthur arrived at Lady Triss’s carriage and ordered Maxim to leave, but Maxim drew his sword and challenged him at their birthplace.
• Maxim accused Arthur of sending him in his place on a dangerous mission, then explained that he now served Murphy out of loyalty rather than personal revenge.
• Maxim used the approaching dawn to turn the duel against Arthur, disarmed him, and wounded his left shoulder with a technique Murphy had taught him.

Maxim defeated Arthur and awakened his supernatural potential, while Lady Triss finished Arthur and gave Maxim his blood essence. As the young lady fought Jade over the Desire Shard, Finnock shot Jade down, leaving Murphy to confront him.

• Maxim killed Arthur in their duel, crossing the boundary from ordinary human to supernatural.
• Lady Triss stabbed Arthur from behind, turned him into a stone statue, and gave Maxim his blood essence.
• The young lady struggled to evade Jade as he pursued her through the ruins, determined to claim the inheritance.
• Finnock fired a psychic arrow that struck Jade and sent him crashing into the ruins.
• Murphy appeared before the wounded Jade and admitted that he had allied with the Witch Hunter to eliminate his rivals.

Murphy used Femis’s spell to expose Jade to sunlight and defeated her in his Trial of Strength, though the fight left him gravely wounded. He traded the Shard of Desire to Finnock for his group’s lives, then collapsed as his tutorial quest was marked complete.

• Murphy challenged the weakened Jade alone and used Femis’s Gale Blast to open the smoke and expose them both to sunlight.
• Murphy attacked Jade while the sunlight crippled her, but her death-ravens wounded him and she escaped into a dark house.
• Murphy and his Astral Wolf pursued Jade, and after a brutal fight Murphy emerged with her heart while Jade collapsed and died in the sunlight.
• Phinok confronted Femis, but Murphy offered him the Shard of Desire in exchange for sparing their lives, and Phinok rode away with it.
• Femis caught the exhausted Murphy as he collapsed, and his Newbie Tutorial Quest (6/6) was marked complete.

After completing the final tutorial, Murphy unlocked new administrator functions, strengthened his stats, and discovered that territory growth could provide additional test personnel. He woke from his injuries in Triss’s arms, while the main quest tasked him with becoming Transia’s de facto ruler within six months.

• While unconscious, Murphy completed the final tutorial and received new administrator features, ten invitation codes, and a blueprint for a Psionic Gathering Stone.
• Murphy accepted the main quest to become Transia’s de facto ruler before the next danger arrived, with a six-month time limit.
• Murphy allocated his six free attribute points to strengthen his Dexterity, Strength, Endurance, Intellect, and Perception.
• Murphy explored the Reputation System, World Map, Dungeon Snapshot, and Save Point functions, learning that snapshot dungeons required a Psionic Gathering Stone.
• Murphy discovered that his territory’s population could supply test personnel and realized the game’s recruitment system resembled Civilization VI.
• Murphy returned to his body and woke as Triss held him, scolding him for risking his life before urging him to drink blood.

After the battle, the surviving players made plans for their vampire prisoners and Murphy considered what to do with them. Femis revealed that the Blood Covenant Knights were coming to Cadman City, prompting Triss to panic and urge Murphy to flee Transia.

• Brother Bang’s group collected the fallen players’ dog tags and computational orbs, while Brother Bang privately celebrated the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry’s costly haul of vampire equipment.
• Meow Brother’s team captured four vampires and planned to trade them to Murphy, while the student group kept two female prisoners to potentially make them descendants of Murphy or Adele.
• Triss told Murphy that the prisoners were skilled blood servants whose former patron’s death had left them desperate for a new one, and Murphy let Adele decide whether to take them.
• Femis informed Murphy that the Blood Covenant Knights would reach Cadman City within three days, and Triss accused her of bringing disaster upon them.
• Triss began packing Murphy’s belongings and insisted they flee Cadman City and Transia before Lord Paine and the Blood Covenant Knights arrived.

After the Blood Eagle Clan’s defeat, Triss warned Murphy that the Bloodbound Knights might launch a deadly punitive expedition because of Femis’s hidden identity. As Triss began unraveling Femis’s false memories, Adele returned from a dangerous hunt and Finok reflected on the mysterious girl and a long-standing grievance.

• Murphy’s forces killed six of the Blood Eagle Duke’s seven guards, while the surviving guard, Bonnie, defected to Triss and began guarding Murphy’s tent.
• Triss explained that the Bloodbound Knights punished vampires who broke ancient laws, then warned that Salokdar’s crime could bring Lord Payne and a vampire army to Transia.
• Triss revealed that Femis was the source of the coming calamity and said she was only 30, with memories Salokdar had fabricated using Triss’s psychic spell.
• Murphy refused to abandon Femis or hand Triss over, so Triss began lifting the spell and asked Femis to recall how she had met Adele.
• Adele returned from hunting six enemies and treasured a pendant showing her and the young lady together as children, while recalling that she wanted to protect Femis.
• Near Cadman City, Finok debated what to do with the fragment of desire and spoke with his holy blade about the seed that had taken the form of a vampire girl and Salokdar’s past offense.

Femis recovered memories revealing that Salokdar engineered her birth as part of an experiment to create a new kind of vampire, with Triss helping by sacrificing her power and blood. After Femis described seeing the seed of life in the Smugglers' Woods, Triss warned that the Blood Covenant Knights might uncover the secret chamber, and Murphy ordered a purge of the Blood Eagle Corridor before they arrived.

• Femis remembered her mother Cecilia, her childhood meeting with Adele, and the ritual in which Salokdar altered her memories.
• Triss explained that Salokdar had made Femis as a naturally born vampire who could potentially end the conflict between vampires and other races by producing vampire descendants.
• Triss revealed that she had helped plan Femis's birth, was Salokdar's sire, and had sacrificed her strength and essence of blood to make the seed of life sprout.
• Femis said she had seen the seed in the Smugglers' Woods after White Knight elder Finok gave her a black seed, and Triss realized the event complicated their understanding of the experiment.
• Triss warned that the Blood Covenant Knights could discover Salokdar's secrets in the Blood Eagle Corridor, so Murphy gave Femis three days to help purge it before the knights arrived.