Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian fought the Serpent of Fate as it repeatedly revived and its connection to the surrounding world grew stronger. He continued attacking despite the damage to himself, and the mission ended with the Serpent of Fate contained.

• Fu Qian recognized that the Serpent of Fate had revived and used Madness Fire and his wound-reversal ability to expose its connection to the surrounding world.
• The Serpent of Fate praised Fu Qian and suggested that his struggle was helping fate reach its final outcome, while Fu Qian attacked it and triggered another calamity.
• Fu Qian continued beating and swallowing the Serpent of Fate as it regrew its head, with each attack worsening his own injuries.
• The Serpent of Fate invited Fu Qian to talk or try another approach, but Fu Qian refused and kept attacking through its repeated rebirths.
• Fu Qian accused the Serpent of Fate of knowing what he had come to do and blamed the Warehouse for giving it more heads, then the mission ended with containment successful for No. 1-008.

Fu Qian reasoned that the Serpent of Fate’s apparent immortality and its refusal to flee were part of the execution task, while its incessant talk might be aimed at making him doubt the Warehouse. As the Serpent dissolved, he asked whether it had expected him to arrive so he could help it break free.

• Fu Qian concluded that the Serpent of Fate could be executed despite repeatedly returning from the dead, and chose to trust the task rather than seek another method.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the Serpent stayed near him because Disaster Eyes could execute it at a distance once he had seen and locked onto it.
• Fu Qian suspected the Serpent’s taunts were meant to make him doubt the Warehouse and undermine the containment attempt.
• As the Serpent of Fate dissolved, Fu Qian asked whether it had expected him to come and help it break free.

Fu Qian reconsidered how the Warehouse imposed outcomes on history and how failed attempts might have strengthened the Serpent of Fate. After questioning the dying Serpent, he seized on its final words, “Palace... nursery...,” as a possible clue about the Apocalypse Knights.

• Fu Qian theorized that the Warehouse designated necessary outcomes while cleaners filled in plausible details, making much of the past only a false history.
• Fu Qian concluded that failed attempts by his predecessors might have given the Serpent of Fate extra chances to resurrect, so he had agreed with the Warehouse calling him an idiot.
• Fu Qian asked the lifeless Serpent of Fate whether it had anything else to say.
• The Serpent of Fate faintly answered, “Palace... nursery...,” and Fu Qian connected “nursery” to the albinism Second Order among the Apocalypse Knights.
• Fu Qian wondered whether the Night Watchers knew anything about the clue.

Fu Qian watched a post-mission scene in which Old Man Hake investigated the bar where he had faced the Serpent of Fate. Inside, the Old Hunter transformed from Emily into Hake, and Fu Qian realized the bar’s doorway separated the real world from the Inner World as Hake finally stepped through.

• Fu Qian saw Old Man Hake arrive at the deserted bar and grow wary when he found it open and silent.
• Hake drew his pistol and hesitated outside the half-open door while Fu Qian watched from the bar.
• The person inside changed from Emily’s face into Hake’s, revealing herself to be the Old Hunter.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the Old Hunter had impersonated Emily and might have influenced Inner World Hake’s identity and actions.
• Fu Qian realized the doorway marked a boundary into the Inner World, where the Old Hunter could draw people but could not leave.
• Hake steeled himself and pushed open the door, entering the bar.

Fu Qian watched the Inner World collapse after Hake entered the bar, revealing Rachel’s corpse and the key that explained the contest’s mystery. The Old Hunter vanished with the world, leaving Hake disoriented before an open wardrobe.

• Hake entered the bar, causing the Old Hunter’s ability to fail and the Inner World to begin disintegrating.
• Fu Qian saw the Inverted Tree looming over the collapsing Inner World and confirmed it had grown on the Art Prison’s side.
• Fu Qian found Rachel’s corpse in her car and suspected Ed had killed her inside the Inner World.
• Fu Qian recognized Dennis’s car key in the ignition and inferred that Emily had placed it there as a rebellious piece of performance art.
• The Old Hunter and the Inner World vanished, while Hake stood bewildered before an open wardrobe of conservative clothes and a feminine outfit.

Fu Qian analyzed how the Serpent of Fate had resurrected and examined Eternity, a special reward that could conceal and later release a fate. He noticed that his surroundings remained unchanged after the mission and wondered whether he had truly returned.

• Fu Qian received the mission rewards, including 28 Sanity Value and the special item Eternity, while returning in the same badly damaged condition he had at the mission’s end.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the Serpent of Fate might have drawn on alternate timelines to resurrect itself, with the Warehouse’s cooperation making the mission harder.
• Fu Qian read Eternity’s description and inspected the white key, which could secretly record a nearby fate and release it when closed.
• Fu Qian decided not to use Eternity yet and noticed that his surroundings looked unchanged, making him question whether he had actually returned.

After completing his mission, Fu Qian received the Lone Bet permission upgrade and returned to Mrs. Harper’s residence instead of the Bookstore World. The Witch questioned how he had managed to return so easily, while Fu Qian kept the Warehouse’s details to himself.

• Fu Qian considered whether the Warehouse had brought him back and weighed the risks of putting on the Emissary Mask again.
• The Warehouse upgraded Fu Qian’s permission to Lone Bet, limiting most future containment attempts to one chance and deducting 5 Sanity Value on failure.
• Fu Qian put on the Emissary Mask and returned to Mrs. Harper’s residence during tea time.
• Nirgalia noticed Fu Qian’s health had sharply declined, and Fu Qian told her he had gone back for a while.
• The Witch asked Fu Qian how he had been able to return so easily.

Fu Qian and the Witch discussed the strange absence of the barrier and the lingering negative effects building inside him, then decided to investigate whether the World Within the Painting and the outside worlds were drawing closer. They left Mrs. Harper’s home and used the Brain Fork to travel from the nightmare toward the true doomsday.

• Fu Qian told the Witch that he had passed through a place where the barrier seemed not to exist, though she could not sense it herself.
• The Witch confirmed that Fu Qian’s negative state was still slowly building, and he felt relieved that it had not fundamentally changed.
• Fu Qian asked whether anything had changed in the World Within the Painting, and the Witch said they had found no anomalies so far.
• Fu Qian and the Witch agreed to explore outside the nightmare realm for signs that the two worlds were drawing closer.
• After sharing Mrs. Harper’s dessert, Fu Qian and the Witch left her home and arrived at the birthplace of the Dark Moon Cult.
• The Witch plunged the Brain Fork into her hand and released a phantom nightmare that enveloped them.

Fu Qian and the Witch entered the Fallen Star’s underground base through the nightmare hub, where they overheard Xia arguing with another leader over her account of the Dark Moon Knight and her attempt to investigate the sacred relic. After Xia challenged the woman’s unusual nervousness, the Witch silenced her, and Fu Qian opened the door.

• Fu Qian followed the Witch from the frozen ruins to the Fallen Star’s deepest underground level.
• Fu Qian and the Witch overheard a female leader confronting Xia for entering the restricted vault and questioning her story about the Dark Moon Knight, Herbert.
• Xia defended her account and explained that she wanted to investigate the force that had helped them fight the crisis.
• Xia challenged the female leader for seeming more nervous than Frankie and the others about her unusual actions.
• The Witch silenced the woman, and Fu Qian opened the door.

The Witch retrieved the Clockwork Bird from Lairding’s empty holy relic pool and used it to locate a lively workshop in the apocalypse. She and Fu Qian found themselves in the toy-making building, which the Witch had sought because it might be sensitive to the situation Fu Qian had mentioned.

• The Witch froze Xia and the giantess in place while she and Fu Qian examined Lairding’s empty relic pool.
• The Witch drew a red-and-green Clockwork Bird from the pool and confirmed it was a holy relic.
• The Witch had Fu Qian wind the broken bird, and it transported them from Lairding to a brightly lit building.
• Fu Qian recognized the building as a toy workshop and asked whether they were in the apocalypse.
• The Witch explained that the Clockwork Bird had pinpointed an unusual location because the unstable space made it difficult to reach reliably.

Fu Qian and the Witch explored a toy workshop, where the Witch revealed details about her birth and introduced a worker named Ailuo. After Ailuo directed them toward the Deer Cart, Fu Qian saw that her arm was made of cotton fibers and bloodied bones, suggesting the workshop’s inhabitants had endured for a long time.

• Fu Qian recognized the workshop’s consistent style and noted its careful toy-making and apparent surplus of stock.
• The Witch recalled visiting the workshop soon after she was born and explained that she had awakened with a complete sense of self and the name Nirgalia.
• The Witch identified a worker as Ailuo, and Fu Qian greeted her and made small talk.
• The Witch asked Ailuo where to find the Deer Cart, and Ailuo directed them toward a house with a blue roof.
• Fu Qian saw cotton fibers and bloodied bones inside Ailuo’s pale arm, then wondered whether the workshop’s inhabitants had survived for an unusually long time.

Fu Qian and Witch explored the underground Doll Workshop and discussed its unusual connection to the outside world. When their arrival drew the attention of a powerful apocalyptic creature, Witch crushed it, and Fu Qian calmed the unstable force beyond the void.

• Fu Qian noticed Ailuo’s ascended prosthetic and realized the painted sky above the Doll Workshop was underground.
• Witch explained that she had discovered the place while searching for her mother and stayed because it blended reality with abstract qualities.
• Witch seized an invisible apocalyptic creature that attacked them, and Fu Qian sensed it with his disaster-sight.
• Witch crushed the creature and said their arrival had disturbed the place enough for it to detect them.
• Witch revealed a connection to a shattered, superheated domain, and Fu Qian detonated an eye of disaster to calm its turbulent forces.

Fu Qian and the Witch investigated the fragile Doll Workshop and visited a blue-roofed house to ask the Hand Reader about the Deer Cart. The Hand Reader gave them no directions, only saying they would find it if they looked above.

• Fu Qian reasoned that the Doll Workshop's unusual sensitivity attracted supernatural threats, and the Witch confirmed she had brought him there to watch for changes in the world's rules.
• Fu Qian and the Witch reached a blue-roofed house and found a bone-and-wood figure sewing body parts together with strands of blue hair.
• Fu Qian asked the Hand Reader about the Deer Cart and offered his damaged hand for a reading.
• The Hand Reader asked whether Fu Qian wanted to look above or below, then said that choosing above meant Fu Qian would find the Deer Cart.
• Fu Qian left with the Witch, who explained that the Hand Reader would have refused to answer if Fu Qian had withheld his hand and would have called looking below an interesting choice.

Fu Qian and the Witch discussed how the people in this place had become rigid, lifeless figures and continued searching for signs that its rules had changed. They reached the Deer Cart, which the Witch believed was central to the place, and Fu Qian opened its oversized door as hoofbeats sounded inside.

• The Witch explained that Ailuo and the Hand Reader behaved like figures trapped in fixed roles, and Fu Qian concluded that something had defined and erased them.
• The Witch recalled that she had once been the only exception in the place, while Fu Qian joked that they were now two roots of disaster.
• The Witch led Fu Qian along a rugged path toward the Deer Cart, explaining that her perception showed multiple possible targets until she checked them directly.
• The Witch said the Deer Cart seemed central to the place and was the most promising figure to consult about changes to the world's rules.
• Fu Qian knocked on the oversized door and opened it as strange calls and the sound of hooves came from inside.

Fu Qian and the Witch tested the Deer Cart, a bizarre handmade creature that traded rewards for bloodstained fingernails. After receiving a rag doll as its first reward, it opened again and produced something that laughed, leaving them to see what the next reward would be.

• Fu Qian examined the Deer Cart and learned from the Witch that its back opened to reveal different contents.
• The Witch fed the Deer Cart a bloodstained fingernail, and it lunged at her before Fu Qian struck it with a wooden horse.
• The Deer Cart opened its box and produced a rag doll.
• The Witch explained that the Deer Cart gave rewards in a fixed order for fingernails, and revealed she had three more.
• The Witch fed it another fingernail, and the Deer Cart opened again as something inside laughed.

Fu Qian and the Witch examined the Deer Cart’s strange offerings and discussed what the beings beyond the barrier would take first if it broke. Their theory that this world arose from something being lost gained a new clue when the Deer Cart produced an unfamiliar translucent shell.

• The Deer Cart revealed a skinned human head, but it withdrew inside before completing its transformation, and the Witch explained that she could only make the cart’s contents appear.
• The Witch and Fu Qian watched the cart produce a metal bear and discussed how a broken barrier would first lead the Higher Beings to seize what they coveted.
• Fu Qian connected the Witch’s theory about loss to the Abyss, a pillar of the world that Rainbow of Yao Bian had taken an interest in.
• The Deer Cart produced a distinctive translucent insect shell, which the Witch recognized as something new.

Fu Qian and the Witch tested the toy box and found that an insect shell had replaced one of its usual gifts, suggesting the world had changed. Fu Qian proposed that something removed from the place had left a void that the world filled by inertia, but the cause remained unknown.

• Fu Qian and the Witch observed an insect shell appear from the toy box and vanish before the Witch could catch it, confirming the place reacted to changes.
• Fu Qian helped the Witch trigger more rewards, and they found that a black-and-red mask appeared where a gift should have been, showing the shell had replaced an item in the sequence.
• Fu Qian tested his abilities on the objects and found they worked normally, while the Witch confirmed the gifts repeated in a set order.
• Fu Qian examined a severed fingernail and compared the altered workshop to Akons, where a town had changed after its object of faith disappeared.
• Fu Qian suggested that the world had drawn something in by inertia to fill the void left by what was taken away.

Fu Qian and the Witch theorized that the strange toy workshop was a compensatory scene created by the loss of the spirituality of imitations, then investigated why Fu Qian’s gift had changed. The Witch used the Deer Cart’s reward to trace events backward, and a blurry scene revealed what looked like a persuader.

• The Witch agreed that the workshop compensated for a missing foundation of the world and asked Fu Qian what had been lost.
• Fu Qian suggested that the lost foundation was the spirituality of imitations, including dolls and story characters, and the Witch judged the idea plausible.
• The Witch proposed that Fu Qian’s altered reward might signal conceptual contamination but warned that the false scene could not prove the world’s foundation had changed.
• The Witch fed another nail to the Deer Cart, which produced an insect shell that the Witch’s moonlight and darkness transformed into a blurry scene.
• Fu Qian spotted what looked like a persuader in the scene.

Fu Qian and the Witch investigated the Doll Workshop’s corruption after an illusion revealed the Pitchman, Fu Qian’s old friend from the Nightmare Corridor. They suspected Yarakir and the Corridor’s prisoners were involved, but the Pitchman’s role and Fu Qian’s ability to travel freely remained unexplained.

• Fu Qian recognized the insect-bodied figure in the illusion as the Pitchman and connected the appearance to Lord Yarakir and the Nightmare Corridor.
• Fu Qian told the Witch about the Pitchman’s Divine Corrosion, his imprisonment, and his past attempts to escape by attaching himself to Fu Qian.
• Fu Qian and the Witch considered whether the Pitchman had used Fu Qian’s power to escape, but Fu Qian noted that the Warehouse had said escape from the Corridor was nearly impossible.
• Fu Qian argued that the Corridor’s prisoners were more likely behind the corruption, using the Pitchman as an instrument.
• Fu Qian wondered whether the Pitchman’s origins explained his role and asked if the Workshop held traces of his hometown.

Fu Qian and the Witch considered whether the Persuader had been connected to the Warehouse long before the current events and might have left a mark there. They suspected he had once been part of the workshop, but how he got there remained unknown; the Witch then gave Fu Qian a healing reward.

• Fu Qian proposed that Yarakir's influence on the Persuader might have begun long ago and that the Persuader's mark could explain the danger in the Warehouse.
• The Witch questioned how the Persuader had left a mark, and Fu Qian recalled that the Persuader had described his inability to escape the Corridor as a paradox.
• Fu Qian and the Witch compared the Persuader's paradoxical powers to the Warehouse's nature and considered that he might have originated there as a Puppet Ascension.
• The Witch concluded that the Persuader had likely entered the Warehouse before she was born, though Fu Qian wondered who had brought him there and why.
• The Witch gave Fu Qian a bottle of Moonlight Rose, and he drank it to heal his physical injuries.