Chapter Summaries

Lin Baici and the others learned that they had to survive in the town for seven days, then chose separate cabins as monsters began attacking the stranded players. Lin Baici explored his cabin and found a blood-seeping wedding portrait, leaving him face-to-face with an apparent haunting.

• The group reunited in the town, and Hoffman revealed the rule requiring them to survive seven days while staying one person per cabin.
• Lin Baici chose cabins for Xia Hongyao and Gu Qingqiu, while Hoffman and the others selected cabins nearby; Liao Hongming was left to choose alone.
• A tentacle shot from a cabin and dragged Liao Hongming inside before Lin Baici could hear his cries for help.
• Lin Baici searched his cabin, found no ammunition for a double-barreled shotgun, and renewed an insurance policy after a mysterious phone call.
• Lin Baici opened a bedroom door and saw a wedding portrait whose bride's stitched neck began to bleed onto the bed.

Lin Baici faced supernatural attacks in the Forest Cabin and worked out that staying calm kept them weak. After contacting Gu Qingqiu, he learned she had also survived two ghost incidents, but the story left Xia Hongyao's safety uncertain.

• Lin Baici stopped the bleeding bride in the portrait by striking her with a hatchet, then explored the study and burned the quill after it wrote a warning that he would die at midnight.
• A tentacle dragged Lin Baici toward the study, but he drove it away by pressing a candlestick flame against his neck; God of Gluttony warned that fear strengthened ghosts and that the candlestick had to be used without pulling away.
• Lin Baici discovered that the apparent darkness outside was an illusion when a bark-skinned arm smashed through the window and grabbed him; he severed it with his hatchet and saw lights in Xia Hongyao and Gu Qingqiu's cabins.
• Gu Qingqiu called Lin Baici, confirmed her identity with a test, and told him she had survived two ghost incidents and reached the Goryeo Woman and the Black Person by phone.
• Lin Baici told Gu Qingqiu to stay calm, call him every hour, and find Xia Hongyao to warn her; Gu Qingqiu agreed and hung up.

Lin Baici searched the Forest Cabin and survived a Weird Event that tried to make him lose hope in life. After encountering a floating sheet ghost, he tried to break into the basement but was distracted by sobbing and knocking that moved around the cabin.

• Lin Baici searched every upstairs room but found nothing, then felt watched and became overwhelmingly exhausted.
• Lin Baici recognized that a Weird Event was using pessimistic thoughts to make him give up on life, and he resisted it.
• Lin Baici encountered a floating white sheet with two black holes, but it drifted out of reach when he tried to grab it.
• Lin Baici tried to break the basement lock, but sobbing from below stopped whenever he paused.
• Lin Baici heard knocking move between the front door and upstairs, then went to investigate.

Lin Baici survived the Forest Cabin’s attacks, destroyed the haunted slippers, and cleared the game before exploring the basement’s disturbing human flowers. He reached the town square with Xia Hongyao, Gu Qingqiu, and the other players as they prepared for the next round.

• Lin Baici found the basement key in the toilet, survived attacks by its tentacles and the bedsheet ghost, and burned the ghost to ashes.
• Lin Baici found the missing slippers and burned them, preventing them from growing into a powerful evil ghost.
• Lin Baici entered the basement and discovered people cut in half and planted in flowerpots before the system announced that he had cleared Forest Cabin.
• Lin Baici set the cabin on fire and met Xia Hongyao outside, where she said she had nearly been killed by an immortal ghost.
• Lin Baici and the other players gathered in the town square, where they sized one another up while waiting for the next round.

After Gu Qingqiu and Lin Baici exposed and killed Liao Hongming, the group entered the Death Race game, where Lin Baici used the God of Gluttony’s warnings to keep them safe. They sped toward the next gas station, leaving the chapter with the convoy racing down the highway at high speed.

• Gu Qingqiu suspected Liao Hongming was a hidden evil spirit, and Red Oni Maru killed him before the group could question him; the system confirmed the kill and awarded Gu Qingqiu ten chips.
• After leaving the game, Lin Baici invited Hoffman to join them, and the group chose Death Race as their next game.
• Liao Hongming’s wife arrived looking for him, and Gu Qingqiu told her he had died; Xia Hongyao gave the hungry child five chips.
• The group entered Death Race at a deserted gas station, where Hoffman and the others drove off before Lin Baici’s team.
• Lin Baici warned the group that their cars had to stay above 200 miles per hour and stop only at gas stations, then helped them calibrate their speed as the convoy accelerated to 250.

Lin Baici and his companions won the Ghost Ship race and returned to the ship, where they were given a free deluxe cabin for their performance. When a mob attacked them in the lobby, Lin Baici identified the instigator and killed him.

• Lin Baici’s group drove through hazards and a gang of speed demons, then caught up with Hoffman and Jiang Ge, who were still struggling to escape the attackers.
• Gu Qingqiu secured first place by refueling at the destination station, and the group completed the game and returned to the Ghost Ship.
• Lin Baici told the others to rest while Xia Hongyao and Gu Qingqiu went to explore the ship.
• A bunny girl granted Lin Baici’s group VIP status and arranged a free deluxe cabin, drawing attention from hungry tourists.
• A crowd surged at Lin Baici after an instigator urged them to seize his chips, and Jin Yingzhen and Hua Yueyu fought off the attackers.
• Lin Baici caught the instigator, crushed his hand, took his fruit knife, and slashed his throat.

Lin Baici protected his group aboard the Ghost Ship, learned that Red Moon Thunderclap of Darkness Eclipse wanted the factions to negotiate, and joined the others at the casino after midnight. The chapter left them trying slot machine number eleven, where Xia Hongyao began a second spin.

• Lin Baici killed a man who tried to steal his chips, and the bunny girl said he would face no consequences for acting in self-defense.
• Lin Baici spent time with Jin Yingzhen and Hua Yueyu in their cabin before bringing them to meet the group in the dining room.
• Xia Hongyao and Gu Qingqiu told Lin Baici they had explored the ship and considered confronting its god rather than wearing themselves down in the games.
• Cowgirl revealed that her Korean friend was Red Moon Thunderclap of Darkness Eclipse, who wanted the factions to talk instead of fighting separately.
• After midnight, Gu Qingqiu led the group to slot machine number eleven, where Xia Hongyao won ten chips on her first spin and bet three chips on her next.

Lin Baici won the Ghost Ship casino’s thousand-chip jackpot, but the deity refused to let the group leave and challenged them to a deadly gambling game. The chapter ended as the deity explained that the winner of an odd-or-even roulette guess could shoot their opponent.

• Lin Baici hit the slot machine jackpot, winning a thousand chips and drawing a crowd of desperate gamblers.
• Lin Baici gathered his companions and went to the deck, where Hoffman and the others tried to enlist his help against the Ghost Ship deity.
• Hoffman threatened Lin Baici’s group, but Lin Baici called on the deity to appear and asked whether they could leave.
• The deity announced that nobody could leave without its permission and agreed to gamble with Lin Baici while his friends stayed behind.
• The deity summoned a roulette table and revolver, then set rules for an odd-or-even guessing game whose winner could shoot the loser.

Lin Baici faced Dustin Hoffman in the Ghost Ship god’s betting game, with passengers wagering their lives on the outcome. Lin Baici won the roulette contest, and Hoffman died after trying to deflect the bullet and attack him.

• The Ghost Ship god promised to let the winner and his friends leave, then gave the passengers fifteen minutes to bet on Lin Baici or Dustin Hoffman.
• Xia Hongyao, Gu Qingqiu, and Cowgirl bet on Lin Baici, while Jiang Ge chose Hoffman; Cowgirl remained uneasy about her decision.
• Lin Baici and Hoffman repeatedly guessed the roulette results, and the revolver misfired three times before Lin Baici’s fourth shot fired.
• Hoffman blocked the bullet with his Soul Barrier, caught it, and sent it back toward Lin Baici while preparing to use his Divine Grace.
• Hoffman collapsed and died when the Ghost Ship god struck him with sudden, overwhelming pain.

Lin Baici and his companions survived the Ghost Ship’s deadly betting game after Gu Qingqiu persuaded its god to let them go. They reached Mutsu, but Sannomiya Airi was missing, so Lin Baici, Xia Hongyao, and Gu Qingqiu decided to seek a way to Dragon Palace Island without her.

• Hoffman, Red Moon Thunderclap, Jiang Ge, and the passengers who had bet on Hoffman died after losing to the Ghost Ship’s god.
• Lin Baici offered to keep betting in exchange for his friends’ freedom, while Gu Qingqiu persuaded the god to visit the human world and risked her life to win its agreement.
• The Ghost Ship’s god warned the group that a dangerous god lived on Dragon Palace Island, then allowed the surviving winners to leave near Mutsu.
• Passengers who had bet on Lin Baici jumped into the sea, and Lin Baici helped rescue children before fishing boats brought the group to Mutsu Port.
• Lin Baici and his companions reached a hotel and learned that Sannomiya Airi had not answered their calls, while Long Miaomiao and the others were on their way.
• Lin Baici decided that he, Xia Hongyao, and Gu Qingqiu would find a way to Dragon Palace Island, while the others stayed behind.

After surviving the Ghost Ship, Lin Baici, Gu Qingqiu, and Xia Hongyao decided to investigate Dragon Palace Island, where Dark Mist had appeared and Sannomiya Airi was missing. They crossed the mist and reached an eerily deserted island, where they spotted a girl riding a bicycle.

• Xia Hongyao told the Dragon Soul group chat that Lin Baici had defeated Hoffman and that a god had killed Hoffman and Red Moon Thunderclap on the Ghost Ship.
• Xia Hongyao reported the survivors’ escape to Xia Hongmian, who revealed that Dragon Palace Island was covered in Dark Mist and Sannomiya Airi was there.
• Lin Baici, Gu Qingqiu, and Xia Hongyao agreed to go to Dragon Palace Island, and Lin Baici allowed Long Miaomiao to join after God of Gluttony urged him to bring her.
• The five travelers boarded a yacht, then took a speedboat into the Dark Mist, with Lin Baici following God of Gluttony’s directions to reach the island.
• The group found Dragon Palace Island deserted, rode scooters away from the beach, and spotted a sailor-uniformed girl cycling through a sunflower field.

Lin Baici and his companions reached a beach, where the God of Gluttony instructed him to make a girl fall in love with him to purify the Rule Pollution. Their rescue plan went awry when the girl saved Gu Qingqiu and nearly drowned herself, leaving Lin Baici to rescue them both before he left.

• Lin Baici and his companions spotted the girl, later identified as Gotō Mari, at a beach and learned that they needed to win her affection to purify the Rule Pollution.
• Gu Qingqiu devised a plan in which she would pretend to drown so Lin Baici could rescue her, and the group changed into swimsuits to carry it out.
• Xia Hongyao approached Gotō Mari and drew her attention to Gu Qingqiu swimming far offshore.
• Gotō Mari swam out to rescue Gu Qingqiu, who grabbed her leg and dragged her underwater, leaving both girls in danger.
• Lin Baici rushed into the sea and rescued Gotō Mari and Gu Qingqiu.
• Gotō Mari woke on a beach chair and learned Lin Baici had already left, then sat up hoping to thank him.

Gu Qingqiu and Xia Hongyao helped Lin Baici set up a chance to grow closer to Gotō Mari, whom he had rescued at the beach. After meeting him at school, Gotō Mari became eager to thank him and found him watching baseball practice from the rooftop.

• Gu Qingqiu and Xia Hongyao arranged dinner with Gotō Mari, who revealed that she lived with her aunt in town while her family lived in the mountains.
• Lin Baici painted a sunflower field while waiting for the others, then met them and heard Gu Qingqiu's assessment of Gotō Mari.
• Gotō Mari spotted Lin Baici on her first day back at school and ran outside to thank him, but three third-year delinquents distracted him before he could reach her.
• Lin Baici gave the delinquents money and spoke warmly with Gotō Mari, who invited him to dinner and offered to show him around campus.
• After failing to find Lin Baici around school, Gotō Mari went to the rooftop and found him watching the baseball club practice.

Lin Baici chatted with Gotō Mari at her school and deliberately provoked Yoshida Shin into a baseball challenge. The chapter ended with Lin Baici taking his batting stance as Yoshida prepared to throw a 160-kilometer-per-hour fastball.

• Lin Baici met Gotō Mari on the rooftop, talked with her about the school baseball team and her uncertain plans for the future, and learned that she managed the baseball club.
• Lin Baici accompanied Gotō Mari to baseball practice, where Yoshida Shin noticed them talking and grew jealous.
• Lin Baici ruffled Gotō Mari’s hair and praised Yoshida Shin’s pitching in a way that made the pitcher feel insulted.
• Yoshida Shin challenged Lin Baici to try baseball, and Lin Baici accepted while betting that he would win.
• Lin Baici entered the batter’s box as Yoshida Shin prepared to throw a blazing fastball.

Lin Baici impressed Gotō Mari and the baseball team by hitting all of Yoshida Shin’s pitches for home runs, then left Gotō Mari and regrouped with Xia Hongyao and Gu Qingqiu. Meanwhile, Sannomiya Airi was stranded at a shrine on Dragon Palace Island, frustrated that Momoka’s actions had trapped her there.

• Lin Baici hit Yoshida Shin’s first two fastballs for towering home runs, then continued to hit all twenty-seven pitches as Yoshida Shin failed to defeat him.
• Lin Baici encouraged Yoshida Shin to trust his fastball, signed the catcher Yamada’s bat, and escaped the approaching baseball team with Gotō Mari.
• Lin Baici took Gotō Mari to a vending machine, said goodbye, and left her wondering whether their meeting had been the start of young love.
• Xia Hongyao and Gu Qingqiu revealed they had watched Lin Baici’s performance and discussed how well his plan to win Gotō Mari’s favor had worked.
• Gu Qingqiu planned a day to gather information and find a car before arranging another encounter between Lin Baici and Gotō Mari, while Lin Baici worried about Sannomiya Airi.
• Sannomiya Airi rested at a shrine on Dragon Palace Island and worried that Momoka’s actions had trapped her there before Lin Baici could arrive.

Lin Baici courted Gotō Mari and took her to the Summer Festival, where Gu Qingqiu’s group waited to carry out their plan. Their date ended in chaos when a fleeing thief collided with Lin Baici and tore his bag, scattering its contents.

• Lin Baici invited Gotō Mari to the Summer Festival, and she agreed to meet him outside the convenience store.
• Lin Baici and Gotō Mari arrived at the festival, where he won her a goldfish, bought her cotton candy, and won her a Fox Mask.
• Gu Qingqiu waited for the fireworks to begin the plan, then ordered Yi Jisheng to move when Gotō Mari led Lin Baici away from the busy street.
• A hooded thief charged through the crowd, and Lin Baici stepped in front of Gotō Mari.
• The thief grabbed Lin Baici’s shoulder bag, which tore and spilled sketches across the ground.

Lin Baici used a staged theft and romantic paintings to confess to Gotō Mari, who accepted him during the fireworks. The next day, she led him to her remote village, where he found unsettling customs and a disturbing statue, while Gu Qingqiu and the others followed behind.

• Yi Jisheng posed as a thief and scattered Lin Baici’s paintings so Gotō Mari would discover his romantic depictions of her.
• Lin Baici confessed to Gotō Mari during the fireworks, and she accepted before kissing him.
• Gotō Mari invited Lin Baici to meet her the next morning and led him on a long mountain journey toward her village.
• Gotō Mari warned Lin Baici to follow the village’s customs, then left snacks at a frightening statue she identified as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
• Lin Baici entered the nearly deserted village with Gotō Mari, met Aunt Yayoi and her little sister, and wondered what pollution was affecting the place.
• Gu Qingqiu and the others followed the trail into the village but passed the roadside statue without leaving offerings.

Lin Baici stayed with Gotō Mari’s family in the eerily quiet village and uncovered strange signs before a nightmare attack revealed the Rule Pollution’s link to moonlight and a Ksitigarbha Statue. After destroying the statue, he left his companions’ fate uncertain as the threat suddenly stopped affecting them.

• Gotō Mari put Lin Baici up in her family’s house, where her younger sister Maho asked what a father was and tried to pull at his clothes.
• Gotō Mari’s family served Lin Baici dinner and told him he would take part in an activity the next day.
• As Lin Baici slept, a Nightmare Vine strangled him in the moonlight, but he escaped by teleporting into the shadows.
• Lin Baici covered himself with bedding, reached the village entrance, and smashed the Ksitigarbha Statue into rubble.
• Xia Hongyao, Gu Qingqiu, Long Miaomiao, and Yi Jisheng were attacked in another house, but the strangling stopped when Gu Qingqiu tested the moonlight again.

Lin Baici survived the mountain god’s first-night test in Gotō Mari’s village, but the villagers brought him to a cave for another ritual meant to secure the Dragon Girl’s approval. When he hummed the eerie song he had memorized, spring water began to flow from the stones.

• Gu Qingqiu and Xia Hongyao realized Lin Baici had purified the Rule Pollution, and Gu Qingqiu waited until she was sure they were safe.
• Lin Baici returned to Gotō Mari’s house, slept through the night, and learned that surviving the mountain god’s test allowed him to stay in the village.
• Gotō Rei refused Lin Baici’s request to explore the mountains, and the family fasted before the villagers arrived at night in black robes.
• Gotō Mari and the villagers led Lin Baici through the fog to a cave, where a goat-skull-headdress woman demanded he bow to the Dragon Girl.
• Lin Baici refused to kneel and hummed the song he had heard on the journey; after several minutes, spring water began flowing from the stones.

Lin Baici earned Dragon Girl’s approval but fled the village’s life-draining welcoming ceremony, then learned the villagers believed their youth and health came from Dragon Girl. After he was captured for smashing a Ksitigarbha Statue and locked underground, someone opened his cell and called his name.

• Lin Baici sang until spring water gushed from the stones, and the Goat-headed Woman led the women in worshipping Dragon Girl.
• The women tried to force Lin Baici into a welcoming ceremony that would drain his life, but he escaped after the God of Gluttony warned him of the danger.
• Gotō Mari escorted Lin Baici home, and he questioned her faith in Dragon Girl and urged her to consider life beyond the island.
• Lin Baici told Xia Hongyao about the ceremony and learned that she had destroyed the Ksitigarbha Statue that attacked them.
• The Goat-headed Woman accused Lin Baici of smashing the statue and had the villagers bind and hood him before locking him in an underground cell.
• After breaking his bonds and waiting in the darkness, Lin Baici heard the cell door open and someone call, “Lin Jun?”