Chaoyang

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Chaoyang (朝阳)
Alias(es)	Chao; Detective Chao; the Host of Paradise; purported representative of the God of Paradise 6 11 36 37
Species/Race	Demon 4
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Paradise
Occupation/Role	Wish-contract maker; creator and Host of the Paradise game; detective persona 7 9 11
First Appearance	Chapter 1, as the masked Host; identified as Chaoyang in later chapters 1 9

Background / History

Just over a month before arriving in Glorious Fortress, Chaoyang was an ordinary worker on Earth. His sudden Demonic Awakening gave him an instinctive need to survive on wish power: he must find people with urgent wishes, fulfill their desires through contracts, and collect the power returned from their souls. A Demon deprived of wish power gradually weakens and dies. 4

Earth offered him only negligible fragments of wish power from minor wishes, often less than the cost of fulfilling them. He quit his job and traveled the world searching for stronger prayers or other Demons, but found neither as his condition worsened. 4

His Insightful Eye eventually led him to a rift connecting Earth to Glorious Fortress. There, he found a city filled with visible wish-power beams—but learned that prayers already directed toward a specific recipient were forbidden territory, guarded by overwhelming consciousnesses. Only scattered, unclaimed wish power could be safely pursued. 4 5

Stone Bradley's prayer to cure his sister became Chaoyang's first major opportunity in Glorious Fortress. The contract produced roughly 700 units of wish power, though boundary-crossing, phantoms, transportation, and preparation costs left him with 221 units—enough for only nine days at full condition. 5

Appearance

Chaoyang has no fixed public appearance. He treats every outward identity as a disposable persona and rapidly changes form to avoid exposing himself as an outsider or a Demon. 4 36

• As Detective Chao, he appears as a sharp-featured man around thirty years old, wearing a leather trench coat and felt hat. 6
• As the Paradise Host, he wears a red-and-black cloak and a Sichuan opera mask. 11
• He can shed an elderly, emaciated disguise and assume another appearance within seconds. 4
• His true form is not publicly revealed; even his detective identity is an artificial persona. 36

Personality

Chaoyang is cautious, calculating, and intensely survival-driven. His dwindling wish power forces him to assess every potential contract by its cost, risk, and expected return. He hides his origins, avoids drawing the attention of stronger powers, and prefers money or mundane methods when they can preserve wish power. 5 9

He is also adaptable and persuasive. He adopts the detective persona to gain access to clients, exploits desperation when negotiating contracts, and later invents the God of Paradise to secure Dane and Judy's loyalty. 6 7 37

Despite his pragmatism, Chaoyang does not always stop at the minimum required by a contract. Judy only asked him to locate Cote Dane, yet he continued investing resources into Dane's rescue. He also accepted Haia's dangerous commission after carefully confirming that her wish was clear and achievable. 20 28

Abilities & Skills

Demonic Physiology and Wish Power

Chaoyang is sustained by wish power. He can quantify his reserves, calculate the cost of his abilities, and use wish power to maintain his condition, cross boundaries, create phantoms, and support contracts. 4 5

• Demons weaken and eventually die without wish power. 4
• The amount gained depends on the wish-maker's strength and the contents of the fulfilled contract. 5
• Failing a contract causes backlash costing several times the wish power involved. 5
• Haia's fulfilled contract gave him enough wish power to last approximately half a year if used carefully. 36
• Direct confrontation remains a weakness; Chaoyang considers himself only slightly stronger than an ordinary person in a fight. 9

Deception

Deception is the core ability shared by Demons. It allows Chaoyang to create false perceptions and temporary constructs at the cost of wish power. 8

• Invades dreams and constructs illusions. 8
• Creates temporary objects and physical phantoms. 8
• Alters his appearance to maintain multiple identities. 4 6
• Creates and maintains bodies for Paradise participants, though this is one of his largest recurring expenses. 17 36
• Physical creations are extremely costly, especially on Earth, where wish power is scarce. 8

Cyber Eye / Insightful Eye

Chaoyang's unique eye ability is far less costly than his standard Demonic powers and was crucial to his survival and the establishment of Paradise. 4 9

• Detects rifts between worlds. 4
• Sees wish power as colored lights and distinguishes directed prayers from scattered, unclaimed wishes. 4 5
• Reads text across languages through spiritual sight. 6
• Sends emails and observes locations through connected cameras. 8
• Allowed him to organize the first Paradise gathering through the Caribbean Company's systems. 9

Spiritual Connection

Chaoyang can perceive spiritual phenomena that ordinary people cannot, including wish power, emotional shifts, and telepathic communication. 27 39

• Communicates telepathically with Haia while she is near death. 27
• Detects subtle emotional changes and hidden negative feelings in others. 39 40
• Perceives white spiritual threads above Dane and Judy that provide him with small amounts of wish power without an active contract. 37 48
• Recognizes prayers specifically directed toward him, as shown by Jenny's ceremony. 48

Paradise Administration

Chaoyang operates Paradise, bringing Earth participants into Glorious Fortress through constructed bodies and presenting the experience as an advanced game. 9 11

• Sends invitations under fabricated identities and arranges exclusive gatherings for wealthy participants. 9
• Creates player roles, mission interfaces, reward systems, and item exchanges. 11 29
• Can manipulate in-game time, though continuity errors can cause visible glitches. 17
• Can suppress pain, sever a participant's perception, or return them to their original body. 21 29
• Uses points to distribute weapons, but firearms and ammunition consume substantial wish power to construct. 29

Equipment / Items

• Wish-power notebook — Used to track his reserve, costs, and projected survival time. 5
• Contracts — Written agreements that define the wish, payment, obligations, and restrictions on both parties. 7 40
• Detective attire — Leather trench coat and felt hat used for his Chao persona. 6
• Host costume — Red-and-black cloak and Sichuan opera mask. 11
• Dagger — Used to intimidate Elodie during negotiations and to cut her restraints. 40
• Phantom projection — Used to communicate with Haia and show her Kuiqi's severed head from a distance. 32

Relationships

• Stone Bradley — Client whose desperate wish to cure his sister provided Chaoyang with an early, life-sustaining contract. 5
• Judy — Client who hired Detective Chao to find Cote Dane; later becomes a devoted supporter of Chaoyang and the supposed God of Paradise. 7 27 37
• Cote Dane — Investigative reporter rescued through the Paradise operation. Initially suspicious of Chaoyang, he later believes Chaoyang acts for a deity and helps him acquire bodies for participant vessels. 27 36
• Haia Mila — Dying chieftain's daughter who contracts Chaoyang to kill Kuiqi and avenge the victims of the Black Prison. Her fulfilled wish provides him a massive surge of wish power. 28 32
• Elodie — Angel and former attacker whom Chaoyang saves, interrogates, and binds into a mutually restrictive wish-power contract. 39 40
• Zhang Zhiyuan — Paradise participant whose investigative ability helps solve the theater case; Chaoyang relies on his ideas while concealing the game's true mechanics. 17 29 32
• Dane and Judy — His primary local network in Glorious Fortress, providing information, a residence on Emerald Street, and assistance with his plans. 36 37
• Jenny — Nun of Yenie Holy Hall who prays directly to Chaoyang for medical knowledge to save her convent and signs a contract with him. 47 48

Story Role / Major Arcs

Establishing Paradise

Chaoyang uses the Cyber Eye to arrange a secret trial run of Paradise aboard the Heart of the Ocean. Four wealthy participants attend, and their thrill after returning to Earth produces additional wish power, confirming that the game can become a sustainable source of income. 1 9

The Cote Dane Contract

As Detective Chao, Chaoyang follows the wish power attached to Judy's missing-person notice and contracts to locate Cote Dane. He recruits Paradise players to investigate the serial killings, adds a reward for rescuing Dane alive, and continues the rescue despite already being able to satisfy the contract's literal terms. 6 7 20

The Haia Contract

After learning that North City Police Station chief Kuiqi is the true power behind the slave labor and torture operation, Chaoyang accepts Haia's final wish for revenge. He expands the Paradise mission, equips players with modern firearms, disconnects from them for the final confrontation, and personally kills Kuiqi. 27 29 32

The God of Paradise Persona

Dane's belief that Chaoyang serves a deity gives Chaoyang an opportunity to establish Paradise as a divine force. Rather than correct the misunderstanding, he names the fabricated deity “Paradise,” gaining Dane and Judy's trust, assistance, and a hidden residence. 36 37

Elodie's Recruitment

When an Angel from Earth attacks him, Chaoyang chooses not to kill her. Recognizing both her vulnerability and his own need for protection against Angels, he heals Elodie with wish power and persuades her into a contract that prevents either party from harming the other. 37 39 40

Investigating Glorious Fortress

Seeking a better understanding of his new world, Chaoyang studies the Myriad Machine and the classification of strange constructs at Glaic Academy. He learns that the Academy's knowledge network is built around a unique First-Class Wonder located in Star Mountain City. 45 46 47

Notable Quotes

“Your need is my mission.” 7

“I only want one thing.”
“Your head.” 32

“A contract is the only reliable safeguard.” 40

Trivia

• Chaoyang’s first major Earth-side Paradise operation earned him over four million US dollars from legal, traceable sources. 9
• He considers creating modern ammunition more expensive than creating the firearms themselves. 29
• A body-creation continuity error once caused a player’s finger to disappear briefly during a time jump. 17
• Although Dane believes he serves Paradise, Chaoyang is ultimately acting for himself rather than on behalf of any deity. 36