Recaps

Xu Huo and the painted woman ate in the restaurant, where an A-class Wormhole Point Player killed a man who insulted her companions. The painted woman traded for a jeweled clock-patterned outfit and, back in Carriage 3, told Xu Huo that the female Player smelled like a medal.

• Xu Huo ended the painted woman's questions, and a Player at the restaurant explained how drugs could redirect animals' evolution and how some Players were genetically modified.
• A man insulted A-class Wormhole Point Players, and the female Player in the apprentice uniform crushed him to death by clapping.
• The painted woman admired the female Player's clock-patterned clothes, traded her an A-class item for an outfit, and wondered whether the woman had been flirting with her.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman passed through a confrontation in Carriage 4, where the apprentice-uniform trio cleared the way for them.
• Back in Carriage 3, the painted woman told Xu Huo that the female Player smelled like a medal.

Xu Huo studied ways to break the water Rubik’s Cube while the painted woman went to ask a female player for her pendant. She returned with a jade pendant bearing a valuable Origin Stone, and Xu Huo recognized the woman who had given it to her.

• The painted woman waited until morning, then went to ask the female player in the carriage behind them for something she wanted.
• Xu Huo researched spatial super-instruments and learned that breaking one might require matching powers or help from an Artificer at an A-class wormhole point.
• Sister Zhong asked Xiao Xiao about her difficult pregnancy, and Xiao Xiao explained that the baby’s father had died protecting her.
• Shi Potian tried to chat with Xu Huo, who offered him a way to stop talking and sent him fleeing to the dining car.
• The painted woman returned carrying an “Unpolished Jade” pendant with an Origin Stone on its tassel, and Xu Huo looked toward the woman in the next carriage.

Xu Huo and the painted woman learned that the pendant she admired was an Origin Stone numbered S-112, and Xu Huo planned to ask around for more information. They arrived in District C9-001 and visited its famous Time Square, where the time tower began to chime.

• The painted woman learned that the jade pendant was an Origin Stone called S-112, and Xu Huo searched for information about it.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman arrived in District C9-001, known for its accurate time tower and district clocks.
• At Little Full Moon station, the painted woman watched the enormous clock beneath the transparent floor as Xu Huo explained that a broken clock would not break time.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman teleported to Time Square, where the painted woman went looking for food and Xu Huo gazed up at the time tower.
• The largest rectangular clock’s six hands stopped at 36, and the tower rang out three times.

Xu Huo explored Time Plaza, where residents gathered to calibrate clocks and the surrounding shops sold time-themed goods. After buying a set of gemstone bookmarks, he noticed a book signing for Teacher Jing Shi and went into the mall.

• Xu Huo watched people calibrate clocks at the Time Tower as the plaza celebrated the start of a new day.
• Shi Potian and the painted woman shared their breakfast with Xu Huo, then complained about the clock shops and went to play arcade games.
• Xu Huo browsed the clock shops and bought a set of seven gemstone bookmarks with miniature clock faces.
• Xu Huo saw a sign for Teacher Jing Shi’s book signing, entered the mall, and picked up a copy of Time That Never Stops.

Xu Huo read Jing Shi’s book about time and questioned her claims about Time Power during a private signing. After she suggested that time could exist and be annihilated, he left and found the painted woman and Shi Potian buying clocks and watches.

• Xu Huo read Jing Shi’s explanation of time and Curved Time while another Player argued with her fans at the book signing.
• Xu Huo asked Jing Shi to inscribe “The Jumping of Time” and questioned whether small-scale Time Power truly affected time.
• Jing Shi said that borrowing time was not the same as affecting it, and that true interference would occur when one space’s time completely covered another’s.
• Jing Shi suggested that time could both exist and be annihilated, but ended the conversation when a staff member reminded her of the schedule.
• Xu Huo left the signing room and found the painted woman and Shi Potian in a luxury store with nearly fifty clocks and watches laid out for them.

Xu Huo and the painted woman explored District 001, where she won two Clock Exhibition tickets and caught a boy trying to steal from her. After officers dismissed the theft, Xu Huo defended her and the pair continued on to look for food.

• The painted woman wanted to buy fifty watches, but Xu Huo set a time-based condition that led her to choose just a hair clip and a wristwatch.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman parted ways with Shi Potian, then wandered through District 001 and watched people try their hand at making watches.
• The painted woman assembled watch parts at two shops and won two tickets to the Clock Exhibition.
• A boy tried to steal from the painted woman's backpack, and she restrained him and accused him of theft.
• Two officers tried to let the boy go with only a reprimand, but Xu Huo challenged their handling of the case and left with the painted woman.
• The painted woman complained that people bullied her because she could not speak, and Xu Huo suggested she could type instead before they stopped at a roasted-bird shop.

Xu Huo witnessed a contract killing in District 001 and learned that licensed hit companies operated openly under the District’s tradition of private justice. The painted woman asked whether assassination organizations still existed, while the Players debated why the government allowed them.

• Xu Huo and the painted woman checked into Yongxing Hotel, where Players were waiting for an introduction to the famous Clock Master.
• The painted woman admired District 001’s unusual night sky, and Xu Huo sent bookmarks to Xiao Yuan and Tan Qi before going to sleep.
• Xu Huo saw Quick Delivery leave a beauty salon after killing two people inside, and the victims were later identified as adulterers.
• A Player explained to Xu Huo and the painted woman that licensed hit companies accepted contract killings and that the District had a long tradition of assassination.
• The painted woman asked whether assassination organizations still existed, and another Player said the licensed companies were their modern form.

Xu Huo learned how District 001’s assassination companies enforced laws and moral boundaries, backed by a public belief that anyone who committed a crime could be punished by anyone. He visited the former headquarters of the famed Kongyou Service Company and found that it had moved to Smiling Face Park.

• At a breakfast shop, Xu Huo heard locals explain how assassination companies investigated wrongdoing and took jobs to punish people who crossed legal or moral lines.
• A customer mocked the district’s strict customs, and the shop’s patrons and owner drove him out after revealing that he had once harassed women and had his legs broken three times.
• A local described how one small company spent half a year and lost more than ten High-level Players before returning the bodies of two Outer District Players who had killed sixteen citizens.
• Xu Huo left the shop with the painted woman and went to the former headquarters of Kongyou Service Company.
• Xu Huo found praise written across the old headquarters, along with an advertisement saying the company had moved to Smiling Face Park.

Xu Huo and the painted woman visited Smiling Face Park, where he hired Kongyou Service Company to provide bodyguards and tour-guide services in District 001. He booked five days and arranged for the company to pick them up at Yongxing Hotel for the Clock Exhibition the next morning.

• Xu Huo and the painted woman arrived at Smiling Face Park as local players argued with government workers over repairs to their homes.
• A guard directed Xu Huo to Kongyou Service Company after he asked whether it was there.
• Xu Huo met the company's smiling female boss and learned she and her cousin offered bodyguard services.
• Xu Huo agreed to pay 15,000 a day, booked five days, and signed the company's binding contract.
• Xu Huo gave his surname as Xu, introduced the painted woman as Xiao Chun, and arranged a hotel pickup for the Clock Exhibition.

Xu Huo discussed time, Curved Time, and the angles between spaces with writer Jing Shi, who shared her theories about time being displaced rather than erased. After Jing Shi left, Xu Huo took the painted woman out to find local food, where someone targeted her backpack again.

• Xu Huo and the painted woman returned to the hotel and ran into Jing Shi in the lobby.
• Xu Huo and Jing Shi discussed how different times could overlap, with Jing Shi proposing that covered time was squeezed into the angles between spaces.
• Jing Shi suggested that Curved Time resulted from collisions between different times, and Xu Huo reflected on artifacts that could capture or stabilize it.
• Jing Shi gave Xu Huo her business card and left for her hometown, while Xu Huo asked the hotel staff to send the fruit platters to his room.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman went to find local specialties, where someone set their sights on the painted woman's backpack.

Xu Huo and the painted woman spent the day in District 001, where a theft and a body discovered in a park revealed the sub-district’s casual attitude toward danger. After they left the park before its Random Instance opened, a long-haired man criticized the locals, and Xu Huo warned the painted woman not to imitate him.

• A diner caught a boy trying to steal from the painted woman, made him apologize, and watched Enforcement Department officers take him away.
• The painted woman wondered why the boy stole when he was not hungry, then threatened to cut off the hand of anyone who tried to steal from her again.
• After lunch, Xu Huo and the painted woman went to a park, where she played with children while he watched old men repair a clock.
• The painted woman spotted a body hanging in nearby woods, and park visitors learned that the Z11 Hanging Suicide Random Instance was about to open.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman left with the crowd before the park was sealed, and a long-haired man criticized District 001’s disregard for life.
• The painted woman imitated the long-haired man, and Xu Huo told her she could get beaten up.

Xu Huo learned about counterfeit Dungeon Authorization Letters from an Artificer and bought one after hearing how it worked. He pressed the old craftsman for additional ways to conceal the fake, and the old man said that would cost more.

• Xu Huo visited shops in District 001 and found a shop displaying counterfeit Dungeon Authorization Letters.
• The old craftsman and a staff member explained that the fakes could imitate genuine letters but did not come with Dungeons.
• Xu Huo asked about letters that could be burned, and the old craftsman described unauthorized Dungeon Authorization Letters altered to evade the game's inspection.
• The old craftsman explained that his fake letter would register as an upgraded Dungeon Authorization Letter and be difficult to identify immediately.
• Xu Huo negotiated the price and bought a counterfeit letter, then asked for help hiding its false nature.
• The old craftsman told Xu Huo that further after-sales service would cost more.

Xu Huo visited an exhibition of the Clock Master's work in District 001 after meeting the You sisters and taking their aircraft to the venue. While studying a model of the Time Tower, he witnessed Old Mr. Xi being escorted from the restricted second floor for criticizing the new products.

• Xu Huo rejected the old Artificer's offer to investigate a forged Instance Authorization Letter, bought a Random Instance guide, and returned to the hotel.
• You Zhi and You Xin met Xu Huo for breakfast, shared local precautions, and brought him to the exhibition in their patched-up aircraft.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman toured the first-floor exhibits, including a model of the Time Tower that tracked the distinct times of 2,177 Sub-districts.
• Staff escorted Old Mr. Xi from the second floor after he criticized the clocks and disrupted the people gathered there.

Xu Huo intervened when Old Mr. Xi was being escorted away from the clock exhibition, then used a supposed theft to prompt a commotion and leave before the investigation could expose the painted woman. At Old Mr. Xi’s shop, he learned the old artificer’s feud with the clockmakers began with his late Teacher, whom he had sought justice for.

• Staff members tried to remove Old Mr. Xi from the exhibition, but Xu Huo challenged them and got them to let him go.
• Xu Huo claimed he had seen a staff member steal something, and a missing item on the second floor led the venue to seal off the exhibition and investigate its guests.
• Xu Huo left the venue with Old Mr. Xi and the painted woman, then met You Zhi and You Xin, who took them to Old Mr. Xi’s shop.
• Old Mr. Xi insisted on making Xu Huo a piece of equipment, while You Xin vouched for his craftsmanship.
• The shop’s employee told Xu Huo and the sisters that Old Mr. Xi’s conflict with the clockmakers stemmed from his efforts to seek justice for his late Teacher.

Xu Huo borrowed a terminal from the struggling Artificer Old Mr. Xi, then took You Xin, You Zhi, and the painted woman to enjoy the amusement park. The group followed a parade and learned about the bizarre fruits that had appeared after Evolution.

• Old Mr. Xi lent Xu Huo a terminal, but law enforcement Players sealed his shop, leaving him without work again.
• The staff member explained that Old Mr. Xi's bad temper and feud with other Artificers had hurt his business, while You Zhi guessed he ran the shop mainly to pass the time.
• Xu Huo paid for a day at the amusement park as the sisters and the painted woman enjoyed its attractions.
• Xu Huo sampled strange local snacks and traded a bean for a child's lollipop as the parade passed by.
• The group followed the parade, and Xu Huo described how Evolution had produced plants bearing bizarre fruits shaped like eyes, bugs, and other body parts.

Xu Huo explored District 001 with the You sisters, saw the Time Tower and encountered Old Mr. Xi, then visited a Mutant Beast arena. The chapter left the painted woman’s cat beast injured and fleeing from a tiger beast during their fight.

• You Xin showed Xu Huo recordings of bizarre Mutated Plants from Ten Thousand Plant Garden.
• Xu Huo saw Sister Zhong and the pregnant female Player at Time Square, then helped You Xin and You Zhi stop Old Mr. Xi’s quarrel with young people.
• Old Mr. Xi praised the Time Tower before leaving, and the You sisters took Xu Huo and the painted woman to a Mutant Beast arena.
• The painted woman bet on a huge Mutant Cat with a toxin against a tiger beast with metal-like claws and thick skin.
• The cat beast leapt onto the tiger’s back and bit its neck, but the tiger threw it off and broke one of its hind legs.

Xu Huo visited writer Jing Shi and discussed Time Power, then returned to find the painted woman and the You sisters preparing to scare thieves with horror costumes. Their plan began on Guangcheng’s Cultural Street, where they were greeted by a grotesque face announcing Happy Thriller Night.

• Xu Huo watched two Mutant Beasts attempt to break through the arena barriers before organizers shot them down, and You Xin warned him about mutated plants and animals.
• Xu Huo traveled with the others to Guangcheng, then visited Jing Shi and discussed Time Power and the clockmaker who had created a time-based item.
• Jing Shi introduced her grandson Xiao Chuan, who was learning clockmaking from a renowned Clock Master.
• Xu Huo returned to the hotel and found the painted woman and the You sisters preparing to frighten thieves with horror costumes.
• Xu Huo and the others entered Cultural Street, where a grotesque face welcomed them to Happy Thriller Night.

Xu Huo discovered that Culture Street’s Halloween parade concealed real corpses and dangerous performers, confirming that the festivities were part of an unsealed Dungeon. As Players became trapped in the parade, he destroyed a skeleton hidden inside a monster costume, while the painted woman began challenging performers herself.

• Xu Huo noticed oppressive presences among the performers, found a bag of real body parts in an alley, and left when Players approached.
• A performer tried to injure the painted woman, but she bent the performer’s fingers in return and began seeking out others to challenge.
• Players were drawn into the parade, and bodies used as props vanished while Xu Huo examined the bloody trash can.
• A skeleton concealed inside a monster costume attacked Xu Huo, but he trapped it in the alley and sliced it apart with his mental power’s Manifestation.

Xu Huo escaped a monster costume and discovered the parade’s monsters were dangerous, then survived a guillotine trap hidden in an alley. He found the painted woman impersonating a performer and took her back, while the You sisters had already left Cultural Street.

• Xu Huo saw tourists enjoy the monsters’ tricks even as a player was swallowed, and the painted woman was thrown beneath a monster’s robe.
• The You sisters tried to pull the painted woman free but were dragged inside with Xu Huo, where the performer operating the costume promised to let them out.
• The painted woman pulled the performer out, and You Zhi took over the controls while Xu Huo used the portal to leave the costume.
• Xu Huo halted and broke the guillotines that attacked him, then uncovered and collected the hidden alley mechanisms.
• Xu Huo saw that the You sisters had left Cultural Street, found the painted woman pretending to be a performer, and told her they were going back.

Xu Huo rescued the painted woman, Shi Potian, and a pregnant Player from the dangerous rear of the parade. After learning the Night Tour Dungeon might be newly formed, he decided to move hotels to avoid being drawn back into it.

• Xu Huo found the painted woman's backpack in a monster costume and threatened the parade's hidden performers until they released her and the two unconscious Players.
• The painted woman woke Shi Potian and the pregnant Player, and the group left Cultural Street together.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman used portals to leave Cultural Street, then parted ways with Shi Potian and the pregnant Player.
• The painted woman explained that a ghost had stolen her backpack while she chased a ghostly prop.
• You Xin said the Dungeon was absent from local and District Government records, and Xu Huo decided to move to a hotel across the city.

Xu Huo learned about Old Mr. Xi’s failed lawsuit against the Clock Association and arranged for an A-class item to be made. The old man agreed after Xu Huo offered Sub-class Stones as materials.

• Xu Huo warned the Yu sisters and the others to avoid Cultural Street while he went to visit writer Jing Shi.
• Jing Shi offered to introduce Xu Huo to a Clock Master so he could watch the master make clocks, and Xu Huo accepted.
• Xu Huo searched the Jixin Terminal and identified Number One Under Heaven as Old Mr. Xi, then learned that the old man had sued the Clock Association over his teacher’s work and later withdrawn from both associations.
• Old Mr. Xi called Xu Huo to ask what item he wanted made, and Xu Huo proposed providing materials for an A-class item.
• Old Mr. Xi agreed to make the item, and Xu Huo placed several Sub-class Stones on the table.

Xu Huo arranged for the painted woman and the You sisters to stay at Jing Shi’s home while he waited for news about a new Dungeon near Culture Street. A conversation about revenge killings revealed that Jing Shi’s daughter had been killed by her husband, leaving the sisters’ visit awkward.

• Xu Huo gave the Artificer his Sub-class Stones to make an Attack Artifact, then noticed people wearing monster masks around Culture Street.
• Xu Huo asked the painted woman to bring the You sisters to Jing Shi’s home, and Jing Shi welcomed them.
• Xu Huo warned Xiao Chuan about the possible Dungeon near Culture Street, and Xiao Chuan agreed to take two people with him when he went out.
• During tea, You Xin argued that killing a cheating spouse could prevent worse crimes, and Jing Shi quietly agreed before withdrawing to rest.
• You Zhi explained that Jing Shi’s daughter had been killed by her husband and that a Player later killed him; You Xin then asked Xu Huo why he had invited them to stay.

Xu Huo accompanied Jing Shi to the Enforcement Department after her grandson Xiao Chuan went missing inside Yangming Building, which had become a restricted zone in the Cultural Street Dungeon. The Dungeon had suddenly upgraded to A-level and spread across the city, and Xu Huo stayed to help as civilians fled.

• Jing Shi learned that Xiao Chuan had vanished and hurried to the Enforcement Department with Xu Huo and several players.
• You Zhi and You Xin explained that the Dungeon had spread across the city, where masked ordinary people were attacking others and restricted zones had appeared.
• The aircraft pilot confirmed that Yangming Building was a Dungeon restricted zone, and Jing Shi revealed that Xiao Chuan had gone there.
• The local government announced that the Night Tour Dungeon had upgraded from B-level to A-level and called for help clearing it.
• Jing Shi insisted on reaching the Enforcement Department to arrange a rescue, while You Xin and You Zhi returned Xu Huo's money and left for safety.
• Xu Huo refused to leave Jing Shi, saying he might help with the evacuation and rescue effort.

After Xiao Chuan vanished inside Yangming Building, Xu Huo and Jing Shi learned that the building had become a Restricted Zone linked to an A-class survival instance. The instance’s danger was spreading across multiple cities, and they were left uncertain whether players inside could contact the outside world.

• Jing Shi and Xu Huo reached the crowded Enforcement Department, where a squad leader said the department could not spare a team to search for Xiao Chuan alone.
• Two players who had guarded Xiao Chuan explained that he disappeared from a restroom at Yangming Building, followed by many other people, and that they had been unable to enter the instance.
• Xu Huo reviewed the instance’s rules: participants had to survive seven days, could be hooded and driven to kill, and could not safely kill hooded procession members because the hood would transfer to the killer.
• A-class players from other cities arrived to help, while reports of hooded monster killings and Restricted Zones spread to more cities.
• The bearded player worried that Restricted Zones might sever contact with the game, and Xu Huo said that restricting players’ Personal Panels would normally violate the rules.

Xu Huo watched the Night Tour Dungeon spread across eight cities and learned that evacuating residents into the wilderness was no safer than moving them elsewhere. A video showed the procession’s Masks attaching to Players and turning them into skeletons, leaving Xu Huo with evidence that the threat could not be escaped by ordinary means.

• The government halted evacuations to nearby cities and ordered residents to return home or shelter nearby as the Dungeon spread to eight cities.
• Xu Huo sensed the Restricted Zone expanding and learned that officials were moving residents into the wilderness because other cities had fallen.
• A video showed a Night Tour procession attacking evacuees in the forest, while Masks flew from defeated performers and attached themselves to their killers.
• The Masks rooted into two Enforcement Team Players, and attempts to remove them or pull the Players from the procession ended in death or transformation into skeletons.
• Xu Huo enlarged the video and saw that the Masks’ blood-vessel-like growths had bored deep holes into a dead Player’s skull.