Recaps

Xu Huo and the other Players followed a waving, human-shaped fungus through the cavern, where mycelium nearly trapped Siming. They discovered the fungi were learning to imitate people, but the group was left unsure how far that imitation could go.

• Xu Huo led Zhuo Wangsun, Siming, and the female Player after a waving figure and through a hidden passage into another cavern.
• Mycelium trapped Siming and began spreading from his suit, but Cleaning Agent freed him before it could engulf him.
• Siming shot the waving figure, and the mycelium swallowed it; Xu Huo later cut apart another hollow imitation.
• The group burned through a mycelium passage and found a human-shaped copy of Siming wrapped in the wall.
• Xu Huo cut off the copy's head, and Zhuo Wangsun and the female Player realized the fungi were becoming better at imitating people.

Xu Huo and the others searched the underground fungus nest for an exit and found humanlike growths before Xin Hui rejoined them. When the mycelium began raining poisonous Black Liquid, the group scattered, and Xin Hui encountered Xu Huo in a clean cave.

• Xu Huo led Siming, Zhuo Wangsun, and the female Player through the caves as they searched for a way out.
• The group found nests filled with lifelike, mycelium-wrapped bodies, and Xu Huo discovered they were solid inside.
• Xin Hui emerged from a side tunnel and reunited with Zhuo Wangsun and the others.
• Xu Huo proposed burning the underground nest, but the group continued searching for an exit before deciding what to do.
• The mycelium contracted and began dripping poisonous Black Liquid, forcing the five to flee and become separated.
• Xin Hui escaped into a clean cave, where she turned and found Xu Huo standing behind her.

Xu Huo and the others found their route back blocked by mycelium and searched for another way out of the Misty Forest. Xin Hui then discovered an exit, and Xu Huo revealed he had been following her.

• Siming urged the group to abandon the level, while Zhuo Wangsun pointed out that their way back was blocked and questioned whether they could escape.
• Zhuo Wangsun realized Siming and the female player had not killed enough blue-team soldiers to clear the level, while Xu Huo could leave at any time.
• Xu Huo agreed to look for an exit and considered burning through the fungus if they could not find one.
• Xin Hui found the right way out, and Xu Huo told her she was lucky to have found it.
• Xin Hui backed away and asked Xu Huo whether he had been following her.

Xu Huo learned from Xin Hui that Clown City deliberately prolonged the Cleansing Zone’s fungal crisis and manipulated its deadly battle for broadcast profits. As they set out toward Sunrise Clown City, its host Lang Lang discussed the contestants and planned to welcome the eventual champion with the Chief Political Officer.

• Xin Hui told Xu Huo that Clown City’s leaders had used Potions to mutate the fungus and turned the Cleansing Zone battle into a profit-making game.
• Xu Huo questioned Xin Hui’s motives for killing other warriors, then offered to travel with her to Clown City.
• Xin Hui explained that they would have to cross the Cleansing Zone to reach Sunrise Clown City, and Xu Huo said they would talk after he planted a flag atop its walls.
• Lang Lang reviewed the White Hot Battle rankings and learned that contestant 227 was outside the monitoring range while 254 and 249 had disappeared near the Mist Forest Area.
• Lang Lang ordered a formal dress for the champion’s arrival and planned to welcome the winner alongside the Chief Political Officer.

Xu Huo and Xin Hui crossed a miasma zone toward Sunrise Clown City, where gunmen ambushed the returning soldiers. After Xu Huo captured one of the gunmen, he triggered an extra mission tied to the fungal nest and decided to take the man into the city for questioning.

• Xu Huo and Xin Hui traveled toward Sunrise Clown City, discussing the True Man game's rankings and how audience betting interfered with contestants.
• Xin Hui gave Xu Huo fungus to repel the snakes and insects in the miasma zone, and they hurried through after Xu Huo found a tracker on an Alien.
• As they reached the defensive wall, gunmen attacked the returning soldiers; Xin Hui and a burly man escaped into lifts while the others were shot.
• Xu Huo found and captured a gunman who tried to kill himself with a poisonous mushroom, then received an extra mission called The Fate of a Spore.
• Xu Huo carried the gunman toward Clown City and asked what he was trying to do with the fungal nest.

Xu Huo brought the silent soldier 179 into Clown City after completing the Sweeping Zone mission and uncovered his plan to spread fungal contamination. He left 179 under guard while questioning whether the attack targeted Clown City's officials or aimed to expose the True Man game.

• Xu Huo refused to let the women take the injured 179 away and accepted an invitation to enter Clown City.
• A middle-aged official offered Xu Huo housing and benefits, invited him to a victory banquet, and explained that Clown City used its residents as game characters.
• Xu Huo sent the women into the bathroom, then stopped 179 from eating a hollow energy candy containing mycelium.
• Xu Huo deduced that 179 and Xin Hui planned to use fungal spores to attack Clown City's officials during the victory banquet.
• Xu Huo asked 179 whether the plot was meant to create chaos or expose the True Man game.

Xu Huo deduced that 179’s group had an insider and argued that overthrowing Clown City’s government was their best chance against the True Man game. After restraining 179 and keeping people locked in the bathroom, Xu Huo caught an intruder who tried to shoot him during the night.

• Xu Huo deduced from 179’s reaction that the group had an insider and said exposing the True Man game would not be enough to change Clown City.
• Xu Huo threatened the people pounding on the bathroom door, telling them to stay inside until morning.
• Xu Huo tied 179 to a chair with Kite String, said he might reveal what he knew, and went to sleep.
• At three in the morning, an intruder entered and shot at the blankets covering Xu Huo.
• 179 warned the intruder that Xu Huo was alive, but Xu Huo dropped from the ceiling, grabbed the attacker, and disarmed him.

Xu Huo agreed to keep Lang Lang's group's secret and release 179 in exchange for Lang Lang accompanying him after their mission. While accompanying her to the banquet venue, Xu Huo secretly examined the building and tested whether his Life Core could affect its metal, leaving the banquet about to begin.

• Lang Lang asked Xu Huo to release her friend 179 and stay out of Clown City's internal affairs, while 179 and the others prepared to die rather than betray their cause.
• Xu Huo agreed to keep their secret and help them if Lang Lang would come with him when their business was done.
• Xu Huo released 179 and gave him a Self-Healing Agent, then accompanied Lang Lang to the True Man game's banquet venue as her temporary bodyguard.
• Lang Lang explained that the banquet was being held in the show's skyscraper, and her assistant announced that the Chief Political Officer and guests from other sub-districts would attend.
• Xu Huo found the venue's floor plans, identified the skyscraper as a strategic building at the heart of Sunrise Clown City, and used his Life Core to test its metal walls.
• Xu Huo left the storage room and surveyed the venue as the banquet was about to begin, noting that few players were nearby.

Xu Huo found Lang Lang under guard as Clown City prepared for a victory banquet at the Sky Building. The hall was sealed against anyone leaving, and the Chief Political Officer arrived as guests filled the building.

• Two Players said the Chief Political Officer had assigned them to protect Lang Lang from someone following her.
• Xu Huo said he had come to ask Lang Lang about details, and she left the lounge with him for the banquet hall.
• Two checkpoints at the hall entrance allowed people in but prevented them from leaving.
• Senior Clown City officials and their families arrived at the Sky Building as night fell and the banquet hall grew crowded.
• The Chief Political Office's car arrived at the building.

Xin Hui’s group’s attempt to seize the Chief Political Officer ended with the banquet guests trapped between the players and a deadly ray barrier. Lang Lang revealed that she had infected the Chief Political Officer with a fungus, leaving him facing an infection Clown City could not treat.

• The Chief Political Officer exposed the fungal fluid in the wine, injected himself with antibodies, and ordered the players to kill everyone in the banquet hall.
• Several people used Micro Bombs to blast open the exits, but invisible rays and gunfire killed the fleeing officials and staff.
• Xu Huo watched as the survivors were left trapped inside a building enclosed by rays, and he identified Yuan Cun as a likely powerful player carrying a Space Artifact.
• Lang Lang told the Chief Political Officer that she had infected herself to test what he would do, then revealed she had infected him as well.
• Lang Lang explained that the fungus would take three months to cause symptoms and that Clown City had no treatment.

Xu Huo and Xin Hui escaped Yuan Cun by falling into the fungus-covered underground beneath Clown City. Lang Lang joined them there as the collapse began spreading, and she explained the fungi’s role in the underground world.

• The Chief Political Officer ordered his Players to kill Lang Lang and Xin Hui, but Xu Huo intervened and cut through the airborne building’s floor.
• Xu Huo saved Lang Lang and Xin Hui during the fall, while 179 was killed by an unknown attack.
• Yuan Cun pursued Xu Huo, but the ground collapsed to reveal a vast underground area covered in A-class fungi.
• Xin Hui pushed Xu Huo into the fissure to escape Yuan Cun, who retreated after discovering the fungi could infect him.
• Xu Huo and Xin Hui clung to a ledge underground, and Lang Lang appeared in the passage and explained that different fungi balanced one another and could torment people without killing them quickly.

Xu Huo learned that Xin Lang and her allies had spent nearly twenty years preparing to unleash the fungal nest beneath Clown City, and he agreed to a temporary deal with her. As chaos spread across the city, Xin Lang demonstrated that she could cure fungal infections and offered this ability as the “good thing” she had promised.

• Xu Huo deduced that Xin Lang's political schemes had distracted the city while her real plan was to release the fungal nest, and Xin Hui explained how their families discovered the fungi spreading beneath Clown City.
• Xin Lang revealed that the fungi could coexist inside her body, and Xu Huo realized she might spread infection herself if the underground nest failed.
• Xin Lang asked Xu Huo to help damage Clown City's protective wall and offered him something valuable; he demanded proof before trusting her.
• Xu Huo left the underground nest with Xin Lang and Xin Hui in a rescue vehicle as citizens fled through the city and Xin Hui declared that Clown City's residents deserved to pay for the cleanup zone's suffering.
• Xin Lang transferred fine white threads from her blood into an infected young man, curing his fungal symptoms within minutes and showing Xu Huo what she had offered.

Xu Huo learned that Xin Lang could use a fungus in her body to neutralize infections and toxins, and she offered to help him in exchange for his assistance. They escaped the chaos in Clown City, leaving Xu Huo to consider the fungus as a powerful defense against contaminants.

• Xu Huo warned Xin Hui that the General Administration could stop her group's revenge, but Xin Lang showed that she could control the fungi within her body.
• Xin Lang asked Xu Huo to help destroy the metal beneath Clown City, and he agreed to consider her offer after she promised him something valuable.
• Xin Lang and the others escaped the underground in a rescue vehicle as residents fled Clown City.
• Xin Lang used fine white threads from her blood to cure the fungal infection of the young man driving the vehicle.
• Xin Lang explained that her fungus could neutralize fungal infections, other poisons, and A-grade and S-grade contaminants.

Xu Huo and Xin Lang faced soldiers sent to capture them beneath Clown City’s protective wall, but they split up as the army searched the underground nest. Xin Lang was captured and revealed that she had spread a fungal infection throughout the city before releasing more spores, leaving Clown City’s fate uncertain.

• Xu Huo said Clown City needed more Players to challenge its corrupt government, and Xin Lang agreed that their numbers would grow.
• When soldiers descended into the underground nest, Xin Lang drew them after her while Xu Huo escaped in the opposite direction.
• A Player captured Xin Lang, dragged her aboveground, and brought her before the Chief Political Officer, who showed her the bodies of Xin Hui, 179, and the others.
• Xin Lang revealed that she was infected with nearly a hundred kinds of fungi and had already scattered her blood throughout Clown City.
• After the Chief Political Officer shot her, black-green liquid from Xin Lang’s wound grew into fungus, and white spores poured from her body and spread toward the protective wall.

Xu Huo rescued Xin Lang and drove away from the collapsing protective wall, while she explained how the Nuwa Stone and King Fungus had sustained Clown City’s fungi. Xin Lang died after giving Xu Huo the Stone, and he cleared the Evil Contest with an S-rank Super rating.

• The Chief Political Officer ordered his team to seize Xin Lang, but a sandstorm made her disappear and a narrow gap appeared in the protective wall.
• The protective wall collapsed, burying much of the army and shaking Sunrise Clown City awake.
• Xu Huo drove Xin Lang away and told her about the extra task, while she urged him to kill her and spread her body throughout the city.
• Xin Lang revealed that King Fungus had transferred to Xu Huo and gave him the Nuwa Stone, explaining how it had enabled King Fungus to grow and the fungi to evolve.
• Xin Lang said the Stone and King Fungus might have suppressed the emergence of Players in Clown City, then died as her body melted away.
• Xu Huo received an S-rank Super rating for clearing the Evil Contest and rewards for completing three Dungeon tasks and one extra task.

After completing the Dungeon, Xu Huo reviewed his updated panel and tested his new ability, Completed Script. The script revealed clues about his recent escape and someone watching him from a clock tower, leaving him to wonder how the watcher had evaded his ability.

• Xu Huo opened his Personal Panel and examined his new defensive and extended abilities, along with his rewards.
• Xu Huo used Completed Script on a blank sheet and read details about his escape with Xin Lang that he had not known.
• Xu Huo inferred that Completed Script recorded events connected to his experiences, including unnoticed events, but did not explain their hidden effects.
• The script revealed that someone had watched Xu Huo from the clock tower while he used his ability.
• Xu Huo looked toward the clock tower and wondered whether the watcher had avoided Good Friends Score with an ability or a special item.

Xu Huo escaped Yuan Cun’s pursuit through the underground nest, then used an item to teleport back to the clock tower. The mysterious man inside killed Yuan Cun and several Players, leaving Xu Huo fleeing the tower as well.

• Xu Huo released fungi into the city, gathered specimens and an encyclopedia, then fled underground as Yuan Cun and other Players pursued him.
• Xu Huo found the Awakening Doll and Little Pink Hat beyond the collapsed protective wall, then used Five or Five Open Air Window to teleport away.
• The window deposited Xu Huo back at the clock tower, where he encountered the bearded man folding paper birds and tried to leave quietly.
• Yuan Cun’s group blasted the clock face, but the tower remained unharmed and black shapes shot out, killing four Players and driving the survivors to flee.
• Yuan Cun entered the clock tower, and Xu Huo ran from the front door when something crashed down; he saw Yuan Cun dead in the street.

Xu Huo escaped Clown City as a fight between High-level Players threatened to flood it, then investigated the King Fungus in the underground nest and discovered it could neutralize toxins. He rescued Zhuo Wangsun and went to retrieve Siming and the female Player.

• Several High-level Players attacked the clock tower, and their battle created a growing water bubble that sent Clown City into chaos.
• Xu Huo used the Life Core to dissolve underground fortifications and crossed the damaged defensive wall and Cleansing Zone.
• Xu Huo found the King Fungus in the nest and confirmed that its hyphae could digest poisonous fungus without leaving toxins behind.
• Xu Huo collected hyphae and fungus samples, then found Zhuo Wangsun infected with fungus and led him out of the nest.
• Xu Huo took Zhuo Wangsun to retrieve Siming and the female Player, who remained trapped in the nest.

Xu Huo returned to Clown City with Zhuo Wangsun and two infected Players as a battle between High-level Players destroyed Sunrise Clown City. He rescued the underground survivors and reunited them with the soldiers, while Master Tu and his companions faced the consequences of concealing the truth.

• Xu Huo told Zhuo Wangsun and the other Players that a High-level Player had ended the Dungeon early, then traded them Antidotes for money and items in exchange for their help bringing two children into Clown City.
• Xu Huo and the others saw a water sphere collapse over Sunrise Clown City, then hurried toward Sunset Clown City as soldiers abandoned the quarantine-zone mission and searched for separated teammates.
• Xu Huo reunited with Master Tu, Sister Shan, and the surviving soldiers, while Master Tu and his companions fell silent when they saw him.
• Zhuo Wangsun collected Fish Ball and the snow-cone child as Xu Huo distributed water mixed with King Fungus threads to the infected white-haired people underground.
• The white-haired people recovered and were pulled up by Sister Shan and the others, then reunited with the soldiers; Xu Huo gave the two children Antidotes and sent them back to their parents.

Xu Huo reached Sunset Clown City as revolts and crackdowns shook both cities, while Paper Puppeteer killed the last opposing Player and vowed to target the Holy Sword Society. Sunset Clown City’s uprising had been brutally suppressed by the time Xu Huo entered, leaving him to face its aftermath.

• Xu Huo left Zhuo Wangsun and the others and hurried toward Sunset Clown City as evacuees fled Sunrise Clown City.
• Paper Puppeteer defeated the wounded Player who had attacked with a water sphere and declared he would visit the Holy Sword Society’s strongholds.
• Xu Huo crossed Sunset Clown City’s defensive wall after dismantling its metal structure.
• Xu Huo found that the city’s revolt had spread revelations about the reality show, but Players and soldiers had suppressed it by killing residents who had learned the truth.

Xu Huo destroyed Clown City's protective wall, exposing the buried fungal nest and the bodies of people who had left the city, then confronted and killed the Chief Political Officer. He left the government building as the city's fate began to shift, and turned to face a bearded man who appeared behind him.

• Xu Huo blasted the protective wall with Bai Kou's energy cannon, and underground water and fungal-thread bodies surged through the new fissures.
• The Chief Political Officer recognized Xin Lang among the bodies and ordered them destroyed, then spotted Xu Huo and tried to flee Clown City.
• Xu Huo pursued the Chief Political Officer through the government building, where the crowd's panic and destroyed helicopters blocked the official's escape.
• The Chief Political Officer tried to bargain with Xu Huo and sent nearby Players to attack, but Xu Huo used Truth Transcends All to reach him and snap his neck.
• Xu Huo used Forced Forgetfulness and left the building, placed a red rose on a drifting fungal-thread body, and turned to face a bearded man who had appeared behind him.

Xu Huo questioned the Paper Puppeteer about the Field Battle Angel and learned that its core could perceive fate and guide him toward its scattered pieces. The Paper Puppeteer gave Xu Huo a tracking-capable letter and offered help in E27, leaving Xu wary of the connection between his Angel’s Teeth and the Super Artifact.

• Xu Huo denied mourning the dead woman out of personal affection, and the Paper Puppeteer recognized the Life Core he had used.
• The Paper Puppeteer described the spreading fungi as a balance of death and opportunity, then revealed he had visited Building Block Fairy Tale Town and found Granny Bai alive.
• The Paper Puppeteer explained that the Field Battle Angel’s core could see through fate and gave Xu Huo a paper plane that the game identified as a B-class positioning letter that could also track him.
• Xu Huo learned that the Field Battle Angel had been scattered, that its pieces could be combined, and that the Paper Puppeteer believed fate had drawn him to Xu Huo.
• The Paper Puppeteer offered help in E27 if another player carrying a Field Battle Angel piece found Xu Huo, but warned him not to seek him out soon.

Xu Huo returned to District 014 and learned that the country was facing Player violence and spreading Alien Toxin. Team Leader Wu asked whether he had obtained an Antidote, as the available treatments could only delay the toxin’s effects.

• Xu Huo left Clown City and returned to Ting City, where he defeated two Players who had been tailing him.
• Xu Huo read messages and news about worsening unrest, border battles, terrorist attacks, and conflicts across District 014.
• Xu Huo learned that Hu Wenhu had contracted Alien Toxin and that Lichun had been tricked away by Yu Qingqing.
• Team Leader Wu called Xu Huo and explained that Players had spread upgraded Alien Toxin through reservoirs and that transformed Players were attacking at the border.
• Team Leader Wu asked Xu Huo whether he had brought back any Antidote from a Dungeon.

Xu Huo gave the Special Defense Department King Fungus mycelium that might counter Alien poison, then went to rest while officials and experts gathered to study it. The chapter ended with Team Leader Song challenging Team Leader Wu over keeping the potential antidote secret.

• Xu Huo contacted Team Leader Wu and offered the King Fungus sample, then told Liu Jia he could treat Alien poison if she found Professor Han.
• Xu Huo tested the mycelium and found that it survived in Nutrient Agent but died in ordinary soil, so he packed the remaining samples for collection.
• Jiang Qiao and Sima Xiao Er collected the samples, and Sima Xiao Er stayed behind to help Xu Huo while he rested.
• Jiang Qiao flew to Capital City and briefed experts on the King Fungus as Minister Fan, Team Leader Song, Team Leader Wu, Team Leader Chang, and Team Leader Lu arrived at the research base.
• Team Leader Song accused Team Leader Wu of keeping the possible antidote secret, while Jiang Qiao defended Wu for securing the samples.

The Special Defense Department confirmed that the fungus Xu Huo brought back could destroy Alien toxins, prompting debate over how to deal with powerful players. After waking in the third day, Xu Huo received a call from Dai Wenqian, whom he warned against provoking him again.

• Team Leader Wu and Team Leader Song clashed over recruitment and the losses Team Leader Song's intelligence had caused.
• Jiang Qiao told Minister Fan that Xu Huo had returned with a fungus that could break down A-grade contaminants and S-grade toxins.
• Researchers confirmed that the fungus killed Alien toxins, and Minister Fan ordered them to test Potions for ways to cultivate it.
• Team Leader Lu urged the Special Defense Department to win players over rather than try to control them.
• Xu Huo woke to find Sima Xiao Er waiting outside, then received a call from Dai Wenqian and threatened to deal with him if he kept provoking him.