Recaps

Yan Jiayu and Xu Huo compared what they had learned about Gemstone City, its missing artisans, and the stolen King’s Gemstone. They suspected the city’s residents might be concealing the thief, while the artisans’ disappearance could be tied to the King and the gems.

• Yan Jiayu questioned Gemstone City residents and gained two D-rank Defense Artifacts when they gave her clothes and a hat.
• Duan Cheng followed Yan Jiayu, then left to meet Li Kun after she showed him the artifacts.
• Yan Jiayu learned that criminals who leave Gemstone City cannot return and triggered the side quest Mystery of the Disappearing Artisans.
• Yan Jiayu returned to the performance venue and compared her findings with Xu Huo’s, including conflicting accounts of why the artisans had left.
• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu connected the artisans’ disappearance to the King and the gems, and considered whether Gemstone City residents were covering for the thief who stole the King’s Gemstone.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu reasoned that a resident of Gemstone City likely stole the King’s gemstone and decided to search for clues in the castle. They prepared a street performance for that evening, hoping it would help them investigate the city.

• Xu Huo concluded that the thief was most likely a Gemstone City resident, while Yan Jiayu noted that bounty hunters had arrested a merchant from Moon City.
• Yan Jiayu suggested that earlier players might have stolen the gemstone, but Xu Huo argued that this would make the first mission impossible to complete.
• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu agreed that something was wrong inside Gemstone City and decided to look for clues in the King’s castle.
• Yan Jiayu told Xu Huo she had found three items, including an E-rank flower given to her by a child she had helped.
• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu prepared their acts and props for that night’s performance.

Xu Huo and his companions earned money performing in Gemstone City, and a guard invited Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu to perform at the Castle for Madam Liya. After the show, Yan Jiayu fought the Unlucky Egg when he ambushed her, and he teleported away as she pressed her attack.

• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu performed for a large crowd, while the audience paid admission and the children received toys.
• Duan Cheng and Li Kun said they had found work picking fruit for the King's Castle but still needed a way to deliver it into the city.
• A guard invited Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu to the Castle the next day at Madam Liya's request, but said their assistants could not accompany them.
• The Unlucky Egg ambushed Yan Jiayu outside the performance grounds, but an item trapped him and lifted both Players onto a seesaw.
• Yan Jiayu launched the Unlucky Egg into the air, coated his defensive barrier with Glue Liquid, and fought him with powerful close-range attacks.
• The Unlucky Egg used a teleportation item as Yan Jiayu charged toward him.

Xu Huo used a mirror to let the little bald boy see his deceased parents, then gave it to him and accepted his gemstones. The next morning, Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu arrived at the King's Castle for their performance and were surprised by the Queen's personal maid, Xiao Si.

• Xu Huo showed the little bald boy an illusion of his parents in a mirror, and the boy said goodbye to them and kissed the mirror.
• Xu Huo gave the mirror to the little bald boy, who thanked him and offered him gemstones in return.
• Xu Huo met Yan Jiayu the next morning, and they went to the King's Castle for their performance.
• A female butler escorted Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu to a lounge and introduced the Queen's personal maid, Xiao Si, whose presence startled them.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu toured the Castle with Xiao Si, who revealed that many sisters shared her name and that one of them had caught a thief. Xu Huo suspected the Castle was working against the Players as they considered whether the stolen jewel was special and why the King was withholding information.

• Xiao Si led Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu through the Castle despite the housekeeper’s instructions to stay near the Small Building.
• Xiao Si explained that the Queen loved the flowers and Mutated Plants in the Castle gardens as she showed them around.
• A guard told Xiao Si that another Xiao Si had caught a foreign thief who claimed she wanted to present the Queen with the world’s most beautiful main keep.
• Xiao Si said she had many sisters born in a multiple birth and left to check on the prisoner, while Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu continued their tour.
• Xu Huo suspected the Castle might be hindering the Players and questioned whether the King truly wanted the stolen jewel recovered.
• Yan Jiayu guessed that the King might be hiding the jewel and sending the Players on a false search.

Xu Huo searched the castle and discovered recent mining contracts suggesting the King had concealed an ongoing mine from Gemstone City’s citizens. He and Yan Jiayu were escorted back to the lounge after learning they would meet Madam Liya after lunch.

• Xu Huo used his mental power to inspect the King’s study and heard maids discuss new laws, the stolen treasure, and an execution planned for that evening.
• Xu Huo examined the Gemstone City Code and found that many of its latest rules appeared to record players’ attempts to test the castle.
• Xu Huo searched a neighboring room and found recent mining and ore-transport contracts, leading him to suspect the King was hiding a new source of gemstones.
• Maid Xiao Si found Xu Huo and escorted him back toward the side tower.
• Xu Huo reunited with Yan Jiayu and met another maid who looked exactly like Xiao Si; the maid told them Madam Liya would see them after lunch.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu secured permission to perform at a banquet for the Queen, with access to castle rooms and the chance to request a treasure if their act impressed her. Xu Huo went to warn Duan Cheng and Li Kun before the evening performance, finding them stuck in the Back Kitchen under guard.

• Yan Jiayu and Xu Huo discussed how to search the castle lawfully and considered turning to Moon City if their requests were denied.
• Madam Liya asked about their acts, and Xu Huo described his ability to move people instantly within a limited range.
• Madam Liya arranged a banquet performance, and Xiao Si told them the Queen had allowed them into castle rooms during the act and would grant one requested treasure for an exceptional performance.
• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu prepared for the banquet, and Xu Huo set out to warn Duan Cheng and Li Kun not to cause trouble.
• Xu Huo found Duan Cheng and Li Kun in the Back Kitchen, where guards had confined them and planned to send them away after one meal.

Xu Huo persuaded Li Kun and Duan Cheng to follow the Dungeon’s rules, clear it by reclaiming the most beautiful gem from Moon City, and cooperate before searching the Castle for props. After they left, Yan Jiayu arranged for her props to be hidden around the Castle with help from a Maid.

• Xu Huo told Li Kun and Duan Cheng that entering restricted Castle rooms could make them criminals and that a Player might control the Castle.
• Duan Cheng concluded that Players had to act legally to clear the Dungeon, and Xu Huo proposed traveling to Moon City as official emissaries to reclaim the gem.
• Xu Huo said only one of the four needed to steal the gem, while the others could clear the Dungeon and compensate that person; they agreed to cooperate.
• Xu Huo saw Li Kun and Duan Cheng off, then returned to Yan Jiayu, who said a Maid had hidden her props around the Castle.

At the Castle banquet, Yan Jiayu and Xu Huo dazzled the guests with a magical performance staged with their abilities and props. Xu Huo’s act continued with several girls floating through the hall as if they could fly.

• Yan Jiayu told Xu Huo she had placed a barter item and a B-class item in the Castle, hoping to exchange them for something useful.
• The King and Queen arrived at the banquet, and the King announced the festivities had begun.
• Madam Liya introduced performers from a faraway land, and Yan Jiayu used colorful bubbles to lift a young noblewoman and guide her before the royal couple.
• Xu Huo took over in a Mask and described a magical land while Yan Jiayu helped Mutated Plants grow and wither along the walls.
• Xu Huo rose into the air, filled the hall with mist using Yan Jiayu’s borrowed item, and lifted several girls into a floating dance.

Xu Huo used his space-travel trick to explore the Castle and found the Pen of the Codex, a powerful item suited to Gemstone City’s laws. When he tested the Queen’s bedroom restriction, Xiao Si split into two forms and attacked the wall where he was concealed, disturbing his Spiritual World.

• Xu Huo invited the King and Duke Mick through a prop door and used his abilities to take them from the ballroom to a lounge and other Castle rooms.
• Xu Huo found the C-class item Joyful Sleep in the King’s bedroom and the B-class Pen of the Codex in the Locker Room.
• Xu Huo placed the quill beside the Codex, then returned to the King, who asked to experience the mysterious land again.
• Xu Huo took the King and Duke Mick toward the Queen’s bedroom, where Xiao Si was guarding the entrance.
• Xiao Si peeled away a flat image of herself, formed a second body, and lunged at Xu Huo’s concealed position, sending ripples through his Spiritual World.

Xu Huo discovered the Queen’s workshop and learned that her puppets were special items, then used a spectacular illusion to impress the King and secure the promised reward. The Queen allowed Xu Huo to claim one treasure from the Castle.

• Red lanterns and a lively parade of magical figures appeared throughout the Castle, captivating Xiao Si, the King, and the Duke.
• Xu Huo searched the Queen’s bedroom and found a locked workshop filled with life-sized puppet items and gemstones used to make them.
• Xu Huo discovered that Xiao Si was the special item Return of Mother's Love, which could not be obtained unless the Queen abandoned her.
• Xu Huo returned with the King and Duke, then plucked at Xiao Si’s shoulder lace to inspect her item description before leaving the workshop.
• Yan Jiayu entertained the banquet guests while Xu Huo brought the King and Duke back to the hall, where the King enthusiastically described the spectacle to the Queen.
• The Queen thanked Xu Huo for making the King happy and allowed him to claim one treasure from the Castle.

Xu Huo won the King’s trust and secured a temporary position to retrieve Gemstone City’s most beautiful gemstone from Moon City, while Yan Jiayu received a jeweled veil and they left the Castle with books from the Queen. Outside, players tried to rob them, but Yan Jiayu summoned Xiao Si, whose appearance revealed the danger of provoking the Castle.

• Xu Huo asked the King for the pink Pen of the Codex, and the Queen gave him books while presenting Yan Jiayu with a jeweled veil.
• Xu Huo claimed the King was worried about the gemstone lent to Moon City and secured a temporary position to retrieve it.
• After the performance, Xu Huo secretly used the Pen of the Codex to write that temporary public officials could enter the Castle and rose garden.
• Xu Huo, Yan Jiayu, Duan Cheng, and Li Kun left the Castle with two carts of books as players gathered to rob them.
• Xu Huo let Yan Jiayu store the books, and she called for Xiao Si when the players threatened them.
• Xiao Si appeared atop the Enclosure Wall, reminding the players that someone had been hanged at the city gates that afternoon.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu planned to travel to Moon City to pursue the stolen gem, then secretly watched the missing craftsman’s neighborhood at night. They spotted a cloaked visitor entering an old woman’s house, and Yan Jiayu went to investigate.

• Xu Huo told Duan Cheng, Li Kun, and Yan Jiayu that the King’s guards knew the most about the stolen gem and that the King claimed they would recognize it at once.
• The group agreed to set out for Moon City the next day because they had found no reliable clues in Gemstone City.
• After resting, Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu secretly traveled to the missing craftsman’s street at night.
• They watched a cloaked person leave a house and enter an old woman’s home across the street.
• Xu Huo spread his Spiritual World over the house, while Yan Jiayu noticed something nearby and went to investigate.

Xu Huo listened in on Ai Li, Ai Shan, and Wan En as they discussed the artisans who had disappeared after witnessing the King trade with a doll-like man. He concluded that the King had exchanged the Queen’s doll props for players’ props, and suspected the King or Queen had long been connected to the game world.

• Xu Huo sent his vertical pupil into the room and overheard Wan En bring food to Ai Li and Ai Shan, who were hiding from the city’s guards.
• Ai Li said his father had witnessed the King dealing with a doll-like man and suspected that missing residents had been turned into dolls.
• Ai Li showed Wan En a black gemstone and a strange metal pipe, which he believed proved the King was trading people for powerful tools.
• Wan En and the brothers discussed how to warn Gemstone City’s residents, while Xu Huo pieced together the artisans’ disappearance and the exchange of props for dolls.
• Xu Huo reasoned that the Queen made the doll props and that at least one royal had been in long-term contact with the game world.

Xu Huo found the hidden refuge of the Gemstone City residents and took the Black Gemstone from Ai Li in exchange for offering to look for the brothers’ father inside the Castle. He learned that the Doll Man could apparently seize objects and people from a distance, then left Ai Li and Ai Shan to choose whether to cooperate or face the King.

• Xu Huo approached the hidden house and persuaded the old woman to let him in by claiming he had a lead on Ai Li’s father.
• Wan En and the residents surrounded Xu Huo, but he restrained them and entered the basement where Ai Li and Ai Shan were hiding.
• Xu Huo took the Black Gemstone from Ai Li and denied killing the brothers’ father.
• Ai Shan described the Doll Man’s ability to take things and grab people from a distance, prompting Xu Huo to consider whether he was a Space-type Super Evolver.
• Xu Huo offered to search for their father in the Castle and told the brothers to give him the gemstone or let him take them to the King.

Xu Huo learned how Ai Li had stolen a gemstone and considered the King’s and Queen’s roles in the Castle’s dealings with puppets. After Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu returned to the Castle, they asked the King to identify the Black Gemstone.

• Xu Huo had Excavator 114 dig three underground escape passages for Ai Li and Ai Shan after questioning them.
• Yan Jiayu told Xu Huo that Duan Cheng and Li Kun had searched empty homes for items, and Xu Huo planned to return to the Castle after reviewing their books.
• Duan Cheng and Li Kun proposed tallying their loot, but Xu Huo revealed that his quill was a B-class item, and Li Kun agreed they could settle compensation later.
• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu went to the Castle under the pretense of getting their temporary public-service document signed again.
• The King refused to issue a second document if the first was damaged, so Xu Huo sent him a Photo and asked whether it showed the gemstone he had lost.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu recovered the King’s missing Black Gemstone and learned how the Queen’s dolls became people, while Xu discovered buried bodies and hidden items in the Rose Garden. After the King identified the true gem, Xu asked for the executed thief Number 37’s belongings and left the Castle with Yan Jiayu.

• The King told Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu that the Queen’s dolls came to life after a Wooden Puppet gave him Black Gemstones, but that the Wooden Puppet later took dolls and killed people in Gemstone City.
• Xu Huo gave the King a Black Gemstone, but the King said it was not the missing one and prepared to send them away.
• Yan Jiayu offered the King several pieces of black ore, and he found the missing gem among them.
• Xu Huo used his Spiritual World to locate buried dolls and a box of items hidden in the Rose Garden.
• Xu Huo asked the King for the belongings of the executed thief Number 37, collected them, and left with Yan Jiayu, promising to explain outside.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu uncovered the truth behind the missing artisans, returned the stolen gemstones, and cleared the Gemstone City Dungeon with A ratings. As they left the city, they fought off Players who tried to kill them and steal their gains.

• Xu Huo told Yan Jiayu that the King had killed the missing artisans and buried their bodies beneath the rose trees, and they discussed the flaws in the King's story about the puppets and Black Gemstones.
• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu received A ratings after the game confirmed that they had cleared the Dungeon by solving the artisans' disappearance and returning the stolen gemstones.
• After the city announced a banquet and opened its gates, Xu Huo changed his appearance and told the old woman where the broken puppet had gone, leaving out that the residents had once been puppets.
• Duan Cheng, Li Kun, and three other Players attacked Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu, who drew them into a forest outside Gemstone City.
• Xu Huo killed the leading attacker with Space Sharp Blades, while Yan Jiayu and the Stone Lion killed another Player; Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu then intercepted the last Player as he tried to flee toward Duan Cheng and Li Kun.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu broke with Duan Cheng and Li Kun after accusing them of hiding their intentions, then split up to investigate the Dungeon. Xu Huo traveled toward Moon City with a caravan and learned about its currency and a mine, but the merchant pointed out that his map was wrong.

• Duan Cheng and Li Kun asked Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu for their temporary official document, but Yan Jiayu refused and suggested they pose as performers instead.
• Xu Huo confronted Duan Cheng and Li Kun about secretly taking items from the King's Castle, and the two sides agreed to pursue the Dungeon separately.
• Xu Huo suspected Duan Cheng and Li Kun were after more than the hidden items, so Yan Jiayu followed them toward Gemstone City while Xu Huo continued toward Moon City.
• Xu Huo helped a stranded caravan and two injured travelers, then traveled with the caravan along a shorter route to Moon City.
• A merchant explained that Moon City used Moonstones, Moon currency, and White Cash, then told Xu Huo that his map showed the river in the wrong direction.

Xu Huo investigated Moon City and learned that its people believed the Most Beautiful Gemstone had been stolen from them by Gemstone City. After the ninth King was murdered just seven days into his reign, Xu Huo was granted an audience with the young new King, who asked if Xu Huo had come to kill him.

• A merchant showed Xu Huo the location of a mine containing black or gray ore that might be useful for making props.
• Xu Huo arrived in Moon City and learned that the King planned to display the Most Beautiful Gemstone publicly the next day.
• Xu Huo presented his document at the King's Castle and overheard staff complain that Gemstone City's King had stolen the gemstone from Moon City.
• Xu Huo learned that the ninth King had been killed after only seven days on the throne and that the castle workers blamed Gemstone City for the theft.
• The guards escorted Xu Huo into the hall, where the young King asked him if he had come to kill him.

Xu Huo questioned Moon City's young King about the Most Beautiful Gemstone, and the King presented documents and letters claiming it had been returned to Gemstone City. The King recounted the gemstone's history and the rumors that led outsiders to demand it, leaving Xu Huo to consider why Moon City had faced violence despite returning a gemstone.

• Xu Huo examined Moon City's records and letters while the young King insisted the Most Beautiful Gemstone had been returned.
• The King explained that the third King had found a radiant white gemstone, but it was stolen before he died searching for it.
• The fourth King sealed away the white gemstones, and the fifth King later borrowed a similar gemstone from Gemstone City and returned it.
• Rumors spread in Moon City that Gemstone City's King had stolen the original gemstone, despite the fifth King's efforts to silence them.
• Outsiders later accused Moon City of keeping the borrowed gemstone, took the fifth King hostage, and eventually returned to slaughter people in the Castle.

Xu Huo questioned the people of Moon City about the missing gem and the history of Gemstone City, finding contradictions in the two kingdoms’ accounts. He agreed to inspect the third King’s belongings and promised to help protect Moon City by taking the white gem the next day.

• Xu Huo questioned the Duke about the third King’s search, the gem returned to Gemstone City, and the attendants who had traveled with the King.
• The Duke explained Moon City’s account of Gemstone City’s sudden appearance and a legend in which its founders had defeated a band of thieves who hoarded gems.
• Xu Huo questioned how many people accompanied the third King and how the letters and white gem were delivered, then concluded that the story of the search did not add up.
• Xu Huo asked to see the third King’s belongings and promised to take the white gem the next day.
• The King and the Duke welcomed Xu Huo’s offer, and the King ordered the third King’s belongings brought from the Warehouse.

Xu Huo learned about the third-generation king’s obsession with gemstones and received the fiancée’s plea to save her child, Moon City’s future king. When Players broke into the Castle for the most beautiful gemstone, Xu Huo recovered it and escaped Moon City despite others trying to stop him.

• Xu Huo questioned the elderly maids and Ms. Fina about the third-generation king, and Ms. Fina asked him to save her child if the current king died.
• The little king gave Xu Huo the hidden white gemstone as more Players searched the Castle for the most beautiful gemstone.
• Two Players burst into the Study Room and tried to steal the gemstone, but Xu Huo took it back, killed one Player, and captured the other.
• Xu Huo told the little king that the Players would keep targeting Moon City while their quest remained active, then arranged to leave through the Castle gate.
• Players sealed off the Castle area to prevent Xu Huo from escaping, so he flew through a skylight and used “Go to Destination” to reach the area outside Moon City.

Xu Huo searched Gemstone City for the white gem and questioned the Queen about the third King of Moon City. The Queen described the man as handsome and pure-hearted, and Xu Huo asked whether she had stolen his gem.

• Players tried to rob Xu Huo of the white gem, but Gemstone City's defenses barred them from reentering after they attacked its envoy.
• Xu Huo searched the rose garden with his robots but found only doll limbs, and Maid Xiao Si said only the King and Queen had seen the most beautiful gem.
• Xu Huo went to the Queen's workshop, where Xiao Si pinned him to the wall before the Queen stopped her.
• Xu Huo showed the Queen a portrait of Moon City's third King, and she described his beauty and clear heart.
• Xu Huo asked the Queen whether she had stolen the man's gem.

Xu Huo learned more about the Black Gemstone and the Queen’s missing gemstone, then traveled to the mine. There, Yan Jiayu revealed that Duan Cheng and Li Kun had entered and that a possibly modified human was inside.

• The Queen told Xu Huo that the most beautiful gemstone had disappeared after a living-looking doll visited, and Xiao Si explained how the Black Gemstone gave the dolls their unusual agility.
• Xiao Si said the doll-maker prized the Black Gemstone, knew the location of its mine, and had threatened the King and Queen over any loss of it.
• Xu Huo questioned Xiao Si about King Chris and the Queen, then left Gemstone City to investigate the mine.
• Xu Huo reached the mine at midnight and found Yan Jiayu hiding near its guarded entrance.
• Yan Jiayu told Xu Huo that Duan Cheng and Li Kun had entered the mine through an opening the dolls had deliberately left, and that someone inside looked like a doll but might be a modified human.