Chapter Summaries

Qi Cong told Xu Huo that Yan Jiayu had been unreachable for nearly three months and might be trapped in a Random Instance in a remote forest. Xu Huo investigated the dungeon’s possible location, then confronted the Yongta and Yuejiao Players who were provoking Yu Kingdom at Lian Qingkong’s mourning hall.

• Qi Cong explained that his tracking item had led him to believe Yan Jiayu was trapped in a Random Instance near Yu Kingdom.
• Xu Huo concluded that Yan Jiayu might be cut off from her Personal Panel and examined Qi Cong’s map of the remote forest.
• Xu Huo returned to the capital and reviewed government records showing unusual Mutant Animal activity in the forest.
• Xu Huo asked for information about Yu Kingdom’s battle dolls but was denied access, so he went to find Ji Qingcheng.
• Xu Huo forced the Yongta and Yuejiao Players to kneel at Lian Qingkong’s mourning hall and asked whether they were satisfied.

Xu Huo investigated the combat puppets and considered whether they were connected to Yan Jiayu’s disappearance and Suitcase Man’s Dungeon. While seeking ways to enter and escape the forest, he asked Gao Ming to examine the space Rubik’s Cube inside his body, and Gao Ming proposed cutting away part of his heart to stop its invasion.

• The Yongta and Moonhorn players left the mourning hall after threatening Ji Qingcheng, and Ji Qingcheng shared Yu Kingdom’s puppet records with Xu Huo.
• Xu Huo learned that combat puppets had abducted players and used their skin, and he suspected they might choose targets based on items, instruments, or evolutionary powers.
• Xu Huo reviewed reports about Suitcase Man and considered that the primeval forest might be the Super Player’s Dungeon, making escape difficult.
• Xu Huo searched for teleportation instruments and contacted Platinum Eye and District 014 to investigate Suitcase Man’s whereabouts and Dungeon.
• Xu Huo visited Gao Ming for an examination, and Gao Ming suggested cutting away part of his heart to keep the space Rubik’s Cube from invading it.

Xu Huo considered the risks of removing the higher-dimensional Space Power from the water Rubik’s Cube and decided to proceed. He reviewed his Dungeon rewards and tested his upgraded Ability, which revealed safe exits from the Wooden Cabin and village.

• Gao Ming warned Xu Huo that operating on the water Rubik’s Cube could damage his heart and that the wisp inside might be a higher-dimensional form of Space Power.
• Xu Huo recalled how Space Power in the Night Tour instance forbidden zone had disrupted his Time Power and concluded that instruments could control higher-dimensional Space Power.
• Xu Huo decided to proceed with the operation but first examined his rewards, including three A-class items, the A-class instrument Waterlogged Kelp, and the upgraded Ability 100% Exit From the Role.
• Xu Huo tested 100% Exit From the Role and saw arrows pointing toward safe exits from the Wooden Cabin and village.

Xu Huo tested his new Abilities and sorted through his rewards before heading to the primeval forest near Yu Kingdom to investigate whether it contained a Dungeon. He summoned Little Pink Hat to help test the space, and she agreed to consider the idea of sending an Awakening Doll inside.

• Xu Huo tested One Hundred Percent Out of Character, Protagonist's Halo 2.0, and Film Set, then examined his rewards and upgraded The Never-Dying Passerby to The Never-Dying Passerby 2.0.
• Xu Huo declined Gao Ming's offer of surgery, accepted his logbook of spatial surgery notes, and left to investigate the forest near Yu Kingdom.
• Dai He reported that players had found no disappearances, unusual instrument readings, or spatial entrance in the forest.
• Xu Huo summoned Little Pink Hat and offered her snacks, toys, and item clothing in exchange for her help.
• Little Pink Hat suggested the forest might be an unincorporated Sub-district, but warned that a Super Player's Dungeon could be dangerous.
• Xu Huo proposed sending an Awakening Doll into the forest to test whether it could enter safely.

Xu Huo prepared to enter the space where Yan Jiayu might be trapped, bringing Qi Cong and the painted woman along while the Yu Kingdom players searched for an entrance. Before they could proceed, a group from Yongta Kingdom arrived and confronted them.

• Xu Huo reviewed reports about Suitcase Man and asked Bai Kou to seek information from a Game Government Base, while Qi Cong confirmed Yan Jiayu had remained in District 039.
• Xu Huo insisted Qi Cong enter the space with him because Qi Cong could locate Yan Jiayu, and Qi Cong agreed after asking Xu Huo to protect him.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman prepared supplies, instruments, and combat robots in case the space was cut off from the game.
• Dai He warned Xu Huo that people from Yongta Kingdom were approaching, and the group faced the newcomers as their leader asked whether they were searching for battle dolls.

Xu Huo and Qi Cong were transported into a strange, brightly colored city where mascot costumes attacked newcomers as food. Disguised in drapes, they passed as locals and continued searching for the others.

• A battle puppet appeared as Xu Huo questioned the group, and a surge of Space Power transported Xu Huo, Qi Cong, and the others to a bustling city.
• The costumed residents turned their attention to the newcomers, revealing an appetite for them, so Xu Huo grabbed Qi Cong and fled through the street.
• Xu Huo used "Seaweed Soaked in Water" to hold off the attacking mascots and discovered that the costumes were empty items that felt no pain.
• Xu Huo dressed himself and Qi Cong in decorative drapes, and the mascots treated Qi Cong as one of their own.
• A decorative rabbit announced, "Welcome to Suitcase Man's Happy Circus City!"

Xu Huo and the others explored the circus city after being trapped in a space that might be Suitcase Man’s Super Dungeon. They sought a way out and tried to locate Yan Jiayu, but a fight involving the Yongta group drew their attention as the toy people turned hostile again.

• Dai He brought five Yu Kingdom government players to meet Xu Huo, and the group cautiously moved through the circus city while avoiding the toy people.
• A frog doll offered the group money and led them to a warehouse full of costumes; Xu Huo warned everyone not to wear them because they might be items.
• Xu Huo concluded they should find the battle doll that brought them in or seek Yan Jiayu, then marked balloons with sunflowers for her to recognize.
• The group returned to the street with the balloons, where children asked to buy them and a fight broke out nearby between the Yongta players.
• As Xu Huo and the others headed toward the fight, toy people surrounded them, and several rushed at them with glowing green eyes.

Xu Huo and the others struggled to understand the rules governing the puppet people and combat puppets in Circus City, while the Yongta Kingdom group set off toward the northern Castles. Both groups were soon attacked again, and Xu Huo suspected that most of the city’s puppet people were Players.

• Puppet people swarmed Qi Cong, and a masked combat puppet attacked with Micro Bombs before leaving.
• Xu Huo watched people replace destroyed puppet people and take over their roles, then the group returned to the street.
• Xu Huo and the Yongta Kingdom leader concluded that puppet costumes did not prevent recognition and that combat puppets might be drawn out by attacks on the Dungeon.
• The Yongta group headed toward the northern Castles while Xu Huo searched the city for Yan Jiayu.
• Both groups faced renewed attacks, and Xu Huo suspected that most of the puppet people were Players.

Xu Huo split up from Dai He and the others to find the battle puppets while they released balloons to signal Yan Jiayu. At the supply warehouse, the painted woman attacked one battle puppet and distracted it, allowing Xu Huo to interfere with the other.

• Xu Huo and the others found that puppets could only follow scripted roles and were stopped when they crossed the boundaries of their assigned areas.
• Xu Huo told Dai He and the others to release balloons from a warehouse and wear sunflower accessories to signal Yan Jiayu, while he went to search for battle puppets.
• Xu Huo and the painted woman reached a warehouse where battle puppets repaired discarded costumes and machinery.
• The painted woman breached a battle puppet's defenses, damaged its sensors, tore up costumes, and lured it out of the warehouse.
• Xu Huo ensnared the remaining battle puppet with black Manifestations of Mental Power while interference made it turn its head repeatedly.

Xu Huo and the painted woman tested how Circus City’s puppets responded to destruction, then discovered that attacking a disguised shop owner triggered a frenzied assault by the city’s puppet people. After Xu Huo killed the owner, the crowd returned to normal, leaving the wounded puppet’s intentions unclear.

• Xu Huo and the painted woman dismantled puppets and fought off ordinary enforcers, but their search revealed no way out.
• Xu Huo damaged a dessert tower to summon real battle puppets, then tested one by removing a wire; it self-destructed, as did another fighting the painted woman.
• A wounded puppet pointed Xu Huo toward a fake ice cream shop, where he found that its owner remained mobile after being cut open.
• The owner escaped screaming, triggering the surrounding puppet people to attack Xu Huo and the painted woman in a coordinated frenzy.
• Xu Huo cut the owner in half, stopping the screams and returning the puppet people to cheerful normality.
• The painted woman wondered whether the wounded puppet had tried to warn them or lead them into danger.

Xu Huo and the painted woman fought the combat puppets near the Suitcase Man’s Castle, then split up to investigate the Yongta Kingdom Players and protect their allies. Xu Huo found the Yongta group under attack, and Mental Portals appeared as one of them was captured.

• Xu Huo and the painted woman fought the combat puppets, discovering that the puppets grew stronger closer to the Suitcase Man’s Castle and could overwhelm Players with coordinated instruments.
• Xu Huo escaped the puppets’ encirclement with the painted woman and used a Mental Portal to move them several thousand meters away.
• Xu Huo sent the painted woman to find Qi Cong, Dai He, and the others, then tracked the Yongta Kingdom Players near the Castle.
• The Yongta group was discovered by combat puppets and toys, and the middle-aged man and his companions fought their way out of a closing containment trap.
• A sonic attack slowed the fleeing Yongta Players, and spider locks immobilized one of them as combat puppets swarmed in.
• Several Mental Portals appeared in front of the Yongta Players.

Xu Huo rescued a Yongta Kingdom Player from a self-destructing Spider Lock, then joined Zhu Bu and his companions to investigate how to escape the dungeon. With the Castle as their best lead, Xu Huo agreed to approach it despite the danger.

• Xu Huo contained the Spider Lock's explosion while the other Players escaped the battle dolls' attack.
• Zhu Bu caught up with Xu Huo, introduced himself, and offered him food as they discussed their situation.
• Zhu Bu explained that the battle dolls returned to the forest and that the dungeon entrance might be fixed near there.
• Xu Huo described how toy people and battle dolls responded to intruders and warned that threats grew stronger near the Castle.
• Zhu Bu argued that reaching the Castle might reveal a way out, and Xu Huo agreed to approach it while avoiding battle dolls.

Xu Huo and his companions discovered that Circus City became far more dangerous after nightfall, when its dolls and mutant animals appeared and forced visitors to watch their performances. After a rabbit spotted them as living people, Xu Huo split the group up and fled into a game tent, where dolls immediately attacked him.

• Xu Huo agreed to stay in contact with Zhu Bu but chose to act alongside the Yu Kingdom players, while suspecting Zhu Bu had another motive for visiting Suitcase Man’s Castle.
• Xu Huo returned to Qi Cong and Dai He, who told him they had been injured while stealing balloons and had found human bones hidden in a room.
• The city lights came on, and dolls and mutant animals emerged across Circus City to perform as night mode began.
• Dolls forced Qi Cong toward a mutant bear’s show, and Xu Huo rescued him after the bear attacked and devoured two dolls.
• A red-eyed rabbit spotted Xu Huo and his companions as living people, so Xu Huo scattered the dolls and ordered the others to run separately.
• Xu Huo entered a game tent to escape but was attacked by roly-poly toys and dolls with rapidly growing hair and dresses.

Xu Huo and Qi Cong endured a series of deadly circus attractions in Circus City and escaped each one. After Qi Cong’s defensive equipment was destroyed, Xu Huo lent him replacements and told him to hide until dawn if they were separated.

• The wide-mouthed doll dragged Xu Huo and Qi Cong into a huge performance arena, where Xu Huo cut through its palm and escaped with Qi Cong.
• A giant magician tried to sweep them into his coat, but Xu Huo used Mental Portal to get away.
• Xu Huo and Qi Cong watched mutated lizards start a fire and battle puppets throw doll people into the flames to extinguish it.
• After teleporting away, Xu Huo and Qi Cong fell into an oil-slicked slide filled with blades and escaped after Xu Huo stopped their descent.
• Qi Cong said his defensive equipment was broken, so Xu Huo gave him replacements and told him to find a hiding place if they got separated.

Xu Huo and Qi Cong struggled to survive the circus city’s relentless nighttime attractions, escaping traps and an invisible attacker while finding that the parade offered a rare safe passage. The chapter ended with a kangaroo doll giving Xu Huo sunflower seeds.

• Mutated snakes carried Xu Huo and Qi Cong toward an acrobatic tent, but Xu Huo escaped with Qi Cong through the Mental Portal and treated his snakebite with an Antidote.
• Xu Huo hung Balloons marked with a sunflower and zero on Qi Cong, and they fled across rooftops, through a Mirror Space, and away from an invisible attacker clinging to Xu Huo’s back.
• Xu Huo and Qi Cong escaped the attacker by setting him on fire, then discovered that the city’s nighttime mode kept them circling when they tried to move away from the Castle.
• Fireworks announced a carnival parade, and Xu Huo and Qi Cong walked with it without being attacked.
• A kangaroo doll approached Xu Huo, circled him, and dropped sunflower seeds into his palm.

Xu Huo followed the carnival procession through Circus City, hoping to use it to find Jia Yu and reunite with his companions. When the performers turned hostile and a powerful singer began hunting him, he tried to escape the barrier but was struck by a sudden attacker.

• Xu Huo joined the carnival procession, marked a kangaroo doll with fluorescent powder, and released marked balloons to help the painted woman and Dai He find him.
• The painted woman, Zhu Bu, and his companions caught up with Xu Huo, and Dai He later followed them from a distance.
• After the procession entered a circus venue, the painted woman went inside and emerged pursued by performing Mutant Animals, triggering a citywide hunt.
• The singer attacked Xu Huo with spatial cutting lines and sealed the streets inside a triangular barrier.
• Xu Huo raced toward the barrier and thrust his black blade at it, but a shadow struck him and sent him crashing into a transit station.

Xu Huo reunited with Yan Jiayu in the carnival city, where she explained how mascot costumes trapped Players and shared what she had learned about the Suitcase Man’s operation. They planned to investigate the Castle, where the Suitcase Man might be, while the fate of Yan Jiayu’s stone Lion Big Mao remained unknown.

• Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu hid in a pile of dolls until the Singer left, then reunited and discussed how wearing a mascot costume could trap someone and slowly fuse with them.
• Yan Jiayu told Xu Huo that she had gathered a few companions around the carnival city and believed she could escape her costume with Potions, while Xu Huo planned to try reaching the Castle.
• Yan Jiayu warned Xu Huo that a powerful mini-boss guarded the Castle and said her stone Lion Big Mao had entered but never returned.
• Yan Jiayu explained that combat dolls abducted Players and that captured Players might be turned into costumed figures in the Suitcase Man’s mechanical workshop.
• Yan Jiayu described how costumed figures gained wider territories as they upgraded and suggested the Suitcase Man might be trying to create dolls that were like real people.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu discussed how to escape the Suitcase Man’s Super Dungeon, concluding that its exits were likely tied to a Super Artifact hidden in the Castle. After Yan Jiayu left to meet the other Players at dawn, Xu Huo studied the Dungeon’s threats and followed a squad of battle dolls carrying celebration supplies.

• Yan Jiayu agreed with Xu Huo that the Castle was the likeliest place to find the Dungeon’s entrances and exits, and said she had entered the Dungeon voluntarily.
• Yan Jiayu explained that the Suitcase Man had not been seen since arriving in District 039 and arranged to meet Xu Huo by the puppet wall after the dawn bell.
• Xu Huo left the transfer station and classified the Dungeon’s Artifacts by how they moved and thought, recognizing that the carnival performers were especially dangerous.
• Xu Huo considered the limits of his abilities against the intelligent Living Props and concluded that power beyond an A-class wormhole point could oppose the Super Player and Super Dungeon.
• Xu Huo saw battle dolls fly out of the city center with boxes marked “Celebration Supplies” and followed them.

Xu Huo discovered that Circus City was using damaged puppets and preserved corpses in the Suitcase Man’s experiments, then joined the others at a towering wall of fused puppets surrounding the Castle. The group noticed five puppets displayed separately on the wall, whose significance remained unknown.

• Xu Huo escaped a Living Prop’s ribbon attack by detonating a spatial bomb and using his Mental Portal to reach a mechanical workshop.
• Xu Huo found boxes of damaged puppets, human skin, crystalline metal bones, and preserved corpses with metal skeletons, and recorded the Player numbers on the bodies.
• After the morning bell ended nighttime mode, Xu Huo found Dai He and the others and brought them to the agreed-upon location.
• Xu Huo and the group saw a two-hundred-meter wall of fused puppets encircling the Castle.
• Qi Cong asked about five puppets displayed separately on the wall, and Zhu Bu speculated that they might be an enemy’s family.

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu joined forces with their companions to plan an assault on the Suitcase Man’s castle, where they hoped to find the circus’s entrance and exit. They chose to use four groups as bait and send the others toward the castle, knowing this was their only chance.

• Yan Jiayu arrived with her companions, and she led Xu Huo’s group to a section of the doll wall where they could attempt to climb over.
• Yan Jiayu explained that a poisonous ice-needle skeleton monster guarded the wall and showed the group a cargo receipt that hinted at multiple Living Props inside the castle.
• The group concluded they could not safely enter from above or force their way through, so Dai He proposed drawing the Living Props’ attention while others approached the castle.
• Xu Huo rejected the painted woman’s offer to act as bait and arranged to use his two-thousand-meter ability with Yan Jiayu and Jiji Bird.
• Dai He volunteered to take part and asked Xu Huo to inform the Chief Executive about the Super Dungeon if he failed to return.
• The group assigned positions for four bait teams and four teams rushing toward the castle, then prepared to act simultaneously.