Chapter Summaries

After Xu Huo accepted Gao Xiaoyan’s promised items, he spoke with Ren Man about the limits of good intentions and the need for strength to change W37. Back in the Station, Xu Huo reviewed his Dungeon-clearance rewards and considered how to use them.

• Gao Xiaoyan gave Xu Huo the City Sandbox and two B-class items, and he pulled Ren Man into his Spiritual World.
• Ren Man admitted he wanted to keep his promise and save the infected children, while Xu Huo told him that strength determined whether people would listen and warned that W37’s crisis could return.
• Xu Huo withdrew from Ren Man’s Spiritual World, collected the items, and returned to the C-class Station.
• Xu Huo examined Holder’s Death, Realistic Wax Figure, and his expanded Storage Compartment, then decided to postpone upgrading a major Ability.
• Xu Huo checked his individual rewards, which included items, an Ability, an aircraft, a tool robot, cash, Potions, and Tickets.

Xu Huo reviewed the rewards from his recent trip, including new items, an Ability, and an upgrade, then learned that the Game Government had invited him to interview for a clerk position at the E27 Wormhole Point General Government Office. The notice meant he could potentially become a Gray Player without paying a price, provided he passed the interview.

• Xu Huo examined his rewards, including the B-class item Addicted to Stealing and the A-class spatial defense item Inviolable Territory.
• Xu Huo received the main Ability Narrator's Charm and upgraded Truth Transcends All, doubling its duration to six seconds for the next twenty-four hours.
• Xu Huo upgraded Standardized Weightlessness to Forced Float and reviewed his other rewards, including a Sub-class Stone.
• Xu Huo received an interview notice for the E27 Wormhole Point General Government Office clerk position and learned that passing could make him a Gray Player without an exchange.

Xu Huo reviewed the items he had acquired, including Urban Diorama, and rested at the Station while recovering from his injuries. A severely wounded female Player arrived, accepted an A-class Antidote from a refined-looking man, and thanked him after it partially eased her poisoning.

• Xu Huo assessed Urban Diorama, Gao Xiaoyan's B-class items, and the loot he had taken from other players, keeping useful items and discarding worthless ones.
• Xu Huo drank Self-Healing Agents, coughed up blood, and ignored a stubble man who tried to approach him at the Station.
• A badly injured female Player entered, raised a barrier with a Long Metal Block, and asked Xu Huo to move; he refused.
• A refined-looking man offered the female Player an A-class Antidote, which she checked and drank, partially reducing the purple lines on her face.
• The female Player thanked the refined-looking man and started a conversation with him.

Xu Huo intervened when players attacked Liang Yi aboard the Dimensional Train bound for the E20 wormhole. He killed the attackers, including the stubble man, and dismissed them as four penniless fools.

• At the Station, Ye Kaihua defended Liang Yi, and he and the stubble man clashed before stopping under Xu Huo’s pressure.
• Xu Huo, Ye Kaihua, Liang Yi, and the stubble man boarded the train bound for the E20 wormhole and claimed separate rooms.
• Three players attacked Liang Yi, stole her Artifact, shattered her defenses, and severed her right hand while Ye Kaihua hesitated.
• Liang Yi escaped to Xu Huo’s doorway, and he emerged to repel the attackers and kill two of them.
• Xu Huo destroyed the bare-armed man’s robots and metal box, then killed the middle-aged man and the stubble man before calling them four penniless fools.

Xu Huo and the other players learned that the train would cross a three-day Daytime Zone, which was expected to keep it safe from Alien attacks. He spoke with a woman from Zone 002 about its beauty pageants and planned to see the upcoming events.

• Xu Huo rested, then ordered a meal before lights-out while the other players kept their distance after he killed four thugs.
• The train announced it would pass through a Daytime Zone with no night for the next three days, and Ye Kaihua said the train should be safe from Alien attacks.
• The players discussed their destinations, and a woman told Xu Huo that she and her brother were returning to Zone 002.
• The woman described Zone 002's transparent plants and animals, its Snow Palace, and the beauty pageants held there.
• Xu Huo asked when the pageants would take place, and the woman said the results were due in about ten days.

Xu Huo and the Players struggled to stay alert as the Daytime Zone’s blinding light and constant harassment made the train unbearable. After they organized shifts and reinforced the carriage doors, a red beam broke through the defenses the next morning, setting off a violent attack.

• A female Player named Dong Yu explained Zone 002’s beauty contests and its strict rules for entering the Snow Palace.
• The train entered the bright Daytime Zone, and the Players bought protective glasses and eyesight Potions before agreeing to take turns resting.
• Dong Ting and the figurine Player reinforced the carriage doors, but Players repeatedly harassed the group and kept them from resting.
• At seven the next morning, a red beam pierced the rear door and the defenses, allowing attackers to enter and bite Ye Kaihua.
• A female Player with a red Long Sword pursued the attackers, cut through the nearby lounges, and was confronted by Dong Yu and Dong Ting.

Xu Huo escaped the train’s brawl by paying for a VIP lounge, where he read about Zone 002’s obsession with translucent beauty. He settled in for a quiet journey while the fighting outside briefly subsided.

• Players across the train fought one another, and Xu Huo moved to the Transfer Carriage while Liang Yi noted how crazed they seemed.
• Xu Huo booked a VIP lounge for three hundred thousand White Cash and asked to try local specialties from the E20 wormhole.
• Players argued over the cost of the lounge, and their complaints briefly brought the fighting to a halt.
• Xu Huo explored the lounge and read that Zone 002 prized whiteness and transparency as standards of beauty.
• Xu Huo viewed photos of the latest beauty-contest finalists, including a white-haired girl with purple eyes and a veil.

Xu Huo studied news and game information aboard the train, then helped Yan Jiayu search for a Dungeon site in a vast Sub-district with conflicting maps. After resting and recovering, he learned that Liang Yi was also heading to Zone 002.

• Xu Huo read about the Field family’s agreement with Stellar Pharmaceutical Group and rumors surrounding the District 014 Super Artifact.
• Xu Huo recognized Abbot’s request for help as Yan Jiayu and exchanged their private code with her.
• Xu Huo analyzed Yan Jiayu’s maps, suggested the Dungeon site might seem to move because directions or space were distorted, and sent her a positioning item.
• Yan Jiayu thanked Xu Huo and said she would share good news after clearing the Dungeon; Xu Huo bought supplies and a psychological therapist’s certificate, then rested.
• Xu Huo woke with his chest pain gone and met Liang Yi, who said she was also going to Zone 002.

Xu Huo arrived in Zone 002, the perpetually dark Only Night City, and learned how its residents lived with scarce electricity and widespread crime. After rescuing a kidnapped girl, he interrogated one of her abductors about who they worked for.

• Liang Yi warned Xu Huo not to trust Dong Yu and told him that Players in Zone 002 abducted outsiders.
• Xu Huo arrived in Zone 002 and experienced its near-total darkness and strict limits on electricity.
• Xu Huo tried to rent a room, but the owner threw him out after Xu Huo asked about the people following him.
• Xu Huo evaded his two pursuers and went to a kidnapping in progress, where he freed a little girl and captured the kidnappers.
• Xu Huo killed one kidnapper and threatened the other with a String until he agreed to talk.

Xu Huo questioned a kidnapper and learned where to find Brother Rong’s convoy, which he planned to take to travel onward. At the casino, another Player attacked the convoy and Brother Rong’s men, while Xu Huo confronted Brother Rong as he fled.

• Xu Huo learned that Brother Rong’s convoy was the only local transport capable of reaching Snow City, and Kidnapper Number Two gave him its location and route.
• The girl told Xu Huo that Brother Rong had taken her sister Liao Lian and asked him to pass along a message if he found her; Xu Huo invited the girl to come with him.
• Xu Huo and the girl reached the casino, where the convoy was loading cargo that included people in cages.
• A Player with a red sword attacked the cargo guards and casino, killing two Players and sweeping up the workers.
• Brother Rong fled the casino with several Players and ordered them to capture the red-sworded woman; Xu Huo confronted him, and Brother Rong ordered a Player to attack Xu Huo.

Xu Huo and Chi Minghong escaped from a casino in a stolen electric truck, taking a little girl with them as Government Hall Players gave chase. Chi Minghong fought the pursuers while Xu Huo drove, and the chase continued as they headed toward Xiaoyang City.

• Xu Huo killed Brother Rong, took his snowball item, and joined Chi Minghong as she fled the casino in an electric truck.
• Xu Huo picked up the raincoat-clad little girl, and the group set off toward Xiaoyang City to catch a direct train to Snow City.
• Xu Huo and Chi Minghong discussed life in Zone 002 as more Players, including Government Hall pursuers, followed them.
• Chi Minghong left Xu Huo to drive while she fought the pursuers and reattached a cargo container knocked from the truck.
• A White-Haired Player told his companion to stop the truck as Chi Minghong defended her actions in Hua Yu City.

Xu Huo and Chi Minghong escaped government Players pursuing them through the darkness, then continued toward Xiaoyang City with Lu Qing. Lu Qing explained that people in Zone 002 paid a costly Sunshine Tax to experience artificial sunlight, and Xu Huo doubted they were receiving real sunlight.

• Xu Huo used his items to fend off the pursuing Players and forced the White-Haired Player's group to retreat.
• Chi Minghong explained that the road from Hua Yu City to Xiaoyang City had no forks, though Random Instances could appear along it.
• Chi Minghong asked Lu Qing about her life, and Lu Qing said she had grown up in a welfare institution and had relied on Liao Lian after leaving it.
• Lu Qing said she hoped to save enough money to pay the Sunshine Tax and experience sunlight, which cost at least thirty thousand White Cash each month.
• Xu Huo said Zone 002 had no sun and suggested the taxed light came from minerals or machinery rather than real sunlight.

Xu Huo and Chi Minghong detoured around an expanding Random Instance Entrance, then rescued five children from a cage and gave them money and tickets. The children left with a chance to seek safety on their own.

• Chi Minghong dismissed the claim that the Outer District’s supposed sun was real, while Xu Huo and Lu Qing listened to the radio reports.
• Xu Huo learned that a Random Instance Entrance was blocking their route, so Chi Minghong turned onto Highway L1327 and later had to turn back when the road was blocked.
• Chi Minghong rammed a car that blocked their turn and threatened its driver after he insulted her.
• An Outer District Player warned Xu Huo that their cargo might attract thieves as cars followed them on the road.
• Chi Minghong freed five children from a cage, asked where they could go, and heard Lu Qing explain the dangers they faced in the cities.
• Chi Minghong gave each child White Cash and a non-Player Ticket, then sent them on their way.

Chi Minghong helped five children escape to her hometown before she, Xu Huo, and Lu Qing reached Xiaoyang City in Zone 002. Lu Qing set out to find her sister, while Xu Huo headed for the Sun Pavilion to see the sun.

• Chi Minghong gave five children tickets, clothes, and money to help them escape, while Lu Qing declined a ticket because she planned to find her sister.
• Chi Minghong killed two men who attacked their car, and the group continued toward Xiaoyang City as dawn arrived in Zone 002.
• Chi Minghong discarded the cargo container before passing the checkpoint, then drove into the brightly lit city and checked the train schedule for Snow City.
• Lu Qing told Xu Huo how to reach the Sun Pavilion, then left to find her sister while Xu Huo headed to the pavilion.
• Xu Huo observed Xiaoyang City's colorless plants, food, and bustling street businesses, then was approached by a woman soliciting customers.

Xu Huo discovered that Zone 002’s Sun Pavilion opened a spatial passage to real sunlight and suspected the service concealed a larger connection to the Game Government. As he investigated, a group of young visitors from Snow City decided to sneak into Xiaoyang City’s market, encouraged by Brother Xuan’s mysterious item.

• Xu Huo paid for a thirty-second Sun Pavilion session and sensed that its device opened a spatial passage to another sub-district.
• A staff member told Xu Huo that an Outer District Player had climbed into the sunlight passage six months earlier and vanished, leaving only blood behind.
• Xu Huo bought a Communicator, researched the sunlight tax, and concluded that Zone 002’s passage technology suggested unusual ties to the Game Government.
• Brother Xuan persuaded three young companions to visit Xiaoyang City’s market despite their parents’ warnings, saying he had brought an item that would keep them safe.
• The young group set off for the market and bumped into a woman carrying a child before going to retrieve their vehicle.

Xu Huo intervened in the black market, recovering a stolen item and freeing a child from a cage, while a group of sheltered young Players stumbled into a trap. The young people were cornered in the dark after their equipment failed, and the sellers prepared to abduct and sell them.

• Xu Huo forced a woman to return a stolen item, then traveled to the black market.
• Xu Huo bought a caged boy from a seller and opened the cage, but the child fled as soon as he was free.
• The braided girl and her companions encountered a seller who claimed they had killed his flower, then followed Brother Xuan to a bloody show.
• The young people ran from the venue and found themselves surrounded as the streetlights went out and their equipment failed.
• The seller who had confronted the braided girl revealed that the group planned to drug and sell them to a city on the fringes.

Xu Huo rescued Brother Xuan and his companions from a group of attackers, then killed a child trader and set fire to the street after Young Master Xuan asked him to kill everyone there. As the street’s traffickers fled and captives freed themselves, the crowd chanted “Fire of Freedom.”

• The boss’s group restrained Brother Xuan and his companions, but Xu Huo appeared and killed the attackers.
• Xu Huo freed the young group and returned Brother Xuan’s item, but Brother Xuan stormed away after arguing with his late-arriving guards.
• Young Master Xuan ordered Brother Lei and the others to kill everyone on the street, then asked Xu Huo to do it when Brother Lei refused.
• Xu Huo killed the shopkeeper who had sold children and answered Young Master Xuan, “Sure.”
• Xu Huo set fires across the street and fought off Players as traffickers fled and captives began freeing themselves.
• The freed people and others on the street chanted “Fire of Freedom.”

Xu Huo killed the men who had attacked Dong Jingxuan, then left Xiaoyang City with him and a rescued boy before the local authorities could intervene. On the train to Snow City, Dong Jingxuan explained that the one-character-named Dong siblings Xu Huo had met were his cousins.

• Dong Jingxuan claimed responsibility for Xu Huo's killings and secured his release from the Xiaoyang City players.
• Xu Huo freed the boy from his cage and took him along as Dong Jingxuan and Brother Lei left for the hotel.
• Brother Lei urged Dong Jingxuan to leave Xiaoyang City immediately, and they took a train to avoid being stopped by the local government.
• Xu Huo contacted Chi Minghong, and the boy changed into a costume dress before joining them on the train.
• Dong Jingxuan identified the one-character-named Dong siblings Xu Huo had met as his cousins.

Xu Huo took payment from Dong Jingxuan for sparing his life, then boarded the train to Snow City as tensions among passengers erupted into deadly violence. The fighting spread through the carriages, and Brother Lei recognized that something was wrong just as a bloodied woman distracted one of his men.

• Dong Jingxuan offered Xu Huo two million White Cash for the Eye of the Deceased, and Xu Huo accepted the money.
• Xu Huo and the little boy requested guides to the train’s projected underground scenery on the journey to Snow City.
• Dong Jingxuan ordered Brother Lei and his men around, provoking resentment among them before some went to Carriage Two.
• Passengers fought after a dispute over noisy children, and the Conductor and Players on duty were beaten amid the chaos.
• Brother Lei warned his men to shut the door and avoid the fighting, but a bloodied woman distracted the square-faced man as a flash of cold light slashed toward his neck.

Brother Lei and the other Players fought an invisible attacker aboard Train 133 before Mr. Chang took control of the train and threatened the passengers with bombs. Mr. Chang demanded that Xu Huo bring Young Master Dong to him.

• The square-faced man killed a woman who had attacked him, then his group lost another Player when molten metal sealed the door to Car One.
• Brother Lei’s group investigated the charging passengers, and Brother Lei used a magnetic ball and blade to track an invisible Player through the train cars.
• The invisible Player used a hypnosis Artifact to disorient his opponents, and Brother Lei’s group struggled to subdue him in the cramped train.
• A utility vehicle smashed through the baggage car and revealed the control room, where Mr. Chang announced that he had taken over Train 133 and cut off outside communications.
• Mr. Chang threatened to detonate twenty bombs and ordered Xu Huo to bring Young Master Dong to him.