Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo struggled to resist Mirror Xu Huo as the copy spread through his Spiritual World and exhausted him. When his Book Tower appeared and carried him into a pure-white space filled with shattered diamond figures, he found signs that some of the figures might still be alive.

• Mirror Xu Huo copied more of the Spiritual World, forcing Xu Huo to repeatedly destroy the mirrored streets and leaving him exhausted.
• Xu Huo tried three items and the Mind-Only Gate to escape, but none freed him from the Spiritual World.
• The Book Tower appeared and began forming from the bottom up, turning Xu Huo's palm into a diamond-shaped object as a staircase carried him upward.
• Xu Huo entered a pure-white space filled with shattered diamond figures and found that one nearby stone trembled.
• Xu Huo gathered the stones according to the figures' clothes and covered one with a hat, while the diamond pattern on his hand receded to his fingers.

Xu Huo rescued Xin Rong from a mental space where he had been turned to stone, and the two returned to reality and shared a meal. Xu Huo asked Xin Rong to help open a portal so he could enter the first layer again with several people who were not his friends, and Xin Rong offered him weapons and items.

• Xu Huo freed Xin Rong from the stone form and helped him recover with food and water.
• Xin Rong explained that he had been trapped in Zhuang's mental space and revealed a portal back to reality.
• Xu Huo and Xin Rong checked into a hotel, where Xin Rong treated him to a feast and offered him a reward for saving his life.
• Xu Huo asked Xin Rong to open a large door into the first layer so he could bring several people inside.
• Xin Rong agreed to help and offered Xu Huo a selection of weapons, including a new-energy cannon, while Xu Huo asked whether he was from Platinum Eye.

Xu Huo borrowed high-level artifacts from Xin Rong, then the two entered Flower City’s Direct-Administered District after a shield appeared. They arrived amid a battle and saw two Black-Clad Players use a command to make opponents abandon their artifacts before killing them.

• Xu Huo questioned Xin Rong about his Spiritual World abilities and learned how specialized artifacts helped control evolutionary powers.
• Xin Rong lent Xu Huo several high-level artifacts and gave him his screen name as a way to contact him.
• A white shield rose over the Direct-Administered District, so Xin Rong and Xu Huo entered through the Underground Passage to investigate.
• Xu Huo and Xin Rong arrived as a shell struck a building and saw Flower City Players pursuing two Black-Clad Players.
• One Black-Clad Player ordered inexperienced Players to abandon their artifacts, leaving many unable to protect themselves as they fell.
• The two Black-Clad Players reunited, and one ordered nearby Players to abandon their artifacts before the other killed a dozen of them.

Xu Huo and Xin Rong navigated the fighting in Flower City and worked together to isolate Han Yi from his guards. Xu Huo trapped Han Yi and the remaining B-class Player, then attacked them with his black blade.

• Xin Rong explained why she thought the Ability that stripped Players of their props belonged to a White Player as Flower City's hunters killed the invading Players.
• Xu Huo and Xin Rong reached the area where Han Yi was retreating under the protection of ten High-level Players.
• An old man confronted Xu Huo and Xin Rong, but they split up and lured him away with new-energy cannons and a collapsing pair of towers.
• Xin Rong drew half a street into the Dungeon grounds, allowing Xu Huo to steal away Han Yi's A-class guard and drop the B-class guard into an underground passage.
• Xu Huo trapped Han Yi and the B-class Player with his Ability and props, then swung his black blade at their heads.

Xu Huo fought Han Yi and the two High-level Players inside his Spiritual World, using traps and the collapsing underground passage to bury Han Yi. As the A-class Player tried to reach him and the Mirror World trapped the remaining Players, eye-like patterns appeared beside Han Yi and cut his throat with a line of Black Liquid.

• Xu Huo's ambush on Han Yi failed when a gelatinous defense trapped his blade, and the returning A-class and B-class Players forced him into a coordinated fight.
• Xu Huo used his Defense Artifacts, special items, cutting line, and Little Mushroom to escape the Players' pincer attack and reach Han Yi's location.
• Han Yi ran toward a station exit but remained inside Xu Huo's Spiritual World, where the collapsing passage and an underground train buried him beneath debris and pierced his right leg.
• The A-class Player struggled to reach Han Yi through the rubble as the Mirror World appeared, while the B-class Player withdrew to seek help from a Super Evolver.
• Eye-like patterns appeared beside Han Yi, and Black Liquid formed a thin line that passed through his throat.

Xu Huo killed Han Yi by tricking him into entering a Mental Portal, then escaped Flower City with Xin Rong while the old man and an A-class player pursued them. As the pursuers caught up again, Xin Rong left District 001, and Xu Huo wondered whether the Han Yi he had killed was real.

• Xu Huo used repeated mental attacks to make Han Yi believe his Jammer had failed and that he needed to escape.
• Han Yi entered Xu Huo's Mental Portal, and Xu Huo killed him by severing his head.
• The old man and the A-class player attacked Xu Huo, while Xin Rong dragged him through layers of the Spiritual World and out of Flower City.
• Xin Rong used a transmission device to take them to a nearby city, but the pursuers caught up again.
• Xin Rong left District 001, and Xu Huo asked whether Han Yi had been a fake.

Xu Huo fought an A-class player and an old man, using his mental and spatial abilities and mechanical Artifacts to hold them off. He killed the old man with Holder's Death, but paused to wonder whether the man was truly dead.

• The A-class player and the old man attacked Xu Huo together, forcing him to defend against rapid sword strikes and spatial attacks.
• Xu Huo escaped their trap using Spiritual Portals and Book Towers, then summoned a two-meter-tall robot to fight the A-class player.
• The old man trapped Xu Huo with white flames and a crushing attack, but Xu Huo used Holder's Death to pierce the man's Defense Artifact and kill him.
• Xu Huo watched the old man fall and wondered whether he was really dead.

Xu Huo escaped the A-class player after discovering that the Han Yi who had died was a fake, then helped a desperate woman at the Station by giving her a C-class Ticket. He left her with advice about surviving and suspending her Player status as other Players argued over whether she deserved help.

• The A-class player stored the old man's body, and Xu Huo inferred that the Han Yi he had killed was a fake before provoking the A-class player into attacking him.
• The A-class player asked Xu Huo about his connection to the Magician, but Xu Huo escaped to the Station with his Ticket.
• A woman at the Station offered herself for a Ticket or money, and Xu Huo gave her a C-class Ticket in exchange for her possessions.
• The woman explained that she wanted to survive long enough to return to her young daughter, and Xu Huo advised her to try suspending her Player status.
• A female Player scolded the woman for giving up, while a male Player defended her situation and challenged Xu Huo's motives after the woman left.

Xu Huo sorted through Han Yi’s and Old Zheng’s possessions, then boarded a train and learned that several cities in District 001 had been attacked after an important figure was assassinated. The train continued toward Card City, where a planned festival had been canceled and government Players were searching for suspects.

• Xu Huo inspected Han Yi’s items, keeping useful equipment and a survival kit while selling cumbersome goods.
• Xu Huo examined Old Zheng’s manuscripts on hypnosis and mental interference, along with his collection of Potions and poisons.
• Xu Huo boarded a train with several Station residents and read Old Zheng’s manuscripts in his carriage.
• Two Players joined the carriage, and Xu Huo asked the fair-skinned man about Card City.
• The fair-skinned man told Xu Huo that several District 001 cities had been attacked and Card City had canceled its festival while government Players searched for suspects.
• Xu Huo mentioned Carroll Field, and the fair-skinned man dismissed the possibility that the assassination involved him before his companion stopped him from talking further.

Xu Huo shared a meal with Meng Di and Luo Shizong, who sold a valuable Sub-class Stone and invited him to visit their district. After they left, two Players tried to intimidate Xu Huo and his companions, and the effeminate man killed one of them.

• Xu Huo invited Meng Di and Luo Shizong to eat with him, and they told him about their difficult circumstances and plans to travel to another Dungeon.
• Meng Di gave Xu Huo a box of stones, and a short-haired female Player appraised one as a Class-quality Sub-class Stone and bought it.
• Meng Di and Luo Shizong thanked Xu Huo, gave him a business card, and shared advice about the maze Dungeon before getting off the train.
• Two Players approached Xu Huo after the pair left and demanded money, but the short-haired female Player warned them they were asking for death.
• The effeminate man killed one of the threatening Players by making his chest, mouth, and right hand explode.

Xu Huo witnessed an obsessive Player brutally kill another Player aboard the train, then provoked him until he abandoned his food. After arriving in Dawn City, Xu Huo learned that Flower City’s power struggle had killed many people, but another Han Yi had appeared and the man Xu Huo had killed remained dead.

• The effeminate Player killed the male Player who had disturbed his table, then cleaned his boots and disinfected the table.
• Xu Huo questioned the effeminate Player about his cleanliness obsession and unsettled him by describing germs in the air.
• After Aliens boarded the train overnight, Xu Huo teased the Player about contaminated food until he gave up his biscuits and went to the dining car.
• Xu Huo arrived in Dawn City and read that Flower City’s internal power struggle had killed many people and destroyed a third of the directly administered district.
• The Han family claimed the Han Yi killed in the incident had not been involved, and another Han Yi appeared in public while Xu Huo remained certain the man he had killed was dead.

Xu Huo arrived at a blood-soaked Station and swiftly killed the Players who attacked him. After wiping out most of the one-eyed man's group, he ordered the purple-eyed female Player to collect the dead Players' Artifacts while he waited for the train.

• Xu Huo teleported into the Station and killed two Players who attacked him.
• The one-eyed man used an Artifact to swap places with Xu Huo and launched an attack.
• Xu Huo killed the one-eyed man's companions and reduced his group from fourteen Players to four.
• Xu Huo ordered the purple-eyed female Player to gather the corpses' Artifacts and sat facing the Station's main screen.

Xu Huo traveled toward Sub-district E19-023, which he suspected was connected to the Han family, and boarded a crowded, violent train. He bought the limited information available about the Twin City Station instance, learning that he should bring supplies, an antidote, and a vehicle suited to land and water; Twin City was said to be the safest place.

• Xu Huo collected the items from the station and boarded a train toward Sub-district E19-023, choosing a C-class instance ticket to investigate the area.
• On the next crowded train, Xu Huo avoided a dispute over an occupied room and settled into an unoccupied room elsewhere in the carriage.
• A scarred man attacked the purple-eyed female player, but she blocked his strike and wounded him before a nearby suited man killed him.
• A young man with multicolored hair mocked another player, triggering a brawl that wrecked the carriage before the dining prompt brought a temporary truce.
• Xu Huo searched Dimension Below for information about the Twin City Station instance and bought the few available clues, including advice to bring food, water, an antidote, and a land-and-water vehicle.

Xu Huo prepared for a dangerous C-class instance while the train carried Players through a night surrounded by Aliens. A robed swordsman pursued the purple-eyed woman and her companions, but turned away when he noticed a barrier beside Xu Huo’s room.

• Xu Huo rejected a burly Player’s offer to buy his room, and the man sheltered the badly injured woman in a corner of the carriage.
• Aliens clung to the train as it slowed through a dangerous stretch, then gradually fell away until the train sped up again.
• The injured woman admired the crescent moons outside, while Players began fighting in the carriages ahead.
• The purple-eyed woman and six companions rushed into Xu Huo’s carriage as a robed man pursued them and killed four Players with sword light.
• The robed man approached the carriage entrance, noticed the translucent barrier beside Xu Huo’s room, and left without entering.

Xu Huo and the other passengers survived a thirty-second Alien attack on the C-class train as it crossed Marsh Space. When Xu Huo reached his stop, he was thrown from the train, and a Mutant Animal from Tallwood Forest seized his Carefree Ball and dragged it toward the forest.

• The train broadcast a warning that an Alien pack would arrive in one and a half minutes and remain active for thirty seconds.
• A vast pack of Aliens charged the train, leaped against it, and clung to its rear carriages before the train escaped them.
• The passengers recovered from the attack, and the seriously injured woman and the burly dark-skinned man remarked that the train was more dangerous than a Dungeon.
• Xu Huo was thrown from the train at his stop and used his Carefree Ball to slow his fall.
• A long shadow shot from Tallwood Forest, swept Xu Huo's sphere off course, and pulled it toward the forest as gravity forced it downward.

Xu Huo crossed dangerous terrain toward Point A in Gemini City and rescued Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming from a swamp. The three continued toward the dungeon site, unsure whether the two entry points would lead to different missions or opposing teams.

• Xu Huo used gravity to bring down a bird-beast, but hidden vines tore it apart and devoured it.
• The game announced that Xu Huo had entered the dungeon sub-district and had to reach Point A or Point B in Gemini City within three days.
• Xu Huo escaped Tallwood Forest by riding a bird-beast, then descended when the flock avoided a vast swamp.
• Xu Huo bought a hot-air-balloon item and rescued the injured Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming from the swamp.
• Cao Qinglin suggested the two entry points might create different starting missions or rival teams, and Qiu Ming welcomed Xu Huo as a potential teammate.

Xu Huo, Cao Qinglin, and Qiu Ming crossed the Swamp Zone and entered an abandoned city, where they discovered a parking garage filled with bodies. Xu Huo concluded that the city's residents had mutated and killed one another, possibly after a mass infection engineered to create Players.

• After the hot-air balloon cleared the Swamp Zone, Xu Huo, Cao Qinglin, and Qiu Ming spotted a deserted city surrounded by damaged iron fences.
• The balloon's item stopped working over the city, so Xu Huo landed with his Strings while Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin descended by parachute.
• The group walked through the dusty streets and found a shriveled corpse behind cloth covering an underground parking entrance.
• Xu Huo opened the garage, where they found wrecked vehicles and bodies bearing signs of violent fighting.
• Xu Huo identified the dead as people who had recently mutated, and Cao Qinglin suggested that Players might have caused a mass infection to increase the city's Player population.

Xu Huo, Cao Qinglin, and Qiu Ming discovered signs of survivors and suspected someone had deliberately forced Players to land before they were ambushed by a group of concealed attackers. Xu Huo fought the attackers while Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming were outnumbered, leaving Cao Qinglin in danger.

• Xu Huo concluded that people still lived nearby after finding a fresh food wrapper, and the group hurried to leave the underground garage.
• An attacker struck their car with a laser, but Xu Huo escaped and knocked the attacker away as Qiu Ming called for the ambushers to reveal themselves.
• Four hidden attackers emerged, while a short, invisible Player attacked Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin from an unknown position.
• Xu Huo caught the invisible Player, slammed him into the car roof, and raised spatial barriers to separate the attackers.
• The masked man used items to free the unconscious Player and fought Xu Huo, while three attackers overwhelmed Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming, making Cao Qinglin their main target.

Xu Huo and his companions fought off two groups of players who tried to ambush them while they crossed the abandoned city. A third group blocked their way, and their leader, Zhan, proposed a wager to settle things with a three-round one-on-one match.

• Cao Qinglin used her appraisal Ability and explosive Items against the first group while Xu Huo battled their masked leader, forcing the attackers to retreat with a net-like Item.
• Xu Huo, Cao Qinglin, and Qiu Ming found another car and continued through the city.
• A second group trapped Xu Huo in a building, but he escaped, defeated the four players, and warned them to leave his group alone.
• Xu Huo's group encountered a third group, and Xu Huo warned them that another attack would lead to deaths.
• Zhan challenged Xu Huo to a wager: they would fight three one-on-one rounds, and if Xu Huo's side won, the group would let them pass without further trouble.

Xu Huo accepted a Contract wager against Zone 023 players, agreeing that the losing side would leave or honor the stated conditions. Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming split their first two matches, leaving Xu Huo’s fight to decide the wager.

• Xu Huo agreed to a Contract wager after the Zone 023 players threatened to pursue the group, negotiating the right to stay in the zone and avoid its fixed dungeons for a month if he lost.
• Xu Huo, Qiu Ming, Cao Qinglin, and their opponents signed the Contract, which would make anyone who broke its terms go blind for ten days.
• Cao Qinglin fought Jian Yue, who defeated her with a Short Sword at her throat.
• Qiu Ming used a restraint item and brought down a building’s first floor to pin his opponent and win their match.
• With one win and one loss, Xu Huo’s match remained to decide the wager.