Chapter Summaries

Xu Huo watched the hospital instance grow more dangerous as new Players’ imaginations transformed it, while Cong Yu tested a Potion and recovered from his fungal affliction. Liao Jie was restrained after trying to force his way into the Director’s office, and Xu Huo noticed that cannibal staff had begun appearing.

• Liao Jie rejected the cleaning and bacterial-sample tasks, went to the Director’s office for psychological treatment, and was restrained after resisting the hospital staff.
• Six new Players entered the instance, and their imaginations made the hospital staff and patients increasingly monstrous.
• Xu Huo placed the A-class item "A Well One Cannot Look At" in the instance and arranged for Cong Yu to be sedated and isolated.
• Cong Yu tested a Potion on a dying person, then injected one himself and watched most of his brown skin peel away as he recovered.
• Xu Huo observed the Cannibal Players adapting to the hospital and discovered that cannibal staff members had started appearing.

Xu Huo used the hospital’s illusions and routines to make the players accept their roles as patients, then began psychological treatments. After a violent C-class player escaped, Xu Huo started treating the E-class players and told one that his parents wanted him to stay in the hospital.

• Xu Huo made the players imagine the hospital staff torturing patients, and two players were dragged into a ward and killed themselves or bled to death.
• The players stayed in their wards through the night, and nurses woke them at eight the next morning to take medicine.
• Xu Huo asked the head nurse to schedule psychological treatments, while the medical staff punished players who resisted.
• A C-class player killed a nurse and two guards before escaping from the hospital, and Xu Huo watched him leave.
• Xu Huo began treating an E-class player, recorded his answers, and claimed the player’s parents wanted him to remain hospitalized for another month.

Xu Huo manipulated patients and staff to keep players confined and create opportunities for Cong Yu to kill. As more players entered the hospital, Hope City’s survivors began hunting for the Brown Skin City players and trying to reach Liao Jie, whose connection remained cut off.

• Xu Huo had Zeng Ming sedated and transferred to the sixth floor after deciding his aggression had worsened, while Zeng Ming threatened Nurse Liu.
• Nurses took another treated player to the sixth floor, while an E-class player received visiting privileges and unsettled the waiting players.
• Cong Yu sneaked onto the sixth floor and killed a patient, then Xu Huo distracted a nurse so Cong Yu could kill again.
• Hope City players learned that five of their companions had disappeared and began searching the hospital for Brown Skin City players and Liao Jie.
• Xu Huo had arranged a private psychological treatment for Liao Jie, leaving his connection unavailable even though the players' game panels worked.

Xu Huo manipulated the hospital instance to eliminate the Hope City players and help the Brown Skin City players clear it. After the instance closed, he found Chi Xian and Tong Qi waiting nearby.

• Xu Huo used hypnosis and a Spiritual World to keep Liao Jie trapped in psychological treatment.
• As the hospital became overwhelmed by imagined horrors and real germs, Xu Huo arranged treatment for Cong Yu and gave him hope by telling him about Dr. Wu's gene potion.
• Xu Huo killed two C-class players in self-defense, and the Hope City players died until only Liao Jie remained.
• Liao Jie escaped, exposed Xu Huo as the instance's director, and tried to kill him, allowing Xu Huo to deal with him alongside the Brown Skin City players.
• Xu Huo taught Cong Yu the trick for clearing mental instances and led the Brown Skin City players out before the instance closed.
• After the instance closed, Xu Huo noticed Chi Xian and Tong Qi waiting nearby.

Xu Huo and his companions returned to Brown Skin City with antidote and supplies after the crisis there was resolved. They accepted the city’s gratitude and rested, but Xu Huo reminded them that they still had work to do.

• Xu Huo met Chi Xian and Tong Qi, learned that Chi Xian and Young Master Mo had dealt with the Hope City players, and discussed distributing the potions with Brown Skin City.
• Cong Yu thanked Xu Huo for bringing the antidote, and Tong Qi and Chi Xian joined the group as they returned to Brown Skin City.
• Residents of Brown Skin City and Hope City watched the group arrive and brought food and supplies to the factory where they would rest.
• Xu Huo gave children dry rations and candy, then told Tong Qi they were not saviors and that they still had things to do after eating.
• Tong Qi raised a glass to their kindness, their reunion, and their victory.

After clearing an instance, Xu Huo and the others discussed how mental-type instances could be cleared and learned about the two tendencies of high-risk B-level instances. Young Master Mo explained the unusual Sub-district connected to Xu Huo’s thorn-patterned box, leaving Xu Huo wondering why it was considered a special box.

• After drinking with players from Brown Skin City, Tong Qi asked Xu Huo for advice on clearing mental-type instances, and Xu Huo shared guidance from Mental Evolution materials.
• Young Master Mo explained that B-level instances could be low-risk places players might remain in or high-risk instances where dangers mounted over time and rewards were better.
• Young Master Mo described how a dangerous Sub-district’s changing train routes and uncertain designation made it hard for players to identify.
• Young Master Mo said he had wanted to buy Xu Huo’s thorn-patterned box because it might contain a valuable object that caused mental interference.
• Xu Huo questioned Young Master Mo’s description of the box as special, since it seemed to him like an ordinary metal box.

Xu Huo considered whether some game Sub-districts could move and learned that the Special Defense Department’s infected patients were improving after receiving the J13 Gene Potion. Elsewhere, a wounded person told a golden-eyed figure that the dangerous item had not been sold and that its intended destination was D07-013 District.

• Xu Huo and Young Master Mo discussed why the special box could not be stored in an item slot and cautioned against opening it.
• Xu Huo wondered whether certain Sub-districts could move, and Young Master Mo agreed that some might have changing positions.
• Tong Qi dismissed the need to worry about moving Sub-districts, and Xu Huo accepted his point before changing the subject.
• The Special Defense Department told Xu Huo that the J13 Gene Potion had helped infected patients, though less than the King Fungus extract.
• Xu Huo asked Cong Yu and the others to find a quiet place to deal with the Gene Potion.
• A wounded person told a golden-eyed figure that he had not sold the dangerous item and that its intended destination was D07-013 District.

Xu Huo gave Brown Skin City’s players Gene Potions and poisonous and medicinal fungi, leaving them to decide whether to treat the island’s environment or evacuate its people. After returning to District 014, he found order restored and Meng Cun still alive under the painted woman’s care.

• Xu Huo told Brown Skin City’s players about the fungi by the river and let them choose how to use the Gene Potions.
• Cong Yu said Brown Skin City would use half the Potions to try to improve its environment and keep the rest of District 013 unaware of them.
• Cong Yu asked Xu Huo and Chi Xian to leave their names for a memorial stele, and Xu Huo agreed to be remembered as a kindhearted passerby.
• Xu Huo collected nearly thirty poisonous fungi and seven medicinal fungi, then used his return ticket to go back to District 014.
• Xu Huo returned home, found Meng Cun alive, and saw that the painted woman had been entertained by the Special Defense Department.

Xu Huo moved his family into a fortified Safe Zone and sent Meng Cun and the painted woman to District 011. After settling in, he found a report linking frequent disappearances in South City to suspected Cannibal Players.

• The Special Defense Department apologized to Xu Huo and arranged a new home for him and his family.
• Xu Huo gave Meng Cun a Ticket to District 011 and told the painted woman to accompany him and prioritize her own safety.
• The painted woman threatened Meng Cun into agreeing to walk to the Ancient Castle, then helped prepare for the move.
• Xu Huo and his family moved into a detached villa in Danxue Garden, a fortified Safe Zone where government officials and prominent players lived.
• Xu Huo reviewed the Special Defense Department's internal messages and noticed a report about suspected Cannibal Players behind disappearances in South City.

The Special Defense Department investigated a growing number of disappearances in South City, first among migrant workers and then among people from the city’s underground industries. The evidence pointed to a large, organized group of Players hunting ordinary people, likely Cannibal Players.

• South City residents reported neighbors moving away in the middle of the night, while employers noticed fewer people seeking work.
• The Special Defense Department searched the city and nearby hills for a Random Instance or magnetic disturbance but found nothing.
• Investigators discovered that people supposedly moving away had been controlled, and their families had been packed into their luggage.
• After the department secretly investigated several households, the migrant-worker disappearances stopped and the people responsible left no trace.
• The Special Defense Department searched reports from the past three months and found numerous missing people from the city’s underground industries.
• The department concluded that a sizable, organized group of Players had been hunting ordinary people and suspected Cannibal Players.

Xu Huo investigated a cannibal organization in South City and learned from Yu Qingqing that a tracked Player had entered a factory backed by Nan Mingzhu. He left for South City that night, warning Yu Qingqing to stay out of trouble until he arrived.

• Xu Huo questioned Players on the Special Defense Department's internal network about the South City disappearances, and Yu Qingqing offered to sell him information for a B-class item.
• After Jiang Qiao identified the seller as a new member of Yu Qingqing's organization, Xu Huo pressured her into sharing what her people had discovered.
• Yu Qingqing said a Player they had followed entered a foreign-owned factory backed by Nan Mingzhu, whose food-processing business might be connected to the disappearances.
• Xu Huo warned Yu Qingqing not to investigate the factory yet and gave her three B-class items and one A-class item in exchange for waiting.
• Xu Huo visited his neighbors, spoke with his family, then left the Safe Zone for South City.

A woman named Wang Huiqin went out at night to find medicine for her feverish child, but a Cannibal Player abducted her before Special Defense Department Players could reach her. A female Player found Wang Huiqin alive after another person drove off the attacker, while the rest of the patrol pursued the fleeing figure.

• A woman left Camphor Tree Compound with her feverish child and asked the guard for help getting to a hospital, but he refused to go outside and directed her to a pharmacy.
• The woman reached a pharmacy, received no answer, and disappeared when a nearby streetlight briefly went out as she headed for another shop.
• Special Defense Department Players reviewed security footage, realized the woman had vanished, and split up to search the area.
• A female Player and her companion encountered a blood-scented figure in a black Protective Suit, and the companion chased after them while she entered an alley.
• The female Player found Wang Huiqin injured but alive, and Wang Huiqin explained that a Cannibal Player had attacked her before someone intervened and drove it away.

After the Cannibal Player escaped another hunt, he hid in South City and joined a group planning a larger operation. Xu Huo investigated Dafeng Slaughterhouse, where Manager Liu was preparing to receive fresh victims.

• A female Player checked the rescued woman's child and arranged to take them to the hospital while the Special Defense Department failed to find the escaped Cannibal Player.
• The Cannibal Player hid near the Camphorwood Residential Complex, disguised himself as an ordinary migrant worker, and passed an inspection by the Special Defense Department.
• He contacted a Cannibal Player in a group chat and arranged to meet at the Fresh Pork Bun Shop on Da Lin Street.
• The shop owner directed him to Manager Liu at Dafeng Slaughterhouse, where he was invited to join a larger operation.
• Xu Huo searched Dafeng Slaughterhouse with his Spiritual World and found frozen corpses, two Player employees, and Manager Liu discussing fresh goods on the phone.

Xu Huo discovered that Nan Mingzhu’s owner, Hua Baoren, had founded a cult that recruited Cannibal Players and helped them advance through dungeons. He arrived at the cult’s gathering and watched Hua Baoren reassure the assembled members as they prepared to eat.

• Xu Huo traced Manager Liu’s operation to the Little Star Food Processing Plant and learned Nan Mingzhu Enterprise was preparing a gathering.
• Yu Qingqing sent Xu Huo files revealing that Nan Mingzhu’s owner had founded a cult for Cannibal Players and organized human sacrifices.
• Xu Huo questioned Yu Qingqing about the cult and decided to investigate its leader without relying on her team.
• Xu Huo visited the Special Defense Department and then went to Nan Mingzhu’s headquarters, where Cannibal Players gathered around a feast.
• Hua Baoren arrived wearing a Mask, and when attendees raised concerns about the Special Defense Department, he promised to resolve their problems.

Hua Baoren proposed legalizing the Wushan Cult and negotiating with the Special Defense Department so Cannibal Players could keep their identities secret and obtain food without harming South City residents. A voice in the crowd warned that recognition could normalize cannibalism and that the cult might not be able to control its members’ Gluttony Urge.

• A thin, tall man asked how the Cannibal Players could escape the Special Defense Department’s search after the missing-person cases came to light.
• Hua Baoren said the cult members had killed criminals and that impostors had abducted ordinary people, causing the department to blame them.
• Hua Baoren announced that he would approach the Special Defense Department and seek legal recognition for the Wushan Cult, keeping the members’ identities secret if possible.
• The cult members objected that the department would restrict or punish them and that they needed a way to satisfy their hunger without killing people nearby.
• Hua Baoren proposed buying food from other sub-districts and argued that legal identities could help stabilize society.
• A voice behind the crowd warned that Cannibal Players might exploit recognition to kill citizens and gradually lose control of the Gluttony Urge.

Xu Huo exposed Secretary Fang's role in the missing persons cases at Hua Baoren's Wushan Cult gathering and urged Hua Baoren to disband the cult. Hua Baoren questioned whether Cannibal Players were doomed to live as outcasts, while Xu Huo warned that recognizing them would endanger society.

• Xu Huo challenged Hua Baoren's ability to vet Wushan Cult members and revealed that Secretary Fang was involved in the missing persons cases.
• Xu Huo paralyzed Secretary Fang, sealed the hall, and displayed encrypted chat logs from Fang's account.
• Hua Baoren recognized that the messages recorded selections beyond the company's needs and accused Secretary Fang of acting behind his back.
• Xu Huo brought out three captives who identified Secretary Fang and described his hideouts and his use of company resources to supply Cannibal Players with props.
• Xu Huo told Hua Baoren to disband the Wushan Cult and end its ceremonies, then argued that Cannibal Players could not be publicly accepted without threatening society.

Xu Huo exposed and eliminated Secretary Fang’s operation involving Cannibal Players, then turned the remaining cases over to South City’s Special Defense Department. He met Yu Qingqing and her team, warned her about her behavior, and asked why they had come to South City.

• After confirming Secretary Fang’s connection to the missing-person cases, Xu Huo executed him, Manager Liu, and several others.
• Xu Huo reported the suspected Cannibal Player groups to the South City Special Defense Department and left the department to handle the cleanup.
• Yu Qingqing and her Fair and Foul team raided two Cannibal Player gathering places but found little of value.
• Xu Huo revealed himself to Yu Qingqing, warned her not to torture corpses, and asked whether she had sought help from Professor Tang Guangbo.
• Yu Qingqing introduced the members of Fair and Foul, then tried to leave for late-night food when Xu Huo asked why they had come to South City.
• Xu Huo grabbed Yu Qingqing and told her to answer while he was still easy to talk to.

Yu Qingqing told Xu Huo about a stable entrance to an unformed Dungeon, but their monitoring devices were destroyed by an unknown force in the fog. Xu Huo took the footage and called the Special Defense Department, leaving Yu Qingqing and her team to wait while he prepared a late-night snack.

• Yu Qingqing demanded that her team receive the largest share if they worked with Xu Huo, then explained that Duo Yun had found an isolated space that might become a Dungeon.
• Xu Huo watched the footage of monitoring devices being destroyed in the fog but could not identify what had attacked them.
• Xu Huo took the remaining footage and told Yu Qingqing he would contact the Special Defense Department.
• Yu Qingqing agreed not to interfere if the Special Defense Department paid well for her information, and Xu Huo asked her to gather her other four friends.
• Yu Qingqing told Zhen Yu and Da Yu that Xu Huo likely wanted to help Da Xue and the others because their team was too weak to enter the space.
• Xu Huo returned after making a call and prepared a late-night snack while the group waited for headquarters.

Xu Huo warned Yu Qingqing and her teammates against risking exposure to Super Evolution, then explained psychic and spatial abilities. While discussing whether Time Rays had a visible color, he reconsidered their nature and began sensing fluctuating temporal forces through his Spiritual World.

• Yu Qingqing asked Xu Huo to bring her group along to experience Super Evolution, but he warned them that entering such dangerous conditions could cost them their lives.
• Xu Huo explained that Super Evolution required talent and was difficult to develop, while Yu Qingqing insisted she would undergo a second Evolution someday.
• Xu Huo described psychic and spatial Super Evolution to Yu Qingqing and her teammates.
• Yu Qingqing asked whether Time Rays had a color, prompting Xu Huo to realize that the Time Rays people had seen might have been amplified rather than in their original state.
• Xu Huo connected his ideas about Time Rays to Curved Time and concluded that time was dynamic and could not be grasped.
• Xu Huo expanded his Spiritual World around the building and sensed tangled, irregular lines of temporal force fluctuating among the spiritual lines and Space Rays.

Xu Huo discussed controlling space-time and spiritual power with Yu Qingqing while cooking poisonous mushrooms for his companions and Nie Xuan. Nie Xuan reported that Ting City had been settled and arrived with a Special Defense Department team of Super Evolvers before asking Xu Huo to show them the entrance to Chaos Space.

• Xu Huo tried to grasp the chaotic lines in the air, accidentally caught a Space Ray, and knocked over the soup pot.
• Xu Huo explained his ideas about controlling space-time and spiritual power, then cooked poisonous mushrooms that he and Yu Qingqing ate.
• Nie Xuan arrived with two players, said he had brought a team of ten and a support unit, and ate the mushrooms after telling his companions to use Antidote.
• Nie Xuan told Xu Huo that Ting City had been settled and that a document granting him the city would arrive at his home.
• Xu Huo questioned Nie Xuan about his healed leg and noted the military had sent Super Evolvers, then Yu Qingqing offered to lead them to the entrance to Chaos Space.