Chapter Summaries

Wu Ling prepared the skinny man to summon Charles's vengeful spirit, explaining that the witch would appear as a ghost bound to the mirror. While the group waited for midnight, the skinny man practiced unsealing and resealing a cursed doll, then agreed to practice again.

• Wu Ling explained that Charles's vengeful spirit could be summoned as a soul attached to the mirror, and that destroying the mirror would deal with it.
• Wu Ling gave the skinny man ritual instructions and black magic objects, telling him to perform the midnight ritual alone while the others waited nearby.
• The group prepared the hotel room and helped the skinny man practice using talismans and handling the cursed objects.
• The skinny man loosened the cursed doll's seal, awakening it as it called him Daddy and then became hostile.
• The skinny man resealed the doll with a talisman, and Wu Ling showed that the temporary talisman burned away on its own.
• After calming down, the skinny man agreed to practice the sealing process once more.

Wu Ling’s ritual convinced the skinny man to make contact with the witch, and the witch agreed to his request. As the group examined the ritual’s effects, the skinny man revealed that the witch seemed to eat the objects.

• The narrator questioned Wu Ling’s theory, and Nangong Yao explained how spirits could arise from objects and people’s emotions.
• At midnight, the skinny man began undoing the seals while Wu Ling, the narrator, Liu Miao, and Nangong Yao watched.
• After all twelve seals were undone, the ominous auras vanished and the yin energy weakened.
• The skinny man emerged exhausted and said the witch had agreed to his request.
• Wu Ling removed the talisman from the doll, which burned and crumbled into powder, and the skinny man said the witch seemed to eat the objects.

The Thin Man recounted completing the mirror ritual and meeting the witch, while the group discussed what her appearance might mean. Later, the narrator and his companions worried that Ye Qing and the others were hiding parts of their plan, but concluded they had little choice but to follow the path ahead.

• The Thin Man described how the witch emerged from the mirror after he removed all twelve seals and formed a contract with him.
• Nangong Yao confirmed that he could see the contract, and the group discussed the witch's appearance before heading to their room for the night.
• The Fat Man wondered whether Nangong Yao could detect Ye Qing using Brother Qi's ability and suspected the others were withholding important details.
• The narrator and the Thin Man considered whether the secrecy was meant to protect them, while the narrator concluded their limited strength left them with few alternatives.

The narrator’s dream revealed Liu Miao fighting a monstrous creature and confronting Zhang Yifeng in the park. As Zhang Yifeng’s blood-fueled attack gathered strength, Luo Mu and Shen Wangshu arrived to help Liu Miao seize him.

• The narrator fell into a dream of the battle and saw Liu Miao badly wounded as he fought a bear-sized monster with a beaked face and hooked claws.
• Liu Miao fed the monster the Fatty’s blood, then dodged its explosion and watched Zhang Yifeng appear with a spinning compass.
• Zhang Yifeng’s compass absorbed the monster’s blood, while Liu Miao realized he needed to touch Zhang Yifeng for his ability to take effect.
• Luo Mu arrived with a woman in a gray dress, and Shen Wangshu emerged from a red telephone booth to bite Zhang Yifeng’s neck.
• Liu Miao grabbed Zhang Yifeng’s hands and activated his ability.

The narrator repaired the phone booth to trap Zhang Yifeng, then erased the booth and the attacking flying sword while Liu Miao held it back. Liu Miao collapsed from his wounds as Ye Qing’s overwhelming yin energy erupted nearby, leaving the narrator to go help the boss.

• Shen Wangshu and the vengeful spirits dragged Zhang Yifeng into the phone booth, while the rag doll devoured the blood mass attacking Luo Mu.
• A flying sword pierced the witch, Luo Mu, and the phone booth, but the narrator repaired the booth and trapped Zhang Yifeng inside.
• The sword returned and pierced the booth again, and Liu Miao grabbed its blade and ordered the narrator to erase it along with him.
• The narrator erased the booth and destroyed the sword, then caught Liu Miao as he collapsed and heard him urge the narrator to help the boss.
• Ye Qing’s yin energy surged nearby, a giant’s phantom appeared in the sky, and Liu Miao spat blood and fell toward the ground.

Qi recovered after using his ability to revive Liu Miao during the fight with Zhang Yifeng’s master. He met with Wu Ling and the others, who explained that Ye Zi had stopped him from using his ability again and dying.

• Qi used his ability to heal Liu Miao, but someone grabbed his wrist and stopped him before he lost consciousness.
• Qi woke at home, learned from Wu Ling that the others were safe, and recovered from his exhaustion and fever.
• Qi returned to work, where the Skinny Guy and the Fatty asked about the fight and Zhang Yifeng’s master.
• Qi and his coworkers visited Wu Ling, who was in good condition, while Liu Miao rested with unhealed injuries.
• Gu Mo told Qi that Ye Zi had stopped him from using his ability again because it would have killed him, and Wu Ling said Zhang Yifeng’s master had wielded a powerful ancient artifact.

Lin Qi learned that Zhang Yifeng and his master had died, but later heard that Yu Xiaoqin had killed herself. Jiang You then told him about a horror game involving a detective named Yezi and the disappearance of its creator and streamer.

• Wu Ling told Lin Qi and his companions that Zhang Yifeng, his master, the witch, and Luo Mu had been eliminated, and warned them not to contact her for a while.
• Lin Qi and the others wondered how Ye Qing had obtained Mu Ge's ability and whether he would use Granny Enna's ability.
• Fu Ying called Lin Qi and told him that Yu Xiaoqin had swallowed her wedding ring and killed herself after two relatives went missing and her aunt's husband visited her.
• Lin Qi struggled with the news at work, then Jiang You asked him about the paranormal office at Workers and Peasants Sixth Village.
• Jiang You told Lin Qi that a horror game's creator and a streamer had vanished, and that its detective protagonist was named Yezi.

Qi and his coworkers investigated reports that two streamers connected to the horror game Spirit Search had vanished online, but the game and related information were suddenly wiped from the internet. The chapter ended with Qi returning home and hearing his sister complain about a dormmate’s late-night calls with her new boyfriend.

• Qi learned from Jiang You that the game Spirit Search had been played by Thunder Lord and Big Shrimp 123, whose online accounts had disappeared.
• Qi remembered that Thunder Lord had once been connected to a deceased uploader, but he and his coworkers agreed they had no proof the game was paranormal.
• Guo Yujie discovered that Spirit Search’s download page and related online posts had vanished, and the group wondered whether the paranormal community had intervened.
• Qi searched for the game again after work, found that all information about it had been erased, and felt relieved.
• Qi went home, where his sister told him that a dormmate’s late-night calls with her boyfriend were keeping her awake.

The narrator entered Big Shrimp 123’s livestream dream and watched him become trapped in a sealed room resembling a location from the game he had played. Big Shrimp suspected the game was connected to his friend Xiaomi’s disappearance and searched for a way out.

• The narrator woke inside Big Shrimp 123’s dream but found that overusing their ability left them unable to move.
• Big Shrimp saw the livestream interface replaced by an eerie game screen, then the room went dark and changed into a bare, child-sized room with no doors or windows.
• Big Shrimp recognized the room as possibly connected to the game’s dangerous mother and son in Room 409, who imprisoned the protagonist in a bad ending.
• Big Shrimp remembered Xiaomi, his friend who had disappeared years ago, and feared that the same thing was now happening to him.
• Big Shrimp decided there had to be a door and began feeling along the walls.

The big shrimp escaped a detention room and found himself in a bedroom resembling a setting from Soul Hunt, while I questioned whether the events belonged to the game. He searched the room, found two significant objects, and prepared a hiding place as danger seemed likely.

• The big shrimp discovered a bolted hidden door in the ceiling and smashed it open with a chair.
• The big shrimp climbed into a gloomy bedroom that resembled Soul Hunt and speculated that the detention room had been part of the child’s abuse.
• The big shrimp inspected the bedroom and found a family portrait with the father’s head missing and a gold necklace engraved with 美.
• The big shrimp noticed the space beneath the double bed and practiced hiding there in case someone chased him.

Big Shrimp explored the apartment, hid from the mother and son, and tried to escape after they fell asleep, but the front door would not open. While he hid among the boxes, a teddy bear began crawling out of one, leaving him face-to-face with it.

• Big Shrimp searched the living room and noticed that the clutter seemed strangely concentrated there, while the kitchen and bathroom were inaccessible.
• Water began dripping in the kitchen and bathroom just as someone unlocked the front door, so Big Shrimp hid under the bed.
• A woman and a boy entered, ate dinner, watched television, and bathed while Big Shrimp remained hidden; later, they went to sleep.
• Big Shrimp crept out, found that the sleeping mother and son matched the game's characters, and tried to leave, but the door would not open.
• Big Shrimp hid behind cardboard boxes as the dripping resumed, then heard a box shake open and watched a teddy bear crawl out.

Big Shrimp suffered a horrific death at the hands of the teddy bears, then awoke in the locked room and tried to escape the game's repeated nightmare. After finding a photo and a necklace, he startled the woman and boy, and drew the necklace when a box toppled in the living room.

• Teddy bears crawled out of the boxes and tore Big Shrimp apart as the mother NPC watched blankly.
• Big Shrimp saw a BAD END message, then woke to the same lightbulb and realized he had been forced to start the game again.
• The narrator recognized that Big Shrimp was Lord Thunder and wondered whether the strange game and space were connected to a supernatural incident.
• Big Shrimp piled up furniture to escape through the ceiling hatch, then found a photo and necklace in the bedroom.
• After the woman and boy returned and fell asleep, Big Shrimp emerged from under the bed and startled the woman, who screamed and hugged the boy.
• A box toppled in the living room, and Big Shrimp pulled the necklace from his pocket.

Big Shrimp questioned a woman who had killed her ex-husband and his lover, then helped her son kill her. The boy revealed a ghostly incident at the fire escape, and Big Shrimp recognized it as a game event tied to Room 1313.

• The woman mistook Big Shrimp for someone sent by her ex-husband and admitted she had killed him and his lover.
• The boy stabbed his mother with scissors, and Big Shrimp pushed them deeper into her back, killing her.
• The boy explained that his mother had become abusive after learning of his father's affair and had brought him to the apartment building.
• Big Shrimp learned that the woman collected toys and clothes from empty apartments, but the boy could not identify any teddy bears.
• The boy said someone ran along the hallway fire escape at night, and Big Shrimp recognized the haunting as a game event connected to Room 1313.

Big Shrimp led the boy toward the police station, but the elevator trapped them in a supernatural event. After a face appeared behind the ceiling light and the elevator plunged into darkness, Big Shrimp discovered the boy’s hand was detached and felt hands press against his back.

• Big Shrimp agreed to take the boy to the police station and led him out of the room.
• Big Shrimp and the boy entered the elevator, but its first-floor button failed and the floor indicators began going dark from the top down.
• The boy refused to leave the elevator, and Big Shrimp saw half a face with black eyes behind the ceiling light.
• The elevator doors closed and the light blew out, after which Big Shrimp found that the boy’s hand was detached from his arm.
• Big Shrimp dropped the hand and felt a pair of hands pressing against his back.

The giant prawn relived a horrifying elevator fall and recognized the dead as victims connected to Greenleaf. It then woke in the body of the little boy from the game and found itself repeating a memory of life with his mother.

• The giant prawn found itself trapped in an elevator with Xiaomi and other dead victims, then fell into the elevator shaft and saw the little boy leave below.
• The giant prawn woke in a confinement room, while the narrator recognized several victims and supernatural objects as connected to Greenleaf.
• A woman opened a hatch and called the giant prawn Xiaomeng, revealing it had the body of a child.
• The giant prawn ate the meal its mother served and returned to its room, recalling how she had previously beaten and killed it.

Shrimp explored the house and pieced together that the dream’s setting and artwork came from Bai An’s work, while the game trapped him in the role of Xiaomeng. After days of abuse and forced time skips, the woman released him on Saturday night and warned him to obey her the next day.

• Shrimp searched Xiaomeng’s bedroom, found a dinosaur exhibition ticket and diary, and learned that Xiaomeng’s father planned to take him to the exhibition with his mistress.
• The narrator recognized the house, picture book, and artwork as Bai An’s style and wondered whether Bai An had helped create the game before his death.
• Shrimp completed Xiaomeng’s homework, then considered using disinfectant and toilet cleaner to kill the woman but chose to wait.
• The woman beat Shrimp and locked him in the basement, but later fed him; each time he lay down, the game advanced the day.
• After keeping track of the days until Saturday night, Shrimp was released, and the woman told him that his father and the mistress were using him and ordered him to obey her the next day.

The shrimp helped the woman abduct and kill his father’s mistress, then moved with her into Room 409, where the familiar apartment building triggered his memories of the game Soul Search. He realized he was trapped in the game’s supernatural timeline and began searching his memories for the child who could be his replacement.

• The shrimp chose to follow the woman’s plan, lured his father’s mistress to the exhibition hall emergency exit, and watched the woman knock her unconscious.
• The woman killed the mistress and served her remains to the shrimp, who ate under threat of dying and restarting.
• When his father and the police questioned him, the shrimp lied as the woman had instructed, and the police left without investigating further.
• The woman moved with the shrimp to Room 409, where the landlord warned them not to cause trouble.
• The shrimp remembered making a walkthrough video for Soul Search and recalled that he had to find a replacement to escape the building.
• The shrimp considered that a younger child in the apartment building might be his replacement.

The narrator woke from a dream in which Big Shrimp was attacked by a ghost and searched online for clues connecting the game to Bai An. Wu Ling traced Big Shrimp’s disappearance to Zhao Wei and found a possible link between the game’s overseas publisher and Xiaomi, while the narrator uncovered old records about Xiaomi’s death and online identity.

• The narrator dreamed that Big Shrimp was strangled by a kimono-clad ghost as he tried to leave the apartment building.
• The narrator found that Bai An’s art resembled details in the dream, while Thunder Lord’s account and video had disappeared and Big Shrimp’s room had been banned.
• The narrator told Wu Ling about the dream and suspected that Bai An and another ability user were involved.
• Wu Ling identified Big Shrimp as Zhao Wei, who had disappeared on the day his game room was banned, and learned that his family had reported him missing.
• Wu Ling found that the game’s publisher used an overseas IP address tied to an apartment formerly rented by Xiaomi.
• The narrator checked the file on the Black-Screened Grinning Face and read records identifying Xiaomi as Zhou An and documenting his death and a paranormal livestream incident.

The narrator reviewed Xiaomi’s gameplay video of the test version of Search · Spirit, trying to understand why the game materials had left him uneasy. The video showed the detective choosing room 906 and dying to the ghost there, revealing that ghosts existed in the game.

• The narrator reviewed the file, replayed the recording, and opened Xiaomi’s uploaded gameplay video.
• Xiaomi introduced Search · Spirit as a horror puzzle game about investigating a nineteen-year-old murder and showed its comments and description.
• Xiaomi began the game as detective Ye Zi and explored the apartment building, speaking with its landlord.
• The landlord offered rooms 304, 711, and 906, and Xiaomi chose 906, where the narrator remembered the detective had died before.
• Xiaomi’s detective woke to a shattered bottle, encountered an invincible drunk’s ghost, fled, and was killed, triggering GAME OVER.

The narrator searched for traces of the game and Thunder Lord, then discussed his lingering unease with Chen Xiaoqiu, Skinny, Fatty, and Guo Yujie. Realizing Thunder Lord had been erased from records, he decided to visit Ye Qing in Workers and Peasants Sixth Village.

• The narrator watched Xiaomi reach the game's ending, then searched online for discussions after the game and its related posts had been taken down.
• The narrator went to work on Monday and told Chen Xiaoqiu, Skinny, Fatty, and Guo Yujie that something still felt wrong.
• Chen Xiaoqiu suggested supernatural investigators had shut down Thunder Lord's livestream and suppressed information after anticipating an incident.
• The narrator searched for Thunder Lord and found that his account and name had vanished completely.
• The narrator remembered Ye Qing had erased her own existence and set out for Workers and Peasants Sixth Village to speak with her.