Chapter Summaries

In 1888, the history student Lin Jie endured life as a kidnapped laborer aboard the Sea Witch while noticing the ship had veered into uncharted waters and its crew had become unnervingly fixated on a sea-spirit song. After he saw a pale, hair-and-tentacle creature staring at him through a porthole, the ship’s engine stopped and a chorus rose around them, leaving the vessel stranded in a deadly sea.

• Lin Jie survived the brutal conditions in the hold by staying inconspicuous and using his observations to secure his food.
• Lin Jie realized the Sea Witch had left its usual route, while the sailors repeatedly sang an ominous song about a vengeful spirit dragging ships underwater.
• Lin Jie remembered that a laborer had gone missing after claiming there was hair in the water, though the overseer said he had fallen overboard.
• Lin Jie heard scraping outside the hull and saw a pale, legless creature with tangled hair and tentacles staring at him through a porthole.
• The creature’s gaze overwhelmed Lin Jie, and the Sea Witch’s engine abruptly stopped as a strange requiem sounded from all around the ship.

Lin Jie escaped the hold during the Deep Sea Resentful Women’s attack and seized a German gentleman’s supernatural revolver, which shielded his mind from the creatures’ terror. After contact with a wounded monster triggered a clash between its malice and the dying gentleman’s will inside his consciousness, Lin Jie awakened with a plan focused on the fallen lamp.

• Lin Jie broke a corroded rivet in the hold’s iron bars and crawled onto the deck as the creatures attacked the ship.
• A German gentleman used a white lamp and a Webley revolver to fight the Deep Sea Resentful Women, but a larger creature struck him and knocked his gun toward Lin Jie.
• Lin Jie grabbed the revolver and found that its icy presence eased the mental pressure; he fired at an approaching Grudge Woman and was thrown backward by the recoil.
• Lin Jie touched the monster’s slick body with his bleeding hand, and the creature’s malice collided with the German gentleman’s final obsession inside his mind.
• Lin Jie seized the gentleman’s will to survive the mental assault, then focused on the still-burning portable lamp and formed a bold plan.

Lin Jie used the German hand lamp and a bonfire to drive back the Deep Sea Resentful Women, then endured a tropical storm with the survivors. At dawn, fewer than ten survivors remained aboard the powerless Sea Witch, and they spotted a coastline on the horizon.

• Lin Jie seized the glowing hand lamp and discovered its white light burned and repelled the Grudge Women.
• Lin Jie demonstrated the lamp's power and urged the survivors to gather anything combustible.
• The Indian overseer and the sailors helped Lin Jie build and ignite a bonfire that kept the Grudge Women at bay.
• A tropical storm struck the Sea Witch, and the Deep Sea Resentful Women retreated into the sea.
• After the storm, fewer than ten people remained alive, and Lin Jie saw a coastline on the horizon.

Lin Jie reached London after escaping the Sea Witch and traded one strange silver coin for food and lodging. The antique dealer recognized the coin, sent a coded message, and arrived with an associate to find Lin Jie that night.

• Lin Jie slipped away from the surviving laborers at Limehouse Docks and examined his revolver, diary, medicine, bullets, and unusual coins.
• Lin Jie touched the scale embedded in the revolver and received only faint emotional impressions from its previous owner.
• Lin Jie exchanged a silver coin at an antiques shop for a shilling and copper pennies, unaware that the proprietor had recognized it.
• The proprietor sent a coded message from a hidden device after Lin Jie left the shop.
• Lin Jie rented a crowded lodging-house bed and studied the German diary until the antique dealer and another well-dressed man came to his room and found him.

Lin Jie escaped the antique shop owner and his men after they attacked him in his dormitory, but he was wounded and hunted through Whitechapel District. Realizing Cold Iron had helped him block a knife, he headed for a lawless refuge where his pursuers might not dare follow.

• Lin Jie hid the diary and rolled beneath a bed when the man in the top hat ordered his companion to catch him.
• Lin Jie escaped the big man's grasp, broke through a window, and used Cold Iron to block a volley of throwing knives before falling into an alley.
• The man in the top hat ordered his men to notify their eyes and seal off Whitechapel District while Lin Jie fled through its alleys.
• Lin Jie realized Cold Iron had guided his reflexes and helped him block the knives, then heard a whistle signaling that his pursuers were near.
• Lin Jie chose to seek refuge in the Lawless Land and disappeared into the night.

Wounded and pursued, Lin Jie hid in Whitechapel District’s notorious lodging house, 11 Dorset Street, where he faced down a man trying to steal his bundle. As he tried to rest and worried over how to translate the diary, a scream sounded outside, marking the quiet beginning of a terrifying legend.

• Lin Jie reached 11 Dorset Street and paid Old Mole four pennies for a few hours on a bunk.
• A drunken lodger tried to seize Lin Jie’s bundle, but Lin Jie restrained him and threatened him with a gun until he backed down.
• The other lodgers stopped treating Lin Jie as an easy target after seeing him defend himself.
• Lin Jie considered how to find a trustworthy translator for the diary and tried to sleep despite his injury and the danger outside.
• A woman screamed near the lodging house, as a terrifying legend began elsewhere in Whitechapel District.

Lin Jie studied the German diary in a church reading room and found evidence that monsters could be understood and hunted using specific methods. After learning that a new Jack the Ripper murder had occurred near his lodging, he suspected the killer was the Town Rank UMA in the diary and considered using the monster against the human organization pursuing him.

• Lin Jie went to a free church reading room and began examining the German diary’s sketches and symbols.
• Lin Jie found records linking a shipboard monster’s activity to moon phases and learned that silver nitrate bullets could harm it.
• Lin Jie studied sketches of other dangerous creatures, including a Town Rank UMA depicted as a tall figure carrying a doctor’s bag.
• A newspaper reported that another woman had been murdered near Rat’s Nest on George Street, and Lin Jie realized he had heard the victim’s scream.
• Lin Jie sensed sulfur and hostile delight from the UMA sketch, suspected the creature was Jack the Ripper, and decided he might use it against the I.A.R.C. organization pursuing him.

Lin Jie analyzed the Jack the Ripper murders and concluded that the killer was likely a predatory UMA that hunted isolated women, used its own body as a weapon, and fed on their organs. He shared his theory with veteran constable Arthur Weston, who recognized the significance of Lin Jie's clues.

• Lin Jie studied reports of the Ripper murders and identified the victims as isolated women who were easy to prey upon.
• Lin Jie reasoned that the clean wounds might have been made by the UMA's natural weapons and that the recurring smell of sulphur could reveal its presence.
• Lin Jie concluded that the killer was a stealthy UMA that selected vulnerable people and removed their organs to feed.
• Arthur Weston noticed Lin Jie calmly studying the case and sat beside him to ask what he thought of the murders.
• Lin Jie wrote "Sulphur" on the newspaper and gestured toward the removed organs and eating, leaving Weston stunned by the implication.

Lin Jie investigated the Berner Street murder scene and used his ability to read its lingering impressions, confirming the killer was connected to the UMA. He discovered I.A.R.C. investigators Barton and Marcus were also tracking the Ripper, and left knowing he had to act faster to survive.

• Lin Jie mapped the Whitechapel murder sites and identified a central district surrounded by the crime scenes.
• Lin Jie entered the Berner Street courtyard and read the wall’s lingering impressions, sensing the killer’s fear, precise violence, and ecstatic hatred.
• Lin Jie hid as I.A.R.C. investigators Barton and Marcus examined the courtyard and discussed the Ripper, the Cartographer’s diary, and Lin Jie.
• Lin Jie learned that I.A.R.C. used an instrument to detect anomalous traces and realized his ability could expose him to their equipment.
• Lin Jie emerged after Barton and Marcus left and resolved to move faster in the secret war beneath London.

Lin Jie analyzed the Ripper killings and predicted a location for the next crime, hoping to gain leverage with Scotland Yard through Arthur Weston. He left Weston with the prediction, gambling that it would come true and make him a vital informant.

• Lin Jie abandoned surveying crime scenes and organized newspaper reports into a chart of the Ripper's victims, methods, and locations.
• Lin Jie concluded that the killer's attacks were accelerating and that it was refining its choice of victims and hunting grounds.
• Arthur Weston found Lin Jie's chart, and Lin Jie pretended he was only trying to find a pattern to protect himself.
• Lin Jie marked a location with no previous crime on a map and presented it to Weston as a prediction of the next murder scene.
• Lin Jie left the reading room without explaining his prediction, leaving Weston to decide whether to act on it.

Arthur Weston trusted Lin Jie’s warning and kept watch at Mitre Square, where he witnessed Jack the Ripper’s true monstrous form. After the creature vanished, Weston decided he had to find Lin Jie again.

• Arthur Weston overcame his doubts, kept Lin Jie’s marked newspaper, and went to watch Mitre Square.
• Weston spent the afternoon studying the square and hid in an abandoned building to keep vigil through the night.
• A drunk woman approached the square but left unharmed, and Weston briefly thought Lin Jie’s warning had been wrong.
• Weston saw a living shadow creature emerge where the woman had stood and sounded Scotland Yard’s alarm.
• The Jack the Ripper UMA vanished, leaving Weston shaken and determined to find Lin Jie again.

Barton and Marcus confirmed that the Mist Walker had appeared in Mitre Square and suspected Lin Jie was predicting its movements, so they planned to shift from eliminating him to contacting him. Lin Jie realized his warning had exposed Weston to danger and resolved to decipher the German diary to find the UMA’s weakness before I.A.R.C. did.

• Barton used an Aether Fluctuation Detector to confirm that the Mist Walker had appeared in Mitre Square and retreated after Weston blew his whistle.
• Barton and Marcus suspected Lin Jie had anticipated the UMA’s movements and decided to recommend observing and contacting him instead of eliminating him.
• Lin Jie listened to the whistle from his apartment and felt guilty that his plan had led Weston to confront the UMA alone.
• Lin Jie worried that the incident would draw I.A.R.C. and Scotland Yard’s attention and concluded that events were slipping beyond his control.
• Lin Jie opened Karl’s German diary to the Mist Walker’s sketch and resolved to decipher it to find the UMA’s weakness.

Lin Jie disguised himself as a drunken, destitute vagrant and used himself as bait to draw out the UMA known as Mist Walker. In a dark alley, he sensed it watching him and readied his Webley revolver while pretending to be unconscious.

• Lin Jie decided to seek out Mist Walker himself after the I.A.R.C. investigators disappeared and his passive defense left him feeling trapped.
• Lin Jie disguised himself as a ragged, alcohol-soaked vagrant and entered Mist Walker’s hunting grounds after nightfall.
• Lin Jie wandered through the alleys linked to the previous crime scenes and waited in George Field, pretending to be unconscious.
• Lin Jie smelled sulfur and sensed Mist Walker emerging from the shadows to inspect him, so he kept still and cocked his hidden Webley revolver.

Lin Jie ambushed Jack the Ripper with an alchemical bullet and used red pigment to reveal the UMA’s hidden body. After a second shot badly wounded it, the monster launched a desperate final attack, leaving Lin Jie in immediate danger.

• Lin Jie waited for Jack the Ripper to approach, then fired his hidden Webley revolver at close range.
• The first alchemical bullet missed but destabilized the UMA, and Lin Jie rolled away while preparing red pigment powder.
• Lin Jie scattered the pigment into the alley, coating the UMA and exposing its outline as a scarlet target.
• Lin Jie fired twice and struck Mist Walker in the chest with the second alchemical bullet, badly wounding it.
• Mist Walker gathered its remaining strength and charged Lin Jie in a final attack.

Barton and Marcus rescued Lin Jie from Mist Walker, but the dying UMA struck him with a mental curse before it could be purified. Lin Jie revealed its weakness to reflections, and after Mist Walker vanished, he used Karl the Cartographer’s diary to bargain with Barton for his survival.

• Marcus froze Mist Walker with a blue-flamed bullet and bound it with an Ether field while Barton confronted Lin Jie.
• Marcus poured purification liquid over Mist Walker, but its dying mental assault shattered nearby glass and targeted Lin Jie.
• Lin Jie recalled that Mist Walker feared reflections and used his Webley revolver as a reflective object.
• Barton reflected gas-lamp light onto Mist Walker with a silver mirror, causing it to evaporate and leave behind a black crystal.
• Barton questioned how Lin Jie knew the weakness, and Lin Jie presented Karl the Cartographer’s diary as the source of his answers.

Lin Jie persuaded Barton that he had not murdered Karl and explained how he had identified the Mist Walker and its weakness. Barton apologized and accepted him as a cooperator, but asked who Lin Jie really was as they began discussing Karl’s diary and a reward.

• Lin Jie explained that he had identified the Mist Walker by studying the symbols in Karl’s diary and investigating where it appeared.
• Lin Jie said he had deduced that concentrated light from a mirror could harm the Mirror, and Barton could find no flaw in his reasoning.
• Barton asked what had happened aboard the Sea Witch, and Lin Jie recounted Karl’s death during the Deep Sea Resentful Woman’s attack.
• Barton and Marcus accepted Lin Jie’s account, and Barton apologized for pursuing him on the I.A.R.C.’s behalf.
• Lin Jie asked to discuss ownership of Karl’s diary and a reward, and Barton asked who he was.

Lin Jie explained his ability to Barton as a blood- and contact-based power that produced vague afterimages of anomalous events, giving I.A.R.C. a plausible account of his unusual insights. Barton accepted the explanation and welcomed him as a powerful Interpreter.

• Barton took Lin Jie and Marcus to an I.A.R.C. outpost hidden beneath Corleone Clock Repair.
• Barton questioned Lin Jie about how he had predicted the UMA's actions, and Lin Jie avoided revealing the true source of his ability.
• Lin Jie described his Touch of Afterimage as a blood-mediated power that gave him fragmented impressions at a cost to his mental health.
• Lin Jie credited his prediction at Mitre Square to interpreting an afterimage left by Karl's sketch.
• Barton classified Lin Jie's ability as retrograde induction, apologized, and introduced himself as a Level Three I.A.R.C. investigator.

Lin Jie cleared his name with I.A.R.C. and earned the right to keep Karl’s Grotesque Armament, Heart of Serenity, while the Association arranged an English translation of Karl’s diary. Headquarters withdrew Lin Jie’s arrest warrant and offered him a choice between regular membership and a riskier Free Hunter Agreement.

• Lin Jie returned Karl’s diary and revolver, and Barton awarded him Heart of Serenity for his help against the Mist Walker.
• Barton offered to have the Association translate Karl’s German diary into English, and Lin Jie accepted.
• Barton reported the events to headquarters, which confirmed Karl’s death and withdrew Lin Jie’s arrest warrant.
• Headquarters praised Lin Jie’s Retrograde Induction ability and tactical skills, then offered him either regular membership or a Free Hunter Agreement.
• Barton explained that the agreement would grant Lin Jie freedom to take commissions and earn points, but provide no direct armed support; Lin Jie studied the contract.

Lin Jie signed an agreement to become an associate of the International Association for the Research and Containment of Anomalies, and Barton showed him the Association’s hidden London headquarters beneath the British Museum. After learning about the UMA rankings and the Hunter List, Lin Jie resolved to earn a place among its legendary investigators.

• Lin Jie signed the agreement, and its supernatural seal made him an associate of the Association.
• Barton took Lin Jie and his companions from the clock shop to the British Museum’s restricted Egyptian Artifact Restoration Department.
• Barton revealed that the real Rosetta Stone was a Spiritual Medium and used it to open a hidden lift to the Underground City.
• Barton showed Lin Jie the mission board, the Black Book of anomalous creatures, and the Hunter List of elite investigators.
• Lin Jie saw legendary figures ranked at the top of the Hunter List and resolved to have his own name and nickname recorded there one day.

Barton took Lin Jie to meet Arthur Conan, who registered and assessed Lin Jie’s starting equipment. Arthur explained the revolver’s spiritual properties and praised the Mist Walker’s core crystal before becoming absorbed in designing something with it.

• Barton led Lin Jie and Marcus to the Fourth Equipment Laboratory to have Lin Jie’s starting equipment registered.
• Arthur Conan made the group wait while he completed delicate work on the Scarlet Earl’s power core.
• Arthur examined Lin Jie’s revolver and identified its scale as material from a spiritually resonant companion vengeful spirit, criticizing its use in the gun’s grip.
• Arthur registered the revolver as a high-quality material with an idiotic design and said its scale would work better in defensive or support equipment.
• Arthur recognized the Mist Walker’s core as a perfect Condensed Shadow Crystal and excitedly considered making a cloak or dagger with it.