Recaps

Qi Si traded his sins to the Evil God for power, triggering divine punishment and clearing the Carnivore instance. As the game ended, he watched the dawn break and wondered whether even someone like him could stand in the sunlight.

• Qi Si learned that the Rules prevented the Evil God from giving answers directly, so he traded his sins for the being’s most valuable offering and accepted a path that would bring calamity to the world.
• At Granny Su’s house, Zhou Yilin realized Chang Xu had misled the players and took a hatchet, but she and Zhang Licai began melting under divine punishment.
• Qi Si watched Zhou Yilin, Zhang Licai, Zhu Ling, and the people of Su Village dissolve into pools of mucus after the instance’s ending came early.
• The system declared that all rules and lore had been solved, cleared the Carnivore team survival instance, and recorded the True End, “Pragmatism Principle.”
• As the instance prepared to transport him out, Qi Si rested beside the God’s corpse, watched the red sun rise, and smiled at the sunlight.

Qi Si completed the Carnivore instance with an S-grade evaluation and received 8,500 reward points, bringing his total to 13,000. He also obtained a recorder and an Evil God Finger Bone, whose disappointing effect left him furious at the Evil God.

• The Evil God raised Qi Si’s evaluation to S grade, and the settlement awarded points for clearing the true end, decrypting the worldview, surviving alone, and unlocking achievements.
• Qi Si wondered whether Chang Xu had survived Rose Manor and considered the risks of meeting him again over the Pocket Watch of Fate.
• Qi Si speculated that the Eerie Game’s reward system encouraged player slaughter and escape, then saw his points total rise to 13,000.
• The system stored the Ghost Driver’s Tape Recorder as a carryable item and awarded Qi Si the Evil God Finger Bone for perfectly clearing Carnivore.
• Qi Si learned that the bound finger bone made meat taste like vegetarian food and angrily accused the Evil God of thinking it was funny.

The closure of the Carnivore instance exposed the cost of the Federation’s past response to supernatural threats, while Qi Si investigated a possible link between the instance and the real world. He asked Jin Yusheng to look into Su Village and Granny Su as he considered the growing power of the authorities and other factions.

• Players at the Ruins of Sunset learned that the Carnivore novice instance had been permanently closed and speculated that the same unnamed player who cleared Rose Manor had cleared it.
• Yang Yundong reported what he knew about Carnivore to Shao Qingmin, but refused to describe Chang Xu and questioned why the Federation had sent soldiers to die despite knowing the site was haunted.
• Qi Si woke from a nightmare, read a book whose afterword mentioned Su Village and Granny Su, and found no reliable information about them online.
• Qi Si called Jin Yusheng and asked him to investigate whether Su Village and Granny Su had really existed.
• Qi Si suspected that officials and civilian factions knew about the Eerie Game and considered how his ability to bring game items into reality might help him gain leverage.
• Qi Si used the Evil God Finger Bone on his instant noodles, then painstakingly picked out the beef bits.

Qi Si struggled with his new appetite and gave a meat-filled pancake to a stray dog. At an Eerie Investigation Bureau briefing, Mu Dongxu warned that the Eerie Game was threatening reality, while Chang Xu ignored the meeting to eat.

• Qi Si went to a breakfast shop, where the proprietress ignored his request for an egg pancake without meat and gave him an egg-stuffed pancake instead.
• Qi Si threw the pancake into a trash can for a hungry black dog and left without eating it.
• Mu Dongxu reported rising Eerie Invasion incidents and warned that players were becoming less willing to explore new instances.
• Mu Dongxu said a prophecy had revealed a Gate that could connect the Eerie Game to reality and bring an unprecedented disaster.
• Mu Dongxu called out Chang Xu for eating a chicken leg during the briefing, and Chang Xu defended himself by citing his contract and dinner break.
• Mu Dongxu threatened to halve Chang Xu's meal allowance if he brought food into the assembly hall again.

Qi Si searched the forums for information about the Eerie Game and revisited the story of how his first homeroom teacher, Yao Cheng, had uttered “Eerie Game” before dying. He read Zhao Feng’s post accusing the still-living Chang Xu of betraying and killing him, then ended the day playing a simple phone game.

• Qi Si recalled that Yao Cheng had convulsed and died during class after trying to say four words that Qi Si now recognized as “Eerie Game.”
• Public Security Bureau officers visited Qi Si for a routine check-in, and he later searched forum posts about game items, Identity Cards, and features available to Official Players.
• Qi Si found Zhao Feng’s post accusing Chang Xu of using his alias to deceive him, force him to kill someone, and then kill him in the Carnivore dungeon.
• Qi Si enjoyed the forum’s divided reactions to Zhao Feng’s post and learned that other players believed Chang Xu had earned a TE in Rose Manor and might soon become an Official Player.
• After leaving the forums, Qi Si noticed that nearly everyone in his contacts was dead, opened Happy Match, and played until he grew sleepy.

Qi Si entered the solo-puzzle instance Dialectical Game, where his items and game interface were sealed. He woke in a medical room and found a record stating that a patient named Qi Si had fallen into a vegetative state after his soul possibly escaped.

• Qi Si experienced a nightmare about a woman he had helped die, then woke beneath a monstrous golden tree as the next instance began.
• Qi Si recalled a God-level NPC’s promise that the puzzle would provide symbols and revelations, and stepped through a mirror into the instance.
• The game identified the instance as Dialectical Game, a solo puzzle that sealed all his items.
• Qi Si woke on an operating table in a clean medical room, wearing a gown marked with the number 9, with no game interface or custom wristband.
• Qi Si searched a drawer and found medical records describing a patient named Qi Si who developed soul weightlessness and later became comatose, possibly because his soul had escaped.

Qi Si discovered that he was Clone No. 9, created to cultivate the soul of the original Qi Si, and met the researchers who were observing him. The chapter ended when he recognized the director and greeted them with “Long time no see.”

• Qi Si read the records and learned that the original Qi Si had died three years earlier, while Clone No. 9 was being observed for signs of a soul.
• Qi Si found eight empty numbered tanks and inferred that his predecessors had been destroyed as failed clones.
• When researchers entered, Qi Si pretended to be dead, then cooperated as they restrained and examined him.
• The researchers wheeled Qi Si through a corridor and discussed his resemblance to the Origin, while noting that he still had no soul.
• Qi Si struggled to look at the director, recognized them, and laughed before greeting them with “Long time no see.”

Qi Si questioned whether he was in an Eerie Game instance or the real world as a clone, then searched for a way to escape the Research Institute. The chapter ended when Jin Yusheng entered the office and addressed him as Subject 9.

• Qi Si challenged Jin Yusheng about the cloning experiments and tested whether the people around him reacted to the words "Eerie Game."
• Jin Yusheng said Qi Si had died in an instance and that the clones carried his memories, leaving Qi Si uncertain whether he was in a game or the real world.
• Qi Si assessed his situation and concluded he needed to escape before he was destroyed in three days.
• A nurse restrained Qi Si and gave him nutrients through an IV, eliminating his hoped-for chance to use a meal to escape.
• Researchers wheeled Qi Si through the facility, allowing him to study the route and spot a room filled with surveillance monitors.
• Jin Yusheng entered the office, sat behind the desk, and greeted Qi Si as Subject 9.

Qi Si used verbal tactics to question Jin Yusheng about the Research Institute and the cloning experiments, then challenged him to explain why a clone with Qi Si’s memories and identity could not be Qi Si. Jin Yusheng showed him his reflection, leaving Qi Si confronted with a familiar face that looked unmistakably inhuman.

• Qi Si provoked Jin Yusheng into explaining that he had used the game’s points to create clones in hopes of bringing Qi Si back to life.
• Jin Yusheng described how Qi Si had been unconscious when an invitation pulled him into the game, and how earlier clones had tried to escape or attack him.
• Qi Si questioned the three-day limit for observing clones and learned Jin Yusheng believed keeping him longer would raise medical and security costs.
• Jin Yusheng tested Qi Si, then said his intelligence and other traits closely matched those of the original Qi Si.
• Qi Si argued that his memories and thoughts made him Qi Si, and Jin Yusheng showed him a mirror revealing his corpse-like appearance.

Qi Si confronted Jin Yusheng about regretting his wish to revive him, then concluded that he was likely a clone in reality rather than inside an instance. He used what he knew of the original Qi Si’s crimes to shake Jin Yusheng’s faith in him and suggested ending the revival wish, leaving Jin Yusheng wavering.

• Qi Si questioned Jin Yusheng about how the Eerie Game judged souls, and Jin Yusheng admitted he trusted its judgment and could not change his wish to revive Qi Si.
• Back in the Observation Room, Qi Si weighed the evidence that he was a clone and concluded that his memories, thoughts, and choices could still make him Qi Si.
• Qi Si summoned Jin Yusheng and argued that making the revival wish harder might make the Eerie Game stop pursuing it.
• Qi Si revealed that he had started the summer-camp fire and saved Jin Yusheng only to use him, then claimed he had also caused Jin Yusheng’s parents’ deaths and later misfortunes.
• Jin Yusheng challenged Qi Si’s credibility as a clone, but Qi Si argued that Jin Yusheng already knew reviving the original Qi Si would do more harm than good and said he would end the farce.

Qi Si recalled how he escaped the cult camp as a child and reasoned through why eight earlier clones had failed to escape the Origin. He realized Jin Yusheng’s hints meant Subject 9 was smarter than his predecessors and could devise a better plan.

• Qi Si remembered how he gained the cultists’ trust, started a fire, freed the children, and escaped the mountain camp with Jin Yusheng.
• After Jin Yusheng left the Observation Room, a nurse released Qi Si from his restraints and the ceiling camera was switched off.
• Qi Si searched the room for a weapon but found nothing useful, then concluded Jin Yusheng had anticipated that he might try to attack him.
• Qi Si modeled the failed clones’ possible strategies and struggled to determine which escape plan Subject 9 should choose.
• Qi Si recalled Jin Yusheng saying that earlier clones had never made the same request and that Subject 9 had scored higher on intelligence tests.
• Qi Si realized he could choose a better plan than the first eight clones and smiled at the possibility of escaping.

Qi Si broke out of the Observation Room and explored the Research Institute, intending to escape rather than help Jin Yusheng kill the Origin. After discovering the institute was an Eerie Game anomaly, he followed a strange fog into a corridor filled with corpses that looked like him.

• Qi Si escaped his room by picking its lock with his IV cannula and sneaked through the Research Institute toward the surveillance room.
• Qi Si studied the surveillance feeds, mapped an escape route, and planned to search the director's office before hiding in a blind spot.
• Qi Si encountered supernatural phenomena and saw a message identifying the Research Institute as an anomaly exchanged by Jin Yusheng.
• Qi Si suspected that the institute might still be an instance and hurried toward a surveillance blind spot.
• Qi Si entered a foggy, temple-like corridor and saw several corpses bearing his own features.

Qi Si realized the Research Institute was a constructed layer of the instance and that the corpses were versions of himself trapped in a cycle of repeated deaths. Rejecting the offer to leave the Eerie Game, he followed the path to a copper door and heard his own voice call him inside.

• Qi Si recognized flaws in the Research Institute and concluded that the instance had been steering him through an artificial chain of reasoning.
• After finding no clues in the rooms, Qi Si returned to the foggy corridor and discovered that every corpse wore a red 9 like his own.
• A voice explained that countless versions of Qi Si relived the same death, and Qi Si accepted that the corpses were all versions of himself.
• Qi Si refused the chance to leave the Eerie Game and walked over the corpses, finding a key in the last one's pocket.
• Qi Si unlocked a copper door in the fog and tossed a corpse through it to test for danger.
• A voice from inside the door, sounding like Qi Si, told him to stop wasting time and come in.

Qi Si outmaneuvered his copies to obtain the Key of Superego and clear the Dialectical Game, deciding that the surviving version of him was the real Qi Si. As the dungeon began to transform, he sensed that the truth behind it went beyond the research institute.

• Qi Si entered the temple and confronted a lookalike who claimed to be the real Qi Si, then died when his opponent used a knife.
• The chapter revealed that Qi Si had designed the dungeon, sending nine copies through eight fatal traps so the last survivor could reach the key.
• Qi Si took the Key of Superego from the corpse and argued that whichever version survived could define himself as Qi Si.
• The system announced that Qi Si had cleared the dungeon and recorded the Dialectical Game True End.
• A voice claiming to be Qi Si stopped the countdown, and the research institute burned away to reveal a strange gallery.

Qi Si recovered memories of his childhood and learned that the God had watched over him and made a deal with him. The God revealed that the Gods' Gamble had begun and urged Qi Si to collect Soul Leaves, leaving him facing the Golden Giant Tree and the promise that he would rule the Eerie.

• Qi Si witnessed memories of his younger self, including the deaths around him and his confinement at the cult's base, where the God first offered him a place in the Eerie Game.
• The God explained that Qi Si's concentrated Sin made the world reject him and admitted to covering up evidence from incidents when Qi Si was twelve and sixteen.
• Qi Si challenged the God about their agreement, and the God revealed that the Rules had banished it to Su Village and that their interests were now aligned.
• The God told Qi Si that the Gods' Gamble had begun and urged him to keep winning until he claimed the final crown of the Ruins of Sunset.
• Qi Si examined the Golden Giant Tree as the God explained that players were Soul Leaves that could be hung on its branches, then declared that Qi Si would rule the Eerie.

After clearing the Dialectical Game, Qi Si received the Soul Contract skill promised by the God and explored the newly unlocked Points Mall. He returned to his Game Space without choosing a display nickname and found it resembled a filthy, ruined temple.

• Qi Si received 10,000 points and unlocked the Soul Contract skill, which could bind entities to agreed terms or succeed on a dice roll when their intent was unclear.
• Qi Si questioned the skill’s low success rate and considered ways to exploit its rules to secure contracts.
• Qi Si opened the Points Mall, examined its videos and merchandise, and found that each player could own only one Pocket Watch of Fate.
• Qi Si returned to the Game Space, declined to set a display nickname, and recognized the space as a dilapidated, unclean palace.

Qi Si left the Game Space and endured the memories of his nine clones before recording the Dialectical Game’s painful death methods in his notebook. He read a player’s forum account of the instance, but the account ended abruptly after the player went downstairs to collect takeout.

• Qi Si watched players’ livestreams, reflected on his distrust of the Evil God, and left the Game Space before its time limit expired.
• Back in his room, Qi Si experienced the memories and deaths of his nine clones, then went through an out-of-body episode.
• After his soul returned to his body, Qi Si added the Dialectical Game’s eight painful death methods to his notebook, “How Will Qi Si Die?”
• Qi Si read a forum post from a freshman who described answering questions, finding eight lookalike corpses, and killing a doppelganger in the Dialectical Game instance.
• The poster said she was going downstairs to get takeout and never replied again.

Qi Si tested the Soul Contract on his taxi driver and learned that its power worked in the real world, then discovered signs of official scrutiny and information control. Meanwhile, Chang Xu was alive and had grown suspicious of Qi Si, but Mu Dongxu told him to recruit Qi Si instead of investigating him privately.

• Qi Si used Soul Contract to make Liu Pu keep their conversation confidential, and the contract succeeded.
• Jin Yusheng warned Qi Si that officials had surrounded Su Village and were restricting travel between cities.
• Qi Si found no results when he searched the game forum for “game invasion reality,” then saw players praising Chang Xu as a genuine, upright survivor.
• Chang Xu told Mu Dongxu that Qi Si seemed suspicious, but Mu Dongxu said the bureau had monitored Qi Si for six years without finding evidence of wrongdoing.
• Mu Dongxu forbade Chang Xu from investigating Qi Si privately and suggested recruiting him; Chang Xu accepted the plan.

Qi Si reclaimed his family home, arranged for his relatives’ graves to be removed, and returned to the Game Space. He entered a randomly generated instance after declining to choose one or start a livestream.

• Qi Si found his old family home occupied by villagers, secured a world-guaranteed contract for them to change the lock, and warned them about the corpse oil left behind when his cousin was carried out.
• Qi Si reported the village’s illegal burials, then agreed to have his relatives’ remains cremated and their ashes scattered in the fields.
• Qi Si returned to the Game Space, examined his item bar, and used an appearance modification voucher to disguise the Pocket Watch of Fate as a plain wristwatch.
• Qi Si declined to pay points to select an instance and refused to start a livestream.
• Qi Si entered the black whirlpool, and the system randomly generated and loaded an instance.

Qi Si entered the multiplayer survival instance Sea of Hopelessness and reunited with Chang Xu aboard a ship bound for the Devil's Triangle Sea. After the captain warned the players to sleep, ghosts emerged from the cabins, and a voice declared them stranded in a land beyond the map.

• Qi Si surveyed the ship and met Chang Xu, then Zhang Hongfeng and Liu Yuhan emerged from a trapdoor as other players gathered on deck.
• Players recognized Liu Yuhan for her instance guides and crowded around her, while Qi Si stepped away with Chang Xu.
• Chang Xu questioned Qi Si about Rose Manor, and Qi Si admitted he had manipulated events to trigger time reversal and escape Zou Yan.
• The captain, Crouch, warned the players to return to their cabins and sleep before the ship crossed the Devil's Triangle Sea.
• Players found ghosts inside the cabins, and the ghosts filed across the deck and leapt into the sea as the captain cried that the ship was cursed.
• Darkness and violent waves engulfed the ship as a voice described the players' voyage and welcomed them to a hopeless sea.

Qi Si and the other players reached an island after the ship’s apparent wreck, where they learned the main quest was to escape. Qi Si bluffed Chang Xu about the Carnivore instance, then discovered his Merchant identity and a new side quest as the island’s rules introduced the Sea God’s dangers.

• The players woke on the beach, and a scholarly young man gathered their accounts of the ship’s ghosts and speculated about what they had seen.
• The main quest refreshed to Escape the Island, and Chang Xu pressed Qi Si about the Carnivore instance; Qi Si defended himself and challenged Chang Xu’s right to interrogate him.
• Qi Si explored the beach, spotted a mermaid statue and a Clock Tower inland, and received the Merchant identity with an optional quest to kill all Scholars.
• The players gathered at the statue and read rules explaining the island’s payment system, clock-based sleep schedule, food, offerings, and warnings about the Sea God and ocean.

Qi Si and Chang Xu joined the other players as they explored the rules of Sea God Island and met Yuna, who offered them money and lodging. The group followed her through the Coconut Grove to an inn, while the island’s rules and dangers remained unclear.

• Qi Si moved beside Chang Xu and said he trusted him, while Chang Xu considered whether Qi Si could be a threat.
• Lu Li gathered the players to ask whether anyone had cash, and Qi Si warned Chang Xu that Lu Li might be trying to control the group.
• Yuna emerged from the Coconut Grove, introduced herself through sign language, and explained that the island had no boats; she directed the players to ask the Sea God about leaving.
• Yuna distributed strange banknotes from the Sea God and offered to take the players to her inn.
• The players followed Yuna through the Coconut Grove and reached a two-story wooden cottage.

Qi Si and the other players learned the inn’s costs and rules, then debated whether they could trust one another in the faction-based instance. Qi Si privately gained Chang Xu’s trust by claiming they were both Nobles, and Chang Xu revealed that they had ten days’ worth of room money.

• Yuna explained that rooms cost 300 yuan per night, allowed up to three guests, and that island residents could not give change; the players’ rules updated.
• Lu Li proposed cooperation and revealed that he was a Merchant, but Qi Si questioned whether his claims could be trusted, increasing suspicion among the players.
• The players booked rooms and handed their banknotes to Yuna, who made the money vanish before leaving to prepare dinner.
• Qi Si asked Chang Xu to share a room and claimed he was a Noble with the ability to receive more starting funds.
• Chang Xu revealed that he was also a Noble and that they each had 1,500 yuan, enough to pay for ten days together.

Qi Si and the other players ate the inn’s foul fish dishes while Lu Li explained his theory about the island’s setting. Later, Qi Si tested a lock and discussed morality and guilds with Chang Xu, whose team-up offer led Qi Si to discover that Chang Xu’s refusal had made Soul Contract fail; Qi Si then considered him a threat.

• Yuna served the players a table of fish dishes, and Lu Li introduced himself as a history professor before explaining that the instance appeared to be set during the Age of Exploration.
• Qi Si ate most of the seaweed and left the remaining half for Chang Xu, while the other players later found only fish dishes left to eat.
• On the way upstairs, Qi Si picked a room lock and argued with Chang Xu about morality, survival, and whether to join a guild.
• Chang Xu offered Qi Si a team-up ring and said he had not joined a guild, and Qi Si accepted the ring.
• Qi Si attempted to use Soul Contract on Chang Xu, saw that the skill had failed because Chang Xu had refused, and concluded that Chang Xu might become a serious problem.

Lu Li organized the players to investigate three locations while Chang Xu and Qi Si searched their room and found a diary describing a cursed voyage into the Sea of Hopelessness. The diary raised questions about the dead, the Siren, and the shipwreck, and Qi Si proposed searching the other rooms for more clues.

• Lu Li suggested splitting into three teams to explore the Clock Tower, the Altar, and Coconut Grove, and warned that the Altar was dangerous.
• Angela considered why Chang Xu and Qi Si had left the group and touched a consumable card that could reveal a player's Identity Card.
• Chang Xu apologized to Qi Si for questioning him, and they examined a room whose painting and strange dusk-lit window suggested clues about the instance's rules.
• Qi Si found Viscount Crouch's diary, which described a voyage through cursed waters and sailors haunted by the dead and the Siren.
• Chang Xu and Qi Si discussed what had happened to their ship and how they might escape, while Qi Si suggested searching the other rooms for clues.