Chapter Summaries

Qi Si and Chang Xu investigated the island’s origins and the Clock Tower’s clues while other players faced dangers across the island. The chapter ended with Liu Yuhan and Zhang Hongfeng returning to the inn after finding a talking head, as the Clock Tower rang seven times.

• Qi Si and Chang Xu watched a vision of enslaved people being lured into the sea by Yuna and transformed into monsters, then connected the vision to the Sea God’s Altar and the island’s sacrifices.
• Qi Si and Chang Xu heard a song from the Clock Tower about a lost homeland and drowned souls, and Qi Si recorded it before the tower rang seven times.
• Xu Ruozi and Bai Yanduan climbed the Clock Tower, where skeletal arms dragged Xu Ruozi into a wall and she drowned in a vision of the sea.
• Liu Yuhan and Zhang Hongfeng found a severed head in the Coconut Grove; Liu Yuhan warned Zhang Hongfeng not to touch it and wrote a note about what happened.
• Liu Yuhan and Zhang Hongfeng returned to the empty inn after the seventh chime, and Liu Yuhan headed for the kitchen to find water.

Qi Si and Chang Xu found a player murdered in the Coconut Grove and considered how suspicion could turn the group against one another. In the inn kitchen, Liu Yuhan followed Zhang Hongfeng into danger and encountered the blue-dressed woman.

• Qi Si and Chang Xu found a young man with half his head smashed in and concluded he had been killed by another player or person.
• Qi Si warned Chang Xu that irrational group decisions could lead the players to accuse and eliminate an innocent person.
• Zhang Hongfeng heard running water in the kitchen and, under the Nightmare's spell, began washing his bloody hands at a sink.
• Liu Yuhan followed Zhang Hongfeng, picked up a fallen painting of a woman in blue beside a fish-human statue, and recognized a resemblance to the inn's religious painting.
• Liu Yuhan saw blood flowing from a corpse with Xu Maochun's face behind the sink, then turned to find the blue-dressed woman asking why she had come to her kitchen.

The players compared their discoveries and Qi Si pieced together the Sea of Hopelessness’s backstory, while the group worried about those who had gone to the Altar. The discussion ended when Lu Li collapsed into the hotel lobby, covered in blood.

• Liu Yuhan told Qi Si and Zhang Hongfeng how she escaped Yuna by threatening to smash a painting, and Qi Si questioned whether Yuna or the Sea God was the island’s true god.
• Players returned to the hotel and shared reports from Coconut Grove and the Clock Tower, while Angela explained that Lu Li had sent her back before they reached the Altar.
• Chang Xu described his Clock Tower hallucination, and Qi Si theorized that Yuna had sacrificed travelers to the Sea God and that the island’s coconuts and fish were former crew members.
• Angela wondered why Lu Li and the others had not returned, and a white player argued with Ye Linsheng over whether Lu Li could be trusted.
• Lu Li collapsed at the hotel entrance, bringing the smell of blood into the lobby.

After Lu Li survived a player’s attack by transferring his fatal injury, the group grew suspicious and wary of a hidden killer and possible accomplice. Qi Si and Chang Xu discussed the danger of players turning on one another, while Chang Xu kept the Sea God’s idol from Yuna; the killer’s identity remained unknown.

• Lu Li told Qi Si and the others that an attacker had struck him from behind, and his Gift of Axo had transferred the fatal injury to his leg.
• Liu Yuhan pointed out that Lu Li’s Merchant identity meant a Scholar could not have attacked him, leading Lu Li to suspect the killer had an accomplice from another faction.
• Yuna collected the players’ lodging fees and offered one favor to whoever found her missing Sea God’s idol, while Qi Si concealed his knowledge that Chang Xu had taken it.
• Qi Si advised Chang Xu not to return the idol to Yuna and warned him that frightened players might resort to the Minimum Death Quota mechanic.
• Chang Xu suspected the killer and accomplice belonged to Sariel, but Qi Si considered that anyone could be controlled by the Puppeteer and therefore become an accomplice.

Qi Si questioned Yuna about the Soul-Calming Soup and challenged Chang Xu to consider the cost of survival, then stayed awake to investigate the murderer’s motives. After pouring out his soup, he saw a gigantic Golden Eye appear in the clouds.

• Yuna told Qi Si she had brought him extra Soul-Calming Soup because she liked him and said travelers could pray to the Sea God with valuable offerings for restful sleep.
• Qi Si and Chang Xu debated whether survival meant that someone else had to die, and Qi Si suggested Chang Xu might kill him if they had to choose between sharing one bowl of soup and one of them drinking it all.
• Chang Xu drank his soup and fell asleep, while Qi Si stayed awake and reconsidered the players’ earlier discussions to identify the murderer.
• Qi Si suspected the murderer was someone who had learned about the Altar and sought a leadership position, though he hoped his guess was wrong.
• At the toll of ten bells, Qi Si poured his soup onto the floor, and a gigantic Golden Eye appeared in the dark clouds outside his window.

Qi Si resisted the sea god’s influence by shutting the window and used Chang Xu to exploit the inn’s rules, while Liu Yuhan faced a monster attack. The song from Qi Si’s recorder drew the monsters into a worshipful queue and saved Liu Yuhan, who saw him as a godlike figure.

• Qi Si triggered the Identity Card’s Lucid Dream effect, realized the window was tied to the danger, and shut it to escape the sea god’s influence.
• Qi Si propped sleeping Chang Xu against the window and rigged a wire at his throat so the rules would prevent the monsters from breaking in.
• Qi Si played songs on his recorder and held the Statue of the Sea God while wondering what a god was.
• Liu Yuhan regretted her reckless decisions, reviewed the clues in her notebook, and refused to regret entering the Eerie Game.
• Liu Yuhan’s notebook completed its analysis as fish-bodied monsters smashed into her room, revealing an image of Qi Si.
• Qi Si’s song soothed the monsters, led them into a worshipful queue in the hallway, and drew Liu Yuhan out of danger.

Qi Si revealed that he had tested a way to survive the night without drinking the Soul-Calming Soup, while keeping the instance’s backstory to himself. The players discovered Hans dead and learned that his corpse was a puppet, leaving them wary of two more hidden puppets among their group.

• Chang Xu confronted Qi Si about the previous night, and Qi Si admitted he had risked acting alone to investigate the instance and disrupt Sariel’s plans.
• Zhang Hongfeng and Liu Yuhan thanked Qi Si for saving them and left, while Chang Xu followed Qi Si into the corridor.
• Lu Li noticed Hans had not emerged, and the players forced open his door to find him dead in bed beside a bloodstained hammer.
• Lu Li identified the hammer as the weapon used to attack him and warned that Hans’s puppet-like corpse could infect anyone who touched it with Puppet Thread.
• Lu Li said Hans was likely one of the Puppeteer’s puppets and warned that two more might be among the players.
• Qi Si questioned how Hans had died, and Lu Li answered that the instance’s mechanics and supernatural rules made it difficult to know.

Qi Si found a sailor’s diary that warned of the Altar and said the sea offered a chance to leave every three days, making the players plan to escape by boat tomorrow. He warned Chang Xu that alliances could make them targets, then sent him to move the Clock Tower skeleton before secretly approaching Angela to propose visiting the Altar together.

• Qi Si found and read a sailor’s diary describing the Sea God’s influence, Crouch’s transformation, and a chance to leave the island every three days.
• Lu Li noted that tomorrow would be the third day, and Zhang Hongfeng said he could finish repairing the boat in time for their planned departure.
• After the players ate, Chang Xu questioned Qi Si about lost time, and Angela invited them to explore the Altar.
• Qi Si rejected Angela’s alliance, warning that players might kill one another to meet the Minimum Death Quota and that alliances could make them targets.
• Qi Si told Chang Xu to retrieve the Clock Tower skeleton and place it between the inn, Clock Tower, and Altar, then pretended to be distressed as Chang Xu left.
• Qi Si dropped his worried act, returned to Angela, and asked her to visit the Altar with him.

Qi Si tricked Angela at the Altar, used his control over the monsters and the dungeon’s rules to kill her, and took her money. He discovered that money could pay for lives, then waited to see whether cutting off Angela’s finger would reveal anything about the black ring.

• Angela led Qi Si to the Altar and threatened him with a dagger, demanding what he knew about the Clock Tower and the Statue of the Sea God.
• Qi Si’s monsters surrounded Angela, and a system warning revealed that she could not kill a player identified as a Merchant.
• In a flashback, Qi Si returned the statue to Yuna and bargained for control over some of the monsters.
• Qi Si signed a rules-backed contract with Angela, then killed her himself, explaining that he had never promised not to kill her.
• Qi Si took Angela’s 1,800 banknotes, paid ten on the Altar, and concluded that money could be exchanged for a player’s life.
• Qi Si cut off Angela’s right little finger and waited, but it showed no wooden structure or black ring.

Yuna revealed how she used the Sea God’s promise and the slaves’ sacrifices to gain an eternal place in the sea, while Qi Si uncovered Lu Li’s elaborate deception in the Eerie Game. Lu Li then revealed that he had already planted Puppet Thread in Qi Si and took control of him.

• Yuna showed Qi Si memories of a mute, ostracized girl who found an idol, heard the Sea God’s voice, and followed its command to offer sacrifices in exchange for what she wanted.
• Yuna admitted that the desperate slaves needed a guiding god, even if it was a malicious lie, and Qi Si laughed at her explanation.
• Qi Si returned to the inn and found Lu Li alone, reading a book whose legend echoed the instance’s story.
• Qi Si laid out how Lu Li and his accomplices had staged events to win the players’ trust, mislead them, and frame the mystery around the Puppeteer.
• Lu Li revealed that Ye Linsheng had planted Puppet Thread in Qi Si when they held hands in the dream, then used it to immobilize him.

Chang Xu returned to the inn and found the players accusing him and Qi Si of being Puppets after Ye Linsheng's death. After proving he was human, Chang Xu learned Qi Si had killed Ye Linsheng and found Qi Si dead, leaving him convinced he had been deceived.

• Chang Xu returned to the inn and found the players surrounding him, accusing him of conspiring with Qi Si after Ye Linsheng died.
• Chang Xu fought off the players without striking back, took Lu Li hostage, and demanded to know where Qi Si was.
• Lu Li claimed Qi Si was a Sariel Puppet who killed Ye Linsheng, and Chang Xu cut off his own pinky to prove he was human.
• Lu Li said Qi Si was upstairs in Ye Linsheng's room, so Chang Xu released him and went to look for Qi Si.
• Chang Xu found Qi Si's body wrapped in bloodstained threads and recognized him as a dead Puppet.

Liu Yuhan and the other players faced the effects of the fish feast as several turned into monsters, while Lu Li led the group to leave the island early. At the shore, the boat’s four-person rule forced the five survivors to choose who would be left behind, and Chang Xu was abandoned as the boat departed.

• Liu Yuhan refused the fish and watched Zhang Hongfeng and the other players eat it eagerly, while Lu Li warned that the game would soon end.
• Xu Ruozi transformed into a fish-like monster and tried to eat Bai Yanduan, but Chang Xu pulled him into a room and saved him.
• Liu Yuhan recalled that she had mortgaged her soul to Qi Si, then agreed with Lu Li to leave the island that night because Yuna had not brought the Soul-Calming Soup.
• Lu Li and the players dragged the repaired boat to the shore, where a new rule declared it could carry only four people.
• Bai Yanduan and two other men boarded with Lu Li, leaving Chang Xu behind; they tossed him their money as the boat drifted away.
• Chang Xu realized the others had silently chosen to abandon him and picked up a broken plate shard that had nearly cut his throat.

Liu Yuhan and Chang Xu were stranded on the island after the boat left, and they discovered that the Altar was guarded by endlessly reforming monsters. As Chang Xu was pinned down, someone threatened him and ordered him to turn off the livestream.

• Liu Yuhan carried Zhang Hongfeng toward the shore but fell as the boat carrying three players sailed away, and she found a Fish-Headed Monster where Zhang Hongfeng had been.
• Bai Yanduan discovered that Lu Li had escaped using a Substitute Doll, leaving the remaining passengers to face the death point; the boat sank after the tenth bell toll.
• Chang Xu rescued Liu Yuhan from Fish-Headed Monsters with black cards and wet banknotes, then explained that he had been left behind because the boat only held four people.
• Chang Xu decided to investigate the Altar with Liu Yuhan, where black-smoke monsters attacked them and re-formed after he struck them apart.
• Chang Xu realized the bell's changing number of tolls meant time was wrong, then saw Liu Yuhan captured and was pinned down by the monsters.
• An unseen person held something cold to Chang Xu's neck and told him to turn off the livestream if he wanted to live.

Qi Si exposed Lu Li’s scheme and led Chang Xu and Liu Yuhan to the Altar, where the real Qi Si was revealed to be controlled by the Puppeteer. Chang Xu entered the Altar to retrieve the Sea God Scepter, while Qi Si revealed an Evil God Finger Bone and a mysterious man elsewhere advanced a red-clad chess piece.

• Qi Si explained that Lu Li had framed Chang Xu, manipulated the puppet identities, and planned to keep them on the island.
• Qi Si described how the Clock Tower skipped three chimes each day, making the island’s days eighteen hours long, and explained why he had withheld that information.
• At the Altar, Chang Xu realized that the young man was not Qi Si because the dead could not pass the stele; the Puppeteer then threatened Liu Yuhan and demanded the Sea God Scepter.
• Chang Xu agreed to enter the Altar for the scepter, and Qi Si briefly regained control and questioned whether Lu Li knew Chang Xu was creating a smokescreen for the Puppeteer’s influence.
• In the Mind Palace, Qi Si confronted Lu Li and revealed an Evil God Finger Bone on his pinky, as the Puppeteer’s control faltered.
• In a distant black chamber, a man in a black suit discussed Chang Xu’s unpredictability and moved a red-clad chess piece forward.

Chang Xu obtained the Sea God Scepter but was killed by Qi Si, who then exposed the Sea of Hopelessness’s history and cleared its true end with Liu Yuhan. The chapter ended with Qi Si back aboard the ship, questioning whether the captain had also helped Yuna sacrifice people, as the system prepared to transport them out.

• Chang Xu resisted the force trying to wake him, recited the Three-Line Divine Name, and took the Sea God Scepter from the statue.
• Qi Si stabbed Chang Xu with the scepter, searched his corpse, and told Liu Yuhan she could earn freedom by clearing one hundred instances.
• Qi Si played the Tape Recorder beside the skeleton and explained to Liu Yuhan how Yuna had deceived the enslaved people and used their sacrifices to create the dream sea.
• The dead confronted the truth about their sacrifices, Yuna vanished, and Qi Si’s actions cleared the multiplayer instance’s true end, “Theory of False Gods.”
• Qi Si returned to the sailing ship with Liu Yuhan and the captain, saw Yuna’s corpse being eaten by monsters, and wondered whether the captain had also helped her.

After perfectly clearing the Sea of Hopelessness, Qi Si reviewed his rewards and Soul Contract abilities, then discovered a ritual vision tied to a Soul Leaf and answered its follower. The chapter left him responding to the woman’s repeated prayer: “I’m here.”

• Qi Si received 22,000 points and the Sea God Scepter after clearing the instance, and reflected that divine beings in the Eerie Game could be killed.
• Qi Si examined how Soul Contract worked, bought supplies, and spent his last three points tipping a player whose livestream ended when a Bone Serpent killed him.
• Qi Si took 3,000 of Liu Yuhan’s 13,000 instance reward points and returned the rest to her.
• Qi Si removed Liu Yuhan’s Soul Leaf from his inventory, causing a golden vine with two leaves to appear in the temple.
• Qi Si used the Sea God Scepter to interpret unfamiliar symbols as a vision of a woman in a white trench coat performing a ritual and praying to the Master of Souls.
• Qi Si smiled and answered the woman, “I’m here.”

White Crow received a divine response from Qi and used it to rally the Church of the Scales, while Liu Yuhan returned from an instance with a dangerous Soul Contract page and reaffirmed her faith in the Scales. Back in reality, Qi Si weighed how to use his connection to the church and the Sea God Scepter, then realized the Puppeteer identity tied to his face would make him a target in future instances.

• White Crow heard Qi answer her and told the Church of the Scales worshippers that God was with them.
• Liu Yuhan found a Soul Contract page from the Eerie Tale Notebook in her apartment, failed to destroy it, and chose to trust the deity of the Scales instead.
• Qi Si learned that White Crow belonged to the Church of the Scales, which worshipped Qi, and concluded that prayers could reach him through the Game Space.
• Qi Si considered gathering sin to strengthen the Sea God Scepter and decided to stop contacting the Church of the Scales until the scepter absorbed more sin.
• Qi Si read a forum post about Chang Xu's livestream and realized that others connected his face with the Sariel Guild's Puppeteer, making him a likely target in future instances.

Liu Yuhan published Qi Si’s distorted account of Chang Xu’s death, shifting suspicion toward the Nine Provinces Guild while Qi Si watched the rumors spread. In the abyss, Chang Xu heard a mysterious voice restore his erased memories and saw a scene from the Eerie Investigation Bureau.

• Under Qi Si’s control, Liu Yuhan posted that the Puppeteer killed Chang Xu after forcing him to retrieve the Sea God Scepter, and claimed Si Qi escaped control with help from a Master Card.
• Liu Yuhan’s account and accusations against the Nine Provinces Guild redirected players’ anger, while some players began speculating that Chang Xu was suspicious or might not be dead.
• Qi Si monitored the discussions, laughed at a post casting suspicion on Chang Xu, and wrote in his notebook about Chang Xu’s death.
• In the abyss, Chang Xu concluded that the Puppeteer’s trap had been impossible to avoid without abandoning his companions.
• A mysterious voice told Chang Xu that The Rules had detected a cheater, promised to restore the game’s pieces, and returned memories it had once erased.
• Chang Xu recalled being ostracized at the orphanage for seeing ghosts, then saw a scene inside the Eerie Investigation Bureau.

Qi Si spent several days in Jiang City dealing with the aftermath of the Sea of Hopelessness, monitoring game news, and preparing to hide his identity from the Sariel Guild. He entered a new instance in disguise, while Liu Yuhan continued spending points to reach one hundred.

• Qi Si fed a stray black dog, then agreed to accompany Jin Yusheng to a murder mystery game and help him impress a girl.
• Rain spread salty, fishy moisture through Qi Si's apartment, and he decided not to bring the Sea God Scepter into the real world again unless necessary.
• Qi Si read the praise of Fu Jue and the news of Lu Li's death, checked Liu Ajiu's ring, and researched the game guilds.
• Qi Si examined his changing appearance, decided to avoid the Sariel Guild, and found that the Water Mirror Mask cost more points than he could afford.
• Qi Si watched Liu Yuhan spend points clearing known instances, disguised his face with makeup, and entered a randomly generated instance.

Qi Si entered Double Happiness Town with four other players to find Xu Wen, posing as a veteran and her boyfriend while hiding his real identity. The town revealed itself as a place where wedding and funeral customs intertwined, and the group began its seven-day stay amid ominous signs.

• Qi Si learned that his mission was to find Xu Wen and take her away, then introduced himself to the other players as the veteran Qi Wen and claimed to be Xu Wen's boyfriend.
• Qi Si persuaded the group to share clues while Shang Qingbei questioned his authority and rejected the idea that players would help one another.
• The boatman brought Qi Si, Liu Bingding, Du Xiaoyu, Li Yao, and Shang Qingbei to Double Happiness Town and warned that outsiders could only stay seven days.
• The boatman vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving the players beside a funeral shop and streets decked in wedding decorations as funeral paper coins fell around them.
• The system announced that marriage and burial were the town's two great joys, while a chilling voice called out, "Joy! Joy!"