Recaps

Badoers livestreamed to prove that Lee Stein was a Player, but the person who arrived at the abandoned factory was a different Lee Stein. The chapter ended with the handsome newcomer insisting that he was Lee Stein, leaving Badoers confused.

• Badoers changed his livestream title to claim he would expose Lee Stein as a Player and explained that he had arranged to meet him at the abandoned factory.
• Badoers switched the livestream to a handheld camera and rushed outside as someone approached.
• The camera showed a handsome stranger, and viewers mocked Badoers for confusing him with the Lee Stein they knew.
• Badoers asked whether the stranger was Lee Stein, and the young man said that he was.
• Badoers clarified that he meant the Lee Stein who drove a Bumblebee.

Lee Stein revealed his identity as a Player during Badoers's livestream, after the two spent over twenty minutes chatting. The stream's viewers erupted in disbelief and jokes, leaving Badoers furious that many still refused to believe Lee's admission.

• Lee Stein returned wearing optical camouflage and told Badoers he was the Lee Stein who drove a Bumblebee, but Badoers did not believe him.
• Lee Stein and Badoers chatted about the other Lee Stein and his plans to expose Merchant, while the livestream audience grew to more than 1.8 million viewers.
• Lee Stein asked Badoers to aim the camera at him, then removed his camouflage and revealed his original appearance.
• Badoers excitedly told the audience that Lee Stein was a Player and had joined the instance dungeon.
• Viewers reacted with shock, jokes, and disbelief, and Badoers grew angry at the commenters who refused to accept Lee's claim.

Lee Stein used the livestream’s demand for compensation to draw in five million viewers, then announced that his supposed major decision was the launch of his online marketplace and subjected everyone to its looping advertisement.

• Lee Stein insisted that he was a Player who had never claimed to be an NPC, while Badoers watched the comments continue to demand compensation.
• Lee Stein promised to announce a major decision once the livestream reached five million viewers, prompting Players to invite their friends.
• The livestream reached five million viewers, and the Players pressed Lee Stein to pay compensation.
• Lee Stein announced the launch of his online marketplace, and a recorded advertisement began playing repeatedly in the livestream.
• The Players realized Lee Stein had used their demands to gather an audience for his advertisement and reacted with disbelief and frustration.

Lee Stein turned the Players’ anger over being deceived into publicity for his businesses and announced compensation, including presale slots for a powerful serum and a new Azeroth-Marvel Continent experience. He ended by suggesting Earth OL could offer new Players longer lives, leaving the livestream audience stunned.

• Lee Stein thanked the livestream audience and explained the Stein Trading Network after his stunt left him with a notorious reputation among Players.
• Lee Stein announced compensation for veteran Players and revealed that the Green Goblin Human Enhancement Serum would grant major attribute boosts but had a dangerous side effect.
• Lee Stein said the serum could not yet be mass-produced and that veteran Players would receive limited presale slots instead of discounts.
• Lee Stein introduced Azeroth-Marvel Continent as a welcome gift and compensation for new Players and customers.
• Lee Stein said many new Players had joined Earth OL to enjoy a new, longer life, leaving Badoers, Maberen, and the livestream audience stunned.

Lee Stein announced that Azeroth-Marvel Continent would offer tenfold consciousness acceleration but have limited internal testing slots, then revealed that compensation slots and other prizes would be distributed through card packs. The chapter ended with Players realizing his generous offer came with a familiar sales pitch.

• Lee Stein confirmed that Azeroth-Marvel Continent would add another layer of consciousness acceleration, bringing the total difference from reality to tenfold.
• Lee Stein warned that server capacity and the game's development stage meant only a limited number of Players could enter during early testing.
• Newbie Players apologized to Lee Stein for calling him a Merchant, and Lee Stein graciously accepted their apologies.
• Lee Stein said compensation would include Green Goblin Human Enhancement Serum purchase slots and Azeroth-Marvel Continent testing slots.
• Lee Stein announced that Players could get free card packs through the Lee Stein Game Trading Network, with chances to win testing slots, the serum, combat sets, and Virtual Game Pods.
• Newbie Players called Lee Stein a Merchant again as veteran Players laughed and told them they would get used to his tricks.

Lee Stein used Badoers's livestream event to promote Azeroth-Marvel Continent and decided Badoers had helped him expose his Player identity without backlash. After Badoers tried to threaten him, Lee summoned Bumblebee and pressured him to offer compensation.

• Lee Stein ended his promotional livestream and reflected on how his game plans could help him build a logistical stronghold and super legion.
• Lee Stein decided the Hound Organization would not act against him yet and realized Badoers had conveniently made his exposure seem less deliberate.
• Badoers complained that Lee Stein had benefited from his scheme, and Lee summoned Bumblebee when Badoers joked about hitting him.
• Lee Stein accused Badoers of plotting against him, so Badoers offered compensation.
• Lee Stein said money or general experience would suffice, while Badoers complained that Lee Stein knew why he had neither.

Lee Stein accepted Badoers's dungeon entry vouchers and appraised Lu Yao and Maberen, recognizing Lu Yao's rare Madman-related template and identifying Maberen's powers as the result of an unstable imitation Lizard Transformation Serum. The chapter left Lee interested in Lu Yao's special template and pitying Maberen, whose serum had left him with a berserk debuff.

• Badoers offered Lee Stein free dungeon entry vouchers, and Lee accepted.
• Maberen denied intending trouble and said he had come for the dungeon, while Lu Yao said he had wanted to meet Lee.
• Lee appraised Lu Yao and recognized the Mental Patient and Amateur Scientist templates, along with the special template he had come to Gotham to seek.
• Lee appraised Maberen and found his enhanced lizard bloodline, strong attributes, and Berserk debuff.
• Lee concluded Maberen's powers came from a flawed imitation of the Lizard Transformation Serum, likely made by General Ross.

Li Si left Pandora behind to manage the Azeroth-Marvel Continent before entering the City of Sin: Gotham instance dungeon with Badoers and the others. After the system offered three factions, the group began discussing their choices, but Li Si declined to lead them and said he had not decided.

• Li Si told Pandora to handle matters at the Azeroth-Marvel Continent and disguise herself as him using armor from Tony Stark.
• Pandora wished Li Si a safe return and kissed his forehead with a virtual projection before he departed.
• Badoers used a Sin Pass to bring Li Si, the others, and Bumblebee into the Gotham instance dungeon.
• The system offered the group Order, Sin, and Chaos factions with different identities and rewards.
• Badoers proposed that the group choose the same faction and work together, while Lu Yao and Maberen looked to Li Si for guidance.
• Li Si said there was too little information for him to choose and declined to lead the group.

Badoers, Lu Yao, Maberen, and Lee Stein debated which faction to choose for the Gotham instance. Lee Stein and Maberen chose Chaos, Badoers chose Order, and Lu Yao chose Crime.

• Badoers argued that Batman was likely the storyline’s protagonist and recommended the Order faction for its lower difficulty.
• Lu Yao warned that the Order faction’s rewards might be lower, then chose the Crime faction after suddenly voicing his love of crime, slaughter, and destruction.
• Lee Stein explained the factions’ different advantages and drawbacks, then chose Chaos to play the Happy Wind Man alongside Bumblebee.
• Badoers chose Order, while Maberen rejected joining him and chose Chaos after catching the word “wind” in Lee Stein’s parting words.

After the factions were selected, Lee Stein used Skynet to forge a Gotham identity and traveled through the East End. Maberen caught up with Lee Stein and secured a place in Bumblebee, leaving the two together on their way to a hotel.

• Lee Stein renamed Bumblebee Skynet and ordered it to find information and create him a Gotham identity.
• Skynet forged Lee Stein's identity and arranged for a replacement driver's license while Lee Stein asked it to book a hotel.
• In Gotham's East End, Lee Stein insulted the streetwalkers gathered around Bumblebee, then scared them off by throwing three metal playing cards into the ground.
• Maberen recognized Bumblebee, ran after it, and begged Lee Stein to let him join him.
• Lee Stein stopped Bumblebee and let Maberen climb into the back seat.

Li settled into a luxury hotel in Gotham City's Diamond District and learned why Maberen had been ingratiating himself: he wanted help reversing an unstable Lizard transformation. Maberen hoped Li could cure him before the berserk condition got him captured or killed.

• Li sold his prepared gold in the Diamond District, booked a presidential suite, and asked Maberen why he kept trying to curry favor.
• Maberen explained that General Ross had used Player soldiers as test subjects for a knockoff Lizard Transformation Serum after Li's serum experiment failed.
• More than ten Player volunteers initially survived Ross's modification, but they later went berserk and attacked the base.
• Maberen's berserk episode began later than the others, allowing him to escape and acquire Fugitive and Experimental Subject Templates.
• Maberen sought Li's help because his inferior lizard bloodline left him with an unpredictable berserk condition that threatened his future as a Player.

Lee Stein explained that Maberen could not realistically return to being human, but could keep his strength and control his instincts by learning Yoga Meditation. Maberen agreed to work for Lee Stein through the dungeon, then realized the simple cure had cost him his services.

• Lee Stein asked Maberen whether he wanted to become human again or merely stop suffering the negative BUFFs, and explained that reversing his transformation was nearly impossible.
• Maberen chose to keep his innate skills and asked Lee Stein to name his price.
• Lee Stein offered to help Maberen in exchange for running errands during the instance, and Maberen eagerly accepted.
• Lee Stein gave Maberen five hundred dollars and told him to learn Yoga Meditation and raise it to level five or six to control his loss of control.
• Maberen realized that he had traded his services for an easy solution and vowed to flatter Lee Stein until he went bankrupt.

Li Si chose to pursue a Jigsaw-inspired plan to earn both order and sin points, then had Maberen verify information about his first target, Arthur Jackman. After learning the details were worse than expected, Maberen revealed that his indignation came from still being single.

• Li Si asked Maberen to find secluded properties and discreetly verify addresses from Skynet's intelligence.
• Li Si's prize wheel selected Jigsaw, so he began designing a plan to imitate the serial killer's methods of educating people.
• Five days later in Gotham's Chinatown, Maberen reported that Arthur Jackman was mistreating his girlfriend, Mina Zhang, and that Mina's best friend had tried to intervene.
• Li Si asked why Maberen was so upset, and Maberen admitted that Arthur's relationship had struck a nerve because he was still single.

Lee Stein prepared to begin his first performance by arranging for Arthur Jackman and Mina Zhang to be brought to the site after sunset. Meanwhile, Badoers continued working with Batman’s superhero team, whose members fought crime at night and washed dishes to make ends meet.

• Maberen watched Arthur Jackman abuse Mina Zhang, while Lee Stein explained their troubled relationship and said Maberen would bring them to the site after sunset.
• Lee Stein left Chinatown, as his first performance was about to begin.
• Badoers checked the scoreboard and wondered why Lee Stein still had no points.
• Badoers reflected on joining Batman’s team, helping the weak and impulsive Batman fight minor gangs while struggling with their poverty.
• Batman called Badoers to take the Bat Squad out for another night of fighting crime.

Badoers stopped Batman from confronting Lee Stein and his companion, unaware that the costumed man was only a Batman imitator. Lee recognized the fake, left without a fight, and considered how his knowledge of Gotham and the story’s later developments gave him an advantage while deciding to stay cautious.

• Badoers recognized Lee Stein and restrained the eager Batman when they spotted him walking with a hooded companion.
• Lee greeted Badoers, identified the costumed man as Batman, and drove away with Maberen without attacking.
• Badoers warned Batman that Lee and his companion were too powerful to provoke.
• Lee told Maberen that the portly Batman was an imitator, not the Order faction’s leader.
• Lee reflected on Batman’s reputation and future strength, then resolved to keep a low profile in Gotham.

Captain Gordon watched a television broadcast interrupt a variety show with a mysterious program called Jigsaw Theater, where host Jigsaw introduced the kidnapped Arthur Jackman. Jigsaw exposed Arthur’s past and announced that he would teach him to live independently, leaving Arthur trapped and pleading to be released.

• Captain Gordon turned on the television and saw its broadcast switch to Jigsaw Theater.
• Jigsaw introduced Arthur Jackman, who was unconscious in a sealed metal room.
• Arthur woke up as Jigsaw narrated his failures, relationships, and unwillingness to work.
• Arthur shouted and pounded the walls, but Jigsaw ignored him and continued telling his story.
• Jigsaw told Arthur he had achieved the breakup he wanted and would now learn to support himself in an Independent Living Training Class.
• Arthur insisted he could earn money but protested that he could not do so while locked inside.

Arthur Jackman entered a survival game where he had to spend coins to move between rooms and earn money by filling a container with liquid. Meanwhile, the hijacked live broadcast of his ordeal threw Gotham City into chaos.

• Arthur Jackman used one of his skull coins to open the iron door and entered a freezing corridor, where the narrator explained that coins were needed to open rooms and warned him against staying outside too long.
• Arthur Jackman chose the work area over the shopping district because he needed to earn more coins to survive.
• Arthur Jackman discovered that his job was to fill a metal container with any liquid except urine or purified water, earning ten coins each time.
• Arthur Jackman regretted wasting the glass of water his girlfriend had offered him after realizing he had few ways to produce liquid.
• Gotham City erupted into chaos after the secret room’s cameras and hijacked television signals broadcast Arthur Jackman’s ordeal live.

Arthur Jackman struggled to exercise in Jigsaw’s secret room, then found two humiliating photographs among the tools and lost the nerve to continue. Jigsaw mocked him for missing a chance to exploit a game bug, while Gotham residents watched the ordeal and began laughing instead of fearing it.

• A man dressed like a circus clown watched the broadcast and found the show interesting.
• Arthur Jackman tried doing push-ups but quickly gave up and prolonged his rest until a chill reminded him he could freeze or starve.
• Arthur Jackman searched the display stand and found a small dagger and two explicit, humiliating photographs.
• Arthur Jackman recoiled from the photographs, dropped them, and lost the courage to pick up the knife.
• Jigsaw told Arthur Jackman that he had missed a chance to exploit a game bug and would now have to move while facing the photographs.
• Gotham residents watched Arthur Jackman’s ordeal, and many began laughing and wondering if the broadcast was a prank show.

Arthur Jackman endured exhausting exercise to earn skull coins from Jigsaw’s work area, then spent them on food, water, and warm clothes. He ate in the miniature supermarket, relieved to have earned his meal, while Jigsaw’s rules continued to control his survival.

• Arthur Jackman exercised until his sweat filled the metal cup and earned exactly ten skull coins.
• Jigsaw praised Arthur Jackman’s effort and told him to shop for food, water, and warm clothes while keeping two coins for rent.
• Arthur Jackman entered the miniature supermarket and chose bread, purified water, and a set of padded clothes with a forty-eight-hour timer.
• Arthur Jackman paid seven skull coins at the checkout and ate the bread with the water, feeling satisfied that he had earned them.

After Jigsaw’s kidnapping broadcast sparked a citywide debate, Captain Gordon tried to organize a manhunt while the commissioner focused on suppressing the footage. Lee Stein stayed unrecognized as he explored Gotham and collected points, leaving Badoers questioning whether he had backed the wrong Batman.

• Captain Gordon presented evidence from Jigsaw’s recordings and proposed investigative leads, but the commissioner ordered the police to contact Wayne Enterprises and remove the broadcast footage.
• Gotham’s citizens argued over whether Jigsaw was a criminal or a more effective hero than Batman.
• Lee Stein used his camouflage disguise to shop and wander through Gotham while gaining points from the city’s reaction to his actions.
• Badoers saw the scoreboard jump Lee Stein into first place and Maberen into second, and he resented how far Maberen had surpassed him.
• As Badoers washed dishes beside “Batman,” he recalled reports of Batman appearing elsewhere and began to suspect he had chosen the wrong person.

Commissioner Gordon struggled to find Jigsaw, while Arthur Jackman adapted to prison life until Jigsaw began the final stage of his test. Arthur had to choose between bringing Mina Zhang into danger or risking death by feeding coins to a bomb-filled doll.

• Commissioner Gordon found no trace of Jigsaw and activated the Bat-Signal to summon Batman.
• Arthur Jackman reflected on his prison routine and asked Jigsaw to release him, but Jigsaw said his test had entered its final stage.
• Jigsaw told Arthur that he had to support Mina Zhang after she had supported him for years.
• Jigsaw offered to bring Mina into the prison or send a doll containing a powerful bomb that required ten coins each day.
• Arthur realized that bringing Mina would be the more practical choice, then bitterly called Jigsaw a devil who toyed with people's hearts.

Arthur Jackman chose to sacrifice himself for Mina, prompting Lee to judge that his redemption was underway. After Maberen delivered the bomb doll, Lee ordered his team to relocate before Batman could trace them, while preparing to use harsher methods in future cases.

• Arthur Jackman chose to send the doll into the sealed room and asked Jigsaw to leave Mina alone, and Lee approved of his choice.
• Lee explained that Arthur’s desperation to get rich had grown from his guilt and pressure, and that facing reality had begun to change him.
• Maberen delivered the bomb doll to Arthur’s room and reflected on his fear of Lee and his manipulative plans.
• Lee warned Maberen that Batman might find their base and ordered him to prepare to relocate.
• Maberen asked when they would leave, and Lee said they would move the next day because Arthur’s case was nearly settled.

On his fifth day in Jigsaw’s escape room, Arthur Jackman’s exhausted body could no longer manage the physical labor, so he argued that the room should offer intellectual work. Jigsaw agreed to let him write for rewards, leaving Arthur to discover that the tablet for writing had been waiting there all along.

• Arthur Jackman collapsed from exhaustion while trying to complete his push-ups and rejected the dagger as too dangerous to use in his weakened state.
• Arthur Jackman objected to Jigsaw that the escape room offered no work representing intellectual labor.
• Li Si understood Arthur Jackman’s argument, and Jigsaw agreed to let him write under a mandatory daily word count for twenty Skull Coins and possible additional rewards.
• Jigsaw told Arthur Jackman to find a tablet beneath the display case’s second-level base panel so he could edit and publish books.
• Li Si explained that he had placed the tablet there as a backup plan in case Arthur Jackman returned to his dream of writing.

Li Si praised Arthur Jackman’s Judgment Knight—Jigsaw stories and ordered a reward and a network-wide promotion to build public admiration for Jigsaw. Arthur received his first payment for writing and longed to share the achievement with Mina.

• Li Si read Arthur Jackman’s five-chapter Jigsaw story and decided it was good enough to reward and promote across the internet.
• Li Si planned to use the stories to improve Jigsaw’s image and turn readers’ admiration into support for the real Jigsaw.
• Skynet told Arthur Jackman that his manuscript had earned payment and would receive a network-wide push.
• Arthur was overwhelmed by receiving his first payment and wanted to tell Mina that his work could now make money.

After reading about the real Jigsaw and watching his brutal escape-room footage, Varric became convinced that Jigsaw could make him feel alive again. He decided to seek out Jigsaw himself, despite knowing the ordeal could leave him cursing the man if he survived.

• Varric followed an advertisement to a forum and read all five chapters of Arthur Jackman’s story about Jigsaw.
• Varric found forum posts claiming Jigsaw existed in Gotham and that Arthur had written from firsthand experience, then visited the linked website.
• Varric watched Jigsaw’s video featuring Sheldon Louise, who endured painful traps to escape after attempting suicide over debt.
• Varric interpreted Sheldon’s struggle as Jigsaw awakening his will to live, and watched Sheldon leave the chamber laughing despite cursing Jigsaw.
• Varric reflected on his numb, routine-bound life and resolved to find out whether Jigsaw accepted voluntary applicants.