Chapter Summaries

After being abandoned in Cloud City, Xu Zhi discovered a mysterious handheld console and began playing a game in which she guided a snake to hunt. When the game forced the snake to rest, Xu Zhi realized she felt unusually energetic and was not hungry, suggesting that something had changed in her body.

• Xu Zhi reflected on being abandoned by her family as Cloud City became a sealed, mist-filled danger zone.
• A black-and-white handheld console appeared in Xu Zhi's living room, and she picked it up despite her uncertainty and fear.
• The console displayed a game inviting Xu Zhi to choose followers, and she selected a Level 1 snake.
• Xu Zhi guided the snake through a park strip, where it hunted prey and gained six evolution points before exhausting its stamina.
• After nearly two hours of playing, Xu Zhi noticed that she felt neither hungry nor physically weak as usual.

Xu Zhi tested whether the Game Console could improve her failing health by evolving its snake Familiar, and the changes eased her symptoms. After choosing increasingly dangerous hunts to speed its growth, she heard an unexplained knock at her door in the abandoned Dead City.

• Xu Zhi skipped her food and medicine and found that she could read without hunger or discomfort interrupting her.
• Xu Zhi evolved the snake to Lv2, and she felt her body become slightly lighter.
• Xu Zhi sent the snake after an injured eagle, and it killed the bird despite suffering severe injuries.
• Xu Zhi evolved the snake to Lv3, which greatly improved her breathing and made her want strength beyond an ordinary healthy body.
• Xu Zhi heard someone knock at her door, though she believed all her neighbors had left and no one she knew would visit.

Xu Zhi ignored a group of students knocking at her door and focused on strengthening her Familiar through the Game Console. After surviving the night and finding a Midnight remnant at dawn, she discovered she could bring an item from the game into reality.

• Xu Zhi refused to answer a boy who claimed to be a student seeking companions, and worried that the Black Fog was making her increasingly violent and paranoid.
• Xu Zhi chose to hunt prey of similar strength until the Narrator warned her to hide and sleep before Midnight.
• Xu Zhi noticed the Black Fog churning outside, then went to bed and set an alarm for five in the morning.
• Xu Zhi awakened her Familiar at dawn and chose to search for Midnight remnants, finding a black fruit on a dead branch.
• Xu Zhi removed the fruit from her Player Inventory, and it appeared on her blanket in the real world.

Xu Zhi fed a mysterious black fruit to her Familiar, Little One, which surged to Level 10 and improved her health. She gained the Bloodlust trait instead of the Toxin ability she wanted, then unlocked the option to raise a second Familiar.

• Xu Zhi fed the black fruit to her Familiar, which spent an hour digesting it and rose from Level 3 to Level 10.
• Xu Zhi noticed her dizziness and weakness had eased, named the enlarged snake Little One, and ordered it to keep leveling up.
• Xu Zhi extracted a trait from Little One and gained Bloodlust Lv3, which let her draw vitality from blood but risked contaminating her mind.
• The Game Console warned that her trait would level up with Little One and disappear if it died, then unlocked a second Familiar for Xu Zhi to raise.

Xu Zhi chose a dog as her second Familiar and discovered that its world was in Cloud City, giving her hope that her Familiars were nearby. After Little One's hunt increased her strength through Bloodlust, someone returned to her door, and Xu Zhi prepared to face them with a knife.

• Xu Zhi selected a level-three dog Familiar, then guided it through hunting and leveling while suspecting it was in Cloud City.
• Xu Zhi had Little Dog remain on a rooftop and recognized the distant Bell and Drum Tower, confirming that the game showed Cloud City.
• Xu Zhi settled Little One's hunt, gained increased Bloodlust and a strength boost, and chose to evolve it.
• Xu Zhi heard someone knock and recognized the visitor as connected to the classmate who had come the previous day.
• Xu Zhi took a boning knife, tested her ability to stand and swing it, then wheeled toward the door to assess the visitors.

Xu Zhi lured a Black Fog-corrupted student into her home and killed her in a desperate fight. Exhausted and facing retaliation from the girl’s group, Xu Zhi prepared to leave, though the city remained shrouded in Black Fog.

• Xu Zhi questioned the Affiliated Middle School girl outside her door and learned that fifteen students were gathered at the school, while the girl’s answers exposed her confusion and abnormality.
• Xu Zhi saw the girl’s blackened eyes through the peephole, tricked her into entering alone, then stabbed her in the abdomen.
• The girl attacked Xu Zhi and overturned her wheelchair, but Xu Zhi feigned helplessness and fatally slashed the girl’s neck when she bent over her.
• Xu Zhi recovered some strength from the girl’s blood, returned to her wheelchair, and used the Game Console to select the Snake Kin interface for Little One’s level-up.
• Xu Zhi realized the girl’s group would notice her disappearance and decided she had to leave home, though the Black Fog covered the city.

Xu Zhi tested her resistance to the Black Fog and decided she could leave home for the Old Residential District behind the Bell and Drum Tower. After sending the snake to scout and strengthening Little Dog, she planned to set out at five in the morning with her Familiars.

• Xu Zhi recovered from Bloodlust’s side effects and concluded they lasted about ten minutes.
• Xu Zhi upgraded the snake to level 11, then commanded it to hunt and gather intelligence in the Old Residential District behind the Bell and Drum Tower.
• Xu Zhi opened her window and deliberately inhaled the Black Fog, finding that it caused no visible changes and confirming her resistance to its mental contamination.
• Xu Zhi washed, packed, and planned to leave for the Old Residential District at five in the morning, hoping to bring the snake back as a guard.
• Xu Zhi raised Little Dog to level 7 and decided it should hunt stronger sleeping prey for Evolution Points instead of searching for black fruits.
• After the snake’s seven-hour idle progress bar filled, Xu Zhi tapped its icon to inspect the results.

After Little One returned from its hunt with a Moth Attribute Core, Xu Zhi confronted the changes in her nature and prepared to leave her apartment. With Little One beside her, she entered the Black Fog for the first time.

• Xu Zhi learned that Little One had obtained a Moth Attribute Core and read about the Moth attribute’s connection to chaos, Craving, and change.
• Xu Zhi recognized that her suppressed nature had surfaced, let go of dwelling on her parents’ abandonment, and resolved to seek revenge if they met again.
• Xu Zhi arranged for Little One to evolve and rest, then prepared to leave while Midnight was approaching.
• Xu Zhi met Little One in person, loaded her suitcase onto its tail, and asked it to lead her through the fog.
• Xu Zhi guided her wheelchair out of the apartment building and stepped into the Black Fog with Little One scouting ahead.

Xu Zhi reached an old residential district with Little One and encountered a wary woman who appeared unaffected by the Black Fog. After pressing the woman for information, Xu Zhi learned where she lived and decided she needed stronger Familiars and greater personal strength.

• Xu Zhi breathed in the Black Fog as she walked toward the old residential district, feeling an intense urge to inhale it.
• Little One ambushed and swallowed a mutated stray dog, giving Xu Zhi a greater sense of security as they continued.
• Xu Zhi and Little One entered the stairwell and encountered a human-looking woman holding a Tang dao.
• Xu Zhi tested the woman's reactions, then questioned her about living nearby and persuaded her to reveal that she lived on the third floor.
• After the woman left, Xu Zhi reflected that she enjoyed acting on her own desires and resolved to gain stronger Familiars and improve her strength.

Xu Zhi gained a second Attribute Core after Little Dog hunted prey, then named the Familiar Doggie and went to meet the young woman as promised. The young woman let Xu Zhi and Little One into her home, though she remained wary of them.

• Xu Zhi had Little One search the building and guard their room while she controlled Little Dog's hunt.
• Little Dog killed sleeping prey and found an Energy Core, which Xu Zhi identified as a [Blade] Attribute Core.
• Xu Zhi learned about the Blade attribute, took the core into the real world, and continued hunting until Little Dog reached level 8.
• Xu Zhi named her second Familiar Doggie and went with Little One to meet the young woman.
• The bloodstained young woman let Xu Zhi into her home, poured her water, and went to change clothes.

Xu Zhi and Shen Jinwen introduced themselves and exchanged information about the dangers in Cloud City and the nature of Supernatural Abilities. The exchange ended with Shen Jinwen revealing a pale blue Attribute Core.

• Shen Jinwen introduced herself as a recent university graduate with experience using cold weapons, while Xu Zhi described her frail health and introduced her black snake as her Supernatural Ability.
• Xu Zhi proposed exchanging valuable information one piece at a time, and Shen Jinwen agreed.
• Shen Jinwen explained that the mist drove some people insane, turning many into aggressive monsters and a few into intelligent leaders with strange Supernatural Abilities.
• Xu Zhi told Shen Jinwen that all Supernatural Abilities had attributes, including those of humans, Aberration monsters, and mutating animals.
• Shen Jinwen questioned Xu Zhi's claim, then opened her hand to show a pale blue Attribute Core.

Xu Zhi traded information with Shen Jinwen for a pale-blue Attribute Core and learned it was called [Winter]. Back at home, she tested a core on Little One, which fell into a hibernation-like state after swallowing it.

• Xu Zhi offered Shen Jinwen information about attributes in exchange for the pale-blue core and future cooperation.
• Xu Zhi told Shen Jinwen that there were eight types of Attribute Cores, that living beings were drawn to compatible attributes, and that cores could have restraining relationships.
• Shen Jinwen gave Xu Zhi information she had gathered nearby and agreed to share valuable discoveries in the future.
• Xu Zhi stored the pale-blue core in the Game Console and learned its attribute was [Winter].
• Xu Zhi fed the [Blade] Attribute Core to Little One, which curled up and appeared to enter hibernation.

Xu Zhi leveled Doggie to ten with Little One’s help, unlocked the Spirit Vessel ability, and sent her first vessel to be generated using a Winter core. The chapter ended as the game began randomly generating its attributes.

• Little One finished consuming an Attribute Core, raising its Cunning trait and Evolution Points.
• Xu Zhi had Little One help Doggie level up and searched the area, where she found no Aberration until nightfall.
• Doggie reached level ten, gained the name Doggie, and unlocked its basic self-care abilities.
• The Narrator unlocked Spirit Vessel, allowing Xu Zhi to inhabit a temporary vessel created with Attribute Cores.
• Doggie enthusiastically lunged at Xu Zhi when she opened the door, and Little One had to drag it inside.
• Xu Zhi invested one Winter Attribute Core in a Spirit Vessel, and the game began generating its attributes.

After her Spirit Vessel was killed in Cloud City’s downtown by a swarm of Aberration monsters, Xu Zhi realized the city was far more dangerous than she had thought and resolved to grow stronger. She consumed Moth and Blade Attribute Cores, developed a warning sign of Moth fascination, and ended by swallowing another Moth core to see how the vision would change.

• Xu Zhi deployed her Spirit Vessel at People’s Park Station, saw countless Aberration monsters gathered across downtown, and was killed as soon as its two seconds of invulnerability ended.
• Xu Zhi feared the monsters might spread through the city, then swallowed a Moth Attribute Core and experienced a vision that nearly drew her toward the flames.
• The Narrator warned Xu Zhi that her Moth affinity had increased but that consuming more cores risked fascination, while her Familiars returned without finding a Black Fruit.
• Xu Zhi spent seven hours reading as her energy, memory, and comprehension improved, then found two Blade cores and one Moth core among her Familiars’ gains.
• Xu Zhi fed Little One both Blade cores, raising its Toxin and Sharpness traits, and sent Doggie out to hunt before consuming another Moth core herself.

Xu Zhi heard a broadcast inviting survivors to Cloud City Affiliated High School and recognized it as a trap set by lunatics hunting people. She decided to enlist her neighbor’s help in dealing with them, then discovered that her Familiars had brought back six Cores from their latest hunt.

• Xu Zhi escaped an illusory vision of a candle flame and realized she had nearly stepped off a skyborne pavilion.
• Xu Zhi heard a broadcast promoting Cloud City Affiliated High School as a free survivor base and concluded that it was bait for vulnerable people.
• Xu Zhi decided to wipe out the lunatics and planned to make a new deal with her neighbor upstairs so she could use the neighbor’s assistance.
• Xu Zhi’s Familiars returned from their second hunt with six Cores, including a pale red Core with a new Attribute.

Xu Zhi learned about the Heart attribute and awakened the supernatural ability Eye of Secrets after consuming Moth cores. She discovered that it let her see a living being’s attributes for three seconds, then went to sleep and decided to keep a Moth core in reserve to replenish its energy.

• Xu Zhi learned that the Heart attribute was associated with endurance, survival, and protection, and planned to use her knowledge of cores to negotiate with Shen Jinwen.
• Xu Zhi gave Little One the Blade cores, soothed Doggie after it became disappointed, and then fed herself two Moth cores.
• Xu Zhi experienced a vision of a gray moth landing on her nose and received the Eye of Secrets ability.
• Xu Zhi used the ability on Doggie and saw a pale yellow flame at its heart, identifying its Blade attribute.
• Xu Zhi exhausted her supernatural energy, went to sleep despite the resulting weakness, and decided to save a Moth core for future energy replenishment.

Xu Zhi discovered a Black Fruit and fed it to Little One, which reached level 15 and gained the Transformation ability. After returning home, she tested its ability to shrink and made it coil around her wrist like a bracelet, then warned Doggie to behave before taking it outside.

• Xu Zhi noticed signs of a cautious person moving through the fog, but had her Familiars leave and continue searching for Black Fruit.
• Xu Zhi fed the Black Fruit they found to Little One, which evolved from a Snake into a level 15 Python and gained Transformation.
• Little One used Transformation to shrink to less than half a centimeter wide and coil around Xu Zhi’s wrist.
• Xu Zhi told Doggie not to pounce on her or lick her face, then took it outside after it eagerly agreed to behave.

Xu Zhi recruited Shen Jinwen to help draw the lunatics out of Affiliated Middle School so Xu Zhi could kill their intelligent leader. Shen Jinwen agreed, and Xu Zhi shared information about her Winter attribute while saving the rest for after their cooperation.

• Xu Zhi visited Shen Jinwen with Doggie, and they agreed on a knock signal for future visits.
• Xu Zhi asked Shen Jinwen to lure the lunatics out of Affiliated Middle School while Xu Zhi dealt with their intelligent leader inside.
• Shen Jinwen agreed to act as bait, and Xu Zhi explained how Doggie and her snake would help protect her and finish off the remaining lunatics.
• Shen Jinwen asked about her attribute, cores, and extraordinary abilities, and Xu Zhi used Eye of Secrets to confirm her pale blue heart-flame.
• Xu Zhi explained Shen Jinwen's Winter attribute and said cores could be eaten, but withheld further information until their cooperation was complete.

Shen Jinwen and Doggie attacked the Affiliated Middle School’s guards while Little One infiltrated the campus and discovered a blood-soaked cafeteria filled with more than thirty lunatics. As seven or eight lunatics rushed out to meet the attackers, a strangely composed man emerged from the kitchen.

• Shen Jinwen set off with Doggie and Little One, while Xu Zhi watched their progress through the Game Console.
• Doggie ambushed two guards at the school entrance, and Shen Jinwen joined the fight as they let one guard escape to call for help.
• Little One slipped into the cafeteria and found blood and dismembered bodies, along with more than thirty lunatics.
• A blood-covered person entered the cafeteria and shouted, prompting seven or eight excited lunatics to run outside.
• A cleanly dressed man wearing glasses emerged from the kitchen and stood out from the other lunatics.

Xu Zhi sent Little One to attack the cafeteria’s lunatic group and kill the bespectacled boy who had been directing them. Little One collected eight identical crimson [Cup] Attribute Cores, leaving Xu Zhi to suspect the severed limbs in the cafeteria were connected to the group’s strength.

• The bespectacled boy ordered his companions to capture three more people and bring them back alive, and Xu Zhi decided to kill him before his plans could progress.
• Little One grew large and swept through the cafeteria crowd, then shrank to escape their attacks and bit the bespectacled boy’s ankle with its venom.
• The lunatics attacked Little One as it pursued the wounded boy, but Little One overcame them and killed the boy after he collapsed from the poison.
• Little One searched the corpses and collected eight Attribute Cores, each marked [Cup].
• Xu Zhi connected the crimson cores to the blood-covered cafeteria and decided to investigate the severed limbs herself after Little One recovered.