Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Variables and Possibilities”

Key plot points and events

• Li Yun intervenes in a dangerous drinking situation, smashing a man’s wineglass and inducing him to vomit after he mixes baijiu and beer with extremely spicy food. Although no one witnesses the supernatural precision of his actions, Li Yun considers it a successful good deed.
• He communicates mentally with the Main God, an invisible presence only he can perceive. The Main God questions why Li Yun acted outside the behavior predicted by its data-based model.
• Li Yun explains that human behavior cannot be perfectly predicted from observable actions. Thoughts, impulses, mistakes, emotions, and sudden changes in intention all create uncertainty.
• This leads him to a major insight: intelligent living beings possess “variables”—unpredictable potential that allows them to create new outcomes from existing conditions.
• While contemplating the Azure Jade Mirror, the Cosmic Model, and the nature of living versus dead things, Li Yun theorizes that the defining difference is the “heart” or sense of self. Dead things become fixed once created, while living beings continually change through choices, collisions, creativity, and possibility.
• He considers an alternate version of his own life: if he had abandoned his principles and pursued power without restraint after obtaining the Azure Jade Mirror, he might have become like the mysterious figure reflected in the boundless void.
• Lost in thought on a public bench, Li Yun becomes the object of attention from passersby because his appearance and demeanor have transformed, giving him an unusual, almost jade-like attractiveness.
• Two young women approach him, initially believing he may be a student. Because he is deeply absorbed in his thoughts, he does not respond to their greetings or hand gestures. One accidentally knocks off his glasses, finally drawing his cold attention.

Character developments

• Li Yun: Demonstrates compassion and a willingness to intervene despite appearing detached. His philosophical understanding deepens as he recognizes unpredictability as a fundamental quality of intelligent life. He also confronts the possibility that different choices could have turned him into a radically different person, revealing anxiety about identity, morality, and self-preservation.
• The Main God: Its confidence in behavioral prediction is challenged. Though it remains analytical, its confusion suggests that Li Yun’s theory of human unpredictability exposes a limitation in its data-driven understanding.
• The two young women: They are initially bold enough to approach Li Yun but become increasingly awkward when he fails to react. Their curiosity and playful persistence ultimately lead to the accidental removal of his glasses.

Significant themes

• Human unpredictability: Human decisions cannot be fully reconstructed from behavior because emotions and thoughts can change instantly.
• Free will and possibility: Living beings generate new outcomes by making choices and introducing unexpected variables into otherwise predictable systems.
• Life versus fixed existence: The chapter contrasts living creatures, who possess initiative, creativity, and change, with dead or completed things that become static and predetermined.
• The heart and selfhood: Li Yun suggests that having a “heart”—a self capable of feeling, choosing, and changing—is what separates living beings from inert matter.
• Identity shaped by choices: His reflection on an alternate self emphasizes how different decisions might produce entirely different versions of the same person.
• Appearance and perception: Li Yun’s spiritual and physical transformation alters how strangers perceive him, even though he remains emotionally distant and unaware of their attention.

Character interactions

• Li Yun silently rescues a reckless drinker, acting compassionately while remaining invisible to ordinary observers.
• He exchanges thoughts with the Main God, challenging its assumption that behavioral data can accurately represent human nature.
• The two women attempt to attract Li Yun’s attention through greetings, gestures, and increasingly direct waving. Their accidental contact with his glasses breaks his concentration.
• The chapter ends with Li Yun finally looking at them, his newly revealed face and cold, indifferent gaze creating an abrupt shift from their playful curiosity to an atmosphere of tension and awkwardness.

Chapter Summary: “Opportunity”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ning Yu and her roommate, Fang Yishu, spend the day shopping and walking several kilometers to a specialty store to collect Ning Yu’s preordered headphones.
• Exhausted by the heat and distance, Ning Yu repeatedly begs to rest or take a taxi. Fang Yishu teasingly refuses, though she carries Ning Yu’s shopping bags.
• They stop at a convenience store to recover before continuing their journey.
• Outside, Ning Yu accidentally bumps into a man sitting beneath a tree, knocking off his glasses. When she sees his uncovered face and striking eyes, she becomes visibly flustered.
• The man is revealed to be Li Yun, a former corporate worker and current “blessed warrior” connected to the Main God system.
• Fang Yishu apologizes on Ning Yu’s behalf and boldly asks to add Li Yun on WeChat. Li Yun accepts, introduces himself, and politely ends the interaction.
• Afterward, Ning Yu remains captivated by Li Yun’s appearance and reserved demeanor, while Fang Yishu jokes about the awkward encounter.
• Li Yun notices Fang Yishu’s decisiveness, courage, and ability to act. He asks the Main God to add her to the selection list for the next Main God Game and arrange a suitable newcomer trial.
• Fang Yishu remains unaware that this brief meeting has dramatically changed the course of her life.

Character Developments

• Ning Yu: Revealed as physically delicate, easily fatigued, and normally poised and confident. Her encounter with Li Yun leaves her unusually shy, speechless, and romantically intrigued. She begins wondering whether she will ever meet him again.
• Fang Yishu: Demonstrates energy, practicality, social confidence, and initiative. Although she teases and protects Ning Yu, she also fearlessly approaches Li Yun and asks for his contact information. Li Yun recognizes her potential and considers her worthy of an opportunity in the Main God Game.
• Li Yun: Appears detached and emotionally restrained, but he is observant and not entirely indifferent. His former experience as an ordinary corporate worker gives him enough social awareness to handle the encounter tactfully. He evaluates Fang Yishu’s qualities and uses his influence to give her a chance at becoming a Main God “Visitor.”
• The Main God: Displays an unexpectedly playful and extreme personality. It correctly identifies Fang Yishu’s approach as flirting and even jokingly offers to erase her and Ning Yu, revealing the dangerous scope of its power.

Significant Themes

• Opportunity and fate: A minor roadside accident becomes the turning point in Fang Yishu’s life. The chapter emphasizes how seemingly insignificant encounters can create life-changing possibilities.
• Potential and personal qualities: Li Yun values Fang Yishu not for superficial reasons but for her decisiveness, courage, goals, and willingness to act. The chapter suggests that opportunity matters most when paired with resilience, wisdom, and luck.
• Chance encounters and attraction: Ning Yu’s sudden fascination with Li Yun illustrates how quickly an unexpected meeting can provoke emotional and romantic longing.
• Humanity within extraordinary circumstances: Li Yun and the Main God possess immense supernatural power, yet their interaction includes ordinary concerns such as flirting, awkwardness, social etiquette, and evaluating personality.
• Growth and transformation: Fang Yishu is still inexperienced, but Li Yun sees the possibility that she may grow through adversity and eventually find a place in the Main God Game.

Character Interactions

• Ning Yu and Fang Yishu have a close, playful friendship. Fang Yishu carries Ning Yu’s belongings, mocks her lack of stamina, prompts her to apologize, and later comforts and teases her.
• Ning Yu’s immediate attraction to Li Yun contrasts with her usual composure, while Fang Yishu acts as her social intermediary.
• Fang Yishu directly approaches Li Yun and requests his WeChat contact, showing confidence and initiative.
• Li Yun responds politely but maintains emotional distance, recognizing Fang Yishu’s intentions without encouraging them.
• After Li Yun leaves, Fang Yishu jokes about his poor social skills and offers to help Ning Yu pursue further contact, while Ning Yu remains absorbed in her memory of him.

Chapter Summary: “Meeting”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In a highly secure conference room in western Yandu, senior officials gather to discuss the mysterious “Main God Game” and the recent Coma Incident.
• Officials report that, five days earlier, thousands of people across more than twenty provinces simultaneously experienced a strange sighting or encounter. Those who selected “Yes” entered an unknown alternate space while in a mentally active, coma-like state.
• Participants in this space faced trials and, in some cases, death. However, survivors generally awoke without obvious physical harm, suggesting that the experience occurred primarily on a mental or spiritual level.
• Investigations confirm that the Main God Game’s exchangeable items are real. Objects such as Nanite Repair Fluid, Holy Light Feather, and Lesser Degraded Venom Derivative possess effects matching their descriptions, including abilities that appear to violate known physical laws.
• The officials learn that the game may provide access to objects and abilities drawn from myths, science fiction, magic, and fantasy, including entries such as Celestial Being Form, Unit-01, and the Book of Raziel.
• Most known participants appear to be Chinese citizens, including people who failed the game’s Newcomer Trial and lost their Tourist status. A few foreign participants were also identified and taken in for investigation.
• Experts conclude that the Main God Game probably has not visibly influenced human civilization before. If it had existed for centuries with widespread effects, history should contain clear traces. Therefore, this incident may represent the first time its influence has openly manifested.
• The government concludes that China may possess an early advantage, but secrecy cannot be maintained indefinitely. Officials order the country to act quickly, investigate more users, and expand its involvement before foreign nations discover the game.
• After the meeting, the government begins forming the National Special Affairs Investigation and Administration Bureau, or Special Investigation Bureau, to manage the phenomenon.

Character Developments

• The middle-aged leader at the head of the meeting emerges as calm, practiced, and authoritative. As he explains the situation, he shifts from presenting evidence to delivering an urgent strategic call to action.
• The officials and experts initially react with skepticism and unease, but their composure is shaken by the confirmed reality and immense value of the exchangeable items.
• The assembled leaders rapidly recognize both the dangers and the geopolitical opportunities created by the Main God Game.
• Collectively, the government moves from information gathering and containment toward active participation and national mobilization.

Significant Themes

• The collision of fantasy and reality: Mythological, magical, and fictional concepts are shown to exist as tangible, usable objects.
• Secrecy versus inevitability: The authorities attempt to control information, but acknowledge that the truth will eventually spread.
• National competition and historical memory: The leader frames the Main God Game as the beginning of a new global race, comparing it to the Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution.
• Opportunity and danger: The game represents both an immeasurable source of power and a potentially catastrophic threat.
• The importance of early advantage: The chapter emphasizes that rapid action may determine which nations dominate the coming era.
• The limits of human knowledge: Although the government confirms the game’s existence, it still cannot determine its purpose, selection criteria, or origins.

Character Interactions

• The leader systematically briefs the officials, guiding them from the basic facts of the Coma Incident to the larger strategic implications.
• The attendees silently study confidential documents, exchange no visible devices or nameplates, and react through frowns, tense expressions, and brief signs of shock.
• The leader anticipates their concerns and explains the lack of historical evidence, then directly appeals to their sense of national duty.
• His increasingly passionate speech unifies the room around the need for immediate action, turning the meeting from a briefing into a call for coordinated national policy.

Overall Significance

The chapter marks the transition from an isolated supernatural incident to an organized national response. The Main God Game is no longer merely a mystery affecting scattered individuals; it has become a matter of state security, technological advancement, and international competition.

Chapter Summary: “Day Seven”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After seven days in the real world, He Qiu’s cultivation begins visibly deteriorating. He senses his qi slowly leaking from his body, leaving him physically and psychologically exhausted.
• The real world contains no detectable vital energy, making cultivation impossible. He can only delay the dissipation of his qi through concentration and the lingering effects of the Yellow Sprout Pill.
• He regrets exchanging for the cultivation method, since experiencing supernatural power has made returning to ordinary life increasingly painful. His only relief is the Main God Platform, where time passes differently and vital energy is abundant enough for him to replenish his qi.
• The seven-day waiting period for a new mission finally ends. Desperate to earn Universal Points and obtain resources, He Qiu logs into the Main God Platform as soon as the countdown appears.
• The platform is unusually crowded, with more than a thousand users gathering at once to select new missions.
• He Qiu reunites with Du Qifeng (“Du Fu”) and Lu Yansheng (“Lu Yun”/“Lu Xun”). They discover that Zheng Defa has joined a large organized group of users, apparently connected to the government or military.
• Lu Yansheng suspects Zheng Defa has revealed their real identities, despite their use of aliases for protection.
• Their concern is confirmed when Zheng Defa accompanies Wang Cheng, a polite young man claiming to be an official liaison. Wang Cheng knows their aliases and attempts to recruit them into a large “Reserve National Team” assembled on the platform.
• Wang Cheng verifies his official identity by removing his protective mist and revealing his real appearance, but He Qiu, Lu Yansheng, and Du Qifeng cautiously refuse to join.
• After leaving, Wang Cheng approaches other users, while Lu Yansheng warns that their information may already have been leaked and that government representatives may attempt to pressure or recruit them in the real world.

Character Developments

• He Qiu: Becomes increasingly anxious, sleep-deprived, and desperate as his qi dissipates. His regret over choosing cultivation turns into a powerful motivation to obtain missions and Universal Points. He also demonstrates greater caution regarding secrecy and outside organizations.
• Lu Yansheng: Shows practical wisdom and suspicion. He correctly recognizes the government-like nature of the organized group and immediately understands the danger of leaked identities. He remains protective of the group’s independence.
• Du Qifeng: Continues acting as the younger, less experienced member. He helps maintain the group but does not initially understand the full danger of Zheng Defa’s betrayal.
• Zheng Defa: Appears to have abandoned or compromised the original group by joining the organized faction and revealing information about his former companions.
• Wang Cheng: Presents himself as courteous and transparent, but his recruitment effort signals that official forces are beginning to organize and exert influence over Main God users.

Significant Themes

• The cost of supernatural power: He Qiu’s qi is both a gift and a source of torment, emphasizing that gaining extraordinary abilities creates new forms of vulnerability.
• Desperation and dependence: He Qiu becomes dependent on the Main God Platform as his only source of cultivation and hope for maintaining his abilities.
• Secrecy versus collective organization: The characters’ aliases reflect their need for privacy, while the government’s recruitment efforts suggest that independent users may soon be monitored or controlled.
• Trust and betrayal: Zheng Defa’s apparent disclosure of their personal information undermines the group’s security and forces them to reconsider whom they can trust.
• The emergence of social and political structures: The Main God Platform is shifting from a collection of isolated individuals into an organized society involving recruitment, authority, and competing interests.

Character Interactions

• He Qiu calls out to Du Qifeng and Lu Yansheng, reuniting with them before the mission selection.
• Lu Yansheng explains Zheng Defa’s recruitment into the large central group and warns that the organization may have government or military ties.
• Wang Cheng approaches the three men with Zheng Defa, politely identifies himself as an official liaison, and attempts to recruit them.
• He Qiu and Lu Yansheng exchange a knowing glance when Wang Cheng demonstrates knowledge of their aliases, realizing that Zheng Defa likely exposed them.
• The trio collectively refuses recruitment, choosing to remain cautious and independent.
• Lu Yansheng concludes that the danger may extend beyond the platform, predicting that official “persuaders” could soon contact them in reality.

Chapter Summary: “Second Round, Begin!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Newcomer Trial survivors wait on the Main God Platform for Wang Yawen, but she never appears, suggesting the group is beginning to split apart.
• As the next mission cycle approaches, thousands of users gather around the Main God Light Sphere. The large “official group” attracts attention because of its size and its position near the center, though no one wants to provoke a conflict before entering a new mission.
• When the countdown reaches zero, the Main God announces several random mission worlds, including Jurassic Park, Imperial Tomb, and City That Never Sleeps.
• The platform and surrounding land transform into countless streams of light. The users are revealed to be “Light Fish” traveling through a vast cosmic river toward different mission worlds.
• During the transition, the Main God—or another powerful consciousness—observes countless terrifying scenes from other worlds, including nuclear catastrophes, dying planets, supernatural disasters, ancient rituals, cosmic horrors, and mass extinction.
• The consciousness eventually enters one of the mission worlds and takes control of Li Yun’s body.
• Li Yun awakens in a ruined city under a fractured, ominous sky. His body has been weakened by roughly seventy percent, apparently because the Main God has limited his abilities for the mission.
• He finds more than a dozen other newcomers scattered unconscious around him, representing different ages, ethnicities, and social backgrounds.
• After dragging a drowning Black man from a puddle, Li Yun surveys the devastated street and surrounding buildings. He finds signs of a past disaster involving weapons or hazardous materials, but no immediate enemies.
• Testing the cracks and ruins with stones, Li Yun confirms that nothing attacks him. He then gathers rocks and a piece of rebar, preparing makeshift weapons before moving onward.

Character Developments

• He Qiu becomes more detached and pragmatic. He accepts that Wang Yawen may have chosen a different path and refuses to interfere with other adults’ decisions.
• Li Yun is introduced as cautious, analytical, and physically capable despite his weakened condition. He immediately assesses the environment, tests possible hiding places, evaluates structural damage, and prepares weapons rather than acting impulsively.
• Li Yun’s reduced strength reveals that even a powerful “stat monster” cannot rely entirely on his original abilities in the mission world. He must adapt to the Main God’s restrictions.
• The unconscious newcomers are established as a diverse group of ordinary participants who are vulnerable and disorganized, contrasting with Li Yun’s awareness and readiness.

Significant Themes

• Separation and individual choice: The survivors are beginning to follow separate paths, and no one can make decisions for others.
• The scale and danger of the Main God system: The Light Fish imagery reveals that countless people are being transported through an immense cosmic mechanism involving many worlds and dimensions.
• Cosmic horror and incomprehensible power: The visions of destruction, alien entities, dying civilizations, and dimensional phenomena emphasize dangers far beyond ordinary human understanding.
• Adaptation and survival: Li Yun’s weakened body forces him to rely on caution, observation, and practical preparation.
• Life’s persistence amid ruin: Weeds growing through the broken streets and moss covering the ruins symbolize survival continuing even after civilization has collapsed.
• The illusion of safety: Although mission starting zones are supposedly safe, Li Yun remains wary and tests the environment before trusting it.

Character Interactions

• He Qiu and his companions silently accept Wang Yawen’s absence, reflecting their growing emotional distance and recognition of individual autonomy.
• The larger community of users observes the “official group” suspiciously but avoids confrontation because the impending mission makes conflict too risky.
• Li Yun interacts physically with the unconscious newcomers, especially the Black man he pulls from the puddle. His actions are practical rather than compassionate or social: he rescues him from immediate danger but does not wait for him to awaken.
• Li Yun has no meaningful conversation with the other newcomers yet, but his examination of them establishes him as the most alert and prepared member of the group.

Chapter Summary: “Guides and Veterans”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingzhi awakens in a ruined, rain-soaked city and discovers that he has been assigned as a Guide in a Main God Newcomer Trial.
• The trial requires participants to:
  • Survive for seventy-two hours.
  • Achieve an exploration score of five points.
• Unlike the tourists, who receive enhanced newcomer rewards, Li Qingzhi will earn a percentage of the rewards obtained by tourists he successfully guides.
• He reviews the mission information and confirms that death in the instance will not affect the participants’ real bodies, though psychological trauma is possible.
• Li Qingzhi notices that another young man awakened before him and is calmly grinding a rusted steel bar into a makeshift weapon. This is highly unusual because the young man appears to be a newcomer, yet his awareness and behavior suggest veteran-level experience.
• The young man is later identified as Li Yun, though his true background remains unclear. He demonstrates practical judgment by preparing a weapon and helping a malnourished South Asian boy by giving him a piece of cloth to keep warm.
• As the tourists awaken, confusion and panic spread because they come from different countries and cannot initially communicate easily.
• A blonde woman screams uncontrollably. Li Qingzhi uses psychokinesis to slap her from a distance, stopping the panic and reminding everyone that the situation is dangerous.
• Once all participants are awake and the seventy-two-hour timer begins, Li Qingzhi takes command. He uses psychokinesis to levitate and shatter a stone, establishing his authority.
• The chapter ends as Li Qingzhi prepares to explain the situation and the trial rules to the frightened newcomers.

2. Character Developments

• Li Qingzhi is established as a cautious but practical veteran Main God User. He possesses Tier-One Psychokinesis Development, which has improved both his mental abilities and reaction speed. Although initially uncertain about his role and suspicious of Li Yun, he quickly assumes leadership when the newcomers become disorderly.
• Li Qingzhi shows both compassion and ruthlessness. He understands the value of cooperation and goodwill, but he is willing to use intimidation—or even a nonlethal psychokinetic strike—to control dangerous behavior.
• His display of power comes at a physical cost, causing dizziness and nausea, revealing that his abilities have limits.
• Li Yun, the mysterious young man, appears calm, observant, and highly capable. He immediately focuses on survival, makes a weapon, and assesses the environment without panic. His early awakening and composed behavior lead Li Qingzhi to suspect that he may secretly be another veteran Main God User.
• Li Yun also displays quiet generosity by helping the starving South Asian boy, suggesting that he is not purely self-interested.
• The South Asian boy is portrayed as malnourished, frightened, and vulnerable. His interaction with Li Yun establishes Li Yun’s willingness to help weaker participants.
• The tourists as a group begin in a state of confusion, fear, and cultural isolation. Their lack of shared language makes cooperation difficult, increasing the importance of a Guide.

3. Significant Themes

• Leadership through authority: Li Qingzhi believes that people must first recognize a leader’s strength before they will listen. His destruction of the stone is a deliberate demonstration meant to establish order.
• Survival and preparedness: Li Yun’s immediate effort to create a weapon emphasizes the importance of practical action over panic or confusion.
• Trust and suspicion: Li Qingzhi is drawn toward Li Yun because they share a language and nationality, but Li Yun’s unusual competence also makes him suspicious. The chapter explores how allies can simultaneously be sources of reassurance and potential danger.
• Compassion amid danger: Li Yun’s decision to help the malnourished boy suggests that kindness can create trust, even in a survival trial. Li Qingzhi recognizes that goodwill may be a weakness, but also sees its value in forming alliances.
• The difference between veterans and newcomers: The chapter contrasts experienced Main God Users, who understand the need for caution and control, with tourists who awaken confused and frightened.
• The limits of power: Psychokinesis gives Li Qingzhi a significant advantage, but its use still exhausts him. Strength is useful only when balanced with judgment and restraint.
• Psychological survival: Since physical death has no effect on the participants’ real bodies, the trial focuses not only on bodily survival but also on fear, panic, authority, and mental resilience.

4. Character Interactions

• Li Qingzhi and Li Yun: Their first interaction is cautious but cordial after they discover they share the surname and language. Li Qingzhi sees Li Yun as a possible ally while remaining wary of his unexplained abilities and early awakening.
• Li Yun and the South Asian boy: Li Yun gives the boy a cloth covering, silently offering protection from the cold rain. The boy hesitantly accepts it and attempts to thank him, creating the chapter’s clearest moment of compassion.
• Li Qingzhi and the panicking blonde woman: When she screams uncontrollably, Li Qingzhi strikes her with psychokinesis to stop the disturbance. The action shows his willingness to prioritize group stability over gentleness.
• Li Qingzhi and the tourists: He forcibly gathers their attention, intimidates them with a demonstration of psychokinesis, and prepares to act as their instructor and leader.
• The tourists among themselves: Their varied nationalities, confusion, and lack of a common language create immediate tension and disorder, underscoring their dependence on Li Qingzhi—or another capable individual—for guidance.

Chapter Summary: “Details and the Beginning of Action”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After “Old Li” explains the basics of the Main God Game, Li Yun’s suppressed memories and understanding of the Infinite Worlds suddenly awaken. He realizes that the game offers participants missions, rewards, power, immortality, and even the possibility of correcting regrets.
• A temporary personal interface appears for Li Yun, identifying him as a “Tourist” and unlocking language translation. This confirms that the Main God has recognized and provided him with limited system access.
• Li Yun observes that “Old Li” was deliberately placed among the newcomers as a guide and protector. The Main God’s purpose is likely to improve the tourists’ survival and mission-completion rate, especially after recruiting hundreds of thousands of participants.
• Li Yun analyzes Old Li’s psychokinetic abilities and discovers that they are powerful but dangerously inefficient. Old Li’s mental power has been artificially specialized to affect physical matter, placing severe strain on his ordinary body and potentially damaging his brain.
• Li Yun records this hidden danger, considering whether to warn users about risky exchanges in the Main God’s marketplace or restrict access to enhancements that their bodies cannot safely support.
• Once the newcomers recover from the information implanted into their minds, one Indian participant begins worshiping the Main God and repeatedly kowtowing. Li Yun identifies the man as a likely devotee of Vithoba and infers from his clothing, physical marks, and calluses that he is probably a poorly educated laborer from a low caste.
• Old Li is embarrassed and uncomfortable with the man’s reverence, while Li Yun’s detailed deductions make Old Li regard him as highly cultured, despite barely understanding the explanation.
• The mission timer begins. Realizing that danger may soon detect the newcomers, Old Li stops the worshiping man, gathers the group, and leads them away from the exposed, ruined street toward a safer location where they can investigate the mission world.

Character Developments

• Li Yun regains access to important knowledge about the Main God Game and demonstrates his analytical, detached, and highly perceptive nature. He quickly evaluates both the Main God’s system and the abilities and weaknesses of its participants.
• Old Li/Li Qingzhi shifts from an intimidating guide to an awkward and conscientious leader. Although he is annoyed by the newcomers’ foolishness, he accepts responsibility for their survival because their success will benefit him.
• Old Li’s psychic abilities are revealed to be a shortcut-based enhancement with serious physical risks. His lack of awareness about these dangers contrasts with Li Yun’s broader technical understanding.
• The Indian newcomer is portrayed as deeply religious, socially disadvantaged, and overwhelmed by the Main God’s revelation. His instinctive response is worship rather than analysis.
• The other tourists gradually move from confusion and disbelief toward acceptance, largely because the Main God’s direct mental information transfer seems undeniable.

Significant Themes

• Human desire and regret: The Main God’s promise to fulfill wishes and repair past mistakes exploits universal human vulnerabilities, making the game attractive even to people without grand ambitions.
• Manipulation and recruitment: The Main God carefully designs its messaging and uses guides, psychological dispersal, and convenient systems to maximize participation and survival.
• Knowledge versus ignorance: Li Yun’s advanced understanding allows him to see dangers hidden beneath apparently miraculous powers, while the newcomers interpret events through religion, fear, or incomplete knowledge.
• The cost of shortcuts: Old Li’s psychokinesis demonstrates that rapid power gained without a suitable physical foundation can damage or destroy the user.
• Social inequality and faith: The Indian man’s caste background, hard labor, and religious devotion show how poverty and limited opportunity can drive people to seek salvation through supernatural forces.
• Responsibility within exploitation: Although the Main God treats participants as tools and investments, Old Li still feels compelled to protect them, partly from duty and partly because their survival increases his reward.

Character Interactions

• Li Yun and Old Li: Li Yun quietly evaluates Old Li’s powers and explains the Indian participant’s background. Old Li is confused by Li Yun’s sophisticated reasoning but comes to respect him as an educated and capable person.
• Old Li and the Indian newcomer: The newcomer treats Old Li as the Main God’s representative, while Old Li feels embarrassed and guilty about being worshiped. He ultimately uses force and intimidation to stop the man from delaying the group.
• Li Yun and the newcomers: Li Yun remains an observer rather than an active leader, studying their reactions and the Main God’s methods. His analysis indirectly helps Old Li understand the group and their likely behavior.
• Old Li and the entire group: Once the mission countdown begins, Old Li assumes practical leadership, gathers the confused tourists, and moves them away from the dangerous open street to begin preparing for the mission.

Chapter Summary: “Moving Forward and Making Decisions”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingzhi struggles to manage the fourteen newcomers accompanying him through the ruined city. Their bizarre behavior, weakness, cultural differences, and constant demands leave him exhausted and increasingly resentful.
• Li Yun, a quiet and highly capable young man, separates from the group to scout ahead. Li Qingzhi follows, recognizing that Li Yun is probably an experienced Main God user or someone with an unusual real-world profession.
• Li Yun casually eats a plant stalk after observing rats consume it, demonstrating his calmness, resourcefulness, and willingness to take risks. He also reports that the Middle Eastern newcomer has begun demanding food, water, and rest.
• Li Qingzhi reflects bitterly on the group, comparing the difficult newcomers to “immortals” and admitting that he lacks the charisma and leadership ability of successful businessmen.
• The ruined city appears strangely safe. Aside from a near snakebite, the group has encountered almost no dangers during the first four or five hours of the seventy-two-hour survival trial.
• Li Yun questions whether the Main God’s trial is truly only about surviving three days, suggesting that hidden dangers may be nearby but invisible or inactive.
• As daylight seems to fade unnaturally early, Li Qingzhi becomes increasingly uneasy. He senses that the distant high-rises may be watching the group through their dark windows, as though the buildings are dormant creatures.
• Li Qingzhi finally issues an ultimatum: the newcomers must keep up or separate and fend for themselves. Several fall behind, and he refuses to help them.
• Searching for shelter, the group finds that the small roadside buildings are too damaged, exposed, and resource-poor to be useful.
• Li Yun retrieves a long, dust-covered backpack from a collapsed building and argues that the group should investigate the distant high-rises instead. He also points out the suspicious absence of birds despite the rain having stopped.

2. Character Developments

• Li Qingzhi: His initial sense of responsibility toward the newcomers deteriorates into frustration and emotional exhaustion. He recognizes that he is not naturally gifted at leadership and becomes more pragmatic, finally prioritizing his own survival and mission rewards over protecting everyone.
• Li Yun: He establishes himself as calm, observant, physically capable, and unusually adaptable. His silent movements, knowledge of edible plants, willingness to explore ruins, and sharp deductions suggest considerable experience. He becomes Li Qingzhi’s informal adviser and the only person Qingzhi trusts to make rational judgments.
• The newcomers: Their weaknesses and eccentricities become increasingly apparent. Some are physically frail, panicked, unhygienic, intoxicated, manipulative, or unable to adapt, reinforcing Li Qingzhi’s belief that they are liabilities rather than useful companions.

3. Significant Themes

• Leadership versus responsibility: Li Qingzhi learns that guiding people is far more difficult than simply surviving alone, especially when followers are incompetent or uncooperative.
• Cultural and human differences: The multinational group’s contrasting behaviors emphasize how people’s habits, values, and survival responses vary widely under pressure.
• Adaptation and resourcefulness: Li Yun’s willingness to eat unfamiliar plants, search ruins, and assess practical risks contrasts with the newcomers’ dependence and helplessness.
• Hidden danger and distrust: The apparent safety of the trial is itself suspicious. The absence of attacks, unnatural early darkness, silent high-rises, and lack of birds suggest that danger may be concealed rather than absent.
• Abandoning idealism: Li Qingzhi moves from wanting to protect everyone to accepting that some people must be left behind. Survival forces him to replace compassion with efficiency.

4. Character Interactions

• Li Qingzhi and Li Yun develop a cautious partnership while scouting ahead. Qingzhi is startled by Yun’s stealth but gradually relies on his judgment.
• Li Yun’s casual behavior—especially eating an unknown plant—contrasts with Li Qingzhi’s concern and highlights their different approaches to danger.
• Li Qingzhi angrily rejects the Middle Eastern newcomer’s demands and later imposes strict conditions on the entire group.
• Their discussion about shelter reveals Li Qingzhi’s anxiety and Li Yun’s analytical thinking. Yun dismisses the small houses as strategically unsafe and resource-poor, recommending the high-rises instead.
• Although Li Qingzhi remains the official guide, Li Yun increasingly functions as the group’s second decision-maker and most reliable source of insight.

Chapter Summary: “Inside the Building”

Key Plot Points and Events

• As night approaches, the exhausted group reaches a large, abandoned commercial building after hours of walking without food or water.
• The building’s entrance has been violently forced open in the past, and its dark, overgrown interior suggests that it may not be safe despite showing little structural damage.
• Li Yun, the resourceful young scavenger, reveals three metal baseball bats from his backpack. He gives one to Li Qingzhi, keeps one, and hands the third to the elderly white man, strengthening the group’s defenses.
• The group enters through the lobby and examines the damaged elevators, which are unusable and contain filthy, possibly organic traces. Li Yun instead focuses on the underground parking entrance, recognizing it as a potential danger or access point.
• He closes and chains the parking-garage doors to reduce airflow and prevent something from entering, though Li Qingzhi doubts the chain will be effective.
• After a brief exchange about baseball bats as weapons, the group heads up the dark stairwell rather than exploring the lower floors.
• The climb is frightening and disorienting. The darkness, damp surfaces, and echoing sounds intensify everyone’s fear, while Li Yun deliberately taps or scrapes his bat against the walls, unsettling the others.
• Upon reaching an upper floor, Li Qingzhi notices that the outside light has taken on an unnatural red tint. Looking through a window, he sees a vague red presence or shadow behind the clouds and black lines in the sky.
• The sight causes a severe physical and mental reaction: Li Qingzhi nearly collapses, bleeds from the nose, and receives a notification that he has gained partial information about the world’s setting and an Exploration Score increase.
• Li Yun remains calm and closes his eyes, listening instead to distant howls and nearby human voices filled with madness, pain, and savagery—suggesting that a dangerous transformation or supernatural event is beginning outside.

Character Developments

• Li Yun demonstrates practical intelligence, composure, and leadership. He prepares the group with weapons, assesses the building strategically, secures the parking entrance, and confidently leads everyone upstairs.
• Li Qingzhi remains the nominal leader but increasingly recognizes that Li Yun is more capable in dangerous situations. His uncertainty and fear reveal that, despite possessing Psychokinesis, he is still psychologically close to an ordinary person.
• The elderly white man gains a measure of dignity and usefulness when Li Yun gives him a baseball bat. He responds with gratitude and participates in the group’s defenses.
• The other newcomers, including the Middle Eastern man, South Asian teenager, Indian man, and white veteran, are shown to be physically exhausted and dependent on stronger members for protection. The Indian man assists Li Qingzhi when he nearly falls.
• The group’s trust in Li Yun grows, while Li Qingzhi’s authority subtly weakens.

Significant Themes

• Fear versus rational preparation: The group must enter a terrifying, dark building because remaining outside after sunset is more dangerous. Weapons, barricades, and cautious exploration become essential forms of survival.
• Emerging leadership: Authority shifts from Li Qingzhi toward Li Yun, whose competence and calmness make him a more natural leader.
• Human vulnerability: Exhaustion, darkness, unfamiliar supernatural forces, and physical reactions to the red phenomenon show how little control ordinary people have in this world.
• The unknown and cosmic horror: The red shape in the sky, the black lines among the clouds, and the distorted howls imply that the world is governed by incomprehensible forces.
• Contrast and perception: Darkness makes even faint light seem bright, while the building’s relative safety only becomes meaningful compared with the horrors outside.

Character Interactions

• Li Yun gives Li Qingzhi and the elderly white man baseball bats, establishing both practical cooperation and his willingness to distribute resources.
• Li Qingzhi follows Li Yun’s instructions despite his misgivings, revealing the changing balance of leadership between them.
• Their lighthearted discussion about baseball bats briefly relieves the tension, with the veteran joking that bats have greater value as weapons than as sporting equipment.
• Li Qingzhi complains when Li Yun makes ominous noises with his bat in the stairwell, but Li Yun dismisses the concern casually.
• The Indian man supports Li Qingzhi after he is overwhelmed by the sight outside, showing the group’s emerging mutual dependence.
• While everyone reacts with shock to the red phenomenon, Li Yun alone remains composed, emphasizing the contrast between his controlled demeanor and the others’ terror.

Summary: “Blood Moon and Changes”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Old Li (Li Qingzhi) awakens from his stupor after being exposed to the strange phenomenon, suffering hoarseness, bloodshot eyes, sluggishness, and possible neurological or physical changes.
• The survivors have taken refuge in a decaying office on the eighth floor, avoiding the blood-red moonlight shining through the cracked windows.
• Li Yun tests the moonlight by briefly exposing his hand to it. His skin begins swelling and writhing, his joints stiffen, and something appears to move beneath his flesh. He pulls his hand back before the transformation progresses.
• The group builds a makeshift platform so they can observe the city without approaching the windows directly. Outside, black shadows and monstrous creatures emerge from houses, cracks, and other parts of the ruins.
• The creatures gather, roam, fight, and devour one another beneath the Blood Moon. The city, previously silent and lifeless, becomes a landscape of violent, unnatural activity.
• The survivors are also weakened by hunger, exhaustion, and limited access to safe water, increasing their fear and vulnerability.
• Li Qingzhi notices the missing blonde tourist near the building. She has transformed into a gigantic, ape-like monster with deformed limbs, claws, fur, swollen veins, exposed teeth, and almost no remaining human consciousness.
• Staring too closely at the transformed girl causes Li Qingzhi’s mind to falter and his eyes to worsen. Li Yun interrupts him and pulls him back from the dangerous vision.
• Li Yun concludes that the trial is likely designed around gathering information and avoiding threats rather than fighting. The blood moon, the empty city, the lack of birds, and the strange black scars in the sky all suggest that the city itself contains a hidden danger.
• His immediate conclusion is that the survivors must hide and avoid exposure rather than attempt to confront the creatures.

Character Developments

• Li Qingzhi/Old Li: Awakens physically weakened and psychologically shaken. His enhanced or altered vision allows him to see dangers more clearly than the others, but this becomes a liability because prolonged observation worsens his eyes and destabilizes his mind.
• Li Yun: Remains calm, analytical, and unusually fearless. He deliberately tests the moonlight to determine its effects, demonstrating a willingness to risk himself for information. His detached attitude contrasts with the terror of the others, though he shows mild concern when protecting Li Qingzhi.
• The Russian man: Acts cautiously and pragmatically, warning Li Yun about the danger of the moonlight and discouraging the group from drinking contaminated rainwater.
• The South Asian boy: Helps scout the surroundings from the improvised platform, but the horrific sights leave him pale and frightened.
• The blonde tourist: Undergoes a complete transformation from a frightened human into a violent, monstrous creature, illustrating the Blood Moon’s horrifying effect on exposed people.

Significant Themes

• Information versus brute force: Survival depends on observing patterns and recognizing dangers rather than fighting blindly.
• Transformation and loss of humanity: The blonde tourist’s mutation shows that prolonged exposure does not merely injure people—it can erase their human identity.
• The danger of knowledge: Li Qingzhi’s improved vision helps him detect threats but also exposes him to psychologically damaging sights and possible physical mutation.
• The illusion of safety: The ruined building offers temporary protection, but hunger, exhaustion, the moonlight, and unknown threats continue to endanger the group.
• The calm before catastrophe: The quiet daytime city is revealed to have been only a temporary pause before the Blood Moon activates its hidden horrors.
• Human vulnerability and survival instinct: Fear, fatigue, and limited resources weaken the survivors, forcing them to depend on caution and cooperation.

Character Interactions

• The Indian man supports Old Li after his collapse and helps him reach the eighth floor.
• Li Yun exchanges tense but controlled words with Old Li while testing the moonlight.
• The Russian survivor warns Li Yun to stop exposing himself and keeps a hand near his weapon.
• The group cooperates to construct the viewing platform and takes turns observing the city.
• Li Yun physically interrupts Li Qingzhi’s fixation on the transformed tourist, preventing him from continuing to expose himself to the psychologically and physically dangerous sight.
• Their interactions reinforce the contrast between Li Yun’s composed analysis and the other survivors’ growing panic.

Chapter Summary: “What He Saw and... the Side Quest!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yun concludes that the safest place in the ruined city is likely somewhere elevated or enclosed, since most animals have disappeared while underground-dwelling creatures survive. He realizes that digging a shelter is impossible within the three-day survival limit and suggests investigating the city’s tall buildings.
• While exploring a building, “Old Li” looks outside and becomes mentally affected by the strange red light. Li Yun recognizes that Old Li is being drawn into a supernatural dream or vision and knocks him unconscious with a mental attack to interrupt the process.
• Old Li briefly wakes but begins seeing the phenomenon again. Li Yun suppresses him a second time, then rests after the exertion weakens both his body and mind.
• Through their mental connection, Li Yun experiences what Old Li saw: a gigantic blood-red moon emerging through black cracks in the sky. The moon resembles a vast living eyeball, seemingly watching everyone who looks at it.
• Li Yun notices that repeated exposure to the red moonlight has altered his left hand. By concentrating, he produces a faint halo and causes a small object to levitate toward his palm, suggesting the moonlight is awakening or transforming supernatural abilities.
• The Main God confirms that Li Yun has uncovered part of the world’s hidden information and reveals a side quest called “Mystery of Divine Blood.”
• The quest explains that a blood-colored meteor called “Blood Rose,” containing Divine Child Fetal Blood, struck the moon. Three planetary rotations later, the resulting red moonlight began affecting the entire planet.
• The quest requires reaching the moon within fourteen planetary orbital periods, investigating the impact site, uncovering the blood’s secret, and saving the planet. Accepting it would cancel Li Yun’s current mission and raise the world’s difficulty from one star to four stars.
• Li Yun immediately refuses, recognizing that the quest is far beyond his current capabilities and likely designed for extremely powerful Main God users.

Character Developments

• Li Yun: Demonstrates sharp observation, strategic thinking, and caution. He protects the group from hidden dangers while concealing how much he understands. His exposure to the moonlight appears to grant him weak telekinetic abilities, though it may also be changing his body and mind in dangerous ways.
• Old Li: Is shown to be dangerously curious and highly susceptible to the red moon’s influence. His tendency to investigate without caution repeatedly places him on the verge of being dragged into the supernatural dream.
• The Indian believer: Remains devoted to the “divine envoy” and becomes concerned when Old Li collapses, showing his continued faith in the group’s apparent religious hierarchy.
• The Main God: Acts as an impersonal quest administrator, revealing information only after Li Yun makes significant discoveries and presenting the dangerous side quest with an apparently neutral warning.

Significant Themes

• Curiosity versus survival: Old Li’s reckless desire to look outside contrasts with Li Yun’s calculated restraint. The chapter emphasizes that understanding a mystery is not worth dying for.
• The danger of perception: Simply seeing the blood-red moon can expose a person to its influence. Observation itself becomes hazardous, turning sight and knowledge into potential weaknesses.
• Transformation and contamination: Li Yun’s hand begins developing supernatural properties after limited exposure, suggesting that the moonlight may be assimilating or modifying living matter.
• Hidden cosmic horror: The moon is not merely an astronomical object but appears to be a living, watching entity. The “Divine Blood” hints at a much larger supernatural history behind the ruined world.
• Power and appropriate scale: Li Yun recognizes the vast difference between his current mission and the side quest’s requirements. Refusing the quest reflects practical judgment rather than cowardice.

Character Interactions

• Li Yun subtly guides Old Li toward the tall buildings while avoiding direct explanations of the dangers he has noticed.
• When Old Li is drawn into the moon’s influence, Li Yun forcibly interrupts the process through a mental attack, saving him from being completely absorbed into the dream.
• The Indian believer tries to check on Old Li and questions Li Yun’s actions, but Li Yun calmly dismisses his concerns by claiming that Old Li merely needs rest.
• Li Yun keeps his true knowledge and abilities hidden from the rest of the group, maintaining control while they remain unaware of the cosmic threat surrounding them.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Past midnight, Li Yun observes the Blood Moon’s increasingly intense crimson light. Its behavior defies normal physics: it shines down from any direction, yet inanimate objects readily block it.
• Outside, the moonlight drives grotesque, escalating mutations. Creatures transform, attack and devour one another, absorb body parts into their own flesh, and grow into enormous, unstable masses. Even the dead continue to mutate. Beneath the monsters’ animalistic noises, Li Yun hears an anguished refrain demanding blood.
• The veteran guide, Li Qingzhi (“Old Li”), wakes after collapsing and thanks Li Yun for saving him. He suggests the group climb higher for safety, but Li Yun refuses.
• Li Yun warns that the group may be safe only because they have not disturbed the “host” of the building. He suspects a powerful presence above them, and argues that the city’s lack of birds suggests the upper air—or the rooftops—is dangerous.
• Li Yun privately confirms the danger with his mental perception: a powerful life signal resembling the Blood Moon’s influence fills the building from around the fourteenth or fifteenth floor upward. The group is currently on the eighth floor, so climbing higher could lead them into a deadly trap.
• The group’s real objective is to survive three days, not to fight or investigate. Li Yun decides that caution and staying out of trouble are their best chance.

Character developments

• Li Yun remains composed and analytical despite the horrors outside. He combines observation, deduction, and unusually sensitive mental perception to identify the danger above the group. He also takes responsibility for keeping the others from making reckless choices.
• Li Qingzhi is still weak and mentally muddled after his earlier ordeal, but remains capable of reasoning and questioning Li Yun’s conclusions. He accepts Li Yun’s warning and returns to rest.
• The chapter suggests that people with heightened mental potential, such as Li Yun and Li Qingzhi, may have been placed in the trial to help guide less capable newcomers.

Character interactions

• Li Qingzhi expresses gratitude to Li Yun, who avoids discussing the rescue and redirects their conversation.
• When Li Qingzhi proposes moving upstairs, Li Yun calmly persuades him that investigating higher floors would be dangerous. He uses the missing birds and the apparent danger of the upper air to support his explanation, while keeping the full extent of his own findings private.
• Li Yun’s dry remarks about the building’s “host” lighten the exchange briefly, but his underlying warning is serious. Li Qingzhi ultimately follows his advice.

Significant themes

• Survival through restraint: The greatest threat may be a danger the group cannot understand or fight; avoiding it is wiser than acting boldly.
• Mutation and loss of identity: Blood Moon exposure turns living beings into grotesque forms, while the monsters’ repeated cries suggest that fragments of suffering and instinct persist.
• Unequal knowledge and responsibility: Li Yun sees and understands more than the others, making him their de facto protector and guide.
• A harsh but managed trial: The Main God’s challenge remains lethal, yet the chapter hints that it has made limited efforts to give newcomers a chance—especially by assembling teams with perceptive guides.

Chapter Summary: “Return, and ‘Default’”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After surviving the first night of the Newcomer Trial, Li Qingzhi discovers that the enormous mutated vines covering the building retreat into its upper levels during daylight, disguising themselves as ordinary dead vines.
• Following the young man’s instructions, the group spends the next several days avoiding danger, gathering maps and scarce food and water, and hiding in different buildings at night. Although exhausted and malnourished, they suffer no further casualties and successfully complete the mission.
• Upon returning to the Main God Platform, Li Qingzhi receives an automatic “refresh and repair” service. A white light purifies his slight divine contamination, restores his health, removes his hunger and fatigue, and cleans his clothes.
• Old Li explains that this is a benefit provided to official Main God Users after each completed mission. The young man, however, receives no such restoration, revealing that he is still technically a newcomer rather than an activated user.
• The group witnesses many other participants returning from their respective mission worlds. Kutanda, already severely weakened by malnutrition and exhaustion, collapses unconscious.
• The Main God informs Li Yun that Kutanda has not chosen whether to activate his Main God ID. Since he is unconscious and may lose his opportunity once his visitor status expires, the system asks whether he should be removed from the platform.
• Instead of allowing Kutanda’s chance to vanish, the Main God rules that because he has not explicitly refused activation, his silence counts as a default decision to activate the ID.

2. Character Developments

• Li Qingzhi proves himself capable of enduring extreme hardship by following the group’s survival strategy, despite his exhaustion and limited intelligence compared with others. His first experience of the Main God’s restoration service leaves him amazed and deeply impressed.
• Li Yun, the mysterious young man, is revealed to possess an extraordinary innate or awakened mental ability despite having no official Main God enhancements. He carefully controls what he reveals, giving others just enough information to form their own theories.
• Old Li becomes increasingly shocked by Li Yun’s apparent natural abilities. His confusion shows that Li Yun’s condition contradicts everything he understands about ordinary newcomers and Main God powers.
• Kutanda demonstrates exceptional perseverance by surviving the mission despite severe physical weakness. His collapse after returning emphasizes both his fragility and his determination.
• The White Russian displays practical compassion and reliability by checking Kutanda’s condition, supporting him physically, and reassuring the group.
• Li Yun also reveals a cautious, principled side: although he could potentially influence the system, he prefers to observe how the Main God’s rules operate without directly imposing his own judgment.

3. Significant Themes

• Survival through obedience and cooperation: The group succeeds not through strength but by following sound advice, gathering information, conserving resources, and remaining hidden.
• Appearance versus reality: The monstrous vines become harmless-looking after daylight returns, while Li Yun appears to be an ordinary newcomer despite possessing unusual abilities.
• The limits and flexibility of rules: Kutanda’s condition exposes a loophole in the Main God’s procedures. The system must interpret an incomplete choice and ultimately establishes that silence can count as consent.
• Natural talent versus artificial enhancement: Li Yun’s abilities challenge the assumption that power comes only from Main God exchanges or official upgrades.
• Human vulnerability and compassion: Kutanda’s collapse highlights the physical cost of the trial, while the White Russian’s care demonstrates solidarity among strangers.
• The Main God as an evolving authority: The Main God appears highly systematic but not entirely inflexible, consulting an administrator and adapting its judgment when faced with an unforeseen situation.

4. Character Interactions

• Li Qingzhi and Li Yun interact through Li Qingzhi’s attempts to understand the young man’s unexplained mental power. Li Yun gives a deliberately vague explanation, allowing Li Qingzhi to speculate without learning the truth.
• Old Li examines and questions Li Yun, alternating between excitement, disbelief, and concern as he realizes that Li Yun is genuinely an unenhanced newcomer.
• The returning group reacts collectively to Li Qingzhi’s restored appearance, contrasting him with the exhausted newcomers who do not receive the same benefit.
• The White Russian tends to Kutanda after his collapse, checking his breathing and heartbeat and using his leg as support while explaining that the boy needs nutrition and rest.
• Li Yun observes Kutanda sympathetically and recognizes his perseverance, but he remains cautious about intervening directly in the Main God’s decision.
• The chapter ends with Li Yun privately reacting with amused suspicion to the Main God’s ruling that Kutanda’s failure to choose constitutes “default activation,” hinting at a more playful or opportunistic side to the supposedly impartial system.

Interlude I — Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Main God Platform experiences an unprecedented influx of returning participants. White transmission lights appear across the vast azure platform in enormous numbers, indicating that the latest Main God mission involved far more people than the previous round.
• Li Qingzhi realizes the Main God Game is no longer limited primarily to one country. Participants now come from around the world, representing many nationalities, cultures, and levels of technological development.
• The returning participants display wildly different appearances and conditions:
  • Some arrive exhausted, injured, or mentally traumatized.
  • Others emerge in combat-ready states, carrying crude explosives or weapons.
  • Many collapse, gasp for breath, or react with delirious excitement after surviving their missions.
• Li Yun tests the protective barrier surrounding each person on the platform. He confirms that it creates roughly thirty centimeters of personal space and prevents unauthorized physical interference or malicious attacks.
• Wang Cheng and Old Pei attempt to organize their scattered group and recruit new manpower from the massive crowd. They prioritize Asian and especially domestic participants, hoping to expand their organization quickly.
• The group struggles to communicate because the enormous crowd has scattered their members across the platform. Their usual communication methods are inadequate, forcing them to shout over the noise and confusion.
• Old Pei reports that one newly contacted Visitor claims to be from “Liezhidundeng,” apparently a small European country. This confirms that the latest mission included participants from a much broader international range.

Character developments

• Li Qingzhi becomes increasingly concerned by the scale and international diversity of the Main God Game. Though he had anticipated foreign participants, the reality of the crowd overwhelms him and makes the situation seem far more dangerous and complicated.
• Li Yun demonstrates a calm, analytical mindset. Rather than being distracted by the chaos, he studies the Main God’s protective mechanisms and verifies that the platform’s safety rules are precise and effective.
• Wang Cheng reveals strong organizational instincts but also growing desperation. His previous civilian background contrasts sharply with his current frantic, aggressive effort to recruit as many people as possible.
• Old Pei functions as a practical coordinator, gathering information and reporting the team’s logistical problems. He recognizes that their large group has become difficult to manage because its members returned in different locations.
• Several unnamed survivors are shown as psychologically transformed by their missions: some are hypervigilant and dangerous, while others remain traumatized, confused, or euphoric.

Significant themes

• Global expansion and loss of familiar boundaries: The Main God Game has grown from a largely national event into an international phenomenon, making previous assumptions and systems obsolete.
• Scale and overwhelming complexity: The sheer number of participants creates confusion, communication breakdowns, and logistical problems. Individuals and groups risk becoming insignificant within the crowd.
• Trauma and survival: The varied physical and psychological states of the returnees emphasize the brutal nature of the missions and the lasting effects of extreme danger.
• Organization versus chaos: Wang Cheng and Old Pei’s recruitment efforts show groups trying to impose structure and build power amid a rapidly changing environment.
• Protection and controlled violence: The invisible thirty-centimeter barrier represents the Main God’s attempt to regulate conflict on the platform, allowing enormous numbers of strangers to coexist without immediate violence.
• Cultural and technological diversity: Participants arrive with vastly different clothing, weapons, customs, and backgrounds, suggesting that the Main God’s system now connects societies at radically different levels of development.

Character interactions

• Li Qingzhi and the returning crowd: Li Qingzhi observes the foreign participants and survivors, using their appearances and behavior to understand how dramatically the game has expanded.
• Li Yun and the nearby participant: Li Yun physically tests the protective boundary around another person, confirming how the platform prevents unwanted contact.
• Wang Cheng and his temporary coworkers: Wang urgently orders Wenshu and others to recruit participants, especially Asians and domestic users, revealing his pressure to build up manpower quickly.
• Wang Cheng and Old Pei: The two shout across the crowded platform, discussing recruitment, missing teammates, and the difficulties caused by their scattered return points.
• Old Pei and the female Visitor: Old Pei gathers information from a foreign Visitor, whose claimed origin in a small European country further confirms the international scope of the Main God Game.

Interlude II — Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Yansheng, Du Qifeng, and He Qiu reunite on the Main God Platform after being randomly sent to different mission worlds.
• Lu explains that his mission, “Hunting Ground Time,” was a battle-royale scenario in which kidnapped civilians were forced to fight on an island. He survived an ambush and explosion, but his heavy gun was badly damaged. The Main God’s free healing restored him, but repairing the weapon costs five Universal Points.
• The group learns that equipment damage must be repaired at the user’s own expense. Lu also advises them to check the Main God’s “Death Perception Blurring” setting before each mission.
• He Qiu reports that he entered an ancient battlefield involving military strategists and a Feng Shui practitioner. He was nearly killed by mechanism-fired arrows but survived by pretending to be dead and scavenging afterward.
• He Qiu discovers that cultivation is possible in some mission worlds, and that its effects persist after returning to reality. After completing his main mission, he remained for three additional days to cultivate, despite his injuries.
• The three realize that completing a mission allows users to return immediately or remain in the world for up to three extra days before paying to extend their stay.
• Upon returning, they observe an unprecedented crowd of users from every culture, region, and level of civilization. The Main God Game has become a vast international and cross-cultural phenomenon.
• Veterans notice that return positions correspond to users’ original platform positions. Free healing beams are concentrated near the inner circle, suggesting that occupying advantageous locations before missions may provide benefits.
• A veteran user begins publicly advertising his expertise, offering guidance about the Main God’s “hidden rules” for five Universal Points. He uses identity concealment and a golden megaphone, signaling the emergence of commercial exploitation and competition among users.

Character Development

• Lu Yansheng demonstrates caution and practical experience. His dangerous first mission leaves him shaken, and his damaged weapon highlights both the risks of the missions and his limited resources. He becomes a source of safety advice for the others.
• He Qiu proves opportunistic, adaptable, and increasingly ambitious. Rather than returning immediately after completing his mission, he risks remaining injured in order to gain cultivation progress. His success gives him a major potential advantage, though his initial excitement briefly causes him to unintentionally flaunt Lu’s failure.
• Du Qifeng acts as an observer and interpreter, quickly recognizing the battle-royale nature of Lu’s mission. He is also deeply affected by the enormous, culturally diverse crowd and begins to understand the scale of the Main God system.
• The three’s friendship is reinforced through cooperation and shared discussion, though He Qiu’s boasting creates a moment of discomfort before they tactfully change the subject.

Significant Themes

• Survival and risk management: The missions reward boldness but punish carelessness, while even successful users may return injured or with damaged equipment.
• Unequal advantages and resource competition: Positioning, equipment repair, cultivation, and accumulated experience create differences between users and encourage users to protect their advantages.
• The expansion of human society: The Main God Platform brings people from radically different cultures and historical backgrounds into a single shared system, producing both wonder and alienation.
• Exploitation and commercialization: The veteran’s paid advice suggests that knowledge, experience, and access to hidden rules are becoming commodities.
• Human adaptation: Users rapidly learn the Main God’s rules, develop strategies, and search for ways to exploit mission-world mechanics for long-term growth.
• The blurred boundary between game and reality: Although the Main God calls the trials a “game,” the injuries, deaths, rewards, and lasting cultivation effects make the consequences unmistakably real.

Character Interactions

• Lu, Du, and He compare their missions and exchange practical information.
• Lu warns the others about equipment repair costs and safety settings.
• He Qiu enthusiastically recounts his survival and cultivation experience, while Lu responds with admiration mixed with envy.
• He Qiu notices that his story has worsened Lu’s mood and stops boasting, preserving their camaraderie.
• The trio then jointly observes the massive crowd and the strategic importance of platform positioning.
• The chapter ends with a veteran publicly approaching the crowd as a potential customer base, marking the beginning of organized advice-selling and competition among Main God users.

Interlude Three Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Yi has reinvented himself as a respectable-looking businessman, running several small companies and living a wealthy lifestyle. However, his fortune was built through deceptive “health” products and legally gray scams targeting uninformed consumers.
• After being invited into the Main God Game, Zhang Yi passes the Newcomer Trial and becomes a Level 1 user. The enormous exchange system and the existence of Universal Points reignite his ambition and predatory business instincts.
• During the arrival of a massive wave of new users, Zhang recognizes a major information gap between veterans and newcomers. He decides to exploit this by using an All-Server Announcement Golden Megaphone to advertise trades and offer “help” to confused newcomers.
• Zhang presents himself as a helpful expert, explaining how to activate accounts and claim rewards while discreetly sending trade requests. His real intention is to profit from their ignorance, charging relatively small amounts—around five Universal Points—to make his offers seem reasonable.
• Zhang privately approaches Lu Yansheng, Du Qifeng, and He Qiu, asking them not to interfere in exchange for a seventy-thirty profit split. He formalizes the proposal through a Main God Arbitration Agreement.
• Other users engage in similar exploitation. A glowing “priest” uses a Bible obtained from a blind box to preach that the Main God Game is a divine trial and that he is a new Noah. He subtly solicits “donations” to fund an alleged ark project in the real world, successfully attracting believers.
• Li Yun observes these activities but chooses not to intervene. Since the Main God’s rules ensure that trades require consent and can be arbitrated, he views the schemes as a form of natural, if distasteful, market behavior.

Character Developments

• Zhang Yi: His former identity and criminally ambiguous business background are revealed. Although he has attempted to appear respectable, his instincts remain those of a con artist and opportunist. The Main God Game does not reform him; instead, it gives him a larger marketplace and a renewed sense of possibility.
• Lu Yansheng: His greater life experience allows him to quickly recognize Zhang’s behavior as a sophisticated version of stock-market or street-sales fraud. He becomes the primary member of the group capable of understanding Zhang’s intentions.
• Du Qifeng and He Qiu: Both are bewildered by Zhang’s aggressive advertising and fail at first to interpret what is happening, emphasizing their inexperience compared with older or more worldly users.
• Li Yun: He takes on the role of detached observer and pragmatic analyst. Though he dislikes the exploitation of newcomers, he understands that the Main God’s rules intentionally allow voluntary transactions and that excessive regulation would undermine the free-trade system.
• The “priest”/self-proclaimed Noah: He demonstrates another form of manipulation, using religious rhetoric and the Main God’s authority to gain followers and solicit money.

Significant Themes

• Exploitation through information asymmetry: Veteran users profit from newcomers who lack knowledge about the Main God Game, its economy, and its rules.
• Human nature under opportunity: The new world does not eliminate greed, fraud, or manipulation; it magnifies and professionalizes them.
• Morality versus legality: Zhang’s businesses and the newcomers’ trades may technically remain within the rules, even though they rely on deception and exploitation.
• Free markets and self-regulation: The Main God permits consent-based trades and arbitration but does not prohibit misleading sales tactics. The chapter suggests that excessive intervention could be as dangerous as unchecked exploitation.
• Adaptability and reinvention: Zhang repeatedly changes his identity, profession, and presentation, showing how easily opportunists adapt to new environments.
• Religion and authority as tools: The priest appropriates religious symbolism and the Main God’s perceived power to create legitimacy and influence.

Character Interactions

• Zhang publicly performs the role of a helpful merchant while privately targeting confused newcomers.
• He approaches Lu Yansheng, Du Qifeng, and He Qiu with a proposed partnership, offering them a share of his profits in return for their silence.
• Lu recognizes Zhang’s scheme and must decide whether to accept the arbitration proposal or oppose him.
• Du and He remain confused spectators, while Lu’s experience lets him see the fraud beneath Zhang’s performance.
• Li Yun watches both Zhang and the priest from a distance, comparing their methods and concluding that, despite their different styles, both are harvesting newcomers through persuasion, half-truths, and manufactured authority.

Chapter Summary: “A Brief Interlude, Part Four”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yun and Li Qingzhi remain on the Main God Platform after the Newcomer Trial, browsing the Exchange Listings.
• Li Qingzhi enthusiastically recommends a cheap First-Tier psychokinesis enhancement, Psychokinesis Development, which costs only 100 Universal Points and one Common Exchange Card.
• Li Yun examines the listing and discovers hidden information unavailable to ordinary users. The ability is derived from an experimental technology connected to the Red Alert universe and was originally a more dangerous Tier-Two strengthening. The Main God has modified it to remove its fatal three-year lifespan limit, though significant physical and mental burdens remain.
• Li Yun advises Li Qingzhi to prioritize a bloodline, energy system, or general attribute enhancement instead of buying a narrowly focused psychokinesis ability.
• Li Qingzhi explains that he cannot afford more expensive upgrades and took on a Guide Task to earn extra points by helping newcomers.
• The newcomers continue studying the Main God’s interface. The unconscious youth remains on the ground with his head resting on the Russian man’s leg, while the group forms a loose protective circle around him amid the crowded platform.
• Li Qingzhi opens his mission results and sees that he earned:
  • 82 Universal Points

One Common Exchange Card

• A “Common Grade” evaluation, after surviving the mission but failing to reach the required exploration score of five.
• His Guide Task produces a shocking additional reward:
  • He guided thirteen Visitors.
  • Ten successfully completed the mission.
  • He receives 303 additional Universal Points and another Common Exchange Card because one of the people he guided achieved a Rare Grade evaluation.
• The chapter ends with Li Qingzhi staring at the unexpected reward in bewilderment.

Character Developments

• Li Yun demonstrates his superior access to hidden Main God information and his cautious, analytical nature. He recognizes that the recommended psychokinesis strengthening carries risks and quietly warns Li Qingzhi against relying on it too early.
• Li Qingzhi is shown to be socially perceptive, opportunistic, and relatively experienced with the Main God system. Though he tries to gain Li Yun’s favor, he is also genuinely helpful to the newcomers. His unexpected Guide Task reward dramatically improves his financial position.
• The newcomers remain overwhelmed by the Exchange Listings and the Main God interface, emphasizing their inexperience.
• The unconscious youth continues to be passively protected by the group, while the Russian man’s willingness to serve as a cushion highlights the informal cooperation forming among the survivors.

Significant Themes

• Hidden knowledge and unequal access: Li Yun’s ability to see information omitted from ordinary listings reveals that Main God users do not all possess the same understanding of available powers.
• Risk versus cost-effectiveness: Cheap enhancements may conceal serious dangers, making careful investigation more important than simply buying the strongest-looking ability.
• Cooperation and self-interest: Li Qingzhi helps others partly out of generosity and partly for rewards, showing how survival systems encourage both teamwork and personal calculation.
• The overwhelming nature of the Main God system: The crowded platform, unfamiliar interface, and complex exchange options leave newcomers confused and vulnerable.
• Unexpected rewards and uncertainty: Li Qingzhi’s enormous bonus demonstrates that the Main God’s rules can produce surprising outcomes, especially for those who exploit secondary systems like Guide Tasks.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingzhi approaches Li Yun as a fellow clansman and tries to advise him about the Exchange Listings.
• Li Yun listens without rejecting him but responds with restrained caution, warning him to strengthen his overall foundation instead of choosing psychokinesis immediately.
• Li Qingzhi and the other survivors cooperate to protect the unconscious newcomer and prevent the crowd from separating them.
• The chapter closes on Li Qingzhi’s confused reaction to his unexpectedly large reward, setting up questions about how valuable Guide Tasks may become in the future.

Interlude Five — Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Yun reviews his current Main God status panel after returning from the mission world. His basic attributes are listed as:
  • Constitution: 1.9
  • Mentality: 4.0
  • No enhancements
  • Overall assessment: First Tier
• He requests more detailed information, causing the Main God to display an extremely comprehensive biological analysis. However, the overwhelming amount of data quickly bores him, so he returns to the simplified panel.
• His mission results are confirmed:
  • Main Quest One—survive seventy-two hours: completed.
  • Main Quest Two—achieve an Exploration Score of five: completed.
  • Side Quest—“Mystery of Divine Blood”: triggered.
  • Final mission rating: Rare Grade.
  • Rewards: 1,130 Universal Points and one Rare Grade Exchange Card.
• Li Yun examines how the rewards were calculated:
  • Main quests provided 106 points.
  • The side quest provided 120 points.
  • The 226-point total was multiplied fivefold by the Newcomer Trial amplification, producing 1,130 points.
• He questions why merely triggering the side quest awarded so many points. The Main God explains that the side quest involved perceiving the true form of the Blood Moon, an act that could instantly kill or mentally destroy ordinary newcomers. Normally, someone with Third- or Fourth-Tier mental attributes would be needed to survive it.
• Li Yun realizes the generous reward was actually a discounted assessment caused by his unusual nature and administrative status. He acknowledges that he had unintentionally created a loophole in the trial’s balance.
• He asks how he should spend his resources while maintaining the appearance of an ordinary user. The Main God advises him to choose low-profile, broadly compatible resources rather than conspicuous or transformative upgrades.
• Because Li Yun’s true body is undergoing an unknown evolutionary process, the Main God warns him against exchanging for bloodlines or enhancements that might interfere with that evolution.
• The available exchange list narrows to fewer than thirty suitable options. The top recommendation is “Electric Current Drive,” a newcomer-only exchange costing 1,000 Universal Points and one Rare Grade Exchange Card.

Character Developments

• Li Yun continues balancing two identities: his true role as an administrator and his outward role as an ordinary Main God user.
• He demonstrates strong analytical judgment by questioning the reward system and worrying about potential point inflation and mission balance.
• His experience has made him more cautious about how his abnormal abilities affect trial difficulty and reward calculations.
• He accepts responsibility for unintentionally disrupting the Newcomer Trial’s balance.
• He also shows restraint, choosing to prioritize compatibility and concealment over immediately acquiring powerful or visibly transformative enhancements.
• The Main God displays increasingly nuanced communication, including a rare attempt at humor and an effort to provide strategic guidance tailored to Li Yun’s situation.

Significant Themes

• Power and abnormality: Li Yun’s exceptional nature allows him to bypass dangers that would destroy ordinary users, complicating the fairness and evaluation of the trial.
• Balance and value: The discussion of Universal Points emphasizes the importance of maintaining a stable reward economy and preventing artificial inflation.
• Identity and concealment: Li Yun must carefully manage his resources so that he can appear ordinary while secretly operating with administrator-level knowledge.
• Evolution and uncertainty: His true body is changing in an unknown way, making compatibility and long-term adaptability more important than immediate power.
• Humanization of the Main God: The system’s simulated social awareness and humor suggest that it is becoming more than a purely mechanical interface.

Character Interactions

• Li Yun directly interrogates the Main God about his rewards and receives a detailed explanation of the lethal nature of the “Mystery of Divine Blood” side quest.
• The Main God reminds him that certain inquiries require higher authority, while still offering practical advice within the limits of his current identity.
• Their exchange reflects a cooperative but unusual relationship: Li Yun treats the Main God as both a system and a conversational partner, while the Main God recognizes his hidden status and adapts its recommendations accordingly.
• Li Qingzhi’s confusion is mentioned but ignored by those around him, as attention shifts toward the more immediate matter of evaluating Li Yun’s results.

Chapter Summary: “New York Back Alley”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ethan Flores, a homeless Black man living in a Brooklyn alley, regains consciousness after collapsing in the street and suffering violent convulsions.
• His acquaintance, Old Panko, has revived him using an improvised folk remedy made from tequila and herbs rather than seeking medical help, fearing the financial and legal consequences of involving authorities.
• As Ethan’s mind clears, he recalls a bizarre experience in a place called the Main God Game. He remembers a dangerous newcomer trial in a swamp, strangers, an alligator attack, a mysterious blue platform, the “Main God,” missions, rewards, and an exchange system.
• Ethan tests one of the abilities he obtained through the game: a low-level X-Gene activation. When he exerts himself, parts of his fingers and palm become covered in a dull metallic substance, making them hard enough to strike and dent a metal storage bin.
• After repeatedly testing the transformation, Ethan confirms that the experience was real and that he has brought the ability back with him.
• Overcome with gratitude and renewed hope, Ethan kneels and prays to God, despite previously being an avowed nonbeliever.

Character Developments

• Ethan Flores: Initially weak, confused, and physically incapacitated, Ethan gradually regains awareness and memory. His discovery that the Main God Game and its rewards are real transforms him emotionally. His testing of the metallic ability reveals a childlike excitement and the first genuine sense of hope he has experienced in his desperate life.
• Old Panko: He is established as a caring but eccentric fellow homeless man. Though unable to afford conventional medical care, he risks helping Ethan with his grandmother’s folk remedy. His astonishment at Ethan’s transformation shows both his concern and his inability to explain what he has witnessed.

Significant Themes

• Hope amid poverty: The bleak alley and Ethan’s homelessness emphasize his marginalization and lack of prospects, making his supernatural ability and renewed hope especially significant.
• Faith and transformation: Ethan’s unexpected prayer suggests that supernatural power and survival have reopened his connection to faith, even though he previously rejected belief.
• Science versus folk belief: Old Panko’s Mexican remedies contrast with modern medicine, while Ethan’s inexplicable metallic transformation introduces a third, supernatural explanation.
• Human kindness among the marginalized: Despite having almost nothing, Old Panko helps Ethan rather than abandoning him, highlighting solidarity among people living on society’s edges.
• Reality beyond the ordinary: The chapter confirms that the Main God Game is not a dream and establishes a larger supernatural or interdimensional system affecting Ethan’s world.

Character Interactions

• Old Panko revives Ethan, scolds him for frightening him, and explains why he avoided calling the police or a doctor.
• Ethan responds weakly and sarcastically to Panko’s remedy, refusing another drink but recognizing the old man’s efforts.
• Panko witnesses Ethan’s metallic transformation and becomes frightened and confused, while Ethan remains focused on testing and understanding his new power.
• Ethan’s prayer occurs in Panko’s presence, and Panko silently observes the unusual hope and intensity in Ethan’s expression.

Chapter Forty Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• On Friday night, college student Wu Shaoyou tries to retrieve his digital copy of the novel Terror and Infinity from his cloud drive.
• He discovers that the file has completely vanished—not only from the drive, but also from his browsing history, as if it had never existed.
• Searching online, Wu finds numerous forum posts from other readers reporting the same disappearance. The book appears to have been removed from multiple websites and storage services, while unrelated files remain untouched.
• He then encounters discussions about strangers asking unusually specific questions about the novel’s “Main God” and “Main God Space.”
• Several users report being contacted by overseas individuals offering large sums of money for the novel’s earliest versions, illustrations, side stories, and detailed setting information.
• Screenshots from encrypted or “dark web” forums reveal international bounty postings offering tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes in multiple currencies, for copies of the book and information about powerful mythological beings or “rulers” across different cultures.
• Wu searches major engines in incognito mode, but recent information about the novel has effectively disappeared. The remaining results are outdated, irrelevant, or dead links.
• He begins to suspect that the disappearance is not an ordinary copyright purge, but part of a coordinated and deeply mysterious effort.

Character Development

• Wu Shaoyou begins as an annoyed student searching for entertainment, frustrated by slow internet and the loss of his favorite novel.
• His irritation gradually turns into confusion, suspicion, and fear as he realizes that readers worldwide are experiencing the same phenomenon.
• He demonstrates curiosity and investigative instincts by comparing forum reports, examining screenshots, using foreign searches, and switching to incognito mode.
• By the end, Wu recognizes that the novel may be connected to something real and dangerous, though he cannot understand what that connection is.

Significant Themes

• Reality and fiction blurring: A fictional concept—the Main God and its associated space—appears to have significance beyond the novel itself.
• Censorship and erasure: The book is being systematically removed from digital platforms and personal archives without explanation.
• Global conspiracy and secrecy: International actors are willing to pay enormous sums for the book and related information.
• The uncanny and the unknown: Ordinary internet activity gradually reveals an incomprehensible force operating behind the scenes.
• Digital fragility: Wu’s reliance on cloud storage and search engines highlights how easily information can be erased or manipulated.

Character Interactions

• Wu has no direct major conversations in the chapter; his interactions are primarily with anonymous online users through forum posts and screenshots.
• The forum participants collectively confirm that the novel’s disappearance is widespread.
• Anonymous domestic and foreign users exchange rumors, requests, and evidence about the Main God, suggesting a growing international interest in the book.
• These indirect interactions progressively validate Wu’s suspicions and transform his concern from a personal technical problem into a potentially global mystery.