Chapter Summaries

Lu Mingfei woke in class after completing his 700th run of the Genji Heavy Industries dungeon, a brutal dream-game he had been forced to play for nearly two years. He remained exhausted and homeless after the dreams’ effects caused him to attack his aunt, while the other dungeons on his game interface remained ahead.

• Lu Mingfei finished the Genji Heavy Industries dungeon for the 700th time on Hard mode and earned an S clear rating.
• Lu Mingfei slept through math class, and his teacher told Chen Wenwen to remind him to visit her office.
• Chen Wenwen asked Lu Mingfei to help with the literature club event, but he put her off and said he would come next time.
• Lu Mingfei recalled that he had entered the dungeon game in his dreams for nearly two years and repeatedly fought Deadpools alongside three NPC teammates.
• Lu Mingfei remembered that the dreams had caused hallucinations and that he had nearly attacked his aunt, leaving him kicked out of home and homeless.

Lu Mingfei skipped class, played StarCraft with the skilled Old Tang, then returned to the Genji Heavy Industries dungeon to pursue the perfect ending of saving his teammates. The dungeon reset on Hard Mode during a major earthquake, and Lu Mingfei prepared to face it with his powerful S-Rank abilities.

• Lu Mingfei recalled his recent dream adventures and decided to skip class to play StarCraft.
• At an internet café, Lu Mingfei defeated Old Tang five times, and the two exchanged contact details and arranged another match.
• Lu Mingfei rented a private booth and entered the reset Genji Heavy Industries dungeon, hoping to save all three teammates this time.
• An earthquake struck Tokyo as Lu Mingfei awoke on the building's fourteenth floor, and the dungeon announced that Hard Mode had begun.
• Lu Mingfei checked his status panel, which showed his S-Rank mixed-blood abilities, and gripped his Desert Eagles as the challenge started.

Lu Mingfei repeated his familiar run through Genji Heavy Industries, evacuated the operators, and prepared to face the Deadpools. After injecting himself with nineteen doses of Evolution Potion, he leaped into the elevator shaft and descended toward the danger below.

• Lu Mingfei received another iPhone from the DHL courier, read Lu Mingze’s unchanged message, and threw the phone away.
• Lu Mingfei kicked open the fire exit and evacuated the operators before Deadpools could reach the floor.
• Lu Mingfei waited for the floor to empty, then took out his accumulated weapons and potions.
• Lu Mingfei injected nineteen vials of Evolution Potion, awakening a ferocious power in his bloodline.
• Lu Mingfei pried open the elevator doors, leaped into the shaft, and opened his blazing Golden Eyes as he fell.

Lu Mingfei fought his way through the Deadpools in Genji Heavy Industries and descended into the burning Mural Hall to rescue Chu Zihang, Caesar, and Gen Chisei. He arrived too late to prevent Chu Zihang from being wounded, but saved him from the dual-bladed Deadpool and left Caesar stunned by his power.

• Lu Mingfei glimpsed a pale-eyed boy in a black suit holding a bouquet on the twelfth floor, then continued down the elevator shaft toward the Mural Hall.
• Lu Mingfei killed a Serpentine Deadpool on an elevator car, used falling elevators to obstruct the shaft, and rode a VIP elevator while music played through its speakers.
• In the burning Mural Hall, a dual-bladed Serpentine Deadpool stabbed Chu Zihang and lifted him into the air while Caesar struggled to aim at it.
• Lu Mingfei descended from the rafters and killed the dual-bladed Deadpool with a Reverse Kesa-giri, then covered Chu Zihang with his trench coat.
• Lu Mingfei fought the surrounding Deadpools while supporting Chu Zihang, and Gen Chisei moved to a gun to provide cover.
• Caesar asked Gen Chisei if Lu Mingfei was the headquarters' trump card, then realized he did not know which S-Rank Lu Mingfei was supposed to be.

Lu Mingfei fought through a growing Deadpool horde while Caesar and Gen Chisei prepared to escape with the injured Chu Zihang. As Lu Mingfei charged back into battle, he reflected on love, stubbornness, and the few people he had lost, leaving his teammates with a glimpse of his past.

• Caesar covered Lu Mingfei and Gen Chisei with gunfire as more than seventy Deadpools swarmed them.
• Lu Mingfei carried the injured Chu Zihang to a safer spot, then gave Caesar and Gen Chisei guns and offered to hold off the horde until the elevator arrived.
• Caesar warned that his explosives would detonate soon, and Lu Mingfei explained that later chain explosions posed the greater danger.
• Lu Mingfei charged back into the Deadpools and reflected on his youthful fantasies, his belief in lasting love, and his decision to save someone despite the cost.
• Lu Mingfei asked his teammates about his high school life and began describing how small and lonely his world had been.

As Lu Mingfei fought through the Serpentine Deadpools in the Mural Hall, he spoke about fear, anger, and feeling ordinary while Caesar and Chu Zihang tried to comfort him. The first wave of explosions began, and Lu Mingfei unleashed his Blood Sickle, whose power was altered by the monarch's King's Domain.

• Lu Mingfei kept killing Serpentine Deadpools as he talked about his suppressed anger, an old crush, and feeling like orange soda beside exceptional people.
• Caesar disagreed with Lu Mingfei's gloomy self-comparison, while Chu Zihang promised to accompany him to see Chen Wenwen in Shilan.
• Caesar joined Gen Chisei in killing a Deadpool that had ambushed them, and Lu Mingfei clarified that Chen Wenwen had nothing to do with their current fight.
• Explosives detonated at the far end of the Mural Hall, and Lu Mingfei retreated toward the elevators before releasing his Word Spirit, Blood Sickle.
• Lu Mingfei's wind domain shredded nearby Deadpools, and the narration noted that his Blood Sickle differed from the usual form because of the monarch's King's Domain.

Lu Mingfei fought through the Deadpool horde while voicing his determination to protect his friends and reach them in the future. Caesar helped him reach the elevator, and the group escaped just as the second chain of explosions began.

• Lu Mingfei used his rudimentary black air wall and Blood Sickles while fighting Deadpools, reflecting on his loneliness and resolve to seek a happy ending with his friends.
• Chu Zihang and Caesar watched as Lu Mingfei declared that he would push open the door and meet them in the future.
• Lu Mingfei ran out of ammunition and took samurai swords from behind the murals to keep fighting the Deadpools.
• Caesar threw Gen Chisei's bloodstained shirt toward the sea of fire to draw away the Deadpools, then helped Lu Mingfei fight toward the elevator.
• Lu Mingfei tackled Caesar into the elevator as Chu Zihang covered them and Gen Chisei pressed the button; the doors closed just as the second explosions erupted.

Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang, Caesar, and Gen Chisei escaped the Deadpools aboard a descending elevator after Lu Mingfei’s explosives triggered more blasts above and below them. The Genji Heavy Industries instance registered a successful SS-rank clear, leaving Lu Mingfei relieved but melancholy about reaching the ending he had wanted.

• The explosions above the elevator destroyed a Deadpool, while Lu Mingfei helped the wounded Caesar sit down and Chu Zihang bandaged him.
• Lu Mingfei stayed on guard as the elevator descended, recalling how Deadpools had once ambushed them after they thought they were safe.
• Caesar woke and asked about the explosions, and Lu Mingfei revealed that he had planted timed explosives near the foundations of Genji Heavy Industries.
• Lu Mingfei, Caesar, Chu Zihang, and Gen Chisei joked about Doraemon and shared personal recollections as the elevator continued downward.
• Lu Mingfei heard no Deadpools in the shaft, relaxed, and reflected that this time their ending had changed.
• The system recorded the Genji Heavy Industries Instance as successfully cleared on Hard Mode with an SS rating and no new save required.

After clearing the Genji Heavy Industries stage, Lu Mingfei rested in the game’s abandoned city and reflected on his loneliness and the people he had fought beside. Strange voices and a black dragon appeared, leaving him facing an unknown presence in the city.

• Lu Mingfei received 868 bloodline experience and numerous item drops, including Ancient Dragon Fetal Blood Serum and Lust.
• He logged out of the Genji Heavy Industries dungeon and settled beside a phone booth in the silent city that served as his standby screen.
• While examining an old tinderbox, Lu Mingfei read an inscription from Menech to Yumeng Yanhiko and felt envious of their friendship.
• Lu Mingfei heard a voice call him “Father” and Deadpools chanting that Satan had been released.
• The chanting reminded Lu Mingfei of the pale-eyed boy from the elevator shaft, whose familiar gaze had left him aching with grief.
• Dust and starlight surged around the city as a boy raised his head and a black dragon soared overhead.

Lu Mingfei discovered that completing the Genji Heavy Industries dream had given him his S-Rank strength and game items in reality, just as he overheard school staff discussing his bloodline and monitoring him. The chapter left him stunned by the revelation that the school had secretly watched him for years.

• At Cassell University, Nono teased Susie while Student Union and Lionheart Club members watched their presidents, Caesar and Chu Zihang, sleep through their debate.
• Gen Chisei woke in his Tokyo office, questioned Crow and Yaksha about Manjiki’s drug supply, and learned that one of the young lady’s yellow ducks had gone missing.
• After being reprimanded for skipping class, Lu Mingfei worried about his dwindling money and realized he had gained his dream self’s full strength and could bring game items into reality.
• Lu Mingfei used Word Spirit: Blood Sickle to overhear two school staff members discussing his S-Rank bloodline, their years of surveillance, and their belief that he had not yet awakened.
• Lu Mingfei stood stunned as the staff members joked about his habits and speculated about his feelings for Chen Wenwen.

Lu Mingfei realized that Cassell College’s people had watched him since birth and that their principal considered him important, leaving him less willing to let fear and family ties hold him back. Caught in a typhoon after school, he encountered Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang and asked them for Chu Zihang’s contact information.

• Lu Mingfei used his Word Spirit to identify numerous watchers and deduced their connection to Cassell College, their surveillance methods, and their friendly intentions toward him.
• Lu Mingfei concluded that hiding was pointless and resolved to stop being overly cautious, while accepting that his uncle and aunt might not come looking for him.
• A sudden downpour and typhoon warning reminded Lu Mingfei of an earlier storm when he had seen Chu Zihang waiting for a ride.
• Lu Mingfei spotted Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang at a bus stop and asked whether their drivers had arrived.
• Lu Mingfei asked Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang for Chu Zihang’s QQ or email contact information.

At the bus shelter, Lu Mingfei asked Su Xiaoqiang and Liu Miaomiao for a way to contact Chu Zihang, then hurried through the storm toward an internet cafe. He found the familiar Deadpools gathered at a mysteriously renamed overpass, where a spear-bearing figure emerged through the rain.

• Liu Miaomiao offered Lu Mingfei everyday photos of Chu Zihang, while Su Xiaoqiang advised him to join a school advancement group to reach Chu Zihang.
• Lu Mingfei left to meet Old Tang at an internet cafe, hearing an ancient bell and a voice say “Fa...” as he ran through the rain.
• Lu Mingfei noticed that Overpass Number Ten had become the Zero Overpass and stopped before crossing its sign.
• Lu Mingfei saw Golden-Eyed Deadpools gathered beyond the entrance and confirmed that creatures from his dreams existed in reality.
• Lu Mingfei shielded himself from the rain and watched a tall figure with a long spear appear behind the Deadpool horde.

Lu Mingfei encountered Odin in a rainstorm, then went to an internet café to meet Old Tang online. Old Tang described a strange tomb expedition and revealed that he had impulsively accepted a job to find a supposedly fake golden coffin.

• Lu Mingfei and Odin faced each other in a tense standoff until Lu Mingfei's alarm rang, and they left in opposite directions.
• Lu Mingfei logged into QQ at an internet café and exchanged messages with Old Tang, who had also missed their StarCraft appointment.
• Old Tang told Lu Mingfei that a tomb expedition had brought his team from Cologne to near Augsburg, shifting their location by 2.57 degrees.
• Old Tang explained that a client had offered 2.5 million dollars to find a lost golden coffin bearing strange crimson patterns and apparent cuneiform.
• Old Tang admitted that he had volunteered for the job after seeing the coffin's photo, despite believing it was a crude forgery.

Lu Mingfei and Old Tang discussed the impossible craftsmanship of ancient golden coffins and the possibility that a dragon had ruled the civilization that made them. Old Tang withheld the most frightening part of his tomb experience, then left Berlin suspecting the mission had been a trap and wondering whether Hunters' Net could still be trusted.

• Old Tang explained that the golden coffins’ craftsmanship contradicted what was known about Central Asian civilizations and suggested that a dragonlike individual had once ruled them.
• Lu Mingfei guessed that the god of smelting might have been the King of Bronze and Fire.
• Old Tang revealed that his companions had knelt and called the tomb “Odense,” or Odin’s temple, before he saw something he could not bring himself to describe.
• Lu Mingfei stopped pressing Old Tang for details and challenged him to a game, and they played through the night.
• Old Tang left Berlin, posted an edited account of the mission on Hunters’ Net, and privately feared the job was a trap that could endanger Lu Mingfei.
• A voice called “Brother” at Old Tang’s ear, making him whirl around in terror.

Old Tang was tormented by visions of a blazing city and a wounded boy calling him “Brother,” while Lu Mingfei researched Zero Overpass and prepared to contact Chu Zihang. The chapter left Lu Mingfei surprised when Chu Zihang quickly accepted his friend request.

• Old Tang woke from a vision of a supernatural city and tried to convince himself to quit hunting after one more job.
• Old Tang saw a burning ancient city where a wounded boy called him “Brother” and warned him not to come looking.
• Lu Mingfei sketched a rough map of the city and researched obscure Beijing subway stations for his dream investigations.
• Lu Mingfei drafted a message to Chu Zihang, then introduced himself as a Shilan alumnus and Liu Miaomiao’s classmate.
• Chu Zihang accepted Lu Mingfei’s friend request almost immediately, astonishing him.

Lu Mingfei realized Chu Zihang had remembered and cared about him since middle school, while Chu Zihang prepared for a dangerous mission in Trinidad and Tobago. In a new dungeon set in a Beijing internet cafe, Lu Mingfei encountered Chen Wenwen, who said Zhao Menghua had gone missing.

• Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang exchanged messages, and Lu Mingfei offered to help Chu Zihang smash a wedding car axle.
• Chu Zihang recalled meeting Lu Mingfei during a rainy night, then sent a job referral and prepared to hunt a dangerous hybrid in Trinidad and Tobago.
• Lu Mingfei entered the Beijing Subway Station dungeon, found himself in an internet cafe, and armed himself while waiting for danger.
• Chen Wenwen arrived at the internet cafe and explained that she had tracked Lu Mingfei down after he failed to answer her QQ messages.
• Chen Wenwen told Lu Mingfei that Zhao Menghua had gone missing.

Lu Mingfei learned that Chen Wenwen had come to him because Zhao Menghua had gone missing, but he told her to contact the police. He then checked the date and received messages about a Cassell College dragon-slaying mission, leaving him suspicious of his informant Fen Dog.

• Chen Wenwen told Lu Mingfei that Zhao Menghua had disappeared and asked him for help.
• Lu Mingfei wondered whether he and Chen Wenwen had shared a past with Zhao Menghua, then learned Zhao Menghua had been Chen Wenwen's ex-boyfriend.
• Lu Mingfei told Chen Wenwen to go to the police and wished her luck finding Zhao Menghua.
• Lu Mingfei checked the date and saw that it was July 23, 2010, during his summer vacation after freshman year.
• Fen Dog messaged Lu Mingfei instructions for reaching a hidden subway station and warned him about Caesar and Xia Mi.
• Lu Mingfei suspected Fen Dog was playing both sides and asked whether he had an ulterior motive.

Lu Mingfei questioned Fen Dog’s motives for sending him information about the King of Earth and Mountains, then chose to face the danger to protect Chu Zihang and Caesar. As Fen Dog went to obtain the academy’s classified analysis, Lu Mingfei reflected on love and stopped giving Chen Wenwen his affection.

• Lu Mingfei challenged Fen Dog’s motives, and Fen Dog explained that he was giving him the key so he could choose whether to face the dragon.
• Lu Mingfei said he would confront the King of Earth and Mountains if its awakening threatened Chu Zihang, Caesar, and him, and asked Fen Dog to send its location.
• Fen Dog questioned whether Lu Mingfei could handle the danger, while Lu Mingfei recalled Caesar’s words about love and decided he could not keep loving Chen Wenwen, who did not love him.
• Fen Dog said Junior Brother Chu had sent him a location and promised to steal the academy’s classified analysis manuscript for Lu Mingfei.
• Lu Mingfei waited for Fen Dog’s information, then gave the crying Chen Wenwen two coins.

Lu Mingfei left Chen Wenwen at the internet café and rushed into the rainy night after Fen Dog reported that Chu Zihang had gone missing near Wangfujing Subway Station. Chen Wenwen watched him leave, while two girls monitoring the Roadview cameras noticed his movements.

• Chen Wenwen asked Lu Mingfei if he had anything to say, but he offered her money and a drink instead of comforting her about Zhao Menghua.
• Chen Wenwen left the internet café and waited at its entrance, hoping Lu Mingfei would turn back, but he stayed focused on chatting with Fen Dog.
• Fen Dog told Lu Mingfei that Chu Zihang had gone missing and that his last signal came from the entrance to Wangfujing Subway Station.
• Lu Mingfei shut down the computer, hurried past Chen Wenwen, and sprinted into the rainy night to rescue Chu Zihang.
• A ninja girl and Chip Girl watched Lu Mingfei on the Roadview cameras and reacted when he came outside on his own.

Su Enxi and Shuuder Mai monitored Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang as they discussed the danger awaiting Chu Zihang inside Nibelungen. Their boss arrived in unusually high spirits, called the night a grand spectacle, and prepared a lavish banquet to watch the coming funeral play.

• Su Enxi and Shuuder Mai noted that Lu Mingfei had sprinted 100 meters in 6.46 seconds and suspected his dragon bloodline had awakened.
• Su Enxi and Shuuder Mai discussed Chu Zihang's entry into Nibelungen and feared he would die after helping Lu Mingfei.
• Their boss appeared in the monitoring room with champagne and said he cared about Chu Zihang because the world was a happy script with a final ending.
• Shuuder Mai sensed that her boss seemed unusually cheerful yet somehow incomplete as he played with a theatrical mask.
• The boss dressed in a black formal suit and asked to borrow Bulmer Cider and Su Enxi's crab roe chips for a banquet to watch the funeral play.