White Line

Biodata

Background

White Line operates as an information broker around the Grand Alliance’s frontier regions, particularly the Herno Strait. Her intelligence network is described as broad and closely connected, sometimes allowing her to learn about incidents before they occur and anticipate their outcomes. Her dealings with frontier warlords and separatists once led the Internal Affairs Department to place her on a wanted list, but the warrant was withdrawn only days later under unexplained circumstances. She ultimately gained legal backing and official recognition from the Grand Alliance. She later reveals that she was an Internal Affairs agent throughout this period; the public explanation for the short-lived warrant remains unclear. 39 97

More than a decade before the events of the novel, Xia Lun accidentally saved White Line’s life beneath Hedge Bridge while she was being pursued by armed thugs. Their subsequent mutual assistance developed into a deep friendship, and White Line’s channels helped Xia Lun rise in Whitewash City. She also supplied Xia Lun with the Investigator game chip and the Voidwood Box. 39 175

White Line was born in Hermaniel City. Her parents were Internal Affairs officers who hoped she would become a musician. She left home for the Herno Strait to pursue writing, but they died on an assignment before she could reconcile with them. She subsequently joined Internal Affairs and inherited their Game Card. Despite her knowledge of music, she feels estranged from her birthplace and continues to grieve the time she lost with her parents. 421 422

Appearance

White Line initially keeps her identity concealed even from trusted associates, relying on masks, disguises, and an electronically blended voice. At her first meeting with Xia Lun, she wears a black mask; her later familiar attire includes a black Carbon Mask and a white wide-brimmed hat. Without the mask, she has black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, and delicate features. 39 97 176

• Frequently manipulates a coin with notably nimble fingers. 39
• Carries her “special goods” in a large suitcase. 39
• Begins growing physically younger after the Astral Spirit’s attack. Xia Lun later judges her appearance to be that of a girl of about eighteen, and she fears the process may continue until her age reaches zero. 176 187 416

Personality

White Line is cautious, practical, and experienced enough to prioritize information, evasion, and mental stability over direct confrontation. She bluntly warns Xia Lun that skills can harm the mind and that even a powerful fighter should avoid sinister entities whenever possible. 39

Despite her eccentric presentation and transactional profession, she gives Xia Lun sincere advice based on their long friendship. Her composure can falter when confronted with achievements she considers impossible, such as Xia Lun’s Mastery-level firearms proficiency and manifestation rights to the Evil Flesh Codex. She is also playful, fond of teasing him, and confident in her investigative abilities. 39 40 163

White Line wanted to become an honorable hero, but her Internal Affairs work required deception, theft, and manipulation. She fears that repeatedly using those methods has made her into someone she once despised. After acquiring the Foolishness trait to resist the Astral Spirit’s mental attack, she becomes slower to reason and less adept at lying. The change frustrates her, particularly when she feels unable to support Xia Lun as she once did, but it does not erase her investigative instincts or willingness to protect others. 176 177 308 331 351

Abilities & Skills

Psychological Invisibility

White Line can cause people within the ability’s range to consciously disregard her, allowing her to converse openly with Xia Lun in a crowded café without attracting attention. 39 97

• People can physically see her, but psychologically choose to ignore her. 39
• Can be used to restore privacy after bystanders notice her. 40
• Requires emotional control; it failed when White Line became overwhelmed by shock at Xia Lun’s offer of Evil Flesh Codex manifestation rights. 40
• Remains useful for covert approaches in scenarios, including her attempt to circle behind Heronman. 335 372

Information Brokerage

White Line’s principal strength is her intelligence network and long experience with Investigator. She has played for more than twenty years and experienced over thirty scenarios; by the Winden City scenario, she reports having completed thirty-two games. 39 307

• Advises players to prioritize Information Panel upgrades, which enable exchanges of Manifestation Authority. 39
• Understands the distinctions between proficiencies, talents, and skills, as well as their mental-health risks. 39
• Warns that Memory Points are generally more valuable for manifesting useful items than for directly improving proficiencies or talents. 39
• Recognizes the Abyssal Hand as an exceptionally dangerous entity capable of mentally corrupting observers. 39
• Proposes that encounters increase a player’s Attraction to people or objects, making related scenarios more likely. 99
• Retains the observational habits of a veteran Investigator despite her impaired reasoning; she identifies the Winden power plant’s recurring emblem as a possible early clue. 308

Fieldcraft, Equipment & Rituals

White Line has a proficiency-level Sleight of Hand specialization, measured at twelve percent when she describes it to Xia Lun. She uses misdirection to plant a small surveillance camera on Raven during a handshake. Her field-agent training also includes bypassing electronic vehicle locks, and she employs surveillance devices, traps, specialized communications equipment, and other game items. 168 313 319

Her white Wide-Brimmed Hat is a Paradox Item whose mechanical tendrils read memories from intact nerves. She uses it on Delis’s remains, though the damaged nerves require further reconstruction, and later projects information from the Deer of Abundance’s head to locate Golden Sand Midnight. She can also perform rituals, including a costly ritual that restores thirteen victims transformed into cows and teleportation rituals learned in the Golden City scenario. 97 402 403

Swordsmanship & Scenario Abilities

White Line has solid swordsmanship fundamentals before Xia Lun begins teaching her. Under his guidance, she learns Listening Force and Force Dissipation, reaches proficient-level swordsmanship, and develops Sword Technique: Clinging Force, which she teaches back to him. Her specialization reaches Proficient 35% after an intensive period of practice. She later studies Force Shield and the Geomantic Secret Art. 187 296 299 352

• Uses threads, sword strikes, and an explosive trap to protect companions during the battle for the Numien Mirror. 331
• Gains a Sun Priest identity in the Golden City scenario and fixes the occupation Stupid Sun Priest through a ritual. 363
• Acquires the Knowledge attribute after being displaced into another world. Her Intelligence returns to ten and her mental fog clears; using Swordsmanship—Burst, she then splits a boulder Xia Lun had warned her about. 435

Known Merchandise

• Snail Effigies / Snail Statues — Four Paradox Items made from human remains. Burning one while repeating a feasible wish increases the chance that a related item will appear in the next scenario; burning all four guarantees such an opportunity but greatly increases scenario difficulty. White Line trades all four to Xia Lun for the manifestation rights to the Evil Flesh Codex. She later brings him another Snail Statue. 40 99
• Investigator game chip — Acquired by Xia Lun through White Line’s channels before Xia Lun’s first scenario. 39
• Voidwood Box — Also supplied through White Line’s channels. She later gives Xia Lun an enlarged Voidwood Chest. 39 186
• Bottomless Coffee Cup — Given to Xia Lun after the Ranch incident; it replenishes itself daily and gradually restores Mental Health. 99
• Stilled Hourglass and Time Sand — White Line arranges an Hourglass trade to give Xia Lun more time to explore scenarios. She later supplies Time Sand, which he uses to upgrade the item. 100 186
• Exorcism Powder — A consumable she gives Xia Lun that damages and repels weaker undead. 186
• Ashen Record — A lifespan-granting silver pill recovered from Curse Death’s corpse and given to Xia Lun. 164

Relationships

• Xia Lun — Longtime friend, business partner, and former rescuer. White Line supplied Xia Lun with access to Investigator and later acts as an adviser on its mechanics, though she is repeatedly startled by his unusually rapid advancement. Their partnership deepens through investigations, reciprocal gifts, sword training, and shared scenarios. She sacrifices sixty years of lifespan to help him defeat Proud Sun; he shares lifespan-restoring rewards and a point of Knowledge with her. They later take an affectionate trip to Hermaniel, where she confides in him about her parents. After her disappearance, Xia Lun resolves to find her and regrets having concealed parts of his life from her. 39 40 186 296 408 421 422 435
• Foresight Club — Xia Lun initially hires White Line to investigate the organization after presenting evidence that its supposed conspiracy symbol is a genuine occult ritual mark. She later leads the Internal Affairs investigation and works with him against its members. 40 97 100
• Grand Alliance Internal Affairs Department — Once listed White Line as wanted due to her frontier connections, then withdrew the warrant under unexplained circumstances. She later confirms she has always been an agent and becomes the leader of its Foresight Club investigation. 39 97
• Xuan Yan — White Line’s identity as the blood-robed Daoist whom Xia Lun met in a scenario. Xia Lun suspects the connection after noticing a familiar invisibility effect, then recognizes her when she reproduces Xuan Yan’s demeanor. 89 98
• Her parents — Former Internal Affairs officers whose hopes for her musical career and deaths before their reconciliation remain a source of grief. She inherited their Game Card. 422

Story Role

Consultation at the Milk-Foam Café

White Line meets Xia Lun in Whitewash City’s Canal District after Xia Lun’s first scenario. She explains that supernatural abilities gained through Investigator can be used in reality and outlines the game’s emphasis on investigation, evasion, communication, resource gathering, and mental preservation. She is shocked to learn that Xia Lun already possesses Mastery-level firearms proficiency. 39

Snail Effigy Exchange

White Line presents four Snail Effigies and explains their wish-based attraction effect. Xia Lun exchanges the manifestation rights to the Evil Flesh Codex for the effigies, causing White Line’s Psychological Invisibility to collapse briefly from shock. White Line then accepts Xia Lun’s commission to investigate the Foresight Club and confirms that its emblem is connected to real occult practices. 40

Foresight Club Investigation

After Xia Lun and White Line defeat Delis at the Ranch, White Line helps find thirteen surviving victims and uses a costly ritual to restore them to human form. She confirms her Internal Affairs identity and promotion to lead the Foresight Club case. Their cooperation expands into surveillance, intelligence-sharing, and the pursuit of the Club’s members. Although she reports killing Curse Death during a raid, they later confront the entity again amid the Astral Spirit disaster. 97 100 164 168 177

Astral Spirit Aftermath

White Line takes the Astral Spirit’s crystallized memories and escapes to Hedge Bridge, where Xia Lun finds her in the river holding a case containing its sealed heart. The Spirit’s mental attack has eroded her Mental Health; she has acquired Foolishness to resist it and begun growing younger. Xia Lun uses his own Life Force to restore her Mental Health, but her reduced Intelligence and physical rejuvenation remain unresolved. She and Xia Lun subsequently train together in hopes of rebuilding her abilities. 175 176 177 186 187

Shared Scenarios and the Golden City

White Line joins Xia Lun in the Winden City multiplayer scenario. Though troubled by her impaired reasoning, she spots clues, supplies items, and protects companions during the struggle for the Numien Mirror. In their later Golden City scenario, she develops her Sun Priest and ritual abilities. Her hat’s reading of the Deer of Abundance’s head lets Xia Lun strike Golden Sand Midnight from afar, and her teleportation support helps him reach the Green Wall Front. During the final battle with Proud Sun, she transfers sixty years of her lifespan to Xia Lun. He later gives her Ashen Pact Records and a point of Knowledge. 308 331 363 402 403 408

Hermaniel Visit and Disappearance

As White Line’s shrinking condition worsens, Xia Lun takes her to Hermaniel to help ease her anxiety. She reveals that the city is her birthplace and, while watching the sunset, tells him about her parents and the reconciliation they never had. Speaking about her grief improves her Mental Health. 420 421 422 423

White Line later leaves Xia Lun a private note and useful supplies before entering a solo scenario. A two-headed attacker wounds her near its end; an escape item carries her into an unfamiliar world rather than back to reality. The Cognitive Filter erases her from the manor staff’s awareness, but Xia Lun uses Daoist Huang’s Eyeball in his next scenario to confirm that she is alive. In the unfamiliar world, White Line unlocks Knowledge, regains mental clarity, and presses onward determined to see him again. 434 435 437

Notable Quotes

“Psychological Invisibility means people see you, but psychologically choose to ignore you.” 39

“I never thought someone could really clear a scenario through combat alone.” 40

“I’ve wanted to be a hero since I was little.” 176