Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Opportunity Only Comes Once!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Hawkins reflects on the value of recruiting powerful players and rare professions. Lafu’s Elf King profession and the Sage profession granted by the Spirit King are especially valuable because they come from rare Memes Hawkins himself did not possess.
• The chapter explains that professions originate from inherited or accumulated Memes. Most player professions come from traits already present in an individual, while Hawkins’ unusually large collection of Memes gives him an extensive pool of profession templates.
• A Blood Guard repeatedly challenges an Elf King in a contest of endurance and blinking. After losing ten consecutive chances, he refuses to accept defeat, jumps from the Arena, and dies upon landing. The spectators become hostile toward the victorious Elf King.
• The Elf King, Hugo, celebrates his revival and boasts that he earned the opportunity himself rather than relying on someone else to revive him.
• Hawkins tries to recruit Hugo as a player, but Hugo initially rejects the offer. Their conversation turns into a discussion of ancient gods, the Age of Gods, and the origins of different Elf Kings.
• Hugo reveals that both he and Aibute were born in the Material Realm rather than the Elemental Realm. Aibute was originally a sea Fairy who studied under a powerful human mage before entering the Elemental Realm and withdrawing from the world.
• Hugo misunderstands Hawkins’ explanation of players as a possible reference to sexual preference, leading to a humorous exchange about whether Hawkins likes men.
• Mani arrives and asks Hawkins directly. Hawkins playfully claims that Mani is the person he likes most, and she happily returns the sentiment.

Character Developments

• Hawkins is shown as both strategically ambitious and emotionally detached. He wants to gather rare professions and powerful allies, but he is not desperate to recruit Hugo after already obtaining Lafu. His affection is presented as a broader love for life rather than romantic or sexual desire.
• Hugo, the Elf King, is established as confident, shameless, mischievous, and highly knowledgeable about ancient history. He is also psychologically manipulative, as shown by how he defeats the Blood Guard through repeated endurance challenges.
• Aibute gains additional background: despite being the first-generation Elf King, he was originally a sea Fairy from the Material Realm and became connected to the Elemental Realm only later.
• Mani maintains her innocent, affectionate relationship with Hawkins. Her arrival also helps clarify Hawkins’ lack of romantic interest in Hugo.
• The Blood Guard demonstrates obsessive competitiveness and an inability to accept defeat, ultimately losing his life because of it.

Significant Themes

• Opportunity and scarcity: The title is reflected in the rule that lost chances cannot be reclaimed. The Blood Guard wastes all ten opportunities by repeatedly believing victory is just within reach.
• The nature of professions and identity: Professions are not arbitrary powers but evolved forms of inherited or accumulated Memes, linking abilities to lineage, history, and personal traits.
• Manipulation and self-deception: The Blood Guard mistakes Hugo’s psychological trap for genuine near-victories, while Hugo confidently exploits the Arena’s rules.
• History and cultural diversity: Hugo’s stories about countless gods and competing pantheons reveal how strange and unstable the Age of Gods was.
• Affection beyond romance: Hawkins’ lack of sexual or romantic desire contrasts with his genuine fondness for Mani and his broader attachment to living beings and life itself.
• Humor through misunderstanding: Hugo’s literal and suspicious interpretation of “players” creates comic tension and highlights the cultural gap between him and Hawkins.

Character Interactions

• Hugo and the Blood Guard: Hugo defeats the Blood Guard repeatedly through an endurance contest, then calmly leaves the Arena once the Guard has exhausted all his chances.
• Hugo and the Spirit King: Hugo proudly announces his revival, while the Spirit King responds warmly but somewhat evasively.
• Hawkins and Hugo: Hawkins attempts to recruit Hugo, but Hugo refuses at first. Their exchange becomes a mixture of recruitment, historical discussion, teasing, and misunderstanding.
• Hawkins and Mani: Mani openly expresses affection for Hawkins, and he responds warmly and playfully, showing their close bond.
• Hugo and Aibute: Though Aibute is absent, Hugo’s recollections establish their shared origins in the Material Realm and provide insight into Aibute’s past.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kamanina, leader of the Plundering Empire’s Logistics Group, learns that both the Void Hunters and Void Killers have disappeared. Since the Void Killers were led by Slaughter Lord, she suspects they were destroyed by an exceptionally powerful enemy rather than betrayed the empire.
• Kamanina reports the disappearances to the Looting Emperor, bringing her attendants Hawkins and Mani with her. Unknown to the empire, Hawkins and Mani are infiltrators seeking the cultivation method for the Power of Collective Will.
• The group enters the Looting Emperor’s residence in Ever-Occupied City. Kamanina warns the two attendants never to look directly at him.
• The Looting Emperor questions Kamanina about Slaughter Lord’s disappearance. He then orders her to raise her head, causing her immense physical and spiritual agony as punishment for her failure to monitor the situation.
• After Kamanina leaves, the Looting Emperor reveals that he has taken a fragment of her soul and consumes it. He declares that Slaughter Lord is an important part of his plan to escape the Dream Realm and vows to discover who is interfering.
• Meanwhile, in the Feast Sea’s Arena, Lafu defeats Aibute with repeated Light Blasts. Aibute agrees to surrender and merge with her, allowing Lafu to absorb his strength and advance as a player.
• Lafu’s motivation is not personal revival but protecting the fairies of the Feast Sea, which is threatened with collapse. After absorbing Aibute, she reaches level 420 and gains greatly enhanced abilities.

Character Developments

• Kamanina: Demonstrates loyalty and responsibility by reporting the missing forces, but her fear of the Looting Emperor is extreme. She is punished for her perceived dereliction and leaves physically and mentally broken.
• Looting Emperor: Revealed as far more terrifying and ruthless than his calm demeanor suggests. He can manipulate souls, punish subordinates effortlessly, and consume part of Kamanina’s soul. His larger goal is escaping the Dream Realm.
• Hawkins and Mani: Continue their infiltration of the Plundering Empire while hiding their identities. They remain focused on acquiring the Power of Collective Will, though both are intimidated by the Looting Emperor’s presence.
• Lafu: Becomes significantly stronger after becoming a player and absorbing Aibute. Her heroic power is driven by compassion and a desire to safeguard the fairies rather than by a desire for personal survival.
• Aibute: Accepts defeat and willingly merges with Lafu, recognizing that empowering her is the best way to protect the Feast Sea’s inhabitants.

Significant Themes

• Fear beneath authority: The Looting Emperor’s gentle surface conceals overwhelming cruelty and power, making him more frightening than an openly tyrannical ruler.
• Power and sacrifice: Aibute gives up his independent existence so Lafu can gain the strength needed to protect others.
• Duty and punishment: Kamanina’s failure to uncover the truth about the missing forces results in harsh punishment, emphasizing the empire’s unforgiving hierarchy.
• Collective strength: The Power of Collective Will is presented as a potentially transformative force, capable of strengthening both individuals and the wider community.
• Protection versus self-interest: Lafu’s decision to revive is motivated by the survival of the fairies, contrasting with the Looting Emperor’s strategic, self-serving ambitions.

Character Interactions

• Kamanina relies on Hawkins and Mani as attendants but also uses their presence to avoid facing the Looting Emperor alone.
• Hawkins and Mani secretly communicate through the Chat Group, balancing their mission with the need to appear obedient and harmless.
• The Looting Emperor interrogates Kamanina and psychologically dominates her, turning their formal meeting into a demonstration of his control.
• Lafu and Aibute fight as opponents, but their conflict ends cooperatively when Aibute accepts that merging with Lafu will help protect the fairies.

Chapter Summary

• Lafu becomes a Hero-Level Player after accepting the power of Aibute, the first Elf King, and resolving to protect the fairies. Her new status comes from her purpose and the Elf Kings’ recognition—not from gaining levels. She remains Hawkins’s ally rather than his subordinate.
• The Spirit King asks Hawkins to find a home for the roughly 58.66 million surviving fairies, since the Feast Sea is about to collapse. Hawkins proposes creating a subspace within Infinite Space, later named Fairy Space, where the fairies can live safely.
• Under the plan, the fairies would become summons in the player system, using temporary avatars so their real bodies and souls remain protected. Summoning them would cost wish power, with 60 percent going to the fairies and 40 percent to Hawkins. Lafu agrees only after securing restrictions to protect the fairies from physical and emotional harm. Hawkins creates the space, gives Lafu access, and she begins gathering the children.
• When the Spirit King opens a small crack in the spatial seal, the Looting Emperor detects it and enters the Feast Sea. Below, the Spirit King and the True-Self Perfect One stop fighting and decide to confront him before he can interfere with events above.
• The True-Self Perfect One taunts the Looting Emperor as a coward who lacks confidence in himself. The Emperor stays outwardly composed, but privately fears that the two stronger figures might kill him. The chapter ends as he demands to know why they lured him there—while both already understand his unease.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Lafu emerges as a protector and capable decision-maker. She negotiates carefully on the fairies’ behalf, balancing the need for their safety with concern that becoming summons could burden them.
• Hawkins shows both strategic ambition and genuine care. He gains a useful connection to the fairies, but accepts Lafu’s safeguards and gives her authority over their new home.
• The Spirit King acts as advocate for the displaced fairies and cooperates with Hawkins. He also helps prepare for the Looting Emperor’s arrival.
• The Looting Emperor is introduced as powerful but deeply insecure beneath his imperial manner. His caution contrasts with his intimidating reputation.
• The True-Self Perfect One deliberately provokes the Emperor, while the Spirit King tempers the mockery and joins him in managing the confrontation.

Significant Themes

• Power tied to purpose: Lafu’s heroic status arises from her resolve to protect others, not simply from strength or advancement.
• Protection and compromise: The fairies gain a secure refuge, but their safety is linked to serving as summons; Lafu insists that their wellbeing remain central.
• Trust and negotiation: Hawkins, Lafu, and the Spirit King must cooperate while respecting one another’s interests.
• Appearance versus reality: The Looting Emperor projects confidence but is inwardly afraid, making the chapter’s title both literal and pointedly ironic.

Plot points and events

• The Spirit King and True-Self Perfect One confront the Looting Emperor. The Spirit King attacks with concentrated force, injuring him, while the Perfect One unexpectedly intervenes against the Spirit King—though the two appear to be coordinating their pressure on the Looting Emperor.
• The Spirit King’s black ribbons nearly seize the Looting Emperor, but his Black Kasaya protects him at the cost of being damaged. The Spirit King identifies it as Evil-Weaving Monk’s kasaya and reveals that he knows where the monk’s Myriad Evils Return-Flow Scripture is, but refuses to disclose its location.
• The Looting Emperor attacks in earnest, using techniques derived from Evil-Weaving Monk’s legacy. The Spirit King counters them and absorbs the force of his Buddha Emperor’s Radiant Fist, arguing that power is not inherently good or evil; its morality depends on its wielder.
• The Looting Emperor refuses the Spirit King’s implied attempt to guide him. Driven by the hope of obtaining the scripture and overcoming his limits, he activates a hidden measure: a golden mark appears on his forehead, and a golden lotus forms beneath him.
• At the same time, the Slaughter Lord collapses on the island and shatters, revealing his body to be hollow. The Blood Guard then suffer as golden threads emerge from them and plunge into the sea—apparently feeding the Looting Emperor’s transformation. Beneath the sea, he becomes radiant and Buddha-like.

Character developments

• Looting Emperor: His ambition is rooted in a history of rising from obscurity through the Black Kasaya and the All Beings Are Buddha Art. He knows he has reached a dead end and had considered fleeing the doomed world, but the possibility of obtaining the scripture rekindles his greed. He chooses power over the Spirit King’s counsel.
• Spirit King: Though formidable and secretive, he seems genuinely disappointed by the Looting Emperor’s corruption and tries to distinguish the power of a teaching from the intentions of its practitioner.
• True-Self Perfect One: He reads the Looting Emperor accurately, expecting that neither persuasion nor kindness will change him. His applause recognizes the Spirit King’s skill, while his remarks suggest he understands the Spirit King’s efforts to guide their opponent.

Significant themes

• Power and morality: The Spirit King insists that power itself is neither righteous nor evil; the wielder determines its use. The Looting Emperor’s conduct shows how ambition can distort a spiritual inheritance.
• Ambition and limits: The Looting Emperor’s desire to surpass his current ceiling outweighs both caution and the possibility of escape.
• Inheritance and distortion: The Looting Emperor has gained techniques from Evil-Weaving Monk’s legacy, but the Spirit King believes he has twisted their meaning.
• Deception and hidden costs: The Slaughter Lord’s hollow body and the Blood Guard’s apparent sacrifice reveal that the Looting Emperor’s transformation depends on concealed mechanisms and comes at others’ expense.

Character interactions

• The Spirit King pressures and attacks the Looting Emperor, then tries to provoke or guide him by withholding the scripture’s location.
• The True-Self Perfect One alternates between fighting alongside the Spirit King and blocking him, maintaining ambiguity about their tactics while judging the Looting Emperor’s motives.
• The Looting Emperor treats the Spirit King’s words as manipulation and responds with violence rather than accepting his counsel.
• Mayeja and the Blood Guard discover the Slaughter Lord’s apparent death, shifting the danger from the underwater confrontation to those left on the island.

Key plot points and events

• The Looting Emperor challenges the Spirit King for the Myriad Evils Return-Flow Scripture, but the True-Self Perfect One’s punch damages his golden body. Realizing he cannot defeat either opponent, the Emperor withdraws after the Spirit King tells him where to find the scripture.
• The Spirit King explains that he gave up the scripture to avert a catastrophic fight and spare countless lives. He still hopes its teachings might change the Looting Emperor.
• The Spirit King reveals that he is the living seal containing the Zeroing Great Demon, born when the ancient Zeroing Emperor merged with a demon. The demon’s growing corruption means the Spirit King will eventually lose himself.
• Above them, the arena conflict ends after the Slaughter Lord’s death leaves the Blood Guard weakened. Andrew and Longjia fill the remaining resurrection slots for the Elf Kings, sacrificing some of their own subordinates in the process. The survivors depart; Mayeja is spared because she is a secretary, has no Plundering Empire cultivation, and is friendly with the Spirit King.
• The Spirit King asks the True-Self Perfect One to kill him so he can become part of the seal. The True-Self Perfect One instead takes the seal and the demon’s essence into himself, embracing the corruption while remaining lucid.
• The True-Self Perfect One explains his ideal: true perfection joins a flawless, self-aware mind with the world’s greatest imperfection—the great demon, which embodies all negative forces. Thus he seeks “imperfect perfection and perfect imperfection.”
• On the island, Mayeja mourns the Slaughter Lord and Blood Guard by digging their graves. Hawkins invites her to travel with his group, but a sudden crack splits the world before she can respond.

Character developments and interactions

• The Looting Emperor discovers the limits of his power and retreats, though his desire for the scripture remains. The Spirit King’s compromise reflects a last hope that he may yet change.
• The Spirit King chooses mercy over victory, then accepts his approaching end and willingly entrusts the seal to the True-Self Perfect One.
• The True-Self Perfect One completes his search for an ideal of perfection, using his undying will and clear mind to absorb the demon without losing himself.
• Mayeja is left grieving and uncertain after the fall of the Blood Guard. Hawkins offers her a place with his companions.
• The Spirit King and the True-Self Perfect One part on understanding terms: the Perfect One respects the Spirit King’s choice, while the Spirit King acknowledges the danger but does not try to stop him.

Significant themes

• Mercy and compromise: The Spirit King sacrifices a possible victory to prevent mass death.
• Hope for redemption: He gives the Looting Emperor the scripture partly because he believes its wisdom might change him.
• Identity and self-mastery: The True-Self Perfect One’s clarity allows him to take in evil without being consumed by it.
• Perfection through contradiction: The chapter presents perfection not as the absence of flaws, but as the union of a flawless self with the world’s most absolute imperfection.
• Mortality and release: The Spirit King accepts his end, while the Elf Kings’ varied choices about resurrection underline that life and return are matters of individual will.

Plot points and events

• The destruction of the Sealing destabilizes the Feast Sea, and a huge rupture opens in the sky. Hawkins warns that the world is collapsing and leads everyone toward the Challenger, the only thing that can protect them from the spatial forces.
• Hawkins rescues Dis, who is being pulled toward the rupture, by removing his golden head and carrying it to safety. Dis gratefully promises to repay the hundred Wish Power he owes Hawkins.
• Hawkins summons the Ice Fairy to freeze a path across the water. As the group flees through violent waves, flying debris injures her. Hawkins rescues her from the water, then fights off a Walrus-Octopus that drags him underwater.
• Despite her injury, the Ice Fairy keeps the ice path going until she can no longer continue. Hawkins ends her contract and gives her ten Gold Coins. The group reaches the Challenger and starts it, activating its protective shield.
• Once aboard, Hawkins again offers Mayeja the choice to travel with them or be dropped off somewhere safe. Before she can answer, Mani points out a black sphere writhing beneath the hollow left by the vanished seawater. Mayeja is visibly harmed and terrified by looking at it, while Hawkins and Mani remain unharmed.

Character developments and interactions

• Hawkins takes charge of the escape, risking himself to save Dis and the Ice Fairy. His rescue of Dis is also practical: he says he simply does not want Dis’s debt to go unpaid. He remains protective and considerate toward Mayeja, leaving her decision to her.
• Dis shows gratitude and renewed loyalty, promising to repay Hawkins.
• The Ice Fairy demonstrates courage and persistence, continuing to help despite her injury. Hawkins recognizes her effort and rewards her before releasing her from the contract.
• Mayeja appears shaken by the sight of the black sphere, suggesting it poses a danger she can perceive more strongly than Hawkins or Mani. Her choice about joining the group remains unresolved.
• The two Manis respond differently to the crisis: one treats the escape as thrilling, while the other is frightened and longs to return to Infinite City. Their banter adds levity to the danger.

Significant themes

• Survival through cooperation: The group depends on Hawkins’s leadership, the Ice Fairy’s powers, and the Challenger’s protection.
• Courage and care under pressure: Hawkins repeatedly helps others despite the danger, while the Ice Fairy persists for the group’s sake.
• Debt and loyalty: Dis’s rescue is tied to the debt between him and Hawkins, blending practical obligation with gratitude.
• Awe and danger beyond ordinary perception: The chapter ends by introducing a mysterious entity that affects Mayeja but not Hawkins or Mani, hinting at a threat they do not yet understand.

Key plot points and events

• Hawkins realizes Mayeja’s apparent injuries stem from severe mental trauma, then suspects the Feast Sea is collapsing because of the black egg beneath it.
• Observing Mayeja’s transformation grants Hawkins Sage’s Mind Sense, a new ability stronger than ordinary intuition. A further look at the egg reveals that it contains the True-Self Perfect One, who is undergoing a transformation.
• Hawkins learns that the Perfect One’s transformation presents impossible, contradictory states at once: the True-Self Perfect One is both dead and not dead, and reality seems to violate itself. The experience overwhelms Hawkins and causes the other Hawkins to collapse.
• Despite the danger and the world’s ongoing collapse, Hawkins continues watching, hoping to learn how one attains the Dao. After a long, uneventful interval, the egg cracks open and the True-Self Perfect One emerges.
• The newly transformed being explains that he is only half a Perfect One: no Perfect One can be wholly perfect, and their imperfection is part of what makes them Perfect Ones. He confirms that Transcendent Ones exist, but leaves unanswered whether they are stronger than Perfect Ones.
• The True-Self Perfect One vanishes, taking the Feast Sea with him. The Challenger is left floating in a red expanse, and Hawkins watches in stunned, hollow loss.

Character developments

• Hawkins gains Sage’s Mind Sense and a glimpse of the paths toward becoming a Transcendent One, Unifier, or Perfect One. His curiosity and ambition overcome his fear, though witnessing the transformation nearly breaks him.
• The True-Self Perfect One completes a mysterious transformation but describes himself as only half a Perfect One. He appears to have allowed Hawkins to observe his process, while withholding answers Hawkins is not yet ready to understand.
• The other Hawkins is also exposed to the transformation’s overwhelming contradictions and collapses.
• Mani and Mayeja remain on the sidelines of the central revelation: Mani and the others cannot grasp what Hawkins sees, while Mayeja’s condition prompted Hawkins’s initial explanation.

Significant themes

• Imperfection as a form of perfection: The chapter overturns the assumption that ultimate perfection means flawlessness.
• Paradox and contradiction: The Perfect One’s transformation holds mutually exclusive truths together, challenging ordinary logic and perception.
• The limits of understanding: Hawkins gains extraordinary insight but still cannot fully interpret what he witnesses; some answers must be discovered personally.
• Power and emptiness: Hawkins’s reflections suggest that limitless power and the fulfillment of every desire could lead not to lasting joy, but to boredom and meaninglessness.
• The cost of knowledge: Hawkins willingly endures physical and mental strain to witness a rare, potentially dangerous revelation.

Character interactions

• Hawkins discusses Mayeja’s condition with the others and proposes that the black egg is connected to the Feast Sea’s collapse.
• He calls the other Hawkins over to witness the transformation, and both are affected by it; Mani and the others ask what happened.
• After emerging, the True-Self Perfect One directly addresses Hawkins, answers questions about his nature, confirms the existence of Transcendent Ones, and departs before Hawkins can learn more.

Chapter Summary: “Ten-Year Mission”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fifteen million years after earlier events, Infinite City has grown enormously, with over a hundred billion players and legends spread throughout the Dream Realm.
• In the coastal Tide Village, two childhood friends, John and Martin, live ordinary lives and view old heroic legends with skepticism.
• Martin wakes John before dawn to show him a “treasure”: a communicator stolen from a mysterious pirate-like man he found drifting in the sea.
• The device projects an alluring dancing woman. While the boys watch repeatedly, the image suddenly changes to Ai Miye, who appears to recognize someone named Mark and demands to know where he is.
• Frightened that Ai Miye may think they harmed the device’s owner, the boys return to the harbor to check on the unconscious man they tied to a piling.
• The man awakens, frees himself, and grabs both boys. He is revealed to be Mark, a player on a patrol mission.
• Mark discovers that the boys watched the inappropriate material on his communicator. Rather than punish them, he jokes with them and lets them go.
• Mark retrieves his communicator from the cave and contacts Ai Miye. She angrily condemns him for exposing children to inappropriate content and criticizes his behavior.
• Ai Miye records Mark’s conduct but confirms that his patrol mission is complete. Mark prepares to return to Infinite City, complaining that the ten-year assignment was uneventful and boring.

Character Development

• John is cautious, anxious, and more morally concerned than Martin. He worries about the consequences of their actions, fears retaliation, and tries to find a responsible solution. However, his curiosity makes him an equally willing participant in watching the communicator’s projection.
• Martin is adventurous, impulsive, and mischievous. He steals the communicator, captures Mark, and initially tries to conceal what happened, but becomes frightened when the situation escalates. His orphaned background and close bond with John are briefly established.
• Mark initially appears threatening because of his strength and sudden awakening, but he proves relaxed, irreverent, and playful. He treats the boys’ mistake humorously rather than harshly, revealing his casual attitude and long familiarity with the wider world.
• Ai Miye acts as Mark’s supervisor or mission coordinator. She is strict, easily exasperated, and morally disapproving of Mark’s carelessness, though her exaggerated outrage creates a comic contrast with his indifference.

Significant Themes

• The fading of legends: John’s disbelief in heroes and childhood myths reflects how historical events become distant stories to later generations.
• The contrast between ordinary life and vast history: The villagers know little of the ancient world, while Mark belongs to a civilization spanning immense realms and millions of years.
• Curiosity and consequence: John and Martin’s innocent curiosity draws them into trouble, showing how small actions can expose ordinary people to extraordinary forces.
• The passage of time and boredom: Even a ten-year mission in a world filled with ancient legends can become routine and uneventful for experienced players.
• Generational change: What was once legendary or meaningful has become mundane, misunderstood, or even forgotten by later inhabitants.

Character Interactions

• John and Martin’s friendship is affectionate but argumentative: Martin leads John into danger, while John questions and criticizes him afterward.
• The boys’ encounter with Mark shifts from fear to relief when he chooses to tease rather than punish them.
• Mark and Ai Miye have a familiar, antagonistic relationship. She reprimands him seriously, while he responds with sarcasm and boredom, emphasizing their contrasting personalities.
• The chapter uses the boys’ misunderstanding of Mark’s communicator and Ai Miye’s identity to create humor while introducing the enormous gap between village life and the advanced world beyond it.

Chapter Summary: “Give Back My Feelings!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Mark tries to return to Infinite City but repeatedly feels that leaving Tide Village would cause him to lose something important.
• He recalls a woman from Tide Village with whom he spent one night years earlier and realizes she may have had his child.
• Mark returns to the village and reunites with Crocker, an old acquaintance who reveals that the woman, Molly, had a daughter named Momo—Mark’s child.
• Mark learns that Molly is alive but has remarried and lives in another village, while Momo has been raised by relatives.
• Momo immediately accepts Mark as her father and embraces him enthusiastically, deeply affecting him.
• Mark promises to resurrect Molly and keep the family together, only to learn that Molly is alive; the misunderstanding briefly shocks and embarrasses him.
• Mark offers to take Momo home with him, assuring her that his mission is finished and that Infinite City can become her home.
• Before Momo can answer, sea monsters attack Tide Village. Mark protects her, summons lightning with his Sky-Piercer Halberd, and destroys the entire invading force.

Character Developments

• Mark: Initially views his past relationship casually and suspects he may have abandoned another child. Meeting Momo awakens guilt, paternal affection, and a desire to accept responsibility. Her unconditional love challenges his identity as a detached, self-proclaimed scoundrel.
• Momo: Revealed as Mark’s daughter. Despite having never met him, she idolizes him because of Molly’s stories and eagerly calls him “Dad.” She is affectionate but worries that living with Mark might interfere with his heroic duties.
• Crocker: Serves as the link between Mark and the village’s past. Though disapproving of Mark’s abandonment of Molly, he helps arrange Mark’s reunion with Momo and encourages him to fulfill his responsibilities.
• Molly: Though absent from the chapter, she is portrayed as having protected Mark’s image in Momo’s eyes by describing him as a great hero.
• Molly’s relatives: They resent Mark for abandoning Molly and Momo, with Molly’s cousin even punching him, but ultimately agree that Momo deserves a relationship with her father.

Significant Themes

• Responsibility and redemption: Mark is forced to confront the consequences of his past relationships and consider what it means to be a father.
• Unconditional familial love: Momo’s immediate affection contrasts with Mark’s expectation of rejection, breaking through his emotional defenses.
• The cost of emotional detachment: Mark’s carefree lifestyle has left others to deal with the consequences, while he has avoided genuine emotional bonds.
• Heroism beyond combat: Although Mark is an overwhelmingly powerful warrior, the chapter suggests that becoming a father and remaining emotionally present may be a more meaningful challenge.
• Home and belonging: Momo’s question about Mark’s home prompts him to redefine “home” as something shared with family rather than merely a place he returns to.

Character Interactions

• Mark and Crocker: Their reunion combines warmth, humor, and judgment as Crocker reminds Mark of his long absence.
• Mark and Molly’s cousin: The cousin’s punch expresses the village’s anger toward Mark, while Mark’s willingness to endure it shows his growing acceptance of blame.
• Mark and Momo: Their first meeting is the emotional center of the chapter. Momo’s trust and admiration move Mark deeply, while Mark responds by promising protection and a future together.
• Mark and the villagers: The villagers initially distrust him but gradually accept his intention to care for Momo.
• Mark and the sea monsters: Mark confidently protects Momo, using his overwhelming power to transform his role as a “hero” into a source of safety for his daughter.

Key plot points and events

• Mark protects Tide Village from successive waves of sea monsters, repeatedly wiping them out with Thunder Summon.
• When a powerful creature beneath the water survives his halberd strike and begins producing monsters faster, Mark realizes the threat is growing. He kills the new wave and erects a towering stone barrier along the coast using the Rock Necklace’s rare skill, Never-Falling Fortress.
• The monsters climb the wall, but Mark destroys them before they can get over it.
• A Spatial Passage opens nearby, and a bell-wearing white camel strolls through. Victor arrives behind it, explaining that he brought his students to scout the area as a possible combat-training ground.

Character developments

• Mark’s confidence and pride grow as Momo admires his strength, but he is also alert to the danger and takes precautions to protect the villages.
• He is eager to appear heroic to Momo, even interrupting Ai Miye to prevent her from revealing embarrassing details. He also reluctantly agrees to repay her ten Wish Power.
• Momo’s trust and admiration for Mark deepen. She sees his feats as almost godlike, while Mark gently insists he is a Hero and tells her she will understand more once she starts school.
• Momo’s innocent questions about marriage unsettle Mark, especially when she compares it with her mother’s marriage to the village chief.

Significant themes

• Protection and responsibility: Mark risks escalation and prepares defenses rather than letting the monsters reach the villages.
• Power and its limits: Mark is immensely strong, but the surviving sea creature signals that the threat may be adapting or growing.
• Parenthood and trust: Mark’s affection for Momo is clear, as is his concern with earning her confidence and answering her questions.
• Appearances and embarrassment: Mark’s heroic image matters to him, and he carefully manages what Momo hears about his personal life.

Character interactions

• Mark reassures Momo during the attacks and enjoys her praise, while she responds with awe and wholehearted belief in him.
• Ai Miye advises caution and offers to report the unusual monsters, but teases Mark about his debt when he tries to keep the conversation suitable for Momo.
• Momo questions Mark about marriage and his lack of a wife, prompting his awkward explanation.
• Victor greets Mark with laughter and notices that he has a daughter; Mark recognizes him and learns that Victor is scouting the area for his students’ combat practice.

Chapter Summary

Plot and Key Events

• Victor, now a towering and heavily muscled man, visits Mark at the coastal wall Mark built to stop mutated sea creatures from reaching shore.
• Mark explains that a mysterious entity in the sea is continuously splitting apart and producing aggressive, fish-like monsters. Victor captures one for examination and contacts Maning, a specialist, to investigate the mutation.
• Victor questions whether Momo is truly Mark’s daughter because she does not resemble him. He gives Mark a bloodline verification test, which Mark destroys after seeing the result: Momo is not his biological daughter, though the match rate is unusually high because players and ordinary humans are genetically different.
• Victor later notices a boy in Tide Village who strongly resembles Mark in appearance and mannerisms. Testing confirms that the boy, Martin, is Mark’s biological son.
• Mark is shocked, as he had mistakenly believed Momo was the child born from a past encounter. He realizes that Crocker’s earlier information must have caused him to confuse Momo’s mother with the actual woman from that night.
• Mark, Victor, Martin, and John return to Crocker to uncover what really happened.

Character Developments

• Mark: His confident assumption that Momo is his daughter collapses. He must confront the possibility that he has unknowingly fathered many children and that his memory of the past encounter is unreliable. Despite his shock, he accepts Martin as likely his son and begins investigating the truth.
• Victor: He acts as both investigator and protector. His scientific knowledge allows him to identify the false paternity claim and discover Mark’s biological son. He also shows tact by concealing the test result from Mark until the right moment.
• Momo: She firmly insists that Mark is her father and reacts angrily to Victor’s doubts. Her emotional attachment to Mark remains strong even though she is not biologically related to him.
• Martin: Initially frightened of Victor, Martin is revealed to be Mark’s biological son. He is an orphan and shares Mark’s appearance and mischievous, “sleazy” personality.
• Maning: She shows professional curiosity about the sea monsters and arrives to analyze them.
• John: Though frightened, John tries to protect Martin by explaining his tragic background.

Character Interactions

• Victor teases Mark about Momo’s appearance, while Mark defensively embraces her and dismisses his doubts.
• Victor and Maning collaborate on investigating the mutated creatures.
• Victor confronts Martin and John, frightening them before testing Martin’s bloodline.
• Mark and Martin react with mutual disbelief upon learning they are father and son, though their resemblance makes the truth increasingly obvious.
• Mark and Victor’s relationship is marked by teasing, familiarity, and mutual understanding; Victor quietly helps Mark face the truth without humiliating him.

Significant Themes

• Family versus biology: Momo is not Mark’s biological child, yet their emotional bond is genuine, while Martin is his biological son despite being a stranger to him.
• Identity and mistaken assumptions: Mark’s misunderstanding about Momo’s parentage stems from incomplete information and mistaken identities.
• Science versus superstition: Victor uses genetic testing and investigation to uncover the truth, while Tide Village residents worship the protective wall as a divine object.
• The consequences of power and immortality: Player genetics are unusually potent and fertile, creating unexpected descendants across different worlds.
• Mystery and discovery: The mutated sea creatures and the confusion surrounding Martin’s birth both introduce larger mysteries that remain unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “The Reason Why”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Crocker returns to Tide Village after hearing about the coastal walls and rumors that a god saved the villages.
• Mark brings Crocker and Martin to investigate the long-standing belief that Molly was Martin’s mother and that Mark fathered him.
• Crocker explains that Molly herself had claimed Mark was the father after becoming pregnant before marriage.
• To uncover the truth, Mark, Victor, Crocker, Martin, and John travel by magic carpet to Sea Wave Village.
• Molly admits that she was not the woman who entered Mark’s room. She had seen Martin’s actual mother enter but later falsely claimed Mark was the father to conceal her own premarital pregnancy.
• Mark confirms that Martin’s mother was the woman in his room, though the circumstances remain complicated by her marriage and later death.
• Mark privately speaks with Molly while the others wait. Meanwhile, Martin and John argue and fight after Martin accidentally reveals that he once peeked at John’s mother bathing.
• Crocker begins to suspect that Mark may be a god and considers arranging for John to receive Mark’s protection as well.
• After returning, Mark takes Martin to the coastal wall and explains that the monsters may be connected to a powerful demon king sealed beneath the Sea of Heroes.

Character Developments

• Mark: Seeks clarity about Martin’s parentage and confirms the truth. He begins recognizing the emotional distance between himself and Martin, realizing that Martin calls him “Dad” without genuinely seeing him as a father. He also shows growing concern about the mysterious monsters and the possible danger beneath the sea.
• Martin: Learns that Molly was not his mother and that his true mother entered Mark’s room. He remains mischievous, crude, and irreverent, but also accepts that Mark may take him away and that he has little power to resist if Mark chooses to do so.
• Crocker: Shifts from treating Mark as an unusual outsider to viewing him as a possible divine being. He becomes eager to secure similar protection for Tide Village and begins thinking about connecting Mark with John’s mother.
• Molly: Confesses the lie that shaped Martin’s identity. Her actions are shown to have resulted from social pressure and fear of disgrace rather than deliberate malice.
• Victor: Acts as a calm mediator, helping Mark investigate the matter and understanding that Mark intends to confront Molly privately.
• John: Demonstrates loyalty to his family and anger at Martin’s insult toward his mother, but eventually reconciles with him.

Significant Themes

• Truth and social pressure: Molly’s lie arose from harsh village customs surrounding pregnancy before marriage, showing how social shame can distort families and identities.
• Parenthood and emotional bonds: Biological parentage does not automatically create a father-son relationship. Mark realizes that Martin’s use of “Dad” lacks genuine affection or recognition.
• Power and divine protection: Mark’s abilities lead villagers to view him as a god, while Crocker considers how his presence could protect the community from monsters and pirates.
• Mystery and looming danger: The monsters attacking the wall may be connected to a sealed demon king, suggesting a larger threat beneath the Sea of Heroes.
• Humor amid danger: Martin and John’s crude jokes and playful fight contrast with the serious revelations about family, monsters, and possible supernatural threats.

Important Character Interactions

• Mark and Crocker: Mark questions Crocker about the original accusation, while Crocker speaks with unusual respect because of Mark’s supernatural abilities.
• Mark and Molly: Their confrontation exposes the truth about Martin’s parentage and clears up the false accusation.
• Mark and Martin: Mark repeatedly disciplines Martin humorously but also studies their strained father-son relationship. Their conversation on the wall introduces the larger mystery of the monsters.
• Martin and John: Their friendship survives an argument and staged fight after Martin insults John’s mother. They also discuss whether Martin will leave the village with Mark.
• Crocker and John: Crocker begins viewing John as someone who might also benefit from Mark’s protection, prompting him to consider speaking with John’s mother.

Chapter Summary: “A Powerful Enemy, Lost Ten Health!!!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Martin excitedly speculates that the sea monsters may be servants of the Great Demon King, revealing his desire to become a heroic figure.
• Mark realizes Martin is an orphan and decides to take responsibility for him, asking whether he wants to return home with him.
• Mark teaches Martin that people should follow their true desires, but only when those desires are sensible and achievable. Martin jokingly asks to punch Mark, and Mark rejects the request as an example of reckless desire.
• Meanwhile, Victor and Maning investigate the monsters from the city wall. Maning discovers that their genes are ordinary, but an unidentified force has transformed them.
• Victor and Maning suspect the long-standing Sea of Heroes patrol mission may have originated from Hawkins, the mysterious and immensely powerful City Lord. This possibility convinces Victor to investigate seriously.
• Victor dives into the sea and effortlessly destroys the surrounding monsters through sheer physical power.
• He encounters the main creature: a gigantic catfish- or whale-like monster. It produces a humanoid creature from a lump of flesh, apparently formed from a captured fisherman or pirate.
• The humanoid has lost its self-awareness and attacks Victor with enhanced physical strength and devastating sound waves.
• Although Victor easily restrains it, the sound attack manages to reduce his Blood Shield by ten points—an astonishing accomplishment given his immense defenses.

Character Developments

• Mark demonstrates increased maturity and patience. Unlike his younger self, he recognizes the need to guide Martin rather than simply indulge or abandon him.
• Martin is characterized as imaginative, impulsive, and eager to become a heroic figure. His playful defiance also shows that he feels comfortable challenging Mark.
• Victor has undergone a major transformation. He abandoned his former dream of becoming a sniper after realizing it was motivated by fear and cowardice, reset his progress, and rebuilt himself as a powerful warrior.
• Victor’s confidence is justified: his extreme attributes, potions, skills, and training make him overwhelmingly powerful even without equipment. However, the ten points of damage remind him that the sea monsters may possess genuinely dangerous abilities.
• Maning acts as a cautious investigator, emphasizing the unknown origin and potentially supernatural nature of the monsters.

Significant Themes

• Maturity and responsibility: Mark’s interaction with Martin shows that growing older involves learning how to guide others and make responsible choices.
• Desire versus recklessness: Mark teaches that following one’s heart is meaningful only when paired with judgment, preparation, and awareness of one’s abilities.
• Transformation and identity: Victor’s career change reflects his discovery of his true ambitions, while the fisherman’s grotesque transformation shows identity being forcibly erased.
• The limits of knowledge: The monsters cannot be explained through genetics alone, suggesting a mysterious external power behind the disaster.
• Power and vulnerability: Victor appears invincible, yet even ten lost health points are significant at his level, emphasizing how difficult it is to harm advanced players.
• Hidden authority and looming danger: The possible involvement of Hawkins implies that the monster crisis may be part of a much larger and more serious event.

Character Interactions

• Mark and Martin share a humorous but instructive father-son exchange. Mark corrects Martin’s fantasies and impulsiveness while implicitly accepting responsibility for him.
• Maning and Victor discuss the biological mystery of the monsters and the possible origins of their patrol mission. Maning’s caution balances Victor’s confidence.
• Victor confronts the transformed humanoid, whose mindless aggression contrasts with Victor’s calm analysis. The creature’s sound-based attack becomes the first clear sign that the monsters may pose a meaningful threat despite Victor’s overwhelming strength.

Chapter Summary: “SSS-Rank Mission”

Key plot points

• Victor discovers that the man he is confronting is surrounded by a dangerously corrosive force. As countless similar monsters emerge from the darkness, a powerful sound blast tears through the sea and clouds.
• A gaunt, bald figure appears: the Looting Emperor, who announces his return and vows to destroy the world. He identifies Martin as a descendant of Maolidis and prepares to annihilate the Sea of Heroes with a black sun.
• Mark and Maning attack to stop him. The black sun transforms the seabed into magma and overwhelms them. Mark tries to send Martin to safety through a passage to Infinite City, but the passage is sealed; his arm is severed, and both Mark and Maning are killed.
• Martin reaches Infinite City with Mark’s severed arm. Annie comforts him and takes him for a medical examination, reassuring him that his father will be all right.
• Hawkins watches the battle and explains that he once trapped the Looting Emperor in the World Hole’s compression layer, using Maolidis as part of the scheme. He had anticipated the Emperor’s return and now sees it as an opportunity to enter the next layer.
• Hawkins issues an SSS-rank mission to save the Sea of Heroes. Players across many worlds respond, forming teams, preparing equipment, and opening passages to join the fight.

Character developments and interactions

• Mark acts decisively to protect Martin, even while facing an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. His apparent death and the loss of his arm leave his fate uncertain, though veteran players can be resurrected if they have Resurrection Coins.
• Maning fights alongside Mark but is quickly destroyed by the black sun, highlighting the vast gap between the heroes and the Emperor.
• Martin is shaken by seeing his father’s arm arrive without him. Annie offers comfort and reassurance, while keeping the possibility of resurrection from him.
• The Looting Emperor returns as a ruthless, world-ending threat. His fixation on Martin’s bloodline links him to Maolidis and the events of the past.
• Hawkins reveals himself as a calculating strategist: he previously engineered the Emperor’s imprisonment and now plans to use players to weaken him.
• The players of Infinite City shift from ordinary duties to collective mobilization in response to the crisis.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and protection: Mark risks everything to get Martin to safety.
• Death and resurrection: Death is terrifying, but for experienced players with sufficient resources, it may not be permanent.
• Power and collective action: The Emperor’s strength dwarfs that of individual defenders, making a coordinated player response essential.
• Manipulation and opportunity: Hawkins treats past catastrophes and the Emperor’s return as pieces in a larger plan.
• World-building and layered reality: The chapter outlines the World Hole’s layers, placing the Sea of Heroes near the boundary of the Dream Realm and the deeper compression layer.

Chapter Summary: “Rift”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Victor survives being thrown into lava, but the Looting Emperor immediately attacks him with black energy techniques.
• The Emperor’s Little Black Sun True Art destroys Mark and Maning’s weakening barrier and erases a large section of the continent.
• To emotionally break Victor, the Emperor fires an energy sphere at Tide Village. Victor pursues it but cannot stop the blast.
• The explosion devastates the coastline and kills many people, including John, who is completely disintegrated while waiting for Martin to return.
• Victor witnesses John’s death and erupts in grief and rage. The Looting Emperor mocks him, explaining that his long imprisonment in the Compression Layer drove him to destroy the world upon escaping.
• Victor attacks the Emperor directly but is effortlessly overpowered, choked, and thrown toward the sea.
• Arthur rescues Victor by blocking the Emperor’s attacks. Anna provides a potion, while numerous powerful players arrive through Spatial Passages to join the battle.
• The players coordinate their attacks, using shields, tanks, and concentrated techniques to withstand the Emperor’s destructive abilities.
• The Looting Emperor realizes that defeating the players individually would take too long, so he summons the terrifying Black Demon Fish from the Compression Layer.
• He opens a larger rift through the bottom of the lava sea, allowing the monster to begin crossing into the Sea of Heroes.

Character Developments

• Victor shifts from determined protector to a character consumed by grief and fury after witnessing John’s death. Despite his rage, he is clearly outmatched by the Looting Emperor.
• The Looting Emperor is revealed as both cruel and deeply traumatized. His destruction of the world is partly an outlet for millions of years of repression and fear, though he quickly regains enough reason to fight strategically.
• Arthur demonstrates his role as a dependable protector by saving Victor at a critical moment.
• The players show strong teamwork and courage. Rather than being intimidated, they treat the Emperor as an enemy they can collectively challenge.
• Xiao Yaojin provides comic relief while still contributing tactically, using his Earth Burrowing Mage abilities to evade the Emperor.
• Jin Ba and the other elite players reveal that their strength lies not only in individual power but also in coordinated defense and support.
• John’s death emphasizes the vulnerability of ordinary people caught in conflicts between overwhelming forces.

Significant Themes

• The cost of power and warfare: The Emperor’s attacks devastate entire regions and kill civilians, showing that battles between powerful beings affect far more than the combatants.
• Grief and vengeance: Victor’s rage after John’s death illustrates how personal loss transforms his determination to defeat the Emperor.
• Trauma and moral corruption: The Emperor’s cruelty stems from prolonged imprisonment and suffering, but his pain does not excuse his decision to destroy the world.
• Collective strength versus individual power: Although the Emperor is stronger than any single player, the players’ cooperation allows them to withstand his attacks.
• Protection versus destruction: Victor and the players fight to preserve lives, while the Emperor initially seeks destruction as an expression of liberation and revenge.
• The danger of breaches between worlds: The rift beneath the lava sea introduces a larger threat, suggesting that the Emperor’s release may unleash even more powerful monsters.

Character Interactions

• The Looting Emperor deliberately targets Tide Village to provoke Victor, turning their conflict into a personal confrontation.
• Victor attacks the Emperor in revenge but is physically dominated and mocked for his weakness.
• Arthur intervenes to rescue Victor, while Anna supports him with a healing potion.
• The assembled players encourage one another and coordinate their defenses against the Emperor’s Black Sun True Art.
• Xiao Yaojin attempts to attack from underground, but the Emperor counters him; Arthur and Jin Ba then disrupt the Emperor’s assault.
• The Emperor recognizes that the players’ mutual support makes them difficult to defeat and responds by summoning the Black Demon Fish, escalating the conflict beyond a battle between himself and the players.

Key plot points and events

• Black lightning strikes a fissure at the bottom of the Sea of Heroes, widening it into a vast rift. Soon afterward, black tadpole-like monsters emerge from the lava and attack the players.
• The Looting Emperor exploits the distraction, unleashing a devastating attack that sends pillars of fire erupting from the ground. The players regroup, but their attacks barely dent his immense one-million-trillion-HP blood shield; he is also immune to crowd control and guaranteed HP-reduction effects.
• Of more than 100 million players who originally arrived, only a little over 10 million remain. Many low-level players died from the battlefield’s lingering energy and shock waves, leaving little chance of reinforcements.
• Qiao Si takes command through a combat channel, and the players organize into coordinated frontline, support, healing, and barrier roles.
• The Looting Emperor offers the tadpoles the players as food. The monsters are powerful: around level 200, with over 100 million HP each and attacks capable of quickly breaking players’ shields.
• During the clash, the Looting Emperor tries to steal Arthur’s shield, but its lion head fires back and blasts him. He retaliates with a beam that sends Arthur flying.
• Players struggle to kill the tadpoles. Jin Ba’s powerful attacks injure one badly, but he needs several more blasts to finish it. Seeing the battle line strain, he asks Qiao Si to call for help.
• Jin Ba suggests waking Pei Jin, a mysterious, highly privileged player who may be asleep after completing a mission. Qiao Si recognizes the name, but knows little about him.

Character developments and interactions

• Qiao Si shifts from assessing the crisis to directing the battle, relying on his reputation as a professor and the players’ established teamwork.
• Ai Miye supports Qiao Si by managing the combat channel and helping fight the Looting Emperor.
• Arthur proves a key distraction for the Looting Emperor and uses his unusual shield’s automatic counterattack to repel an attempted theft.
• Jin Ba demonstrates considerable strength but recognizes that even strong players are struggling; his appeal for help highlights the army’s limits.
• The Looting Emperor treats the players as food for the tadpoles and tries to seize Arthur’s shield, while continuing to attack despite being countered.
• Pei Jin is introduced as an enigmatic possible ally: he has unusual access and privileges in Infinite City, but his origins and abilities remain unclear.

Significant themes

• Cooperation versus overwhelming force: The players’ organization helps them hold their ground, but coordination alone may not overcome the monsters’ strength.
• The cost of joining a battle unprepared: Low-level players are killed by the environment and residual power before they can contribute.
• Scarcity and desperation: With nearly all willing players already present, the group has few options when the battle turns against them.
• Predation and exploitation: The Looting Emperor and the tadpoles view the players as resources or food, underscoring the hostile nature of the battlefield.

Key plot points and events

• Qiao Si asks Jin Ba whether Pei Jin might join the battle against the Black Demon Fish. Jin Ba says Pei Jin is exceptionally strong but unpredictable; Qiao Si sends him a message anyway.
• At home beyond Infinite City, Pei Jin receives the message, checks the Forum, and asks Hawkins whether help is needed. Hawkins leaves the choice to him, so Pei Jin equips himself and heads to the coast.
• The Looting Emperor continues fighting Qiao Si and Ai Miye, taunting them and seeking an opening. Pei Jin’s blade aura arrives, cutting down many Black Demon Fish tadpoles and forcing the Looting Emperor to intervene.
• Pei Jin destroys the Looting Emperor’s black-sun attack with his Void-Annihilating Blade and nearly kills him, removing his little finger. The Looting Emperor recognizes Pei Jin as a serious threat and urges the Black Demon Fish to enter faster.
• The Black Demon Fish pushes its enormous eye through the sea of magma. Its beam sweeps across the battlefield, killing many players. Qiao Si orders the survivors into battle formations; Arthur’s barrier holds the beam briefly, buying them time.
• Pei Jin attacks the exposed eye with his blade, but a human face begins to emerge from its surface just before the strike lands.

Character developments

• Pei Jin proves that his reputation as a formidable, understated fighter is deserved. He chooses to help without fanfare and demonstrates a technique powerful enough to defeat the Looting Emperor’s signature attack.
• The Looting Emperor is revealed to be stronger than before, but Pei Jin’s near-fatal strike unsettles him and prompts him to hasten the Black Demon Fish’s arrival.
• Qiao Si and Ai Miye display effective teamwork, combining close- and long-range attacks. Qiao Si takes command after the eye’s beam devastates the player line.
• Arthur shows courage by placing himself between the beam and the other players, though his barrier and Blood Shield are overwhelmed.
• Hawkins trusts Pei Jin to make his own decision rather than directing him.

Significant themes

• Reputation versus reality: Rumors about Pei Jin abound, but his actions confirm his exceptional ability.
• Self-directed heroism: Pei Jin responds to the crisis because he chooses to, not because anyone orders him.
• Cooperation under pressure: Qiao Si and Ai Miye’s coordination—and the players’ quick formation—offers their best defense against overwhelming enemies.
• Power and vulnerability: Even formidable fighters can be endangered by a sudden escalation, as the Looting Emperor’s near miss and Arthur’s struggle demonstrate.

Character interactions

• Qiao Si consults Jin Ba about Pei Jin and later jokes with the Looting Emperor that a stronger, more modest man has arrived.
• Pei Jin checks with Hawkins before joining the fight; Hawkins leaves the decision to him.
• The Looting Emperor taunts Qiao Si and Ai Miye, then challenges Pei Jin by attacking him with the Black Sun True Art.
• Pei Jin’s counterattack forces the Looting Emperor to warn the Black Demon Fish, whose eye then turns the battle into a desperate fight for survival.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Pei Jin’s class is revealed to be Bladesmith, a common support class. His exceptional power comes instead from his maxed-out skills, formidable attributes, collection of specialized blades, and—above all—his battle instincts.
• When the Eye of the Black Demon Fish attacks, Pei Jin uses the Demon Dragon Blade to summon its dragon spirit and clash with the enormous creature. The fight shows that the players’ side has many capable fighters and support specialists.
• Realizing his forces are outmatched and exhausted, the Looting Emperor retreats into the tadpole swarm. The Black Demon Fish agrees to pause the fight, and the tadpoles form a heavily fortified, poison-spewing stronghold.
• Qiao Si orders the players not to pursue. They regroup, heal, and prepare for a prolonged battle. Support players construct defenses and temporary housing, while visitors and merchants arrive—quickly turning the rest area into a bustling settlement.
• At the City Lord’s Manor, Hawkins explains to Pei Jin that worlds have layers. The players have explored the Information and Collision Layers and are now ready to confront the Compression Layer. The Sea of Heroes battle is, in Hawkins’s view, a front line that will help players grow and adapt before entering that layer.

Character developments and interactions

• Pei Jin is established as powerful not because of his class, but because of his personal skill and ability to choose the right blade and tactic for each situation. He recognizes that the battle is unfolding according to Hawkins’s broader plan.
• The Looting Emperor shifts from confidence to caution. He recognizes the strength and coordination of the players’ group and retreats because he has spent too much energy to keep fighting effectively.
• The Black Demon Fish joins the decision to halt the battle, prioritizing a defensive position over further attacks.
• Qiao Si takes command of the regrouping, preventing a reckless pursuit and directing the group’s preparation for a long campaign.
• The chapter highlights the players’ teamwork: Vanessa maintains barriers, Romeo protects and rescues allies, and Jennie heals them, greatly reducing casualties.
• Hawkins and Pei Jin discuss the conflict privately. Hawkins supplies the larger strategic context, while Pei Jin interprets how the battle fits into the players’ advancement.

Significant themes

• Strength is more than class: Pei Jin’s example emphasizes individual ability, experience, and judgment over labels.
• Teamwork and infrastructure matter: Defenses, healing, rescue, and logistics are as important as frontline combat.
• Growth through conflict: The battle is framed as preparation that will help players become strong enough to face a deeper layer of the world.
• A war of endurance: Both sides have limits, and the players must balance pursuit with recovery and preparation.
• Layered reality and strategic progression: The world’s “onion” structure expands the story’s scope and suggests that current battles are part of a larger campaign.

Chapter Summary: “Student Martin”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Pei Jin confronts Hawkins over the destruction of the Sea of Heroes, accusing him of sacrificing innocent villagers to achieve his objectives.
• Hawkins explains that the villagers’ deaths were part of an unavoidable chain of fate and that releasing the sealed threat sooner ultimately saved countless more lives.
• Pei Jin reveals that he already trusted Hawkins and had only been testing him. The two reminisce about their time as soldiers and their long-standing partnership.
• Their conversation turns humorous when Pei Jin wonders whether Qiao Si likes him. Hawkins teases him about confessing, exposing Pei Jin’s awkwardness with romance.
• Pei Jin admits he sees himself as a weapon devoted to slaughter rather than a genuinely good person. He also refuses to open a blade shop because he considers every blade he forges like one of his children.
• After Pei Jin leaves, Hawkins reveals that he has been preparing to fulfill an ancient promise to Maolidis: to raise one of Maolidis’s descendants into the ruler of the Sea of Heroes.
• Hawkins visits Martin in the hospital and shows him recordings of his father Mark’s death and the destruction of Tide Village, including John’s final moments.
• Overwhelmed by grief, rage, and confusion, Martin asks Hawkins what he should do. Hawkins encourages him to become stronger and seek revenge.
• Martin willingly becomes Hawkins’s student. Hawkins discharges him from the hospital and begins an intense training regimen.
• Martin’s daily schedule includes running, potion-assisted physical conditioning, swordsmanship, mathematics, simulated combat, lessons about players and geography, and gravity-room training.
• In contrast, Mark spends the year pampering Momo with food, toys, entertainment, outings, and affection.
• After a year of training and leisure, Martin and Momo are both ready to begin school.

Character Developments

• Hawkins: Demonstrates his pragmatic worldview and willingness to make morally difficult decisions for long-term survival. He also reveals his patient, strategic plan to shape Martin into a future ruler and fulfills a promise made generations earlier.
• Pei Jin: Shows a strict moral code and deep concern for innocent lives, but also confirms his complete trust in Hawkins. His discomfort with romance and poor self-image reveal a more vulnerable side beneath his identity as a legendary warrior and bladesmith.
• Martin: Changes from a sheltered, grieving child into a determined student. His grief over his father and village becomes motivation for revenge, while his intelligence allows him to quickly understand Hawkins’s offer and commit to training.
• Mark: Remains unaware that Martin has been taken under Hawkins’s guidance, while enjoying a peaceful year raising Momo.
• Momo: Is treated lovingly by Mark and experiences a carefree childhood, creating a sharp contrast with Martin’s harsh education.

Significant Themes

• Moral compromise and utilitarianism: Hawkins defends sacrificing some lives to prevent a greater catastrophe, challenging Pei Jin’s absolute opposition to harming innocents.
• Trust and friendship: Despite their ideological differences, Pei Jin and Hawkins retain a deep bond formed through shared wartime experiences.
• Redemption and identity: Pei Jin struggles with whether he is a good man or merely a weapon, while Hawkins attempts to guide others toward roles greater than their origins.
• Grief as motivation: Martin’s sorrow and anger become the foundation for his determination to gain power.
• Nature versus cultivation: The chapter contrasts innate strength and past experience with the disciplined training needed to become powerful.
• Contrasting childhoods: Martin endures relentless training, while Momo enjoys comfort and play, establishing two sharply different paths toward their futures.

Character Interactions

• Hawkins and Pei Jin argue over the Sea of Heroes but ultimately reaffirm their mutual trust through teasing and shared memories.
• Hawkins jokes about Pei Jin’s possible romance with Qiao Si, exposing Pei Jin’s emotional awkwardness.
• Hawkins deliberately shows Martin the deaths of his father and the people of Tide Village to provoke a desire for revenge and recruit him as a student.
• Hawkins and Martin begin a strict teacher-student relationship, with Hawkins acting as both mentor and disciplinarian.
• Mark and Momo share a warm, indulgent father-daughter relationship, contrasting with Hawkins’s demanding treatment of Martin.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Mobius Academy’s structure and standards are established: The enormous academy functions like a city. Students begin at age ten, spend five years in elementary school before becoming eligible players, and must meet level requirements to graduate from junior high, high school, and university.
• Martin’s future is planned by Hawkins: Hawkins brings Martin, now an extraordinarily tall and muscular ten-year-old, to enroll. He believes the academy will strengthen Martin’s knowledge as well as his combat ability, and plans for him to gain further experience in the Sea of Heroes after university.
• Martin meets his roommates: In freshman dorm room two, Nicola—whose healer parents have designated him a future healer—and Boqi, a nervous boy from a mage family, meet Martin. They are stunned by his size. Nicola is pleased to have such a powerful-looking roommate, while Martin remains reserved and focused on training.
• The academy begins virtual combat training: Three weeks later, the students prepare for their first Virtual Battlefield exercise against the Girls’ Academy. Nicola expects the girls to use cunning tactics, while Boqi reports that they want revenge for a boys’ ambush the previous year. Their instructor, Apollo, activates the simulation.

Character developments

• Martin appears disciplined and serious. Though he could easily intimidate his roommates, he has little interest in playing games and would rather train, shaped by his deep personal vendetta.
• Hawkins acts as Martin’s mentor and guardian, seeing education, wisdom, and battlefield experience as essential to Martin’s eventual strength.
• Nicola is sociable and quick to adapt. He welcomes Martin, immediately viewing his presence as an advantage for their likely future team.
• Boqi is shy and easily intimidated, but shares useful information about the coming contest through his sister.
• Apollo is skeptical of replacing physical combat with simulation, yet recognizes that the Virtual Battlefield is effective and safer for students.

Character interactions

• Hawkins encourages Martin and explains that knowledge matters alongside physical strength before leaving him at the academy.
• Nicola warmly introduces himself to Boqi, then welcomes Martin and imagines the three boys working together.
• Boqi apologizes and reacts nervously to Martin’s imposing appearance; Martin simply asks them to clear the way.
• Before the simulation, Nicola tries to rally his roommates, while Boqi warns them about the girls’ planned retaliation. Apollo then directs the class into the Virtual Battlefield.

Significant themes

• Unequal opportunity: Students with powerful families can level up and graduate sooner, while unsupported students may take much longer.
• Strength as more than physical power: Hawkins emphasizes wisdom and knowledge as foundations for lasting capability.
• Preparation and teamwork: Students are assigned complementary roles, and the first simulation tests how they work together.
• Changing forms of training and equality: Supernatural abilities diminish physical gender differences, while virtual combat offers realistic practice without real-world injury.