Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Dugu Bo reveals his identity as the Poison Douluo, shocking Tang San and Dai Mubai. Lin Ye tells him to stop frightening them and confronts the two for starting a fight and trying to attack the shop owner with a poisoned weapon.
• Lin Ye invokes the Internet Cafe’s rules. With Zhu Zhuqing’s help, he has Tang San and Dai Mubai permanently blacklisted, preventing them from buying any services.
• Dai Mubai tries to persuade Zhu Zhuqing to return to Shrek Academy, but Ning Rongrong mocks his confidence in Shrek’s strength.
• To demonstrate the gap in power, Ning Rongrong borrows Zhu Zhuqing’s Sandevistan game account and, using its time-slowing ability, defeats a group of armed enemies in seconds. Tang San and Dai Mubai are stunned by the technology’s speed and firepower.
• Realizing how much stronger the game’s equipment could make them, both boys beg Lin Ye for access. He refuses because of the ban, though he allows them to buy spectator tickets.
• Tang San and Dai Mubai are left watching Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong play, painfully aware that they can see this power but cannot use it.

Character developments

• Lin Ye enforces the shop’s rules firmly and takes satisfaction in denying the boys access after their misconduct.
• Zhu Zhuqing stands by the cafe and its rules rather than accepting Dai Mubai’s appeal to return to Shrek. Her ability to share her game account also helps expose the power she has gained.
• Ning Rongrong openly ridicules Dai Mubai and uses the gameplay demonstration to assert the superiority of the cafe’s technology.
• Tang San shifts from defensiveness to awe and desperation, recognizing that his hidden weapons may be outclassed and craving access to the new power.
• Dai Mubai loses his confidence when he sees Zhu Zhuqing’s potential and becomes just as desperate as Tang San to gain access.
• Dugu Bo is established as powerful and deferential to Lin Ye, though his role here is mainly to intimidate the two visitors.

Significant themes

• Rules and consequences: The cafe’s regulations apply even to powerful or prestigious visitors.
• Technological power versus traditional strength: The game’s weapons and time-slowing abilities make familiar combat skills seem obsolete.
• Exclusion and desire: Tang San and Dai Mubai’s ban turns their fascination with the technology into frustrated envy.
• Changing status and confidence: Zhu Zhuqing’s newfound strength reverses the old dynamic with Dai Mubai, while the boys’ pride gives way to helplessness.

Character interactions

• Lin Ye rebukes Tang San and Dai Mubai, while Dugu Bo’s presence amplifies their fear.
• Zhu Zhuqing coldly supports the ban and declines to follow Dai Mubai back to Shrek.
• Ning Rongrong taunts Dai Mubai and demonstrates the game’s power with Zhu Zhuqing’s permission.
• Tang San and Dai Mubai appeal to Lin Ye for access, but he refuses and leaves them to watch from the sidelines.

Plot points and events

• Tang San and Dai Mubai, both permanently banned from Origin Internet Cafe, sit in the lobby watching the others play Night City.
• Tang San is stunned by the game’s technology: Ning Rongrong’s electromagnetic rifle pierces a concrete wall, and Dugu Yan’s Smart Assault Rifle curves bullets toward enemies. His confidence in Tang Sect hidden weapons collapses.
• Dai Mubai watches Zhu Zhuqing use a Sandevistan and Mantis Blades to overwhelm enemies. He regrets having left her and recognizes that he could not match her current strength.
• Tang San offers Lin Ye the Tang Sect’s Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record in exchange for gun schematics, but Lin Ye dismisses it as outdated and refuses. Tang San retreats, humiliated.
• Lin Ye announces a Night City Mercenary Grand Prix in three days. Contestants will fight in an arena using their in-game weapons and cyberware, and the champion will receive one common-grade item from the game manifested in the real world.
• Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Dugu Yan, and Qian Renxue eagerly claim they want to compete, each motivated by a different goal. Tang San and Dai Mubai beg Lin Ye to lift their bans so they can enter, but he has Dugu Bo remove them and bars them from even watching.

Character development and interactions

• Tang San moves from technical curiosity to despair and then desperate ambition. The game’s weapons overturn his assumptions about hidden weapons; the prospect of acquiring them revives his hope of using their technology to gain power. Lin Ye’s blunt rejection and final exclusion deepen his humiliation.
• Dai Mubai is consumed by regret as he watches Zhu Zhuqing’s skill and independence. Like Tang San, he abandons his pride to plead for reinstatement, offering money and service.
• Zhu Zhuqing displays confidence and fierce resolve, seeing the prize as a chance to change her fate.
• Ning Rongrong is excited by the prospect of winning a weapon that could strengthen her in combat despite being a support-type Soul Master.
• Dugu Yan hopes to win cyberware that could help save her grandfather. She also serves as the cafe’s enthusiastic enforcer when Lin Ye calls for security.
• Qian Renxue is impressed by the possibility of bringing a Sandevistan into the real world.
• Lin Ye maintains authority through mockery, firm rules, and the announcement of a high-stakes competition. Dugu Bo reinforces that authority by carrying out Lin Ye’s order to eject the two banned customers.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption: Advanced firearms and cyberware make Tang San’s traditional expertise seem obsolete.
• Regret and exclusion: Dai Mubai regrets his past choices, while both men face the consequences of being banned.
• Power and opportunity: The tournament prize transforms a game into a potential source of real-world power, sharpening the players’ ambitions.
• Pride versus desperation: Tang San and Dai Mubai’s pleas show how quickly their pride gives way when they see a chance to regain access and influence.

Plot points and events

• After being thrown out of the Internet Cafe, Tang San lies in shock, convinced that modern firearms and smart weapons have made his Tang Sect hidden weapons obsolete. Dai Mubai is left nursing his back.
• Dugu Bo returns to his security post. Lin Ye rewards his service by letting him watch Dugu Yan play.
• Lin Ye explains that the Grand Prix begins in three days and uses players’ existing Cyberpunk 2077 saves. Character levels, cyberware, and weapons will affect their chances of winning.
• Zhu Zhuqing, Dugu Yan, and Ning Rongrong realize they cannot afford the costly upgrades they want by playing only six hours a day. Ning Rongrong spots a loophole: others can earn in-game money and transfer it to her through the Trading System. She summons her father and Sword Douluo Chen Xin for help, claiming she is being bullied.
• Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin arrive in a panic. Chen Xin attacks the Internet Cafe, but its defensive field erases his sword strike and suppresses both his and Ning Fengzhi’s Martial Souls.
• Ning Rongrong reveals she is unharmed and recruits the two powerful figures to earn money in the game by scavenging and selling loot. Qian Renxue, alarmed by the Sect’s growing advantage, orders Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Imperial Knights to mobilize, bring money, and occupy the cafe’s machines for her own team.

Character development and interactions

• Tang San suffers a crisis of confidence after seeing technology surpass the hidden weapons he prized.
• Dugu Bo shifts from intimidating enforcer to eager spectator, showing how readily he accommodates Lin Ye and the cafe’s rules.
• Ning Rongrong proves resourceful and calculating, turning her family’s wealth and manpower into a competitive advantage. She confidently orders her father and Chen Xin to perform menial in-game work.
• Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi rush to protect Rongrong, but their power is effortlessly neutralized by the cafe’s defenses. Their concern turns to bewilderment when they discover she is simply recruiting them for the tournament.
• Qian Renxue responds to Rongrong’s strategy with competitive alarm and escalates the contest by mobilizing Spirit Hall and the imperial knights.

Significant themes

• Technology versus tradition: Tang San’s shock highlights how advanced weapons challenge established martial skills and beliefs.
• Rules, loopholes, and competition: The Grand Prix rewards preparation and resourcefulness, not just combat ability; Ning Rongrong exploits the Trading System to gain an edge.
• Power has limits: Even famous Titled Douluo are powerless against the Internet Cafe’s absolute defenses and rules.
• Escalating rivalry: The tournament transforms personal ambitions into a contest of organizations, resources, and teamwork.

Key plot points and events

• Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo Chen Xin enter the Night City game, where their soul powers and combat abilities are sealed. Ning Rongrong immediately recruits them to scavenge weapons and clothing from the aftermath of gang shootouts.
• Chen Xin initially objects to looting corpses, but changes his mind when Rongrong explains that selling a valuable rifle earns far more than fighting with improvised weapons. He soon becomes an enthusiastic, highly efficient scavenger.
• Ning Fengzhi discovers that dismantling junk and low-tier weapons into components, then crafting and selling better weapons, is much more profitable. He turns the pair’s effort into a rapidly expanding production operation, with Chen Xin gathering supplies.
• Hoping to obtain legendary Gorilla Arms, Qian Renxue orders a squad of Heaven Dou Imperial Knights to farm money by digging up mines and scavenging. They become an organized force of “royal beggars.”
• Zhu Zhuqing has no powerful allies to help her: Dai Mubai’s account is permanently banned. She instead takes dangerous bounty missions alone, using her growing skill with the Sandevistan to earn money.
• The Internet Cafe becomes consumed by a frantic pre-tournament grinding race. Lin Ye enjoys the surge in activity, hoping the competition will help unlock the next game sooner.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xin shifts from offended sword-sage to eager scavenger, applying his swordsmanship’s speed and precision to looting once he sees its practical value. Rongrong motivates him by framing the work as serving the sect’s future.
• Ning Fengzhi reveals his merchant’s instincts, quickly improving on scavenging through dismantling, crafting, and resale. He directs Chen Xin’s labor as the operation grows.
• Ning Rongrong acts as the practical coach, pushing her father and Sword Douluo to focus on earning efficiently rather than defending their dignity.
• Qian Renxue becomes caught up in the same money-making frenzy, repurposing her knights for game grinding rather than conventional military tasks.
• Zhu Zhuqing shows independence and resilience, building her strength through high-risk missions. Her progress contrasts with Dai Mubai’s helplessness and regret.
• Tang San watches the others’ behavior and tries to interpret it as spiritual cultivation, while Dai Mubai is left grieving his inability to help Zhu Zhuqing.

Significant themes

• Time and money: Characters judge actions by their return, turning combat and scavenging into economic calculations.
• Status overturned by necessity: Revered leaders and knights abandon traditional dignity for mundane game labor.
• Adaptability and ingenuity: Ning Fengzhi’s crafting strategy and Zhu Zhuqing’s solo bounty work show different ways to thrive in Night City.
• Competitive motivation: The scramble for better gear intensifies rivalries and drives the Internet Cafe’s growth.

Plot points and events

• After three days of grinding in Night City, the competitors prepare for the Origin Internet Cafe’s first Mercenary Grand Prix. Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo Chen Xin have earned money for Ning Rongrong’s equipment, while Qian Renxue, Zhu Zhuqing, and Dugu Bo have also readied their cyberware.
• Lin Ye opens the tournament, unveiling a holographic arena modeled on Arasaka Tower’s helipad. Spectators can watch through immersive glasses.
• The first elimination match pits Ning Rongrong against Dugu Bo. Rongrong enters heavily armed with a smart assault rifle, missile launchers, armor, and Gorilla Arms; Dugu Bo relies on a thermal katana and Sandevistan.
• Rongrong’s homing-bullet barrage forces Dugu Bo to activate his Sandevistan, slowing time so he can dodge and cut through the bullets. He reaches her and strikes with his katana—but her Gorilla Arms block the blow. Rongrong then aims her rifle beneath his chin, leaving the match’s outcome unresolved at the chapter’s end.

Character developments

• Ning Rongrong has transformed from a support-focused soul master into a confident, lavishly equipped combatant who trusts both her firepower and cyberware.
• Dugu Bo displays formidable combat instincts and adaptability, using Sandevistan to overcome the rifle’s tracking barrage.
• Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin show how deeply they care for Rongrong by exhausting themselves to fund her gear; their confidence turns to alarm during her match.
• Tang San is shaken by how far futuristic weapons surpass traditional hidden weapons.

Significant themes

• Money versus skill: Rongrong’s expensive arsenal meets Dugu Bo’s experience and quick tactical response.
• Technology overturning established limits: Cyberware enables ordinary bodies to rival abilities previously associated with powerful soul masters.
• Preparation and adaptation: Equipment gives each fighter an advantage, but success also depends on recognizing and countering an opponent’s strengths.

Character interactions

• Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin support Rongrong’s ambitions, though they fear for her when she faces Dugu Bo.
• Lin Ye manages the event and reassures Ning Fengzhi that the arena removes soul power, emphasizing the contestants’ reliance on technology.
• Rongrong and Dugu Bo trade taunts before their contrasting weapons and tactics collide.
• Spectators, especially Tang San, Chen Xin, and the exhausted supporters, react with astonishment to the cyberware’s capabilities.

Plot points and events

• Ning Rongrong defeats Dugu Bo in the first elimination match. Her expensive armor and equipment absorb his attacks, prompting him to accuse her of winning through money rather than skill. Ning Fengzhi admits that he and Chen Xin spent days helping her gather resources.
• Tang San ignores the argument and studies Rongrong’s cybernetic armor, hoping to understand how its technology might benefit the Tang Sect.
• The next match pits Zhu Zhuqing against Qian Renxue. Qian has used the Heaven Dou Imperial Knights to gather funds and enters heavily equipped, with armor, arm-mounted missile launchers, and a machine gun. Zhu appears lightly armed, carrying Mantis Blades and a high-grade Sandevistan.
• Qian opens with a missile barrage, but Zhu activates her Sandevistan and nearly stops time. She uses the missiles as stepping stones to close the distance.
• Qian turns invisible and lines up a machine-gun attack. Zhu counters with a Threat Detector, senses the weapon’s position, and cuts through Qian’s gun and arm implants with her Mantis Blades.
• Zhu wins, making her and Ning Rongrong the finalists. Lin Ye announces that the champion will choose an ordinary in-game item, which the Internet Cafe will turn into a real object.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Rongrong celebrates her victory with characteristic confidence, while Dugu Bo is furious at what he sees as an unfair contest of wealth. Ning Fengzhi defends her win by calling strategy part of combat.
• Tang San becomes increasingly fascinated by cyberware, shifting his attention from the match to its possible applications for the Tang Sect.
• Zhu Zhuqing demonstrates that her preparation was not limited to earning money: she combines cyberware with her instincts, agility, and careful timing. Her calm defeat of Qian contrasts with the danger of the match.
• Qian Renxue assumes superior resources and firepower will guarantee victory, but is shocked when Zhu defeats her.
• Dai Mubai, unable to compete himself, watches anxiously and then breaks down with joy at Zhu’s win.

Significant themes

• Money versus skill: Both matches raise questions about whether wealth can overwhelm talent, but Zhu’s victory shows that preparation and technique can defeat greater firepower.
• Technology and adaptation: Cyberware reshapes combat, while victory depends on using equipment creatively and countering an opponent’s advantages.
• Determination and changing one’s fate: Zhu sees the tournament as an opportunity to prove the power that can alter her future.
• Spectacle and real-world stakes: The promise of turning an in-game item into a physical object makes the final prize especially significant.

Key events

• With an odd number of entrants, Dugu Yan receives a bye. The final becomes a three-person round robin between Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, and Zhu Zhuqing.
• Dugu Yan defeats Ning Rongrong by disabling her homing ammunition with a Tyger Claws Dermal Imprint, then trapping her in poison gas. Her Metabolic Editor makes the poison heal rather than harm her.
• Zhu Zhuqing defeats Dugu Yan by activating her Sandevistan and racing through the gas to kill her before it can wear her down.
• In the final match, Ning Rongrong’s heavy Gorilla Arms attacks fail to catch the invisible Zhu Zhuqing. Using Optical Camo and stealth, Zhu Zhuqing strikes from concealment and wins the tournament undefeated.
• Lin Ye reveals the prize: a real QianT “Peregrine” Sandevistan. Zhu Zhuqing is overwhelmed with joy at its reality and power.
• Tang San, desperate to obtain one for himself, offers his Hidden Weapon blueprints and begs Lin Ye to sell him a Sandevistan. Dugu Bo kicks him out.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhu Zhuqing proves herself the strongest and most disciplined contestant, combining speed, stealth, and patience. Winning gives her a path to escape the Star Luo Imperial Family’s pursuit and leave Dai Mubai’s cowardice behind.
• Dugu Yan displays careful knowledge of cyberware counters and wins her first match through preparation, but her poison strategy fails against Zhu Zhuqing’s speed. Her grandfather, Dugu Bo, proudly celebrates her victory.
• Ning Rongrong adapts after her smart gun is countered, relying on brute force, but still cannot find Zhu Zhuqing.
• Tang San is shaken as Zhu Zhuqing’s cyberware-based abilities undermine his faith in Tang Sect Hidden Weapons. His admiration turns to jealousy and greed when the Sandevistan becomes real.
• Dai Mubai loudly celebrates Zhu Zhuqing’s win as that of his fiancée, while she appears focused on what the prize means for her own future.

Significant themes

• Preparation and adaptation can overcome raw firepower: Dugu Yan counters Ning Rongrong’s weapon, while Zhu Zhuqing counters Dugu Yan’s poison with speed.
• Technological change challenges old hierarchies and beliefs, especially Tang San’s confidence in traditional Hidden Weapons.
• Independence and agency are central to Zhu Zhuqing’s victory: the prize offers a way to free herself from political pursuit and personal disappointment.
• The tournament’s spectacle mixes deadly violence with comedy, from Dugu Bo’s celebration of self-poisoning to his abrupt ejection of Tang San.

Key plot points and events

• Poison Douluo throws the obsessed Tang San out of the Internet Cafe. Tang San remains fixated on its technology and watches from outside.
• Zhu Zhuqing asks how to use the Sandevistan. Lin Ye explains that it is implanted as cyberware, not absorbed like a Soul Bone, and warns that forcing absorption could be fatal.
• Despite the 10,000 Gold Soul Coin price, Zhu Zhuqing chooses the operation. She wants to escape her role as a pawn in the Star Luo royal marriage arrangement and stop relying on the man who abandoned her.
• After the implantation, Zhu Zhuqing activates the Sandevistan without using her Martial Soul or Soul Rings. To everyone else, time nearly stops while she moves so quickly that even Chen Xin cannot track her. She saves the falling cola bottles, returns them neatly to the shelf, and calmly takes one for herself.
• The system announces that the Internet Cafe has met its revenue goal and will upgrade to Level 3 in seventy-two hours. The upgrade will add a staff position and unlock a new game prize wheel.

Character development and interactions

• Zhu Zhuqing makes a decisive move toward independence, embracing mechanical enhancement despite the danger and cost. Her newfound confidence is demonstrated by her effortless control of the Sandevistan.
• Ning Rongrong worries about Zhu Zhuqing’s finances and checks on her after the procedure. Her accidental knock against the drinks cabinet provides the test of Zhu Zhuqing’s speed.
• Lin Ye presents cyberware implantation as a premium service and explains its risks, while the system’s announcement shows the cafe’s growing success.
• Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, Qian Renxue, Dugu Bo, and Tang San are captivated by the technology. Chen Xin’s inability to follow Zhu Zhuqing’s movement underscores how extraordinary it is.

Significant themes

• Independence and self-determination: Zhu Zhuqing rejects a life dictated by political marriage and dependence on an unreliable partner.
• Technology versus tradition: Cyberware offers power beyond Soul Rings and Soul Bones, challenging the established Soul Master system.
• The price of advancement: Zhu Zhuqing accepts a steep cost and potentially dangerous procedure in pursuit of strength.
• Power and spectacle: The onlookers’ astonishment—and Tang San’s continued fixation—show how disruptive the cafe’s technology is to the world around it.

Key plot points and events

• After the Origin Internet Cafe closes for upgrades, Zhu Zhuqing faces Dai Mubai and Tang San outside.
• Dai Mubai begs Zhu Zhuqing to return to the Star Luo Empire and help him reclaim his position, arguing that their Martial Soul Fusion Skill could defeat his rival, Dai Weisi.
• Zhu Zhuqing rejects him and throws down their imperial betrothal token, formally ending their engagement.
• Dai Mubai attacks her in anger, but Zhu Zhuqing uses her time-stopping power to evade him and knocks him down with one slap.
• Dai Mubai vows that he will rise again, but Zhu Zhuqing dismisses his words and walks away.
• Dugu Bo approves of Zhu Zhuqing’s decisiveness, while Dugu Yan complains about being unable to use the Internet Cafe during its three-day closure.

Character developments

• Zhu Zhuqing asserts her independence, rejecting both Dai Mubai and the expectation that she depend on him. She has transformed her hard-won power into confidence and control over her own future.
• Dai Mubai is exposed as still driven by fear, pride, and self-interest. His appeal to their shared future gives way to a reckless attack and a wounded vow of revenge.
• Tang San recognizes the scale of Zhu Zhuqing’s strength but is unable to stop Dai Mubai from provoking her.
• Dugu Bo admires Zhu Zhuqing’s resolve, while Dugu Yan is more concerned with the Internet Cafe’s closure and her gaming withdrawal.

Significant themes

• Independence and self-determination: Zhu Zhuqing refuses to bind her future to a man who abandoned her.
• Responsibility versus empty pride: She argues that Dai Mubai’s failure comes not from hardship but from fleeing his duties and neglecting his growth.
• Power and transformation: Zhu Zhuqing’s new abilities overturn the old imbalance between them, making their changed relationship unmistakable.
• Breaking convention: A woman publicly dissolving a royal engagement challenges the expectations surrounding status and gender.

Character interactions

• Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai’s exchange turns a plea for reconciliation into a definitive breakup, followed by a brief fight that confirms their changed balance of power.
• Tang San tries to restrain Dai Mubai but cannot intervene in time.
• Dugu Bo praises Zhu Zhuqing to Dugu Yan, who responds by complaining about the cafe’s closure.

Plot points and events

• At Shrek’s temporary lodgings, Dai Mubai grieves over Zhu Zhuqing ending their engagement, while Tang San obsessively tries to understand the advanced weapons and cybertechnology he saw at Origin Internet Cafe.
• Banned from the cafe and unable to enter as Zhu Zhuqing’s family, Tang San decides to send Xiao Wu to apply for its attendant job. He hopes she can gain access to its technology and secretly learn or obtain its designs.
• Xiao Wu eagerly accepts, believing the job is a mission to help Tang San and Shrek. Oscar objects to Tang San’s hypocrisy, since he had previously denounced the cafe.
• Ma Hongjun warns that competition will be fierce: the position has drawn interest from wealthy and influential women across Heaven Dou City.
• Tang San responds by demanding everyone’s Gold Soul Coins to fund Xiao Wu’s makeover and interview preparation for the selection contest in three days.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang San is consumed by envy and curiosity about the cafe’s technology. His desire to acquire it overrides his earlier moral objections, and he disguises his plan to exploit Xiao Wu as a noble undercover mission.
• Xiao Wu remains trusting and devoted to Tang San, enthusiastically accepting a role she barely understands because she thinks it will help him.
• Dai Mubai is devastated by Zhu Zhuqing’s rejection but feels moved by Tang San’s apparent willingness to help him.
• Oscar challenges Tang San’s inconsistency, while Ma Hongjun brings practical concerns about the intense competition.

Significant themes

• Obsession with power and technology: Tang San’s fascination with Origin’s cybertechnology has displaced his confidence in his own abilities.
• Loyalty and manipulation: Xiao Wu’s affection makes her easy for Tang San to recruit, even though he presents a self-serving plan as a heroic mission.
• Hypocrisy and desperation: Tang San’s shift from condemning the cafe to scheming to infiltrate it shows how desperation can undermine principles.
• Status and competition: The coveted attendant position is treated as a gateway to power, turning a job application into a high-stakes contest.

Key plot points

• The Origin Internet Cafe reopens after three days, newly expanded and equipped with flashy security systems. A huge crowd gathers to apply for attendant jobs, drawn by free game access and the chance to meet its mysterious owner, Lin Ye.
• Tang San and Dai Mubai, whose accounts have been banned, hope Xiao Wu’s employment will restore their access as her “family members.” Tang San frames his self-serving goal as being for Shrek and the Tang Sect.
• A scanner rejects most applicants for failing the cafe’s exceptionally high beauty and poise standards. Xiao Wu scores highly and passes the preliminary screening, to Tang San’s delight.
• Qian Renxue arrives openly in her true identity, abandoning her “Xue Qinghe” disguise, and also passes. Hu Liena follows and passes as well.
• With the preliminary selection full, Lin Ye calls Xiao Wu, Qian Renxue, and Hu Liena inside for the first attendant interviews.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang San is anxious and increasingly desperate to regain access to the cafe; he treats Xiao Wu’s application as his route back in.
• Xiao Wu is cheerful and confident, passing the screening easily and celebrating her success with Tang San.
• Dai Mubai shares Tang San’s eagerness to return, while the two celebrate Xiao Wu’s result together.
• Qian Renxue reveals her true appearance to pursue the job and investigate the cafe.
• Hu Liena is drawn by the rumors and enters the competition with her characteristic flirtatious confidence.
• The three successful candidates now form a striking contrast—Xiao Wu’s lively charm, Qian Renxue’s noble reserve, and Hu Liena’s seductive allure—while Tang San worries that Xiao Wu may lose the position.

Significant themes

• Ambition and ulterior motives: Applicants seek the job for access, status, or information, not simply employment.
• Appearance and competition: The scanner’s rigid standards turn recruitment into a public contest among celebrated beauties.
• Comic desperation: Tang San’s grand claims about the sect mask his craving to watch games.
• Identity and concealment: Qian Renxue’s decision to discard her disguise raises the stakes of her investigation.

Key plot points and events

• The Origin Internet Cafe’s expanded interior hosts an employee interview for Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and Xiao Wu. Lin Ye leaves the judging to current staff members Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing.
• In the first test, Ning Rongrong asks how to handle banned customers peering through the glass. Hu Liena’s charm and Qian Renxue’s appeal to authority earn no points, while Xiao Wu’s proposal to throw them into the moat earns ten.
• Zhu Zhuqing tests the candidates on making instant noodles. Qian Renxue and Hu Liena fail; Xiao Wu accurately explains how to prepare them and earns twenty points.
• Lin Ye sets a practical challenge: subdue a violent holographic customer within thirty seconds, without soul power or damage to the cafe, and make him agree to pay 500 Gold Soul Coins. Qian Renxue’s attempt at commanding authority endangers equipment; Hu Liena’s seduction fails and the thug destroys property. Xiao Wu uses her flexibility and leverage to throw and restrain him, then demands compensation. She passes perfectly.
• Xiao Wu is hired as the cafe’s new attendant. Outside, Tang San and Dai Mubai celebrate, hoping her success restores their access as “backseat gamers.”

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Wu proves more than enthusiastic: practical experience, agility, and quick thinking make her the clear winner. She is delighted to earn the job and signals her success to Tang San.
• Qian Renxue and Hu Liena discover that status, authority, and beauty are ineffective in the cafe’s work environment. Their confidence gives way to frustration and disbelief.
• Ning Rongrong relishes her role as interviewer and enforces the rules with mock workplace severity; Zhu Zhuqing contributes a more reserved, practical assessment.
• Lin Ye remains a relaxed but demanding boss, setting a hands-on test that prioritizes customer control and protection of cafe property.
• Tang San watches anxiously from outside, proud of Xiao Wu’s answers but alarmed by the practical test. Dai Mubai shares his relief when she succeeds.

Significant themes

• Practical competence over prestige: social rank, combat power, and charm matter less than useful skills and sound judgment.
• Adaptability and teamwork: Xiao Wu’s success draws on what she learned by observing Zhu Zhuqing, while Tang San’s support remains important from outside.
• Comic reversal: powerful figures are humbled by ordinary service tasks, while the seemingly rustic Xiao Wu excels.
• The cafe’s unusual rules: its workplace demands prioritize efficient problem-solving, customer experience, and safeguarding equipment over conventional authority.

Key plot points and events

• The Internet Cafe reopens after its Level 3 upgrade. Tang San and Dai Mubai are admitted as staff family members, but Zhu Zhuqing directs them to the new upstairs viewing room.
• The room is luxurious, but it carries steep fees: ten Gold Soul Coins per person per hour, with drinks and popcorn costing fifty coins. Tang San pays anyway so he can study the game, while Dai Mubai is shocked by the prices.
• Lin Ye announces Night City’s update: Dogtown, a dangerous new area, and two-player co-op bounties. Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing promptly decide to team up.
• Hu Liena, curious about the players’ obsession, buys a gaming session. In Night City, she tries to charm three Maelstrom thugs, but they ignore her and attack her. The game’s crash screen returns her to the cafe, shaken by how real the blow felt.
• Qian Renxue mocks Hu Liena for expecting her charm to work on heavily cybernetic criminals. Angered, Hu Liena puts her headset back on and re-enters the game determined to fight.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang San remains fascinated by the game’s technology and willingly spends much of his money to observe it.
• Dai Mubai is eager to see Zhu Zhuqing, but she treats him strictly as a rule-breaking visitor. His excitement also collapses when he learns the viewing room’s prices.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong show growing enthusiasm for cooperative play and agree to take on Dogtown together.
• Hu Liena begins confident in her ability to control men through charm, then discovers that Night City’s hostile, cybernetic criminals do not respond to it. Her humiliation turns into determination.
• Qian Renxue needles Hu Liena, reinforcing the contrast between Douluo Continent’s social assumptions and Night City’s brutal realities.

Significant themes

• Commercialized entertainment: The cafe offers impressive amenities but charges heavily for premium viewing and refreshments.
• Clashing worlds and expectations: Hu Liena’s supernatural charm is useless against Night City’s criminals, while the game’s violence feels painfully convincing.
• Curiosity and obsession: Tang San and the returning players are so captivated by Night City that they accept high costs and frightening risks.
• Competition and cooperation: The new co-op feature invites players to form partnerships, particularly Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing.