Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Su Yi wakes amid a crash site beneath a strange rift, badly burned and surrounded by Void contamination. A powered-armored officer, Rick, explains that Su Yi has a rare chance of awakening a Void Abyss Projection.
• Su Yi realizes he has transmigrated into Star God as Su Yi Gheros—a notorious, frequently killed “clown boss,” not a player character. His first major turning point has just occurred: rescuing corporate heiress Ilis Barrett awakened his power, and she has rewarded him with 100 Void Abyss Coins.
• He remembers that, in the game’s future, beta players Winter and 108 will capture and kill him repeatedly, turning him into a notorious boss-guide punching bag. They are due to encounter him in four days.
• His immediate superior, Mad Dog, steals the reward, throws Su Yi to the ground, and leaves him behind. Mad Dog’s subordinate Scissors also mocks and humiliates him.
• Su Yi resolves to change the story rather than fight players directly. He plans to earn money, recruit players to take down Mad Dog, and build a favorable relationship with them.

Character development and interactions

• Su Yi shifts from excitedly imagining the advantages of foreknowledge to urgently planning for survival. Though furious at Mad Dog and his crew, he recognizes that players’ ability to return after death makes them dangerous—and potentially useful allies.
• Mad Dog is established as Su Yi’s abusive boss, treating him as expendable labor and taking his money by force. Scissors reinforces the crew’s contempt by taunting Su Yi.
• Rick treats Su Yi as a lowly “wild dog,” while Ilis remains distant and exhausted; her reward nevertheless gives Su Yi both money and a pivotal opportunity.
• Su Yi’s imagined future ambition to become powerful and win Ilis’s favor is comically grand compared with his immediate vulnerability.

Significant themes

• Fate versus agency: Su Yi knows the plot that once led to his death and seeks ways to rewrite it.
• Survival through strategy: He concludes that cooperation with players is wiser than opposing them.
• Exploitation and power: Su Yi is trapped in a system where the corporation and criminal gang treat workers as disposable.
• Dark comedy: His grand ambitions contrast with his humiliating circumstances and his infamous future as a repeatedly killed boss.

Chapter Summary

• Su Yi assesses his new abilities and limitations. After escaping the Dawn Mountains, he checks his status and learns that bosses use the same basic supernatural system as players. His level and Void Spirit Bandwidth are low, but his Matter Encoding talent lets him reconfigure small amounts of matter. He uses it to heal burns by restructuring damaged skin, discovering both the ability’s usefulness and its current limits. Remembering its far greater power in a later version of the game, he is excited by its potential.
• He returns to Vine City and recalls the danger ahead. Su Yi reaches Rootvine District, the impoverished neighborhood beneath the corporate city, and clocks out at Ironhand Debt Company just in time. He recognizes the company as one likely to be sacrificed after the coming Shantytown Fire, a disaster that will kill tens of thousands in about a month. Determined to escape debt collection and survive, he resolves to earn money and secure a permanent job.
• He draws on his game knowledge to start a weapons business. Su Yi plans to profit by buying and reselling goods, focusing on weapons—especially suppressors, which he remembers as highly profitable. He heads to Funeral Street, a dangerous market for illicit services, to find Mantis, a gun wholesaler he knows from the game. Su Yi believes Mantis is new to the business and needs distributors, making this a rare opportunity.
• The meeting turns threatening. Su Yi approaches Mantis’s guarded safehouse, identifies himself as a prospective customer using the password he remembers, and is blindfolded and brought inside. He finds three men dead and a gun pointed at his head. The chapter ends with an armed stranger demanding, “You have fifteen seconds to give me a reason not to kill you.”

Character Development and Interactions

Su Yi shifts from assessing his survival to acting strategically: his programming background helps him understand Matter Encoding, while his extensive knowledge of Star God guides his plans. He remains resourceful but is vulnerable due to his injuries and low-level status. His interactions with the Ironhand workplace, Rootvine’s residents, Mantis’s guards, and the unseen gunman underline how little protection or influence he has—and how quickly business in this world can become lethal.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge as power: Su Yi’s familiarity with the game’s systems, characters, and future events gives him an edge.
• Corporate exploitation and inequality: Vine City’s glittering prosperity contrasts with Rootvine’s poverty and disposable lives.
• Potential versus present weakness: Matter Encoding may be devastatingly powerful later, but Su Yi can currently use it only on a small scale.
• Survival through adaptation: Su Yi must turn past skills and game knowledge into money and a way out before disaster strikes.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi faces execution at gunpoint by Iron Beetle, a Mantis Trading Company manager. He discovers he can see NPC status panels and uses their hints to judge Iron Beetle’s motives.
• Drawing on his sales experience, Su Yi delivers a rapid pitch for a suppressor—even demonstrating its quietness with a fart. Iron Beetle is amused and decides to test Su Yi’s usefulness rather than kill him.
• Iron Beetle sells him a Kedi Star pistol for fifteen Void Abyss Coins and offers him a future deal if he can return with four hundred coins’ worth of business the next day.
• Su Yi takes the gun to Rust Street, where he spots Farn Moke, an injured Ironclad Gang accountant whose attackers are abusing a young woman. Su Yi sells Farn the pistol for twenty-five coins, and Farn rushes into the alley to confront the gangsters.
• Su Yi waits nearby, pleased with his first profitable transaction and the possibility that Farn’s gang connections may lead to more business.

Character developments

• Su Yi proves quick-thinking and composed under pressure. His sales skills, game knowledge, and ability to read NPC panels help him survive and begin building a career in the district’s black market.
• Iron Beetle shifts from threatening Su Yi to recognizing his nerve and persuasive ability. He gives Su Yi a chance, though his offer is clearly a test of whether Su Yi can deliver profit.
• Farn Moke is introduced as a furious, wounded man who regrets being unarmed. Su Yi gives him the means to act on his anger.

Character interactions

• Su Yi turns a life-or-death confrontation with Iron Beetle into a business negotiation, earning the manager’s tentative confidence.
• Su Yi approaches Farn as a potential customer, selling him not only a weapon but the chance to retaliate. Farn accepts immediately and heads back into the alley.

Significant themes

• Survival through adaptability: Su Yi relies on improvisation and persuasion instead of force.
• Profit and opportunity: In a violent, lawless environment, danger becomes a market for whoever can identify what people need.
• Violence as routine: Gunfire and cries for help barely attract attention on Rust Street, where crime follows its own tacit rules.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi, using the alias Arthas, meets Farn Moke of the Ironclad Gang. Farn recognizes that Su Yi has merchandise but lacks buyers and offers to look for interested contacts.
• Su Yi returns to his grim, overcrowded apartment building, treats his bruises and burns with expired medicine, and retrieves his entire savings: 200 Void Abyss Coins.
• He asks his three underlings to raise 100 coins each. The next morning, they meet him at work and contribute the money, giving him 500 coins in total.
• Su Yi explains his plan to enter the weapons trade. He says he has already sold one gun for a profit and intends to sell weapons beyond the local market, where the Wolf Fang Gang dominates—particularly to revolutionary forces across the border. The three agree to help, though Su Yi warns them that discovery could mean death.
• Su Yi returns to his supplier, Iron Beetle, and uses the 500 coins to negotiate a bulk purchase. He chooses Mongoose-303 compact pistols, securing a price of 22 coins each with a buy-ten-get-one-free deal and ten rounds of ammunition per gun. He agrees to buy all the Mongooses.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shifts from scraping by to taking an ambitious, high-risk entrepreneurial role. His memories as a player and trader inform his plans, but he now fears that death may be permanent.
• Farn becomes a potential business connection, offering to find buyers without guaranteeing success.
• Alton, Mota, and Reijah demonstrate loyalty by risking money they can scarcely spare. Su Yi is moved by their trust and promises to share his future success with them. Their reactions reveal their distinct personalities: Alton is cautious, Mota enthusiastic, and Reijah devoutly superstitious.
• Iron Beetle treats Su Yi as a promising customer and offers him a bulk discount, while Su Yi uses bargaining and market knowledge to choose the most suitable weapon.

Significant themes

• Trust and loyalty: Su Yi’s crew backs him with their savings, making their partnership both personal and financially consequential.
• Risk and survival: The gun business could bring immense wealth, but gang control, violence, and Su Yi’s uncertain ability to survive death make the danger unusually real.
• Ambition amid deprivation: The harsh setting underscores how much the crew stands to gain—and lose—by pursuing opportunity.
• Knowledge as an advantage: Su Yi’s experience as a player and trader helps him identify suppliers, buyers, and weapons suited to the market.

Chapter summary

Su Yi returns from a meeting in Rootvine District with 22 new pistols. After showing surprising expertise by quickly disassembling and inspecting every weapon, he tells Alton, Mota, and Rijia to keep two guns for protection and conceal the rest with their ammunition. The group then takes a little-known smuggling route toward District Nine to avoid police and robbers.
In the industrial, shipyard-built district, Su Yi recognizes a local hustler as one of Coiled-Head Snake’s men and makes clear that he and his companions are locals, not easy targets. He then leads the group to a printing factory owned by Ense Marr, a Resistance Army leader and major weapons buyer.
Su Yi presents the pistols and promises access to a wider selection of firearms, including submachine guns, assault rifles, and suppressors. Though Enns’s men initially aim their improvised weapons at the visitors, Enns recognizes the value of Su Yi’s offer and negotiates. They settle on 48 Void Abyss Coins per pistol, with ten rounds per gun, and discuss a future order of 100 Casey 191 rifles. Enns also asks Su Yi to supply a large quantity of ammunition the next day; Su Yi agrees.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi establishes himself as a capable, prepared, and persuasive arms dealer. His weapon-handling skill impresses his companions, while his confidence and knowledge of local power dynamics help him navigate District Nine and negotiate with Enns.
• Alton, Mota, and Rijia begin the chapter anxious and inexperienced around firearms and the unfamiliar district. They defer to Su Yi, follow his instructions, and admire his competence.
• Ense Marr is cautious at first but becomes eager once Su Yi reveals the quality and range of his prospective inventory. His agreement signals the start of a potentially valuable business relationship.
• Su Yi and Enns test each other through questions and bargaining. Su Yi uses claims of risk, connections, and future supply to defend his price; Enns counters by emphasizing his local influence and promising substantial future orders.

Significant themes

• Preparation and competence: Su Yi’s inspection skills, concealed transport plan, and knowledge of safe routes give the group an advantage.
• Trust and reputation in a dangerous world: Deals depend on perceived reliability, local standing, and the promise of future cooperation.
• Commerce amid conflict: Weapons are valuable commodities, and selling them to the Resistance Army may contribute to escalating violence.
• Power and adaptation: Su Yi’s companions learn to act confidently in an unfamiliar environment, while Su Yi uses both local knowledge and commercial savvy to control the encounter.

Key plot points and events

• After earning 960 Void Abyss Coins by selling ammunition, Su Yi’s three men—Alton, Mota, and Rijia—are astonished by the money. Su Yi offers them their 300-coin share, but they choose to reinvest it in more stock so they can keep profiting.
• On the way to collect debts, the group finds a corpse: Rag, one of Mad Dog’s squad leaders, has been killed.
• Su Yi recognizes Rag’s killers as Winter and 108, two level-4 Players destined to become major figures. Winter is a Hacker Analyst; 108 is a Mechanical Modder with powerful SS-Class Vajra Arms.
• Winter and 108 had accepted a quest to kill seven debt collectors, believing them to be ordinary. After killing Rag, they encounter Su Yi, whose powerful stats make them fear they are outmatched.
• Su Yi lets 108 escape and approaches Winter peacefully. He praises the pair’s courage, explains that their real enemy is Mad Dog, and offers information and help in exchange for killing him.
• Su Yi seals the offer with a 50-coin bill. Winter accepts, insisting that justice—not the money—is her motivation, though she pockets the cash.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shows his men that his expertise extends beyond combat: he is a persuasive negotiator who can turn an unexpected encounter into an opportunity.
• Alton, Mota, and Rijia move from disbelief to excitement over their earnings, then demonstrate trust in Su Yi by reinvesting rather than taking their shares.
• Winter shifts from suspicion and readiness to fight to cautious interest when Su Yi treats her as an ally and offers a lucrative hidden objective. She is principled in words but pragmatic about the reward.
• 108 is fiercely protective of Winter and offers to stay behind so she can escape. His formidable arms contrast with his joking, impulsive manner.
• Su Yi and Winter negotiate across opposing sides: she is a Player working against the company’s oppression, while he is a company boss who presents himself as sympathetic to the oppressed.

Significant themes

• Persuasion and opportunism: Su Yi uses flattery, information, and money to redirect a dangerous encounter toward his own goals.
• Trust and self-interest: The alliance is built less on proven trust than on each side recognizing what the other can offer.
• Unexpected power and potential: Winter and 108 are still inexperienced, but their rare equipment and future reputations hint at their eventual importance.
• Money and motivation: The chapter humorously juxtaposes stated ideals with the practical pull of rewards.

Key plot points and events

• Winter receives 50 Void Abyss Coins and intelligence about a major boss from Su Yi, prompting her to summon players for a hidden quest.
• Su Yi tells Alton, Mota, and Rijia they will stop collecting debts and that Mad Dog will soon be dealt with. The group prepares bags and supplies for a major nighttime operation.
• At work, Olon Ford berates Mad Dog for losing a team and failing to collect money. Su Yi quietly pays Mad Dog 15 coins to avoid trouble.
• Su Yi gives his three companions 50 coins each for emergencies, then spends the remaining 700 coins at Iron Beetle’s shop on weapons: ten Mongooses and thirteen Assault Scorpions.
• That night, the group travels to the masked Nomadic Market. Su Yi approaches Cole Paris, a Hound Gang branch leader, and offers the guns for 1,270 coins.
• Cole agrees and places a larger order: twenty assault rifles and at least 9,000 rounds of ammunition within three days. Su Yi promises he can deliver.

Character developments

• Su Yi shifts from debt collector to weapons broker and strategist. He acts confidently, conceals his broader plans, and uses his knowledge of the game’s world to identify opportunities and build contacts.
• Winter recognizes the unusual reward and hidden-quest potential of her encounter with Su Yi, showing how players can benefit from unconventional interactions.
• Alton, Mota, and Rijia follow Su Yi’s lead into unfamiliar territory. Their excitement and trust contrast with their limited experience beyond their district.
• Mad Dog is exposed as an ineffective, volatile subordinate, while Olon appears frustrated and powerless within the company hierarchy.
• Cole is cautious at first but becomes willing to trust Su Yi once he sees the weapons and believes Su Yi can meet the gang’s needs.

Significant themes

• Opportunity through unconventional choices: Hidden quests, intelligence, and commerce reward characters who act beyond routine expectations.
• Power and survival through resources: Weapons and ammunition are essential to turning wealth into practical strength.
• Hierarchies and institutional weakness: Olon’s low rank and Mad Dog’s failures reveal the company’s internal pressures and precarious authority.
• Trust, secrecy, and identity: Masks dominate the market, while Su Yi relies on observation and controlled disclosure to establish business relationships.
• Game knowledge as an advantage: Su Yi’s familiarity with locations, factions, and future developments lets him anticipate needs and negotiate effectively.

Character interactions

• Winter and Su Yi’s encounter leads to a hidden quest and a private exchange of valuable information.
• Su Yi reassures his companions through decisive instructions, while keeping the details of his plan to himself.
• Olon humiliates Mad Dog, exposing the strained company chain of command; Su Yi avoids confrontation by paying Mad Dog.
• At the market, Su Yi uses the Assault Scorpions to gain Cole’s attention, identifies Cole’s origins through the scent of Lahr Flowers, and turns cautious curiosity into a major weapons deal.

• The market deal and the hidden prize: Su Yi and his men leave Cole’s mobile market with 1,250 Void Abyss Coins, after Su Yi trades for what appears to be a worthless iron lump. He knows it is actually an SS-Class Autonomous Shield Robot from ancient technology, a valuable piece of protective gear.
• A dangerous return: The group runs back through a secret passage after noticing they are being followed. Near home, corrupt patrol officers stop them and demand a bribe. Su Yi has deliberately kept twenty coins aside for just such a situation, paying the officers enough to let the group go. His men are impressed by his foresight and treat him as an exceptionally capable leader.
• Su Yi activates the shield: At home, Su Yi cleans the lump and uses a hidden activation method he learned from the future. After registering his biometrics, he binds the robot. It can shield him against metal impacts, expand into a two-meter protective field, and turn invisible while following him; its power supply is estimated to last more than 152 years. Relieved to have a means of protection, Su Yi also uses his healing talent on his burns before getting a brief nap.
• A plan involving Mad Dog: Winter messages Su Yi to confirm that their group is ready and gives him coordinates for a meeting later that morning. At work, Mad Dog confronts Su Yi about the previous night. Su Yi claims they investigated the people responsible for Rag’s death and found one of their hideouts. Mad Dog, enraged and eager to retaliate, demands the location. Su Yi gives him Winter’s coordinates, privately anticipating that Mad Dog is heading toward his death.
  Character developments and interactions: Su Yi’s composure, practical planning, and future knowledge continue to impress Alton, Mota, and Rijia, who follow his lead and learn from his actions. Su Yi also shows how quickly he can redirect a threat: he turns Mad Dog’s suspicion into an opportunity by exploiting the latter’s anger and pride.
  Significant themes: The chapter contrasts the apparent worthlessness of discarded objects with the immense value hidden in lost technology. It also emphasizes survival through preparation and deception in a lawless society, while Su Yi’s new shield marks a major step toward personal security.

Key plot points and events

• Winter’s team prepares to ambush Mad Dog, a powerful Level 7 boss. Their plan is to lure him into battery mines that will disable his engineering Exoskeleton, then attack during the brief window.
• Su Yi leads Mad Dog and his men into the abandoned northwest shantytown. Mad Dog forces Su Yi to scout ahead, while Su Yi’s allies seethe at the humiliation.
• Mountain Dog pretends to threaten Su Yi, provoking Mad Dog into charging. Mad Dog tries to kill both of them, but Mountain Dog and 108 draw him toward the prepared trap.
• Evil God buffs the fighters, and they use speed and repeated attacks to keep Mad Dog pursuing them. Winter briefly hacks the Exoskeleton at the mines, and the resulting blast paralyzes Mad Dog and disables his gear.
• The four players exploit the opening: 108’s boosted uppercut stuns Mad Dog, and the group attacks his head, throat, and legs. Mad Dog nevertheless breaks free through sheer strength and pulls out his shotgun.
• Just as he fires at 108 and Mountain Dog, Su Yi intervenes, stopping the pellets in midair with telekinetic control. The fight’s outcome remains unresolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Winter acts as the team’s strategist, coordinating the ambush, monitoring the timing, and warning the group about Mad Dog’s likely treachery.
• Mountain Dog, 108, and Evil God each contribute their specialized skills: bait and mobility, heavy damage, and support buffs. Their banter gives way to focused teamwork under pressure.
• Mad Dog is shown as brutal, impulsive, and easily provoked, yet dangerously strong and instinctive in combat. He sees Su Yi as a threat and uses the ambush as an opportunity to eliminate him.
• Su Yi appears outwardly compliant while quietly helping the plan. He is ultimately revealed as the team’s decisive safeguard, intervening when the players are about to be killed.
• Alton, Mota, and the other men resent Mad Dog’s mistreatment of Su Yi and support Su Yi’s command to keep watch rather than join the main attack.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and specialized abilities: The players combine planning, buffs, hacking, traps, and coordinated attacks to challenge a stronger enemy.
• Power and vulnerability: Mad Dog’s Exoskeleton makes him formidable, but disabling it exposes him to the team’s strategy—though his raw strength remains a threat.
• Trust and betrayal: Winter anticipates Gheros’s possible treachery, while Mad Dog’s own aggression turns against his supposed allies.
• Su Yi’s hidden strength: The chapter builds suspense around the players’ reliance on Su Yi, culminating in his apparently effortless rescue.

Chapter summary

• Su Yi intervenes in the Players’ fight against Mad Dog, stopping a volley of bullets in midair and giving the four Players—Winter, 108, Tentacles Aren’t Evil God, and Mountain Dog—the opening to kill the level-seven Boss. All four reach level five and acquire Mad Dog’s equipment and money.
• The Players thank Su Yi, who offers them the loot and says he will take over Mad Dog’s debt-collection territory. They fear he may be their next enemy, but Su Yi explains that he wants their help eliminating Mad Dog’s remaining thugs—not exploiting the locals.
• Su Yi proposes a scheme to ease the civilians’ burden: he will tell the Players where debts are being collected, they will stage a fight against his men, and the money he provides will cover the debts. The Players gain a reputation for helping people, while Su Yi earns their trust and can gradually reform the operation. Winter agrees to work with him.
• Su Yi’s plan also succeeds in winning over four prominent future Players. The narration highlights their later influence: Tentacles Aren’t Evil God becomes a major organizer and political leader, while Mountain Dog becomes a renowned assassin and founder of a far-reaching bounty organization.
• Su Yi then turns to business. He buys 9,000 rounds of ammunition, sells them in District Nine for a substantial profit, pays his three associates, and plans to impress his company superior. He needs the superior’s recommendation and cooperation to gain an official position and expand his smuggling and reform efforts.
• Meanwhile, the Players celebrate their valuable haul: a B-grade exoskeleton, a shotgun, a club, and 46 Void Abyss Coins—all gained at little cost. They speculate about Su Yi’s bullet-stopping ability, suspecting hidden equipment, but decide not to attack him. Winter and Mountain Dog defend him, and 108 declares he will protect the generous Boss.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi proves both capable and pragmatic: he saves the Players, turns them into allies, and designs a way to help civilians without jeopardizing his position. He also continues pursuing money and influence as tools for changing the system.
• Winter shifts from suspicion to respect and trust, apologizes for misjudging Su Yi, and commits to future cooperation.
• The other Players move from seeing Su Yi as a possible enemy to treating him as a benefactor. Mountain Dog jokingly calls him his “Godfather,” while 108 fiercely backs him. Tentacles Aren’t Evil God briefly suggests attacking Su Yi for his apparent powerful equipment, but the others reject the idea.
• Su Yi and his three associates continue working together; after the successful operation, Su Yi rewards them and assigns the next tasks.

Significant themes

• Trust and strategic cooperation: Su Yi turns potential enemies into allies through generosity and a shared plan.
• Reform through practical compromise: Rather than overturning the debt system immediately, he uses a staged operation to relieve civilians’ debts while building support.
• Power and influence: Su Yi recognizes that ability alone is not enough; he needs money, connections, and an official sponsor to advance.
• Perspective and irony: The Players treat the world as a game, joking about Boss roles and loot, while Su Yi treats those same encounters as consequential steps in a larger struggle.

Key plot points and events

• The group divides the spoils from the Gheros mission according to their agreed shares. Winter takes the Exoskeleton and will owe Mountain Dog and Evil God 27 Void Abyss Coins each; Mountain Dog buys the sawed-off shotgun. The mission earns everyone a level and a substantial payout, and the others hope to benefit from Winter’s growing connection to Gheros.
• Su Yi returns to the company and finds the office nearly empty. He overhears Aolong complaining about Mad Dog, whose death has not yet become known at work.
• Su Yi gives Aolong 50 Void Abyss Coins and takes him to an expensive nightclub, where he pays for a private room and three escorts. The lavish outing buys Aolong’s goodwill and keeps him occupied.
• While Aolong is distracted, Su Yi visits a covert skill shop run by the Sisters of Delight. He intends to buy the D-rank skill Self-Gratification, which grants one temporary point of maximum Bandwidth per day and can be improved through regular use.
• Su Yi knows the skill could become the foundation of a powerful Pleasure Build, especially given his likely future ties to the Goddess of Black Cinders.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shows growing wealth, confidence, and strategic cunning. Rather than confronting Aolong directly, he uses money and an appealing night out to secure the boss’s favor and create time to pursue his own plans.
• Aolong is portrayed as greedy, resentful of Mad Dog, and easily swayed by money and luxury. He quickly warms to Su Yi, whom he considers more agreeable and capable than Mad Dog.
• Winter, Mountain Dog, and Evil God accept the mission’s division without conflict. Their interest in future work reflects their recognition that Winter’s relationship with Gheros may bring further rewards.

Significant themes

• Power through social skill: Su Yi advances by understanding people’s desires and managing relationships, not just by fighting.
• Money as influence: A modest bribe and an extravagant evening secure Aolong’s cooperation.
• Long-term planning: Su Yi pursues a seemingly obscure skill because he knows how it will develop into a powerful build in later stages of the game.
• Foreshadowing and game knowledge: His knowledge of future expansions and builds gives him an advantage in the present.

Plot points

• After leaving the Cloudmist Nightclub, Su Yi visits Oak Tree, a suspiciously well-stocked general store in Rusty Backstreet.
• He sees through the owner’s disguise and identifies her as Sister Superior Serphine Plos of the Sisters of Pleasure.
• Su Yi offers her money in exchange for the Spiritual Cultivation Faction’s minor benediction, Self-Gratification. Serphine accepts, and Su Yi acquires the skill.
• Although Serphine considers reporting him to the company, Su Yi argues that money gives them a reason to cooperate and offers her future business through the Strongarm Company.
• After he leaves, Serphine uses the payment to arrange treatment for Michelle, orders changes to the shop’s suspicious inventory, and sends Emma to follow Su Yi.

Character developments

• Su Yi demonstrates sharp observation, confidence, and knowledge of the Sisters’ internal divisions. He obtains the skill he wants while presenting himself as a useful potential source of income.
• Serphine shifts from guarded hostility to a cautious deal. Her concern for Michelle reveals a personal, compassionate side beneath her disguise, and Su Yi’s offer leaves her intrigued.

Character interactions

• Su Yi exposes Serphine’s disguise through the shop’s unusual stock and challenges her identity directly.
• Serphine initially calls him a company agent and questions his approach, but softens when he distinguishes her Spiritual Cultivation Faction from the notorious Desire Cultivation Faction.
• Their exchange remains wary and transactional: Su Yi pays for the benediction, while Serphine considers both reporting and quietly investigating him.

Significant themes

• Appearance and identity: Serphine’s frail-shopkeeper persona conceals her rank and affiliations.
• Factional prejudice: The Spiritual Cultivation Sisters suffer the consequences of the Desire Cultivation Faction’s crimes.
• Pragmatism and trust: Money, rather than goodwill, opens the door to cooperation between potential enemies.
• Care amid hardship: Serphine’s urgency to get Michelle treated hints at the Sisters’ vulnerability and need.

Plot points and events

• After leaving the general store, Su Yi goes to a deserted alley to complete the first day of a 30-day skill task. Emma Nilrath Defiel secretly follows him, suspecting he is a corporate spy.
• Emma uses her Spirit Veil ability to pass through a wall, but Su Yi’s activity splashes an unidentified liquid onto her face. She bursts out, furious, and accuses him of knowing she was following him.
• Su Yi recognizes Emma as the future final boss of the game’s closed beta—a powerful woman who has not yet turned toward revenge. He calmly explains that he is using the Self-Gratification skill he recently bought, and Emma, embarrassed, withdraws through the wall.
• Three hours later, Su Yi meets Aolong outside the nightclub. Aolong is delighted by his experience there and says he has long been tired of Mad Dog.
• Aolong receives news of Mad Dog’s death, then asks Su Yi whether he killed him. Su Yi denies it and swears a potentially binding oath in the name of the Goddess of Black Cinders. Aolong accepts the denial, says Su Yi will be clear of suspicion, and announces that he has been promoted.

Character developments

• Su Yi demonstrates composure and quick thinking when confronted by Emma, while privately recognizing her future importance. He continues building influence with Aolong and gains a promotion.
• Emma appears as a talented, highly capable spy, but her suspicion proves mistaken. Her anger gives way to embarrassment when Su Yi’s explanation seems plausible. Her tragic future is foreshadowed, contrasting with her present state.
• Aolong shows that he values Su Yi more than Mad Dog and is willing to trust him, especially after the oath. His matter-of-fact response to Mad Dog’s death reveals his ruthless pragmatism.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Emma mistakes Su Yi’s private activity for covert communication, while Su Yi’s innocent explanation hides how much he knows about her.
• Power and foreshadowing: Emma is introduced as a promising young Sorceress whose future transformation will bring catastrophic consequences.
• Loyalty, ambition, and expendability: Aolong treats Mad Dog as disposable while rewarding Su Yi, showing the transactional nature of their organization.
• Oaths and accountability: Su Yi’s divine oath carries real weight, allowing Aolong to accept his denial.

Character interactions

• Emma’s covert pursuit of Su Yi turns into an awkward confrontation; his calm explanation leaves her flustered and retreating.
• Su Yi supports Aolong’s enjoyment of the nightclub, strengthening their rapport.
• Aolong tests Su Yi’s honesty about Mad Dog, but ultimately trusts his oath and promotes him.

Plot points and events

• After being promoted, Su Yi accepts responsibility for replacing the losses caused by Mad Dog’s death and stolen exoskeleton. He tells Aolong that he has made money smuggling small items into the Rhodes Alliance, insisting this does not threaten the company.
• Back at the office, Mad Dog’s underlings scramble to fill the vacancy. Scissors—Mad Dog’s favored thug, who previously slapped Su Yi—claims leadership and tries to recruit Alton. Alton and Rijia reject him.
• Aolong arrives with Su Yi and publicly names Su Yi as the underlings’ new superior. When Scissors assumes he can take over Mad Dog’s work, Aolong slaps him and makes clear that no one may challenge his decision.
• Su Yi asserts his authority by demanding the day’s missing collection. He fines Scissors 150 Void Abyss Coins under the usual rule. When Scissors draws a cheap handgun, Rijia disarms him while Alton knocks him down.
• Su Yi leaves the remaining troublemakers to Alton, Mota, and Rijia, authorizing them to remove anyone who refuses to obey. He also orders Mota and Rijia to return the three slaps Scissors once gave him—thirty slaps in all.
• In private, Aolong praises Su Yi’s suitability for the role and asks about his plan. Su Yi argues that the company cannot keep collecting debts because the practice will eventually ruin them.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi moves from being mocked and mistreated to exercising formal authority. He remains outwardly respectful toward Aolong but is decisive and punitive with the underlings, especially Scissors.
• Aolong backs Su Yi firmly in public, using his status to enforce the promotion. Their exchange suggests mutual trust, though Su Yi also knows how to win Aolong’s interest.
• Scissors goes from smugly expecting to inherit Mad Dog’s position to being publicly humiliated, disarmed, and punished. His resentment remains, but fear keeps him from openly resisting.
• Alton, Rijia, and Mota demonstrate loyalty to Su Yi: Alton rejects Scissors and physically intervenes, Rijia takes Scissors’s weapon, and Mota carries out Su Yi’s order.
• The group’s earlier contempt for Su Yi gives way to apprehension as he gains power and they face consequences for their past behavior.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: Authority is established through Aolong’s public endorsement and reinforced by force.
• Revenge and status reversal: Su Yi turns the humiliation he suffered from Scissors into a punishment delivered under his new authority.
• Leadership and reform: Su Yi’s final warning that debt collection will bring ruin points toward a larger change in how the company operates.
• Fear and loyalty: The underlings’ obedience reflects both the danger of defying Aolong and the force Su Yi now commands.

Key plot points

• Su Yi warns Aolong that public debt collection is more than a way to make money: it worsens class conflict and may turn ordinary people against the Rhodes Alliance government—and against the company’s debt collectors.
• Aolong realizes his assignment may have been designed to make him expendable. Su Yi proposes getting ahead of the company’s likely future support for the Revolutionary Army by secretly helping it now, building a valuable connection before the company commits.
• Su Yi persuades Aolong to seek approval from a senior project manager to reclassify their operation as a trading company, distancing it from debt collection. Aolong says he can make the introduction for 1,000 Void Abyss Coins, then offers to contribute 200 himself.
• Su Yi claims he can raise the full sum in five days if Aolong supports expanding the business. He also asks for four exoskeletons and four temporary employee IDs, and says he will cut ties with Mad Dog’s men and pause debt collection.

Character developments and interactions

• Aolong shifts from confusion and fear to excitement and ambition. He sees Su Yi’s plan as a chance to protect himself, advance his career, and take revenge on the people he believes are obstructing him.
• Su Yi appears respectful and cooperative, but privately views Aolong as a tool. He flatters him, exploits his resentment, and intends to keep him useful only as long as he serves Su Yi’s rise.
• Their conversation is a calculated exchange: Su Yi supplies the strategic vision, while Aolong offers access to senior leadership and company resources. Aolong’s envy of Su Yi’s profits also changes how he treats him.

Significant themes

• Class conflict and revolution: Exploiting the poor may fuel rebellion and make the company’s agents targets.
• Ambition and self-interest: Both men pursue advancement, though Su Yi is the more calculating of the two.
• Manipulation and power: Su Yi steers Aolong’s fears and grudges to secure cooperation, while presenting his plan as an opportunity for them both.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi persuades Aolong to risk his salary and career by ordering four KG-S1001 Exoskeletons, while Aolong issues Su Yi a temporary Black Sun Group staff ID. Su Yi plans to use it to get past border Patrol Police.
• Su Yi tells Alton and his two companions, Rijia and Mota, to get IDs as well. Once the men who resisted have been beaten into submission, they beg Su Yi for forgiveness and loyalty. He pretends to accept them but intends to build his own group; Scissors slips away, still resentful.
• The newly credentialed trio celebrate their improved standing. Mota gives Su Yi a foul-smelling salve for his burns, which quickly eases the pain.
• At home, Su Yi treats his injuries and enters his Void Abyss Projection on April 4, when the Void Abyss Tide recedes. As the Dark Matter Eye—a powerful manifestation of his True God Bloodline—he searches the distorted realm for a treasure that can help him level up and advance at the company.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yi shows persuasive, strategic leadership: he wins Aolong’s cooperation, secures credentials for his allies, and handles the subdued thugs without trusting their sudden pledges. His attention then shifts from immediate workplace politics to pursuing power and promotion.
• Aolong moves from cautious resignation to hopeful risk-taking after Su Yi appeals to his ambitions.
• Alton, Rijia, and Mota are grateful for their rising status. Mota’s medical knowledge, learned from his adoptive pharmacist, gives him a practical way to help Su Yi; their joking camaraderie also comes through.
• The thugs abandon their defiance when offered a chance to join Su Yi’s side, though his acceptance is tactical rather than sincere. Scissors remains hostile.

Significant themes

• Ambition and risk: Su Yi frames Aolong’s costly decision as an investment in future success.
• Status and belonging: Even temporary IDs bring protection, recognition, and dignity in a world where credentials matter.
• Trust and leadership: Su Yi gains cooperation but distinguishes genuine loyalty from opportunistic submission.
• Advancement through adaptation: Leveling beyond ordinary limits requires engaging with the Void Abyss, where divine traces can raise a Projection’s Divine Rank.

Plot points and events

• Su Yi learns that the Void Abyss contains rare divine relics, and that possessing one can earn a deity’s favor and transform a follower’s standing.
• Recalling a guide to the S-Class Ember Branch, he follows its directions through the Void Abyss to a colossal, thorn-covered stone.
• He enters its maze-like, furnace-hot interior, using Matter Encoding to make a heat-resistant shell and repairing his Dark Matter Eye as the heat melts it.
• At the relic’s source, Su Yi finds the black, lava-cracked Ember Branch. To claim it, he rolls onto its thorns, driving them into his Void Abyss Projection.
• The branch causes extreme pain and threatens to melt his projection. As Su Yi considers retreating, the relic softens, attaches itself more fully, and worsens his burns. He races for the exit; the chapter ends before the outcome is clear.

Character development

• Su Yi shows resourcefulness by recalling the relic’s route and trial requirements, preparing with his Talent, and navigating the cave without error.
• His determination is evident in his willingness to endure severe pain for the chance to obtain the relic, though the danger makes him briefly question whether to continue.

Significant themes

• Power and sacrifice: Divine favor and advancement require extraordinary risks and suffering.
• Preparation and knowledge: Su Yi’s remembered game information gives him an edge, but does not remove the trial’s danger.
• The uncanny and mutable: The Void Abyss has no fixed directions, and its relics and landscapes are formed from divine power.

Character interactions

• Su Yi’s main encounter is with the Ember Branch, which appears to sense something unusual about him and actively attaches to him.
• The Goddess of Black Cinders remains absent, but her power shapes the relic and the dangerous trial Su Yi must endure.

Key plot points and events

• Su Yi escapes the scorching cave after enduring the near-collapse of his Void Abyss Projection. The Ember Branch has fused with his Dark Matter Eye, melting much of its surface before the Eye adapts and recovers.
• The relic’s status reveals it is S-Class: it raises his maximum Bandwidth by 200 and grants the powerful Thornfire talent. It also requires daily payment of 100 Void Abyss Coins to maintain its approval.
• Su Yi discovers a hidden effect: his Self-Reward ability can nourish and strengthen the Ember Branch, likely because of his connection to the Twins of Pleasure.
• Testing Thornfire in the Void Abyss, Su Yi uses its long, blazing thorns to destroy a massive boulder. The destruction releases experience, helps repair his Dark Matter Eye, and raises him to Level 8 before the returning Void Abyss Tide ends his run.
• His updated status shows 60 base Bandwidth plus 200 from the relic. He then pays the branch with a hundred-yuan bill, activating a smaller Thornfire growth on his arm. Though weaker outside the Void Abyss, it is still a formidable weapon.

Character developments

• Su Yi shifts from surviving the relic’s painful fusion to recognizing the enormous advantage it gives him. He quickly tests Thornfire and understands how its destructive power can speed his leveling.
• His confidence grows: with the Shield Robot for defense and Thornfire for offense, he believes he can establish himself on the border.

Significant themes

• Power comes with a price: The Ember Branch demands daily payment, and activating its ability also requires a contribution.
• Resourcefulness and hidden potential: Su Yi identifies an unexpected way to nourish the relic through Self-Reward.
• Growth through destruction: Breaking manifestations of rules in the Void Abyss yields experience and strengthens Su Yi and his projection.
• Power and risk: The relic is exceptionally potent, but its fusion initially causes severe pain and threatens damage to the Dark Matter Eye.

Character interactions

• Su Yi’s bond with the Ember Branch is established through their fusion. The branch behaves almost like a living creature, extending a small vine hand to collect payment before allowing Thornfire to activate.
• Su Yi reacts to the branch with excitement, amusement, and mild exasperation, while drawing on what he knows about the former player Niko Niko Nii to assess its potential.

Key plot points and events

• In Rootvine District, Emma wakes still angry and ashamed over the previous day’s encounter with Su Yi, which she considers a humiliating distraction from her use of the Void Abyss Tide.
• Sefni visits with news about Michelle: she is stable, but needs a replacement liver and stomach to recover. Michelle was badly beaten by the Wolf Fang Gang after choosing not to reveal the Sisters’ Society’s powers.
• Emma confirms that Su Yi—known to them as Gheros—has no apparent ties to the company or the Alliance. She offers Sefni her savings of 54 Void Abyss Coins toward Michelle’s medical costs, but Sefni refuses the money.
• Sefni decides to approach Su Yi about his promised money-making opportunity. She believes he may have useful connections and that the Twins’ Benediction gives the Society some leverage over him.
• Meanwhile, Su Yi assigns five groups of workers to debt-collection jobs, then secretly sends their locations and details to Winter. He has chosen remote, difficult-to-reach sites suitable for ambushes. When Alton questions the plan, Su Yi explains that he wants the workers eliminated so the company can justify changing its business.

Character developments and interactions

• Emma shows deep loyalty to Michelle and the Society, offering nearly all her savings despite her own poverty. Her fear of losing Sefni reflects the many friends and loved ones she has already seen suffer.
• Sefni acts as a protective, determined elder. She comforts Emma, insists she focus on training, and resolves to take on the financial problem herself by seeking Su Yi’s help.
• Su Yi presents himself as an accommodating new boss, surprising the staff by overlooking Scissors’s injuries and waiving his fine. His apparent leniency conceals a calculated plan to have the debt collectors ambushed.
• Alton is unsettled by Su Yi’s strategy and asks whether the company will be left short-handed, but Su Yi makes clear that this is intentional.

Significant themes

• Poverty and desperation: The Sisters’ Society and their neighbors struggle to afford basic needs, including lifesaving medical care.
• Sacrifice and solidarity: Emma is willing to give up her savings for Michelle, while Sefni takes responsibility for protecting the younger woman.
• Hidden identities and vulnerability: The Sisters conceal their powers to avoid exposing themselves, leaving them vulnerable to ordinary violence.
• Deception and ruthless ambition: Su Yi’s public restraint masks a plan to use violence to transform the company’s business.

Key plot points and events

• Winter and 108 witness Scissors, a former subordinate of Mad Dog, terrorizing a poor family over unpaid debt and threatening to sell the mother and child.
• 108 intervenes, kills one thug with a single boosted weak-point strike, then defeats Scissors and the remaining underlings with Winter’s support.
• The residents celebrate the two as heroes. Winter gives a prepared speech promising safety and better living conditions, earning additional reputation.
• The teams compare results: Mountain Dog’s group also dispatches a gang, while Evil God earns extra reputation through a particularly persuasive speech.
• Following routes planned by Su Yi, the four players clear five gangs by the end of the morning, reach level seven, and gather valuable weapons and currency.
• Their two-day earnings total 521 Void Abyss Coins. Delighted, Evil God declares he will build a statue for his “Godfather.” Meanwhile, Su Yi sneezes at work and names his organization the Moon-Drinking Azure Wolf.

Character developments and interactions

• 108 shows fierce anger at the abuse of the family and acts decisively to protect them. He also notices that defeating bosses earns far more reputation than speeches.
• Winter supports 108 in combat and uses a prepared speech to reassure the residents, while recognizing how valuable Su Yi’s route planning is.
• Evil God proves adept at winning people over and shifts from wanting to kill and rob his Godfather to declaring loyalty and planning a statue in his honor.
• Mountain Dog enjoys the fighting and celebrates the group’s unexpected wealth.
• The saved family thanks the heroes, and the grateful residents begin to hope that life in the alley may improve.

Significant themes

• Justice and protection: The players confront exploitation and rescue vulnerable residents.
• Reputation through action and persuasion: Visible heroism earns more trust than speeches alone, though charismatic leadership still matters.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Shared rewards and success transform Evil God’s hostility toward his Godfather into exaggerated devotion.
• Planning and teamwork: Su Yi’s carefully designed routes help the teams repeatedly arrive at the right moment and clear their targets efficiently.