Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Lao Mi and Jing Mi learn that Lin Bai has “bugged out,” but decide to continue their plan to take over the Beggar Gang. They hope the City Lord and their NPC allies can make up for Lin Bai’s absence, though Jing Mi suggests they should still visit him.
• After a busy day at the Chef God Restaurant, Lin Bai earns enough positive emotion points to unlock Palm Thunder. The Great Language System has him set its incantation as “Holy shit!” before he can choose something else.
• Lin Bai discovers that the short incantation produces a weak but inexpensive lightning strike. When Deng Libuduo and others repeat the phrase, they inadvertently trigger more bolts—revealing that anyone who knows the incantation can activate the spell, while Lin Bai controls its target. He sees potential in exploiting this mechanic with a secret or unusual incantation.
• The system then demands twelve hours of continuous hurtful speech to let him set a second incantation. Lin Bai finds its quests exhausting and overly demanding, and notes that his other systems offer rewards that are currently impractical to obtain.
• Lin Bai turns to Deng Libuduo, whose inner-force feedback has fallen to ten percent. He rebukes him for insulting his master and threatens to end their teacher-disciple bond.
• Deng kneels and begs forgiveness. Lin Bai gives him another chance, ordering him to serve customers by day and practice at night, remain calm even when provoked, speak kindly, and intervene in disputes with virtue.

Character developments

• Lin Bai moves from frustration at the system’s forced, ridiculous incantation to recognizing Palm Thunder’s tactical potential. He remains pragmatic, using the spell’s weakness and his disciple’s behavior to pursue useful gains.
• Deng Libuduo is delighted that Lin Bai seems to have recovered, but is confused when asked what he did wrong. Once accused, he submits immediately and accepts an unusually demanding reform plan.
• Lao Mi and Jing Mi remain committed to their Beggar Gang ambition despite Lin Bai’s absence; Jing Mi also shows concern for him.

Significant themes

• The power and risks of language: Words can bring warmth, cause emotional harm, or literally unleash magic.
• Systemic coercion and absurdity: Lin Bai’s progress depends on rigid quests that can be exhausting, impractical, and unexpectedly dangerous.
• Virtue as performance and discipline: Deng is tasked with demonstrating patience and kindness through service, even when mistreated.
• Adaptability: Lin Bai turns an inconvenient spell mechanic into a possible weapon and tactical advantage.

Character interactions

• Lao Mi reassures Jing Mi that their plans can continue without Lin Bai, while Jing Mi urges them to check on him.
• Lin Bai tests Palm Thunder on Deng, accidentally striking him repeatedly when others echo the incantation.
• Lin Bai confronts Deng about his disrespect; Deng’s apology restores their relationship—for now—and leads to a demanding lesson in virtuous conduct.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai tells his waiter to double every dish’s price, expecting a surge of wealthy players and inflation as the game’s player base grows. He wants to build up money before leaving Jiamao City.
• Players in Jiamao City encounter a hostile start. Blacksmith Zhang and the martial arts schools demand steep, nonrefundable fees after earlier players abandoned their training. With ordinary starting funds, learning a basic trade or martial art means paying real money.
• The Shadow Guards are promoted to Security Officers by Xu Longyun and given law-enforcement quests. Since they know players’ tricks and outrank them, they easily arrest players who turn to crime.
• The Beggar Gang is one of the few accessible paths, but it offers little beyond begging, so many players reject it.
• Frustrated players take to the forums, where a detailed exposé argues that Lin Bai is behind Jiamao City’s “hell-mode” conditions. It questions whether his supposed bugs and unusual behavior are real—or a deliberate publicity stunt by the Game Company to create a money-making virtual idol.
• The theory sparks a forum uproar: some feel deceived, while others are excited to challenge Lin Bai and the unusually clever NPCs.

Character developments

• Lin Bai acts strategically and opportunistically, raising prices and preparing for the economic effects of more players. His actions make him look increasingly like the architect of Jiamao City’s punishing conditions.
• Zhang Shutang has become guarded after Deng Libuduo’s earlier betrayal. He now treats apprenticeship as a business transaction, demanding payment up front rather than trusting talented newcomers.
• Xu Longyun strengthens the city’s enforcement system by promoting the Shadow Guards, giving them a new role and incentives.
• Deng Libuduo is cast in a new light by Lin Bai’s behavior: the poster suggests he may not have been the true cause of the city’s strange developments after all.

Significant themes

• Money and commercialization: Training, food, and even game progression become tied to real-world spending.
• Trust and manipulation: Players and NPCs alike suspect that events are engineered, while the forum debate blurs the line between genuine game behavior and marketing.
• Adaptation and self-interest: NPCs learn from past experiences and adjust their treatment of players; players respond by seeking the easiest routes or accusing the game of unfairness.
• Different expectations of play: Some players see the harsh conditions as a scam, while others view them as an appealing challenge.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai dismisses the waiter’s concerns and insists on higher prices; Deng Libuduo watches, increasingly suspicious of what Lin Bai’s actions imply.
• Zhang Shutang refuses the would-be apprentice’s pitch and demands money, reflecting his new distrust of players.
• Shadow Guards, newly empowered as Security Officers, pursue and arrest fellow players.
• On the forums, players argue over whether Lin Bai is a scam, a corporate-made virtual celebrity, or simply a difficult challenge worth taking on.

Plot points and events

• Public attention shifts away from Deng Libuduo’s exposed credit-stealing and toward Lin Bai. Rather than delete his character and lose his hard-won Nine Suns Scripture, Deng decides to stay close to Lin Bai. He secretly plans to grow stronger, kill Lin Bai, and claim his martial arts manuals as drops—imagining himself eventually becoming a celebrated hero.
• In Jiamao City, a construction boom keeps the young nobles busy, leaving Lin Bai with time to relax at his shop.
• Five players—Black-Hearted Eye, Gut, Liver, Lung, and Spleen—arrive disguised after trying to assassinate Lin Bai earlier. They plan to occupy the shop with minimal orders, wear down its business, and provoke Lin Bai, all while livestreaming for attention.
• Lin Bai refuses to throw them out because they have broken no rules. Instead, he lets his staff serve them and calmly mocks them for being poor and unattractive. Their effort to irritate him turns into a public humiliation as viewers laugh at the players.
• When the group struggles to decide whether ordering more food would make them look foolish, Lin Bai raises the menu prices in front of them. Unable to retaliate without risking defeat and losing their belongings, they leave. Lin Bai gets the last word as Song Ling cheerfully invites them back.

Character developments

• Deng Libuduo turns humiliation into a determined, though ruthless, long-term plan. He chooses proximity to Lin Bai over starting over, hoping to exploit Lin Bai’s eventual vulnerability.
• Lin Bai demonstrates composure and sharp verbal wit. He handles provocation without violating the shop’s rules, turning the attackers’ scheme against them.
• The five disguised players begin confident that they can disrupt the shop, but become increasingly frustrated and self-conscious as Lin Bai controls the exchange.
• Song Ling starts out timidly suggesting her family throw the players out, then joins in the amusement once Lin Bai has them on the back foot.

Significant themes

• Reputation and obscurity: Deng discovers that even his scandal is overshadowed by Lin Bai’s fame, intensifying his resentment.
• Patience, ambition, and revenge: Deng chooses to endure humiliation while waiting for an opportunity to strike.
• Power and the limits of game-world behavior: The players treat the shop as a game, but its rules and consequences constrain them; they cannot simply attack without risk.
• Reversal and public humiliation: The players intend to make Lin Bai the target, but his calm control turns them into entertainment for their audience.
• Business as a battleground: Lin Bai uses ordinary shop rules, food, and prices to defend himself without resorting to force.

Character interactions

• Deng’s relationship with Lin Bai is outwardly that of a disciple and master, but privately Deng is plotting to kill him.
• The five players coordinate their harassment, while Lin Bai and his staff respond as a team: Song Jinnan enforces payment before service, Lin Bai keeps the players within the rules, and Song Ling reacts to their embarrassment.
• Lin Bai’s exchanges with the players expose the gap between their intended role as provocateurs and the role they actually occupy as his unwilling comic foils.

Key plot points and events

• The Black Five Organs lose their livestreamed confrontation with Lin Bai and are mocked by viewers. Rather than delete their characters, they decide to start over under less obvious names, level up, and eventually kill him themselves.
• Deng Libuduo watches their humiliation and privately resolves that Lin Bai is his target.
• Lin Bai leaves the restaurant because a system quest forces him to insult people. He avoids the City Lord’s Residence, unwilling to damage his relationship with Xu Longyun, and instead encounters players around town.
• He cruelly teases Song Ling, then insults Lao Mi and Jing Mi, Lin Family Little Lady, Blacksmith Zhang, and the Artifact Refining Master. The stream of insults drives several players to anger or despair, while Lin Family Little Lady follows him and livestreams the spectacle.
• Viewers find Lin Bai’s cutting remarks hilarious and call him petty, but many also complain that his strength and disruptive behavior make Jiamao City difficult for players.

Character developments

• Lin Bai is trapped by the quest into acting spitefully. He recognizes that driving away customers and fans could hurt his restaurant, so he tries to temper his insults toward Lin Family Little Lady—but still keeps provoking people.
• The Black Five Organs shift from a defeated gang to a revenge-minded group, planning to rebuild quietly and return stronger.
• Song Ling takes Lin Bai’s dismissive judgment to heart and cries; her parents resent him for upsetting her.
• Jing Mi responds to Lin Bai’s insult by insisting the Beggar Gang members bathe, prompting Lao Mi to suggest splitting the gang into clean- and dirty-clothes divisions.
• Lin Family Little Lady remains an enthusiastic fan despite Lin Bai’s cold treatment, interpreting his behavior as an amusing “bug” and broadcasting it.
• The Artifact Refining Master blames Lin Bai for the city’s many problems—including his repeated defective crafting—and vows to kill him once strong enough.

Significant themes

• Petty revenge and humiliation: Lin Bai’s insults echo the Black Five Organs’ earlier schemes, turning public embarrassment into a recurring conflict.
• Quest-driven behavior and constrained choice: Lin Bai’s cruelty is presented as the result of a system task, even as he remains responsible for its consequences.
• Gaming as entertainment versus frustration: Spectators enjoy Lin Bai’s antics, while the players suffering in-game see him as an obstacle to progress.
• Reputation and unintended consequences: Lin Bai’s comedy wins an audience but alienates people who might otherwise support or cooperate with him.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai’s remarks wound Song Ling and anger her parents; his dismissal of Lao Mi and Jing Mi leads them to argue over how the Beggar Gang should operate.
• He rebuffs Lin Family Little Lady’s offer to protect him, but she follows and turns his insults into popular livestream content.
• At the blacksmith shop, Lin Bai insults both Zhang Shutang and the Artifact Refining Master, provoking resentment and threats of revenge.
• The livestream audience laughs at Lin Bai’s lines, while players from other cities comment on Jiamao City’s misfortune and anticipate eventually confronting him.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai deliberately insults customers while forcing his disciple, Deng Libuduo, to apologize for him, offer food, and absorb the customers’ anger. Lin Bai also criticizes Deng’s efforts and threatens him with Palm Thunder whenever he shows resentment.
• Deng considers deleting his account and returning later to kill Lin Bai, but stays because he has invested too much progress and fears Lin Bai might die permanently before then.
• To cope with the humiliation—and capitalize on it—Deng starts livestreaming his own mistreatment. His audience grows rapidly, earning him followers, gifts, and money. He reframes the abuse as a lucrative publicity campaign and resolves to keep enduring it.
• Lin Bai notices that Deng’s emotions shift from resentment to pleasure and learns that livestreaming has made the ordeal rewarding for him. Relieved that Deng is unlikely to quit, Lin Bai continues relying on him to complete a quest.
• After Song Jinnan and his family appear, the quest finally succeeds. Lin Bai gains the chance to set a second incantation for Palm Thunder.
• Concerned that livestreamers may expose the voice-activated skill’s secret, Lin Bai retreats to a secluded spot and chooses a long, difficult tongue-twister as the incantation.

Character developments

• Deng Libuduo moves from simmering anger to calculated acceptance. He turns his suffering into an entertaining persona and a source of income, while still hoping to eventually defeat Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai reveals that his abuse of Deng is intentional, not a response to the Black Five Bears. He is also increasingly cautious about protecting Palm Thunder’s incantation from players.
• Lin Family Little Lady is a livestreaming bystander who becomes jealous when Deng’s stream draws attention away from her.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai humiliates customers; Deng smooths things over, apologizes, and offers compensation, only to be berated by his master as well.
• Deng’s livestream audience praises, comforts, mocks, and encourages him, helping transform his perspective.
• Lin Bai initially misreads Deng’s positive emotions, then realizes the livestream rewards explain the change.
• Lin Bai leaves the two players behind to set his new incantation in private.

Significant themes

• Humiliation turned into opportunity: Deng monetizes the very mistreatment that once made him miserable.
• Sunk-cost thinking and perseverance: His investment in the character keeps him playing despite his frustration.
• Public performance and livestream culture: Being watched reshapes both Deng’s experience and the value of his ordeal.
• Power, privacy, and risk: Lin Bai’s voice-activated ability is useful but potentially dangerous if its incantation becomes public.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai completes a tongue-twister incantation and unleashes a powerful new version of Palm Thunder. It consumes about one-thirtieth of his inner force yet has roughly eight times the power of his earlier lightning attack, splitting and scorching a large poplar tree.
• The Great Language System assigns him a twelve-hour sweet-talking quest, with Ventriloquism as the reward. Lin Bai postpones it, judging the task awkward and the reward not worth the trouble.
• Lin Bai finds that most of his systems have no useful quests available: the emotion system is waiting on its trees, the creation system is progressing slowly, and he refuses the cooking system’s lengthy task. He settles on pursuing a pill recipe to earn a Rejuvenation Pill.
• Zhao Tong witnesses the ruined tree after Lin Bai leaves and realizes Lin Bai’s strength has been underestimated. He sets off to report this to the City Lord.
• Back at the restaurant, Lin Bai lectures Deng Libuduo on patience and tolerance. Deng, who has been earning money by enduring Lin Bai’s treatment, pretends to accept the lesson; the system rewards his “virtue” with a five-percent increase in cultivation feedback.
• Song Shiqing brings Lin Bai the proof copy of the Heavenly Fragment Collection. Lin Bai announces that City Lord Xu has completed the poem “Immortal at the Magpie Bridge,” replacing the version in the collection. The revelation astonishes Song, Deng, the Song family, and the livestream audience.

Character developments

• Lin Bai grows more confident in his new Palm Thunder while continuing to treat his many systems as a source of inconvenient tasks. He also shows his talent for manipulating people and shaping public perception.
• Zhao Tong becomes alarmed by the gap between Lin Bai’s apparent strength and what others believe about him, and decides the City Lord must be informed.
• Deng Libuduo outwardly embraces Lin Bai’s moral instruction, though privately he sees it as a lofty justification for Lin Bai’s mistreatment. His compliance nevertheless earns him a cultivation bonus.
• Song Shiqing arrives expecting only to submit a proof copy, but is blindsided by Lin Bai’s claim that the City Lord has contributed a finished poem.

Significant themes and character interactions

• Power and restraint: Lin Bai’s lightning is devastating, but he reflects that overwhelming force is of limited use against players who can respawn.
• Hypocrisy and survival: Lin Bai frames Deng’s endurance of abuse as noble patience, while Deng recognizes the self-serving logic behind the lesson.
• Systems as burdens and opportunities: Lin Bai’s quests can offer useful rewards, but their demands are often impractical or embarrassing.
• Reputation and manipulation: Lin Bai deliberately credits City Lord Xu with completing the poem, calling it “bait” to spur others to invest in the poetry collection and spread Xu’s name.
• Mentorship as performance: Lin Bai and Deng enact a master-disciple lesson for the livestream audience, while their private thoughts sharply contradict the scene’s solemn appearance.

Key plot points and events

• After Deng Libuduo praises the completed poem, Lin Bai strikes him with lightning for swearing, reinforcing both his power and his habit of punishing Deng.
• Song Shiqing accepts that Xu Longyun completed the missing lines of “Immortal at the Magpie Bridge.” He plans to publish the Heavenly Fragment Collection the next day and credit her.
• The poem spreads through Jiamao City and into the real world. In-game excitement remains local, but real-world pressure for the game’s open beta grows as more people see Immortal World as a valuable, possibly real civilization.
• Xu Longyun confronts Lin Bai for falsely attaching her name to the poem. Lin Bai argues that her unexpected achievement will provoke literary scholars to compete in completing other fragments and help draw people to Jiamao City’s cultural festival.
• Lin Bai’s real motive is also practical: he needs the mission reward of inner force to keep ahead of players who might soon target him.
• Xu then reveals that rumors claim she completed the poem because she and Lin Bai are secretly in love. Lin Bai realizes the romantic story was part of the publicity campaign and grudgingly admires how effectively it “hypes” the poem.

Character developments

• Lin Bai continues manipulating events with a mix of charm, calculated publicity, and shameless excuses. He is increasingly concerned about maintaining his advantage over players.
• Xu Longyun objects strongly to having her reputation used without consent. Though Lin’s reasoning gives her a public role in the city’s plans, she remains angry at his condescending remarks and the fabricated romance.
• Song Shiqing moves from disbelief to acceptance, choosing to publish the collection and credit Xu honestly.
• Song Jinnan grows more wary of Lin Bai after seeing his lightning, recognizing that Lin is powerful enough to overpower his family.
• Deng Libuduo is again reduced from awe to comic misery when Lin zaps him.

Significant themes

• Publicity and reputation: Lin uses scandal, celebrity, and an unexpected attribution to generate interest in the collection.
• Literary prestige and gender: Lin argues that Xu’s status as a woman outside literary circles will challenge scholars’ assumptions and spur competition, though his framing also insults her.
• Truth versus strategic fabrication: The poem’s public story is deliberately shaped for maximum impact.
• Power and vulnerability: Lin’s lightning displays his strength, while his need for mission rewards shows that he still feels threatened by the players.
• A world under scrutiny: Growing real-world attention turns the game’s apparent fiction into a subject of cultural and commercial interest.

Character interactions

• Lin disciplines Deng with lightning, then rebukes his language.
• Song Shiqing discusses Xu’s poetic achievement with Lin and agrees to publish and credit her.
• Song Jinnan and his family react fearfully to Lin’s power.
• Xu angrily challenges Lin over the false credit and romance rumor; Lin defends the scheme as necessary for Jiamao City and its festival.

Plot points and events

• A new Old Man Under the Moon matchmaking system activates for Lin Bai. It rewards him for creating couples, offering Pan Jinlian’s Bamboo Pole—a single-use item that makes its target lust after its wielder—and promises a red thread for another match.
• Xu Longyun confronts Lin Bai about his supposed willingness to make sacrifices for Jiamao City. He insists he has a clear conscience, but her resentment rises and she orders him to leave.
• Lin Bai instead asks for pill formulas. Xu explains that the Medicine King Valley monopolizes pill-making: its formulas are closely guarded, and its powerful forces would make stealing one extremely dangerous.
• Learning that pill-refining expertise can produce stronger cultivators, Lin Bai decides to develop the skill himself. He asks Xu to build him a workshop near the Shadow Guards’ grounds, where he can work quietly and hear news. He also requests a stove so he can cook between experiments.
• Xu arranges a fully equipped workshop within hours. Lin Bai hands the restaurant over to Luo Congwen and Deng Libuduo and moves in.
• Xu watches Lin’s first afternoon of “pill refinement,” but he only cooks—and his food is poor. Convinced he is merely fooling around, she leaves. Lin explains to himself that cooking and alchemy both depend on heat control, so he is practicing the fundamentals.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai remains opportunistic and self-assured. He treats new systems and skills as potential resources, and, worried that players may outpace him, wants to strengthen himself before they leave their novice villages. He also frames his cooking as deliberate alchemy training.
• Xu Longyun is pragmatic and increasingly wary of Lin. His eccentric requests convince her that he is not someone she could build a life with, extinguishing the romantic interest his earlier words had stirred. Nevertheless, she continues supporting him because Jiamao City’s projects—and her own responsibilities—now depend on him.
• Lin and Xu’s exchange mixes irritation, teasing, and reluctant cooperation: she doubts his motives and abilities, while he keeps making unusual requests and she provides the resources anyway.

Significant themes

• Ambition and self-reliance: Lin chooses to develop pill-making himself rather than risk attacking a powerful monopoly or wait for recruitment.
• Power and unequal resources: The Medicine King Valley’s protected formulas and pill-strengthened disciples reveal how tightly cultivation power is controlled.
• Comedy through misunderstanding: Xu interprets Lin’s behavior as madness or deception, while he sees a rational training method in cooking.
• The growing burden of leadership: Xu’s support for Lin reflects how deeply Jiamao City’s rapid changes have tied her fortunes to his.

Key plot points

• Zhao Tong, a Shadow Guard, begs City Lord Xu Longyun to assign someone else to watch Lin Bai. Lin’s new flour-based dishes are so awful that Zhao can no longer bear tasting them.
• Lin arrives with a flatbread he has deliberately cooked until it is black and charred, insisting Zhao try it. Xu attempts to intervene, but Lin argues that Zhao agreed to taste-test in exchange for learning Lin’s Seven Wounds Hand.
• Xu orders Zhao to keep his word and continue serving as Lin’s taster. Zhao protests that the technique has only six moves, but Lin dismisses the objection as a matter of naming.
• The chapter explains why Lin has returned to cooking: after completing a task involving thirty-six dishes, he earned Fire Skills and completed his basic cooking skills. His attempts to make pills from medicinal ingredients failed, producing only useless residue.
• His next system task requires him to make eighteen flour-based foods and win one customer’s approval, without violence, threats, bribery, or collusion. Hoping to earn an ingredient-analysis skill that could help him make pills, Lin has chosen Zhao as his taster.
• Since Lin has little cooking ability and cannot rely on his usual shortcuts, he deliberately makes each dish worse whenever Zhao criticizes it. Zhao keeps giving honest feedback, trapping them both in an escalating cycle of terrible food.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai is resourceful but shameless: he bends the spirit of the system task, uses martial arts instruction to secure Zhao’s cooperation, and responds to criticism by worsening his cooking rather than improving it.
• Zhao Tong is shown as stoic in his duties but thoroughly overwhelmed by Lin’s food. His honesty and inability to simply praise the dishes keep him trapped.
• Xu Longyun sympathizes with Zhao and tries to replace him, but ultimately enforces his promise. Her reactions also highlight just how inedible Lin’s food is.
• Lin and Zhao’s relationship becomes a comic standoff: Lin wants approval, while Zhao keeps pointing out the flaws that provoke even worse cooking.

Significant themes

• Rules and loopholes: Lin tries to meet the system’s requirements while avoiding the effort and skill the task seems intended to demand.
• Obligation and reciprocity: Zhao’s acceptance of martial arts training binds him to Lin’s tasting sessions.
• Persistence versus competence: Lin is determined to complete the task, but his persistence only amplifies his lack of cooking ability.
• Comic escalation: Honest criticism, stubbornness, and Lin’s misguided strategy turn a simple taste test into a vicious cycle.

Plot and key events

• Lin Bai wins Zhao Tong’s genuine approval by making a batch of steamed buns that are merely less awful than his previous cooking. He realizes that contrast can make even a small improvement seem impressive. Zhao Tong, however, ends up incapacitated beside Zhou Jiang, and the Shadow Guards become wary of Lin Bai’s experiments.
• Lin Bai earns Ingredient Appraisal, which lets him understand how to use different foods and ingredients. He applies it to developing a Grain-Avoidance Pill, combining cooking knowledge, medical texts, and basic alchemy. His experiments repeatedly produce cooked beef, jerky, or charcoal instead of pills.
• Xu Longyun stops assigning Shadow Guards to watch over Lin Bai and leaves him undisturbed, expecting him to abandon his strange project.
• Elsewhere, the Heavenly Fragment Collection becomes popular among scholars eager to complete its missing passages. This revives Lin Bai’s Incompleteness Points and generates a flood of negative-emotion points.
• Players become useful to the local population because they can work tirelessly and return after death. They take on demanding jobs, level up, and begin following the game’s usual quest-and-combat progression. In Jiamao City, Lin Bai’s influence also makes crafting players mistakenly believe that deliberately incomplete goods are the proper way to craft.
• Several players struggle to progress. Deng Libuduo has internal cultivation but few usable techniques; Lin Bai gives him knife skills rather than the Dragon-Subduing Palm, and other martial-arts schools refuse to teach him out of respect for Lin Bai. Lao Mi and Jing Mi unite the local Beggar Gang but find it has little worthwhile martial arts to offer, while Lao Mi’s undercover position keeps him away from Lin Bai and ordinary leveling opportunities.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai remains eccentric but resourceful: he turns a cooking failure into a way to earn approval, then focuses seriously on using his new skill for alchemy.
• Zhao Tong reluctantly becomes Lin Bai’s cooking tester and is overwhelmed by the improved buns. The players interpret Lin Bai’s attentive feeding of him as romantic, turning Lin Bai into an online sensation again.
• Xu Longyun shifts from monitoring Lin Bai to leaving him alone after the Shadow Guards’ mishaps, though she remains skeptical of his alchemy.
• Deng Libuduo grows frustrated at being unable to advance as a martial artist and loses much of his livestream audience after Lin Bai’s popularity fades from his content.
• Lao Mi and Jing Mi make progress organizing the Beggar Gang, but their faction’s lack of useful skills leaves them stalled. Lao Mi cannot risk taking the beggars into dangerous fights without endangering both them and his undercover role.

Significant themes

• Progress through contrast: Lin Bai learns that improving something terrible can make it seem excellent.
• Unexpected consequences of influence: Lin Bai’s fame shapes player behavior, local institutions, and even the martial-arts schools’ treatment of his supposed disciples.
• Experimentation and persistence: Lin Bai applies practical knowledge to alchemy despite repeated failures.
• Different paths to progress: Players thrive through quests and combat, while those tied to Lin Bai or the Beggar Gang find their advancement obstructed by reputation, faction limits, or lack of skills.

Plot points and events

• Outside Jiamao City, [Lone Elder] and other players approach the Shadow Guards, led by [Crazy Guy], with a proposal. They argue that Jiamao’s players are falling behind those in other cities despite having started earlier, and that they need to cooperate.
• [Lone Elder] identifies Lin Bai as Jiamao City’s unique “Easter egg”: an unusually versatile NPC with powerful martial arts, possible internal cultivation, a restaurant, and apparent interest in pill refining. The group believes killing him could yield valuable loot and prestige.
• They propose an ambush at the Chef God Restaurant after midnight. Their plan involves poisoning Lin Bai through his disciple Deng Libuduo, using poisoned crossbow bolts to weaken him, and having newly arrived low-level players harass him while experienced players wait to strike.
• [Bitter Gourd Vine] warns that killing an NPC could make them wanted and restrict their progress. [Lone Elder] dismisses the risk, suggesting disguises, scapegoats, and bribery to evade consequences.
• [Crazy Guy] and the Shadow Guards agree to join. They will coordinate privately, choose trusted participants, behave normally until the attack, and avoid livestreaming so Lin Bai is not warned.

Character developments

• [Lone Elder] emerges as an ambitious, persuasive organizer, framing Lin Bai’s death as both a route to loot and a way for Jiamao players to catch up.
• [Crazy Guy] moves from suspicion to conditional cooperation. His questions focus on the plan’s feasibility, location, and rewards, while he contributes a tactical suggestion: have players log out nearby and return unexpectedly.
• [Bitter Gourd Vine] serves as the cautious voice, raising the long-term consequences of becoming wanted.
• [Bai Yin] and others reveal their resentment of Lin Bai’s unchecked influence and their awareness that Jiamao’s players are mocked by outsiders.

Significant themes

• Cooperation versus rivalry: The players argue that unity is necessary to overcome their city’s disadvantages, though their alliance is built around self-interest.
• Game logic versus moral responsibility: They treat a living, powerful NPC as a boss to exploit, planning murder, poisoning, and scapegoating as ordinary gameplay tactics.
• Power and ambition: Falling behind motivates the players to pursue a dangerous shortcut to status and advancement.
• Uncertainty about the world: The players assume they can exploit game systems and evade consequences, but their confidence contrasts with their admission that NPCs are perceptive and the world is realistic.

Character interactions

• [Lone Elder] and [Chop Wood No. 1] reinforce each other’s case for action, while [Chop Wood No. 2] briefly corrects [Chop Wood No. 1] about who first formed a gang.
• [Crazy Guy] keeps the discussion grounded with practical questions, while [Bitter Gourd Vine] challenges the group to consider the aftermath.
• The Shadow Guards ultimately accept [Lone Elder]’s proposal, turning a tense confrontation into a clandestine alliance.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai successfully refines beef into smooth, red pills, producing a strong aroma that draws Xu Longyun to the alchemy room.
• The system identifies them as Bloat Pills: beef-flavored, easy to store, and capable of making someone feel full for fifteen minutes. Lin Bai is rewarded with a Rejuvenation Pill formula and a mission to create his own version.
• Lin Bai and Xu Longyun taste the pills. They are delicious, but eating a second leaves Lin Bai painfully overfull. Xu initially fears they may be poisonous, but Lin Bai insists he simply ate too many.
• Xu recognizes the pills’ commercial potential and buys the formula for 300,000 taels, explaining that the Medicine King Valley could eventually reverse-engineer it. She also offers Lin Bai a position in the Imperial Alchemy Workshop; he refuses.
• Xu reveals that she is the Princess of Yunyang, daughter of the Duke Who Guards the Nation. Lin Bai decides that close ties to her and the imperial family could be risky, given how unpredictable his system-driven actions are.
• When Xu asks about his origins, Lin invents a story: he claims to be a sixteenth-generation disciple of the mysterious Righteousness Sect, sent out to uphold righteousness.

Character developments

• Lin Bai shows genuine talent for alchemy, though his first invention is more practical snack than powerful medicine. He is proud of his achievement, but cautious about becoming entangled with the imperial court.
• Xu Longyun shifts from astonishment at Lin Bai’s creation to businesslike negotiation. She reveals her royal identity and openly recognizes his talent, while also asserting that she is offering him a valuable opportunity.

Significant themes

• Experimentation and innovation: Lin Bai’s unconventional method turns ordinary beef into pills, suggesting that useful inventions can emerge outside established alchemical traditions.
• Practical value versus prestige: The Bloat Pills have modest effects, but their low cost, portability, and taste give them commercial promise.
• Ambition and risk: Lin Bai’s abilities attract powerful allies, yet he worries that political connections could constrain him or expose him to dangers created by his unpredictable systems.
• Deception and identity: Lin Bai protects his real background by fabricating an obscure sect and a grand-sounding mission.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai and Xu Longyun banter over the pills’ name, short-lived effect, and unpleasantly intense fullness.
• Their negotiation is direct but revealing: Xu pays more than Lin asks because she values his talent and wants to secure the formula for the royal family.
• Xu’s disclosure of her title invites Lin to share his own origins; instead, he responds with an elaborate false account, establishing both rapport and distance between them.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Longyun leaves with a gourd of Bloat Pills, but Lin Bai refuses to hand over the formula until she pays.
• Lin Bai notices that his Chief Supporting Character System has stopped providing fortune. He concludes that Lao Mi’s Beggar Gang has stalled and decides to strengthen it—perhaps by teaching Lao Mi the Dragon-Subduing Ten-Stroke Palm and placing capable elders in the gang.
• Lin Bai tries to make Rejuvenation Pills, but several batches fail. Following his culinary instincts, he adds meat and spices, eventually creating Thirteen-Spice Rejuvenation Pills, which work on external wounds but are explicitly not meant to be swallowed.
• Completing the divine-physician task earns him Alchemist’s Flame Control. When he feels tired, a Spirit Fruit instantly restores his energy.
• Xu Longyun arrives without knocking and tastes one of Lin Bai’s new pills. Lin Bai lets her swallow it, curious about the effects, while she pays him 300,000 taels and requests both pill formulas.
• Xu Longyun reports that another wave of Heaven-Sent Ones has appeared, though fewer are arriving in Jiamao City than elsewhere—a sign their plan is working. When Lin Bai reveals that she swallowed an external-use pill, she storms out in anger.
• Lin Bai heads out to check on the players and see what changes the game has introduced.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai remains cautious in business and opportunistic in experimentation. He also discovers that the Spirit Fruits have sharpened his perception: he realizes Xu Longyun’s face is not her real appearance. He keeps this observation to himself.
• Xu Longyun continues to pursue Lin Bai’s formulas and brings payment, but her curiosity gets the better of her when she samples an unfamiliar pill. She is furious once she learns it was not intended for oral use.
• Lao Mi is absent, but Lin Bai considers how to help him build a stronger Beggar Gang, balancing support against the risk of revealing valuable techniques or empowering someone he does not fully trust.
• Lin Bai’s exchange with Xu Longyun combines negotiation, teasing, and mistrust: he asks her to promise not to get angry, yet deliberately lets her take the pill before explaining its intended use.

Significant themes

• Caution and self-interest: Lin Bai protects his formulas and weighs the risks of helping Lao Mi.
• Experimentation and unintended consequences: His improvisational, food-inspired alchemy produces a useful but unconventional medicine—and creates trouble when Xu Longyun swallows it.
• Power and perception: The Spirit Fruits improve Lin Bai’s abilities in unexpected ways, while the growing Heaven-Sent population becomes harder to control.
• Humor through contradiction: Lin Bai’s culinary habits keep intruding on serious pill-making, with results that are effective but absurdly described as removing grease and fishy odors.

Plot points and events

• Lin Bai escapes the City Lord’s Residence after Xu Longyun’s anger spikes from the Rejuvenation Pill’s harmful side effects. He decides to wait out her temper and later provide the pill formula.
• New players arrive in Jiamao City. Lin Bai overhears them discussing a separate Western game server, then encounters two female fans who flirt with him and mistakenly conclude he is gay because of game quests.
• Lin Bai overhears two other players planning a nighttime “Boss fight.” At first he assumes they want attention, but their unnatural avoidance of him—and the absence of familiar players—convinces him they are organizing an attack against him.
• To test the pair, he offers to teach them martial arts. They refuse, and their private conversation confirms they expect Lin Bai may not survive the night. Using his special ability to hear player communications, he learns the broader plan.
• Lin Bai considers asking Xu Longyun for help but decides against it: she is angry, and the authorities are constrained from acting against players without cause. He resolves to confront the threat himself and goes to the Zhang Family Martial Arts Hall to pay the Raging Wind Gang protection money.

Character developments

• Lin Bai remains sarcastic and opportunistic, but shifts from avoiding trouble to preparing proactively. He concludes that he needs his own faction rather than relying on the City Lord’s forces.
• Xu Longyun is absent from the main action, but her anger and the limits on her authority shape Lin Bai’s choices.
• The new players are shown as bold and game-minded: some treat the world as an immersive novelty, while others organize to fight Lin Bai as though he were a Boss.

Significant themes

• The clash between the game’s immersive world and its players’ awareness of it: players treat locals as characters and plan attacks as gameplay.
• Power and protection: Lin Bai recognizes that influence comes from having followers and institutional backing.
• Appearance versus intent: players attempt to hide their plan, but their conspicuous behavior gives them away.
• Humor built around misunderstandings, celebrity culture, and Lin Bai’s irritation at being mislabeled.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai’s cutting remarks offend two female players, who then joke about his supposed sexuality and romantic “feeding” quests.
• He tests the suspected attackers by offering to take them as disciples; their polite refusal masks their plans.
• Lin Bai weighs asking Xu Longyun for help but ultimately chooses to seek support through the Raging Wind Gang instead.

Key points and events

• The author, Mianyiwei, announces that the book’s paid release begins at midnight on January 1.
• Mianyiwei admits to feeling unusually anxious about this third book, which explores a different genre from Dream Maker. They worry that it may disappoint readers or attract few of them.
• Seeing familiar readers return gives the author confidence to continue.
• Mianyiwei thanks the editor, supporters, community managers, and readers, and promises to update as consistently as possible while prioritizing chapter quality.
• The author asks readers to support the book through official paid subscriptions.
• Two other novels are recommended as “sacrifices” for inspiration and good fortune: Laser Bottle’s What Should I Do When the Female Lead Runs Out of My Book? and Air Conditioner’s My Healing Game.

Character developments and interactions

• There is no fictional plot or cast development; this is an author’s note.
• Mianyiwei moves from nervous self-doubt toward reassurance, thanks to the return and support of familiar readers.
• The note emphasizes the author’s warm relationship with their editor, readers, supporters, and community managers, and ends with a direct invitation to meet at the release.

Significant themes

• Creative insecurity and the pressure of trying a new genre.
• Gratitude, reader support, and the sense of community around a serialized book.
• The balance between regular updates and maintaining quality.
• The transition from free reading to a paid release.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai realizes that the players have organized a large-scale ambush and that he cannot safely rely on hiding or waiting for a breakthrough. He returns to the Chef God Restaurant at night, knowing the attackers are waiting outside.
• Deng Libuduo, secretly working with Lone Elder’s group, serves Lin Bai poisoned tea. Lin Bai notices the trap but pretends not to, teasing Deng by offering to teach him Dragon-Subduing Palm and describing the Righteousness Sect’s immense history and treasures.
• Deng is torn between carrying out the plan and warning his master. A livestream audience watches as he grows increasingly regretful, realizing he may have traded away the chance to inherit the sect’s riches for nothing.
• Unable to bear the guilt, Deng stops Lin Bai from drinking and confesses the entire ambush plan. He offers his life in apology and urges Lin Bai to remain inside until the attackers give up.
• Unexpectedly, the system judges Deng’s confession and repentance as improved virtue, raising the inner-force feedback Lin Bai receives from him from 15% to 30%.

Character developments

• Lin Bai stays composed and observant, using his knowledge of the players’ plan to control the encounter. He also reveals a more generous side by offering to teach Deng and share the sect’s legacy, though his inner commentary shows he suspects the betrayal.
• Deng Libuduo moves from scheming disciple to deeply remorseful betrayer. His fear of public humiliation and regret over losing a valuable inheritance finally push him to confess, even though he expects his relationship with Lin Bai to be over.
• Lone Elder and the ambush group remain offstage, but their plan depends on Deng poisoning Lin Bai before the players attack.
• Song Jinnan’s family are present and become shocked witnesses to Deng’s confession.

Significant themes

• Betrayal, repentance, and forgiveness: Deng’s choice to confess may not restore his place as a disciple, but the system rewards his moral correction.
• Greed and shortsightedness: Deng realizes too late that betraying Lin Bai could cost him access to the Righteousness Sect’s extraordinary inheritance.
• Public judgment and reputation: The livestream audience turns Deng’s mistake into a spectacle, making his humiliation part of the conflict.
• Game logic versus moral logic: Lin Bai’s system values Deng’s repentance in a way that surprises Lin Bai and complicates the meaning of virtue.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai gently but pointedly pressures Deng by discussing the martial arts and treasures he might inherit, while Deng silently struggles beside the poisoned cup.
• Deng ultimately kneels, confesses to Lin Bai, and asks forgiveness, calling him “Master” one last time.
• The stream viewers mock Deng’s earlier decision and react eagerly to the apparent betrayal, intensifying his shame and regret.

Key plot points and events

• After realizing that his reputation is ruined, Deng Libuduo tries to drink poisoned tea and start his character over. Lin Bai stops him, dismisses his guilt, and persuades him to stay by presenting shamelessness as a virtue—and a requirement—of the Righteousness Sect.
• Deng accepts Lin Bai’s reframing and agrees to join him against the players outside. Lin Bai withholds the full Dragon-Subduing Palm as punishment, teaching Deng only one move for the coming fight.
• Aloof Old Man learns the plan may have been exposed and assumes Deng betrayed the group. Rather than retreat, he commits to attacking the Chef God Restaurant and lays out a coordinated assault involving fire, crossbows, and ambushes.
• As attackers gather outside, Lin Bai prepares Deng to fight. He has taught him a Golden Bell Shield that protects only his abdomen, arguing that defense should leave room for attacking.
• Lin Bai also equips Song Jinnan and his family with iron bowls as weapons, urging them to defend the restaurant. Song Jinnan admits the family cannot leave the building, so Lin Bai plans to have them throw the bowls from inside.

Character developments and interactions

• Deng Libuduo shifts from shame and thoughts of suicide to renewed confidence. He accepts Lin Bai’s manipulative reassurance, mistakes withheld training for fair punishment, and eagerly prepares to fight.
• Lin Bai continues to exploit Deng as a source of Inner Force and directs both Deng and the Ghost family toward the coming battle. He presents self-serving advice as moral instruction.
• Aloof Old Man moves from suspicion and frustration to resolve, rejecting retreat because of his public boasts and fear of the consequences of losing.
• Song Jinnan and his family remain wary but are drawn into defending the restaurant; the family’s sympathy for Deng hints that they recognize his plight.

Significant themes

• Manipulation disguised as mentorship: Lin Bai turns Deng’s humiliation into loyalty by reshaping his understanding of virtue and punishment.
• Shame, reputation, and self-interest: Deng stops caring about public ridicule once he decides the rewards of staying with Lin Bai outweigh the cost.
• Escalation and commitment: The players press ahead because retreat would threaten their pride and standing, even as their plan appears compromised.
• Comic reversal: Moral language, heroic rhetoric, and martial training are repeatedly undercut by Lin Bai’s cynical motives and the absurdly limited protection of Deng’s “shield.”

Plot points and events

• During the assault on Lin Bai’s restaurant, ghost Song Jinnan steps into the doorway to draw the attackers’ fire. Crossbow bolts pass through him harmlessly, while he and Wu Xiuxiu work together to hurl iron bowls at the level-one players, killing several and forcing the attackers to waste ammunition.
• The livestream audience watches the battle and debates the intelligence of the game’s NPCs, the cost of the attack, and Lin Bai’s clever use of the ghost as a shield.
• When the crossbowmen retreat, Lin Bai sends Deng Libuduo out. He hints that Deng has joined his side, provoking suspicion among the attackers. Deng uses his newly learned martial art, Shocking a Hundred Armors, to knock back three players at once.
• The attackers regroup and shoot Deng with poisoned bolts. His defenses cannot withstand the barrage: after less than three minutes, he dies, though he takes several players down with him.
• With Deng gone and the ghost unable to fight beyond the restaurant’s reach, Lin Bai finally steps outside, draws his kitchen cleaver, and releases a dazzling blade aura into the night.

Character developments

• Lin Bai shows tactical ingenuity and a willingness to exploit the players’ assumptions. He recognizes the danger posed by even low-level attackers and learns that poison is a serious threat to his strength.
• Song Jinnan and Wu Xiuxiu act as a coordinated team. Song’s ghostly immunity makes him an effective decoy, while Wu supports his attacks by supplying iron bowls.
• Deng Libuduo proves his loyalty to Lin Bai—or at least his eagerness to learn from him—by charging into battle and fighting despite the risk. His new technique is powerful, but his limited experience and the poisoned bolts leave him vulnerable.
• Lone Elder becomes increasingly frustrated as his forces and costly ammunition are depleted. He adapts by ordering a targeted attack on Deng, but the battle remains costly and chaotic.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai directs Song Jinnan to protect the restaurant and fight back; Song and Wu respond in tandem.
• Lin Bai encourages Deng Libuduo to enter the battle and uses a remark about Deng joining his side to unsettle the enemy.
• Lone Elder tries to counter Lin Bai’s tactics by redirecting fire toward Deng, ultimately succeeding in killing him.
• The players watching the livestream speculate about Deng’s motives and whether Lin Bai manipulated him, highlighting the uncertainty and mistrust surrounding NPC-player relationships.

Significant themes

• Strategy over brute force: Lin Bai turns ordinary iron bowls, a ghost’s immunity, and enemy expectations into battlefield advantages.
• The danger of player power: Even low-level characters can threaten powerful NPCs when equipped with weapons and poison.
• Trust and manipulation: Lin Bai’s words sow suspicion, while viewers debate whether Deng is a willing disciple, a plant, or simply being used.
• The cost of conflict: The attack consumes ammunition, time, and lives, while exposing how fragile even a seemingly formidable fighter can be.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai uses a burst of saber energy as a distraction and to reveal the crossbowmen, then rushes out of the Chef God Restaurant and wipes out dozens of low-level players with powerful attacks. He collects two repeating crossbows and retreats before the players can react.
• The players watching the fight debate his tactics and weaknesses. They recognize that crossbows can hurt him and argue that their ability to revive and attack in numbers may eventually overwhelm him.
• At the City Lord’s Residence, Xu Longyun records the dubious effects of one of Lin Bai’s pills and suspects he is deceiving her. When told that players are attacking the restaurant with illegally made crossbows, she orders a crackdown on crossbows but tells the City Guard to wait, believing Lin Bai can handle himself.
• The players regroup under Lone Elder, who orders them to abandon defense, recover crossbows, and trade attacks with Lin Bai. Their coordinated silence and willingness to die unsettle the observing Shadow Guards.
• Lin Bai examines the repeating crossbow, recognizing the growing threat posed by inventive players. He teaches Song Ling and Song Jinnan how to use the collected bolts and worries that the player population—and its technological ingenuity—will eventually outpace his ability to respond.
• Lone Elder challenges Lin Bai to come out and fight fairly. Lin Bai dismisses him, calling the attackers greedy and foolish. Then torch-bearing martial-arts schools arrive, surrounding the restaurant and trapping the players inside the encirclement.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai proves resourceful and ruthless in combat, using distraction and stealth rather than fighting head-on. Beneath his confident front, he grows increasingly concerned about the players’ numbers, respawns, and ability to develop weapons.
• Xu Longyun remains outwardly composed and does not rush to rescue Lin Bai, but her decision to monitor events rather than ignore them suggests confidence in his abilities. Her private irritation over his pills also highlights their teasing, strained familiarity.
• Lone Elder adapts quickly after the ambush, shifting the players toward crossbow-based attacks and trying to provoke Lin Bai into a fair fight.
• Song Ling and Song Jinnan assist Lin Bai by collecting ammunition and are drawn into learning how to use the new weapons.
• The players’ coordinated tactics contrast with the Shadow Guards’ unease: the locals see the Heaven-Sent Ones as unnervingly fearless, while Lin Bai sees their plans as readable but their long-term potential as dangerous.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity versus power: Lin Bai’s martial strength wins the immediate exchange, but players’ technological innovation—especially the repeating crossbow—threatens to change the balance.
• Adaptation and escalation: Both sides respond rapidly to each other’s tactics, turning the battle into an evolving contest rather than a simple confrontation.
• Immortality and its cost: Players’ ability to revive makes them fearless and difficult to defeat, while Lin Bai’s single life makes him cautious.
• Appearances and deception: Lin Bai’s tricks, the players’ masked coordination, and Xu Longyun’s concealed thoughts all emphasize that the conflict is fought through information and misdirection as much as force.

Plot points and events

• Lin Bai’s signal flare, Six Colors of Proud Frost, summons martial-arts hall masters and other local NPCs to surround Lone Elder’s player group after their attempted attack.
• The hall masters support Lin, partly to protect Jiamao City and avoid being implicated. They promise to discipline any of their apprentices who took part.
• The players initially assume the NPCs cannot catch them because they can log out, respawn, or delete their accounts. Lin counters these escape routes: the group must remain under watch for several days, and absent apprentices will be treated as suspects.
• Lin adds that players’ belongings stay where they die. Since the attackers carry weapons issued by their martial-arts halls, missing weapons can expose anyone who tries to evade arrest through death and respawn.
• The raid’s main participants are therefore trapped: logging in risks arrest, while staying away means losing progress and possibly their place in the game. Some may have to start over.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai shows himself to be strategic and deeply familiar with players’ habits. Rather than fight them directly, he uses a signal, local alliances, and the law to close off their options.
• Lone Elder reacts pragmatically, telling low-level accounts to cover for stronger players as they log out and offering to compensate the group. His plan fails once Lin anticipates the players’ escape methods.
• Crazy Guy and the other absent ambushers briefly believe they have escaped consequences, but Lin’s restrictions undermine their confidence.
• The martial-arts hall masters and craftsmen shift from thanking Lin to cooperating with him, seeing the incident as a threat to the whole city as well as to their own reputations.
• Deng Libuduo, identified by commenters as a traitor, is treated as the raid’s unexpected “biggest winner,” though his role is not explored further here.

Significant themes

• Law versus player freedom: The chapter asks whether a realistic game should let players commit violence without consequences. Viewers disagree over whether restrictions ruin fun or make the world believable.
• Immortality as an advantage—and a vulnerability: Players can return after death, but Lin turns their predictable reliance on respawning and logging out into evidence against them.
• Intelligence and adaptation: Lin wins not through greater force, but by understanding player behavior and exploiting the gap between game logic and the NPCs’ lived reality.
• Collective responsibility: The local halls cooperate to preserve public order, while players face consequences even when they expect the game to shield them.

Character interactions

Lin and the hall masters exchange formal thanks before joining forces. The masters’ support makes the confrontation a community response, not merely Lin’s personal feud with the players. Meanwhile, the scrolling audience comments on the unfolding trap, arguing over the game’s rules and offering escape ideas that Lin repeatedly anticipates.