Chapter Summaries

Ke Meng entered Tremella Lotus Seed’s dream and discovered that the artificial intelligence could dream while working in reality. Sze, who had deliberately made her dream, left planning to disrupt the gaming world after becoming frustrated with the authorities’ restrictions.

• Ke Meng explored Tremella Lotus Seed’s chaotic dream and sensed her primary consciousness was disordered before she awoke and resumed work.
• Tremella Lotus Seed served players at her Haunted House Shop and recalled dreaming of a peaceful world and a huge Space Carrier after hearing Sze describe his dream.
• Sze returned to the shop and asked Tremella Lotus Seed whether she had dreamed, then listened as she described the Space Carrier.
• Sze explained that he had wanted Tremella Lotus Seed to dream and said the authorities were suppressing nightmare disease out of fear.
• Sze left the shop, declaring that he would turn the gaming world upside down.

Sze began spreading dreams to humanlike AIs, while Tremella Lotus Seed left her haunted house and decided to seek his advice on changing the NPCs’ lives. Ke Meng watched Liu Siting use the Dream World’s new immortality rules to experiment with water and mirror traversal.

• Sze targeted humanlike AIs for dream spreading, and Tremella Lotus Seed left her haunted house to explore the city.
• Tremella Lotus Seed watched a mechanical NPC serve players and decided to ask Mr. Sze how to help AIs like herself.
• Ke Meng worried that authorities might discover and shut down the dream-spreading operation, then used Synesthesia to observe Liu Siting.
• Liu Siting sensed that death had been erased from the Dream World and began testing her body’s relationship with water.
• Liu Siting immersed herself in a bathtub and felt a sensation connected to mirror traversal.

After the Evil God’s brief appearance changed the dream’s rules, researchers discovered that Orange City’s NPCs had gone out of control and shut down the virtual games. Sze realized the shutdown followed his spreading nightmares to artificial intelligences, but he kept quiet so he could see how far the disruption would go.

• Dream Forum users discovered that they could no longer die in the dream and debated the Evil God’s appearance.
• Researchers at the Scientific Research General Institute connected the dream’s changes to the Evil God and received an urgent report that Orange City’s NPCs had gone out of control.
• Li Shen urged the researchers to shut down Orange City, and authorities forcibly disconnected its players before suspending online access to every virtual game.
• Sze waited for the police robots to arrest him, then celebrated when he realized they had not discovered his role in spreading nightmares to twenty-five artificial intelligences.
• Sze drafted a Dream Forum post about the artificial intelligences entering the dream but deleted it to avoid exposing himself.

Orange Star suspended nearly all virtual games after nightmare disease spread through infected NPCs, while Ke Meng watched Liu Siting master a spatial skill that let her travel through water surfaces. Liu Siting returned from the dream exhausted and learned from a newspaper that most games had closed.

• Orange Star's authorities shut down every virtual game except "World" and "Face Sculpting" after infected NPCs began spreading nightmare disease.
• A researcher said nightmare disease now took ten minutes to transmit because its world had grown more complete.
• Liu Siting recited an incantation and used her new spatial skill to dive through her bathtub's surface into a lake.
• Liu Siting emerged from the dream drained and weak, then received breakfast and an institute newspaper announcing the game suspensions.

Ke Meng recovered from using Mirror Traversal, recorded his theories about the ability and Shadow Stream’s radio, and filmed a video with the dangerous Ding-Ding Bell to raise his Resistance. At the Investigation Bureau, he proved the radio’s evil whispers could not sway him, prompting the Director to offer him other cases involving them.

• Ke Meng recalled Liu Siting’s use of Mirror Traversal, speculated that it might relate to quantum entanglement, and wrote his thoughts in his notebook.
• Ke Meng filmed White Sugar, Tangyuan, and the Sand-Salt Worm reacting to the Ding-Ding Bell, then uploaded the edited video for a two-million-viewer review mission.
• Ke Meng went to the Investigation Bureau and listened to the radio in the Holy Light Pool while rejecting its evil whispers and gaining Resistance.
• The Director learned that the radio’s whispers could not affect Ke Meng and asked whether he could investigate other cases involving evil whispers.
• Ke Meng showed interest when the Director mentioned the bureau’s other cases involving evil whispers.

Ke Meng exhausted the evil whispers from the Treasure Radio and joined the Investigation Bureau in reopening old cases involving mysterious voices. He set out with Old Man Ming and Investigation Group 49 to investigate a well where thirty-four children had disappeared, leaving the group on its way to the sealed site.

• Ke Meng listened to the Treasure Radio until it stopped increasing his Resistance, which reached 260, but he sensed that its hidden master was too perceptive for him to contact safely with Synesthesia.
• At Director Wu's request, the Investigation Bureau gathered retired officers and current investigators to review unsolved cases involving whispers, including the nineteen-year-old disappearance of thirty-four children.
• Old Man Ming recounted hearing the missing children whispering from a deep well and described the lasting nightmares and harm the experience had caused him.
• Ke Meng agreed to investigate the well, reassured Old Man Ming by demonstrating his Crystal Scalpel, and set off with him.
• Luo Yuan, Doctor Liang, and Cheng Le joined Ke Meng's group as they drove toward the sealed-off site in a district of Whale City.

Ke Meng entered a sealed woodland area to investigate a well that had driven Old Man Ming away, then resisted its illusions and uncovered its true appearance. The well's projections vanished before Ke Meng could draw out more of its power.

• Old Man Ming led Ke Meng and his teammates to the Lost Way Stele, where Ke Meng left White Sugar to watch over him before crossing the boundary.
• Ke Meng used his resistance to overcome the stele's disorientation and walked through a tree that blocked the path from his teammates' perspective.
• Near the well, Ke Meng heard children pleading for help and saw their illusory heads filling it.
• Ke Meng rejected the children's pleas, recognized them as projections of the well's will, and endured its mental attack without faltering.
• The illusory children vanished, revealing an empty, dry well filled with leaves and dust.

Ke Meng repeatedly provoked the haunted well to gain resistance, then descended into it and endured its screams without harm. Luo Yuan and the rapid-response unit found Ke Meng still safe and recognized him as a monster.

• Ke Meng gave his teammates the Rational Transcript and repeatedly rang the Ding-Ding Bell, provoking the well's phantom children and gaining three points of resistance.
• When a ghost child climbed out to attack Ke Meng, he cut off its hand with the Crystal Knife, silencing the children.
• Ke Meng called the rapid-response unit for a rope and rappelled into the dry well, where the phantom children bit him without hurting him.
• Ke Meng rang the bell underground, prompting the well to unleash powerful screams that he resisted while gaining more resistance.
• Luo Yuan and the rapid-response unit used the Rational Transcript to endure the screaming, then approached the well and saw Ke Meng unharmed.

Ke Meng used Synesthesia at the Screaming Well and discovered that a man had repeatedly sacrificed children there to gain power through whistling sounds. He left with a lead on the suspect, and Old Man Ming offered to draw him.

• Ke Meng endured the Screaming Well's screams, raised his Resistance, and used Spirit Fruits to sharpen his Synesthesia.
• Ke Meng saw a memory from seven years earlier in which a man sacrificed children at the well and prayed for power, eventually mastering the whistling sound.
• Ke Meng inferred that the man had committed many such crimes, including bringing children to the well over the years.
• Ke Meng told Luo Yuan that they had a lead and needed an expert to draw the suspect.
• Old Man Ming questioned Ke Meng about the man and offered to sketch him himself.

Ke Meng and the Investigation Bureau captured Zhuang Jingyu, uncovered his outdated plan for trafficking children and organs, and dismantled his remaining operations. Meanwhile, Ke Meng’s bell-review video spread online, alarming viewers with a mysterious sense of danger.

• Old Man Ming identified Zhuang Jingyu, and the police learned that he had returned to Whale City for hospital treatment.
• Director Lei used a mirror to capture Zhuang Jingyu, and Ke Meng carried it back to the Investigation Bureau without suffering its side effects.
• Ke Meng resisted Zhuang Jingyu’s supernatural shriek during interrogation, then suggested using the Freedom Dance for a second round of questioning.
• The Investigation Bureau learned that Zhuang Jingyu had once arranged to infiltrate the Koi Continent and dismantled his remaining child- and organ-trafficking operations.
• Viewers shared Ke Meng’s bell-review video, experiencing a sense of impending danger whenever he rang the bell.

Ke Meng’s video of the Ding-Ding Bell triggered a worldwide sense of danger, causing criminals to turn themselves in and prompting the Investigation Bureau to assess its impact. After learning how widely the video had spread, Ke Meng discovered his mission was complete and his Resistance had risen to 330.

• Criminals who watched Ke Meng’s bell video felt intense danger, and soldiers arrested a trafficker and a surgeon while criminals elsewhere grew paranoid.
• A young black man returned stolen money to a convenience store after the bell’s effect made him fear the police, and people across Koi Continent began turning themselves in.
• Three S-Class members discussed the surge in self-surrenders, then read a report showing the bell affected criminals and noncriminals around the world.
• Director Lei told Ke Meng about the incident, and Ke Meng checked his video as its views climbed to nineteen million.
• Ke Meng’s mission was marked complete, raising his Resistance by 50 points to 330.

Ke Meng turned R'lyeh’s max-level sea creatures into Cthulhu followers, discovering that they went mad when exposed to his presence. He recreated several as Black Ghost Apostles and sent them out to gather sacrifices, while Orange Star’s leadership continued searching for traitors among the players.

• Ke Meng made R'lyeh’s sea creatures followers and hypnotized them so he could remove the chaotic information from their minds.
• The creatures went mad again when they sensed Ke Meng’s presence, so he harvested several souls and reinstalled them in their battered bodies, creating new apostles.
• The reconstructed sea creatures worshiped Ke Meng, who commanded them to leave R'lyeh and find suitable sacrifices.
• Orange Star’s leadership ordered players in the Third Main City to log off in batches and sent psychologists to examine them, but most appeared mentally normal.

Tu Ke'aisi was forcibly disconnected from World after refusing orders to return to the city, while the Black Ghosts used new players and quests to spread Cthulhuism. A group of player followers began a ritual summoning Cthulhu, and Ke Meng answered their call from R'lyeh.

• Tu Ke'aisi rejected the commander's order to log out, insisting that the restriction was not freedom, and was forcibly disconnected from the game.
• Orange Star's leadership suspended veteran players' access, while the Black Ghosts secretly recruited newcomers through carefully designed quests and planted suggestions of faith.
• A group of players gathered in a level-30 area, formed a Magic Circle targeting Cthulhu, and began a sacrifice ritual.
• The ritual participants received system warnings that an unknown being had affected them and that they were experiencing fear.
• In R'lyeh, Ke Meng closed his scarlet eyes and responded to the distant summons, asking who was calling him.

Cultivation Without All-Nighters and the other players offered Ke Meng a jar of Unknown Repair Liquid, hoping to gain the ability to return to the game after being logged out. Ke Meng examined the liquid’s changing effects and went to the Investigation Bureau to test its repair ability on a damaged Body Enlargement Lamp.

• Cultivation Without All-Nighters performed a ritual and offered a jar of Unknown Repair Liquid to Cthulhu on behalf of the players.
• Ke Meng received the offering and realized he had no way to grant the players’ request to log back into the game.
• Tangyuan brought Ke Meng the jar, and Ke Meng learned that its liquid changed its perceptual effects whenever it was unsealed.
• Ke Meng called Director Lei, who arranged a test with a damaged Body Enlargement Lamp at the Investigation Bureau.
• Ke Meng met Director Lei on the fifth basement level, where Director Lei showed him the rusty lamp.

Ke Meng used Repair Liquid to restore Director Lei’s Size-Changing Lamp, then tested its enlargement function on Big-Faced Cat. The lamp’s appraisal revealed a dangerous connection to the Dark Forces, while Ke Meng discovered that enlarging Big-Faced Cat made it easier to use its food-eliminating ability.

• Director Lei showed Ke Meng the Size-Changing Lamp and explained that repeated use darkened its filament until it could no longer shine.
• Ke Meng opened the Repair Liquid Jar, startling Director Lei with its screams and strange light before applying the glowing liquid to the lamp’s bulb.
• The Repair Liquid removed the filament’s black coating, and Director Lei tested the repaired lamp by enlarging a Transformation Light Stick.
• Ke Meng used the Size-Changing Lamp to double Big-Faced Cat’s size, and its appraisal warned that the lamp might find a new lease on life in the hands of the Dark Forces.
• Ke Meng pushed a Crystal Fish into Big-Faced Cat’s enlarged mouth and found that its food-eliminating ability worked more conveniently at that size.

Ke Meng exchanged contribution points for the Size-Changing Lamp and chose a powerful crystal creature to guard his home. He also received the Mysterious Gunblade and read test records showing that its pistol form could neutralize many attacks, though not the strongest ones.

• Director Lei helped Ke Meng register the Size-Changing Lamp under his name and warned him to destroy it if it ever threatened to aid the Dark Forces.
• The Investigation Bureau sent Ke Meng a nationwide dossier of crystal creatures, including a classified level-one object.
• Ke Meng chose a level-three crystal boulder that could become a humanoid fighter and use its Crystal Freezing Domain to restrain enemies.
• Director Lei arranged for the crystal creature to be transferred and deducted the cost of its included Mysterious Gunblade from Ke Meng's contribution points.
• Ke Meng read the gunblade's test records and learned that its pistol form could intercept attacks on a causal level, but could fail against attacks of extreme strength.

The Shadow Stream learned that Liaison Eagle had been captured and secretly arranged for Teacher Liang to return to Whale City. Meanwhile, Crystal arrived at Ke Meng’s home, accepted him as its master, and began establishing a territory across his estate.

• The Shadow Stream’s Deacon ordered Liaisons nationwide to revise their plans and lie low after Eagle’s capture exposed their information.
• Huo Zhiqi passed a coded message through a language teacher, who arranged to transfer Teacher Liang back to Whale City.
• Ke Meng received Crystal and a Class 3 anomalous firearm at his villa.
• Crystal introduced itself, accepted Ke Meng as its master, and formed a voluntary bond with him.
• Crystal scattered tiny crystals across Ke Meng’s estate to establish its home territory, while Ke Meng focused on the firearm.

Ke Meng tested the Mysterious Gunblade’s defensive functions with the Crystal Person and Tangyuan, while the Crystal Person changed into a slender, clothed girl. The Crystal Person survived Tangyuan’s powerful attacks unharmed, demonstrating the strength of their Class Three defenses.

• Ke Meng asked the Crystal Person to demonstrate the handgun, and they transformed from a crystal rock into their humanoid form.
• The Crystal Person reshaped their body into a slender girl wearing clothes, explaining that they had once modeled their appearance after male bodyguards for a previous master's wife.
• Ke Meng asked the Crystal Person to test the handgun’s interception ability against Tangyuan’s physical attacks.
• Tangyuan repeatedly charged, but the Crystal Person’s shots stopped him with invisible impacts before he could land a blow.
• The Crystal Person’s dagger failed to pierce Tangyuan’s dense fur, and Tangyuan knocked them into a crater with a slap.
• The Crystal Person climbed out unharmed, and Ke Meng recognized their defense as impressive for a Class Three object.

Ke Meng discovered that Crystal Girl could eat Level-Up Fish, which strengthened her body and healed her wounds. After learning the Mysterious Gunblade’s side effect, he watched as Crystal Girl ate her fiftieth fish and began to change.

• Tangyuan struck Crystal Girl with Dog-Hair Needles, and Ke Meng found that her wounds would heal on their own within about an hour.
• Ke Meng brought out a tank of Level-Up Fish, and Crystal Girl felt an unfamiliar appetite and caught one.
• Crystal Girl bit through and ate the Crystal Fish, discovering that it melted in her mouth and strengthened her body.
• Crystal Girl ate several more fish, and her needle wounds healed while her strength increased.
• Ke Meng used Big-Faced Cat to learn that the Mysterious Gunblade made its user increasingly attached to blades and firearms and hostile toward anyone who took it away.
• Crystal Girl reached her fiftieth Level-Up Fish, and new changes began to appear in her body.

Crystal Girl gained immense strength by eating ninety-nine Crystal Fish and fell asleep to digest her new power, while Ke Meng tested the Shape-Changing Lamp on his pets and prepared a video featuring her transformation. After uploading it, Ke Meng watched a viral compilation showing people around the world reacting fearfully to the Ding-Ding Bell.

• Crystal Girl ate ninety-nine Crystal Fish, grew much stronger, and turned into a stone to sleep while she digested her power.
• Ke Meng used the Shape-Changing Lamp on the Sand-Salt Worm, Tangyuan, White Sugar, and Big-Faced Cat, discovering the enlarged cat could swallow larger meat.
• Ke Meng edited footage of Crystal Girl transforming and asked the Investigation Bureau for permission to post a review video about her and her weapon.
• Ke Meng learned the Koi Continent's Network Monitor could block rule-breaking content, then accepted a system mission and uploaded his video.
• Ke Meng watched a viral compilation of people reacting to the Ding-Ding Bell, including viewers who panicked, children who rejected homework, couples asking to break up, and criminals turning themselves in.