Chapter Summaries

After Nina and Nara agreed to meet Ke Meng at Redstone Plateau, he resolved to strengthen himself and planned to poison the Orange Star players’ mining operation. He prepared a distant resurrection point and arrived at the factory camp disguised as a player.

• Nina and Nara agreed to meet Ke Meng at Redstone Plateau in three days, leaving him convinced that the Orange Star players had little chance against them.
• Ke Meng returned to Blue Star, reflected on his goals, and resolved to keep leveling while preparing to strike at the players.
• Ke Meng traveled to Redstone Plateau and surveyed the players’ vast redstone mining and alchemical production operation.
• Ke Meng planned to poison the production base, expecting the disruption to draw top-tier players back and give him a chance to defeat them.
• Ke Meng buried a Remote Resurrection Item five thousand kilometers away, then appeared at the factory camp disguised as an Orange Star player on the third evening.

Nara and her sister lured Orange Star’s expert players from Spirit Butterfly Snowfield to Redstone Plateau with shared hallucinations. Ke Meng revealed himself to the gathered players and began his revenge by taking poison as a level 800 player confronted him.

• Nara secretly sent mental pollution to level 800 players, making them hallucinate that Poison Wolf A Meng was poisoning Redstone Plateau.
• Colin and other players checked with the Redstone Plateau supervisor, then returned there after sensing danger.
• The twins appeared near an alchemy factory as Ke Meng approached the crowd under a disguise.
• Ke Meng removed his Faceless Mask, declared that he had come for revenge, and unleashed his spirituality across the area.
• A level 800 player confronted Ke Meng and trapped him in a gravity field, while Ke Meng placed a dose of poison in his mouth.

Ke Meng sacrificed his life to create A Meng Poison, a meme-transmitted toxin that infected players across the Redstone Plateau and turned them into grotesque masses. After resurrecting, he named the poison and discovered that the mass deaths had rapidly restored his lost level and caused chaos at the players’ main city.

• Ke Meng bit through his self-made poison, triggering a mutation that killed him and created a new poison at the cost of all his health.
• Colin and the other players rushed Ke Meng, but the poison infected them and players across the Redstone Plateau, mutating many into grotesque flesh masses.
• Nara and Nina examined the poison’s victims and confirmed that their own resistance protected them from infection.
• Ke Meng resurrected in a buried coffin, named the new toxin A Meng Poison, and learned that knowing his name could spread it to intelligent beings within the world.
• Ke Meng received Nara’s pictures of the massacre and the overcrowded respawn point, while his level rose rapidly from the kills.

Ke Meng confirmed that A Meng Poison had stopped after killing players who knew his name, then observed the chaos at Gray Castle's Respawn Point as Orange Star’s guild leaders restored order. While eating noodles, he overheard Colin complain about his bad luck and learned about the game’s Icy Slime Slick Noodles.

• Ke Meng saw that A Meng Poison had raised his level to 650 before his experience stopped increasing, and he decided players could no longer disrupt his leveling while he was not using the skill.
• Ke Meng teleported to Gray Castle’s main city and used Real-time Synesthesia to observe a violent brawl at the Respawn Point among newly revived players.
• Orange Star’s guild leaders used their authority to suppress the fighting and ordered players to return to their assigned jobs as part of the effort to kill A Meng.
• Ke Meng ate in a noodle shop and watched the owner prepare Icy Slime Slick Noodles with Ice Slime, Wyvern broth, and a Wyvern egg.
• Hardcore Player Colin entered the shop, ordered Icy Slime Slick Noodles, and began talking about A Meng after eating half his bowl.

Ke Meng concealed his identity while listening to players discuss A Meng Poison and eating restorative slime ramen. On Orange Star, researchers linked the poison’s spread to knowledge of A Meng’s name, but had not yet established the exact transmission method.

• Ke Meng overheard Colin and an antlered Druid player discuss how A Meng Poison killed players and why they needed to raise their resistances before confronting A Meng again.
• Ke Meng ate slime ramen with ice slime and wyvern egg, discovering that it reduced mental pollution while restoring vitality and increasing strength.
• After the players left, Ke Meng ordered several more varieties of slime ramen.
• Scientists at the Scientific Research General Institute reported that A Meng Poison had affected at least forty percent of players and developed a model connecting its damage to distance.
• Professor Li Shen proposed that the poison spread memetically through A Meng’s username, and researchers found that none of the hundreds of millions of unaffected players knew the name A Meng.

Ke Meng unleashed A Meng Poison on Gray Castle again, killing players and rapidly gaining levels. He reached level 684, but realized the city would soon stop providing worthwhile experience.

• The Orange Star People resumed potion production and reorganized player spacing after A Meng Poison consumed a large share of their reserves.
• Ke Meng decided to trigger A Meng Poison again, using Resurrection Items to choose where he would respawn.
• Ke Meng surveyed Gray Castle and judged its high-level players to be valuable targets, though Wild Monsters gave far more experience.
• Ke Meng activated A Meng Poison in a restroom, killing players throughout the city and spreading panic among survivors.
• Ke Meng gained several months' worth of experience and reached level 684, then estimated he could exploit the city only once or twice more.

Ke Meng repeatedly used his poison to kill Orange Star players and raised his level to 705 before the survivors scattered and fled. After learning that Nara and Nina could not gather the players again, he realized the twins considered him an Evil God Avatar backed by Cthulhu.

• Ke Meng sacrificed his life in the main city again, killed more players, and reached level 695 as many logged off to avoid the poison.
• Ke Meng teleported to the Spirit Butterfly Snowfield and killed the high-level players grinding there.
• Ke Meng returned to the main city and struck the high-level players again while they were unable to log out during combat.
• The surviving players fled to distant areas, and Ke Meng raised his level past 700 to 705 before stopping.
• Ke Meng asked Nara and Nina whether they could gather the players again, but they said they could not.
• Ke Meng sensed that Nara and Nina viewed him as an Evil God Avatar backed by Cthulhu, like themselves.

Ke Meng reached level 740 by spreading A Meng Poison among high-level wild monsters, then logged off after ten days awake and slept. In his dream, Black Ghost reported that the followers had changed their plans, and Ke Meng ordered him to find the First Playthrough Boss and learn the truth before hearing the name A Meng in the joint dream.

• Ke Meng developed Mental Pollution to make wild monsters remember the name A Meng, then used A Meng Poison to kill them and rose to level 740.
• After ten days without sleep, Ke Meng logged off, removed his memories, and fell asleep.
• In his dream, Black Ghost reported that the adventurers were searching for the First Playthrough Boss and that the followers planned to help Orange Star Players level up while also acting independently.
• Ke Meng told Black Ghost to find the First Playthrough Boss and ask for the truth.
• Ke Meng used Synesthesia on the joint dream and heard the name A Meng.

Ke Meng learned that the forbidden name A Meng was his own, and recovered the memories he had removed from himself. Back in reality, he confirmed he was safe and welcomed a new day in Whale City.

• Ke Meng heard Colin and the antlered woman discuss forbidden zones where people heard the name A Meng and suffered a terrifying poison infection.
• Ke Meng used Cthulhu's power to perform Synesthesia and saw a young man in a helmet with needle tubes, recognizing him as himself before waking in reality.
• Tangyuan retrieved Ke Meng's memory bottle, and Ke Meng recovered memories he had removed many times before.
• Ke Meng checked his resistance at 130,000 points and concluded that Cthulhu had not harmed him.
• Ke Meng opened the curtains, greeted Mrs. Chen, and watched the people of Whale City begin their day.

Ke Meng discovered that Cthulhu remained asleep beneath the ancient god seal, despite the urge to break it flowing through his dreams. He continued leveling up in the game and contacted Nara, who refused to explain what she and her sister did after logging out.

• Ke Meng entered Cthulhu’s dream, found that he could control the sealed body, and used Synesthesia to learn that the sleeping god’s persistent thought was to break the ancient god seal.
• Ke Meng logged out of the dream, returned to the virtual game, and decided to resist the suggestion to unseal Cthulhu while leveling up and spreading mental pollution.
• Ke Meng spent several days traveling and farming high-level wild monsters, eventually reaching level 800 before the twins came online a month later.
• Ke Meng asked Nara which elder god had sealed Cthulhu, but withdrew his offer of a favor and gave up when she refused to answer.
• Nara refused to tell Ke Meng what she and her sister did after logging out, and Ke Meng reflected that the twins’ power could distort history but could not overturn the world’s underlying foundation.

Nara and Nina explained how they had studied players and entered the game, then gave Ke Meng advice on leveling and increasing resistance. The twins continued investigating the New Game Plus storyline and their own fated deaths, hoping to use players’ potential to escape them.

• Nara and Nina recounted how they investigated adventurers, learned about Orange Star’s virtual game, and built Game Pods to enter it.
• The twins discussed Ke Meng’s link to Cthulhu and his role as the key variable in the hidden New Game Plus storyline.
• Ke Meng asked Nara and Nina for better ways to level up and raise his resistance, and they suggested farming monsters and training in a cauldron above Gray Castle.
• Nara and Nina told Ke Meng that their advice counted as a favor, then returned to studying adventurers.
• The twins considered taking over players’ bodies so they could use players’ limitless potential to escape their destined deaths.

Ke Meng reached level 900 by poisoning Wild Monsters and gathered legendary equipment while Orange Star players began looting the corpses he left behind. He then used a Teleportation Stone from Nara and Nina to prepare to travel to the Sky Island above Gray Castle.

• Ke Meng upgraded his equipment and raised his physical and magic resistance enough to roam max-level areas safely.
• Ke Meng repeatedly activated A Meng Poison, claimed the level 900 Wild Monsters' experience, and reached level 900.
• Orange Star scouts were killed when A Meng Poison struck, while teams entered the polluted lands to loot the abandoned corpses.
• Orange Star players formed Corpse Looters teams, and the Research Institute allocated resources to collecting equipment and materials after Ke Meng's poison attacks.
• Ke Meng headed to the forbidden zone above Gray Castle and prepared to use Nara and Nina's Teleportation Stone to reach the Sky Island.

Ke Meng used Nina’s Teleportation Stone to reach the Sky Island and followed its coordinates through a ruined ancient city. Dust figures began copying his movements and trailing him, so he burned them away as he continued toward the stone’s destination.

• Nina gave Ke Meng a Teleportation Stone that pointed toward the Sky Island, then vanished with her companion.
• Ke Meng established a Teleportation Main Marker at his villa and later crushed Nina’s stone to travel through the void.
• Ke Meng arrived on the Sky Island, where he found an abandoned city beneath an open starry sky.
• Dust stirred by Ke Meng’s footsteps formed human-shaped figures that followed him through the ruins.
• Ke Meng used fire magic to burn away the figures, then kept following the stone’s coordinates as more dust figures gathered behind him.

Ke Meng found the Mystery Cooking Pot in a ruined house in Dust City and learned that it could train resistance. After the clock tolled a second time and the city transformed beneath a blood-red sky, max-level dust figures attacked him, leaving him injured as he tried to recover.

• Ke Meng reached the broken-clock tower, burned away the dust figures following him, and hurried to the house marked by the Teleportation Stone.
• Ke Meng found the silver-white Mystery Cooking Pot, identified its resistance-training function, and stored it in his Spatial Backpack.
• The clock tolled again, turning the sky red and restoring Dust City as max-level dust figures began attacking Ke Meng.
• Ke Meng teleported outside after a dust figure pierced his belly, then took another strike that reduced his health to one-third.
• Ke Meng crushed a bottle of medicine and used his magic power to guide it into his skin to restore his health.

Ke Meng tried to escape the Dust Men after they overwhelmed him, but the creatures pursued him even through death and teleportation. He survived by mastering Mirror Traversal and evading them for twelve hours, then logged off to rest.

• Ke Meng failed to kill the Dust Men with fire and used A Meng Poison, sacrificing himself when his health was restored to full.
• A Dust Man followed Ke Meng into his resurrection coffin, and his poison proved too weak to kill it.
• Ke Meng used a Teleportation Stone and then learned Mirror Traversal, but the Dust Men continued to pursue him.
• Ke Meng asked Nara how to break the curse, and she told him to kill the Dust Men, which he could not yet do.
• Ke Meng traveled between two bodies of water for twelve hours until the Dust Men vanished, then logged off to sleep.

Ke Meng studied the principles of the Shadow-Grasping Hand by examining the two-dimensional shadow creatures imprisoned in his Storage Scarf. He confirmed that they were intelligent two-dimensional beings and continued investigating how the skill might help him face the strange dust creature in the Game World.

• In his dream, Ke Meng studied the evil god's knowledge and realized he could not yet learn the Shadow-Grasping Hand there.
• After waking himself with Synesthesia, Ke Meng released Mi Jingyun and Wen Yushan from the Storage Scarf and placed their shadows into ants.
• Ke Meng added the word-eating shadow swimming fish to the glass box, and the two women communicated with him by moving their antennae.
• Ke Meng repeatedly used the Shadow-Grasping Hand to test the shadow creatures, observing each change with his spirituality.
• Ke Meng concluded that shadow creatures were intelligent two-dimensional life and wondered whether souls, including his own, might also be two-dimensional.

Ke Meng studied the Shadow-Grasping Hand until he understood how it borrowed energy from the void, then brought his findings back to the game and learned several new skills. As he began fighting with the Shadow-Grasping Hand, the curse attacked him again on the Lonely Island.

• Ke Meng tested shadow exchanges with insects and other targets, then recorded his observations while continuing his research at home.
• Ke Meng realized the Shadow-Grasping Hand borrowed energy from the void and used the energy released by dimensional exchange to repay it.
• On the fourteenth day, Ke Meng returned to the game and used his knowledge to learn Iceblood Burst, Temperature Perception, Localized Cooling, and the Shadow-Grasping Hand.
• Ke Meng grasped a withered plant's shadow from a distance, spending most of his mana points to do so.
• A dust figure with A Meng's face attacked Ke Meng from behind beneath the blood-red sky, stabbing his abdomen with its arms.
• Ke Meng drank red and blue potions to restore his health and mana, then used the Shadow-Grasping Hand on the dust arms.

Ke Meng used his Shadow-Grasping Hand to force the humanoid dust creatures’ shadows into one creature, making it suffer until the curse’s active period ended. He collected the legendary-quality dust left behind and considered using it in the Mystery Cooking Pot.

• Ke Meng discovered that the humanoid dust creatures were evolved beings formed from fused shadows and dust.
• As the creatures stabbed through his abdomen, Ke Meng pulled out their shadows and stuffed them into another creature, causing its many voices to scream in agony.
• Ke Meng continued adding shadows until he heard 993 voices, while taunting the creature with the question of what one thousand minus seven equaled.
• The blood-red period ended, and the agonized creature vanished back to Sky Island, leaving Ke Meng free of the curse for the moment.
• Ke Meng collected 110,000 grains of legendary-quality dust and considered using them as ingredients in the Mystery Cooking Pot.

Ke Meng used the Mystery Cooking Pot to raise his Resistance, then spent months fighting humanoid dust and improving his gear until he reached level 950 and could withstand their attacks. He ended with 1.4 million Physical and Magic Resistance, while still aiming to grow stronger with better equipment.

• Ke Meng entered the Mystery Cooking Pot and gained a thousand base Resistance after twelve hours of tempering.
• When blood-red time arrived, Ke Meng pulled humanoid dust creatures out of his body and turned them into afflicted creatures, eventually trapping 6,171 in one night.
• Ke Meng repeatedly logged out to complete a video task, then returned to keep raising his Resistance and grinding monsters for equipment.
• Over five months, Ke Meng's base Resistance climbed past 130,000 before further training and equipment pushed it to 280,000.
• Ke Meng reached level 950 and equipped legendary tank gear that multiplied his stats fivefold, giving him 1.4 million Physical and Magic Resistance.
• A Dust Man's attack failed to pierce Ke Meng's flesh and dealt 0 damage.

Ke Meng returned to the city to buy rare cooking ingredients while a Level 999 humanoid dust failed to hurt him, astonishing nearby players. After he left the marketplace, Copper-Mixing Warlock learned that Ke Meng was the taboo figure A Meng, whose name Orange Star residents were forbidden to discuss.

• Ke Meng considered equipment enhancement but decided his current gear was sufficient, then left the wilderness and entered the city with the humanoid dust following him.
• Players watched as the Level 999 humanoid dust dealt Ke Meng zero damage, and another player's attack on the monster also struck Ke Meng without harming him.
• Ke Meng bought uncommon ingredients from marketplace sellers and quietly advised Copper-Mixing Warlock to stock up on potions.
• After Ke Meng left, a nearby stallholder recognized him but refused to say his name, and Copper-Mixing Warlock learned that A Meng was a taboo figure whose name could not be discussed.