Chapter Summaries

Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan were roped into singing “Free Flying” with the music teacher, then shared their investigation findings with Su Fengzi and the others. They concluded they had to find a way to stop the school’s assimilation before it spread, and planned to investigate the Laboratory Building before Sunday’s exam.

• The music teacher insisted that Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan sit beside her, then recognized Pei Yanchuan as a kindred spirit when he sang along to “Free Flying.”
• The music teacher made Pei Yanchuan sing with her for nearly the entire class, leaving him hoarse afterward.
• Ye Chu told Su Fengzi, Lu Rui, and the others that surviving thirty days would not clear the game because ordinary people would be assimilated around then.
• Pei Yanchuan explained that the boss in the Laboratory Building was a monster covered in yellow eyeballs and might be using the rules to turn students into followers.
• Pei Yanchuan revealed that the boss had noticed Su Fengzi using his Seer ability and caused him a backlash, so Ye Chu said they should avoid using the ability recklessly.
• Ye Chu proposed investigating the Laboratory Building and making use of Sunday’s exam as a fallback, while Su Fengzi hoped they could clear the game before the exam.

Ye Chu devised a plan for Wu You, Lu Rui, Pei Yanchuan, and Su Fengzi to search the Laboratory Building while he handled the teachers. During the search, Lu Rui and Su Fengzi realized that something unseen had been holding their hands.

• The math teacher introduced three students with pale faces and red pupils, then announced that the next exam would cover the humanities.
• Ye Chu told Wu You and Lu Rui that they had to finish the fight Friday night, and assigned them and Fengzi and Pei to search the Laboratory Building while he watched the teachers.
• Su Fengzi had a brief vision of Ye Chu, dismissed it as a hallucination, and Pei Yanchuan changed the cleaning roster to list himself and Auntie Su.
• On Friday, Pei Yanchuan, Su Fengzi, Wu You, and Lu Rui entered the Laboratory Building and found a chilling corridor with strange paintings and red liquid pouring from a faucet as black tentacles emerged.
• Lu Rui mistook Su Fengzi for an intruder, then confirmed his identity with her drawings; after Pei Yanchuan clarified the order of the group, Su Fengzi realized both his hands had been holding someone’s hand too.

Ye Chu killed the Dormitory Matron, took over as dormitory warden, and summoned a powerful being while his companions suffered illusions in the Laboratory Building. Su Fengzi realized Ye Chu had likely lured the boss away, leaving the group to understand that he had gone alone to steal its core.

• Su Fengzi found himself surrounded by faceless monsters and realized that Ye Chu might have tricked the group.
• Ye Chu returned to the dormitory and killed the Dormitory Matron with his Poison Swamp skill.
• Ye Chu became the new dormitory warden and discovered that the warden held supreme authority inside the building.
• Ye Chu used his blood to perform a summoning ritual and sensed a powerful force approaching.
• Pei Yanchuan woke Su Fengzi from an illusion that had also affected Wu You and Lu Rui.
• Su Fengzi concluded that Ye Chu had lured away the boss and gone alone to steal its core.

Ye Chu lured the yellow-eyed monster into the dormitory and used the building’s rules to turn it into a student and restrain it. Pei Yanchuan found a handbook explaining how the monster had altered the school’s rules, and the chapter ended with Ye Chu leading the bound monster as Su Fengzi and the others retched.

• Ye Chu used his blood to summon the yellow-eyed monster, then forbade it from entering the dormitory until he permitted it.
• When the monster reached his room, Ye Chu found he could not establish rules that directly targeted it, so he classified everyone in the room as dorm residents and all dorm residents as students.
• Ye Chu ordered that students could not hit the Dormitory Supervisor, leaving the monster unable to attack him.
• Pei Yanchuan found a handbook showing that the monster had taken over a legitimate school and changed some of its rules.
• Pei Yanchuan brought the handbook to the dormitory, where he found Ye Chu leading the silenced, bound monster; Su Fengzi and the others retched at its sight.

After clearing the campus challenge, Ye Chu reunited with his teammates, who scolded him for taking risks alone before they celebrated together. Lu Rui revealed that Ye Chu’s old online advice had helped her leave a teaching job she disliked, and the chapter ended with the five friends raising a toast.

• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan helped the students revise the rules, while the group locked the yellow-eyed monster in an isolated dorm room.
• Xiao Xiao and Zhang Lian said goodbye to the others as the students left the school, and the players received confirmation that they had cleared the challenge.
• Ye Chu returned to his room and found Wu You, Su Fengzi, Lu Rui, and Pei Yanchuan waiting; they confronted him for going solo in the Instance and then eased their worries.
• While cooking with Ye Chu, Lu Rui explained that an online comment had encouraged her to quit teaching, though she did not tell him that he had written it.
• Pei Yanchuan bought drinks to celebrate, and the five friends laughed together and clinked their glasses.

After getting drunk at the victory feast, Ye Chu gave Pei Yanchuan advice about his hair and insisted Pei Yanchuan stay with him. The chapter ended with Ye Chu ordering Pei Yanchuan into bed.

• Ye Chu became tipsy after a few sips of liquor and told Pei Yanchuan that shorter hair suited him better.
• Lu Rui suggested Pei Yanchuan take Ye Chu upstairs to rest, but Ye Chu insisted he was sober and could still drink.
• Pei Yanchuan led Ye Chu to his room, where Ye Chu refused to go inside because something hurt.
• Ye Chu demanded Pei Yanchuan stay with him, pulled him into the room, and went to bed.
• When Pei Yanchuan tried to leave, Ye Chu stopped him and ordered him to get into bed.

Pei Yanchuan cared for drunk Ye Chu overnight and learned that Ye Chu felt overlooked by his parents in favor of his older brother. The next morning, Pei Yanchuan accidentally wrecked the kitchen while making breakfast, and Wu You bought a border collie named Wu Lü to keep at the Rest House.

• Drunk Ye Chu climbed into Pei Yanchuan's bed, asked to be praised, and revealed that he wanted his parents to notice him as much as his older brother.
• Pei Yanchuan comforted Ye Chu until he fell asleep, then confessed that he liked him while Ye Chu slept.
• Ye Chu woke with no memory of the night before and asked Pei Yanchuan to make noodles, but Pei Yanchuan caused an explosion in the kitchen.
• Su Fengzi and Lu Rui saw the ruined kitchen, while Wu You discovered the system's pet section and decided to buy a dog.
• Wu You summoned a border collie named Wu Lü, who rejected being her doggy son but accepted being her little brother; she explained that time in the Rest House paused during instances.

Ye Chu entered the survival instance “Run for Time,” where ordinary people were hunted and oppressed by person-eaters. After witnessing a man executed in the street, he approached the man’s grieving younger brother and tried to earn the boy’s trust.

• Ye Chu and his teammates ate breakfast before the system transported them into the “Run for Time” instance.
• The system identified Ye Chu as an ordinary person and explained that he had to evade person-eaters and survive for more than a week.
• Ye Chu watched a military officer accuse a man of stealing vegetable leaves, then saw a wealthy person-eater shoot the man dead as his younger brother pleaded for him.
• The boy dragged his brother’s body into an alley, and Ye Chu followed after the crowd dispersed.
• Ye Chu told the wary boy he would not hurt him and pointed out that the boy had already lost everything.

Ye Chu stayed with Xiao Chuan, a boy living under a system where vegetarians were enslaved and eaten by cannibals, and considered overthrowing its laws. The next morning, he found Youyou inside a muddy burlap sack.

• Ye Chu offered Xiao Chuan revenge in exchange for a place to stay, and Xiao Chuan agreed.
• Ye Chu helped Xiao Chuan bury his brother and spent the night in the boy’s shack.
• Xiao Chuan explained that vegetarians had lived as food for cannibals for generations, while Ye Chu questioned why they did not fight back.
• Ye Chu decided that overthrowing the system was the best solution, though the group had only a week to survive the Instance.
• The next morning, Ye Chu found Youyou in a burlap sack in the alley.

Ye Chu rescued Wu You after Person-Eaters chased and captured her when her phone rang, and learned that the teammates’ phones could attract the hunters. After contacting Pei Yanchuan, who was stranded beneath an unknown bridge, Wu You realized his pointed canine teeth might help him pass as a Person-Eater.

• Wu You reunited with Ye Chu and explained that her phone rang in the street, drawing Person-Eaters who captured her before she escaped from their vehicle.
• Ye Chu concluded that the phones’ ringtones attracted Person-Eaters and called the number that had contacted Wu You, despite the risk.
• Pei Yanchuan answered from beneath a bridge, apologized to Wu You, and admitted he could not identify his location.
• Ye Chu tried to guide Pei Yanchuan toward them, but neither could identify the Cannibal Hospital or give him clear directions.
• Wu You pointed out that Pei Yanchuan’s sharp canine teeth resembled the Person-Eaters’, suggesting he might be able to blend in with them.

Pei Yanchuan tried to find the Cannibal Hospital while hiding his identity among the Person-Eaters. After a string of awkward remarks, he persuaded Wen Yan to drive him there, leaving with her and Shou Shou.

• Pei Yanchuan emerged into a park and watched a Person-Eater mistreat an Ordinary Person who served her.
• Pei Yanchuan asked Shou Shou for directions to the Cannibal Hospital, but learned the boy had never gone to a hospital and noticed that his skin felt corpse-cold.
• Wen Yan introduced herself and told Pei Yanchuan about Shou Shou's brain injury and difficulties making friends.
• Pei Yanchuan accidentally called Shou Shou fat and stupid, then asked Wen Yan for directions to the Cannibal Hospital.
• Pei Yanchuan claimed his older brother was sick, prompting Wen Yan to offer him a ride and call Shou Shou to leave.

Pei Yanchuan learned that Wen Yan could identify him as an Ordinary Person, then his phone call to Ye Chu disrupted Ye Chu and Wu You’s attempt to investigate. Ye Chu escaped a group of Person-Eaters but became trapped inside a stranger’s smart-locked house.

• Wen Yan gave Pei Yanchuan a phone and quietly told him to hide his identity better, revealing that she knew he was an Ordinary Person.
• Pei Yanchuan called Ye Chu, and the ringing phone drew five or six Person-Eaters toward Ye Chu and Wu You as they left the alley.
• Ye Chu and Wu You split up, and Ye Chu escaped his pursuers by hiding inside a nearby house.
• Ye Chu discovered the door was locked by a smart system, and a refined man emerged from the darkness with the remote.
• The man threatened to summon Person-Eaters unless Ye Chu stayed in his house, leaving Ye Chu trapped and wary.

Wu You and Pei Yanchuan searched for the missing Ye Chu while puzzling over how Pei Yanchuan had her number. Meanwhile, Ye Chu was trapped with Qi Yu, whose advances and deception provoked him until a crowd arrived at the door.

• Wu You lost the Person-Eaters chasing her, returned to the meeting spot, and found Pei Yanchuan instead of Ye Chu.
• Wu You and Pei Yanchuan worried about Ye Chu and realized Pei Yanchuan had Wu You's number even though she and Ye Chu had not shared theirs with him.
• Qi Yu introduced himself to Ye Chu, taunted him about resembling someone from a month earlier, and offered to let him go if Ye Chu kissed him.
• Ye Chu grabbed a remote and tried to open the door, but Qi Yu revealed it was not the key, so Ye Chu prepared to attack him with poison.
• A group of more than thirty people pounded on the door, and Ye Chu put away his poison, fearing they would drain his blood.

Ye Chu hid in Qi Yu’s storage room while more than thirty Person-Eaters gathered downstairs, then called Pei Yanchuan and warned him not to come. Pei Yanchuan ignored the danger, broke in through the window, and escaped with Ye Chu, while Qi Yu found the room empty and claimed the cat had run away.

• Ye Chu hid upstairs as Qi Yu let more than thirty Person-Eaters into his home.
• Qi Yu found Ye Chu in the storage room and kept him there, while Ye Chu discovered the windows would not open.
• Ye Chu called Pei Yanchuan, warned him about the Person-Eaters, and told him to contact Wu You, Su Fengzi, and Lu Rui.
• Pei Yanchuan pried open the storage room window, triggering an alarm, and jumped out with Ye Chu.
• Qi Yu found the open window and told the others that the cat had run away.

Pei Yanchuan reunited with Ye Chu after recklessly searching for him, and the two joined Wu You and Xiao Chuan at the boy’s home. After sharing the cramped room for the night, Pei Yanchuan woke with Ye Chu’s hand still in his.

• Pei Yanchuan found Ye Chu and apologized for ignoring his warning, while Ye Chu leaned against him and called him an idiot.
• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan returned to Xiao Chuan’s home, where Pei Yanchuan and Xiao Chuan bickered over their resemblance and the scarce food.
• Ye Chu settled the sleeping arrangements, sharing the floor with Pei Yanchuan while Wu You and Xiao Chuan took the bed.
• In the dark, Ye Chu rested his hand on Pei Yanchuan’s waist, and Pei Yanchuan held it as they fell asleep.
• Pei Yanchuan woke first and gently released Ye Chu’s hand.

Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, and Wu You reached the Cannibal Hospital checkpoint and learned they had to make a boy named Xiao Ming laugh. Xiao Ming explained that he refused to eat Ordinary People because he believed Person-Eaters would eventually pay for their past oppression, and Pei Yanchuan began trying to cheer him up.

• Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, and Wu You read the message requiring them to complete four city checkpoints by 7:00 p.m. or attract Person-Eaters in a citywide hunt.
• Ye Chu chose Cannibal Hospital as their first checkpoint, and the group avoided crowds on the way there.
• Ye Chu read the hospital challenge while Pei Yanchuan found a medical chart identifying Xiao Ming in Room 25; the three hid from a Hunter before heading upstairs.
• Wu You, Pei Yanchuan, and Ye Chu met Xiao Ming, who said he refused to eat Ordinary People and believed Person-Eaters would one day pay for having enslaved them.
• Pei Yanchuan told Xiao Ming he believed him, then called him a little squirt, making Xiao Ming protest that he was not one.

Ye Chu and the others completed the Cannibal Hospital task and received a Soul-Summoning Bell. They headed to Cannibal Park, where they found Su Fengzi after he escaped a pursuing Person-Eater.

• Xiao Ming said Pei Yanchuan going bald would make him happy, and Pei Yanchuan refused to shave his head.
• Ye Chu learned that Pei Yanchuan might be in a wolf’s sensitive phase, then comforted him by hugging him.
• Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, and Wu You received a Soul-Summoning Bell for completing the Cannibal Hospital task, bringing their progress to 1/4.
• Ye Chu chose Cannibal Park as their next destination, and Pei Yanchuan said he had come from there the previous day.
• Su Fengzi escaped a Person-Eater by leaping over the park railing, and Ye Chu’s group joined him.
• Su Fengzi mistook Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan’s closeness for romance until Ye Chu explained Pei Yanchuan’s sensitive phase.

Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan searched Cannibal Park for Xiaogang while avoiding a Person-Eater. After they found the crying girl, Pei Yanchuan used the park loudspeaker to threaten her mother into coming to the office, leaving Su Fengzi and Wu You to hear his bizarre announcement.

• Su Fengzi joined Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, and Wu You, and they received an Invisibility Cloak for completing the Cannibal Restaurant task.
• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan went to the Cannibal Park noticeboard, which assigned them to find Xiaogang and reunite her with her mother.
• A Person-Eater chased Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan, who hid together until it passed.
• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan found Xiaogang, and she asked them to help locate her mother.
• Pei Yanchuan took Xiaogang to the park loudspeaker and announced that her mother had five minutes to come or he would kill the hostage.

Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan joined Lu Rui, Wu You, and Su Fengzi at the school to help Xiao Mei finish her exam while avoiding a Person-Eater. They returned the papers just before time ran out, with Ye Chu answering the final question about Person-Eaters and Ordinary Persons with “Equality.”

• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan returned with a Soul-Summoning Bell, bringing the group’s task progress to 3/4.
• Lu Rui told the group that they had to help Xiao Mei score over seven hundred and showed them where to find her.
• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan borrowed Xiao Mei’s exam papers and divided up the questions while the others kept watch.
• Ye Chu spotted a Person-Eater approaching, so he pulled the invisibility cloak over himself and Pei Yanchuan until it passed.
• Ye Chu wrote “Equality” as the answer to the final discussion question, and Pei Yanchuan returned the papers to a grateful Xiao Mei.

After completing the Cannibal School placement task, Ye Chu and the others compared what they had learned about the divide between Person-Eaters and ordinary people. They decided to attempt a rebellion against the system, leaving Wu You uncertain whether they could change a law that had lasted for centuries.

• Xiao Mei ranked first on the test, and Ye Chu learned that his answer to the bonus question about Person-Eaters and ordinary people had earned no points.
• The players received two hours of unrestricted movement, and Ye Chu brushed off Pei Yanchuan’s attempt to hold his hand after realizing Pei’s sensitive period had ended.
• At the starting point, Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, Wu You, Su Fengzi, and Lu Rui paused their game of aeroplane chess to share clues gathered over the past three days.
• Su Fengzi explained that ordinary people included both those who accepted enslavement and those who wanted to resist, while Lu Rui said Person-Eaters included both radicals and moderates.
• The group proposed finding Meng Fan and leading ordinary people in a rebellion against the radicals, but Wu You questioned whether they could change a system established centuries earlier.
• Pei Yanchuan urged them to try and said they could hide again if they failed, and Wu You agreed to join the attempt.