Chapter Summaries

The group prepared to enter the final Instance, sharing hopeful plans for life after the game while Wu Lü acted agitated. Ye Chu and his companions arrived together in the unfamiliar Rest House, where the Instance began without the system explaining any rules.

• Ye Mo returned home exhausted, and Qi Yu pulled him into bed while Ye Mo fell asleep in his arms.
• The group shared breakfast and talked about returning home, university plans, and Wu You's upcoming CET-6 exam.
• Ye Mo warned Ye Chu to be careful in the final Instance, while Pei Yanchuan promised to protect him.
• Wu Lü paced and tugged at Wu You's trousers, but she and Pei Yanchuan mistook its behavior for missing them or hunger.
• The system sent the group into the final Instance, titled "No One Survives," and Ye Chu found that his companions had all arrived together.
• Ye Chu and the others noticed that the system had given no rules or further instructions.

Ye Chu and the others searched a scorching desert cabin and found a diary from a National Survey Team member that revealed the group had run out of water. The diary described the team captain staying behind to guard their instruments as the others prepared to evacuate, leaving the young diarist pleading for him to come along.

• Ye Chu and the others searched the cabin, found little water, and learned from a diary that the First Brigade of the National Survey Team had come to survey the Gobi Desert.
• The group struggled with the heat and thirst while Ye Chu read the diary entries describing the surveyor's enthusiasm for the desert and his senior.
• Ye Chu read that the team's water barrel had leaked, leaving them without clean water, and that the senior ordered everyone to evacuate in pairs.
• The senior insisted on staying behind to guard the instruments and documents, while his junior and other team members urged him to leave with them.

Ye Chu and the others found the dead senior outside the hut and learned from the diary how he had died protecting the expedition’s instruments and documents. Trapped in the desert with no water or way forward, the group faced another day of worsening conditions as Lu Rui stepped outside, preparing to use her Hunter skill to protect them.

• Ye Chu found the senior’s shriveled body beside the instruments and documents he had carried back, then read the diary’s final entries about the junior’s guilt over his death.
• Su Fengzi, Wu You, and Pei Yanchuan found no clues for clearing the Instance, while the group struggled with thirst, hunger, and the desert’s extreme temperatures.
• After a night in the hut, the group woke to another day without hope or water, and Wu You feared they would die there.
• Lu Rui said she would scout a way out, stepped outside, and locked the hut door behind her as Ye Chu shouted for her to stop.
• Lu Rui recalled her Hunter role and prepared to use her skill as fierce winds and yellow sand swept across the desert.

Lu Rui sacrificed herself to restore Wu You’s strength, but the instance continued and sent the survivors into a maze. At a fork requiring them to split up, Ye Chu, Su Fengzi, and Pei Yanchuan prepared to face the monster while Wu You took the other tunnel.

• Lu Rui activated Live and Die Together, died in the explosion, and left Wu You and the others grieving.
• The instance continued, transporting Ye Chu, Wu You, Su Fengzi, and Pei Yanchuan to a purple cave maze.
• The group followed Su Fengzi’s Prophecy through the cave and found writings about the younger disciple’s guilt over his senior brother’s death.
• At a fork that required the players to split up, Su Fengzi saw a powerful monster in the right tunnel and was injured by its attack.
• Ye Chu, Su Fengzi, and Pei Yanchuan agreed to take the monster’s tunnel while Wu You took the other passage, and they promised to reunite safely.

Wu You stayed behind to confront a monster that looked and sounded exactly like her, giving Ye Chu and the others a chance to escape. She defeated it but died from her injuries, leaving her friends to continue without her.

• Wu You persuaded Su Fengzi to let her face the monster while Ye Chu, Lu Rui, and Su Fengzi continued through the tunnel.
• Wu You met her double, rejected its attempts to turn her against her friends, and fought it in wolf form despite being weaker.
• Su Fengzi told Ye Chu that his prophecy was accurate while hiding Wu You’s sacrifice, and the group continued toward safety.
• Wu You realized the monster had weakened because she no longer feared it, then stabbed it through the heart with a bayonet.
• Wu You collapsed after defeating the monster, thought of her friends and unfinished plans, and died.

Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, and Su Fengzi faced a suspension bridge swarming with ghosts, where the Instance demanded one of them die. Su Fengzi sacrificed himself so Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan could continue, and the system confirmed his death.

• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan learned that Wu You had been left behind in the tunnel as they exited into the darkness.
• Ye Chu, Pei Yanchuan, and Su Fengzi found a fragile suspension bridge over an abyss filled with ghosts, who climbed over one another to reach them.
• Ye Chu tried poisoning the ghosts but could not stop their endless advance, and Pei Yanchuan begged him not to sacrifice himself.
• Pei Yanchuan offered to die, but Su Fengzi pushed Ye Chu back and told Pei Yanchuan to protect him.
• Su Fengzi fell into the abyss, and the system confirmed his death.

Ye Chu crossed the bridge with Pei Yanchuan and found a diary revealing that its writer had poisoned herself after grieving for her Senior Brother. As a monster approached the distant exit, Pei Yanchuan sacrificed himself so Ye Chu could escape; Ye Chu completed the Instance after rejecting the poison, then saw his companions running toward him as he lost consciousness.

• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan crossed the bridge while the vengeful ghosts devoured Su Fengzi, and Ye Chu read a diary about its writer's grief and revenge.
• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan spotted the exit light as a monster drew near, and Ye Chu tried to make Pei Yanchuan go ahead.
• Pei Yanchuan pulled away from Ye Chu and ran into the darkness to hold off the monster, leaving Ye Chu to reach the exit alone.
• Ye Chu heard that Pei Yanchuan had died and found a bottle of poison beside the diary, whose writer had chosen to die and join her Senior Brother.
• Ye Chu smashed the poison bottle and collapsed after the system announced that he had completed the Instance.
• As Ye Chu lost consciousness, he thought he saw Pei Yanchuan and the others running toward him.

After the players returned from the Instance, they learned that the system had staged their deaths as a prank, but Ye Chu remained unconscious because of psychological trauma. Three or four days later, Ye Chu woke up in the body of a young child, leaving Pei Yanchuan and Su Fengzi stunned.

• Lu Rui, Wu You, Su Fengzi, and Pei Yanchuan returned to the Rest House after dying in the Instance and learned from the livestream that the system had faked their deaths.
• Wu You, Su Fengzi, and Pei Yanchuan woke up, heard what had happened, and cursed the system while comforting one another about their ordeal.
• Pei Yanchuan pressed the system about Ye Chu's continued unconsciousness and learned that Ye Chu had suffered psychological trauma, though the effects were reversible.
• Ye Mo's brother confronted Pei Yanchuan, while Jiang Lan stayed close to Su Fengzi and Shi Miao and Gao Ruxue visited the Rest House as Ye Chu remained unconscious.
• After several days, Pei Yanchuan found that Ye Chu had awakened in the body of a three- or four-year-old child, and Su Fengzi was shocked to learn the child was Ye Chu.

After the system’s side effect shrank Ye Chu into a child, his friends and family took turns caring for and playing with him. The next morning he returned to normal, reuniting with Pei Yanchuan, Wu You, Su Fengzi, Lu Rui, and Ye Mo.

• Pei Yanchuan carried the newly awakened, shrunken Ye Chu around, but pinching his cheek made him cry again.
• Ye Mo arrived, held Ye Chu close, and Ye Chu called him big brother before recognizing Pei Yanchuan as his boyfriend.
• Su Fengzi played games with Ye Chu, who forgave him with a kiss, then kissed Pei Yanchuan twice when he grew jealous.
• Lu Rui made Ye Chu eat his greens, and Pei Yanchuan stayed in bed with him when he would not sleep alone.
• Pei Yanchuan woke to find Ye Chu back to normal, and Ye Chu reunited with him, Wu You, Su Fengzi, Lu Rui, and Ye Mo.

After the Instance ended, Ye Chu returned to reality with no memory of what had happened, but encounters with Su Fengzi, Lu Rui, and Pei Yanchuan gradually brought everything back. Once Pei Yanchuan finished his entrance exams, they reunited, ready to continue their lives together.

• The system sent Ye Chu and the others back to reality, where Ye Chu woke in his dorm on June 6 with no clear memory of the Instance.
• Ye Chu watched Su Fengzi's livestream and recognized him as a streamer he had once supported, then learned that Xiao Yu was dating Lu Rui.
• Ye Chu saw Pei Yanchuan's interview after the Chinese exam and remembered everything; Lu Rui also recovered her memories and contacted Su Fengzi and Wu You.
• Su Fengzi and Wu You reunited with Ye Chu and Lu Rui, and they waited until Pei Yanchuan finished his exams before meeting him outside the exam venue.
• Pei Yanchuan embraced Ye Chu, and the group celebrated his graduation as he told Ye Chu he loved him.

Pei Yanchuan learned he had ranked in the provincial top ten on the college entrance exam, and Tsinghua and Peking University competed to recruit him. He chose Peking University, where Ye Chu already studied, and looked forward to becoming Ye Chu’s junior.

• Pei Yanchuan’s friends celebrated when his results showed a provincial ranking in the top ten, while Pei Yanchuan said Peking University had never been in doubt.
• Tsinghua and Peking University contacted Pei Yanchuan, and Ye Chu told him to choose whichever university he preferred.
• Su Fengzi livestreamed to share Pei Yanchuan’s ranking, and Pei Yanchuan later took Ye Chu to his room and asked for a reward.
• The Tsinghua and Peking University admissions officers visited the next morning and competed with offers of scholarships, preferred majors, and trips.
• Pei Yanchuan chose Peking University, then called Ye Chu his senior and said he would become his junior.

Su Fengzi and Jiang Lan kept their relationship private at work, but Jiang Lan’s strict treatment of him left Su Fengzi feeling hurt and jealous. Jiang Lan made up with him in his office, and their private encounter became office gossip after he carried Su Fengzi out.

• Su Fengzi and Jiang Lan agreed not to make their relationship public at the office, where Jiang Lan acted like a strict manager even toward Su Fengzi.
• After Jiang Lan reprimanded him, Su Fengzi avoided him and greeted him coldly, then smiled at another male colleague to provoke him.
• Jiang Lan called Su Fengzi into his office, locked the door, and reminded him that they had agreed to keep work and their private lives separate before kissing him.
• Jiang Lan and Su Fengzi became intimate in the office, and Jiang Lan later apologized while soothing Su Fengzi’s sore waist.
• A colleague who had worked overtime said Jiang Lan carried Su Fengzi out of the office, and Su Fengzi listened nearby as coworkers speculated about them.

After Jiang Lan fell ill, Su Fengzi cared for him and proposed taking charge of their intimate life. A few days later, Jiang Lan turned Su Fengzi’s suggestion around on him, leaving Su Fengzi exhausted and regretting the idea.

• Jiang Lan came down with a fever, and Su Fengzi teased him before promising to look after him.
• Su Fengzi stayed away to livestream, then returned with bags of food and medicine for Jiang Lan.
• Su Fengzi fed Jiang Lan and suggested that he should take care of Jiang Lan from then on.
• Jiang Lan pretended to be hurt by Su Fengzi’s timing, and Su Fengzi agreed to wait until he recovered.
• A few days later, Jiang Lan took charge and proposed being intimate every three days, leaving Su Fengzi with little strength to respond.

Qi Yu tried to break up with Ye Mo before their final Instance, but Ye Mo promised to find a way to stay together. After returning, Ye Mo appeared as a child with his memories intact, and Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan visited him and Qi Yu.

• Qi Yu told Ye Mo they should break up because their last Instance was ending and they would return to different lives, but Ye Mo refused to accept it and said he would find a way.
• Jiang Lan called Ye Mo into the final Instance, and Ye Mo kissed Qi Yu before leaving, telling him to trust him.
• Ye Chu learned that Ye Mo had returned after making an unknown deal with the system and called him, only to discover he had become a child.
• Ye Chu and Pei Yanchuan found Ye Mo and Qi Yu, and the little Ye Mo greeted Ye Chu but cried when Pei Yanchuan pinched his cheek.
• Qi Yu comforted Ye Mo until he fell asleep in his arms.

Ye Mo shrank back to a child, gathered with friends and teased Wu You before falling asleep. He returned to normal before dinner, rejoined everyone, and the group celebrated being together again.

• Wu You and Lu Rui arrived at Ye Mo's house and found him shrunk, where his question about CET-6 upset Wu You.
• Ye Mo asked Qi Yu to hold him, and Jiang Lan and Su Fengzi arrived with gifts.
• Lu Rui told everyone how her reserved coworker Xiao Yu confessed his feelings with a handwritten letter, and they agreed to learn how to be in a relationship together.
• Qi Yu found Ye Mo back to normal when he went to wake him, and Ye Mo said he had known how to return to normal.
• Ye Mo greeted everyone at dinner, and Ye Chu toasted the group before someone noticed he had been given alcohol.

During military training, Pei Yanchuan reunited with his boyfriend Ye Chu, who brought him lunch and invited him home to stay. After a tiring day of training, Pei Yanchuan went home with Ye Chu, and the story ended with Su Fengzi finding Ye Chu waiting by the sports field the next morning.

• Pei Yanchuan told his roommate that his boyfriend was bringing him lunch, then ran to meet Ye Chu at the sports field.
• Ye Chu shaded Pei Yanchuan with a parasol, gave him a cold drink, and said he had saved them seats in the cafeteria.
• Ye Chu offered to let Pei Yanchuan stay at his home during military training, and Pei Yanchuan happily accepted.
• After training, Pei Yanchuan went home with Ye Chu, showered, and cuddled with him while complaining about being exhausted.
• The next morning, Su Fengzi brought drinks to visit Pei Yanchuan and found Ye Chu waiting by the sports field while Pei Yanchuan trained energetically.