Shen Ru

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shen Ru (沈如)
Alias(es)	“Teacher Shen” 77 78; “Rose” 78; “Sister-in-law,” used by Sheng Ziyao 19 59; “Muse,” used by the Puppeteer 154 156; “God’s Envoy,” a role he adopts in Virtual Town 135
Species/Race	Human; later undergoes positive evolution 174 176
Gender	Male; remains physically male when Absurd World gives him a feminine appearance 60
Height	183 cm 19
Affiliation	Water Mirror Guild; closely associated with the Dark Night Guild, though his early supposed membership is explicitly a rumor 21 188 189 191
Occupation/Role	Infinite-game Player; Acting Guild Leader of the Water Mirror Guild; participates in channel repairs and monster-extermination missions 1 188 191
Player Rank	A-rank, the latest explicitly documented rank 77
Innate Talent	S-rank Time Stop 8
Status	Alive at the end of the provided story 193
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “Entering the game” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
S-rank innate talent revealed	8	Already possesses Time Stop in his newcomer instance. Uses it to steal The Missing Feet from Mo Yu; no awakening event is shown.
D-rank → B-rank	18	Clears the newcomer convenience-store instance. The system revises his final evaluation from D to B for his deceptive acquisition of labor. B-rank unlocks automatic instance livestreaming and shop access.
B-rank Time Stop duration	38	His advancement to B-rank increases his stopped-time allowance to five minutes per instance.
Rank-up qualification	57	Accumulated settlement points after Upside-Down Mental Hospital qualify him for advancement. The system announces that his next ordinary game will be an A-rank instance; his promotion is not finalized here.
B-rank → A-rank	77	Successfully completes Absurd World, which also serves as his rank-up instance.
Persistent regeneration and increased strength discovered	129	Regrows a severed arm and discovers substantial physical strengthening. This ability is neither a Card nor a Talent, and its acquisition was not announced to him.
Faith-derived empowerment	135 136	Redirects Virtual Town’s believers toward himself. Their faith invigorates his body, and he uses the gathered power to destroy the system’s statue. Continued access afterward is not established.
Enhanced night vision	173	During his developing mutation, his eyes become lighter and his night vision improves as damaged cells repeatedly regenerate.
Positive evolution; offensive and healing Special Abilities	174 175 182	Survives repeated bodily death and regeneration, becoming stronger and gaining controllable rose-scented powers. Initially conceals his offensive ability by claiming to have only healing; later reveals that he awakened two Special Abilities.

Background / History

Before entering the game, Shen Ru’s parents had a warped relationship that contributed to a rebellious period. He pursued extreme sports, including rock climbing, skydiving, and surfing—experience that later helps him navigate a stormy mountaineering scenario 164.

His father’s influence remains an unsettling part of his identity. During an encounter with the Puppeteer, Shen Ru imitates his father’s commanding tone to manipulate him, then becomes nauseated by the implications. He concludes that the Puppeteer wants an obedient, malicious persona shaped by that influence, rather than accepting Shen Ru on his own terms 156.

The Photo Studio presents a photographic record of an apparently happy childhood and orderly adult life. Shen Ru experiences its innocent version of himself as resembling someone from a parallel world; the record does not resolve the history suggested by his later reactions 147.

Appearance

• Hair: Slightly wavy black hair, initially short enough to partly cover his forehead 1 60.
• Eyes: Dark red or crimson, repeatedly compared to gemstones; they become lighter during his evolving mutation 1 19 173.
• Build: Tall, lean, and slender, with long limbs and a delicate frame that invites comparisons to a glass doll 1 19 60.
• Distinguishing accessory: A red diamond worn in his right ear 1 8.
• Feminine appearances: Absurd World gives him waist-length hair and softer features. His later Disguise Card also provides a female appearance 60 77.
• After positive evolution: His skin appears paler, while his lips and overall presence become more striking despite no major change to his facial features 174.

Personality

Shen Ru treats the game’s danger as an opportunity rather than merely a threat. Learning that ordinary law does not govern the instances excites him, and he frequently approaches violence with delight, theatricality, and little regard for conventional morality. Wei Lanxing recognizes that he is not simply playing the game: he is savoring it 1 25 27.

His charm is deliberate and often instrumental. He performs helplessness, affection, fear, or generosity to obtain information and steer other people’s reactions. He turns Qin Yu’s invitation into a kidnapping rumor, exploits the butler’s attraction, and presents his blood donations as selfless aid while using them to expose a traitor 33 57 58 179.

Independence is central to his choices. He dislikes unpaid work, resents being used as another player’s tool, and refuses to equate someone’s attraction or protection with ownership. His willingness to sever a bungee rope or injure himself reflects both thrill-seeking and a determination to choose the terms of his own danger 38 110 164 181 183.

His attachment to Mo Yu becomes genuine without erasing his combative nature. Their affection develops through provocation, retaliation, jealousy, and increasingly explicit trust. Shen Ru protects Mo Yu even during his agonizing evolution and later accepts responsibility for entering his consciousness to save him 147 148 174 184.

Abilities & Skills

Time Stop

• An S-rank innate talent that lets Shen Ru act while time is stopped 8.
• Used for theft, sudden attacks, concealment, and repositioning; his movements during its use are sometimes described as teleportation 8 24 38 171.
• At B-rank, provides five minutes of stopped time per instance 38.
• Enables him to defeat opponents who mistake his advantage for exceptional speed, notably Xi Rui and Guan Wenyue 38.
• Counter: Mo Yu’s Plunder leaves Shen Ru conscious during the stolen Time Stop but prevents him from using the talent while it is plundered 8.
• Restriction: The movie segment within My Day disables his Talent along with his Cards 90.

Regeneration and Physical Enhancement

• Demonstrates rapid wound regeneration in Human-Machine Romance by stabbing his neck to test claims that his body is unusually fragile 110.
• Later discovers regeneration as a persistent bodily ability, regrowing a severed arm and gaining greater physical strength 129.
• Because this bodily power is neither a Card nor a Talent, Virtual Town’s restrictions on those categories do not suppress it 130.
• His improving physical condition also increases bone hardness, allowing him to break a door lock with elbow strikes 150.
• Limit: Regeneration is painful. During positive evolution, repeated destruction and restoration leave him temporarily unable to move or respond 129 174.

Rose-Scented Special Abilities

• Can freely control the spread of his rose fragrance after positive evolution 175.
• Healing: Soothes injured Players and agitated NPCs, and slows reverse evolution; his blood also carries the relevant fragrance 175 179.
• Offense: Turns hostile Players into mutants, then causes them to swell and burst into rose petals 174.
• His recovery releases fragrance that restores nearby mutant corpses to human form 174.
• Drawback: His evolved scent makes him intensely attractive to the group’s pets, several of which nearly break their restraints 175.

Faith Manipulation

• Uses his visible regeneration to convince Puppet-shell-wearing NPCs that devotion to him offers divine mercy and an unbreakable body 135.
• Redirects their worship toward himself and makes them damage their shells as proof of devotion 135.
• Converts the gathered faith into power sufficient to destroy the statue sustaining Virtual Town’s broken system 136.
• Scope: Documented within Virtual Town; no permanent faith-based power is established afterward 135 136.

Deduction and Psychological Manipulation

• Identifies misleading objectives by examining system barriers, protected scenery, and what the rules actually promise 22.
• Detects Chu Rong’s false account through his unusually rapid recovery and the implications of his assigned role 25.
• Uses attraction, jealousy, greed, and public reputation to manipulate the butler, guild politicians, and the Puppeteer 33 58 155 181.
• Escapes an illusion by recognizing that a mailbox does not belong in a Living Area where communication normally uses Light Brains 184.
• Maintains enough composure during the Puppeteer’s assault to identify the enormous tree as his source of life rather than accept its claimed purpose 182.

Combat and Survival

• Combines ambushes, improvised weapons, Cards, and terrain rather than relying solely on direct contests of strength 27 38.
• Uses an underwater hiding place to draw Guan Wenyue into a fatal attack before she can transform 38.
• Can kill a ghost with his bare hands and overwhelm groups of duplicates with borrowed scissors 143 148.
• Leads the assault on Surrounded City with few casualties among cooperating teams, fulfilling his promise to Wei Lanxing 177 178.
• His guild teammates come to trust that obeying his instructions will bring them back alive, despite his alarming methods 191.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

Notable Cards

Card	Rank	Effects and use
The Missing Feet	S	Commands all monsters within 500 meters for ten minutes. Outside an instance, has a chance to provide a Secret Garden Tea Party invitation. Shen Ru steals it from Mo Yu and receives it among his newcomer rewards 8 18.
Black Goldfish	C	Allows underwater breathing for 30 minutes. His underwater-breathing Card supports the pond ambush during the Tea Party 18 38.
Mrs. Leon’s Tears	S	Described as “a bridge connecting everything” and identified as a key linking livestream channels. Mo Yu later asks Shen Ru to use it to enter his consciousness 33 39 184.
Cognitive Contamination	A	Makes people within ten meters experience a target’s deepest desires as reality for three minutes. Its effect is indiscriminate, including allies and bystanders; Shen Ru uses it against Mo Yu 57 84 129.
Disguise	A	Grants a female appearance for three days, with a three-day cooldown. Works inside and outside instances. Shen Ru uses it to evade Mo Yu and later reverse an encounter with him 77 89.
Enhancement item Card	Not stated	Enhances a nonliving object. Shen Ru applies it to his Stun Baton before breaking Mrs. Leon’s vessel 27.
Cleaning Card	Not stated	Removes the traces of a monster killing before he greets Gu Changming 160.

Other Items

• Stun Baton: Issued by Zhao Cheng; later enhanced and driven into Guan Wenyue’s eye 23 27.
• Daggers and blades: Used for combat, intimidation, and self-experimentation, including attacks on the butler and Puppeteer 36 110 182.
• Healing medicine: Given to An’an after her rescue and to Mo Yu after Shen Ru’s retaliation 66 129.
• Su Ziqiu’s scissors: Borrowed to kill most of the fake Shen Rus 148.
• Lighter: Used to threaten the ignition of an abandoned chemical plant and extort pursuing Players 116.
• Anklet imposed by Mo Yu: Pulls him into successive instances if he leaves the villa; Mo Yu challenges him to find its hidden key within one day 161 164.
• Glowing stone: Obtained from a younger Mo Yu and brought home as a gift for present-day Mo Yu 193.

Relationships

• Mo Yu — Rival, partner, and boyfriend. Their first encounters involve mutual provocation and struggles over stolen abilities and Cards. Their bond becomes openly romantic, though Mo Yu’s possessiveness repeatedly clashes with Shen Ru’s autonomy. They eventually entrust each other with their lives 1 8 120 162 182 184.
• Sheng Ziyao — Friend, guide, and frequent target of teasing. Shen Ru initially nicknames him “Chihuahua” and engineers his removal from the newcomer instance; they subsequently become close. Sheng calls him “Sister-in-law” and loyally defends him 18 21 59 136 175.
• Meng Yizhi — Reluctant host, accomplice, and friend. Shen Ru coerces him into concealing his disguise, recruits him for a points-extortion scheme, and later relies on his support against hostile Players 77 116 179.
• Gu Changming — Dark Night Guild deputy leader and intermediary. Their relationship begins with an insulting recruitment attempt and becomes one of wary cooperation; Shen Ru later teases him as “Mommy Gu” 19 110 161 188.
• Wei Lanxing — Recurring ally. She is disturbed by his brutality but recognizes his usefulness, contributes to their investigations, and joins his successful city-assault plan 24 25 37 175 178.
• Wen Meng — Temporary Tea Party ally who provides disguise Cards and helps investigate the butler 25 32.
• The Puppeteer — Obsessive antagonist who calls Shen Ru his “Muse.” Wants Shen Ru’s malice and participation in his game; Shen Ru exploits that dependence while rejecting his claims of ownership 136 155 156 181.
• Qi Ning — Initially an investigative ally, later exposed as the Puppeteer’s collaborator. Shen Ru kills him after his protection is withdrawn; his guild subsequently needs an acting leader 31 181 183.
• Guan Wenyue — Guild-leader enemy. Shen Ru blinds her during the Selection Phase, manipulates the butler into viewing her as an obstacle, and finally kills her in the pond 27 33 38.
• Qin Yu — Political opportunist whose attempt to use Shen Ru’s connection to Mo Yu backfires. His followers later demand access to Shen Ru’s healing and blood 57 58 179.
• Su Ziqiu — Photo Studio companion who lends Shen Ru his scissors and asks to remain involved in future action 148.
• An’an — Injured child he rescues and heals. He gains her trust while making his capacity for violence explicit, then keeps her close to investigate her circumstances 66.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Entering the Game and the Convenience Store

Shen Ru enters the Eternal Life Game with enthusiasm for its apparent freedom from ordinary law. He immediately clashes with another Player and meets Mo Yu, who intervenes to preserve an opportunity for trial and error 1.

His theft of The Missing Feet reveals his innate talent but also exposes him to Mo Yu’s counterpower. By the instance’s end, he has helped secure the required 500 positive reviews and manipulated the system into removing Sheng Ziyao. His exceptional settlement places him first among B-rank Players 8 18.

The Leons’ Tea Party

Mo Yu’s public attention exposes Shen Ru’s identity and encourages the belief that Dark Night protects him. Shen Ru temporarily uses that association to his advantage, then accompanies Mo Yu to the Tea Party 20 21.

During the Selection Phase, he infiltrates the Research Institute, kills Zhao Cheng to take his identity, exposes Chu Rong’s deception, and determines that rescuing Mrs. Leon is the true solution. He breaks her vessel and fights Guan Wenyue while the rose project is destroyed 24 25 27.

At the estate, he helps identify the butler as the creature watching from the cracks, exploits the man’s fixation, and eventually kills him. When the final mission targets the butler’s killer, Shen Ru separates himself from Mo Yu and ambushes Xi Rui and Guan Wenyue, securing Mrs. Leon’s Tears 32 33 36 37 38.

Rank-Up and Guild Politics

After clearing Upside-Down Mental Hospital, Shen Ru accepts Qin Yu’s invitation while engineering rumors that he has been kidnapped. Mo Yu answers by publicly calling him his lover, reversing Shen Ru’s attempt to control the situation 57 58.

Shen Ru forms a Guild League team with Mo Yu and Sheng Ziyao. In Absurd World, he adapts to a female student role and rescues An’an. Clearing the instance advances him to A-rank, but his violent approach forfeits its S-rank reward 59 60 66 77.

My Day and Human-Machine Romance

In My Day, Shen Ru retaliates against Mo Yu through Cognitive Contamination and confronts his ambition to break down channel barriers. The movie segment removes Shen Ru’s Cards and Talent, forcing him to rely on intimidation, observation, and improvised tests of the scenario 84 89 90 93.

In Human-Machine Romance, An Ke’s perception-distorting Card tricks him into attacking Fang Ce. He kills both Players, reveals his villain-faction role, and later tests the supposedly fragile body Mo Yu has been carefully protecting 107 110.

Virtual Town

Shen Ru discovers his persistent regeneration, then uses it to build a following among the Puppet-shell-wearing NPCs. Their worship supplies the power he needs to destroy the statue housing the broken system 129 135 136.

The Puppeteer offers him limitless power and control over other instances. Shen Ru refuses, recognizing the manipulation behind the offer and rejecting the Puppeteer despite enjoying the games themselves 136.

Silent Photo Studio and A Family of Three

Shen Ru investigates Entertainment Channel disappearances through the Silent Photo Studio. He forces Sang Ming to guide him through the ghost-filled jungle, then kills him after they reach the studio 140 143.

The challenges confront him with copies of himself and unsettling representations of his family. He and Mo Yu destroy the duplicates, while later encounters expose the Puppeteer’s prior knowledge of Shen Ru and interest in his father-shaped persona 147 148 155 156.

When dead Players reappear as customers, Shen Ru investigates Meng Yu’s distinct role as an employee and connects it to her extreme pursuit of beauty 157 158.

Confinement Challenge

Mo Yu responds to Shen Ru’s solitary risk-taking by fastening an anklet on him and attempting to confine him within the villa. Shen Ru treats the restraint as a challenge, entering successive scenarios and cutting a bungee rope to reclaim control over one of them. Mo Yu eventually explains the anklet’s rules and hidden-key condition 161 162 164.

Apocalypse: Uncontrolled Evolution

Shen Ru survives positive evolution through repeated regeneration. He conceals the full extent of his new powers, exposes Xie Chi as a body intermittently controlled by the Puppeteer, and kills him with Mo Yu’s assistance 174 175.

After leading a successful assault on Surrounded City, Shen Ru offers healing and blood to make himself appear weakened and lure out the hidden collaborator. Qi Ning leads him to the Puppeteer, where Shen Ru reveals his concealed offensive ability and identifies the life-giving tree as the enemy’s critical weakness. Mo Yu cuts it down while Shen Ru attacks the Puppeteer 177 178 179 181 182.

Consciousness Rescue and Acting Leadership

The Puppeteer survives within Mo Yu’s consciousness. Shen Ru escapes an illusion, reunites with Mo Yu, and agrees to enter his mind using Mrs. Leon’s Tears. He arrives at a wedding scene in the church from Virtual Town 184 185.

After emerging, Shen Ru takes over as Acting Guild Leader and works on repairing rifts and saving channels. Initially opposed to the workload, he accepts when he learns that he can kill bosses without ordinary instance restrictions 188.

Extra Chapters and the Cycle of Fate

As a Water Mirror Guild leader, Shen Ru joins extermination missions personally and develops a habit of bringing monsters home rather than killing them. His search for a glowing gemstone eventually takes him to an earlier period in Mo Yu’s life 189 191 192.

He helps the younger Mo Yu, trades knowledge of his future for the stone, and returns home to give it to his lover. Present-day Mo Yu recognizes their earlier meeting as part of their shared fate 193.

Instance Settlements

Instance	Points Earned	Documented Rewards / Outcome
Newcomer convenience store	5,500	Black Goldfish (C), The Missing Feet (S); promoted to B-rank 18.
The Leons’ Tea Party	41,500	Two S-rank, five A-rank, and three B-rank Cards, including Mrs. Leon’s Tears. Finishes first in the instance rankings; remains B-rank because it is a reward instance 39.
Upside-Down Mental Hospital	42,500	Cognitive Contamination (A), alongside attack and healing Cards; qualifies for a rank-up 57.
Absurd World	46,000	Disguise (A); promoted to A-rank. S-rank reward transferred to the runner-up because he used violence to clear the instance 77.

Notable Quotes

“You can ignore the law here?” 1

“I don't like just any lunatic.” 120

“Acting guild leader? Isn't that just working for free? I'm not doing it.” 183