Song Qingzhang

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Song Qingzhang (宋清章)
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	White Night Guild; previously a three-person team with Li Xian and Jiang Qiuyue 176 178 238
Occupation/Role	University student; instance player 8 390
Player Zone	Advances from the Novice Zone to the Advanced Zone 56 176
Status	Alive; returns to reality and resumes his graduation project 390
First Appearance	Chapter 8, “Rooms,” where he introduces himself as a tourist visiting Stone River Village 8

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Novice Zone player	8 24	Stone River Village is his first instance. He begins without the assumptions of veteran players, helping him recognize Li Xian’s concealed bride identity.
Advanced Zone player	176	Reaches the Advanced Zone after continuing through Novice Zone instances without Li Xian. Reunites with him and joins the White Night Guild.

Appearance

Song is a young man approximately 180 centimeters tall 8 12.

• Expressive blushing: His ears redden when embarrassed, and he blushes when lying—a reaction he uses to make his bride theory sound like an awkward joke 12 18.
• Child form: Like the other players in the Toy Factory instance, he takes on a child’s body 180.

Personality

Song is easily frightened, but fear rarely stops him from helping. During Aunt Wang’s attack, he tries both striking her and pulling her away from Li Xian; when force fails, he interprets Li Xian’s signal and removes the wedding invitation provoking Shen Xiaomei 16.

His loyalty to Li Xian becomes unusually strong. He refuses to accept Li Xian’s apparent death, reasoning that the instructions left with him imply a plan to survive. Much later, he defends Li Xian’s decisions even when he cannot explain the reasoning behind them 23 373.

His growing competence does not erase his trusting nature. After reaching the Advanced Zone, he nearly hands an item to a fake appraiser, then quickly forgets the incident in his excitement at seeing Li Xian. Li Xian’s recommendation alone is enough to persuade him to sign the White Night Guild’s membership agreement 176.

Song also has a playful side: he laughs at Li Xian’s unconventional name introduction and the exchange of obviously false names with “Zhang San,” and later teases Li Xian about his especially small child form 8 35 180.

Abilities & Skills

Yes/No Coin Skill

Song’s skill manifests as a finely made golden coin with “yes” and “no” engraved on opposite sides. He asks a question and tosses it to receive the better answer 178.

• Usage limit: Once per instance 178.
• Cost: Half his current Mental Value 178.
• Documented application: Confirms that the Source Instance lies at the very bottom of the Player Center, supporting Li Xian’s decision to break through the floor 380.

Observation and Deduction

Song notices details that more experienced players initially dismiss 18 24.

• Estimates the fleeing bride’s height despite her hunched posture and remembers her strength 12.
• Connects wig hair, exposed eyes, height, and the wedding dress’s fitted waist to identify Li Xian as Li Xiaojuan 18 24.
• Notices Zhou Shan’s unsettling attention toward Li Xian 17.
• Recognizes suspicious gatherings and glances from players plotting against his team 200.

Art Knowledge and Mapmaking

Song has practical knowledge of painting materials and can produce useful visual records 43 208.

• Identifies varnish from a bottle and the residue on a brush, helping uncover the portraits’ protective coating 43.
• Draws a clear map of the town and Toy Factory after the group’s expedition 208.
• Mixes a skin tone to work on a portrait, although his hand subsequently moves beyond his control; the resulting painting cannot be treated as an ordinary demonstration of his skill 55.

Sewing

Song’s sewing supports the group’s use of doll disguises in the Toy Factory instance 213 214 226.

• Repairs a damaged Doll Costume with scarce thread, carefully choosing stitch placement 213 214.
• Warns Li Xian not to strain the repaired costume’s weak seams 214.
• Collects fabric scraps and thread while escaping the factory, intending to make two additional costumes 223.
• Produces visibly finer stitches than Jiang Qiuyue’s finished costume 226.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Village Chief’s key and register — Receives the key from Li Xian and retrieves the register from the chief’s drawer. Later hands the notebook to a uniformed man searching for missing tourists; this earns an additional 1,000 points, subsequently tripled 23 29 31.
• Varnish and brush — Finds the brush behind a hallway painting and uses varnish to protect his room’s portrait from its increasing finger count 43 44.
• Needle, thread, and Doll Costumes — Uses supplies provided by Li Xian to repair a disguise, then gathers more materials to make additional costumes 213 223 226.
• Burlap Sack — Conceals himself inside it during his escape from the Toy Factory. Li Xian finds him and carries him past Doll Rabbit 221 222.

Relationships

• Li Xian — Close friend, trusted teammate, and the person he affectionately calls “bro.” Song protects his concealed identity, follows his plans, and works to reach the Advanced Zone after their separation 18 23 24 31 56 176.
• Jiang Qiuyue — Teammate in their three-person group. She intervenes when another player slams a door on Song’s hand and works with him during the Toy Factory investigation 178 185 208 214.
• Lin Shiming — White Night Guild president who provides Song with an Advanced Zone guide and recruits him into the guild 176.
• Ji Xie — An initially unidentified, familiar-seeming figure. Song worries about his interest in Li Xian, then glimpses him during the factory escape and associates his appearance with two people from memory 185 186 222.
• Zhao Fengyi — Veteran companion in Stone River Village who questions Song about the bride and urges him to share clues rather than conceal them 12 18.
• Qian Xin — Fellow survivor who challenges Song’s withheld evidence and disbelief in Li Xian’s death 18 23.
• Father — The Toy Factory simulation of his father strikes him before leaving home. Song’s unsurprised explanation leads Li Xian to infer that this treatment is familiar to him 181.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Stone River Village

Song enters his first instance as a tourist. His earlier encounter with the fleeing bride becomes an important source of clues, but a red-paper figure secretly placed in his pocket makes drawing water dangerous: the well nearly pulls him in, and his buckets repeatedly contain bloody water until he discards it 8 12.

He accompanies Li Xian to Aunt Wang’s home, discovers Shen Xiaomei’s wedding invitation, and helps save Li Xian when Xiaomei attacks. His later investigation of the discarded wedding dress reveals the bride’s true identity, which he initially conceals behind an embarrassed joke 14 16 18 24.

Following Li Xian’s instructions, Song retrieves the Village Chief’s register and preserves it despite the others’ belief that Li Xian is dead. He supports pursuing the true ending, carries Shen Xiaomei to the Ancestral Hall coffin, and delivers the register during the group’s escape 23 24 29.

Miss Dolly’s Portrait Gallery

Song asks to enter his next instance with Li Xian. At the mansion, he assists the investigation, helps restrain Yi Jing when his concealed arrangement with the mistress is exposed, and identifies the varnish that protects the portraits 31 39 43.

During the final crisis, he helps Liang Pei hold the exhibition-hall doors shut and searches for supplies with Li Xian. His subsequent attempt to paint becomes disturbing when his body is immobilized and only his painting hand continues moving 53 54 55.

Independent Advancement and Guild Membership

Li Xian’s promotion item ends their immediate partnership because entering the Advanced Zone will prevent contact between them. Song promises to catch up. His later Novice Zone livestream shows a standout performance and attracts guild tips 56 124.

Upon reaching the Advanced Zone, he narrowly avoids an appraisal scam through Li Xian’s intervention. He joins the White Night Guild and forms a team with Li Xian and Jiang Qiuyue 176 178.

Toy Factory

The trio reunites inside an instance where all players appear as children. Song contributes to their investigation through mapmaking and costume repairs, while hostile players manipulate the group into separating him and Jiang Qiuyue from Li Xian 180 201 208 214.

After being taken into the factory, Song escapes and gathers fabric and thread along the way. Li Xian discovers him concealed in a Burlap Sack, and Ji Xie transports them back to town 221 222 223.

Source Instance and Return to Reality

During the Player Center crisis, Song uses his coin to verify the Source Instance’s location. When Cheng Xin jumps through the newly opened floor with Li Xian, Song rushes to the edge and cries out until Li Xian signals that he is safe 380 381.

After returning to reality, Song resumes his senior-year university work. His graduation project keeps him quieter than the others in their group chat, though he occasionally asks whether anyone has managed to contact Li Xian 390.

Notable Quotes

“I'm sticking with Li Xian!” 24

“I'll get to the Advanced Zone as soon as I can, too!” 56