Chapter Summaries

Li Xian discovered that the other players had found only scraps of a toy factory recruitment flyer before stuffed kittens appeared and began a game of hide-and-seek. He led Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang to his house to find a hiding place.

• Li Xian noticed Song Qingzhang had been hit by his father and comforted him.
• Li Xian showed the players the complete recruitment flyer, and they revealed that they had found only scraps or nothing at all.
• Stuffed kittens appeared on every player, then jumped down and covered their eyes against a wall.
• Li Xian recognized that the kittens were playing hide-and-seek, and Jiang Qiuyue realized there was nowhere to hide in her house.
• Li Xian led Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang to his house, where they searched for somewhere to hide.

Li Xian, Song Qingzhang, and Jiang Qiuyue hid in a storage box above the wardrobe after disguising a suitcase as a hiding place. The kitten doll found the suitcase and tried to open it, then left the bedroom but soon returned.

• Li Xian packed a heavy piggy bank, books, and a quilt into a suitcase and placed it in the wardrobe as a decoy.
• Li Xian led Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue into the storage box on top of the wardrobe just before the kitten doll entered the bedroom.
• The kitten doll searched the room, found the suitcase, and laughed when it sensed its unusual weight.
• The kitten doll failed to move the suitcase and left the bedroom, but soon opened the door and came back.

Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang hid in a storage box while dolls searched the room and smashed a decoy suitcase. The game ended when another player was caught, and the three emerged to find ten dolls dragging him away with a fatal neck wound.

• Several dolls dragged a suitcase from the wardrobe and battered it until its lock broke.
• The dolls found only decoy objects inside the suitcase, destroyed things in anger, and left one doll behind to search.
• A Kitten Doll found Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang, but fled after a player's scream sounded.
• Li Xian led Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang out to investigate the scream.
• They found ten dolls pinning a player whose neck had been badly wounded and dragging him toward the doorway; he collapsed from blood loss.

Li Xian followed the Kitten Dolls carrying the hide-and-seek loser toward a toy factory, then watched the Town's residents receive meals delivered by a different group of dolls. He suspected the townspeople were trapped in the Town and dependent on the dolls for food.

• Li Xian followed the Kitten Dolls to a forest trail marked as the way to the Whimsy Toy Factory, where he found a sign with its lower line painted over.
• Li Xian returned to find the players emerging from their houses, with one person taken and the others keeping their distance from one another.
• The players knocked on residents' doors, but most refused to answer, and an elderly woman looked at them with pity.
• A procession of finely stitched dog-like dolls delivered steaming boxed meals to occupied homes, including Li Xian's.
• Li Xian ate his meal in his room and wondered where the food came from, suspecting the residents relied on the dolls and could not leave the Town freely.

Li Xian found Ji Xie among the town’s residents and followed him into his house, while other players pushed their way in after them. Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue entered too after the buzz-cut boy slammed the door on Song Qingzhang’s hand.

• Li Xian decided to spend the day visiting occupied houses with Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue instead of scouting the school or Toy Factory.
• Li Xian knocked on the only house whose resident had not taken in their boxed lunch, and Ji Xie opened the door.
• Ji Xie ignored the girl with twin ponytails and invited Li Xian inside, then led him in by the hand.
• The girl with twin ponytails and the buzz-cut boy followed them into the house and tried to shut Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue out.
• The buzz-cut boy trapped Song Qingzhang’s hand in the door, but Song Qingzhang urged Jiang Qiuyue to let them enter.

Ji Xie ignored Li Xian’s attempt to get the players out and instead picked him up and teased him, then turned threatening when two players refused to leave. He threw the buzz-cut man out of the house and shut the door, while the man warned that Li Xian’s teammate was as good as dead.

• Li Xian tried to signal Ji Xie to dismiss the players, but Ji Xie picked him up and kissed his cheek in front of everyone.
• Twin-Tailed Girl asked Ji Xie for a hug, but he rejected her with a threatening warning.
• Li Xian asked to speak privately, and Ji Xie agreed before telling the players to leave.
• Twin-Tailed Girl and the buzz-cut man stayed behind, so Ji Xie summoned tentacles and hurled the buzz-cut man out of the house.
• The buzz-cut man got up with help and told the others that Li Xian’s teammate was as good as dead.

Li Xian asked Ji Xie whether the Instance could model its NPC parents on real people, and Ji Xie agreed to accompany him when he investigated his simulated father. Ji Xie followed Li Xian outside disguised as a toy, where Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue immediately called him hideous.

• Li Xian told Ji Xie that the Instance’s parent NPCs closely resembled players’ real parents, and Ji Xie said the system could use real people’s data as templates.
• Li Xian asked whether those NPCs shared their originals’ personalities and memories, and Ji Xie said their memories were likely adjusted to fit the Instance.
• Ji Xie reassured Li Xian that he would investigate the simulated father with him, then tried to hide in Li Xian’s pocket but was too large to fit.
• Ji Xie clung to Li Xian’s shoulder and agreed to pose as a toy from the Toy Factory Instance.
• Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue saw Ji Xie on Li Xian’s shoulder, and Li Xian told them he was a toy.

Li Xian and his companions witnessed the buzz-cut man smash an old woman's window and trip her, then helped her up. After the townspeople intervened and the old woman identified the culprit, the adults sent the players home, and Li Xian urged Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue to hurry back.

• Li Xian pretended Ji Xie was stuck to his shoulder as he and his companions set out to question townspeople.
• The buzz-cut man smashed the old woman's window, knocked her down, and sent Twin-Tailed Girl into her house.
• Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang helped the old woman to her feet.
• A heavyset neighbor accused the children, but the old woman pointed out that the buzz-cut man had smashed her window.
• The townspeople caught the buzz-cut man and Twin-Tailed Girl, then ordered them home after checking the time.
• Li Xian told Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue to hurry home.

Li Xian cut his finger to persuade an old woman to let him into her home, where she bandaged him as a troop of Doll Bears approached. The bears began visiting the residents, and two returning players found themselves surrounded as they searched for a way to escape.

• Li Xian cut his finger and pretended he had injured himself while trying to clean up the old woman's broken glass.
• The old woman invited Li Xian inside to bandage his hand, and he passed off Ji Xie as a decoration.
• Li Xian saw a troop of Doll Bears goose-stepping toward the houses while the old woman calmly bandaged him.
• The Doll Bears knocked on doors and windows as players returning from scouting the school found dolls blocking their retreat.
• The bowl-cut woman and her companion ran from the advancing bears, and the man spotted a window they could climb through.

Li Xian ignored the players’ pleas and continued assembling a puzzle while dolls attacked the house. He restrained Sweater Man with a tentacle, and as a teddy bear raised its spear over the helpless man, Li Xian gave no sign that he would intervene.

• Sweater Man and Mushroom-Head Woman climbed through the broken window and searched the house for weapons while Li Xian worked on his puzzle.
• Mushroom-Head Woman braced a board against the window as a teddy bear carrying a metal-tipped spear approached Sweater Man.
• Sweater Man attacked the teddy bear with a fruit knife, but it blocked the blow and cut the back of his hand.
• Sweater Man tried to kick apart Li Xian’s puzzle, so a tentacle from Li Xian’s shoulder wrapped around him and pinned him to the floor.
• Li Xian stood up after completing about sixty percent of the puzzle while the teddy bear raised its spear over Sweater Man’s chest.

Li Xian stopped the Doll Bears by discovering their weakness and spraying them with water from a hose. Several escaped through the window, and Li Xian promised the old lady he would clean up the mess.

• Li Xian told Sweater Man that bending a Doll Bear’s left ear switched it off, just as more dolls poured through the broken window.
• Li Xian ran into the kitchen, leaving Sweater Man and Mushroom-Head Woman surrounded by the advancing dolls.
• The Doll Bears prepared to throw their spears, but Li Xian opened the kitchen door and sprayed them with a hose.
• Most of the dolls stopped moving after getting wet, while six or seven escaped through the window; Li Xian and the others were left soaked.
• The old lady woke and scolded Li Xian for making a mess, and he promised to clean up while examining a doll’s metal winding key.

Li Xian used a puzzle’s instructions to disable the waterlogged Doll Bears, then received a needle and black thread from the old woman. She warned him to hide the items as contraband, and he encountered his Kitten Doll as he left.

• Li Xian and the other players cleaned up the broken Doll Bears, and Sweater Man discovered the puzzle instructions explaining how to disable them and keep them dry.
• The old woman told Sweater Man and the Mushroom-Head Woman to leave, then gave Li Xian a needle and spool of black thread after he threaded the needle for her.
• The old woman called the needle and thread contraband and told Li Xian to hide them.
• Li Xian left with the needle and thread concealed in his pockets and found his pink-eared Kitten Doll waiting at his feet.

Li Xian and his companions learned that leaving Small Town would be difficult, then the town’s parents returned early and took their children home. Li Yuanqing brought Li Xian back and discovered Ji Xie on his shoulder, before throwing the tentacle several meters away.

• Li Xian met Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang, who reported that a townsman had said he could not leave Small Town.
• Li Xian and his companions prepared to rest, but a woman’s scream announced that the parents had returned early to collect their children.
• Song Qingzhang’s father dragged and beat him home, while Jiang Qiuyue’s mother took her away more calmly.
• Li Yuanqing arrived last, took Li Xian home, and asked about his day and the discarded Doll Bears.
• Li Yuanqing tugged at Ji Xie, and when the tentacle loosened its grip on Li Xian’s clothes, he hurled it several meters away.

Li Xian watched a movie with Li Yuanqing, tested whether his Jadeite detected danger from him, and returned to find his room trashed. He noticed a lump beneath the bedcovers.

• Li Yuanqing rejected Li Xian's plea to keep Ji Xie and led him inside after throwing Ji Xie out.
• Li Yuanqing chose a movie, and Li Xian watched it with him until a knock brought their dinner.
• Li Yuanqing asked whether Li Xian had understood the movie, and Li Xian recounted its plot.
• Li Xian tested the Jadeite during dinner and found that it did not react to Li Yuanqing.
• Li Xian returned to his room, found coins and belongings scattered everywhere, and noticed a lump beneath the covers.

Li Xian and Ji Xie tidied Li Xian’s childhood home, then discussed Li Xian’s parents and his inability to sleep there. Li Xian began recounting how he learned that his parents had died in a car accident when he was in high school.

• Li Xian discovered Ji Xie hiding beneath the quilt and made him get up so he could take his place on the bed.
• Ji Xie used his tentacles to clear the clutter and tidy the room while Li Xian directed him.
• Ji Xie said Li Xian’s father had been virtual Instance data, though he seemed unusually difficult to fool.
• Li Xian asked Ji Xie to turn off the light and admitted he could not sleep at home.
• Li Xian told Ji Xie that his parents had died in a car accident when he was in high school, leaving him feeling blank and bewildered.

Li Xian told Ji Xie how his parents’ suspiciously swift funeral led him to discover a USB drive containing corrupted files and a hidden message. After decoding the message as “to be or not to be,” Li Xian chose the latter and arrived in this world.

• Li Xian recounted how his relatives and his parents’ coworkers handled the aftermath of the car accident while keeping him out of the process.
• At his parents’ funeral, Li Xian opened their coffin and found it filled with flowers, with a USB drive hidden in one bouquet.
• Li Xian tried and failed to recover the corrupted files on the USB drive, then later found that their filenames encoded Morse code.
• Li Xian eventually decrypted the message as “to be or not to be” and found the same line underlined in his family’s Shakespeare collection.
• Li Xian said he chose the latter option and came to this world.

After Li Xian shared how he had injured himself to enter the Instance, Ji Xie comforted him until he fell asleep in his arms. Ji Xie then noticed a huge, human-shaped shadow outside the window.

• Li Xian told Ji Xie that he had cut his carotid artery to enter the Instance.
• Ji Xie gently touched Li Xian's scars and kissed his fingertip, flustering Li Xian before pulling him close.
• Ji Xie held Li Xian and soothed him to sleep, realizing that he had fallen for him.
• While Li Xian slept, Ji Xie examined the sparse room and noticed a tall, broad figure outside the window.

Ji Xie fought off a giant Doll Rabbit that broke into the room while Li Xian tried to open the jammed door. Li Xian stopped Ji Xie from killing it, and the stuffed animals retreated, leaving a Doll Cat behind.

• A giant Doll Rabbit climbed through the window while Li Xian and Ji Xie were in bed.
• Li Xian could not open the door, so Ji Xie placed his slippers by his feet and attacked the rabbit with tentacles.
• The Doll Rabbit roared, and Li Xian spotted a Doll Cat and a horde of small stuffed animals outside the window.
• Ji Xie began tearing the rabbit apart, but Li Xian told him to stop and the rabbit fled through the window.
• The small stuffed animals scattered, and the Doll Cat tipped into the gap beside the cabinet as Li Xian explained that they might have useful information.

Li Xian stayed with Ji Xie while the Doll Rabbit killed Mushroom-Head Woman and headed toward the parents’ bedroom. The next morning, Sweater Man tried to trade information about the Doll Bears to Glasses Boy and Thin Man, and told them Li Xian had used a powerful item.

• Ji Xie told Li Xian to go back to sleep and invited him into bed.
• The Doll Rabbit entered Mushroom-Head Woman’s room, and she escaped through the window as it chased her.
• Small dolls seized Mushroom-Head Woman outside and carried her toward the Toy Factory, while the Doll Rabbit went to the parents’ bedroom.
• The players gathered in the street the next morning and realized one person was missing; Sweater Man had lost all his teammates.
• Glasses Boy and Thin Man offered Sweater Man a temporary team, and he offered information about the Doll Bears in exchange for a D-Rank Item.
• Sweater Man told them that Li Xian had used an item that turned into tentacles and could immobilize someone for at least two minutes.

Jiang Yu convinced the other players that Li Xian possessed a rare control item and organized them to take it from him. When Li Xian and his companions tried to leave, Jiang Yu blocked their path under the pretense of proposing cooperation.

• The Glasses Boy linked the buzz-cut player's account of being thrown from a house to Li Xian, convincing the Thin Man and others that Li Xian had a powerful item.
• Jiang Yu befriended the buzz-cut man and offered the gathered players points in exchange for helping him seize Li Xian's item.
• Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue sensed the other players were plotting against them, while Li Xian continued reviewing clues about the previous night.
• The other players accepted Jiang Yu's offer and joined forces against Li Xian's group.
• Jiang Yu tried to recruit Li Xian's group to split up and explore, then grabbed Li Xian as the others surrounded them and blocked their way.