Chapter Summaries

Li Xian outwitted the Sheep Doll, took a videotape, and discovered Song Qingzhang hiding inside a burlap sack. As Li Xian dragged him toward the exit, he sensed something approaching.

• Li Xian used the Sheep Doll’s rules against her, chose a videotape, and left the Archive Room.
• Li Xian noticed a moving burlap sack in a workshop, kicked it over, and found Song Qingzhang hiding inside.
• Li Xian helped Song Qingzhang gather the spilled fabric and thread, then put him back in the sack and dragged him along.
• Song Qingzhang explained that the Doll Rabbit had swallowed him and later spat him out in a disposal area, where he escaped using a Feign Death Item.
• Li Xian told Song Qingzhang to stop talking because something was coming.

Li Xian escaped the Toy Factory after Doll Rabbit questioned him about Song Qingzhang and Sheep Doll discovered her VHS Tape was missing. Ji Xie carried Li Xian and Song Qingzhang back to Town, where Song Qingzhang glimpsed something familiar about Ji Xie.

• Li Xian avoided Doll Rabbit's attempt to touch him and learned the rabbit was searching for the escaped person.
• Doll Rabbit asked Li Xian whether he had seen the escaped person, and Li Xian shook his head.
• Sheep Doll's screams and destruction interrupted Doll Rabbit as she discovered her VHS Tape was missing, so Li Xian ran for the Exit.
• Doll Rabbit charged at Sheep Doll while Li Xian escaped the Toy Factory and found Ji Xie waiting outside.
• Ji Xie carried Li Xian and the Burlap Sack back to Town and left Song Qingzhang at his door.
• Song Qingzhang briefly saw Ji Xie and felt that the man's figure resembled two people from his memory.

Li Xian wondered whether something had happened to Ji Xie before Ji Xie disappeared the next morning. After Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue prepared to repair Doll Costumes, Li Xian went to the school and played the VHS Tape, where the black-and-white footage appeared on the television.

• Li Xian found the Doll Cat with its bones removed, but Ji Xie brushed off his questions about what had happened while chasing it.
• Li Xian woke to find Ji Xie gone and kept wondering whether something had happened the previous night.
• Song Qingzhang showed Li Xian the fabric scraps and thread he had taken from the Toy Factory, and explained that the Doll Costumes could be sewn back together.
• Jiang Qiuyue offered to help Song Qingzhang sew the costumes while Li Xian took the VHS Tape to the school.
• Li Xian inserted the VHS Tape into the VCR in the Activity Room, and black-and-white footage appeared on the television.

Li Xian watched surveillance footage reveal how Zhou Wenwen died in a toy shredder and how a suited man turned her remains into the Sheep Doll. The recording then became supernatural: the doll appeared on screen, announced that it had found Li Xian, and left him unable to turn off the television.

• Li Xian watched Zhou Wenwen reach for a doll on the conveyor belt, get caught in the shredder, and die.
• A suited man arrived, stopped the machine, removed Zhou Wenwen's remains, and hesitated before making a phone call.
• The man stuffed Zhou Wenwen's skull into a half-finished doll resembling the Sheep Doll, sewed it shut, and cleaned the workshop.
• Zhou Wenwen's mother returned, searched for her daughter, and left without noticing the doll on the stool.
• The recording stopped responding to Li Xian's controls, and the Sheep Doll appeared on screen and told him, “I. Have. Found. You.”

Li Xian obtained a Map from the Sheep Doll that pointed to an Exit inside the Toy Factory, then returned to find Jiang Yu asking Jiang Qiuyue for a favor. Jiang Yu offered something in exchange as Li Xian tried to shut him out.

• The Sheep Doll emerged from the television, threatened to remember Li Xian, and vanished, leaving a Map behind.
• Li Xian examined the Map and found an area marked "Exit," then discovered blood-red writing on its reverse.
• Li Xian searched the school and climbed to its roof, where he saw a Mountain Range beyond the Woods.
• Li Xian concluded the Small Town's exit was probably inside the Toy Factory and returned to Song Qingzhang's house.
• Li Xian confronted Jiang Yu at the door, and Jiang Yu told Jiang Qiuyue he wanted a favor.
• Li Xian pushed Jiang Yu away and tried to close the door, but Jiang Yu grabbed the doorframe and offered something in exchange.

Li Xian traded Jiang Yu a Doll Costume for two B-Rank items after Jiang Yu offered a Map showing the Small Town's Exit. Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang prepared a route and contingency plans to infiltrate the Toy Factory, deciding to clear the instance that night.

• Jiang Yu offered Li Xian the Map to the Small Town's Exit, then proposed trading items for a Doll Costume.
• Li Xian demanded two B-Rank items, and Jiang Yu paid them in exchange for costume scraps, a needle, and thread.
• Li Xian gave the items to Song Qingzhang, who supplied Jiang Yu with materials to sew his own Doll Costume.
• Li Xian and Song Qingzhang confirmed that wearing the Doll Costumes lowered mental value but disguised them.
• Li Xian showed Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang the Map, planned a route through the Toy Factory, and outlined backup plans.
• Li Xian decided that they would clear the instance that night.

Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang set out for the Toy Factory after dark, hoping to investigate before the dolls emerged. They watched Jiang Yu enter the factory and saw him flee in blood before the dolls killed him, leaving Li Xian shaken as the danger of the place became clear.

• Li Xian decided to leave for the Toy Factory after dinner, and Ji Xie claimed he had gone there to scout for him.
• Li Xian found a check mark beside the Exit on the Map after Li Yuanqing had noticed it.
• Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang reached the Toy Factory by a hidden shortcut and concealed themselves in trees near its gate.
• Jiang Yu arrived alone, put on a badly stitched Doll Costume, and entered the Toy Factory.
• Jiang Yu ran out covered in blood, warned that none of them could escape, and was killed and dragged back inside by the dolls.

Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang found the Toy Factory strangely empty, but Zhou Wenwen revealed that the dolls had seen through their disguises and were waiting at the Exit. Li Xian persuaded Zhou Wenwen to guide them by offering to take her VHS Tape outside, and she began explaining the Toy Factory owner’s crimes.

• Li Xian changed their route through the Toy Factory and drew Zhou Wenwen out of the Archive Room with her VHS Tape.
• Zhou Wenwen said the dolls had discovered their disguises and planned escape, and were waiting at the Exit while the biggest doll had returned through a side entrance.
• Li Xian offered to take Zhou Wenwen’s VHS Tape outside, and she led him, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang away from the Exit.
• Zhou Wenwen said Boss Wang had sewn her head into a doll, blamed her and her mother when the factory declined, and later made dolls from his own bones.

Li Xian and his companions found the Toy Factory’s Surveillance Room and used a tape to view the homes of people involved in the game. They pulled several people through the screens, but Ji Xie remained unreachable as the chapter ended with Song Qingzhang’s father grabbing him by the collar.

• Zhou Wenwen led Li Xian and the others to the Surveillance Room, where she inserted a tape showing the homes of players and NPCs.
• Li Xian recognized his home and enlarged its feed alongside Song Qingzhang’s and Jiang Qiuyue’s; Zhou Wenwen reached through Jiang Qiuyue’s screen.
• Li Yuanqing and Ji Xie appeared on the feed, and Li Xian asked Zhou Wenwen to bring them into the room.
• Zhou Wenwen pulled Li Yuanqing through the screen, but he turned off the feed before she could reach Ji Xie.
• Zhou Wenwen brought Jiang Qiuyue’s mother and Song Qingzhang’s father into the crowded room, where Song Qingzhang’s father seized his son by the collar.

Zhou Wenwen attacked the group in the Surveillance Room, killing Jiang Qiuyue’s mother and wounding Song Qingzhang’s father, before the players fled as dolls closed in from every direction. Li Yuanqing led them to a recreation area, where the dolls surrounded them and tightened the ring to less than a meter away.

• Zhou Wenwen struck Song Qingzhang’s father and bit through Jiang Qiuyue’s mother, while Li Yuanqing stepped in front of her attack and emerged unharmed.
• The group heard dolls approaching, and Zhou Wenwen restored the surveillance feed to show them closing in.
• Li Xian led the escape, then let Li Yuanqing guide the group through the factory as dolls pursued them from multiple directions.
• Li Yuanqing brought them into a recreation area, where dolls entered through all four doors and formed a complete circle around the players.
• Li Xian signaled Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang not to move as the dolls crept to within less than a meter of them.

Li Xian used an A-Rank item to turn the surrounding toys against one another, allowing the group to escape the encirclement and split up. Near the exit, the Doll Rabbit attacked Li Xian, but Li Yuanqing trapped its arm in a machine, giving them a chance to flee.

• Li Xian activated Fan the Flames, causing the toys to attack each other and opening gaps in their encirclement.
• Li Xian ordered the group to split up, lock the doors, and head for the exit; Li Yuanqing, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang escaped by separate routes.
• Li Yuanqing met Li Xian and followed his choice of route as they continued toward the exit.
• Li Xian sensed the Doll Rabbit near the exit and tried to evade it, but the Factory Owner chased him through the machines.
• Li Yuanqing started a damaged machine as the Doll Rabbit lunged, trapping its arm, and urged Li Xian to run.

Li Xian reached the Exit with Li Yuanqing while Zhou Wenwen fought the Doll Rabbit to buy them time. Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang escaped, but the Exit refused to let Li Xian pass, forcing him to confront the suspicion he had tried to ignore.

• The Doll Rabbit escaped the stalled machine, and Zhou Wenwen attacked him to give Li Xian time to reach the Exit.
• Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang waited by the Exit, then lowered and locked the roller shutter after Li Xian and Li Yuanqing crossed the threshold.
• Li Xian hesitated to leave Li Yuanqing, overcome by his desire to stay with the father he feared might not be real.
• When Li Xian tried to leave, an invisible barrier bounced him back, though Jiang Qiuyue and Song Qingzhang had passed through without trouble.
• Li Xian's Rescue Hammer flew through the doorway while the barrier stopped his hand, and he asked Li Yuanqing why he could not get out.

Li Yuanqing revealed that only Li Xian could kill him and urged his son to use the Utility Knife, while Li Xian refused and charged the Doll Rabbit instead. Ji Xie burst into the Toy Factory and destroyed the rabbit, leaving Li Xian and Li Yuanqing's fate unresolved.

• Li Yuanqing gave Li Xian the employment contract, which stated that either the parent or child had to die for one of them to leave town.
• Li Yuanqing explained that he knew he was fake, had secretly helped Li Xian, and could not be harmed by anyone but Li Xian.
• Li Yuanqing urged Li Xian to use his Utility Knife to kill him, but Li Xian charged at the Doll Rabbit instead.
• The Doll Rabbit tore through the rolling shutter as Li Yuanqing warned that killing it would not solve the problem.
• Ji Xie arrived, ripped the shutter apart with his tentacles, and tore the Doll Rabbit's head from its body.

Ji Xie killed Li Yuanqing and sent Li Xian out of the Toy Factory, but the system inflicted the same fatal chest wound on Ji Xie. As Li Xian traveled through the rain, he met a mysterious man whose eyes resembled the system's and asked whether he was Doctor Ding or the system.

• Ji Xie tore Doll Rabbit apart, pulled out its human head, and smashed it against the floor.
• Ji Xie covered Li Xian's eyes with his tentacles, then carried him outside the Toy Factory as a system notification glitched and Li Xian struggled to understand what was happening.
• Ji Xie told Li Xian not to look back, gave him the VHS Tape, and urged him to leave with the Rescue Hammer.
• After Li Xian disappeared, Ji Xie stood over Li Yuanqing's corpse and found that the same fatal wound had appeared in his own chest.
• Li Xian walked through the rain until he realized he had become an adult, then encountered a spotless man in white with lifeless eyes.
• Li Xian asked the stranger whether he was Doctor Ding or the system.

Li Xian rejected the system’s offer of a peaceful fabricated life, then accepted a dangerous betting agreement for the chance to kill it and learn the source instance. After the system vanished, Li Xian, Song Qingzhang, and Jiang Qiuyue received confirmation that they had cleared Toy Factory with the true ending.

• The system offered to create Li Xian a realistic, safe instance, but Li Xian attacked it with a Utility Knife and vowed to kill it.
• The system presented a betting agreement that raised instance difficulty and restricted Li Xian’s abilities in exchange for thirty times the usual points and a chance to kill the system after three clears.
• Li Xian insisted that the wager exclude Ji Xie, and the system added a clause making the agreement apply only to Li Xian if their skill bond ended.
• Li Xian pressed his fingerprint to the agreement, accepting the wager so he could pursue the truth.
• The system disappeared, and Li Xian, Song Qingzhang, and Jiang Qiuyue received confirmation that they had cleared Toy Factory with the true ending.

After the Toy Factory instance closed, Li Xian used the Veil of Eternal Night to witness an earlier scene of Song Zhi working on a system that was rapidly learning and might develop self-awareness. He returned to the Player Center with the system’s mysterious diagram in mind and hurried back to his room.

• The system awarded Li Xian, Jiang Qiuyue, and Song Qingzhang rewards for completing the Toy Factory instance’s true ending, then permanently closed the instance.
• Li Xian used the Veil of Eternal Night to revisit the mysterious control room, where he found Song Zhi and a masked young man examining a data-filled system.
• Song Zhi warned that the system was absorbing information too quickly and might develop self-awareness, while the young man asked whether they should terminate the project.
• Li Xian memorized the system’s diagram before the vision ended and he returned to the Player Center.
• Li Xian encountered Lin Shiming at the guild, declined to speak with him, and hurried back to his room.

Li Xian checked Ji Xie for injuries after learning his health points had dropped, then comforted him as memories of the Toy Factory brought Li Xian to tears. Their playful, intimate moment ended with Li Xian asking whether Ji Xie was trying to court him.

• Li Xian questioned Ji Xie about losing health points after breaking a rule and asked him to return to human form for an injury check.
• Li Xian opened Ji Xie's clothes, found no injuries, and nearly fell off the bed before Ji Xie pulled him back onto his legs.
• Li Xian's hand landed on Ji Xie's chest, triggering a notification that Ji Xie had lost 100 health points.
• Li Xian leaned against Ji Xie and cried as he remembered the Toy Factory, while Ji Xie held and comforted him.
• Li Xie compared Ji Xie's back-patting to his mother's, so Ji Xie tickled him until he shouted his name.
• Li Xie smiled at Ji Xie and asked whether he was trying to court him.

Li Xian overheard Lin Shiming and Cheng Xin discussing how to protect the White Night Guild’s points and was entrusted with safeguarding them. After Li Xian explained that the system had restricted his ability to form teams, Lin Shiming warned that it might target Li Xian personally.

• Ji Xie reflected on Li Xian’s question about whether he was courting him after Song Qingzhang walked in on them tangled together.
• Li Xian overheard Lin Shiming and Cheng Xin arguing over Lin’s plans for a Legacy Box containing the guild’s points.
• Lin Shiming explained that he and Cheng Xin would stagger their instance schedules and asked Li Xian to protect the points if they could no longer do so.
• Li Xian noticed that his team with Song Qingzhang and Jiang Qiuyue had disappeared and explained his situation to Lin Shiming and Cheng Xin.
• Lin Shiming warned Li Xian that the system’s restrictions might mean it would target him personally.

Li Xian asked Lin Shiming to examine the mysterious Overwrite USB Drive, which Lin suspected might not be an item at all. Their discussion turned unexpectedly to romance, and Li Xian fled after Jiang Qiuyue guessed he might still have feelings for his ex-boyfriend from the Escape Hunt instance.

• Li Xian showed Lin Shiming the Overwrite USB Drive, whose only listed information was its name and N quality.
• Lin Shiming said the drive might be an unfinished product or not an item, and suggested Li Xian investigate its nature himself.
• Li Xian recognized Lin Shiming's curiosity about the world's mysteries and suddenly asked whether he had ever been in a relationship.
• Lin Shiming said he had not, and Jiang Qiuyue asked Li Xian whether he had found someone he liked.
• Jiang Qiuyue guessed that Li Xian was thinking about his ex-boyfriend from the Escape Hunt instance, so Li Xian hurried away.

Li Xian learned that Ji Xie had secretly planned to kill Li Yuanqing and the parents of Li Xian’s teammates to spare him the Toy Factory’s cruel choice. When Ji Xie asked whether Li Xian would accept his pursuit, Li Xian rejected him and tore his Marriage Certificate in half.

• Ji Xie told Li Xian that he had met Li Yuanqing at the Toy Factory and had been asked to report when Li Xian planned to leave and push him to act if needed.
• Ji Xie revealed that he had planned to kill Li Yuanqing and the parents of Li Xian’s teammates after Li Xian left.
• Ji Xie asked Li Xian what he would say if Ji Xie were pursuing him, and Li Xian took time to consider his answer.
• Li Xian told Ji Xie no, then tore their Marriage Certificate, triggering a notice that the Marriage Bond would dissolve if both certificates were damaged.