Chapter Summaries

Li Xian noticed that Candy seemed to erase the residents’ fear, then bought a flashlight to confront the Honey Shadow spreading across the Convenience Store. He realized its many eyes made people’s hearts race faster and warned the other men that they could die if it continued.

• Li Xian watched the Supervisor eat Candy and saw his anxious expression disappear, leading him to suspect the Candy suppressed fear or produced happiness.
• Li Xian borrowed a flashlight, but the clerk told him he had to buy it, so he paid for it as Honey Shadow began trembling over the windows.
• Eyes appeared all over Honey Shadow, and Li Xian shone the flashlight at them, forcing only the eyes in the beam to shut.
• Li Xian noticed his heartbeat accelerating and deduced that the eyes made anyone they watched suffer a dangerously fast heartbeat.
• Li Xian warned the center-parted man and the hatted man that their hearts could beat too fast and kill them, and they realized their own heart rates were abnormal.

Li Xian discovered that candy could calm the players’ racing hearts, but he suspected the candy’s effect and searched for another way to survive the Honey Shadows. He found that the Shadows avoided brightly lit areas, yet learned that no one could rescue them, leaving him trapped in the supermarket with the residents and the candy-changed players.

• The man in the hat collapsed as the Honey Shadows drove the players’ heart rates dangerously high, and Li Xian realized the residents’ pulses remained steady.
• Li Xian told the man with the center part to feed candy to the man in the hat, whose heartbeat slowed and whose strength returned.
• The man with the center part ate candy himself, calmed down, and joined the smiling residents despite Li Xian’s warning.
• Li Xian discovered that shining a flashlight on a person made the Honey Shadows’ eyes look away, slowing his racing heart.
• Li Xian asked the clerk for help, but the clerk said the store had no way to deal with Honey Shadows and Dreamcatchers might not be able to reach them.

Li Xian discovered that darkness exposed the Honey Shadow’s vulnerable eyes, but Ji Xie arrived and subdued it before Li Xian could finish the fight. A suited Dreamcatcher collected the creature, rewarded Li Xian and Ji Xie with Contribution Points, and left Li Xian wondering if he was a researcher.

• Li Xian questioned the Convenience Store clerk and learned she no longer understood the meaning of death.
• Li Xian attacked the Honey Shadow’s eyes, then switched off his flashlight and pierced one while it watched him.
• A familiar voice warned Li Xian to step back, and the Honey Shadow’s eyes burst before it spilled off the glass.
• Ji Xie pinned the fleeing Honey Shadow to the ground and told Li Xian that Lin Shiming had sent him.
• A suited man called the creature a New-Type Mutant, bagged it, and raised Li Xian’s and Ji Xie’s Contribution Points from 10 to 20.
• Li Xian wondered whether the suited man was a researcher, then turned back toward the noisy Convenience Store.

After Honey Shadow's control over the Convenience Store ended, the clerk caught the man in the hat stealing money and reported him to the authorities. Li Xian and Ji Xie went to the white building to apply for jobs, while Li Xian wondered how long Candy's effects lasted.

• The clerk searched the man in the hat, recovered stolen money, and politely thanked him after he confessed.
• A Supervisor stopped the man in the hat and led him toward the Chief Administrator's building, where fear finally broke through his Candy-induced calm.
• The man in the hat used an item to freeze the Supervisor and tried to flee, but the Supervisor shocked him with his Wristband and dragged him inside.
• Li Xian wondered whether Candy's effects had worn off after less than half an hour, then showed his 20 Contribution Points to the Security Guard.
• Ji Xie showed his own Wristband and ushered Li Xian inside, asking whether he wanted to apply as a Dreamcatcher or a Supervisor.

Li Xian and Ji Xie applied for different positions, with Li Xian interviewing to become a Dreamcatcher. Fan Zhe passed him after testing his composure and explained the job’s basic terms, leaving Li Xian registered for his first shift.

• Li Xian refused Ji Xie's offer to switch positions, reassured him with a kiss, and then parted from him at the recruitment corridor.
• Li Xian reached the interview room and recognized Fan Zhe, who had previously awarded him and Ji Xie Contribution Points.
• Fan Zhe tested Li Xian by sitting in silence with him, then declared that he had passed.
• Fan Zhe told Li Xian that Dreamcatchers captured Honey Shadows during one-hour shifts, with a 200-yuan base pay and bonuses for extra captures.
• Fan Zhe warned that failing to catch any Honey Shadows would result in dismissal and a reset of Li Xian's Contribution Points, then registered him as a Dreamcatcher.

Li Xian questioned Fan Zhe about the Dreamcatcher hierarchy and received a Candy he was told to eat before starting work. At the Livestock Farm, Li Xian probed Lu Ye about his past and family, provoking a fearful reaction before stopping him from eating a piece of Candy.

• Li Xian asked Fan Zhe whether a position ranked above Dreamcatcher existed, and Fan Zhe said he was only a recruiter and gave Li Xian a Candy to eat before work.
• Li Xian pocketed the Candy and went to his Livestock Keeper shift because he needed money for dinner.
• Li Xian struggled with the physical labor at the Livestock Farm, and Lu Ye gave him a straw hat to shield him from the sun.
• Li Xian asked Lu Ye about his arrival, his former life, and his family, and Lu Ye warned him that asking such questions could bring trouble.
• Lu Ye took out a bag of Candy and began unwrapping a piece, but Li Xian snatched it away before he could eat it.

Li Xian discovered that Candy erased negative emotions and tested its side effects on a rooster, which transformed into a translucent candy sculpture. After warning Lu Ye and telling him to dissolve the rooster in a bucket, Li Xian and Lu Ye were confronted by the Supervisor.

• Li Xian deduced that the Security Gate detected negative emotions and that Candy's effects were broader than simply removing fear.
• Li Xian inferred from Lu Ye's saved Candy and lingering vitality that he had not been there long, then tossed a piece of Candy into the chicken pen.
• After Li Xian gave it another piece of Candy, the rooster crowed, collapsed, and gradually turned into a translucent candy sculpture.
• Li Xian told Lu Ye the Candy had turned the rooster into candy and instructed him to dissolve it in a bucket of water.
• The Supervisor arrived after hearing the rooster, and Li Xian quietly reminded the tense Lu Ye to smile.

Li Xian and Lu Ye narrowly avoided the Supervisor discovering the Candy when Lin Shiming’s chicken purchase gave them a chance to disguise the bloody water. Lin Shiming invited Li Xian to dinner, and after Ji Xie appeared, he invited him too.

• The Supervisor tried to enter the fenced area, but Lin Shiming arrived asking to buy a chicken, and Li Xian and Lu Ye used the slaughtering to conceal the Candy in the bucket.
• Lin Shiming paid fifty yuan for the chicken and invited Li Xian to dinner, while Lu Ye sent Li Xian off early and gave him his wages.
• Li Xian carried groceries back with Lin Shiming and wondered how Lin Shiming had earned so much money.
• Ji Xie returned from an interview and joined Li Xian and Lin Shiming, who invited him to dinner as well.

Li Xian tested how Candy affected players and realized emotional shocks could break its influence, while Lin Shiming warned that it might also be addictive. Back at the apartment, Ji Xie’s jealous attempt to help cook ended with Lin Shiming asking Li Xian if Ji Xie was the one he liked.

• Li Xian stopped the center-parted player and reminded him that he was in an Instance and that his teammate had been taken away, restoring the player’s emotions.
• Li Xian concluded that emotional turmoil could shorten Candy’s effects and considered using Candy during the Dreamcatcher work that night if necessary.
• Lin Shiming pointed out Candy’s possible addictiveness as the three returned to the apartment.
• Ji Xie took the kitchen knife from Li Xian and stabbed the eggplant, so Li Xian kicked him out of the kitchen.
• Lin Shiming asked Li Xian whether Ji Xie was the person he liked.

Li Xian helped Lin Shiming cook dinner and asked about his separation from Cheng Xin. Lin Shiming explained that he expected to die eventually, leaving Li Xian stunned by the short survival prospects in the Advanced Zone.

• Li Xian and Lin Shiming prepared four dishes together, and Li Xian praised Lin Shiming's cooking.
• Li Xian asked Lin Shiming how things were between him and Cheng Xin, and Lin Shiming said they only met during handovers.
• Li Xian questioned why Lin Shiming had split with Cheng Xin, and Lin Shiming said Cheng Xin needed to get used to entering instances with other people.
• Lin Shiming told Li Xian that players in the Advanced Zone cleared an average of twelve instances and usually survived only about four months, leaving Li Xian shocked.

Li Xian discussed the dangers of increasingly difficult Instances with Lin Shiming, then went to begin his new Dreamcatcher job. After a Security Gate alarm exposed that he had not eaten the required Candy, a Dreamcatcher made him eat it and gave him work clothes and equipment before the Bus set off.

• Lin Shiming explained that people were dying in Instances and that even the highest reported number of cleared Advanced Zone Instances was only twenty-one.
• Li Xian asked Lin Shiming whether he should eat the Candy required for his Dreamcatcher job, and Lin Shiming advised him to do so.
• Li Xian took Ji Xie along and boarded the familiar Bus, but the Security Gate alarm sounded as he entered.
• A Dreamcatcher took the Candy from Li Xian's pocket and told him to eat it before handing over his clothes.
• Li Xian ate the Candy, received clothes, a black bag, and a net with a telescoping handle, and sat down as the Bus departed.

Li Xian searched the Residential Community for aggressive, living Honey Shadow after learning that the clumps lying around were not the target. As Ji Xie sensed something wrong, Li Xian accidentally stepped into a clump that stuck to his shoe.

• Li Xian watched the Dreamcatchers on the bus and realized they were searching for active Honey Shadow rather than the clumps scattered around the community.
• A Dreamcatcher spotted a fast-moving black object, got off the bus, and chased it.
• The Driver told Li Xian to wave down the bus after catching Honey Shadow and said the active kind moved more and looked slightly different.
• Li Xian spotted a shadow, got off the bus, and searched the nearby buildings and flower beds without finding it.
• Ji Xie crawled out of Li Xian's pocket and sensed that something was wrong, though neither of them found the source.
• Li Xian stepped on a clump of Honey Shadow, which stretched and clung to his shoe when he tried to pull away.

Li Xian faced a swarm of Honey Shadows and resisted eating Fan Zhe’s candy while Ji Xie drew the creatures away from him. Li Xian found a blue-tinged Honey Shadow emerging from a sleeping resident and tried to stop it from escaping.

• Li Xian realized the Honey Shadows were gathering around him as the consequence of refusing Fan Zhe’s candy, and they began climbing up his legs.
• Ji Xie entered Li Xian’s net and asked him to throw him beyond the swarm, drawing the Honey Shadows away once he landed.
• Li Xian searched the residential complex for a Honey Shadow and spotted one seeping out of a sleeping resident, whose troubled expression grew peaceful as it emerged.
• Li Xian recognized the creature’s blue sheen as the difference he had been seeking, then pounded on the window and shouted for the resident to open it as the Honey Shadow fled toward the door.

Li Xian pursued a fleeing blue Honey Shadow and realized it was luring him into a coordinated ambush. After a red Honey Shadow burned away his protective coat and took his net, the blue one immobilized him, leaving him trapped as the red one approached.

• Li Xian chased the blue Honey Shadow out of an apartment building, noticing that it kept just beyond his reach.
• Li Xian used the Multifunctional Videotape and saw images of his coat gone and a bus approaching, then suspected the Honey Shadow had turned transparent.
• The blue Honey Shadow wrapped around Li Xian like a current, repelling his net and eventually pinning his feet in place.
• A red Honey Shadow appeared, burned away Li Xian's Dreamcatcher coat, and carried off his net.
• Li Xian recognized the two Honey Shadows had coordinated their attack and waited as the red one reached toward the ground beneath him.

Li Xian realized the Honey Shadow was hiding inside the transparent water restraining him and slowly heating it to burn him. He used its attempt to lure him toward the net to create an opening, but ended the chapter pinned on the road as a speeding bus approached.

• Li Xian discovered the dark red Honey Shadow had slipped into the transparent water around his body and was heating it.
• The Honey Shadow repeatedly moved the net away whenever Li Xian approached, while the water gradually heated enough to burn him.
• Li Xian spotted the Honey Shadow's faintly blue tail and dark red lump, but it shifted out of sight again.
• After Li Xian stopped struggling, the Honey Shadow loosened its hold and drew the net closer to entice him.
• Li Xian suddenly rolled toward the net, but the water pinned his hands to the ground as his health points dropped.
• A speeding bus came around the corner and headed straight toward Li Xian.

Li Xian captured one Honey Shadow after the bus ran over it, while the other escaped. After helping the driver replace the damaged tire, Li Xian learned that the bus was making its last run and had to decide whether to board before nine.

• Li Xian saw the bus run over the red Honey Shadow, then caught it in his net as it began to reassemble.
• The driver ate a candy, and Li Xian secured the captured Honey Shadow in his bag while the water-form Honey Shadow escaped.
• The bus tire deflated after the Honey Shadow burned through it, and Li Xian put the Misfortune Toe Bone away, suspecting it had caused the bad luck.
• The driver made Li Xian help replace the tire, and the repair took about twenty minutes.
• The driver told Li Xian that this was the last run and warned him to board or be left behind.

Li Xian returned from the Honey Shadow hunt and suspected the creatures were born from residents’ negative emotions. He secretly followed the shift captain to the Research Lab, where the chapter ended as someone opened the door.

• Li Xian boarded the returning bus with Ji Xie and reflected on how Honey Shadow might form from residents’ distress and feed on their pain.
• The shift captain collected the Dreamcatchers’ bags and equipment, explaining that researchers would sample the Honey Shadows before the crew received payment.
• Li Xian used the Bow Hairpin to follow the captain off the bus and through the security gate, which sounded an alarm but did not expose him.
• Li Xian followed the captain to the Third Floor and watched him knock on the Research Lab door, which opened in response.

Li Xian secretly watched Lin Shiming test the Honey Shadows and explain their connection to Candy and negative emotions. Lin Shiming began processing a mass of Honey Shadow into transparent crystals, revealing a method the supreme administrator had discovered.

• Li Xian recognized Lin Shiming as he accepted four bags containing five Honey Shadows from a Dreamcatcher.
• Lin Shiming tested samples in a machine, which identified Li Xian's dark red Honey Shadow as a new variant associated with anger.
• Lin Shiming explained that Honey Shadows were physical forms of negative emotions produced during Candy's early development, and that they fed on human negativity.
• Lin Shiming poured a large mass of Honey Shadow into another machine, where it lost its vitality and transformed into transparent crystals.

Li Xian learned that Candy was made from inactivated Honey Shadows and that residents’ emotional neurotransmitters were recycled into more Candy. After following the muscular man to the complex’s perimeter, Li Xian discovered that Honey Shadows were disposed of by throwing them over the wall and realized he might be able to get over it too.

• Lin Shiming explained to Li Xian and the muscular man how inactivated Honey Shadows were made into Candy and how the cycle recycled residents’ emotional neurotransmitters.
• The muscular man left with the tested bag, while Li Xian stole a white mask and secretly returned to the bus ahead of him.
• The muscular man rejoined the bus and gave Li Xian two hundred yuan without realizing Li Xian had followed him.
• The bus stopped beside a wide gap in the buildings, and Li Xian watched the muscular man throw the black cloth bag over the electrified perimeter fence.
• Li Xian realized there was no hidden door to the dump and considered throwing himself over the wall.

Li Xian and Ji Xie crossed the apartment wall to investigate the Honey Shadow dump and found an endless, motionless swamp of Honey Shadow beyond it. After testing its surface, Li Xian decided to enter, and the two began cautiously walking through it.

• Li Xian and Ji Xie went to the wall early in the morning so they could investigate the Honey Shadow discarded outside the complex.
• The Postman came across them, and Li Xian explained that he was taking a walk with his boyfriend before the Postman hurried away.
• Ji Xie carried Li Xian over the electrified fence with his tentacles, and Li Xian spotted a vast black swamp beyond the wall.
• Li Xian prodded the Honey Shadow with his Fishing Rod and foot, finding that it was still and resisted movement like a swamp.
• Li Xian asked Ji Xie to lower him into the Honey Shadow, and after reaching the ground, they cautiously walked through it together.