Chapter Summaries

Bo Yi entered the Doll Castle after his detector led him to the strange building, where he was pulled into the Mist game alongside nine other players. The host announced a banquet in three days, and Bo Yi’s detector reacted violently when the host noticed him.

• Bo Yi followed his Energy Detector to a castle that had appeared in the woods and entered its gates.
• Nine people in the castle argued about being trapped in the Mist game until a system message confirmed the ten-player instance, Doll Castle, and its objective to attend a banquet in three days.
• Wen Shan and Zhao Yi explained that players had to complete the instance to return to their original worlds, while Wen Shan privately knew they could not escape the game for good.
• The castle’s host welcomed the players and said his latest work would be revealed at a banquet in three days.
• The host fixed his attention on Bo Yi, whose detector began vibrating frantically, and Bo Yi asked where the players would stay.

Bo Yi examined the suspicious portraits in the castle corridor and entered a guest room alone. As he noticed a woman’s reflection behind him in the window, the story left him facing an unexplained presence.

• Bo Yi touched the liquid coating a portrait’s eyes and found it was still moist and faintly smelled of blood.
• The veteran players decided not to ally with Bo Yi after seeing him inspect the portrait, and he chose a guest room without waiting for them.
• A female player stumbled into a portrait while another player shoved past her, smearing the liquid on her hand.
• Bo Yi opened the guest room curtains, then sat by the window and tried to wipe the sticky substance from his fingers.
• Bo Yi saw the reflection of a woman standing silently behind him in the dark window.

Bo Yi caught and restrained the woman who had entered his room, then removed one of her black nails to study it. She escaped behind the curtains, leaving a doll at Bo Yi’s feet.

• Bo Yi detected traces of an anomaly in his room after the woman vanished from view.
• Bo Yi woke to find the woman lying beside him and threw a quilt over her before binding her with special rope.
• Bo Yi used his detector to find that the woman’s energy was roughly equivalent to a class B anomaly.
• The woman broke part of the rope, but Bo Yi stopped her attack and removed one of her black nails for research.
• The woman escaped behind the curtains, and a doll fell out when Bo Yi opened them.

The players found a new player dead with her eyes gouged out and discovered that the loudmouth had shoved her into a painting in the gallery. When the loudmouth argued that Bo Yi had touched the paintings and survived, Bo Yi challenged his claim that nothing had happened to him.

• A new player screamed after finding a woman dead in her room, and Zhao Yi and the veterans examined the blood-soaked body.
• The veterans found no other wounds and noted that the victim's eyes had been gouged out.
• The bespectacled newcomer accused the loudmouth of shoving the victim into a painting, and Zhao Wen Shan confirmed that greasy liquid from the painting remained on the victim's hand and clothes.
• The loudmouth fought the bespectacled man and claimed the painting could not have caused the death because Bo Yi had also touched one and remained alive.
• Bo Yi listened to Zhao Yi's account, then asked who had said that nothing had happened to him last night.

Bo Yi challenged the blustering man’s accusations and led the veteran players to search the bloodied room for proof. They discovered a blood-soaked humanoid doll beneath the bed, leaving the blustering man screaming as its loose eyeballs fell out.

• The blustering man accused Bo Yi of inventing his encounter with a monster and redirecting danger toward the dead woman, while Bo Yi calmly insisted he had proof.
• Bo Yi asked Zhao Yi whether the bloody room had been searched thoroughly, and Zhao Yi led the veteran players back inside.
• Zhao Wen Shan and the quiet female player found an open space beneath the bed and pulled out a hidden object.
• Zhao Wen Shan handed the blood-soaked humanoid doll to the blustering man, who screamed and dropped it as its eyeballs rolled across the floor.

After Bo Yi revealed that a doll resembled the woman he encountered, the players deduced that touching the paintings triggered an attack. The group introduced themselves and debated whether to explore the castle, with Zhao Yi pointing out they could learn death triggers by testing them.

• Zhao Yi stopped Wang Xing from stomping the eyeball and gave him to another player to watch over.
• Bo Yi confirmed that the doll Zhao Wen Shan held resembled the woman he had encountered, and the players concluded that touching the paintings triggered an attack.
• The players introduced themselves as they left the gallery: Bo Yi, Zhao Yi, Zhao Wen Shan, Zheng Rong, Bo Yu, Pan Lulu, Tian Xiuyun, Wang Xing, and Zhang Songhao.
• Zhao Yi said the group should explore the castle to find clues, while Pan Lulu and Zhang Songhao questioned whether they needed to take the risk.
• Zhao Yi reminded the newcomers that they could also learn about death triggers by observing what had already happened that morning.

Bo Yi explored the castle master's room, found evidence that its owner was a woman, and noticed the shapes of missing portraits in the corridor. At noon, the master appeared in the dining room and summoned the players to lunch.

• Zhao Yi warned the newcomers that clues could be tested at the cost of lives, then sent the players to explore separately and share findings at noon.
• Bo Yi entered the third-floor room and saw a white figure in the dressing-table mirror, but found no one when he turned around.
• Bo Yi discovered that the wardrobe contained women's dresses and noticed pale rectangular patches on the corridor wall where portraits had once hung.
• Pan Lulu asked to team up with Bo Yi, but he refused and left her behind.
• At noon, the master appeared at the dining table and ordered the players to take their seats for lunch.

The players were forced to dine with the host, who served them bloody meat, and Bo Yi identified it as beef. Wang Xing then claimed an eye had appeared inside his portion, but it vanished when he tried to show the others.

• The host urged the players to take their seats and began eating a bloody piece of meat, making Tian Xiuyun retch.
• The players hesitated to eat until Bo Yi calmly tried his portion and told them the meat was beef.
• The players began eating, but Wang Xing screamed, knocked over his chair, and pointed out an eye in his meat.
• Wang Xing pried the meat apart for Zheng Rong, but the eye had disappeared.

The players finished a disturbing meal before Wang Xing attacked Zhang Songhao, and the veterans realized their negative emotions seemed to be amplified. Wang Xing fled the dining room in a rage while the others postponed sharing clues, and Bo Yi quietly packed away the remaining meat.

• The host left the players to eat, and everyone except Bo Yi vomited after swallowing the bloody meat.
• Zhang Songhao taunted Wang Xing about eating the meat after claiming he saw an eye in it, and Wang Xing stabbed him in the shoulder.
• The veterans restrained Wang Xing and realized the players' negative emotions seemed to have been amplified.
• Wang Xing accused the others of conspiring against him and stormed out of the dining room.
• Zhao Yi suggested the players search for clues separately and wait to share information until their emotions settled.
• Bo Yi packed the remaining meat into a plastic bag, leaving Zhao Yi shocked.

Bo Yi followed a doll’s head to a hidden storeroom behind the staircase, where he uncovered a rusted iron door. As he reached for its handle, a familiar presence approached him from behind.

• Bo Yi stayed in the dining room after the other players left and followed the sound of a rolling doll’s head.
• The doll’s head led Bo Yi to a concealed door behind the staircase.
• Bo Yi searched the hidden storeroom and found doll designs and tools that had long gone unused.
• Bo Yi tripped over a crate, causing the stacked crates to collapse and reveal an enormous iron door.
• As Bo Yi reached for the iron door’s handle, a cold body pressed against him from behind and a familiar voice asked what he was doing there.

Bo Yi explored the castle, accepted a white rose from the master, and later spotted Pan Lulu meeting him in the garden. At night, Bo Yi noticed that the eyes in one of the gallery portraits seemed dimmer than before.

• The master caught Bo Yi trying the storeroom door, said it could not be entered yet, and gave him a white rose to bring that night for a tour.
• Bo Yi explored the castle but could not find the master's room, then saw Pan Lulu embracing the master in the garden with Zhao Wen Shan.
• Bo Yi briefly thought Pan Lulu's dress had changed before it appeared as usual again, and he noticed the rose was gone by dinner.
• Eight players attended dinner, with Wang Xing absent, and the group hurried through the gallery afterward without looking at the paintings.
• Bo Yi stopped to study a portrait and wondered why its eyes seemed less bright than before.

After Wang Xing smeared oil from the corridor paintings onto several players’ doorknobs, the group discovered a bloody silver table knife and suspected him of trying to endanger them all. Later, Bo Yi saw Tian Xiuyun sneaking through the corridor with something hidden, and a familiar flash of red made him stop.

• Zhao Yi, Zheng Rong, Tian Xiuyun, and other players found oil on their doorknobs, and Bo Yi confirmed it was the same oil as on the paintings.
• Zhao Yi discovered that someone had scraped oil from the paintings, and the players found a bloodstained silver table knife near Wang Xing’s door.
• Zhang Songhao recognized the knife and furiously pounded on Wang Xing’s locked door until Zhao Yi restrained him and Zhao Wen Shan slapped him.
• The players wiped their doorknobs and returned to their rooms, where Bo Yi considered the master’s invitation while holding a white rose.
• Bo Yu questioned Tian Xiuyun as she crept through the corridor, and Bo Yi noticed a familiar flash of red as she hurried away.

Wang Xing had spread liquid from the portraits onto the other players’ door handles, then celebrated when he thought he had survived a ghost. A presence attacked him in his room and dragged him beneath the bed, leaving his fate unknown.

• Wang Xing gloated over having smeared portrait liquid onto the other players’ door handles and went to sleep.
• Wang Xing heard scratching beneath his bed and realized a ghost was approaching him.
• The scratching stopped, and Wang Xing lit his candle and convinced himself the game was harmless.
• Wang Xing saw two shadows on the wall, lost control of his body, and was shoved from the bed.
• A pale hand seized Wang Xing’s ankle and dragged him beneath the bed as his cries for help stopped.

Bo Yi and the other players discovered Wang Xing dead in his room, his body swollen and covered in red cracks. After his corpse burst apart, Bo Yi linked the cracks to a shattered doll Wang Xing had smashed the previous day and concluded that Wang Xing had smashed himself to death.

• Zhao Wen Shan and Zheng Rong described how ghosts had kept them awake through the night.
• Zhao Yi told the players that Wang Xing was dead, and Zheng Rong recoiled after seeing his contorted corpse.
• Bo Yi touched a red crack on Wang Xing’s skin, causing the corpse to burst and spill dark red liquid.
• Zhao Yi examined the remains and wondered whether Wang Xing had died from a fall, but the players could not identify what had triggered it.
• Bo Yi noticed that the red patterns matched the cracks on the doll Wang Xing had smashed and concluded that Wang Xing had smashed himself to death.

The players found Zhang Songhao dead on the stairs but could not locate Tian Xiuyun, and the master implied he had taken her as material for his work. Bo Yi then questioned Pan Lulu about a rose she had been carrying.

• Bo Yi explained that Wang Xing had died after destroying a doll that resembled him, and Zhao Yi concluded the players could avoid that death condition by not provoking it.
• Bo Yu and the others searched the castle, found Zhang Songhao dead from a fall on the stairs, and continued looking for Tian Xiuyun.
• The players searched all morning but found no trace of Tian Xiuyun, then gathered for lunch with only six chairs remaining at the table.
• The master said he had spent the night working with new materials and suggested the players could provide suitable materials to help him finish.
• Zhao Wen Shan suspected the master had taken Tian Xiuyun, and Bo Yi asked Pan Lulu where her rose was.

Bo Yi pressed Pan Lulu about the red rose she had received from the castle master, leading the players to search the garden. They uncovered the missing portraits from the third-floor hallway, and Bo Yi revealed that his own rose had not disappeared, leaving Pan Lulu’s explanation in doubt.

• Pan Lulu admitted she had thrown away the red rose, and Bo Yi insisted that she take the players to where she had tossed it.
• Bo Yi found a buried cache of portraits while searching the garden with Zhao Wen Shan.
• The players saw that the portraits depicted the same woman with scratched-out faces, and Zhao Wen Shan recognized their dresses from a third-floor wardrobe.
• The players failed to find Pan Lulu’s rose, and Zheng Rong suggested it might have disappeared on its own.
• Bo Yi showed the group a white rose he had kept and challenged Pan Lulu’s claim that the flower could disappear.

Bo Yi revealed that the master had given him a white rose and challenged Pan Lulu over Tian Xiuyun’s flower. When the players realized Bo Yi was a newcomer, they deduced Pan Lulu had been lying, and she admitted her act had been exposed.

• Bo Yi said the master gave him a white rose and told him he could bring it to see him at night.
• Bo Yu recalled seeing Tian Xiuyun leave her room with a flower, prompting Zhao Wen Shan to question Pan Lulu about it.
• Bo Yi argued that Pan Lulu had likely encouraged Tian Xiuyun to retrieve the flower and test what would happen if someone brought it to the master.
• Pan Lulu accused Bo Yi of using veteran status to bully her, but Bo Yi revealed he was a newcomer.
• Zhao Yi noted that the number of newcomers could not exceed the number of veterans, leading the players to suspect Pan Lulu had lied.
• Pan Lulu dropped her innocent act and admitted that the players had found her out.

Bo Yi followed the master of the house into a hidden workshop and discovered dolls made from human remains, including one dressed like Pan Lulu. When the master tried to take Bo Yi’s eyes, Bo Yi revealed that he had wanted the master’s eyes as well.

• Pan Lulu dropped her timid act, admitted she had kept the rose, and said she had told Tian Xiuyun it could save her life.
• Bo Yi decided to investigate what had happened to Tian Xiuyun and went to the iron door with the master of the house that night.
• Bo Yi found a workshop filled with doll parts and saw a doll wearing the aristocratic gown Pan Lulu had worn.
• The master showed Bo Yi nine servant dolls with lifelike eyes and tried to stab him so he could use his eyes to make a perfect doll.
• Bo Yi stopped the master’s attack, stabbed him in the eye with a scalpel, and said he had wanted the master’s eyes too.

Zhao Wen Shan and Zhao Yi found Bo Yi leaving the storage room after he took two round objects from the master of the house, whom he left bloodied on the floor. The master revived through black mist, abandoned his corpse, and possessed a boy doll on a display shelf.

• Zhao Wen Shan and Zhao Yi hid near the iron door, but Bo Yi appeared behind their crates as he left the storage room.
• Bo Yi said he had only taken a few things from the master of the house, and Zhao Wen Shan saw the bloodied body inside before hurrying away with Zhao Yi.
• After Bo Yi left, black mist revived the master of the house, who examined the corpse and said he wanted to meet the person in his memories.
• The master of the house left the corpse and drifted into a boy doll dressed in British-style overalls, which began to move.

Bo Yi discovered that an unseen presence had entered his room during the night, and a tiny red-eyed doll appeared on his shoulder the next morning. As the group prepared to face the final banquet, the supposedly dead master returned and asked whether they had slept well.

• A mass of black fog entered Bo Yi's room, but it fled when he woke; his detector recorded a presence beyond its measurement limit.
• Zhao Wen Shan noticed a tiny red-eyed boy doll on Bo Yi's shoulder, and Bo Yi kept it in his pocket after recalling the eyes he had seen in the fog.
• Zhao Yi reminded Bo Yi and the others that they had to survive the final night's banquet to clear the instance, though they had found no clues about it.
• Zhao Wen Shan assumed the master was dead and that the group could simply wait out the clock, but Pan Lulu's arrival interrupted her.
• The master appeared at the gallery's exit and asked the guests whether they had slept well.