Chapter Summaries

Su Bai explained Zhang Yibu’s emerging talent and warned him that choosing speed enhancement could limit his future abilities. As Zhang Yibu considered his options, Su Bai heard a strange dragging noise in the corridor outside Room 101.

• Zhang Yibu told Su Bai that he could sense and control a small amount of power inside his body.
• Su Bai confirmed Zhang Yibu could direct the power into his legs to become a Speed-Type Body Enhancer, but advised him not to choose that path unless necessary.
• Su Bai demonstrated his blue flame ability and explained that most veteran Players were not Body Enhancers.
• Su Bai told Zhang Yibu he might have the potential for a special ability and left the final choice to him.
• Su Bai heard a strange noise outside Room 101, as if someone were dragging a broken chair down the corridor.

Zhang Yibu discovered that the security guard patrolling outside Room 101 was fused to a broken chair and overheard him discussing sacrifices, an uncontrolled anomaly, and a plan. He reported what he learned to Su Bai, who said they would not be able to rest much longer and left Zhang Yibu to find his own way forward.

• At Su Bai's request, Zhang Yibu looked through Room 101's peephole and saw the security guard fused to a battered chair.
• The guard noticed Zhang Yibu watching but turned away before reaching the peephole.
• Zhang Yibu overheard the guard say that something was getting out of control, sacrifices were useless, and they could help one of the sacrifices while letting the anomaly appear at the right time.
• Zhang Yibu retreated from the door and recounted the guard's appearance and words to Su Bai.
• Su Bai said they would not get to rest much longer and reflected that Zhang Yibu would have to find his own way forward.

Qin Yuxuan used his Mind Control Ability on Yue Zhengqing and Xiao Xiaodie, then spotted a mirror that vanished after he entered Room 204. He suspected his manipulation had triggered an anomaly and was left eager to test the apartment’s limits as the couple across the hall began to quarrel.

• Yue Zhengqing initially ignored Qin Yuxuan, but Qin approached him with praise, and Yue became unusually receptive to him.
• Qin shook Yue Zhengqing’s hand and used a slight Mental Suggestion, then flattered Xiao Xiaodie and used his ability on her as well.
• After entering Room 204, Qin saw a mirror on the wall that vanished when he turned to look.
• Qin connected the apparent anomaly to the rule about neighborly harmony and decided he could keep testing the limits of his mind control.
• In Room 203, Yue Zhengqing and Xiao Xiaodie faced each other as the mood between them turned strange.

Yue Zhengqing's anger over his past with Xiao Xiaodie escalated into a cruel confession about why he kept her close, then he blamed the blood smell when he regained control. Xiao Xiaodie withdrew to the mirrorless washroom, where a mirror showed her furious face.

• Yue Zhengqing accused Xiao Xiaodie of taking his strength for granted and revealed that he had known her in high school, when she ignored his attempts to approach her.
• Xiao Xiaodie explained that family troubles had left her overwhelmed in Chengsong City, but Yue Zhengqing took her inability to remember him as proof that she had looked down on him.
• Yue Zhengqing admitted he had saved Xiao Xiaodie in the Nightmare Game to make her depend on him and to humiliate people who had once looked down on him.
• Yue Zhengqing demeaned Xiao Xiaodie, claimed he could replace her with other Healers and beautiful women, and called her his slave before suddenly stopping.
• Yue Zhengqing apologized and blamed the blood smell, while Xiao Xiaodie quietly went to the washroom and saw her furious expression in the mirror.

Xiao Xiaodie realized Yue Zhengqing had treated her as a trophy to prove his past failures were not failures, and her love turned to resentment. As she recognized a mirror in the bathroom, a pale red vortex appeared behind her reflection and a familiar oppressive presence surged around her.

• Xiao Xiaodie reflected on how her privileged life differed from Yue Zhengqing’s and realized he remained trapped by his past.
• She concluded that Yue Zhengqing had used her as a trophy to impress people connected to his past and make himself look successful.
• Xiao Xiaodie became disgusted with herself for having adored and served Yue Zhengqing, but knew she could not kill him.
• Xiao Xiaodie noticed the mirror in front of her and saw a pale red vortex appear behind her reflection.
• A stench of blood and savage hostility flooded in, accompanied by an oppressive force.

Xiao Xiaodie endured a wave of bloodlust and viciousness in the apartment and accepted an offer of power from the reflection in her mirror. She concealed her altered state from Yue Zhengqing and left with him for the reception room after a loudspeaker summoned the residents.

• A terrifying aura overwhelmed Xiao Xiaodie, stirring thoughts of killing herself and Yue Zhengqing.
• A smiling reflection offered Xiao Xiaodie power, and she agreed to accept it.
• Yue Zhengqing feared Xiao Xiaodie might leave him and decided she must not survive the game if she tried.
• Xiao Xiaodie emerged from the washroom and pretended to agree that she needed Yue Zhengqing's protection.
• A loudspeaker summoned the residents to the reception room, and Xiao Xiaodie went with Yue Zhengqing.

Yue Zhengqing and the other Players headed to the Reception Room after the Loudspeaker announced a Welcome Party, hoping to escape the apartment’s mysterious force and explore the building. Qin Yuxuan stayed behind with Meng Zhi and the braided girl, then tried to persuade Meng Zhi that they would need to fend for themselves.

• Yue Zhengqing left Room 203 with Xiao Xiaodie, believing the Reception Room could shield them from the force affecting the apartments.
• Qin Yuxuan saw Yue Zhengqing and Xiao Xiaodie acting intimately and wondered why his mental interference had not caused conflict between them.
• Sang Sang joined Yue Zhengqing and explained that she would attend the party because the announcement and the force made staying behind seem risky.
• Yao Qing followed Sang Sang and Yue Zhengqing downstairs, while Meng Zhi, Qin Yuxuan, and the braided girl remained on the second floor.
• Qin Yuxuan told Meng Zhi that the others had ignored them and offered to avoid causing her trouble if they had to fend for themselves.

Qin Yuxuan used his ability to earn the newcomers’ trust, but Feng Ling noticed he had not bothered to learn her name. Su Bai and Zhang Yibu left their apartment with Feng Ling and Meng Zhi to explore the Reception Room, where the door slammed shut behind them.

• Qin Yuxuan shook hands with Meng Zhi and Feng Ling, using the contact to plant suggestions in their minds.
• Feng Ling warned Meng Zhi not to trust Qin Yuxuan, pointing out that he had never asked her name.
• Su Bai decided to visit the Reception Room and left Zhang Yibu alone to wrestle with his desire to awaken a special ability.
• Su Bai and Zhang Yibu met Feng Ling and Meng Zhi in the corridor, and the four walked toward the Reception Room while the path distorted their vision.
• The four entered the Reception Room, and its heavy wooden door slammed shut behind them.

After the Reception Room door was locked, Chen Xi proposed that the players use their three-hour confinement to reveal the dark thoughts in their hearts. The players considered her idea as a way to face the force affecting them without violating the game’s rules.

• The Security Guard ordered the players to remain in the Reception Room for three hours and locked the door from outside.
• Su Bai returned to an armchair to rest while Sang Sang watched him, and Chen Xi challenged the veterans’ unspoken social hierarchy.
• Chen Xi argued with Sang Sang and pointed out that the force might be bringing out resentments that players already held.
• Yao Qing described how the force stirred up hostility in him, and Chen Xi suggested he might have harbored those thoughts already.
• Chen Xi proposed a second self-introduction where everyone shared their dangerous thoughts, and Sang Sang considered whether the idea fit the game rules.

Sang Sang proposed that the players confront and share their hidden darkness to resist the apartment building’s oppressive power and preserve their reason. Qin Yuxuan opposed opening up and chose distressed Zhang Yibu as a potential target for his schemes.

• Sang Sang explained that the power awakened the players’ buried darkness and urged them to speak honestly during the remaining three hours.
• The players considered Sang Sang and Chen Xi’s proposal, but Qin Yuxuan rejected it because revealing the truth could expose his interests and obstruct his mental control.
• Qin Yuxuan recalled that mirrors appeared when people felt malice and decided the players in the Reception Room needed to see one.
• Qin Yuxuan noticed Zhang Yibu’s distress beside the seriously ill girl and approached him, judging his mental defenses to be fragile.

Qin Yuxuan tried to use his ability to foster resentment in Zhang Yibu, but his misunderstanding of Zhang Yibu and Su Bai meant the attempt had no effect. Sang Sang began the second round of introductions by revealing how her family history shaped her darker thoughts, and she ended by admitting that the apartment’s power kept stirring them.

• Qin Yuxuan encouraged Zhang Yibu to pursue Su Bai, believing Zhang Yibu had been rejected by the woman he loved.
• Zhang Yibu recoiled at Qin Yuxuan’s suggestions and returned to thinking about how to obtain a special ability.
• Qin Yuxuan’s ability failed to affect Zhang Yibu because Zhang Yibu held no resentment or dark impulses toward Su Bai.
• Sang Sang admitted that she cared about experience and leaderboard rank and had assumed leadership because she was the most experienced player.
• Sang Sang described how her father took her mother’s inheritance, favored his older son, and left her to reclaim what she considered hers.
• Sang Sang said those experiences made her despise hypocritical, arrogant men and that the apartment’s power repeatedly stirred her darkest thoughts.

Yao Qing described how financial pressure and resentment toward his marriage had pushed him toward a breakdown, while Sang Sang suggested ways he could change his circumstances. Meng Zhi admitted that fear for her family had made her consider abandoning the apartment’s residents, and Sang Sang reassured her that the Players would face the game together before turning to Su Bai’s worsening condition.

• Yao Qing told Sang Sang and Chen Xi about his mortgage, impending dismissal, and resentment toward his wife and in-laws.
• Chen Xi challenged Yao Qing for staying silent, and Sang Sang suggested he sell his home and offered help finding a place to stay or an interview.
• Meng Zhi explained that fear of dying and never seeing her family again had made her wonder if the game could be cleared by making the apartment residents disappear.
• Sang Sang warned Meng Zhi that abandoning her Neighbors violated the rules and reassured her that the Players would face the danger together.
• Sang Sang asked Su Bai what was wrong with his worsening condition and suggested Xiao Xiaodie might be able to heal him.

Su Bai entered the Nightmare Game looking gravely ill, and the players discovered that the beautiful person they had mistaken for a woman was a man. As Sang Sang asked the group about their troubles, Xiao Xiaodie revealed that she wanted to kill Yue Zhengqing.

• Meng Zhi worried that Su Bai’s illness would make him a burden when monsters appeared, but Su Bai insisted he could manage.
• Su Bai told Chen Xi that he was a man and had no interest in wearing dresses, shocking the other players.
• Sang Sang accepted Su Bai’s explanation, heard his name, and then asked Yue Zhengqing and Xiao Xiaodie about their troubles.
• Xiao Xiaodie said she wanted to kill Yue Zhengqing while clinging to his arm.

A strange creature took control of Xiao Xiaodie's body and attacked Yue Zhengqing in the Reception Room. It offered him a chance to survive by killing another person there, leaving the players facing a deadly choice.

• Xiao Xiaodie declared that she wanted to kill Yue Zhengqing and restrained him despite his attempts to pull away.
• Xiao Xiaodie's appearance changed as bloodlike threads spread across her body and pierced Yue Zhengqing's arm.
• The creature controlling Xiao Xiaodie explained that she had made a deal with Xiao Xiaodie to kill Yue Zhengqing, then seized him by the throat with her threads.
• The creature released Yue Zhengqing but kept him suspended by the threads and offered him survival if he killed one of the people in the Reception Room.

The Strange Creature possessing Xiao Xiaodie forced Yue Zhengqing to choose between dying and killing another human, then ordered him to kill Qin Yuxuan. As Yue Zhengqing approached Qin Yuxuan and the other players were restrained, the Reception Room’s painting transformed into a huge mirror.

• The Strange Creature possessing Xiao Xiaodie tormented Yue Zhengqing until he agreed to join its game and kill another human.
• Xiao Xiaodie’s possessor chose Qin Yuxuan as Yue Zhengqing’s target, prompting Meng Zhi and Sang Sang to warn him not to trust the Strange Creature.
• Sang Sang tried to stop Yue Zhengqing by cutting her arm, but Blood Threads restrained her.
• Yue Zhengqing moved toward Qin Yuxuan as Blood Threads blocked the other players from intervening.
• The Reception Room lights flickered, and the “Family Harmony Brings Prosperity” painting turned into a mirror covering half the wall.

Su Bai and the others learned that Qin Yuxuan had used mind control to provoke Yue Zhengqing and Xiao Xiaodie, while a separate, unknown bloody aura had also driven Xiao Xiaodie to desperation. As Yue Zhengqing tried to kill Qin Yuxuan, the mirror world intervened, and something sinister entered Yue Zhengqing.

• The mirror appeared on the Reception Room wall, showing a bloody reflection where Xiao Xiaodie was missing, while she had become a Blood Thread-covered Strange Creature outside it.
• The Strange Creature told Sang Sang that Qin Yuxuan had used mind control, and revealed that Qin Yuxuan and Xiao Xiaodie had both shaken Yue Zhengqing's hand.
• Su Bai questioned the Strange Creature about the bloody aura, and it admitted that the aura belonged to something separate from its faction before ordering Yue Zhengqing to kill Qin Yuxuan.
• Yue Zhengqing approached Qin Yuxuan and began choking him, saying he wanted to trade Qin Yuxuan's life for his own survival.
• The mirror stabilized, and the Blood Thread-covered Strange Creature hurled Yue Zhengqing into the wall as Su Bai sensed something pass through the mirror and enter his body.

The players in the Reception Room faced Strange Creatures emerging through mirrors, and Qin Yuxuan discovered that his Mind Control Ability could resist one of them. After the mirror opened a passage and Feng Ling stepped forward to address the room, the players wondered what she intended to say.

• The Strange Creature dragged Yue Zhengqing away from Qin Yuxuan's attack and pointed out that a mirror had appeared behind Qin Yuxuan.
• Qin Yuxuan realized that mirrors appeared whenever he acted maliciously toward his neighbors, undermining his plans and exposing his intentions.
• An eerie voice urged Qin Yuxuan to turn around, and he finally faced the mirror and saw an upside-down version of himself.
• The creature in the mirror grabbed Qin Yuxuan's wrist, but Qin Yuxuan resisted it with his Mind Control Ability and broke free, leaving a hand-shaped mark.
• Feng Ling told Qin Yuxuan that his ability had helped him escape the creature's control, then stepped forward to announce that she had something to say.

Feng Ling exposed Qin Yuxuan as a Mind Controller who had used his ability to turn players against one another and kill her friends. Qin Yuxuan recognized her connection to the Nameless Society, but Feng Ling’s identity remained undisclosed.

• Feng Ling challenged the Mirror creature’s threat and argued that its blood-red power was not under its control.
• Qin Yuxuan tried to grab Feng Ling, but pain forced him to pull his hand away.
• Feng Ling revealed that a duplicate diary had recorded how Qin Yuxuan killed one of her friends in a nightmare game.
• Feng Ling explained Qin Yuxuan’s Mind Control Ability and accused him of using a controlled player to kill her stronger friend.
• Qin Yuxuan recognized the Nameless Society when Feng Ling asked if he remembered her two friends.

Feng Ling revealed herself as the Immortal Bird and tried to kill Qin Yuxuan, but a Strange Creature took over his body and escaped through a mirror. With the Players held hostage by a blood-thread Ghost Creature, Feng Ling called on Su Bai and demanded to know what the creatures were trying to do.

• Feng Ling identified herself as the leader of the nameless organization and set Qin Yuxuan on fire for harming her companions.
• Burning and desperate, Qin Yuxuan lunged for a mirror, where a Strange Creature took over his body and escaped after slitting its throat.
• The blood-thread Ghost Creature threatened the Players on the sofa to stop Feng Ling from attacking Qin Yuxuan's abandoned body.
• Feng Ling called Su Bai a potential ally, and he said the creatures had been avoiding killing humans outright and might have sent their victims elsewhere.
• Feng Ling asked the blood-thread Ghost Creature to explain what the creatures were trying to do.

Su Bai deduced that the Ghost Creatures were refugees trapped inside the mirrors who needed living humans to escape. He proposed entering the mirror world in exchange for more information, leaving the group facing a dangerous bargain.

• Feng Ling argued that the Ghost Creatures were treating the players with unusual care and asked why Su Bai believed Xiao Xiaodie and Qin Yuxuan were alive.
• Su Bai reasoned that the Ghost Creatures had escaped from the mirror world by trading places with the humans who opened the mirrors, sending Xiao Xiaodie and Qin Yuxuan inside.
• The Blood Threads Ghost Creature said humans were driven mad by the force in the mirror world and that the creatures wanted their bodies to escape it.
• Su Bai decided that the players needed to approach the mirrors and proposed entering them if the Ghost Creatures would explain more about the mirrors and the force.