Chapter Summaries

Su Bai and the other players prepared for the second game at Happy Hotel, where the rules changed to remove obstacles for the Treasure Hunters. The game began with a Family Member severing Liu Yongzhi’s arm, and the players learned they had to recover their stolen treasures before the day ended or lose them forever.

• Su Bai summoned Little Black in the form of a puppy, and Zhi Yuan said he had mistaken Su Bai for someone his friend knew.
• Tan Ying warned Li Feiwen not to break walls and interfere with the hotel’s rules, recalling how his actions had once freed a Ghost Creature.
• The Waitress announced that the hotel would remove obstacles that hindered Treasure Hiders and Treasure Hunters.
• A translucent Family Member severed Liu Yongzhi’s right arm and fled with it while Tan Ying rushed to treat him.
• The Female Ghost Waiter announced that stolen treasures would not stop their owners from playing, but would disappear forever if not recovered before the game ended.

Tan Ying and the others escaped to the third floor with the unconscious Liu Yongzhi, whose stolen arm had become his treasure, and Li Feiwen destroyed the stairs behind them. The Happy Hotel began rebuilding the staircase from nothing, leaving the group uncertain how long they could hold off the Ghost Creatures.

• Tan Ying used her shadow to bring Liu Yongzhi from the second-floor corridor to the third floor while the others followed.
• Li Feiwen used his rock-and-earth ability to dismantle the stairs between the second and third floors and gathered the rubble around his left arm.
• Li Feiwen examined Liu Yongzhi's wound and said he had likely fainted from shock rather than pain or blood loss.
• Liang Yuyan alerted the group that the Happy Hotel was creating a new staircase from rubble that appeared out of thin air.
• The Strange Creature and Tan Ying's ghostly parents called to them from downstairs, while Chi Yan asked how they could buy more time.

Su Bai and the other Players tried to delay the Ghost Creatures without harming their own “Family Members,” using their abilities and the Inn’s broken stairways to buy time. After they reached the fourth floor and barricaded the stairwell, Liang Yuyan realized the Ghost Creatures had caught up with them.

• Wen Wen recalled that Players would be disqualified if their Family Members were harmed, while several Players silently realized they could attack other Players’ Family Members.
• Tan Ying, Chi Yan, Li Feiwen, Su Bai, and Liang Yuyan agreed to restrain or distract the Ghost Creatures and use the Inn’s stair repairs to gain time.
• Tan Ying led the Players, including the unconscious Liu Yongzhi, to the fourth floor, where Li Feiwen demolished the stairs and built two walls across the stairwell.
• Su Bai told Little Black to guard the stairwell while the Players moved farther down the corridor.
• Liang Yuyan sensed that Straw Man had reached the fourth floor and realized the Family Members had arrived.

As Ghost Creatures reached the fourth floor, Su Bai and the Players tried to hold them back without endangering their group. When Ai Qing’s plea caused Li Feiwen to act as her human shield, Su Bai sent Kai Xin and the Cat Spirits into the fight.

• Su Bai heard Little Black drive the Ghost Creatures back with lightning, but Li Feiwen’s walls soon collapsed, revealing the Black Hound guarding the stairwell.
• Su Bai counted five Ghost Creatures approaching, including a Snake Woman who watched quietly instead of attacking.
• Tan Ying’s shadows restrained the Ghost Creatures briefly, but “Ai Qing’s Older Brother” broke free and injured her.
• When Ai Qing called for help, Li Feiwen was controlled into standing between her and the Ghost Creature, and he told Tan Ying he could not control his body.
• Su Bai summoned Kai Xin and the Cat Spirits from the Peace Knot to attack the Ghost Creatures, startling Wen Wen.

Su Bai and the other players escaped the Ghost Creatures by forcing Ai Qing to release Li Feiwen so he could use his ability to open holes in the floors. They fell into the first-floor Lobby, where Tan Ying softened the landing for the group, but Ai Qing landed in agony, screaming about her face.

• Tan Ying and Chi Yan tried to restrain the advancing Ghost Creatures while Su Bai and Liang Yuyan dragged Ai Qing away from Li Feiwen.
• Ai Qing refused to release Li Feiwen and revealed that she had approached him because her voice could control only people she had spent enough time with.
• Su Bai ordered Little Black to frighten Ai Qing, and Liang Yuyan released her as she fell, breaking her control over Li Feiwen.
• Li Feiwen used his ability to open holes beneath the players, sending them through the floors toward the first-floor Lobby.
• Su Bai caught Tan Ying while Little Black landed safely, and Tan Ying used her shadow to slow the other players' fall.
• The players landed without injury except for unconscious Liu Yongzhi and Ai Qing, who screamed that her face hurt.

After Ai Qing lost her face and the Ghost Creatures threatened to overwhelm the exhausted players, the group debated how to survive the rest of the game. Zhi Yuan claimed the situation was not hopeless and said he and some others had figured out how to clear it.

• Ai Qing screamed after her brother touched her face, and Tan Ying told the others the Ghost Creatures would not bother her again.
• The Three-Headed Hound leapt through the hole to the second floor as Li Feiwen sealed the Lobby ceiling, while Tan Ying and Chi Yan struggled from exhaustion.
• Li Feiwen estimated that forty minutes remained, and Tan Ying failed to open the Inn's locked entrance.
• Chi Yan suggested letting the Ghost Creatures take something and retrieving it later, but Liang Yuyan refused to stop resisting and prepared to use two straw men.
• Su Bai warned Wen Wen that players expelled from the game disappeared, and Tan Ying worried the group might lose the ability to walk.
• Zhi Yuan reassured the players that their situation was not hopeless and said he and some others had worked out how to clear the game.

Zhi Yuan revealed that he had replaced the Inn’s assigned ghost with his longtime companion Xiao Qing, the Snake Woman, and explained how that let him exploit the game’s rules. As Xiao Qing restrained the hunting ghosts in the Lobby, Zhi Yuan called on Su Bai and Wu Heng to reveal their own plans, but he had not yet finished explaining what made this game different.

• Zhi Yuan said he had a trump card and asked Su Bai and Wu Heng to share their plans so the players might find a way to end the game early.
• The ghostly family members reached the Lobby, where Xiao Qing’s enormous tail suddenly coiled around them and prevented them from escaping.
• Zhi Yuan explained that he had killed the ghost assigned to him at the start, then brought Xiao Qing as his companion to satisfy the Inn’s rule against checking in alone.
• Zhi Yuan revealed Xiao Qing’s name and said she had been by his side for a long time, making her his family member.
• Zhi Yuan began to explain what made the game different from other nightmare games.

Zhi Yuan used the code phrase “Chiliu” to signal his connection to Feng Ling and the Nameless Society, but Su Bai refused to confirm that he recognized it. Wu Heng then used a White Rope to strengthen Liang Yuyan’s control over her straw man, and Zhi Yuan was left to explain what made the game different.

• Zhi Yuan asked Su Bai whether he knew the code phrase “Chiliu,” and Su Bai realized Feng Ling had likely shared it with a Nameless Society confidant.
• Su Bai denied knowing the phrase aloud but offered to help Zhi Yuan end the match early.
• Wu Heng tied a White Rope around Liang Yuyan’s second straw man, making it move and greatly improving her control over it.
• Liang Yuyan thanked Wu Heng after he explained that the rope served as a bridge that let her use her ability more fully.
• Tan Ying asked Zhi Yuan what made the game different from the others.

Zhi Yuan argued that the Players’ many control abilities were key to surviving the games and might offer a way to escape early. As Su Bai was asked for ideas, an unseen speaker challenged the group for not using their trump cards sooner.

• Zhi Yuan pointed out that most Players had control or manipulation abilities and said they should use them to restrain the Family Members during games.
• Zhi Yuan suggested that the game was a training ground for control abilities and that escaping early might depend on pushing those abilities to their limits.
• Tan Ying questioned how control abilities could end the game, while Li Feiwen suggested the group could simply stall until it ended.
• Chi Yan and Zhi Yuan warned that the Players would not survive future games by stalling alone, and Liang Yuyan stopped controlling her second Straw Man to reflect.
• Su Bai quietly asked Wu Heng about using his thread to create Cursed Dolls, but Tan Ying interrupted to ask whether the two already knew each other.
• An unidentified speaker challenged the Players, asking why they had not stepped in sooner if they had so many trump cards.

After Ai Qing accused the players of abandoning her, Chi Yan and Zhi Yuan explained why they had suspected the unconscious Liu Yongzhi of impersonating a Nameless Society member and exploiting players. The morning game ended with Ai Qing disfigured and despairing, while the group prepared for what the afternoon game might bring.

• Ai Qing demanded to know why the players had not saved her or Liu Yongzhi, and Zhi Yuan and Chi Yan defended their choices.
• Chi Yan described how Liu Yongzhi had tried to recruit him and Su Bai with a suspicious Contract Book.
• Zhi Yuan confirmed that a real Liu Yongzhi belonged to the Nameless Society, but said the unconscious man was an impostor and possibly a human trafficker.
• Tan Ying and Chi Yan shared warnings about players being tricked by fake organizations, and Zhi Yuan said they would question Liu Yongzhi when he woke.
• Tan Ying offered Ai Qing medicine to prevent her from bleeding to death, but Ai Qing collapsed in despair over losing her face.
• Li Feiwen warned that the afternoon game might change if the Ghost Creatures failed to find the treasure, and the bell rang to end the morning game.

After the Treasure Hunt ended, Su Bai proposed disrupting the inn’s orderly games so the players could act freely and eliminate the Strange Creatures. The group was left to decide whether to refuse the next game and risk the inn’s response.

• Zhi Yuan released the trapped Ghost Creatures, and the Waitress announced that cardholders had to stay on the first floor until the afternoon game.
• Zhi Yuan warned that Xiao Qing’s ability had exhausted them and urged everyone to stay alert while the Ghost Creatures continued searching for their treasures upstairs.
• Su Bai argued that the players needed to stop the games from continuing before the nightmare grew harder to solve.
• Wen Wen noted that waiters distributed rule cards before each game, and Tan Ying worried that skipping games could cost them their eligibility.
• Su Bai proposed that every player refuse the next game and prevent the waiters from preparing its rule cards, creating chaos that would let them attack the Strange Creatures.

Su Bai persuaded the Players to refuse the next game and provoke chaos in the Inn as a way to escape its rules. After Liu Yongzhi woke, Su Bai and the others confronted him about impersonating the Nameless Society and coercing them into signing contracts.

• Su Bai proposed that everyone skip the next game and deliberately worsen the situation to disrupt the Inn's rules, and the Players agreed.
• Wu Heng said he would do whatever Su Bai wanted, prompting Tan Ying to remark that she suspected something between them.
• Liu Yongzhi woke and realized something was wrong with his right arm, though the others hesitated to tell him it was gone.
• Su Bai confronted Liu Yongzhi about impersonating the Nameless Society, while Chi Yan used his ability to restrain him.
• Su Bai told Liu Yongzhi to explain his identity before the afternoon game if he wanted a chance to get his right arm back, and Liang Yuyan demanded that he talk.

Chi Yan and the others cornered Liu Yongzhi and discovered that he had recruited new Players into a lowest-grade Death Contract under orders from an unknown organization. Liu Yongzhi revealed that the organization wanted the contracted Players’ bodies, leaving the group with the threat behind the missing Players still unresolved.

• Chi Yan exposed contradictions in Liu Yongzhi’s claims, and the Players surrounded him to demand the truth.
• Li Feiwen threatened Liu Yongzhi with his earth ability while Su Bai warned him to cooperate.
• Liu Yongzhi explained that a contract prevented him from revealing secrets, so Wu Heng intervened and enabled him to speak without pain.
• Liu Yongzhi admitted that he was a low-level recruiter who had to sign two more Players to earn a promotion.
• Liu Yongzhi revealed that the lowest-grade Death Contract made signers into slaves and that the organization wanted their bodies.

Liu Yongzhi revealed that players who signed low-tier contracts had been taken to Qingliu City for experiments and were being kept out of nightmare games, though repeated rescues from those games drained their life force. Su Bai suspected the experiments were connected to Qingliu City’s monster infection and the Merfolk Tribe, while the players focused on surviving the game and reporting what they learned.

• Liu Yongzhi told Tan Ying and the others that missing players had signed low-tier contracts and were likely still alive in Qingliu City.
• Liu Yongzhi explained that higher-ups could keep contracted players from entering nightmare games and pull them back from games, but doing so made them gravely ill and drained their life force.
• Su Bai wondered whether the experiments were connected to Qingliu City’s monster infection and the Merfolk Tribe, but Liu Yongzhi said his higher-ups had not mentioned monsters.
• Chi Yan concluded Liu Yongzhi knew little more and said he would report the matter to the Relevant Authorities if they cleared the game.
• Zhi Yuan said he would tell the Leader that Liu Yongzhi had used the Nameless Society’s name to deceive newcomers.

Su Bai learned that Wu Heng had only frozen Liu Yongzhi’s contract and asked him how to break such restraints. Suspecting his actions at the Lorimas Grand Hotel had worsened the crisis in Qingliu City, Su Bai resolved to go there and investigate.

• Chi Yan released his control over Liu Yongzhi, who withdrew to a corner of the lobby while the other players kept their distance.
• Wu Heng told Su Bai that he had temporarily frozen Liu Yongzhi’s contract power and that its effects would return when the ice melted.
• Su Bai considered whether his survival of the Lorimas Grand Hotel game had caused a butterfly effect linked to Qingliu City’s experiments and infected patients.
• Su Bai decided he needed to investigate Qingliu City and pressed Wu Heng to teach him how to break a low-grade contract.
• Wu Heng explained that Su Bai could find the knot in a person’s flow of power and untie it, freeze it, or blast it apart.
• Liang Yuyan told Tan Ying that Su Bai and Wu Heng seemed to have something going on between them.

Su Bai and the other Players planned to use the afternoon treasure hunt to explore the Inn and investigate its hidden spaces and strange waiters. After resting and eating lunch, they heard the bell ring again, leaving the group waiting for what would happen next.

• Su Bai asked Wu Heng whether contracts with Strange Creatures could be dissolved, and Wu Heng explained that some endured alongside the Red Moon.
• Zhi Yuan proposed using the afternoon Treasure Hunting game to explore the Inn and search for the waiters' hidden space.
• Wen Wen and Tan Ying eagerly agreed that the Players could confront the waiters because they were not Family Members, while Chi Yan revealed his Short Knife.
• Zhi Yuan urged everyone to rest while remaining alert until the afternoon game began.
• A waiter brought the Players lunch, and Su Bai reflected on how ordinary vegetables appeared in the Nightmare World.
• The familiar bell rang again after the Players had spent an unknown amount of time resting.

Ai Qing begged the players to help recover her face, but Tan Ying offered her bandages and urged her to face the next game herself. The Zombie Waiter announced that the treasure hunt’s rules had changed, leaving the players needing to recover at least one of two lost treasures to pass.

• Ai Qing begged the group to find her face and offered to do anything in return.
• Tan Ying gave Ai Qing bandages and told her to choose whether to join them and take the next game seriously.
• The Zombie Waiter announced that the treasure-hunting rules had changed because a treasure had not been found.
• The Zombie Waiter said the players had to recover one of two treasures to pass, and that failing to find any would cost everyone a treasure.
• Liang Yuyan questioned how the new punishment differed from the previous day’s, and the Zombie Waiter left to begin the game.

After the ghost creatures revealed that they had stolen Ai Qing’s face and Liu Yongzhi’s arm and were carrying the treasures on their own bodies, the players split up to pursue separate leads. Su Bai sent one group after the Zombie Waiter and assigned Wen Wen to Tan Ying’s group, giving her Kai Xin’s Peace Knot for protection.

• The ghost creatures appeared with Ai Qing’s face and Liu Yongzhi’s arm attached to their bodies, then went upstairs with other family members guarding the treasures.
• Su Bai told the players to follow the Zombie Waiter and find where the waiters hid.
• Liang Yuyan sent her strengthened Straw Man after the waiter, while Zhi Yuan sent Xiao Qing to follow as well.
• Chi Yan said he could sense the location of the ghost creature he had controlled and suggested splitting up to recover the treasures.
• Tan Ying chose to pursue the two ghost creatures with Chi Yan, Ai Qing, and Liu Yongzhi.
• Su Bai assigned Wen Wen to Tan Ying’s group and gave her the black Peace Knot that Kai Xin had become.

Su Bai and his companions followed the Zombie Waiter’s trail to a wall at the end of the Inn’s second-floor corridor. Su Bai opened a passage through the wall’s Red Moon power, and the group entered a hidden section of the Inn.

• Wen Wen recognized the Ceramic Little Cat attached to the Peace Knot and joined Tan Ying’s team with it.
• Su Bai’s group followed the Waiter’s trail deeper into the second-floor corridor while Tan Ying’s team searched upstairs.
• Zhi Yuan’s snake and Liang Yuyan’s straw men stopped at the corridor’s end and pointed to the wall.
• Su Bai sensed nodes of Red Moon power in the wall and unraveled them to make an opening.
• Liang Yuyan chose to enter with Su Bai, Wu Heng, and Zhi Yuan, and the group passed through the wall into a dim, foul-smelling hidden corridor.

Su Bai and the others discovered a hidden corridor inside the Happy Hotel, where photographs recorded punishments inflicted on players. A photo revealed that the current waiters and “family members” may have once occupied each other’s roles, leaving the group with a new clue about the hotel’s strange creatures.

• Su Bai realized the hidden corridor and staircase let strange creatures move between floors unseen, and considered how human abilities differed from their power.
• Su Bai led the others quietly through the concealed area while Liang Yuyan covered her mouth and nose to avoid making a sound.
• Su Bai pointed out photographs showing the little ghost biting Liang Yuyan and Wu Heng holding the spider ghost, suggesting the hotel recorded punishments as they happened.
• Liang Yuyan spotted a photograph of the Zombie Waiter and Female Ghost Waiter punishing others, with a uniformed waiter who looked like Ai Qing’s “older brother.”
• Su Bai wondered whether the “family members” had once been waiters and the current waiters had once served as players’ “family members.”