Chapter Summaries

Lan Xingchen fought the Butcher Ghost in Building 1’s lobby, using his trait ability to draw the ghosts’ attention and protect the others. As three apparent players emerged from the elevator, the Score Clock showed that two players had died, leaving the cause and victims unknown.

• The Hanged Female Ghost unlocked the glass door, allowing the Butcher Ghost to enter Building 1’s lobby.
• Lan Xingchen explained that the ghosts outside might be performing a ritual under the Red Moon to recover their memories.
• Lan Xingchen activated Taunt Shield, drawing the ghosts’ attacks to himself while he fought the Butcher Ghost.
• Lan Xingchen wounded the Butcher Ghost and cut off its fingers, then took its knife as the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost watched.
• Two apparent players emerged from the elevator carrying an unconscious, badly wounded young woman, and the Score Clock changed to 94:80.

As the ghosts gained the lead in points, Lan Xingchen struggled to protect the Qiu sisters after his taunt ability stopped working. Su Bai spotted the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost sneaking toward them and moved to intervene, determined that the players could not lose yet.

• The score changed from 95:100 to 94:80, showing that two players had been killed and giving the ghosts the lead.
• The Butcher Ghost and Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost attacked the Qiu sisters, and Lan Xingchen intercepted them despite his failing ability and worsening injuries.
• Su Bai realized that the two dead players were likely Ning Yan, Fang Xiujie, or Feng Ling.
• Lan Xingchen was knocked into a wall but rose again and fought the Butcher Ghost with the butcher's knife.
• The Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost vanished and crept toward the Qiu sisters from the wall, so Su Bai walked toward them with his umbrella.

Su Bai revealed his power to save the Qiu Family sisters and defeat the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost, then faced the Butcher Ghost alongside the badly injured Lan Xingchen. Lan Xingchen charged back into the fight, still haunted by the deaths of two players from three years earlier.

• The Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost tried to attack Qiu Man and Qiu Lei through their shadows, but Su Bai opened his black umbrella to shield them.
• Su Bai used Black Umbrella’s power to pin the Hanged Ghost to the wall, suppress her, and make her surrender; he absorbed her Blood Mist into his bead strand.
• The Butcher Ghost smashed Lan Xingchen into the wall again, drawing everyone’s attention to Su Bai’s apparent strength.
• Su Bai warned Lan Xingchen that the players might die if he fell, and Lan Xingchen said two dead players were still punishing him by making him live.
• Lan Xingchen wiped the blood from the Butcher’s Knife and charged at the Butcher Ghost.

Su Bai and Lan Xingchen defeated the Butcher Ghost before it could open the entrance doors and provoke the ghosts outside. Afterward, a recovering female player said Lan Xingchen should have died long ago.

• Su Bai suspected the Butcher Ghost was trying to open the doors and unleash the ghosts on the players.
• Su Bai asked Black Umbrella for more power while Lan Xingchen charged the Butcher Ghost with its knife.
• Lan Xingchen restrained the Butcher Ghost so Su Bai could sever its head and pierce its heart with the powered umbrella.
• Su Bai absorbed the Butcher Ghost’s remains into red blood mist, then hid how exhausted he had become.
• The wounded female player regained consciousness and told Lan Xingchen that he should have died long ago.

Sister Yao revealed that she had cut open her belly and killed the Ghost Infant inside, while accusing Lan Xingchen of being a coward who was trying to atone for the deaths of two students. Su Bai suspected those students were Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie and asked Sister Yao to confirm their names.

• Su Bai assessed the players' injuries as Lan Xingchen collapsed beside the Qiu sisters.
• Sister Yao and the two men explained that she had killed the Ghost Infant inside her after recovering her memories, though Lan Xingchen had come to help in response to their distress signal.
• Sister Yao accused Lan Xingchen of fearing death because he could not face the two young people whose deaths he blamed on himself.
• Qiu Man asked Sister Yao what had happened to Lan Xingchen three years earlier.
• Su Bai asked whether the two people Lan Xingchen wanted to atone to were Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie.

Su Bai learned why Lan Xingchen trembled at the names Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie as Sister Yao recounted their shared mountain game three years earlier. She explained how Lan Xingchen had been deceived by an evil ghost posing as the Mountain God and lured into betraying the two veterans.

• Su Bai recognized Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie’s names, and Lan Xingchen began trembling when he heard them.
• Sister Yao asked Su Bai to persuade Lan Xingchen to stop, then described a game where newcomers and veterans had to find the right route down a mountain.
• The evil ghost posing as the Mountain God promised Lan Xingchen power if he lured Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie into its cave and lit incense.
• Lan Xingchen grew envious of Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, accepted the ghost’s offer, and became enslaved to it.

Sister Yao recounted how Lan Xingchen’s selfish choices led to the awakening of an evil ghost and the deaths of Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie. Lan Xingchen admitted he had failed to help them, while the survivors escaped the mountain using Fang Xiujie’s directions.

• Lan Xingchen followed the false Mountain God’s directions and led the group to a cave where an evil ghost had been sealed.
• Lan Xingchen lit a fire in the cave, igniting the talismans and freeing the evil ghost.
• The evil ghost possessed Lan Xingchen and dragged Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie into the black smoke to fuse them with itself.
• Ning Yan asked Fang Xiujie to kill her, and Fang Xiujie then took his own life before the evil ghost could fully assimilate them.
• Lan Xingchen emerged from the cave, and the survivors followed Fang Xiujie’s notes to escape the mountain and clear the game.
• Sister Yao condemned Lan Xingchen for his role in Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie’s deaths.

Su Bai pieced together that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had died in the Nightmare World and become residents of the Happiness Residential Complex, their memories confused. Sister Yao confronted Lan Xingchen over his guilt, urging him to honor the pair who had sacrificed themselves by living meaningfully and helping others grow stronger.

• Su Bai recalled clues that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had once been players but were now dead residents whose memories had been scrambled.
• Su Bai realized Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had died three years earlier while helping Lan Xingchen, prompting Lan Xingchen’s attempts to atone by saving others.
• Sister Yao told Lan Xingchen that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had chosen to save him, and that he was running away rather than atoning.
• Sister Yao urged Lan Xingchen to return to his family, visit Ning Yan’s and Fang Xiujie’s families, guide newcomers to become self-reliant, or care for the body they had saved.

Sister Yao reflected on Lan Xingchen’s self-imposed atonement for the deaths of Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, while the group rested in the lobby and discussed their pasts. Su Bai noticed unusual activity near Building 3 as they waited out the game.

• Sister Yao remembered Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie and believed Lan Xingchen needed to be forced out of his self-imposed punishment, though she did not know how.
• Qiu Lei approached Su Bai, asked about his background and strength, and revealed that her sister had worried when Lan Xingchen disappeared.
• Su Bai deflected Qiu Lei’s questions with half-truths, while the others secretly listened to their conversation.
• Sister Yao reminded the group that they had to survive for forty-eight hours and urged everyone to rest and recover.
• Qiu Man explained that her false memories faded after the Happiness Residential Complex’s restrictions and fake unemployment upset her.
• Su Bai watched the entrance and spotted unusual activity near Building 3.

The players discussed how the false memories in Happiness Residential Complex had affected them, while Lan Xingchen recovered and Su Bai considered his past. They realized the ghosts might regain their memories through the Red Moon, and the chapter left them believing they could not stop it.

• Qiu Man and the male players explained how inconsistencies in their false memories helped them recover their real memories, and Sister Yao threatened them for mocking her cooking.
• Su Bai reasoned that people whose fabricated memories matched their deepest wishes, like Sister Yao, could struggle to break free of them.
• Lan Xingchen said the game’s false memories of a happy family had never suited him, as his scarred body contradicted the identity they gave him.
• Su Bai relocked the security door and asked whether the ghosts outside were trapped in false memories too.
• Qiu Man worried that the ghosts might regain their memories when the complex used the Red Moon’s power, and Su Bai said no one could stop the moon.

Su Bai questioned how false memories worked in the Happiness Residential Complex and suggested that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie might be dead players trapped in false memories. Feng Ling, the eighth player, reached Building 1, but the lobby froze when she mentioned the two names.

• Su Bai wondered why he had avoided memory confusion and warned the others that players who died in the Nightmare World might appear in the complex believing they were still alive.
• Lan Xingchen challenged Su Bai's claim to be a newcomer, while Su Bai suggested he had encountered people like that and asked why Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had come up earlier.
• Someone knocked on Building 1's glass doors, and the players prepared for danger before Su Bai recognized Feng Ling outside.
• Feng Ling said the ghosts were staring at the moon and that her apparent parents were among them, then explained that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had spotted Building 1's distress signal.
• The lobby fell into suffocating stillness when Feng Ling said Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie's names.

Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie arrived safely at Building 1 after answering the distress signal, reuniting with Su Bai and the other survivors. Feng Ling noticed the Score Clock showed 80 points, meaning two players had departed and only eight people remained.

• Feng Ling explained that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie had noticed the distress signal from Building 1.
• Sister Yao told Su Bai to open the doors, and he let Feng Ling into the lobby as Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie approached.
• Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie entered the lobby, and Ning Yan scolded Su Bai for leaving Building 3 alone before asking how he had reached Building 1.
• Su Bai reassured Ning Yan that the rescue had gone well and asked Feng Ling whether she had remembered anything, but she had not.
• Feng Ling saw the Score Clock stopped at 80 and realized that only eight people remained.

Ning Yan noticed that the handsome swordsman Feng Ling had met was missing, while the players struggled with the fact that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie appeared alive despite having died years earlier. Fang Xiujie pointed out that ten players were in the lobby even though only eight should remain alive.

• Ning Yan asked Feng Ling about the missing handsome swordsman and noted that nobody in the lobby matched his description.
• Su Bai explained that Lan Xingchen was human and recovering from severe wounds with the help of his healing ability.
• Ning Yan argued that the missing swordsman’s skill mattered because he could help against dangerous ghosts, prompting the others to recognize that Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie were supposed to be dead.
• Su Bai stepped aside to observe, preferring not to get involved in the strange situation.
• Fang Xiujie asked why ten players were in the lobby when only eight players should still be alive.

Sister Yao reunited with Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, revealing that they had last met three years earlier and that the baby she carried then was gone. As the players realized their memories did not match reality, Su Bai wondered whether anyone would mourn him if he died.

• Fang Xiujie offered to use his ability to help Sister Yao, but she rebuffed him and urged him to stop sacrificing himself for others.
• Sister Yao recognized Ning Yan and Fang Xiujie, embraced Ning Yan, and explained that they had last met three years ago, when the baby she carried had left her.
• Ning Yan struggled to understand the reunion and Sister Yao's wound, while Fang Xiujie began to grasp what was happening.
• Su Bai questioned Feng Ling about her claim to be a freshman and revealed that the swordsmanship teacher she mentioned had left the university two years earlier.
• Su Bai looked toward the red moon and wondered who would cry for him if he died in the Nightmare World.

As the Red Moon’s influence over the ghosts began to break, the spirits outside the buildings recovered their memories and turned on one another before rushing toward Building 1. The complex sealed the players inside, leaving Ning Yan to prepare to hold them off while Su Bai quietly tested the locked stairwell door.

• Fang Xiujie began to tell Ning Yan what had happened between them three years earlier, but coughing outside interrupted him.
• Feng Ling told the players that the coughing ghost had dragged a woman into a pit and that a mysterious young man in black had saved her.
• The ghosts beneath the Red Moon began regaining their memories, changing into terrifying forms and attacking one another before surging toward the buildings.
• The complex shut the emergency stairwells and disabled the elevator, trapping the players inside Building 1.
• Ning Yan asked Fang Xiujie to treat Sister Yao, then moved toward the entrance to face the approaching ghosts.
• Su Bai slipped toward the locked stairwell and tried the handle, hoping to open a different door.

Ning Yan prepared to face the ghosts attacking Building 1, while Su Bai secretly entered the Mist Shop and replenished some of his power. Su Bai joined Ning Yan, realizing that Happiness Residential Complex was keeping the players trapped to intensify their fear before the ghosts attacked.

• Ning Yan stepped forward to face the ghosts, and the players realized she and Fang Xiujie were no longer players but had not become vengeful ghosts.
• Ghosts outside Building 1 tried to force open the lobby's glass security doors while Happiness Residential Complex kept the players trapped.
• Su Bai secretly entered the Mist Shop, turned Ghost Auntie into merchandise, and recovered some power before returning to the lobby.
• Su Bai joined Ning Yan at the front with his long-handled umbrella, intent on fighting and winning the game.
• Su Bai concluded that Happiness Residential Complex was delaying the attack to make the players' fear and despair more intense.

As ghosts broke into Building 1, Ning Yan, Fang Xiujie, and Su Bai prepared to fight together. Su Bai used his black umbrella to kill a blood ghost, and Lan Xingchen tossed Ning Yan a short sword as the horde poured through the shattered doors.

• Ning Yan tried to hide her fear, while Su Bai chose to stand beside her and Fang Xiujie as the ghosts closed in.
• Ning Yan explained that eating her own cooking temporarily doubled her speed and strength, and recalled how Fang Xiujie had helped her develop her ability.
• Several minor ghosts rushed the group, and Su Bai used his black umbrella and ghostly power to pierce a blood ghost.
• The security doors shattered, exposing the lobby’s survivors to a horde of grotesque ghosts.
• Lan Xingchen stood up and tossed Ning Yan the short sword that had once wounded him and ended her and Fang Xiujie’s lives.

Ning Yan, Lan Xingchen, and Su Bai fought the ghosts attacking Building 1 while the others protected the wounded players behind them. As the pressure mounted and ghosts broke through, Su Bai urged the dazed Feng Ling to remember who she really was, and Sister Yao recognized her name.

• Ning Yan picked up the short sword and joined Lan Xingchen and Su Bai at the front, while Fang Xiujie and the others guarded Sister Yao and the rear.
• The Happiness Residential Complex released the ghosts, and the creatures charged into Building 1's lobby.
• Su Bai, empowered by Ghost Umbrella, used his battered umbrella to block attacks and kill ghosts alongside Ning Yan and Lan Xingchen.
• More ghosts converged on Building 1 and overwhelmed the trio's defenses, slipping through toward Fang Xiujie's group.
• Su Bai shouted for Feng Ling to remember who she really was, and Sister Yao recognized the name Feng Ling.

As ghosts overwhelmed the rear of the group in the Happiness Residential Complex, Su Bai tried to awaken Feng Ling’s buried memories. Feng Ling’s memories returned and her orange flames revealed her strength, allowing her to join the fight as Su Bai charged deeper into the horde.

• Sister Yao watched Fang Xiujie and the other players struggle to hold off the ghosts while she lay injured beside the elevator.
• Su Bai called out to Feng Ling and protected her from a ghost, prompting her to recognize him as the sword-wielding young man she had met beneath a tree.
• Feng Ling’s memories of her companions and their home at Honghuai Normal University returned, shattering the false memories implanted by the Happiness Residential Complex.
• Feng Ling used orange flames to burn the ghost attacking Qiu Man, then joined Fang Xiujie and the others in defending the rear.
• Su Bai noticed stronger ghosts waiting behind the horde and charged into the crowd alone with Black Umbrella.

Feng Ling joined Su Bai and the others’ fight against the ghosts, revealing herself as the leader of the Nameless Society, an organization of players who stayed in the Nightmare World. As Feng Ling and Su Bai held the front together, she explained that she had kept pretending to be a newcomer because even a leader sometimes wanted to escape her responsibilities.

• Feng Ling arrived and used her orange flames to block the ghosts, giving Fang Xiujie time to treat the injured players.
• The players explained that the Nameless Society was made up of people who chose to remain in the Nightmare World, and warned others not to call Feng Ling the Phoenix or Immortal Bird.
• Feng Ling ordered Su Bai and herself to hold the front while Lan Xingchen guarded the rear with the Qiu sisters and the other players.
• Ning Yan recognized Lan Xingchen's name, but he moved aside to avoid showing her his face as he retreated to the rear.
• Su Bai and Feng Ling coordinated their attacks, trapping the ghosts between his umbrella and her wall of fire.
• Su Bai asked why Feng Ling had pretended to be a newcomer after recovering her memories, and she said that even a leader sometimes wanted to run away.