Chapter Summaries

After Zhao Xun helped Wu Wei and Xiao Hong protect Yaya, he spent the remaining time in the first phase preparing and waiting with Wang Biao. The second phase began with a citywide hunting task and creeping shadows, and Zhao Xun flew toward Wang Biao after tracking him as a potential first target.

• Wu Wei woke Xiao Hong and Wang Biao, disposed of the two dead players, and helped Xiao Hong attend to Yaya.
• Zhao Xun and Wang Biao spent nearly two days at a hotel while Zhao Xun bought melee weapons and secretly attached a tracker to Wang Biao.
• At midnight, Zhao Xun survived the first phase, earned 100 points, and was transported to the brightly lit City of Light as the second phase began.
• The game rules required players to kill ten players and one hundred NPCs while avoiding being consumed by their shadows; Zhao Xun found that shade stopped the encroachment.
• Zhao Xun located Wang Biao with the tracker, put on the Goddess's Wings, and flew toward him as a possible first target.

Zhao Xun tracked down and killed Wang Biao, then used explosives to kill more than a hundred NPCs in a cinema. After resting in Riverside Park, he planned to hunt nine players as soon as their locations appeared.

• Zhao Xun used water to disable Wang Biao and killed him with a machete, explaining that physical contact stirred his urge to kill.
• Zhao Xun took Wang Biao’s umbrella and left to pursue his goal of killing a hundred NPCs.
• Zhao Xun planted a C4 charge in a crowded cinema, killing 254 NPCs and completing the objective.
• Zhao Xun rested in Riverside Park and checked how far the light-driven shadow had spread across his feet.
• Zhao Xun prepared to target nearby players with long-range attacks when their locations were revealed.

Zhao Xun hunted players from the air during two rounds of location tracking, while the shadow continued spreading over his body. In the second hunt, a vigilant player spotted him and used lightning to destroy his bullet, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Zhao Xun used the map to find and shoot three players in Riverside Park, then pursued a fleeing speedster and killed him just after tracking expired.
• Zhao Xun noticed the shadow had engulfed his feet after prolonged exposure to light, sheltered in shade, and later found it had reached his ankles.
• Zhao Xun moved to a new area, bought grilled meat, and waited in a shaded alley for the next round of tracking.
• When tracking resumed, Zhao Xun shot a player in a busy downtown area, frightening nearby pedestrians and sending other players fleeing.
• Zhao Xun pursued another player, who spotted him and fired a thin bolt of lightning; Zhao Xun dodged, but the player struck his bullet with lightning and avoided serious injury.

Zhao Xun killed the lightning-controlling player, replaced [Water Control] with [Lightning Control], and completed the game’s second-stage mission by killing ten players and one hundred NPCs. Back beside the Endless Train, he waited for other survivors and reunited with Wu Wei, who had also cleared the game.

• Zhao Xun used [Metal Control] to stab the lightning-controlling man from behind, then devoured his [Lightning Control] ability and overwrote [Water Control].
• After resting in the shade, Zhao Xun shot No. 019, then killed two fighting female players with one bullet during the next tracking period.
• Zhao Xun completed the second-stage mission and earned 100 points before returning to the Endless Train area.
• Zhao Xun regretted missing the hidden mission, checked the time, and slept beside the tracks while waiting for other players to emerge.
• At dawn, Wu Wei appeared, recognized Zhao Xun, and asked when he had cleared the game; Zhao Xun replied that it had been shortly before Wu Wei.

After surviving the Platform Game, Zhao Xun and Wu Wei waited for other players to return before boarding the Endless Train, where they learned that only 502 new players remained. Xiao Hong survived and reunited with Zhao Xun, and No. 013 unexpectedly returned to their carriage.

• Wu Wei confessed that killing other players weighed on him, and Zhao Xun told him he would have to get used to it to survive.
• Zhao Xun asked Wu Wei whether he had killed Xiao Hong, and Wu Wei said they had been separated during the game and he had not seen her again.
• Four more players arrived over the following hours, including Xiao Hong, who broke down crying after realizing she had cleared the game.
• Zhao Xun and the other survivors boarded the Endless Train at midnight, and Zhao Xun saw that his rank had risen to 149.
• The train announced that 502 new players remained, and Xiao Hong noticed that No. 013, who had been taken away after losing his ticket, had returned.

Zhao Xun confirmed that weapons he had bought could be brought onto the Endless Train, while food and water could not. When No. 013 returned and confronted him over his lost ticket, Zhao Xun killed him, and the chapter left Zhao Xun considering the unknown purpose of Carriage 17 and the consequences of breaking the [Train Rules].

• Zhao Xun inspected his Storage Slot and confirmed that his purchased weapons remained aboard the Endless Train, while his stored food had disappeared.
• No. 013 confronted Zhao Xun, accusing him of taking his ticket, and refused to share what he had experienced or learned.
• Zhao Xun offered No. 013 information about the Platform Games in exchange for information, but No. 013 rejected the deal.
• Zhao Xun attacked No. 013 with a poisoned ring, and No. 013 died after begging for his life.
• Attendants carried No. 013's body toward Carriage 17, leading Zhao Xun to infer that dead players and serious rule-breakers were taken there.
• Zhao Xun concluded that minor rule violations cost points, while serious violations such as triggering the [Fare Evasion Rules] brought greater danger but did not guarantee death.

Zhao Xun completed his Personal Mission and discussed the fourth Platform Game with Xiao Hong, refusing to sit it out but promising to protect her unless they became direct enemies. Xiao Hong shared what she learned about Car 18, leaving Zhao Xun with details about its showers, clothes, and healing ointment.

• Zhao Xun found that his Personal Mission was to destroy one of his weapons, then poisoned his needle and damaged a kitchen knife to complete it for 5 points.
• Zhao Xun asked Xiao Hong about her clean clothes, and she explained that she had visited Car 18 after clearing the previous game.
• Xiao Hong asked Zhao Xun to skip the fourth Platform Game, but he refused because he enjoyed the games and wanted the points.
• Zhao Xun offered to protect Xiao Hong during the game unless their missions made them direct enemies, and Xiao Hong accepted.
• Xiao Hong told Zhao Xun that Car 18 could be reached through a dark passage and sold shower packages for 30 points, clothing for 10 points, and wound ointment for 30 points.

Zhao Xun learned more about Carriage 17 and saw his points continue to fall as his personal missions required him to destroy weapons. He entered the Maple Bridge Villa game, drew the low joker, and began looking for a numbered-card player to kill and impersonate.

• Zhao Xun questioned Xiao Hong about the passage inside Carriage 17 and concluded the carriage had several possible configurations.
• Zhao Xun's September 17 and 18 personal missions both required him to destroy a weapon, and he worried that the missions would steadily reduce his points.
• Zhao Xun disembarked at Maple Bridge Villa, where the rules required numbered-card players to assemble card sets and jokers to complete two successful disguises.
• Zhao Xun drew the low joker, discovered he could not store the card, and waited in the maple woods for a numbered-card player to approach.
• A figure ran toward Zhao Xun through the woods as he considered killing a player and taking their identity.

Zhao Xun killed a player, stole his [nine of hearts] disguise, and entered the villa to join the numbered-card players. He joined a team of six [nines of hearts] and waited with them for the game-clear notification.

• Zhao Xun stabbed the middle-aged man, hid his corpse in a maple tree, and took on the appearance of his [nine of hearts] card.
• Zhao Xun reasoned through the numbered-card players’ collection methods and decided to join a team while many players were still gathered.
• A young man at the villa entrance compared cards with Zhao Xun, and they revealed matching [nines of hearts] with different back designs.
• The young man led Zhao Xun to four other players and announced that their six [nines of hearts] completed a set.
• The five players and Zhao Xun held hands in a circle and waited for the system to announce that they had cleared the game.

Zhao Xun’s disguised joker role caused a six-player team attempt to fail, and he redirected suspicion toward the young man who had assembled the group. The players scattered without identifying anyone, while A Jie approached the angry young man to learn which card he held.

• The system announced that the six [Nine of Hearts] cards had not all been collected and deducted one collection attempt from every number-card player present.
• Zhao Xun received credit for a successful disguise and suggested the joker player might have joined the group, prompting the genuine [Nine of Hearts] players to abandon that collection method.
• When the young man suspected Zhao Xun, Zhao Xun pointed out that the young man had recruited everyone and might be eager to form teams as a joker player.
• The young man urged the others to identify suspected players, but Zhao Xun and the young woman argued that a failed identification would cause a game failure, and the group dispersed.
• A Jie approached the young man, confirmed that the team attempt had failed, and asked which card he had held.

Zhao Xun discovered that Xiao Hong was a joker player, and the two agreed to look for teams separately while helping each other if possible. After they left the bathroom, a punk accused them of fooling around and propositioned Zhao Xun, who asked what the man wanted from him.

• Zhao Xun left the six-person team and met Xiao Hong, then took her to a bathroom to talk privately.
• Zhao Xun deduced that Xiao Hong was a joker, and she confirmed it; he revealed that he was also a joker and learned she had replaced a player with a Clubs 4.
• Xiao Hong told Zhao Xun that she had hidden the body in a well, and he explained that he had already achieved one successful disguise.
• Zhao Xun and Xiao Hong agreed to search for teams separately and recommend each other if they found a team they could both infiltrate.
• A punk who had waited outside the bathroom made lewd remarks about Zhao Xun and Xiao Hong, then asked to join them; Zhao Xun asked what he wanted.

Zhao Xun joined Killing Mart’s team while recognizing that Killing Mart intended to use him as a scapegoat. The group recruited Xiao Hong and several other players, then continued searching for the numbers needed to form a ten-number straight.

• Killing Mart offered to team up with Zhao Xun and asked him to pay for a meal after they cleared the game.
• Zhao Xun showed Killing Mart his Hearts 9 card, and Killing Mart revealed his Diamonds 7 card.
• Zhao Xun suspected Killing Mart was an experienced joker player who planned to make others suspect Zhao Xun instead.
• Killing Mart recruited three lone players, and Zhao Xun brought Xiao Hong, whose card was Clubs 4, into the team.
• The group gathered cards 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9, leaving four numbers to find for a ten-number straight.
• Ten players nearby cleared the game, and Killing Mart speculated that players who cleared sooner might receive fewer completion points.

Killing Mart tried to complete his team while keeping Zhao Xun in place as a suspected joker player he could later blame. The team stayed together after he promised the [8] player a chance to expose Zhao Xun, and Zhao Xun found a [J], leaving them short of a [10] and a [5].

• Killing Mart and his team searched for the cards they needed, while the [A] player refused to join because he did not want to risk a failed attempt.
• The [5] player left Killing Mart's team for another team, which then cleared the game.
• The [8] player suggested kicking Zhao Xun out, but Killing Mart persuaded him to stay by promising him a chance to expose Zhao Xun and earn a reward if the team failed.
• Killing Mart privately admitted he was manipulating Zhao Xun and the [8] player with empty promises.
• Zhao Xun brought a [J] player to the team, which still needed a [10] and a [5].

Zhao Xun’s team struggled to find the 10 card they needed, so he proposed recruiting from incomplete teams and forcing a player to join if necessary. The chapter ended with a player exploding into blood mist, revealing that anyone who failed this game would die outright.

• Killing Mart welcomed [J] onto the team, but the group spent half an hour searching without finding the cards they needed.
• Xiao Hong told Zhao Xun she did not want to enter another Platform Game this month, and he said he would think about it.
• After the team rejected Xiao Hong’s suggestion to search the maple forest, Zhao Xun proposed looking for a [10] among incomplete teams and forcibly recruiting one if needed.
• A player suddenly burst into blood mist, and Zhao Xun concluded that players who failed this game would die rather than become NPCs.

Zhao Xun concealed his joker identity long enough to clear the card game, then returned to the train and waited outside. Killing Mart and Xiao Hong soon arrived, and Killing Mart attacked Zhao Xun in anger over being used.

• Killing Mart told Zhao Xun and the others that a number-card player had exposed a joker and gained a blank card, while another player's failed accusation ended in an explosion.
• Killing Mart's group recruited a [10] player, and Zhao Xun quietly joined their ten-person circle for another assembly attempt.
• The team failed to form a straight, but Zhao Xun cleared the game as a joker by maintaining his disguise twice and vanished.
• Zhao Xun returned to the train, chose to rest outside to conserve weapons, and inspected the nearby fog and the dark train cab.
• Xiao Hong and Killing Mart appeared before Zhao Xun, and Killing Mart accused him of using the group before charging at him.

Zhao Xun repeatedly electrocuted Killing Mart until his metallic body reverted, then killed him to prevent future retaliation. After returning to the train, Zhao Xun reviewed his rising rank and prepared for the fifth Platform Game, while Xiao Hong hoped he would not summon her again.

• Zhao Xun used [Lightning Control] to paralyze Killing Mart, then kept shocking him while arguing that they had benefited from using each other.
• Zhao Xun had Xiao Hong replenish his mental energy as he continued electrocuting Killing Mart until the latter lost control of his body and reverted to normal.
• Zhao Xun controlled a fruit knife and drove it through Killing Mart's heart, then Xiao Hong finished replenishing his mental energy and confirmed she had fulfilled her promise.
• Xiao Hong returned to the Endless Train at midnight while Zhao Xun stayed outside, slept there, and waited until the 20th to return to his carriage.
• Zhao Xun checked his points, rank, and upcoming personal mission, then told Xiao Hong he would not use his summoning opportunity lightly during the fifth Platform Game.

Zhao Xun entered the Happy Animal Zoo game, survived its first round by disguising himself as a traffic barrier, and found a Paper Gun in the Children's Playground. After surviving the second round as a rat, he transformed into a ginkgo tree and began searching Bear Valley for a place to hide.

• Zhao Xun joined 286 players in the Happy Animal Zoo game, where players had to hide in transformed forms while hunters searched the zoo.
• Zhao Xun transformed into a traffic barrier, removed chains to fit into a row of barriers near a dining area, and escaped detection during the first round.
• Zhao Xun survived the first round as one of 279 remaining players and transformed into a rat for the second round.
• Zhao Xun found a Paper Gun in a treasure chest atop a windmill in the Children's Playground and stored it before hiding in a drainpipe in Bear Valley.
• Zhao Xun survived the second round as one of 269 remaining players, transformed into a large ginkgo tree, and searched Bear Valley for a suitable place to hide.

Zhao Xun survived the third and fourth rounds by hiding as a ginkgo tree and a switch, then moved through the zoo as a fork while hunters began closing more areas. In a snack stall, he hid in an instant noodle bowl and stayed awake as a hunter found and attacked a sleeping player nearby.

• Zhao Xun settled into a grove as a ginkgo tree and survived the third round after two hunters searched the area without discovering him.
• Zhao Xun transformed into a switch, flew to the Ecological Education Hall, and hid beside a switch plate while a floor-lamp player chose a spot on the same floor.
• Zhao Xun and the floor-lamp player survived the fourth round; Zhao Xun then transformed into a small fork as the map closed the Orangutan House and Golden Monkey House.
• Zhao Xun flew to a snack stall, searched two empty treasure chests, and hid his fork body in a bowl of leftover instant noodle broth.
• A hunter heard a sleeping grilled-sausage player snoring, wounded him, and blocked the stall’s only exit while Zhao Xun listened from the trash can.

Zhao Xun survived the fifth round disguised as a fork and began the sixth round as a ring-tailed lemur, searching for treasure and joining a group of lemurs. A Hunter entered their cage to inspect them, and Zhao Xun prepared his paper gun beneath a blanket.

• A Hunter killed the man who had spat acid at her while Zhao Xun lay hidden as a fork, unable to use his abilities or weapons in object form.
• Zhao Xun survived the fifth round, learned that the Red Panda House and Amphibian and Reptile House had closed, and found himself transformed into a ring-tailed lemur.
• Zhao Xun searched the Leopard House, used Lightning to disable two black leopards, and found a Syringe filled with Blue Potion in a treasure chest.
• Zhao Xun reached the Primate House and joined five ring-tailed lemurs by giving them a blanket to share.
• When the Hunter who had previously found Zhao Xun as a road barrier entered the lemur cage, Zhao Xun opened his eyes and readied his paper gun under the blanket.

Zhao Xun killed the Fish Monster, earned the ring-tailed lemurs’ trust, and accepted a hidden mission to find the Underground Chamber and destroy the zoo without harming its animals. He collected clues from all ten primate species across rounds seven and eight, and the Orangutan leader offered him a treasure chest.

• Zhao Xun used lightning to immobilize the Fish Monster, killed her with the Paper Gun, and earned 30 points.
• The Alpha Mother Monkey gave Zhao Xun a stone that triggered the hidden mission and enabled him to communicate with primates.
• When round seven began, Zhao Xun transformed into a promotional leaflet, escaped the closed Primate House, and obtained clue stones from seven primate species with the mother monkey’s help.
• Zhao Xun reached the Golden Monkey House during round eight and obtained a clue stone from the Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys.
• Zhao Xun persuaded the Orangutans that he would help free them, received their clue stone, and saw their leader retrieve a treasure chest.