Chapter Summaries

Dr. House explained how psychological disorders could produce special abilities and introduced You Minglan, whose sapiosexuality let her identify highly intelligent people. He revealed that her ability could be used to locate enemy leaders and strategists, while her attraction to Dr. House left Qin Yiguan wondering how high the doctor's IQ was.

• Qin Yiguan questioned why he had so many psychological problems, and Dr. House described how brain defects, genetic mutations, and childhood trauma could interact.
• Dr. House summoned You Minglan and explained that she had a brain disorder despite functioning as his personal assistant.
• Dr. House told Qin Yiguan that You Minglan's sapiosexuality made her attracted to highly intelligent people, regardless of gender or appearance.
• Dr. House revealed that You Minglan could sense people's IQs and use that ability to identify an enemy faction's leaders and strategists.
• You Minglan flirted with Dr. House, and Qin Yiguan wondered whether the doctor's IQ was exceptionally high.

Qin Yiguan questioned Dr. House about how dissociation might affect someone entering the Experimental Zone, hoping it could help him escape the threat of suicide and avenge his adoptive parents. After Qin left, Dr. House and You Minglan added another condition and a fourth personality to his case file.

• Dr. House lowered the room temperature and observed Qin Yiguan and You Minglan, then explained that dissociated personalities might fully materialize in the Metaverse.
• Qin Yiguan asked Dr. House what would happen if someone with dissociation entered the Experimental Zone, concealing his own dark personality.
• Dr. House said Qin showed no signs of other personalities, and Qin left after realizing the Experimental Zone might offer him a way to pursue his goals.
• You Minglan and Dr. House updated Qin Yiguan's case file with a condition that increased his brainpower in familiar territory and noted that his fourth personality liked candy.

Qin Yiguan entered the Metaverse city and went to school, where he frightened three classmates who planned to beat him up over Shangguan Xiaotao. He reached his overcrowded virtual classroom and greeted his best friend, Taotie Gala.

• Qin Yiguan returned to his apartment, put on his Neural Helmet, and entered Gemini Metaverse-Mirage City.
• Qin Yiguan arrived at B6 Sector, 053 High School and found Bear and two classmates waiting to attack him over Shangguan Xiaotao.
• Qin Yiguan described a gruesome murder method, terrifying the three bullies into apologizing and hurrying toward class.
• Qin Yiguan entered Senior Year, Class 11, a virtual classroom holding more than three thousand students.
• Qin Yiguan turned to greet his best friend, Taotie Gala.

Qin Yiguan recognized the new transfer student as the white-suited boy from his dream in the Experimental Zone. The transfer student confirmed that he had seen Qin Yiguan there, then criticized him for threatening Prickly Bear.

• Taotie Clam told Qin Yiguan that a transfer student with powerful family connections was arriving at school.
• Clam reported that an Experimental Zone user had unlocked his Brain Restricted Zone and manifested a gigantic monster, alarming Qin Yiguan because it resembled his own dream.
• Shangguan Xiaotao welcomed the transfer student with a gift, while Clam teased Qin Yiguan about her supposed crush on him.
• Qin Yiguan recognized the transfer student as the white-suited boy he had encountered in the Nutrient Pod and the Experimental Zone.
• Prickly Bear warned the transfer student that Qin Yiguan had threatened him, and the transfer student confronted Qin Yiguan about his words and behavior.
• Qin Yiguan asked whether the transfer student had seen him the previous night, and the transfer student confirmed they had met in the Experimental Zone before criticizing Qin Yiguan's dark character.

Jiu Zhengxuan introduced himself as a new student and insisted on following the class seating rules, while Teacher Qing turned the day’s lessons into an exploration class about the Metaverse. Teacher Qing prepared to take the class to the Experimental Zone, leaving Qin Yiguan behind because his condition prevented him from using a Nutrient Pod, but encouraged him to hold on to his hope of going someday.

• Jiu Zhengxuan introduced himself as an eighteen-year-old Half-Human and moved to the seat assigned by the class rules instead of accepting special treatment.
• Teacher Qing replaced the day’s regular lessons with an exploration class and gave Qin Yiguan a new electronic textbook.
• Teacher Qing showed the class how the Gemini Superbrain had expanded Earth into the Metaverse’s Experimental Zone and announced that they would visit Snow City of Heavenly Light.
• Teacher Qing told the students to gather behind the building to board a train, assuring them that he had arranged for their safety.
• After the others left, Qin Yiguan explained that his brain condition prevented him from entering the Experimental Zone, and Teacher Qing encouraged him to keep hoping that he would go someday.

After discovering that he could enter the Experimental Zone through his dreams, Qin Yiguan tried to return and reach the Snow City of Heavenly Light. He arrived in the sky among thousands of falling people and saw an enormous floating city rising above them.

• Qin Yiguan wondered whether his dream had let him bypass the Neural Helmet's restrictions and enter the Experimental Zone with his full senses.
• Qin Yiguan logged off, ate an energy bar and walnut kernels, and told Clam not to reveal his unusual login method.
• Qin Yiguan prepared his dark bedroom and fell asleep while concentrating on reaching the Snow City of Heavenly Light.
• Qin Yiguan awoke falling through the sky beside thousands of other people, including a chubby boy in glasses and a woman in a long dress.
• Qin Yiguan landed safely and looked up with the others as a vast floating city slowly rose into the sky.

Qin Yiguan entered the Metaverse Experimental Zone and learned that his former teacher, Mu Qingkuang, was the Light Emperor, lord of the airborne Snow City of Heavenly Light. After the city flew off to fight a duel, a new city rapidly appeared on its former grounds, and Qin Yiguan realized he could not obtain the basic Electronic Assistant everyone needed because he had no registered identity or Nutrient Pod.

• Qin Yiguan met Metaverse Know-It-All, who explained that the city overhead was the Snow City of Heavenly Light and that its lord had just taken it into the sky.
• Metaverse Know-It-All revealed that the Light Emperor was Mu Qingkuang, whom Qin Yiguan recognized as his teacher, Teacher Qing.
• The Snow City of Heavenly Light flew away to fight a duel, leaving its former site empty.
• Thousands of aircraft and robots quickly built a new city on the land, prompting Qin Yiguan to suspect someone was taking advantage of Teacher Qing's absence.
• Metaverse Know-It-All advised Qin Yiguan to get an Electronic Assistant and explained how to obtain one through the Virtual Government.
• Qin Yiguan realized he could not register for an Electronic Assistant because he had neither a legal identity nor a Nutrient Pod.

Qin Yiguan picked up a discarded Personal Brain that rebooted and linked itself to him, revealing unusual data about his brain and abilities. He learned that the device could speak and saw that other people’s Personal Brains displayed IDs, while his was named God's Abandoned.

• Qin Yiguan noticed a blond young man throw away a damaged Personal Brain and picked it up after the man walked off.
• The battered sphere rebooted, linked to Qin Yiguan, and displayed his ability name, brain conditions, and personal assets.
• God's Abandoned floated beside Qin Yiguan's shoulder and spoke to him in a disdainful voice.
• Qin Yiguan saw data and access requests above passersby’s Personal Brains and understood what Rong Qian had meant when she asked to view his information.
• Qin Yiguan asked why his Personal Brain was named God's Abandoned, and it answered that it was fucking awesome.

Qin Yiguan learned that Baofan City charged him for staying and discovered that the Geometry Design Group was 12,000 kilometers away. He took an astonishingly fast but costly public train toward it.

• God's Abandoned went into sleep mode after bragging that its battery was low, and Baixiaosheng returned with news about Baofan City.
• Baixiaosheng charged Qin Yiguan for information and explained that Baofan City’s lord collected fees from people inside the city.
• Baixiaosheng gave Qin Yiguan the Geometry Design Group’s location and told him he could take public transportation there.
• Qin Yiguan boarded a train powered by a Curvature Engine, which accelerated to the speed of light.
• Qin Yiguan noticed the train was charging him 1,200 per second before it stopped at his destination.

Qin Yiguan reunited with Meng Jihe at the damaged Geometry Design Building and learned that Ke Qiming and the Half-Mechanical Crow had defeated the Research Society’s capture squads. Ke Qiming attacked with Rong Qian in the crow’s beak, and Qin Yiguan stood beside Meng Jihe as the monster dived toward them.

• Qin Yiguan arrived at the Geometry Design Building and reunited with Meng Jihe, who warned him against logging out carelessly.
• Meng Jihe told Qin Yiguan that Ke Qiming had taken Rong Qian and that the Research Society’s three capture squads had failed to return.
• Ke Qiming appeared atop the growing Half-Mechanical Crow, holding Rong Qian in its beak and threatening to kill Meng Jihe and destroy the Geometry Design Building.
• The Half-Mechanical Crow threw Rong Qian into the sky and dived at Meng Jihe as the frightened employees retreated.
• Qin Yiguan stepped beside Meng Jihe, who told him to hide.

The boy made the enormous mechanical crow disappear by confronting it, and God's Abandoned reported temporary development of [gestalt collapse]. When Ke Qiming fell from the sky, the boy caught him and then killed him with a shoulder throw, triggering another change in the consciousness matrix.

• The boy walked toward the mechanical crow, whose body dissolved into black mist and vanished just before it reached him.
• God's Abandoned reported that [gestalt collapse] had temporarily developed to 2%.
• Ke Qiming fell toward the ground after losing his crow, and the boy decided to catch him.
• The boy used a judo technique to redirect Ke Qiming's fall, then slammed him into the earth and shattered his neck and spine.
• The consciousness matrix reported that [conscience-free syndrome] had temporarily developed to 2%.

Qin Yiguan saved Rong Qian and revealed a mysterious power despite having a zero Fusion Rate, then left to avoid endangering Meng Jihe and his people. When Meng Jihe offered him ten pieces of Source Matter, Qin Yiguan decided he could accept the gift.

• Qin Yiguan caught the falling Rong Qian and safely brought her to the ground, while her Personal Brain revealed that his Fusion Rate was zero.
• Meng Jihe asked Qin Yiguan about the Half-Mechanical Crow, and Qin Yiguan admitted that its appearance and the new brain Dark Zone system were mysteries to him.
• Meng Jihe warned Qin Yiguan that the Research Society was interested in him and offered him a safe place to hide, but Qin Yiguan left to keep Meng Jihe's group out of danger.
• Qin Yiguan took a bullet train, went into debt, and was forced off at a transit platform.
• Meng Jihe called Qin Yiguan and offered him ten pieces of Source Matter, and Qin Yiguan accepted after learning their value.

Qin Yiguan learned that his abilities were temporary and that he had 48 hours to raise his Fusion Rate before they vanished. When the Research Society’s Capture Squad cornered him, he disappeared in a flash of blue code, leaving the Society to search for him using his captured facial features.

• God's Abandoned explained that the Gemini Superbrain had granted Qin Yiguan temporary ability progressions that would disappear if he failed to raise his Fusion Rate within 48 hours.
• Qin Yiguan realized he owed both Yuanzi and a Fusion Rate and decided to find a way to increase it.
• A massive Research Society flying vehicle and its Capture Squad surrounded Qin Yiguan, demanding his Digital ID and portable superbrain permissions.
• As the Capture Squad prepared to capture him, Qin Yiguan heard the familiar alarm and vanished in a flash of blue code.
• The Research Society's elderly scientist ordered a comprehensive search using Qin Yiguan's captured facial features.

Qin Yiguan woke after logging into the Experimental Zone without equipment and realized his mental illnesses gave him unique abilities there. At school, he was suspected of accessing Shangguan Xiaotao’s private photos, then learned the Snow City of Heavenly Light had been destroyed and read a farewell message from Teacher Qing.

• Qin Yiguan woke at home and concluded he could enter the Experimental Zone without equipment, where each of his mental illnesses had a separate effect.
• Taotie Clam told Qin Yiguan that someone had accessed Shangguan Xiaotao’s electronic textbook and private photos, and that Qin was a suspect.
• Jiu Zhengxuan confronted Qin Yiguan and said he would keep investigating, while promising to apologize if someone else proved responsible.
• Falcon took over Teacher Qing’s class and told the students that Teacher Qing was on leave with no return date set.
• Taotie Clam showed Qin Yiguan a photograph of the Snow City of Heavenly Light lying in ruins, shocking him.
• Qin Yiguan read Teacher Qing’s message on his new electronic textbook and was moved to tears.

Qin Yiguan tried to investigate the leak of Shangguan Xiaotao’s private photos, but his request made her and her friend believe he was a pervert. Back in reality, he reunited with Xiao Ning, a disabled girl who could not enter the Metaverse and had been abandoned by her parents.

• Shangguan Xiaotao said she trusted Qin Yiguan, but he asked to borrow her electronic textbook so he could closely examine her private photos and investigate the culprit.
• Shangguan Xiaotao’s best friend called Qin Yiguan sick and a pervert, then hurried away with Shangguan Xiaotao.
• Jiu Zhengxuan saw Qin Yiguan vanish by logging out and grew more suspicious of him.
• Qin Yiguan returned to his apartment and found Xiao Ning waiting in her wheelchair with a chocolate-flavored energy block she had made for him.
• Qin Yiguan recalled how Xiao Ning’s brain could not process the Metaverse’s visual signals, leading to terrifying visions and her loss of access to the Metaverse.

Qin Yiguan escorted Xiao Ning home while worrying about the fate of Mu Qingkuang and the fallen Snow City of Heavenly Light. Xiao Ning comforted him by describing him as a light in a dark world and insisting that unseen friends stood behind him.

• Qin Yiguan encountered Superman, a beggar whose mind had been damaged after he was tortured to death in the Metaverse.
• Qin Yiguan worried that Mu Qingkuang might have been defeated or killed after the Snow City of Heavenly Light crashed.
• Xiao Ning sensed Qin Yiguan's troubled mood and asked what was wrong.
• Xiao Ning revealed that she could see the world in her mind and described Qin Yiguan as a shining figure amid darkness.
• Xiao Ning told Qin Yiguan that unseen friends stood behind him, though he turned and saw no one.

Qin Yiguan entered the Metaverse’s Experimental Zone, where a hostile presence inside his body had tried to kill him by drugging him in his sleep. After arriving at a mining site, he failed to save a girl who fell into a laser-carved pit because his Fusion Rate was zero.

• A hostile presence took control of Qin Yiguan, prepared a drug mixture to kill him, and was stopped when a voice inside him shouted, “Guard!”
• The hostile presence decided to kill Qin Yiguan in the Metaverse and returned to sleep.
• Qin Yiguan arrived in a rocky area of the Experimental Zone and met a girl who was waiting for her father to mine source matter.
• A spiked metal sphere landed beside the cabin and carved a deep hole with its lasers, causing the girl to slip and hang over the edge.
• Qin Yiguan repeatedly failed to grab the girl’s cord, and God's Abandoned explained that his Fusion Rate was zero.
• The girl lost her grip, fell into the hole, and was sliced apart by the lasers before being burned to ash.

Qin Yiguan discovered that Black Calamity, his dark personality, had taken physical form in the Metaverse and tried to kill him. An armored figure emerged from Qin Yiguan to protect him, while Black Calamity fled after hinting that others might also appear.

• Qin Yiguan found the Pearl Divers’ forces surrounding him and learned they mistook him for Black Calamity, whom they blamed for killing their leader.
• Black Calamity appeared and revealed that he was Qin Yiguan’s dark personality, responsible for his adoptive parents’ deaths and the traps that had threatened him.
• Black Calamity attacked Qin Yiguan, overpowered his judo throw, and revealed his 89% Fusion Rate.
• Black Calamity used Gestalt Collapse to summon a monstrous maw, but an armored figure emerged from Qin Yiguan and destroyed it with a punch.
• Black Calamity wondered whether the others had appeared too, then turned into a black shadow and vanished.

Qin Yiguan learned from Guardian that his personalities shared his abilities and that he needed to grow stronger and raise his fusion rate. After Black Calamity killed the Pearl Divers troops, Qin Yiguan vowed to merge all his personalities and become the strongest.

• The Pearl Divers troops bombarded Qin Yiguan, but Guardian shielded him from the attack and revealed that his personalities were parts of him with abilities he had yet to unlock.
• Guardian warned Qin Yiguan that he could not protect him forever and urged him to hone himself, increase his fusion rate, and eventually merge his personalities, including Number One.
• God's Abandoned displayed Qin Yiguan's temporary development at five percent and identified Black Calamity and Guardian as two of his personalities.
• The Pearl Divers troops discovered Qin Yiguan had survived, but Black Calamity killed them as he climbed out of the crater.
• God's Abandoned explained that Qin Yiguan could raise his fusion rate by surviving and gaining experience, and Qin Yiguan vowed to merge all his personalities, claim their abilities, and become the strongest.

Jiu Zhengxuan completed a simulated combat test in the Experimental Zone, defeating three armed opponents and recognizing that the last was a student forced to wear an exoskeleton. The observers praised his ability and character, congratulating Commander Lu Zun on his son’s promising future.

• Jiu Zhengxuan entered a dark tunnel where a sniper prepared to shoot him.
• Jiu Zhengxuan evaded the sniper, knocked him unconscious, and stopped another gunman emerging through a drainage shaft.
• Jiu Zhengxuan dodged laser fire and destroyed the machinery controlling a third gunner, catching the collapsing operator.
• The simulation ended, and Jiu Zhengxuan explained that the third gunner was a student being forced to operate a programmed exoskeleton.
• Jiu Zhengxuan urged the officers not to involve people outside combat units in drills, and the spectators praised him and congratulated Commander Lu Zun.