Chapter Summaries

After transmigrating into a crumbling statue, Lynn used the Fourth Calamity System to recruit players from Blue Star before a monster could kill him. Lu Ziye downloaded the game and was pulled into darkness as it launched.

• Lynn realized his faith points were nearly depleted and a mutated butcher was about to break into the church where Sivir prayed for help.
• The Fourth Calamity System bound itself to Lynn and offered him a way to convert players’ actions into faith points by disguising his world as a virtual reality game.
• Lynn named the game Awakening of the Old Gods and ordered the system to post its link across Blue Star’s gaming forums and social groups.
• Lu Ziye found the one-kilobyte game link on a forum, dismissed his roommate’s warning, and chose to run it.
• Lu Ziye’s VR display went black, and he lost consciousness as the game launched.

Lin En summoned five players into the ruined church as a Mutated Corpse attacked Sivir. After the players marveled at the game's realism, Lin En gave them a quest to eliminate the monster, and they charged into battle.

• The Mutated Corpse smashed through the church doors and prepared to attack Sivir while Lin En waited for his summoned players.
• Five bald players appeared in the church and tested their bodies and the game's realistic details instead of reacting to the monster.
• The Mutated Corpse roared and sprayed mucus over the players, who eagerly inspected its model and Sivir.
• Lin En illuminated his statue's eyes and announced the main quest to defeat the Mutated Corpse.
• Lu Ziye picked up a broken door panel, and all five players charged the monster in their underwear.

Lin En watched the players waste his dwindling faith by repeatedly dying to the Mutated Corpse, so he imposed a strict revive limit to stop them from reckless attacks. After Jiahao lost another life, Ji Li organized the survivors to use rocks, timber, and the church’s destructible terrain against the monster.

• The Mutated Corpse killed Lu Ziye, Kindergarten Boss, and Even Monkeys Have Dignity, whose ashes returned to Lin En’s altar before the system revived them.
• Lin En learned that forming the players’ bodies had cost 500 faith and that each revival cost another 10, leaving him with only 70 faith.
• I'm Not Jiahao attempted to slide beneath the Mutated Corpse for a backstab, slipped on the moss, and was crushed, costing Lin En another 10 faith.
• Lin En ordered the system to announce that players had only two free revives and would lose closed-beta access after a third death.
• I'm Not Jiahao died again and revived with zero revives remaining, while Ji Li ordered him to stay back and directed the others to gather rocks and rotten timber to trap and attack the Mutated Corpse.

The five players killed the First Tier Mutated Corpse and completed their main quest, while Lin En took most of the faith points from the reward. After finding no loot, Even Monkeys Have Dignity ate the monster’s pus and was poisoned nearly to death.

• The five players used ropes, pillars, and improvised weapons to pin down and kill the Mutated Corpse.
• The system announced the team’s first kill and awarded each player 20 experience points, while Lin En kept 90 of the 100 faith points.
• The players searched the corpse for loot and found nothing, then Even Monkeys Have Dignity proposed eating it for a possible poison-resistance buff.
• Even Monkeys Have Dignity swallowed the monster’s pus and received a lethal hallucinogenic toxin, leaving him poisoned and near death.

Sivir mistook Lin En’s reckless players for terrifying divine servants while they looted his ruined church, so Lin En forcibly logged them out. Once the church fell quiet, Lin En began to grasp how precarious his position was in a world where people depended on gods for protection.

• Sivir watched the players devour the Mutated Corpse and concluded that Lin En was a supreme ruler with formidable servants.
• The players tried to strip the church of its silver candlestick, iron nails, moss, and mutant woodlice.
• Lin En ordered emergency server maintenance, and all five players were forcibly logged out.
• Lin En considered the world’s dependence on gods to shield people from the horrors in the darkness.
• Lin En realized that fringe gods like him were pushed to the continent’s edges, and his last worshipper, church, and divine core were all in dire straits.

Lin En redesigned the game’s revival economy and presentation, then went to sleep as Lu Ziye returned to Blue Star and posted excitedly about the game. The story left with Lu Ziye promoting “Awakening of the Old Gods” on a gaming forum.

• Lin En reviewed the statue and player panels, then kept his faith points rather than recruiting another player.
• Lin En installed an Ash Coins system that charged players ten coins to revive and planned to profit from their monster hunts.
• Lin En spent faith points to add character customization and an opening cinematic based on the world’s history.
• Lin En’s power and consciousness faded as he slept in the ruined church beside Sivir.
• Lu Ziye woke on Blue Star and posted on a gaming forum, praising the full-immersion game and its realistic sensations.

Lu Ziye and two other beta testers defended Awakening of the Old Gods against forum users who dismissed it as a scam. They discovered the server would reopen at seven the next morning, and Lu Ziye set alarms so he could return to the game and claim a silver candlestick.

• Lu Ziye argued with forum users who mocked his claims about the game, while Even Monkeys Have Dignity and Kindergarten Boss vouched for the beta’s realism.
• Forum users who downloaded the 1 KB client found a message saying they had not been granted closed-beta access.
• Even Monkeys Have Dignity privately contacted Lu Ziye and added him to a group chat with Kindergarten Boss.
• The three beta testers discussed the game and learned that its server would reopen at seven the next morning.
• Lu Ziye checked the countdown, set alarms for the morning, and went to sleep eager to return for the silver candlestick.

Ji Li discovered that her younger brother Ji Luo had been playing the mysterious game Awakening of the Old Gods on her account, and she investigated the game's forum post. Ji Luo launched the game when its server opened, watched a new cinematic, and began character creation under his own name.

• Ji Li found a message from Even Monkeys Have Dignity about a first playtest and suspected Ji Luo had used her account for a strange game.
• Ji Luo told Ji Li that the server for Awakening of the Old Gods was about to open, while Ji Li traced the message to Lu Ziye's forum post.
• At seven in the morning, Ji Luo launched the game and watched an opening cinematic depicting the gods' fall and the Lord of Ashes summoning travelers.
• Ji Luo entered his real name into the new player ID field and saw a character creation screen with customizable faces and hairstyles.

Ji Luo recreated his character and rejoined the ruined church, where he met his returning teammates and saw their wildly different custom appearances. The group teased each other about their looks and speculated that Ji Luo had made himself a handsome young avatar to pursue online romance.

• Ji Luo selected the Ash Apostles class, confirmed his character creation, and returned to the ruined church.
• Ji Luo found Passing Pure-Love Warrior sporting silver spikes, a battle scar, and exaggerated muscles, and mocked his anime-hero appearance.
• Kindergarten Boss logged in with a plain, dependable look, while Passing Pure-Love Warrior joked that he resembled an official inspecting the church.
• Even Monkeys Have Dignity appeared with a hunched, shifty avatar and claimed that expressive facial customization was the game's highest art.
• Monkeys noticed that Ji Luo had changed his ID from Ji Li and made a youthful, handsome avatar, prompting the others to tease him about online dating.

Lin En launched the core economy system and gave the players quests to build shelter for Sivir and find her food. With nightfall approaching, Ji Luo urged the group to plan before heading into the wilderness.

• Ji Luo and the others mocked the absent [I'm Not Jiahao], while Sivir watched them and believed the Creator had transformed their appearances.
• Lin En discovered that [I'm Not Jiahao] had logged in on time but was still carefully customizing his character's eyelashes.
• Lin En added Ash Coins and paid resurrection to the game, prompting the four players to celebrate the new economy system.
• Lin En issued quests for the players to build Sivir a wooden hut and gather edible supplies in exchange for experience and Ash Coins.
• Ji Luo stopped the others from rushing outside and warned that the wilderness would become more dangerous after dark.

Ji Luo led the players out of the church to farm monsters and resources, but their preparations were interrupted by Jiahao’s dramatic arrival and appearance. The five players stepped into a terrifying wasteland, while Lin En watched from the church and Sivir prayed.

• Ji Luo agreed with Ma Lou, Passing Pure-Love Warrior, and Bossy Guy to explore and farm by day before returning to the church at night.
• Jiahao appeared in the church with an exaggeratedly pale, melancholy character design and claimed his covered eye held the power of darkness.
• Passing Pure-Love Warrior mocked Jiahao, and Ji Luo’s group hauled him outside to join their gold-farming expedition.
• Lin En watched the five players leave and trusted their persistence and unlimited resurrection, while Sivir prayed and provided him with faith power.
• The five players stepped through the church doors and froze at the sight of a bleak wasteland, a vast Black Forest, and a ruined village.

The five players entered an abandoned village to gather resources and hunt low-level monsters, but Monkey triggered a hidden elite monster and was killed instantly. The Cave Stalker then turned its attention to Ji Luo and the three other players, who faced it with no clear plan.

• Ji Luo led the five players into the village, identifying resources and roaming Corrupted Villagers as targets.
• Ji Luo assigned the group roles for attacking the three Corrupted Villagers near the well.
• Monkey spotted glowing purple fungi on a ruined house and ran to investigate despite Ji Luo's warning.
• Monkey grabbed the fungi, revealing them to be a Cave Stalker's lure, and the monster burst through the wall.
• The Cave Stalker killed Monkey with a single strike and fixed its gaze on Ji Luo, Passing Pure-Love Warrior, Jiahao, and Top Dog.

The players fled from the Cave Stalker, but stopped to kill nearby Corrupted Villagers for Ash Coins before the monster wiped out the group. They respawned in the church and blamed Ma Lou for triggering the deadly encounter with an eye-covered mushroom.

• Ji Luo, Passing Pure-Love Warrior, and Bossy Guy fled as the Cave Stalker charged, while I'm Not Jiahao stood his ground and was killed by one slash.
• Passing Pure-Love Warrior killed a Corrupted Villager and discovered it dropped experience and Ash Coins.
• Ji Luo, Bossy Guy, and Passing Pure-Love Warrior killed the other two Corrupted Villagers before the Cave Stalker killed them all.
• The five players re-formed in the church's resurrection circle, where Passing Pure-Love Warrior pinned Ma Lou down and blamed him for pulling the mushroom.
• Ji Luo lamented that their elite first-test squad had been wiped out within three minutes of starting the game.

After a disastrous fight leaves the players without lives or Ash Coins, Ji Luo persuades them to earn coins by building the church NPC a house. The group heads to the Black Forest’s edge to gather wood and discovers they can break a tree with a heavy brick.

• Passing Pure-Love Warrior realizes the group has used all their free revives, and the players find they lack the Ash Coins needed to buy another life.
• Lin En considers giving the players another revive but decides to wait and see how they handle the setback.
• Ji Luo points out that the daily quest The Deity's Sanctuary rewards ten Ash Coins for building a house, so the players agree to gather materials near the church.
• Passing Pure-Love Warrior hurts his hand trying to punch a tree, and Ji Luo warns him that the game’s full-immersion physics make that dangerous.
• Bossy Guy smashes a tree with a heavy brick, prompting Ma Lou and the others to look for tools and join in.

Five players gathered materials and built a crude shelter beside the church to complete the Deity's Sanctuary quest. They received experience and Ash Coins, while Sivir's gratitude strengthened her faith in Lin En.

• The five players chopped down trees, gathered vines and thatch, and completed the quest's material collection phase.
• Sivir saw the materials the players had gathered and prayed tearfully to Lin En, increasing her faith points.
• The players used primitive methods to build a cabin beside the church, with each of the five helping in his own way.
• Sivir brought water to the exhausted players, and they praised its taste and her responsive behavior.
• The players finished a crooked, thatch-roofed cabin and received 50 EXP and 10 Ash Coins as their quest rewards.

After earning Ash Coins and crafting crude weapons, Ji Luo and the others stayed inside the church through the dangerous night and logged off to prepare for tomorrow. Back in the real world, Lu Ziye defended the game on a forum as other players joined his side, while the squad created a WeChat group to coordinate.

• Ma Lou, Pure-Love Warrior, Bossy Guy, and Ji Luo realized they needed Ash Coins to afford revivals, and Bossy Guy and Ji Luo demonstrated that the system recognized their homemade weapons.
• As night brought colder weather and more frequent monster cries, Ji Luo and the others decided not to risk their Ash Coins and logged off after exchanging WeChat IDs.
• Lu Ziye returned to his dorm, ordered food, and resumed arguing with forum users who mocked his claims about the game.
• Kindergarten Boss and Even Monkeys Have Dignity backed up Lu Ziye's account, prompting some forum users to wonder if the game was real.
• The five-man squad's WeChat group welcomed its new members.

After the others went to bed, Ma Lou secretly logged back into the game to hunt monsters at night and reach level 1. Lin En used Divine Gaze to watch him venture beyond the church, hoping he would bring back experience and Faith Points.

• The players discussed avoiding the abandoned village and gathering supplies along the Black Forest before saying good night.
• Ma Lou logged back on at midnight, hoping to kill low-level monsters and surprise the others by reaching level 1.
• Lin En noticed Ma Lou leave the church and decided to use him to scout the dangerous wilderness at night.
• Lin En spent 1 Faith Point to activate Divine Gaze and watch Ma Lou from a third-person perspective.

Ma Lou braved the Darkmoon Mist Corruption and killed two Tier-zero Corrupted Villagers to gain experience, but his Sanity collapsed and drew a dangerous night roamer toward him. Lin En recognized the approaching Lantern Night Terror as a first-tier aberration while Ma Lou mistook it for a hidden world boss.

• Ma Lou left the church's protective barrier, failed a Sanity check, and endured hallucinations and whispers as the black mist corrupted him.
• Ma Lou resisted the fear, lured two Tier-zero Corrupted Villagers away from each other, and killed them with his wooden spear, raising his experience to 60/100.
• Ma Lou's Sanity turned blood red, and a towering figure carrying a green lantern approached the mill through the mist.
• Lin En recognized the figure as a Lantern Night Terror, a first-tier aberration that preyed on souls whose Sanity had collapsed.
• Ma Lou watched the figure and wondered whether he had discovered a hidden world boss.

Ma Lou mistook the Lantern Night Terror for a valuable boss and attacked it, but Lin En intervened when the spirit creature nearly killed him. Safe inside the Church’s sanctuary barrier, Ma Lou was exhilarated by the terrifying encounter.

• Ma Lou ambushed the Lantern Night Terror with his Wooden Spear, but his physical attack passed through it.
• The Lantern Night Terror depleted Ma Lou’s Sanity and paralyzed him, so Lin En used his administrator permissions to warn him that physical attacks were useless and he should run.
• Ma Lou broke free of his paralysis and fled toward the Church, but the monster caught his ankle with its chain.
• Lin En activated the Church’s sanctuary barrier, which shattered the chain and drove the Lantern Night Terror back into the Dark Wasteland.
• Ma Lou recovered inside the barrier and declared that the terrifying chase had made the game even more exciting.

Lin En considered how to expand the players’ class options by devouring other gods’ godheads, but lacked the faith points to pursue the plan. After Ma Lou logged out with a hidden achievement, his announcement woke the other first-test veterans on Blue Star.

• Lin En awarded Ma Lou a hidden achievement and gameplay information for surviving the Lantern Night Terror, then Ma Lou logged out to share the news.
• Lin En concluded that the players needed more levels and skills to fight supernatural monsters they could not physically harm.
• Lin En devised a plan to devour other gods’ godheads and give his followers access to new classes, but admitted he was too weak to act on it.
• Lu Ziye woke to a flood of messages from Ma Lou announcing the server’s first hidden achievement in their veterans’ group chat.