Chapter Summaries

After surviving the siege, the five players leveled up and found an epic Evil God Flesh Remnant while Lin En collected a fortune in Faith Points. Lin En completed the Ashen Portal, triggering a server-wide announcement that welcomed 50 new beta testers and announced the next version’s launch.

• The five players received experience and Ash Coins for defeating 166 mutants and the Flesh Fusion, and all reached level 7.
• Lin En gained 4,360 Faith Points from the battle, bringing his balance to 6,075.
• Ma Lou looted an epic-grade Evil God Flesh Remnant from the Flesh Fusion’s remains, and Ji Luo told him to keep it safe.
• Sivir praised Lin En and his apostles, earning Lin En 50 Faith Points through her devotion.
• Lin En activated the Ashen Portal, which became solid and opened a spatial vortex.
• The players received the exclusive Ash Guide title as a server-wide announcement revealed 50 new beta slots and the next version’s launch time.

After only fifty players received closed-beta invitations to Awakening of the Old Gods, the rejected players flooded the official forum to complain and bargain for access. Lu Ziye then appeared under his forum account, displaying his level and exclusive Ash Guide title.

• Fifty players received invitations to the closed beta, while Wang and hundreds of thousands of others were rejected.
• Wang lamented his rejection to Lu Ziye, then decided to post a bounty for a beta key.
• Rejected players crowded the official forum, where they argued over account transfers, the selection process, and whether the game was real.
• Even Monkeys Have Dignity claimed he had killed a powerful boss, prompting forum users to recognize him as Ma Lou and ask how he earned points.
• Lu Ziye logged into the forum as Passing Pure-Love Warrior, whose profile showed a gold Lv. 7 Ash Apostles badge and the title Ash Guide.

After the first-beta players celebrated their victory and attracted huge attention online, Lin En spent 5,000 Faith Points creating bodies for fifty new players. The milestone for exceeding fifty players unlocked the basic Ash Shop, and Lin En prepared to sell the newcomers robes and equipment.

• Lu Ziye posted that the first-beta squad had defeated an Evil God and invited the fifty new players to meet them at the Church.
• Ji Li raged after failing to win a beta spot, while Ji Luo refused to let her use his account.
• The five first-beta players celebrated their newfound fame and planned how to welcome the new players.
• Lin En paid 5,000 Faith Points to create Ash bodies for the fifty Second Beta Test players.
• The system awarded Lin En the Spark milestone and unlocked the basic Ash Shop, stocked with robes, weapons, and shields.

Lin En stocked his shop with equipment and a nighttime protection item, hoping to profit from the second beta players and eventually gain enough Faith Points to level up. At seven in the morning, fifty players arrived through the Portal and were stunned by the game's lifelike sensations.

• Lin En realized that the shop would reclaim Ash Coins and give him a 10% fee in Faith Points whenever players bought items.
• He listed basic equipment and promoted the Lord of Ashes' Blessing, which let players resist Darkmoon Mist Corruption for an hour at night.
• Lin En checked that reaching Lv.2 required 10,000 Faith Points and resolved to earn them from the incoming players.
• On Blue Star, the fifty chosen players spent the hours before launch posting about their experience, plans, and guild recruitment.
• At seven in the morning, the Portal opened and sent more than fifty players into the clearing before Ash Church.
• Who's Afraid of Me, the Grind King tested the mud's texture and taste, then shouted that the game felt like a second life.

Fifty new players arrived in the Wasteland and marveled at the game's realism, while the five first-test veterans presented themselves as powerful guides. Sivir greeted the newcomers, who immediately became infatuated with her.

• Fifty new players woke in the clearing, tested the world's sensations, and admired the ruined landscape and Church.
• Immortal Star Crazy Young Master tried to recruit players to the Undying Stars Guild and proposed capturing Fog Town.
• The five first-test veterans appeared in Ash Robes with Ash Guide titles, drawing the newcomers' awe with their Lv.7 levels.
• I'm Not Jiahao welcomed the newcomers and warned them to respect the darkness of the Wasteland.
• Sivir entered the Church, greeted the new players, and provoked a wave of excited declarations that she was their wife.

Sivir delivered the Lord of Ashes’ welcome and rallied fifty new players before assigning them a beginner trial in the Black Forest. Lin En planned to use the forest to level them up so they could eventually reinforce Fog Town, which was under siege by Cultists.

• Sivir scolded the unruly players, and a system warning threatened permanent bans if they angered her.
• Sivir welcomed the warriors and urged them to reclaim the wilderness in the name of the Lord of Ashes, stirring the new players’ enthusiasm.
• The five closed-beta players wondered why they had not received the same welcome speech, and [Ji Luo] guessed that the developers had changed the tutorial after their difficult boss fight.
• Lin En decided the new players needed to level up in the Black Forest before they could safely travel to Fog Town.
• Sivir gave the players a quest to hunt one zero-tier Mutant at the edge of the Black Forest for ten Ash Coins, and the crowd eagerly reacted to the reward.

Lin En warned the new players that the Black Forest was too dangerous to explore alone, prompting Ji Luo and the other veterans to organize them into five squads and lend them weapons for a share of their Ash Coins. The fifty-five-person group left the Sanctuary Barrier and reached the terrifying forest, where the veteran guides tried to hide their fear.

• Lin En sent a system warning advising beginners to form squads and cautioning that revival after their free attempts would cost Ash Coins.
• Ji Luo and the other first-test veterans decided to organize the newcomers into teams and take a share of their future earnings.
• Ji Luo, Even Monkeys Have Dignity, and I'm Not Jiahao offered weapons and guidance in exchange for thirty percent of the Ash Coins earned by each team.
• The fifty newbies joined five squads led by veterans, and the pioneering group set out from the Ash Church.
• After the group crossed the Sanctuary Barrier, the Black Forest's oppressive atmosphere frightened the veterans, while Ji Luo urged them to act confident in front of the newcomers.

Lu Ziye and the other veterans led fifty newbies into the Black Forest, where they taught them to hunt Corrupted Villagers and sold them replacement weapons. The newbies grew excited by the combat and kept fighting, unaware that the veterans were profiting from their work.

• The five veterans split the fifty newbies into squads and led them into different parts of the Black Forest.
• Lu Ziye showed Crazy Young Master and the others how to blind and topple two Zero-Tier Corrupted Villagers, then killed one with his Pimple Mace.
• The veterans directed the newbies through a morning of coordinated monster hunting, and the newcomers quickly adapted to the combat.
• Crazy Young Master's Flint Spear broke, so Lu Ziye sold him two replacement stone spears for two Ash Coins each.
• The newbies continued earning Ash Coins while paying protection fees and buying disposable weapons from the veterans.

As the players explored deeper into the Black Forest, they encountered new monsters and stumbled upon Knight Kyle being hunted by Fallen Cultists and Rift Ghouls. The players charged to protect him, leaving the cultists stunned by their reckless tactics.

• Lin En watched his Faith Points surge as five veteran-led teams leveled rookies across the Black Forest.
• Ma Lou's team encountered a Human-Faced Poison Spider and attacked it for its valuable materials.
• Lu Ziye's squad reached the foggy forest interior and found the wounded Knight Kyle pursued by three Fallen Cultists and two Rift Ghouls.
• The cultists released the Rift Ghouls, and Kuang Shao charged one instead of dodging.
• When the ghoul bit Kuang Shao's arm, Lu Ziye ordered the others to spear it, and they stabbed through Kuang Shao as well, turning him to ash.

Lu Ziye and the other players saved the wounded Knight Kyle from Cultists and Ghouls, then bewildered him with their strange behavior and apparent immortality. Kyle recognized them as Ash Apostles and begged them to save Fog Town from the Cultists.

• Lu Ziye blinded the Cultists with Ashen Missile, and the players defeated three Cultists and two Ghouls in a chaotic fight.
• The players crowded around the wounded Kyle, while Lu Ziye tried to trigger a quest and Kyle warned them about Fog Town and the Cultists.
• Lu Ziye ordered the players to feed Kyle Ghoul flesh, but Immortal Star Crazy Young Master returned from resurrection before they could force it on him.
• Kyle recognized Crazy Young Master as a man who had just died and become unharmed again, then asked Lu Ziye who the players were.
• Lu Ziye identified the players as Ash Apostles serving the Lord of Ashes, and Kyle pleaded with them to save Fog Town from the Cultists.

Lin En launched the main quest to send players toward Fog Town after they rescued Kyle, then chose to build a toll-charging Ash Altar to speed their journey. He began preparing a quest that would make the players defend the fragile teleportation anchor.

• The players rescued the dying knight Kyle, and Kuang Shao carried him back toward Newbie Village as Lu Ziye organized the escort.
• Lin En used the rescue to unlock Fog Town’s map coordinates and issued the major regional quest to escort Kyle and break through the Cultists’ blockades.
• Lin En worried that the long trip from the Ash Church would waste the players’ time, so he asked the system about establishing a frontline respawn point.
• The system offered a costly permanent Divine Statue or a 1,000-Faith-Point Ash Altar that let players teleport one way for 2 Ash Coins per use.
• Lin En decided to build the Ash Altar and began creating a base-defense quest to persuade the players to protect it.

Lu Ziye and the players brought the badly wounded Knight Kyle to the Ash Church, where Sivir treated him and Lin En learned that Fog Town was under siege. Lin En launched a regional quest to escort Kyle and establish an Ash Altar near Fog Town, unlocking paid fast travel to the front line.

• Immortal Star Crazy Young Master carried Knight Kyle into the Ash Church with Lu Ziye and the other players, while Kyle endured their talk of stripping and looting him.
• Sivir treated Kyle's wounds as he explained that Cultists had surrounded Fog Town and its barrier was close to collapsing.
• Lin En instructed Sivir to announce that the Lord of Ashes would protect the believers and guide a rescue, and Kyle praised the Lord, earning Lin En 100 Faith Points.
• Lin En issued a regional quest to escort Kyle to Sighing Heights and build an Ash Altar there.
• The quest announcement unlocked teleportation from the Church to the Fog Town front line for two Ash Coins, but warned that destroying the Ash Altar would permanently close the route.

Lu Ziye prepared to escort Knight Kyle and establish a new base, but Ji Luo and his team returned after being wiped out by a Second Tier Mutant. The players learned that the Wailing Brain Tree could kill them instantly with a mass mental attack, leaving the danger of the Black Forest unresolved.

• Lu Ziye rallied the players to escort Knight Kyle and build a teleportation array, treating its safety as their top priority.
• The Resurrection Array flashed, and Ji Luo, Kindergarten Boss, I'm Not Jiahao, and thirty newbies materialized after being killed in the Black Forest.
• Ji Luo explained that his group had encountered a Second Tier Mutant called the Wailing Brain Tree in a mangrove grove.
• Ji Luo said the Wailing Brain Tree's mouths unleashed a widespread mental attack that dropped all thirty-three players' Sanity to zero and caused their bodies to burst into blood mist.

[Ji Luo] stopped the players from attacking a Second Tier monster and led them toward Sighing Heights to complete their Main Quest. After fighting through the Black Forest, they reached the heights and saw Fog Town burning beneath a fading barrier from the [Weeping Madonna].

• [Ji Luo] warned the players that the Second Tier monster’s mental corruption would kill them and told them to prioritize escorting Knight Kyle to Sighing Heights.
• Lu Ziye organized the players into a formation, while [Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] carried the wounded Kyle on his back.
• All fifty-five players accepted the Main Quest [Lament of Fog Town] and set out for Sighing Heights.
• The players killed Corrupted Villagers and other monsters along the way, reaching the heights after more than three hours without serious danger.
• [Ji Luo] confirmed their destination, and the players saw that Cultists and monsters had overrun much of Fog Town while the [Weeping Madonna]’s barrier still shone above the ancient temple.

Lin En used the players to conjure an Ash Altar at Sighing Heights, opening a teleportation route to the front line. With night approaching and the players short on Ash Coins, Ji Luo called off an immediate assault on Fog Town and planned an attack for the next day.

• Lin En spent 1,000 Faith Points to use the players as conduits and create an Ash Altar at Sighing Heights.
• The Ash Altar activated, and a regional announcement let players teleport there from the Ash Church for 2 Ash Coins.
• Knight Kyle witnessed the altar's creation and knelt in awe before it, while Lu Ziye urged the players to attack Fog Town.
• Ji Luo warned that nightfall would bring Dark Moon Mist and leave their small, underfunded force at a disadvantage.
• The players agreed to withdraw for the night, discuss tactics in a Green Bubble Group, and launch an all-out assault after daybreak.

The players arranged a paid night watch to protect the Ash Altar’s teleportation array before logging off, while Lin En praised their initiative and prepared for the assault on Fog Town. On Blue Star, the Second Beta Test players launched a forum reckoning against Cloud Gamers who had accused them of being paid shills.

• [Ji Luo] offered Ash Coins to recruit five newbies to guard the Ash Altar overnight and instructed them to alert players through the forum if enemies appeared.
• The fifty players logged off, leaving the five guards beside the altar, and Knight Kyle watched in disbelief as the God-Touched vanished in white light.
• Lin En watched the players’ preparations through the system and felt relieved that they had protected the teleportation array without costing him anything.
• The Second Beta Test players logged into the Ninth Art forum and challenged Cloud Gamers to apologize for calling them paid shills.
• [Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] praised the game in a pinned thread, described rescuing Kyle, and called on all fifty Second Beta Test players to clear the first beta players’ names.

As the Second Beta Test players’ reports convinced the public that Awakening of the Old Gods was real, forum users clamored for access and argued with skeptics. Ji Luo organized all fifty newcomers alongside the five First Closed Beta veterans, then began preparing them for a dangerous assault on Fog Town.

• Fifty Second Beta Test players shared their experiences, prompting a frenzy of requests and bids for access codes on the forum.
• Director Li of the Third Psychiatric Hospital called the game a scam, and Ji Luo and other players mocked his claims and challenged his laptop bet.
• Ji Luo warned the veteran players that the Fog Town dungeon’s Cultists and Mutants would make their previous squads dangerously ineffective.
• Ji Luo asked Ma Lou to create a group for all fifty new players so they could plan the next day’s tactics.
• Ma Lou established the Awakening of the Old Gods Expeditionary Command Headquarters group, where the fifty-five players traded memes.
• Ji Luo muted the group and announced that the players needed to regroup according to their combat strengths before attacking Fog Town.

Ji Luo organized the players into four tactical groups for the assault on Fog Town, using a plan devised with his sister Ji Li. At seven the next morning, players began logging into the Wasteland World at Sighing Heights.

• Ji Luo assigned players to a Main Combat Group, a Vanguard Scout Group, a Teleportation Array Home Guard Group, and an Unorthodox Tactics Group led by Even Monkeys Have Dignity.
• Players eagerly signed up for the combat, scout, and unorthodox groups, but only one player volunteered for the Home Guard, so Ji Luo announced he would draw lots the next day.
• Ji Luo told everyone to rest and log in at seven for the assault on Fog Town, then thanked Ji Li for helping devise the group strategy.
• Ji Li explained that the players' limited classes made it more useful to organize them by personality and play style, then sent Ji Luo to bed.
• At seven the next morning, five guards at the Ash Altar watched white pillars of light appear as players logged in at Sighing Heights.

Ji Luo led the players into Fog Town to scout and probe the Cultists’ defenses while the Cultists prepared a full-scale assault on the town’s Divine Hall. The High Priest revealed that the barrier could last only two more days and that no reinforcements were coming.

• Kuang Shao paid three newcomers to guard the Ash Altar, then returned to the main combat team as Ji Luo organized the players’ advance into Fog Town.
• A red-robed priest ordered the Cultists and Mutants to gather for a full-scale assault using Flesh Magic.
• The Cultists bombarded the Divine Hall’s barrier while hundreds of frightened townspeople crowded inside.
• The High Priest told the wounded guard captain that the Madonna’s power was nearly exhausted and the barrier would last at most two days.
• The High Priest said Winterhold would not send help and urged the townspeople to pray and face their fate.

Sister Ilyena comforted Fog Town's wounded while privately considering poisoning the town before the barrier fell. Outside the barrier, [I'm Not Jiahao] led ten Second Beta Test newbies in an ambush on two Cultists and three Mutant Hounds, and the operation began as one Cultist heard a faint noise overhead.

• Ilyena reassured a wounded town guard, then secretly considered poisoning the well and rigging the dead with alchemical bombs.
• Two First Tier Fallen Cultists patrolled the outskirts of Fog Town with three Mutant Hounds, confident the town would soon fall.
• [I'm Not Jiahao] and ten Second Beta Test newbies watched the patrol from above and planned a silent attack.
• [I'm Not Jiahao] assigned two newbies to attack the Cultists and the others to subdue the Mutant Hounds.
• The ambush began, and the Cultist on the left heard a faint rustling overhead.