Chapter Summaries

[I'm Not Jiahao] and the other newbies ambushed cultists and their Mutant Hounds in Fog Town, then discovered the cultists dropped usable gear. Jiahao and [God Never Laughs] disguised themselves in the cultists' robes and headed toward the fighting near the square.

• [God Never Cries] and [God Never Laughs] attacked two cultists from above while the other newbies killed three Mutant Hounds, eliminating all five enemies before they could raise an alarm.
• [I'm Not Jiahao] inspected Fog Town and decided to scout the cultist defenses while the combat team waited for a signal.
• [God Never Laughs] noticed that the cultists' corpses and equipment had not vanished, and the newbies found that the staff was restricted to a special class while the iron chain had no such restriction.
• [I'm Not Jiahao] and [God Never Laughs] put on the cultists' robes, took their staffs, and set off toward the square while the remaining newbies spread out to gather intel.

[I'm Not Jiahao] and [God Never Laughs] infiltrated Fog Town in cultist disguises to scout the enemy forces and record their positions. As they tried to escape with the information, a priest exposed them and two Corrupted-Feather Crowmen closed in, leaving Jiahao to decide how to respond.

• [I'm Not Jiahao] and [God Never Laughs] disguised themselves as cultists and slipped past a patrol in Fog Town.
• They reached the central square and saw hundreds of cultists, monsters, and townspeople protected by a failing white barrier.
• [I'm Not Jiahao] used his gaming pod to photograph the enemy deployment while they noticed Corrupted Villagers carrying body parts into a guarded courtyard.
• The pair decided to retreat, but a priest stopped them and sensed no trace of the Abyss on them.
• Two Corrupted-Feather Crowmen emerged and surrounded them as [God Never Laughs] warned that their disguise had been exposed.

Jiahao and God Never Laughs infiltrated the Church in Fog Town to gather intelligence, then respawned at the Ash Altar after dying to the cultists. Their screenshots revealed that the town’s forces were far beyond the players’ strength, leaving the group unsure how to attack.

• Jiahao tried to fool the cult priest with talk of isolating their Abyssal contamination, but the priest ordered the Corrupted-Feather Crowmen to attack.
• God Never Laughs struck a crowman with his chain while Jiahao blasted the priest’s staff, but both players were killed and respawned at the Ash Altar.
• Jiahao revealed that he had taken screenshots of Fog Town’s defenses and a level-sixteen Crowman before dying, then shared them in the players’ real-world group chat.
• More than fifty players logged out to view Jiahao’s images and returned alarmed by the hundreds of cultists and the Crowman’s level and poisonous area attack.
• Immortal Star Crazy Young Master, Kindergarten Boss, and Passing Pure-Love Warrior concluded that their group could not fight the enemies yet.

Ji Luo's group devised a plan to poison the Cultists' wells and soup, then attack amid the resulting confusion. Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and Ma Lou infiltrated the supply point in disguise and reached the wells, ready to carry out the poisoning.

• Ma Lou proposed using Human-Faced Poison Spider glands to poison the Cultists' wells and broth, and the players enthusiastically approved.
• Ji Luo warned that the supply point was too heavily guarded for inexperienced players, so Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and Ma Lou volunteered for the dangerous mission.
• Ji Luo ordered the trio to disguise themselves in Cultist robes, poison the supply point, and signal the Main Combat Group to attack.
• Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and Ma Lou killed three lone Cultists, put on their robes, and slipped through the patrols to reach the plaza's supply point.
• The trio crawled around the wells and hid in the hay behind them, where Lu Ziye whispered for Ma Lou to get the poison.

Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and Ma Lou ran into Ilyena while secretly poisoning the Cultists’ water supply and discovered she was sabotaging the attackers too. After learning they had come to help Fog Town and that Kyle was safe, Ilyena joined forces with them and warned them to leave before the Cultists found them.

• Ma Lou was about to poison a well when Ilyena arrived, poisoned it herself, and planted Alchemical Bombs in nearby corpses.
• Ilyena caught Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and Ma Lou hiding in a haystack and drew a poisoned dagger, but Lu Ziye revealed himself and said they were allies sent by the Lord of Ashes.
• Lu Ziye told Ilyena they had rescued Kyle, and she lowered her dagger after hearing he was safe and guarding the Sighing Heights entrance.
• Ilyena agreed to work with the players, told them to poison the other well and leave quickly, and warned them not to touch the bomb-rigged corpses.
• Ma Lou poured venom into the second well, while Lu Ziye poisoned the pot of simmering meat soup.

Jiahao asked Ilyena for her remaining Alchemical Bombs, claiming they would help his assembled force of fifty God-Touched storm Fog Town and rescue its people. Ilyena was moved by the three men’s confidence and began to hope for a counterattack.

• Ma Lou added the Human-Faced Poison Spider's venom to the Mutant broth while Ilyena prepared to retreat.
• Jiahao stopped Ilyena and asked for the three Alchemical Bombs she still had.
• Ilyena questioned Jiahao's intentions, and he said the bombs would help his force storm the town.
• Lu Ziye claimed fifty God-Touched had gathered outside Fog Town and would attack after the Cultists were poisoned.
• Jiahao explained that the bombs would break through the Cultists' defensive line, and Ilyena felt hope replace her despair.

Ilyena gave Jiahao, Lu Ziye, and Ma Lou Alchemical Bombs and blessed them with a powerful temporary buff before returning to the divine barrier. Her wink left Lu Ziye and Ma Lou arguing over whom she had meant, while Jiahao revealed he had spent the moment taking photos of her.

• Ilyena entrusted three Alchemical Bombs to Jiahao, Lu Ziye, and Ma Lou and wished them the Weeping Madonna's blessing.
• Ilyena's blessing increased the three players' strength and recovery rates for fifteen minutes.
• Ilyena returned toward the divine barrier, then winked at the three players before disappearing inside.
• Lu Ziye and Ma Lou argued over whether Ilyena had winked at him, while Cultists threatened to go berserk nearby.
• Jiahao interrupted them and boasted that he had taken an uncensored photo collection of Ilyena.

Jiahao persuaded Lu Ziye and Ma Lou to abandon their plan to return to the main force and use their Alchemical Bombs in a suicide attack on the tightly packed Cultists and Mutants outside Fog Town. The trio prepared to disguise themselves in red robes and rush into the crowd for maximum damage.

• Jiahao revealed that he planned to sell screenshots of Wasteland White Moonlight, angering Lu Ziye and Ma Lou.
• Lu Ziye and Ma Lou prepared to return to the high ground after poisoning the Cultists, but Jiahao stopped them.
• Jiahao admitted that he had lied to the sister Nun and had never intended to bring the three Alchemical Bombs back for the siege.
• Jiahao explained that the bombs would be more effective against the hundreds of Cultists and Mutants packed outside the Deity Barrier.
• Ma Lou and Lu Ziye embraced Jiahao's plan to disguise themselves as Cultists and charge into the crowd with the bombs.

Jiahao joined Lu Ziye and Ma Lou in a charge toward Weeping Madonna Plaza, where Cultists were close to breaking the Deity Barrier. As the three approached, guards at the edge of the plaza noticed them through the fog.

• Lu Ziye and Ma Lou marveled at Jiahao’s unusual behavior, then watched in horror as he dribbled an Alchemical Bomb and pretended to shoot it like a basketball.
• Jiahao explained that he used to play basketball in America, and Lu Ziye and Ma Lou realized his usual showboating had returned.
• Lu Ziye rallied the group to play savior for the town’s residents, while Ma Lou vowed to make a mark with a biological attack and suicide gift package.
• At Weeping Madonna Plaza, hundreds of Cultists battered the nearly broken Deity Barrier while townspeople huddled inside.
• Several Cultists guarding the plaza’s rear noticed three robed figures swaggering through the fog toward them.

Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and [Even Monkeys Have Dignity] tried to bluff their way into the Cultists’ central spellcasting zone by claiming a spy had exposed an approaching army. The squad leader rejected their story and raised his bone blade to strike Ma Lou.

• Lu Ziye and Jiahao continued toward the central spellcasting zone with Ma Lou, drawing the attention of a Cultist squad leader.
• The squad leader ordered the three to stop and demanded to know which squad they belonged to.
• Ma Lou claimed they had urgent intelligence about a spy and a large army waiting in the ruins beyond the fog.
• The squad leader dismissed the report, mocked the idea of reinforcements, and accused them of hallucinating.
• Ma Lou insisted the priest needed to hear the warning and suggested the squad leader himself might be the spy.
• The furious squad leader raised his bone blade to slash at Ma Lou.

Ma Lou persuaded the squad leader that he and his companions were loyal followers, and the leader agreed to escort them to the priest. Meanwhile, Ilyena returned to Fog Town’s sanctuary with new hope of a coming counterattack.

• Ma Lou convinced the squad leader that three low-ranking followers would not volunteer to enter the cultists’ guarded inner circle if they were spies.
• The squad leader mistook the trio’s fervor for pure faith, reflected on his lost devotion, and offered to take them to the priest.
• Lu Ziye and Jiahao praised the Holy Lord while Ma Lou maintained his devoted-cultist act, and the three followed the squad leader.
• Ilyena slipped back into Fog Town’s Deity Barrier after poisoning the well and recalled the Ash Apostles’ claims that an army was assembling for a counterattack.
• Ilyena hurried to share the news with the high priest, hoping it would restore the townspeople’s will to live.

Ilyena returned to the Divine Hall and told the high priest that reinforcements from the Sighing Heights had arrived, but then saw the three men she had given Alchemical Bombs being escorted through the Cultists’ ranks. After confirming Madonna’s Compassion had not harmed them, she realized they were not Cultist spies and suspected they planned to detonate the bombs inside the enemy ranks.

• Ilyena found the high priest exhausting himself to maintain the Divine Hall’s barrier, and he reprimanded her for going outside.
• Ilyena told the high priest that divine envoys from the Sighing Heights had saved Knight Kyle and that their army had gathered near Fog Town.
• Ilyena saw the three men she had given her last Alchemical Bombs walking unharmed through the Cultists’ ranks under a squad leader’s escort.
• Ilyena feared the men had deceived her, but recognized Madonna’s Compassion still enveloped them and concluded they were free of Abyss corruption.
• Ilyena realized the three men might be entering the enemy ranks to detonate the Alchemical Bombs.

Lu Ziye, Ma Lou, and Jiahao infiltrated the cultists’ spellcasting formation, but their antics exposed them. Ma Lou declared himself Venom and detonated an Alchemical Bomb in the packed crowd.

• Lu Ziye, Ma Lou, and Jiahao reached the center of the enemy formation, surrounded by elite cultists and mutants.
• Ma Lou acted erratically, Jiahao took screenshots of him, and Lu Ziye joined in laughing.
• The squad leader noticed the trio’s behavior, drew his Bone Blade, and demanded to know who they were and what they wanted.
• Ma Lou removed his hood, shouted that he was Venom, and danced as the cultists stared in confusion.
• Ma Lou shouted for the glory of the Lord of Ashes, charged into the cultists with an Alchemical Bomb, and triggered a massive explosion.

Ma Lou, Lu Ziye, and Jiahao detonated Alchemical Bombs among the cultists outside the Deity Barrier, devastating the packed army and breaking its morale. The surviving cultists fled or lay wounded amid the ruins.

• Ma Lou blew himself up among the cultists, killing many and shaking the Deity Barrier with the blast.
• Lu Ziye introduced himself as the Jade-Faced Grenade King and detonated a second Alchemical Bomb in the enemy formation.
• The second explosion scattered cultists and caused the Corrupted-Feather Crowmen overhead to fall into the flames.
• Jiahao delivered a theatrical speech and detonated the final Alchemical Bomb at the center of the crowd.
• The three blasts killed nearly a hundred cultists and more than a dozen mutants, leaving a huge gap in the cultist ranks and survivors screaming or fleeing.

Ma Lou, Lu Ziye, and Jiahao detonated Alchemical Bombs among the Cultists, devastating their forces and weakening the threat to Fog Town. The three respawned at Sighing Heights, where the other players crowded around them, while Ilyena mourned their supposed martyrdom in awe and confusion.

• The cultist priest discovered that three low-ranking cultists had detonated Alchemical Bombs, devastating his elite formation.
• The survivors in Fog Town saw the explosions, and the old priest praised an unknown god while Ilyena realized the three Ash Apostles had sacrificed themselves.
• At Sighing Heights, [Ji Luo] and the other players wondered how the supposed poisoning mission had caused three massive explosions.
• Ma Lou, Lu Ziye, and Jiahao teleported back to the Ash Altar, joked about the pain of their deaths, and claimed the plan had gone perfectly.
• The fifty players swarmed the three returning players.

After Ma Lou and two players devastated the Cultists’ command area with explosives, Ji Luo led the players in a charge down Sighing Heights toward Fog Town. The attack drove Lin En’s Faith Points past ten thousand, while the Cultists regrouped in the plaza to meet the oncoming players.

• Ma Lou and the other two players recounted how they tricked a nun into giving them explosives and infiltrated the Cultist camp, prompting the players to cheer their attack.
• Ji Luo rallied the players and ordered them to charge down Sighing Heights and crush Fog Town.
• Lin En watched kill notifications flood his system as his Faith Points surged past ten thousand, bringing a third beta test within reach.
• Ji Luo led fifty poorly equipped players toward the plaza while the Cultists were still reeling from the explosions.
• The High Priest rallied the surviving Cultists and ordered them to form ranks and use Flesh Magic against the charging players.

[Ji Luo] led fifty players from Sighing Heights into Fog Town, where they attacked the Cultists with a coordinated mix of frontal assaults and guerrilla tactics. The battle began with the players’ fearless, chaotic methods overwhelming the Cultists’ defenses.

• [Ji Luo] divided the players into a vanguard, an Unorthodox Tactics Group, and a Main Combat Group as they approached Fog Town.
• [Ma Lou], Jiahao, and Lu Ziye gave each of the eighteen Main Combat Group newbies twenty Ash Coins as a casualty allowance, raising their morale.
• The high priest ordered hundreds of Cultists and dozens of Mutants to charge the players at the edge of the Central Plaza.
• [Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] let a Cultist cleave his chest, then taunted him while nearby players blinded and killed the Cultist.
• [I'm Not Jiahao] led the vanguard through the ruins, where the players ambushed Cultists and disrupted their spells and defenses.

The players’ bizarre tactics slowed the Cultists, but their low levels and crude weapons left the defensive line close to collapse. As the townsfolk prepared to charge from behind the barrier, Ilyena held them back and waited for her bomb-laced corpses to take effect.

• The Unorthodox Tactics Group led by [Even Monkeys Have Dignity] attacked the Cultists with shameless, improvised tactics, terrifying the Cultist priest.
• [Ji Luo] and the other low-level players struggled to damage the heavily armored Cultists and lost lives faster than they could afford.
• The high priest urged the guards and townsfolk to leave the Weeping Madonna’s barrier and fight alongside the players.
• Ilyena stopped the townsfolk and watched Cultists eat soup and corpses she had secretly packed with Alchemical Bombs.
• [Immortal Star Crazy Young Master] warned [Ji Luo] that the players were nearly out of Resurrection Coins as the defensive line neared collapse.

As the Fourth Catastrophe retreated under the Cultists’ magical assault, Ilyena’s poison and buried Alchemical Bombs devastated the enemy’s supply point and threw their formation into chaos. The players and Fog Town’s residents launched a counterattack, and the high priest blessed them with powerful healing and combat boosts.

• [Ji Luo] ordered the players to retreat into the alleys while the Vanguard Group and Unorthodox Tactics Group covered them.
• [Passing Pure-Love Warrior] doubled back to loot a greataxe and bone mask, ignoring [Ji Luo]’s order to fall back.
• Poisoned soup incapacitated a dozen Cultists, and a Mutant Hound triggered Ilyena’s Alchemical Bombs, blasting the supply point and disrupting the Cultists’ spellcasting.
• [Ji Luo] rallied the players to charge, and the Fourth Catastrophe broke through the disordered Cultist formation.
• The captain of the guard led hundreds of Fog Town residents out of the barrier to attack the Cultists from the front.
• The high priest cast Rain of Revival and Madonna’s Protection, restoring health and boosting the players’ and townsfolk’s abilities.

Lu Ziye and the players turned the battle for Fog Town with healing and a fierce counterattack, but the system warned them that Darkmoon Mist Corruption was draining their sanity. The Cultists were still numerous as the players faced a new threat from the nighttime zone.

• Rain of Revival empowered the players as Lu Ziye and the others charged the Cultists alongside Fog Town's guards and townspeople.
• The players and guards exploited the Cultists' broken formation, using coordinated attacks and dirty tricks to overwhelm them.
• Corrupted-Feather Crowmen attacked from above with venom and poison powder, but Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and other players armed themselves with bows and brought one down.
• The players' ranged attacks suppressed the remaining Crowmen, helping the defenders cut the Cultist army from over six hundred to barely more than three hundred after an hour of fighting.
• A system warning told all fifty players that they were too far from the barrier's center and in a nighttime zone, and their sanity began to decrease from Darkmoon Mist Corruption.