Chapter Summaries

Lin En reviewed the Faith Points generated by the growing player base and celebrated reaching a balance of 46,530. As players logged in for the morning, the first formal strategic meeting between the two major guilds began at the Ash Church.

• Lin En woke in the Divine Statue and checked the system's Faith Points ledger.
• He learned that players had killed hundreds of monsters in two days, earning him 31,086 Faith Points before resurrection costs.
• Lin En counted 732 player deaths and subtracted 7,320 Faith Points in resurrection expenses, leaving 23,766 Faith Points in net monster-kill profits.
• He added other income to his savings and saw his balance reach 46,530 Faith Points.
• Players began logging in at the Ash Church, where the two major guilds started their first formal strategic meeting.

Kuang Shao hired the First Closed Beta Five-Person Group to help the Undying Stars Guild defeat a second-tier Mutant Hound King, offering each member twenty thousand Renminbi. The group discussed the deal in private, and most members supported accepting it.

• After the Undying Stars Guild failed to defeat the Mutant Hound King, Kuang Shao offered to pay the First Closed Beta Five-Person Group to fight it for his guild.
• Kuang Shao promised each of the five players twenty thousand Renminbi and said the boss's drops would belong to the Undying Stars Guild.
• Ji Luo thanked Kuang Shao but asked to consult the Embers Kindling team before answering.
• After Kuang Shao and his guild leaders left, Ji Luo asked Lu Ziye, Even Monkeys Have Dignity, and Kindergarten Boss for their opinions.
• Lu Ziye, Even Monkeys Have Dignity, and Kindergarten Boss supported taking the job, citing the payment and their confidence in defeating a beginner second-tier monster.

Jiahao, Lu Ziye, Ma Lou, Bossy Guy, and Ji Luo agreed to accept Kuang Shao’s offer of twenty thousand yuan to help Undying Stars defeat the Mutant Hound King. Ji Luo then explained that helping newer players compete for resources also served the guild’s long-term interests, as the veterans were already far ahead.

• Jiahao pretended his support for helping Undying Stars was based on macroeconomic theory, then admitted he needed the money to buy more stocks after they hit their daily loss limit.
• Lu Ziye and Ma Lou laughed at Jiahao’s real reason, and Ji Luo said he also needed the payment so the group could take the job.
• Lu Ziye and Ma Lou bickered over which of them had looked more eager to accept Kuang Shao’s money.
• Ji Luo said he agreed with Jiahao’s argument and explained that the veterans’ level and resource advantage over newer players would grow if they monopolized all the resources.

Ji Luo persuaded Embers Kindling to help Undying Stars, arguing that supporting other guilds would build a thriving game economy that the strongest players could later benefit from. He and Kuang Shao agreed to a partnership outside the Ash Church, with Ji Luo insisting their team would still demand what they were owed.

• Ji Luo explained to Lu Ziye and Ma Lou that helping Undying Stars grow would support the game’s economy and serve Embers Kindling’s long-term interests.
• Lu Ziye and Ma Lou praised Ji Luo’s strategy, while Jiahao claimed it matched what he had meant to say and [Kindergarten Boss] pretended to understand.
• Ji Luo reminded the group that their core interests came first and that they would not accept less than they were owed.
• [Ji Luo] met Kuang Shao outside the Church and agreed that Embers Kindling would take the job.
• Kuang Shao thanked the five players and shook hands with Ji Luo, sealing the guilds’ first partnership in the Wasteland.

Ma Lou, Lu Ziye, and the First Closed Beta Five-Person Group prepared to fight the Mutant Hound King alongside Kuang Shao and [Undying Stars]. Meanwhile, the Winterhold knights reached Fog Town and were stunned by what they saw.

• Ma Lou and Lu Ziye logged out under the pretense of turning off their gas, then returned celebrating their twenty-thousand-yuan hiring fee.
• Kuang Shao set the party to [Equal Distribution], and [Ji Luo] and Lu Ziye agreed to share the experience and Ash Coins.
• Kuang Shao joined the front line with an Ash Shield, explaining that he wanted to fight beside the First Closed Beta Five-Person Group.
• The six fighters and twenty [Undying Stars] members prepared to enter the cave and attack the Mutant Hound King.
• The Winterhold knights arrived near Fog Town, and their mocking expressions froze when they saw the town.

Winterhold’s knights arrived at Fog Town and were shocked to find its blue Deity Barrier restored and the town rebuilding, contradicting Feias’s report that it was about to fall. Inside the barrier, Lin En’s players helped repair the town for Ash Coins, while the recovering Kyle struggled with the Apostles’ behavior.

• The Winterhold knight captain and his trainees saw Fog Town’s restored barrier and accused Feias of falsifying his report.
• Feias insisted that Fog Town had been near collapse when he escaped, and the knight captain ordered the squad to enter and investigate.
• Fog Town’s survivors rebuilt their homes under the protection of the new Ash Divine Statue.
• Lin En issued the [Homeland Reconstruction] quest, rewarding players with Ash Coins for helping repair the town.
• The recovering Knight Kyle joined the rebuilding effort and felt grateful to the Apostles, though their recent actions had tormented him.

Kyle used the High Priest’s advice to keep players from pestering him, but one player caught him celebrating his act and planned to expose him online. Winterhold knights then arrived in Fog Town, alarming the residents and exciting the players, while their captain questioned how the townspeople had defeated the Cultists.

• Kyle repeated the High Priest’s scripted greeting to players until they left him alone.
• [Stepping into the Metaphysical] secretly photographed Kyle grinning after the players dispersed and planned to post the image on the Ninth Art forum.
• Winterhold knights rode through Fog Town’s gate, causing the residents to react with fear and caution.
• The players rushed toward the knights, hoping to find new quests.
• A Novice Knight questioned how Fog Town’s poorly equipped residents had repelled the Cultists, and the captain also appeared puzzled.

Feias returned to Fog Town and discovered that its barrier had held and its people had survived, breaking down in relief as the townspeople welcomed him. Winterhold’s knights then insulted the residents and demanded the town’s leader, enraging the players who had helped defend Fog Town.

• Feias entered Fog Town and saw its wounded but living residents, confirming that the town had survived.
• Feias fell from his horse and wept as the townspeople recognized him and gathered to comfort him.
• The players were moved by Feias’s reunion with the townspeople and reflected on having saved real people.
• Winterhold’s Novice Knights mocked Feias and the townspeople, while their captain demanded that the town’s leader answer their questions.
• The players grew furious at the knights’ contemptuous treatment of the people they had defended.

The players mistook the Winterhold knights’ arrival for a chance to fight and mobbed them until the scarred captain unleashed his icy power. Priest Ilyena arrived to stop the confrontation, and the captain realized she was a Second Tier priest missing from Winterhold’s intelligence reports.

• A hotheaded player convinced the crowd that the six Winterhold knights were villain bosses, and the players prepared to attack them.
• A Novice Knight drew his sword and threatened the players, but the scarred knight captain held him back and studied the crowd.
• The captain released a wave of cold and frost covered his armor, while the players eagerly readied their weapons.
• Ilyena approached in white priestly robes and thanked the Winterhold knights for coming to Fog Town’s aid.
• The captain sensed Ilyena’s divine power, recognized her as a Second Tier priest, and realized Winterhold’s reports had not mentioned her.

Ilyena warned Winterhold’s knights that Fog Town would fight back if they came to harm it. The knight captain stopped his enraged subordinates from attacking, but his private thoughts made clear that he still planned to retaliate if he found an opportunity.

• Ilyena offered the Winterhold knights hospitality if they helped rebuild Fog Town, but threatened them if they meant to hurt the town.
• The players rallied behind Ilyena, while the knight captain judged that fighting them immediately could cost his squad dearly.
• An enraged Novice Knight drew his sword and urged his fellows to attack Ilyena and the townspeople.
• The knight captain ordered the Novice Knights to put away their swords and claimed they had come to protect Fog Town.
• When the young knight protested, the captain slapped him and threatened to send him to the Cultists’ camp.
• The Novice Knights held back as the players jeered at them and raised their middle fingers.

Ilyena feigned guilt to keep the hostile Winterhold knights from realizing she had seen through them, while protecting Fog Town’s residents from a fight. A system quest revealed her plan and ordered the players to join her act and lure the knights toward an ambush.

• The Knight Captain complained that Ilyena had mistreated the knights who came to rescue Fog Town, and she pretended to feel guilty and apologize.
• The players grew angry at the Knight Captain until a main story quest revealed that Ilyena was acting to draw the knights away from town.
• The quest instructed the players to support Ilyena’s performance and lure the hostile knights into an ambush zone.
• The players theatrically praised Winterhold and apologized to the knights, leaving Fog Town’s residents bewildered.

Lin En orchestrated Ilyena’s invitation and the players’ flattery to lure six Winterhold knights into Fog Town’s central plaza, where he planned to kill them without endangering the townspeople. He updated the Main Quest to call players to the plaza and warned that even one knight escaping would bring devastating retaliation from Winterhold.

• The knight captain accepted Ilyena’s invitation to the Divine Hall, believing it would let him investigate Fog Town and the damaged Divine Statue.
• Ilyena led the six Winterhold knights toward the central plaza and privately sneered that their final happy moments were ending.
• Lin En revealed that he had directed Ilyena and the players to lure the knights away from the townspeople before attacking them.
• Lin En decided that all six knights had to die so none could report Fog Town’s actions to Winterhold.
• Lin En updated the Main Quest, ordering players to assemble at the plaza and kill all six knights, with a warning that an escapee would trigger Winterhold’s retaliation.

Lin En offered players large rewards to ensure the six knights from Winterhold could not escape Fog Town, prompting them to organize a defense. Meanwhile, Ji Luo, Lu Ziye, Jiahao, and their allies continued battling the Second-Tier Mutant Hound King in the Black Forest.

• Lin En's reward announcement and warning drove the players to call reinforcements and spread out to block Fog Town's exits.
• Ji Luo dodged the Mutant Hound King's bone spikes while Lu Ziye took hits and used his tendrils to drain the boss's blood.
• Jiahao and Even Monkeys Have Dignity fired enhanced Ashen Missiles at the Hound King as its howls summoned more Mutant Hounds.
• A Mutant Hound knocked Kuang Shao down, but Jiahao blasted it away before it could bite him.
• Kuang Shao thanked Jiahao, who criticized him for needing protection while fighting the boss.

After the [Threat of Winterhold] quest promised players 30 Ash Coins for joining the battle in Fog Town, players across the Black Forest abandoned other pursuits or even killed themselves to get there quickly. [Give Me Your Phone] and [You've Cried Already], undercover Cultists promoted to squad leaders, grew desperate to claim the reward and decided to approach the Priest.

• Kuang Shao's group continued fighting the wounded Mutant Hound King while Kuang Shao fretted over missing the Fog Town quest rewards.
• A veteran-led team abandoned nearly defeated Mutant Boars and rushed toward the Ash Altar to return to Fog Town.
• Two lost players calculated that dying, paying the 10-coin resurrection fee, and joining the battle would earn them a net 20 Ash Coins, then used the plan to travel back.
• Players began repeatedly respawning at the Ash Church after adopting the suicidal travel method to reach Fog Town and collect the guaranteed reward.
• [Give Me Your Phone] and [You've Cried Already] lamented being stuck undercover in the Cultists' headquarters and went to see the Priest for a chance to claim the reward.

[Give Me Your Phone] and [You've Cried Already] plotted to join a patrol and attack the Righteous Gods’ knights to complete their quest and earn the Cultists’ favor. In Fog Town, the Winterhold knight captain demanded fifty townspeople and Ilyena, leaving her to refuse despite his threat.

• [Give Me Your Phone] persuaded [You've Cried Already] to seek a patrol assignment by pretending they despised Fog Town and wanted to scout it for the Cultists.
• Ilyena led the six Winterhold knights to Fog Town’s church while they mocked its condition.
• The knight captain concluded that Fog Town was weak after learning that its former High Priest had died and its remaining residents were mostly vulnerable.
• The knight captain demanded that Fog Town send fifty able-bodied townspeople to Winterhold and declared that Ilyena would be among them.
• Ilyena protested that the townspeople could not be forced to leave their home and refused to abandon Fog Town.

Winterhold’s knight captain threatened Ilyena and demanded fifty people, while players hid nearby and prepared to stop the knights. [God Never Laughs] devised a plan to lure the mounted knights close and pull them from their horses, ending with the players charging forward to pretend they wanted a life in Winterhold.

• The knight captain threatened Ilyena and demanded that she hand over fifty people to Winterhold.
• Players hiding in the ruins grew furious when they heard the knights threaten Ilyena.
• [Cat Woken Up by a Midnight Urge] explained that the first-beta big shots and Undying Stars’ main force were fighting a second-tier monster in the Black Forest.
• [God Never Laughs] proposed pretending to volunteer for Winterhold so the players could swarm the knights and drag them from their horses.
• The players agreed to the plan, and [God Never Laughs] led them in a charge, shouting that they were off to Winterhold for the good life.

Ilyena watched as the players pretended to beg the Winterhold knights to take them away, then suddenly attacked them. The players dragged the knights from their horses and began beating them.

• The knight captain demanded that Ilyena bring fifty townspeople back to Winterhold.
• Players rushed the six Winterhold knights, begging to go to Winterhold and clinging to their horses.
• The knight captain mocked Ilyena, claiming the townspeople’s eagerness proved Winterhold’s prestige.
• [God Never Laughs] revealed the players’ deception and ordered them to drag the knights down.
• The players pulled the Winterhold knights from their horses and attacked them.

Players ambushed the Winterhold knights while Ilyena revealed her allegiance and empowered them with a blessing. The knight captain froze his attackers and launched a powerful assault that overwhelmed Ilyena’s only offensive skill, leaving the players in immediate danger.

• Players dragged three Novice Knights from their horses and beat them while the knight captain froze the players who tried to pull him down.
• The knight captain threatened Ilyena, but she declared that their deity had sentenced the knights to death and blessed the players with Madonna’s Compassion.
• The players rallied under Ilyena’s blessing as the knight captain prepared to kill them with Winter’s Thorn.
• Ilyena countered with Tears of Compassion, but the knight captain’s ice spikes froze and shattered her water spheres and continued toward the players.

The Knight Captain tried to kill Ilyena, but players swarmed him and revealed that even those he had killed had resurrected. He unleashed his power to break through the encirclement and rescue three Novice Knights, only to face the players’ renewed attack.

• Ilyena healed players who had been critically wounded by the Knight Captain’s ice spikes.
• The Knight Captain charged toward Ilyena, but more than a hundred players emerged and surrounded him, including fighters who had resurrected after being killed.
• The Knight Captain abandoned his attempt to reach Ilyena and prayed to the Great Lord of Winter and Contracts for strength to break through the encirclement.
• He formed an Ice Crystal Lance, shattered the players’ Ash Ropes, and froze their Ashen Missiles with Wrath of Winter.
• The Knight Captain swept aside the players surrounding three Novice Knights and ordered his battered subordinates to mount up and flee Fog Town.
• The players admired the Knight Captain’s strength and rushed to surround him again, believing his ultimate had exhausted his mana.

Players killed two Novice Knights but failed to stop the Knight Captain and the remaining knights from breaking through the encirclement. At Lin En’s command, Ilyena stayed back as the knights split up and fled in different directions, with the players continuing their pursuit.

• Seeing Through the Red Dust and Death-Wish Daredevil killed two Novice Knights and received kill notifications promising twenty Ash Coins each.
• The Knight Captain charged through the players’ encirclement, taking injuries as he tried to protect the three remaining Novice Knights.
• Ilyena prepared to intervene, but Lin En ordered her to stand down and trust his Apostles.
• The Knight Captain ordered his three subordinates to split up and escape, while he galloped toward Fog Town’s main exit.
• God Never Laughs directed players to block the Novice Knights’ summoned warhorses, but three horses reached their riders and carried them off in separate directions.
• Players used Ashen Shaping to pursue the fleeing knights, and Cat Woken Up by a Midnight Urge ordered them to prioritize stopping the escapees over claiming kills.