Lu Mi

Biodata

Power Progression

Lu Mi’s growth is documented through new elemental capabilities and improved control rather than named cultivation realms. Later revelations identify these abilities as the spiritual powers of a spirit cat 65 66 111 119.

Background / History

Lu Mi awakens in a dilapidated house with no memory of his previous life. Even the name on his assigned bedroom’s door feels unfamiliar. Attempts to recall his past cause pain, leading him to suspect that something is preventing him from remembering 1 2.

Fragments return while he assembles the Ghost Infant’s puzzle: he recalls a painting and a stooped elderly person addressing him as “Mi.” Later, his Public Rest Area room contains a retired teacher’s belongings, student gifts, textbooks, and graduation photographs. Recognizing the gray-haired teacher triggers memories in which his height relative to her changes dramatically, followed by an incapacitating headache. The room contains no apparent trace of a teenage boy having lived there 14 25.

His familiarity with ordinary technology is also incomplete. He initially does not recognize a smartphone and finds its camera fascinating. Cheng Cheng later explains that Lu Mi spent most of his earlier life cultivating with Granny and learning human culture in the countryside, rarely going elsewhere 26 69.

Cheng Cheng reveals that Lu Mi is not a human who acquired a cat transformation, but a spirit cat who learned to take human form. Granny found him beside a road and raised him. Cheng Cheng named him by reversing the sounds of “mi lu,” meaning “lost,” hoping that he would never forget his way home or the people important to him 65 66 84.

Granny and Cheng Cheng taught him to read. Five years after being found, Lu Mi achieved human form and appeared before Cheng Cheng wearing Granny’s clothes. Still speaking haltingly, he discouraged Cheng Cheng from smoking and urged him to go to school after an argument with his parents about work and further education. Lu Mi does not independently remember these events when Cheng Cheng recounts them 84 85.

After The Artist, Lu Mi questions whether his original involuntary transformation cycle was itself imposed on him. Zheng Sinian’s potion has demonstrated that an outside substance can suppress both his magic and his ability to become a cat, leading him to wonder whether someone similarly interfered with him before his awakening in the game. The cause of his erased memories remains unresolved in the supplied developments 82.

Appearance

Lu Mi’s human form has a pale, delicate face with youthful masculine features and amber eyes. His cat form is a sleek tabby with wild-looking markings 1 2 11.

• Eyes: Amber, particularly striking in sunlight 11.
• Initial clothing: A white crew-neck shirt and black jacket, both unusually new 2.
• Preferred clothing: Simple, comfortable outfits, especially black or white shirts and cargo pants 7.
• Cat form: Furry paws, a flexible body, and coloring suited to hiding among vegetation; his front paws are white 2 66.
• The Artist’s assigned body: Temporarily inhabits the appearance of Yu Qingchen, a young woman with an unadorned oval face, waist-length black hair, and a knee-length plaid skirt. This is an instance-imposed body rather than his ordinary appearance 67 69.
• Companion Grave’s memory role: Temporarily occupies Fu Xinhan’s body while experiencing Xiao Kui’s past 110 111.

Personality

Lu Mi is compassionate even when helping others puts him at a disadvantage. He intervenes against a threatening player immediately after entering the game, refuses to abandon Zhang Mei, and tries to prevent Ning Zhuangzhuang from joining a dangerous investigation. He explains that having a special ability makes him want to protect as many people as possible; without memories of his past, he initially feels little fear of death 1 15 20 21.

His kindness does not make him indiscriminately trusting. He notices Xu Zhi’s shifting expressions, challenges his habit of letting others take risks, and refuses his recruitment offer. He likewise rejects Jin Bi’s appeals after seeing her shove He Shengguang, despite her expectation that his sympathy would make him easy to manipulate 5 16 22 45.

Lu Mi often responds to Roman’s teasing with sarcasm, irritation, or firm boundaries, but gradually becomes more openly affectionate and attentive. Ning Zhuangzhuang’s death continues to trouble him: during the manor instance, he repeatedly wishes he were stronger or could find an exit sooner 7 18 39 45.

He strongly dislikes surveillance and control, stating that being watched prevents him from fully relaxing even in the Public Rest Area. This aversion also shapes his insistence that affection does not entitle Roman to dictate who may touch him or to disregard his boundaries 64 146.

His experiences reveal a capacity for deception and retaliation alongside his compassion. He manipulates Xu Zhi into exposing his healed legs to Hu Pu, pretends to be helpless before Jin Bi to obtain information about Shen Yiwen, and feigns forgiveness toward Liang Mafeng to draw him into a planned encounter with the Mirror Spirit 98 120 121 154.

Jin Bi’s death becomes a major source of guilt. Although she has just attempted to kill him, Lu Mi is deeply shaken when the game credits him with a player kill. He injures his hand in distress, confesses his perceived responsibility to Zhong Zixian, and suffers recurring nightmares. He gradually begins resisting those nightmares and accepting support rather than carrying the burden alone 120 121 123 124 135 137 147.

He enjoys collecting attractive small objects, a habit Cheng Cheng recognizes from before his memory loss. He also privately finds curling up in cat form warm, comfortable, and reassuring, and later says that he likes singing 126 142 165.

Abilities & Skills

Elemental Manipulation

Lu Mi controls fire, water, earth, and wind. Early techniques require intense concentration to establish a connection with the element; later applications include independent summoning and wind-supported flight 4 36 50 66 94.

• Fire: Manipulates existing flames, later summons fire independently, and creates a large snow-clearing fire wall. Subsequently uses a fireball to obstruct Snake Woman and sustains a sea of flames after transforming into a cat 2 4 42 136 150.
• Water: Shapes a floating projectile and remotely cleans a ceiling fan to survive Mom’s inspection. Later summons water without an existing source 4 6 43.
• Earth: Practices controlling soil, though the supplied passages do not show a completed combat application 16.
• Wind: Begins gathering small whirlwinds while attempting to immobilize a ghost. Later lifts himself above snow, travels by riding the wind, and hovers in place 50 94 99 121.
• Mental and spiritual cost: Remote water control leaves him pale, weak, and exhausted. Maintaining flight also consumes spiritual power, making unnecessary hovering wasteful 6 119.
• Control limits: Cannot manipulate the hostile twigs that seize Zhang Mei and the other players 12.
• Combat limits: His fire slows the burned academy ghost but does not seriously damage it. Cheng Cheng explains that killing instance NPCs requires advancing the plot and meeting particular conditions 50.
• Divine suppression: Roman’s restored divine power can suppress his fire summoning so completely that he cannot produce a spark 66.
• Potion-induced impairment: Zheng Sinian’s potion severely weakens his magic. Even after treatment, he initially recovers only weak fire and water summoning 82.
• Borrowed-body restriction: Cannot gather spiritual power or cast spells while occupying Fu Xinhan’s body in Xiao Kui’s past 111.
• Environmental restrictions: Zeng Deming’s trap extinguishes summoned fire almost immediately while leaving water and wind functional. Its iron fences also grow upward to prevent his escape by flight 119.

Human–Cat Transformation

His transformation initially follows a fixed environmental cycle rather than voluntary command. After the suppression caused by Zheng Sinian’s potion, a gift from 2044 restores effortless voluntary switching between forms 2 10 82 126.

• Original trigger: Becomes a tabby cat at midnight 2 17.
• Original reversion: Returns to human form the instant sunlight touches him 10.
• True nature: His cat form is his original spirit-cat body, not an acquired animal disguise 65 66.
• Voluntary control: Can later change forms at will and remain a cat after exposure to sunlight 126.
• Mobility: Squeezes through a gap too small for a human and climbs down an exterior wall. Later uses his cat form to run quickly toward Roman in public 2 165.
• Senses: Sees clearly in a starless garden, hears faint sounds, and detects that Roman lacks a living person’s scent 2 3.
• Instincts: Purrs when Roman scratches his chin despite trying to remain guarded 3.
• Clothing: Returns naked after transforming during a shower, but regains his clothing when he was dressed before transforming 3 10.
• Speech: Cannot speak human language as a cat and instead communicates through meows 2 126.
• Elemental trade-off: Summoning the four elements is much weaker in cat form, although a fire already created in human form can persist through the change 126 136.

Supernatural Perception

• Detects intense malice from the Demon Flowers before Zhang Mei becomes trapped 11.
• Notices the unnatural behavior of bubbles in drinking water and warns Ning Zhuangzhuang that someone has added something to it 17.
• Recognizes that Roman is not an ordinary living player before the others question his presence 3 4 5.

Investigation and Dream Exploration

• Rule deduction: Determines that “going to bed on time” means being physically in bed, not merely returning to one’s room 3.
• Evidence reconstruction: Reassembles torn letters and connects Mom’s limp and the Ghost Infant’s missing eyes to domestic abuse 15.
• Dream access: Enters Noel’s dreams by sleeping beside her, including during afternoon naps; this is an instance method, not established as an independent personal power 36 37.
• Identity investigation: Witnesses the impostor butler applying a disguise mixture and identifies the substitution as predating the manor’s wartime destruction 37.
• Dark-art analysis: Connects Michel’s use of blood to the manual’s Deification ritual and its scheduled sacrifices 41.
• Death-pattern analysis: Identifies the academy’s attackers as missing Class Four students and connects twenty-five losses since October 28 with a five-deaths-per-day limit 56.
• Covert surveillance: Combines an invisibility potion with wind-supported movement to follow Hu Pu without leaving footprints in the snow 94.
• Behavioral testing: Discovers that feeding Companion Grave’s neighbors raises visible numbers and encourages other players to interact with them before nightfall 106.
• Resistance to deceptive experiences: Recognizes that a nightmare involving Jin Bi and Lu Dalu cannot be a literal encounter with people from previous instances, helping him break free of it 135.
• Formation analysis: Works with his friends to connect thirty symbols on a formation diagram with instance keys, then organizes their collection 142 143.
• Mirror exploration: Enters the Mirror Spirit’s reconstructed past with Roman by holding hands and stepping through a mirror 156.

Practical Skills

• Cooks and supervises Noel’s meals alongside his investigative work 38 39.
• Teaches Roman to read, beginning with basic pinyin and written exercises 45 46.
• Negotiates cafeteria work in exchange for free meals, earning one meal for an hour of work at each mealtime 48.
• Treats Roman’s wounds, keeps him warm, and later cleans injuries during a medicinal bath 119 140.
• Uses passwords to verify companions’ identities when an instance makes them share the same appearance and voice 72.
• Likes singing and expresses interest in trying Zhong Zixian’s band after returning to reality 165.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Player wristband — Provides a private floating interface for points, achievements, popularity, and later viewer messages. Also gives access to the Panel Mall for purchasing supplies 23 44 69.
• Improvised shard — Presses it against the burly player’s temple to force him to release Ning Zhuangzhuang 1.
• Small lamp — Carries it during nighttime investigations while keeping its light low enough to avoid attracting attention 8 16.
• Buddha Jade pendant — Given to him by the Ghost Infant; matching it with Mom’s piece restores her memory of her daughter 14 20.
• Letters and photographs — Retrieves them from the underground puzzle room and uses them to reconstruct Mom’s family history 14 15.
• Smartphone — A gift from Roman. Initially keeps it wrapped in layers of plastic bags and avoids taking it into instances because he considers it fragile and expensive. Later carries it into instances, privately hoping it might help Roman find him if they are separated 26 44 142.
• Olive Crown — Recovers and cleans the scratched crown before giving it to Roman 36 37.
• Scarf — A gift from Roman, carried in his backpack during Bo’ai Academy’s night patrol. Removes and leaves it behind when attempting to part from Roman at the end of The Artist 49 81.
• Wonderful Dream vouchers — Uses free vouchers for a multiplayer beach dream with Roman, Cheng Cheng, Shen Yiwen, and Zhong Zixian 64.
• Antidote — Has enough for one person while searching for companions affected by The Artist’s petrification process; the group searches for additional supplies 72.
• Crutches — Purchases two from the mall when The Patient’s effects spread to the players’ legs 92.
• Invisibility potion — Uses an expensive potion to follow Hu Pu. Its stated effect applies only to instance NPCs and does not conceal him from the beast he subsequently encounters 94 95.
• Toy Knife — Steals it from a locked room and uses it to repel the beast before continuing down the mountain on the wind 99.
• Instance keys — Collects keys from cleared instances, including the black key from The Artist. Their glow when an exit opens helps him connect them to the formation’s required fragments; he later amasses fourteen of the thirty sought keys with other players’ help 82 142 143.
• Formation Diagram — Given to him by Shen Yiwen and carried in his bag. He and his friends interpret its thirty symbols as corresponding to instance keys 142 143.
• Small trinkets — Carries assorted attractive objects, including a marble, reflecting a collecting habit that predates his amnesia 142.

Relationships

• Roman — Constant companion whose initial fascination centers on Lu Mi’s cat form. Their relationship develops through gifts, protection, shared sleeping arrangements, and Lu Mi’s literacy lessons. Lu Mi initially explicitly denies that Roman is his boyfriend, despite others assuming otherwise 3 10 26 44 45 46. Shen Yiwen’s questions prompt him to reconsider his feelings, but Roman’s threatening behavior in Wonderful Dream badly damages his trust. He attempts to end their companionship after Roman remains silent when asked whether he likes him 65 66 81. Roman’s later injuries, explanations, and continued support lead Lu Mi to affirm that he trusts him without needing every forbidden secret explained 119 131 139 140. After learning Roman’s secret, Lu Mi confesses both his own feelings and the feelings Roman cannot state without violating his taboo. They become lovers and kiss while Lu Mi is blindfolded to avoid seeing Roman’s unmasked face; Lu Mi later sees his face and kisses him publicly 163 164 165 166.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang — His first close ally and friend. She explains the game, helps him use his abilities, and trusts his interpretation of Mom’s story. Her death at the first instance’s exit leaves him grieving and determined to grow stronger 4 6 20 21 39. Her advice to make trustworthy friends and stop shouldering everything alone later helps him confide in Zhong Zixian 124.
• Xu Zhi — Distrusted veteran player. Lu Mi challenges his manipulation of other participants and refuses to join him after the first instance 16 22. During The Patient, he pressures Xu Zhi into supporting his cover story and later tricks him into revealing healed legs in front of Hu Pu 86 98.
• Jiang Mu / 2044 — Deputy administrator whom Lu Mi names Jiang Mu. Explains the game’s audience and escape requirements; later conceals the disruption caused by Lu Mi’s summoned water 24 43. Gives him the means to switch freely between human and cat forms, then formally announces his eligibility to leave after his points exceed 1,000 126 163.
• Mom / Xiao Lei — Initially a lethal adversary. Lu Mi uncovers her abuse, stops A Jun from killing her, and helps her reunite with her daughter; she rewards him with the exit key 15 20 21.
• Ghost Infant — Puzzle-game opponent who entrusts Lu Mi with the pendant needed to restore its mother’s memory 14.
• Noel — Manor pupil whom he tends, restrains during violent episodes, and investigates through her dreams 31 33 36 39.
• Jin Bi — Initially a friendly acquaintance who introduces him to smartphones. Lu Mi later rejects her friendship and requests for help after witnessing her treatment of He Shengguang 26 37 45. In Companion Grave, he ignores a spectator’s offer to pay him to kill her. After she tries to sacrifice him, he uses a pretense of helplessness to question her about Shen Yiwen, then remains silent when a monster demands that he choose her fate. Her death is credited to him by the game and becomes a recurring source of guilt and nightmares 119 120 121 123 135.
• He Shengguang — Fellow manor participant whose judgment Lu Mi respects. Lu Mi tries to respond when he appears endangered, but Roman stops him from intervening without a realistic chance of success 31 39.
• Shen Yiwen — Fellow player who contacts him after accidentally separating him and Roman outside the Healing Area. Later joins his next instance by placing a hand on his shoulder 43 44 46. Becomes a close friend who challenges his assumptions about Roman. Lu Mi rescues her during The Artist, later believes Jin Bi has killed her, and is overjoyed to meet her again in Five Thousand Vortices. She supplies the formation diagram used in the group’s efforts against the game 65 72 124 137 142.
• Cheng Cheng — Fellow player whose extravagant personal stories Lu Mi treats skeptically. Immobilizes the academy ghost with Yellow Talismans and explains the restrictions on killing NPCs 48 50. Later reveals that he knew Lu Mi before the game, named him, and helped Granny raise and educate him. He becomes a central companion in investigations and the effort to gather keys 65 84 85 136 143.
• Granny — Elderly woman who finds Lu Mi beside a road, recognizes him as a spirit cat, and raises him. Cultivates with him and teaches him to read alongside Cheng Cheng 65 69 84 85.
• Zhong Zixian — Close friend and repeated instance companion. Lu Mi rescues him after partial petrification in The Artist, encourages him during Companion Grave, and eventually confides his guilt over Jin Bi’s death to him. Zhong Zixian offers emotional support and joins the key-collection effort 72 106 124 143.
• Xie Ping’an — Academy ghost whose tests place Lu Mi in deceptive scenarios. Lu Mi investigates his identity, obtains a lead to student archives, and seeks the truth about Class Four’s deaths 51 56.
• Tang Niantao — Roommate and investigative companion during The Patient. They discover Lu Dalu’s body, flee an attack by the dog, and experience the instance’s progressive loss of mobility together 87 92.
• Xiao Kui — Companion Grave neighbor whose memories place Lu Mi in the role of Fu Xinhan. Despite lacking his own powers in that body, he attempts to flee with her and shields her from an attack 110 111.
• Zeng Deming — Companion Grave antagonist who traps Lu Mi in a moving iron-fence cage and forces a lethal choice involving Jin Bi. Lu Mi later suggests that the red-haired girl’s haunting may reflect Zeng Deming’s inability to forgive himself 119 121.
• Xuanxuan — Ally who protects Lu Mi from an intimidating player and mobilizes people he previously helped to contribute instance keys while avoiding the guards 143.
• Liang Mafeng — Player whom Lu Mi distrusts and manipulates by pretending to forgive his conduct, persuading him to remain in Room 1004 for the Mirror Spirit’s appearance 154.
• Lord of Evil — Deity whom Lu Mi suspects has a connection to Roman because of their similar voices. Lu Mi negotiates with him during Roman’s crisis and becomes concerned about the punishments attached to Roman’s forbidden disclosures 139 140 165.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Mom’s Anniversary

Lu Mi enters the game without understanding its rules, rescues Ning Zhuangzhuang from the opening lullaby, and discovers both elemental control and his midnight transformation. His investigation shifts from surviving Mom’s household rules to reconstructing the abuse suffered by her and her daughter 1 2 3 15.

At the anniversary gathering, he kills A Jun by removing and burning his heart, then uses the Buddha Jade to restore Mom’s memories. Her reunion with the Ghost Infant produces the exit key. Ning Zhuangzhuang dissolves into red petals while crossing the doorway because the system has already judged her dead; Roman pushes the stunned Lu Mi through before the exit closes 20 21.

Public Rest Area

Lu Mi learns that surviving an instance does not return players to the real world. Jiang Mu explains that nonhuman audiences watch their experiences and that leaving requires 1,000 points—a goal nobody has yet achieved at that time. Lu Mi’s growing popularity brings audience tips, while his assigned room raises new questions about his erased memories 22 24 25.

Later visits become opportunities to deepen friendships, recover from instance injuries, and investigate the game itself. His reputation changes from that of an inexperienced newcomer to a dependable veteran whose former companions are willing to support his plans 64 124 143 148.

The Magical Manor

Assigned to tutor Noel, Lu Mi investigates her nighttime violence and the butler’s behavior. Comparing her dreams with the ruined manor reveals an impostor and Michel’s dark-art preparations. He also takes on cooking and supervision duties to reduce danger to other players 27 29 37 38 41.

By the end of the manor visit, repeated practice allows him to summon fire independently. After returning to the Public Rest Area, he accompanies Roman to treatment and discovers that he can summon water as well 42 43.

Bo’ai Academy

Lu Mi enters the academy with Roman and Shen Yiwen. After being assigned a punitive night patrol, he looks forward to testing his improved abilities against the instance’s monsters. The burned ghost exposes their limits: fire can hinder it, but not kill it outright 46 48 50.

With Cheng Cheng’s help, Lu Mi questions the immobilized ghost rather than immediately answering its repeated “Can you see me?” He then notices that the moonlight has disappeared and that neither Roman nor Cheng Cheng casts a shadow 50.

After answering the ghost, Lu Mi follows it toward Class Four before Roman and Cheng Cheng pull him back to reality. He confronts the guard with surveillance footage and learns that the boy is Xie Ping’an. The guard offers access to the student archives in exchange for another night of patrol 51.

Xie Ping’an later tests Roman with multiple versions of Lu Mi. Roman kills an impostor and selects the real one, ending the illusion. Lu Mi subsequently identifies the dormitory attackers as missing Class Four students and connects the class’s twenty-five losses since October 28 to a five-per-day death limit 55 56.

By his next return to the Rest Area, Lu Mi has cleared three instances and accumulated 380 points, with most of that total coming from newly applicable popularity rewards 63.

Wonderful Dream and the Revelation of His Past

Lu Mi takes Roman, Cheng Cheng, Shen Yiwen, and Zhong Zixian into a multiplayer beach dream using his free vouchers. During their gathering, he admits that he hates being watched and controlled 64.

Shen Yiwen questions Roman’s supposed player identity and makes Lu Mi reconsider their relationship. Cheng Cheng then reveals their shared past and Lu Mi’s spirit-cat nature. Roman’s subsequent restraint and intimidation frighten Lu Mi, who discovers that Roman’s restored divine power can suppress his magic. The encounter destroys much of his earlier sense of safety with Roman 65 66 81.

The Artist

Lu Mi enters the instance in Yu Qingchen’s female body and must impersonate her under Zheng Sinian’s scrutiny. The water Zheng Sinian gives him progressively stiffens his body, while his loss of magic makes resistance more difficult 67 68 69 82.

He gets Zheng Sinian drunk, restrains and attacks him, and searches the other rooms for his companions. He verifies Shen Yiwen’s identity with a password and finds Zhong Zixian partially petrified. Further investigation uncovers a hidden room filled with sculptures resembling Yu Qingchen, while Zhu Tong’s impersonation of another player increases his suspicions 72 74.

At the exit, Roman explains that using the key will restore the petrified players. Lu Mi asks whether Roman likes him, but receives no answer. He removes Roman’s scarf, rejects his embrace, and attempts to end their companionship before leaving with his friends 81.

Treatment afterward restores only weak elemental manifestations, and his cat transformation remains suppressed. Lu Mi resolves to practice and seek further treatment, while questioning whether his earlier transformation restrictions and amnesia also resulted from outside interference 82 87.

The Patient

Lu Mi enters an instance centered on Hu Pu’s mountain cabin and the players’ deteriorating bodily functions. He rooms with Tang Niantao, investigates the dog and Lu Dalu’s death, and purchases crutches when the loss of mobility reaches their legs 86 87 92.

Using invisibility and newly developed wind-supported flight, he follows Hu Pu through the snow and discovers that the supposedly blocked mountain road is clear. He reaches an abandoned house and sees Hu Pu in a wheelchair 94.

His wind technique is initially unstable, but becomes a practical means of travel. He uses the stolen Toy Knife to repel the beast, tricks Xu Zhi into exposing his healed legs to Hu Pu, and eventually leaves after Long Xi’er is voted out 95 98 99 101.

Companion Grave

Lu Mi discovers that feeding the neighbors raises visible numbers and urges other players to build their own relationships with the creatures. He later enters Xiao Kui’s home, is sealed in a coffin, and experiences her past as Fu Xinhan. Unable to use his own powers in the borrowed body, he nevertheless tries to escape with her and shields her from an attack 106 110 111.

After finding Roman badly injured, he tends his wounds and ignores Ghost Spectator 13’s offer of 1,000 gold coins to kill Jin Bi. Zeng Deming then traps him in an iron-fence enclosure that suppresses fire and prevents escape by flight 117 119.

Jin Bi attempts to sacrifice Lu Mi to save herself. He pretends to be helpless to extract information about Shen Yiwen, then reveals that wind can keep him above the apparent sea of fire. When the monster demands that he decide Jin Bi’s fate, he remains silent and it devours her 120 121.

The game awards him the hidden Killing Spree achievement and the spectator pays the offered tip, intensifying his guilt. He eventually breaks down before Zhong Zixian and admits both his belief that Shen Yiwen is dead and his responsibility for Jin Bi’s death 123 124.

Five Thousand Vortices

Before entering the next instance, Lu Mi discovers that 2044’s gift has restored voluntary transformation. He can remain a cat in sunlight, although elemental summoning is weaker in that form 126.

Inside Five Thousand Vortices, he investigates an endlessly repeated domestic argument, escapes a corpse-like couple, and helps Jian Di leave her abusive household. His investigation also uncovers a restricted upstairs area and threats connected to the instance’s corridors and gates 129 130 131 135 136.

Nightmares of Jin Bi continue to torment him. Roman explains that the game draws power not only from gods but also from players’ fear, horror, and regret, and warns him against accepting everything the system presents as truth. Lu Mi then reunites with Shen Yiwen, whom he had believed dead, and notices that she no longer has her wristband 135 137.

Roman’s injuries and forbidden disclosures deepen Lu Mi’s concern for him. After dealing with the Lord of Evil, Lu Mi tells Roman that he already trusts him and no longer requires explanations that would bring further punishment 139 140.

Gathering Keys Against the Game

After leaving Five Thousand Vortices, Lu Mi examines the objects in his bag and realizes that his collected keys glow when exits open. He and his friends connect them with the thirty symbols on Shen Yiwen’s formation diagram 142 143.

Most players initially hesitate to surrender their keys without a full explanation. Xuanxuan mobilizes people who have previously survived instances with Lu Mi, using discreet signals to avoid guards and encourage contributions. Within two days, Lu Mi has fourteen keys and needs sixteen more. His earlier public declaration that he wanted to destroy the game has helped make his intentions recognizable to the player community 143.

The Person in the Mirror

Lu Mi and Roman investigate an apartment building and its dangerous floors. Lu Mi maintains that their closeness does not yet make them lovers, but increasingly accepts Roman’s care and feels reassured by his presence during nightmares 146 147.

He detects a false appeal for rescue from the mirror, encounters a painting resembling Ning Zhuangzhuang, and recognizes Snake Woman’s attempt to impersonate a child. He later pretends to forgive Liang Mafeng and persuades him to wait in Room 1004, where the Mirror Spirit appears before the wooden box 147 150 154.

Once the Mirror Spirit is no longer hostile toward them, Lu Mi and Roman enter the mirror together to explore the building’s past 156 157.

Departure Eligibility and Confession

After learning Roman’s secret, Lu Mi embraces him and openly states that he likes him. Understanding that Roman cannot voice his own feelings without violating his taboo, Lu Mi speaks for both of them rather than demanding a forbidden answer 163.

Roman opens an exit with a mirror shard, and they return to the Public Rest Area, where the group reunites with Shen Yiwen. 2044 announces that Lu Mi has surpassed 1,000 points and may return to the real world, enter a personally tailored Utopia, or relinquish his player status. Lu Mi postpones choosing because he still has an unfinished task 163.

Their relationship becomes explicitly romantic. Concerned that seeing Roman’s uncovered face would destroy his soul, Lu Mi accepts a blindfold, traces his features by touch, and initiates a kiss. He acknowledges the suffering Roman endured when the people he tried to protect burned him to death 164 165.

When Roman later confronts players and guards, Lu Mi transforms publicly into a cat to reach him. After Roman uncovers his face, Lu Mi runs back into his arms, sees him directly, and kisses him before the surrounding crowd. Roman conceals their further intimacy with black mist and then urges Lu Mi to go 165 166.

Game Records

Notable Quotes

“Maybe it's because I have a Special Ability and want to protect as many people as I can. And I have no memories of my past, so death isn't really something I fear.” 21

“I really can't rely too much on my ability.” 36

“It seems my flames can hold ghosts back, but they can't do any real damage.” 50

“I hate being watched and controlled, so I can't completely relax even in the Public Rest Area.” 64

“I can't see through you. I can't keep you by my side.” 81

“I already... trust you a lot.” 140

“You can't say how you feel, but I can.” 163

“You're ten thousand times more beautiful than I imagined...” 166

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