Recaps

Lu Mi woke in a dangerous game where a sinister NPC called “Mom” enforced rules inside a rain-soaked house. After protecting a girl from a fellow player, Lu Mi was accused of breaking Mom’s vase, and Mom closed in with scissors as the girl defended him.

• Lu Mi broke free of a lullaby that was luring players through the open door and stopped the girl with a white wristband from walking outside.
• A missing player’s bloody body appeared as Mom entered the house, warned everyone not to sleep in the wrong room or lock their doors, and left after noticing a broken vase.
• Lu Mi learned from the young man with glasses that they were trapped in a dangerous game and that Mom was an NPC.
• The burly man accused the girl of lying about being rescued and threatened her, but Lu Mi pressed a shard to his temple and forced him to let her go.
• Mom returned with scissors and asked who broke her vase; the burly man blamed Lu Mi, and the girl stepped forward to defend him as Mom approached.

Lu Mi survived the first evening in the anniversary house, where “Mom” punished a player by cutting out his tongue, then discovered that midnight transformed him into a tabby cat. After escaping through a bathroom window, he hid in the garden but was suddenly picked up by someone.

• “Mom” cut out the burly man's tongue after he broke the vase, and the young man called Brother Xu warned the group to sleep in their assigned rooms.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang thanked Lu Mi for standing up for her and promised to tell him more the next day if he survived the night.
• Lu Mi examined his reflection, tested his ability to control flames, and wondered whether it worked only when he was in danger.
• At midnight, Lu Mi transformed into a tabby cat just as “Mom” entered his room to check whether he was asleep.
• Lu Mi squeezed through the bathroom window, escaped into the back garden, and hid in the bushes.
• Someone suddenly lifted Lu Mi off the ground, leaving him staring into a pair of exquisite eyes.

Lu Mi discovered that Mom had killed five people overnight, and he and Xu realized the victims may have been punished for not being in bed on time. As the group confronted Mom in the corridor, it killed a young man and asked how to punish a child who had disobeyed.

• A masked man held Lu Mi in cat form through the night, and Lu Mi woke at dawn alone and naked beneath the man's cloak.
• Lu Mi smelled blood in a nearby room, and Ning Zhuangzhuang warned him that the occupant was dead.
• The group found the tongueless man stabbed to death and discovered that Mom had killed five people overnight.
• Lu Mi and Xu inferred that the victims had been killed because they were not lying in bed when Mom checked their rooms.
• A young man proposed attacking Mom, but Mom appeared behind him and pierced his throat with its nails.
• Mom asked the gathered survivors how they should punish a child who had failed to return to bed on time.

After witnessing a player die, Lu Mi learned more about the rules of the horror game and was startled to find the masked man from the garden among the players. When something tried to enter the restroom, Lu Mi used his power over water to attack it as he opened the door.

• Lu Mi realized that the young man wearing his jacket had been killed because Mom had noticed it, and Ning Zhuangzhuang explained the game’s clues, player wristbands, and hidden deadlines.
• Lu Mi found the masked man from the garden eating breakfast with the other players, despite believing the man was not human.
• Lu Mi went to the restroom and saw someone slowly turning the door handle from outside, but the locked door held.
• Lu Mi gathered water into a floating ball, then opened the restroom door and sent the water hurtling outside.

Lu Mi and the other players took a family portrait for the ghost calling herself “Mom” and began cleaning the house for her twentieth anniversary. As screams erupted upstairs, Lu Mi was about to investigate the refrigerator and wondered what had happened to “Mom’s” absent husband.

• Lu Mi learned that the masked man had entered the house to retrieve something and had seen him asleep, while the group posed for a family portrait with “Mom.”
• “Mom” assigned the players areas of the house to clean, and Xu Zhi stayed downstairs with Ning Zhuangzhuang while Lu Mi went to the kitchen.
• Lu Mi found the masked man outside the kitchen window; the man dodged Lu Mi’s mop, said he would see him that night, and vanished in black smoke.
• Lu Mi wondered where the fresh meat in breakfast soup came from and whether “Mom’s” husband was inside the constantly running refrigerator.
• Screams sounded from upstairs just as Lu Mi reached for the refrigerator door.

Lu Mi survived "Mom"’s inspection by using water to clean a dusty ceiling fan, with Ning Zhuangzhuang’s help. Afterward, he remained suspicious of Xu Zhi, who approached him with news about what he had found upstairs.

• "Mom" inspected the kitchen and threatened Lu Mi with punishments for failing to clean or lying about opening the refrigerator.
• Lu Mi signaled Ning Zhuangzhuang to turn on a faucet, then used his water-controlling ability to clean the ceiling fan from a distance.
• "Mom" left, and Ning Zhuangzhuang helped the exhausted Lu Mi to the couch.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang praised Lu Mi’s trick and discussed the dangers of the instance and Xu Zhi’s warning to the group.
• Xu Zhi sat beside Lu Mi and offered to tell him about interesting things he had found upstairs.

Lu Mi investigated the danger surrounding room 208 and waited for night, while Roman visited his room and teased him. The chapter ended when blood began seeping beneath Lu Mi’s door.

• Xu Zhi told Ning Zhuangzhuang and Lu Mi that Ghost Mom had killed someone who opened the wardrobe in room 208 and gouged out their eyes.
• Lu Mi noticed that only six people remained at dinner and watched Xiao Xue leave, frightened that Ghost Mom would check the rooms.
• Lu Mi showered without transforming into a cat, then found Roman sitting on his bed and demanded to know why he was there.
• Roman called himself Roman, put a cat-ear headband on Lu Mi, and stopped making noise when Lu Mi threatened to deny him cat cuddles.
• Lu Mi heard a strange squelching sound outside, pulled Roman away from the door, and saw thick red liquid seeping beneath it.

Lu Mi survived Mom’s early room check with Roman’s help, then ventured into the hallway and downstairs to investigate the house’s clues. He reached the kitchen refrigerator, where a voice suddenly asked whether it contained human flesh.

• Lu Mi cleaned up the blood in his room and hid Roman when Mom began checking the rooms early.
• Mom tested whether Lu Mi was asleep and nearly tickled his foot, but a noise outside drew her away.
• Lu Mi found the newcomer dead outside his door and learned Roman had made the noise that distracted Mom.
• After Roman disappeared, Lu Mi spotted Xu Zhi lingering outside Room 208 and decided to investigate the kitchen.
• Lu Mi reached for the refrigerator, and a voice suddenly asked whether it held human flesh.

Lu Mi and Roman found a human finger in the refrigerator, then hid in a kitchen cabinet when “Mom” approached. From their hiding place, they watched “Mom” remove heads from corpses, and another severed head rolled in front of the cabinet as the chapter ended.

• Lu Mi and Roman found a mirror and a severed human finger inside the refrigerator, then heard someone approaching the kitchen.
• Lu Mi hid in a cabinet, and after midnight he transformed into a cat while Roman crawled in and cuddled him.
• “Mom” brought in a corpse and chopped off its head while Lu Mi and Roman watched through the cabinet doors.
• Lu Mi stopped Roman from blocking his view when “Mom” returned with another corpse, and its severed head rolled in front of the cabinet.

Lu Mi and Roman discovered that “Mom” had arranged nine severed heads to match the family portrait, revealing her plan to kill the players and add their heads. The next morning, Lu Mi learned he turned human when sunlight touched him, and Ning Zhuangzhuang reported that Xiao Xue had died overnight.

• Lu Mi and Roman hid in the kitchen while “Mom” severed nine heads and carried away the bodies.
• Lu Mi and Roman found the heads arranged on the TV stand to match the family portrait, including the seven players killed earlier.
• Lu Mi and Roman returned to their room, where Roman comforted Lu Mi and stayed quietly beside him through the night.
• Roman told Lu Mi that sunlight triggered his transformation back into a human, and then he left through the window.
• Lu Mi heard the players discover the heads but stayed in the dining room, where Ning Zhuangzhuang told him Xiao Xue had died overnight.

Lu Mi and the others were tasked with decorating the living room and gathering one hundred flawless flowers. When Zhang Mei found vivid, flame-like flowers, Lu Mi sensed danger and warned her to throw them away, but she became unable to move.

• After breakfast, Mom assigned the five remaining people to decorate the living room with balloons, streamers, fairy lights, and one hundred fresh flowers.
• Xu Zhi stayed behind to decorate, while Lu Mi, Ning Zhuangzhuang, Zhang Mei, and Zhang Zhu went to gather flowers.
• Lu Mi led Ning Zhuangzhuang to a hidden patch of chrysanthemums, and the group found that they had collected only forty-something acceptable flowers.
• Zhang Mei returned with a stem of vivid flowers from the boundary wall, but Lu Mi sensed malice from them and urged her to throw them away.
• Zhang Zhu dismissed Lu Mi’s warning and urged Zhang Mei to leave with him as the deadline approached.
• Zhang Mei tried to walk away, but her feet would not move, and the flowers slipped from her hand as terror filled her eyes.

Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang were dragged underground by the twigs after Zhang Mei and Zhang Zhu were seized. As they searched among hanging corpses for a way out, they spotted a small humanoid creature ahead.

• Zhang Mei was dragged into a fissure by a thick twig, and other twigs seized Lu Mi, Ning Zhuangzhuang, and Zhang Zhu.
• Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang woke underground, where Ning Zhuangzhuang used a flashlight to illuminate their surroundings.
• Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang found nine headless corpses hanging overhead, which Lu Mi suspected were fertilizer for the monstrous flowers.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang sang and taught Lu Mi how to control his breathing as they searched for a way out and shared stories about their lives.
• Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang spotted a small, pitch-black humanoid creature lying ahead and switched off the flashlight.

Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang found the sleeping Ghost Infant and a stone door, but Zhang Zhu’s arrival woke the creature and cost him his life. Lu Mi calmed the Ghost Infant by singing Mom’s song, and the group agreed to play its puzzle game in exchange for flowers and truthful answers.

• Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang discovered a sleeping Ghost Infant wearing a green Buddha pendant beside a stone door.
• Zhang Zhu and Zhang Mei found them, and the Ghost Infant killed Zhang Zhu after his loud arrival.
• Lu Mi dragged Zhang Mei away as the Ghost Infant pursued them, while Zhang Zhu’s body was taken by the Demon Flower.
• Lu Mi sang Mom’s nursery rhyme, stopping the Ghost Infant and revealing that it could speak and recognized them as Mom’s friends.
• The Ghost Infant asked them to play a jigsaw puzzle game, and Lu Mi agreed on condition that it provide a hundred fresh flowers and answer their questions truthfully.

Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang completed the Ghost Infant’s puzzle and earned a way out of the underground room, along with Demon Flowers. Before Lu Mi escaped, the Ghost Infant gave him its jade Buddha pendant and asked him to show it to its mother at the right time.

• Lu Mi negotiated with the Ghost Infant to play its puzzle game in exchange for a hundred flowers, then followed it with Ning Zhuangzhuang and Zhang Mei into a hidden room.
• Lu Mi found puzzle pieces, letters, and photographs in a locked box, pocketing the letters and photographs while he and Ning Zhuangzhuang assembled the puzzle.
• Lu Mi remembered that the painting showed the male snake holding the sun on the left, and Ning Zhuangzhuang identified the completed puzzle as the Nuwa and Fuxi Intertwined Serpents Painting.
• The completed puzzle opened a trapdoor to the living room, where a pale-faced woman appeared and asked where the flowers were.
• Lu Mi and the others collected Demon Flowers, and the Ghost Infant explained that its mother had forgotten why she tended them.
• The Ghost Infant gave Lu Mi its jade Buddha pendant and asked him to show it to its mother before he climbed through the trapdoor.

After “Mom” ordered the players to write invitations for its wedding anniversary, Lu Mi studied photographs and letters that revealed a woman named Xiao Lei’s abusive marriage and her friend’s refusal to help. The chapter ended with “Mom” arriving to inspect Lu Mi’s room at eight o’clock.

• “Mom” praised the flowers, then told the four remaining players to invite relatives to prepare performances for its wedding anniversary.
• Lu Mi refused Ning Zhuangzhuang’s offer to help him search for clues, saying the place was too dangerous.
• Lu Mi examined photographs and letters from the Ghost Infant and inferred that Xiao Lei’s husband, A Jun, had cheated on her, injured her, and abused their child.
• Lu Mi hid the letters and photographs and went to bed early, but “Mom” arrived to inspect his room at eight o’clock.

Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang investigated room 208 and discovered a man’s head hidden behind the wardrobe’s glass, which asked Ning to bring it a mirror to defeat “Mom.” After Xu Zhi pressed them for the mirror’s location, Lu Mi and Ning left the room, and Ning heard uneven footsteps near her room.

• Lu Mi found Ning Zhuangzhuang waiting in room 208 and told her about the letter and photograph.
• Ning became entranced by the wardrobe, and Lu Mi discovered a man’s head inside that asked her to bring it a mirror on the anniversary.
• Ning told Lu Mi that the head claimed the mirror could help them defeat “Mom.”
• Xu Zhi arrived and tried to persuade Ning to reveal where the mirror was, but Lu Mi accused him of letting others take the risks.
• Lu Mi asked Ning to keep the mirror’s location secret, and they hurried back before midnight.
• As Ning headed toward her room, she heard one light and one heavy footstep coming from the stairwell.

Ning Zhuangzhuang survived an encounter with “Mom” thanks to Lu Mi’s protective Buddha Jade, while Lu Mi and Roman clashed over Roman’s attempt to cuddle him. The next morning, Lu Mi discovered someone had tampered with the water, and the players prepared for the relatives’ visit as Xu Zhi accused him of withholding clues.

• Ning Zhuangzhuang escaped “Mom” after claiming she had run from a snake, then found the Buddha Jade Lu Mi had put in her pocket broken into pieces.
• Roman tried to cuddle Lu Mi after he turned into a tabby at midnight, but Lu Mi clawed him and went to sleep without him.
• Lu Mi noticed bubbles in a glass of water and warned Ning Zhuangzhuang that someone had tampered with it, while suspecting Xu Zhi was watching them.
• “Mom” announced that relatives would visit for lunch, and Lu Mi and Ning Zhuangzhuang saw her preparing food in the kitchen.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang told Lu Mi the Buddha Jade had protected her from “Mom,” and he promised to find a way to repair it.
• Xu Zhi blamed Lu Mi for refusing to share clues, and Ning Zhuangzhuang demanded to know why they could not give the mirror to the man in the cabinet.

Lu Mi questioned whether the instance’s story pointed to abuse by “Mom’s” husband, then rejected Roman’s gift and argued with him. At the anniversary gathering, the players met four eerie relatives and performed in unnervingly perfect sync while Lu Mi kept the Buddha Jade close.

• Lu Mi showed Ning Zhuangzhuang the photograph and asked whether she would side with “Mom” or her husband, who had abused her and their child.
• Lu Mi tried to repair the Buddha Jade as Roman appeared and offered him a pale green sweater; Lu Mi refused it and told Roman they would never meet again after the instance.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang came downstairs looking unwell, and “Mom” welcomed four pale, rain-soaked relatives to the anniversary lunch.
• “Mom” toasted her twenty years of marriage, and the relatives drank stiffly as wine ran from their clothes onto the floor.
• The players performed talents with the relatives: Zhang Mei and the maternal uncle wrote identical calligraphy, Xu Zhi danced with the paternal aunt, and Ning Zhuangzhuang played piano with the maternal aunt.
• Lu Mi improvised a song with the paternal uncle, who matched him precisely, while Lu Mi kept the Buddha Jade in his pocket.

Lu Mi realized that Xu Zhi had used Ning Zhuangzhuang to reveal the mirror, freeing A Jun from the cabinet. A Jun attacked "Mom," while Xu Zhi dropped his pretense and warned that Ning Zhuangzhuang would not last much longer.

• Lu Mi recognized that Zhang Mei's writing and his singing were being controlled as "Mom" watched, while Ning Zhuangzhuang played piano and Xu Zhi was forced to dance.
• Lu Mi saw the rotten man's head crawling toward the kitchen and deduced that Xu Zhi had used Ning Zhuangzhuang to find the mirror that sealed A Jun away.
• Lu Mi called out that A Jun had returned, and A Jun burst from the kitchen with his flesh restored, attacking "Mom" as she struggled to defend herself.
• Zhang Mei's hand began healing and Xu Zhi stood up, while Lu Mi helped the weakened Ning Zhuangzhuang and questioned her about what Xu Zhi had done.
• Xu Zhi admitted that Ning Zhuangzhuang would not last much longer and stopped pretending as A Jun continued attacking "Mom".

Lu Mi stopped A Jun from killing “Mom” and used the Buddha Jade to help her remember her daughter, leading her to reunite with the Ghost Infant. As the players neared a possible exit, Ning Zhuangzhuang explained that she and Lu Mi had both risked themselves to save others.

• After Ning Zhuangzhuang ran to protect “Mom,” A Jun stabbed her, and she urged Lu Mi to use the Buddha Jade.
• Lu Mi carved out A Jun’s heart and burned it, killing him before he could reclaim the knife.
• Lu Mi joined the two pieces of Buddha Jade, helping “Mom” remember her daughter and lead her into the basement.
• “Mom” sang to summon the Ghost Infant, and the two reunited while Zhang Mei questioned Lu Mi’s choice and Xu Zhi reconsidered how the instance could be cleared.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang told Lu Mi that the exit would lead to the Public Rest Area’s Healing Area, then asked why he kept risking his life to save others.

Lu Mi escaped the instance with Roman, but Ning Zhuangzhuang died after revealing she had knowingly sacrificed herself to save him and her mother. In the Public Rest Area, Lu Mi learned more about the Divine Punishment Game and heard a newly escaped player celebrating nearby.

• “Mom” turned the puzzle into a key and gave it to Lu Mi, while she threw Zhang Mei aside and struck Xu Zhi without killing him.
• Ning Zhuangzhuang told Lu Mi she had taken the knife for the NPC knowing she would die, then dissolved into fiery red petals as she crossed the exit.
• Roman shoved Lu Mi through the door, and Xu Zhi and Zhang Mei also escaped before it closed.
• Lu Mi arrived at the Public Rest Area, where an announcement instructed new players to register for wristbands and dormitories.
• Lu Mi saw the player rankings, noticed Xu Zhi in second place and Cheng Cheng in first, and thanked Roman for pushing him out.
• A uniformed guard told Lu Mi and Roman to clear the instance exit, and a newly escaped player laughed that he had finally left the hellhole.

Lu Mi explored the public rest area after leaving an instance and learned that players would soon be sent into another one. When deputy administrator 2044 took Roman away, Roman told Lu Mi not to worry, while 2044 warned his guards that trouble was still to come.

• A wounded newcomer believed he had returned to the real world, but a blonde woman explained that he was in the public rest area and would enter another instance within twenty-four to seventy-two hours.
• Lu Mi explored the plaza, where guards killed a player who caused a disturbance and cleaners quickly removed the blood and remains.
• Xu Zhi approached Lu Mi and tried to recruit him, but Lu Mi refused and Xu Zhi left after threatening him.
• Roman told Lu Mi he would stay with him until he left the game, and Lu Mi went to the administrative office to handle paperwork.
• Deputy administrator 2044 arrived with two guards and ordered Roman to come with them; Roman went willingly after telling Lu Mi not to worry.
• As Roman walked with 2044, 2044 stopped a guard from provoking him and said the trouble was still to come.

Roman caused chaos in the control center and was sentenced to enter instances as a player with his divine power sealed. Meanwhile, Lu Mi explored his new player wristband and suspected Roman was being held in a mysterious building in the Public Rest Area.

• Roman watched staff edit footage from the “Mother's Memorial Day” instance and stole an access card to alter Ning Zhuangzhuang's program, making her an NPC.
• Roman's black smoke tossed guards and staff around the control center as they tried to stop him.
• 2044 learned Roman had made Ning Zhuangzhuang part of the instance, then sentenced him to play through at least two instances with his divine power sealed.
• Roman eagerly accepted the punishment and asked whether he could keep playing afterward.
• Lu Mi examined his player wristband, learned about its points and achievements, and found an unnamed building marked with a red X on the Public Rest Area map.
• Lu Mi wondered whether Roman had been taken to the building.

Lu Mi waited for Roman outside the Central Control Building, learned more about the game from 2044, and gave him the name Jiang Mu. After reuniting, Lu Mi and Roman explored the Public Rest Area, where Lu Mi discovered his dorm room and Roman asked to live with him.

• Lu Mi waited outside the Central Control Building, and 2044 assured him that Roman was inside and would be out soon.
• 2044 explained that players' instances became shows for nonhuman viewers, that gold coins and points could be exchanged, and that 1,000 points were needed to leave, though no one had ever succeeded.
• Lu Mi suggested that the game's creators were responsible for the violence, and 2044 asked him to choose a name; Lu Mi named him Jiang Mu.
• Roman emerged with a real wristband, and the building's display announced that he was forbidden from entering again.
• Lu Mi and Roman explored the Public Rest Area, where they overheard rumors about a third option and learned that Lu Mi's room was 705 in Building 5.
• When Lu Mi asked where Roman's dorm room was, Roman said he did not know and wanted to live with him.

Lu Mi searched his assigned room for clues about his erased memories and recognized a retired teacher in an old photograph, but the effort caused him severe pain. The next morning, he discovered his first instance had earned him audience tips and went shopping with Roman, who asked for something to make a kitty happy.

• Lu Mi let Roman stay in his room until nine, then searched the elderly resident’s belongings and found textbooks, student gifts, and graduation photographs.
• Lu Mi recognized a gray-haired teacher in a photograph and suffered a severe headache as fragmented memories resurfaced; Roman helped him recover, but Lu Mi refused to let Roman stay overnight.
• Lu Mi found that his popularity had risen above three hundred and his gold coins had increased from audience tips after his instance was shown as a program.
• Roman admitted through his behavior that he had spent the night sitting outside Lu Mi’s door, though he claimed he had not waited there all night.
• Lu Mi and Roman visited the shopping center, where Lu Mi crossed nonessential items off his list because of their cost and Roman asked a staff member for something to make a kitty happy.