Chapter Summaries

Ye Lin’s group learned that earlier teams had fled the black city in fear, but Ye Lin led them onward to search for clues before their rivals arrived. As the Echo Demon Team’s entry was moved up, the survivors’ number fell to seventy.

• Aroro told Ye Lin’s group that many people who entered the city with Hera had returned early, appearing shocked and afraid.
• An Ke warned Ye Lin that the city might contain a special event, but Ye Lin decided they had to enter before the Echo Demon Team arrived.
• Ye Lin reasoned that rival teams outside the city posed a greater immediate threat than the city’s unexplained danger.
• An Ke speculated that Hera’s warning not to look for her might refer to her corpse, while Ye Lin said the Patroller might disguise himself as Hera.
• The system announced that the Echo Demon Team would enter in six hours instead of eleven hours and twenty-seven minutes, and that only seventy people remained.

After sixteen people died suddenly, Ye Lin’s group hurried to Safe Zone 113 before the other teams could catch up. They entered without trouble and were stunned by what they saw inside.

• The survivor count dropped by sixteen, and Ye Lin ordered his group to move faster as their time limit shrank to six hours.
• An Ke pushed her energy perception to its limit while the five raced toward the city without encountering other teams.
• Ye Lin questioned Aroro about how Hera and her group had entered a similar settlement, then decided they should use the main gate and undergo inspection.
• Soldiers warmly welcomed Ye Lin’s group, registered them, and gave all five identification badges.
• The group entered Safe Zone 113 and stared in astonishment at the sight before them.

Ye Lin’s group entered a strangely welcoming Safe Zone and split up to investigate while staying alert for danger. Aroro proposed checking the other gates for evidence of food convoys, suspecting the settlement’s food supply could reveal what was wrong or lead them to another source of clues.

• Ye Lin asked An Ke to scan the area, and she detected no high-intensity energy fluctuations among the roughly six or seven hundred people nearby.
• Ye Lin split the group: An Ke and He Zheng would gather information in restaurants and taverns, while he, Huang Liang, and Aroro would seek out the Military, then regroup in an hour.
• Aroro asked to join He Zheng in checking the other city gates because he had noticed no wheel tracks at their entrance and questioned how the Safe Zone obtained enough food.
• Aroro reasoned from their five-digit D identification numbers that tens or hundreds of thousands of people might have entered the Safe Zone, making its food supply a crucial lead.
• Ye Lin agreed that the missing convoys could indicate something wrong with the residents or a vast underground space, and Aroro suggested searching for the food source near the other gates.

Ye Lin agreed to split the group into three teams to search the safe zone, and Aroro explained why he wanted to accompany He Zheng. The teams set out to investigate, and An Ke entered a quiet tavern to seek information.

• Ye Lin accepted Aroro's plan to divide the group into three teams and told him to speak plainly next time.
• Aroro explained that the third faction likely had not entered the safe zone, and An Ke clarified that he wanted to scout for He Zheng and protect him.
• Ye Lin and Huang Liang headed toward the central district, An Ke went to approach ordinary people, and He Zheng and Aroro went to the south gate.
• An Ke chose a tavern and cautiously entered after an attendant welcomed her.

An Ke visited a bar in the safe zone seeking information about the dimming sun and Transcendence, but the staff insisted everything was normal and offered bizarre, empty service. Upstairs, she found an attendant horribly injured and trapped in a loop, who turned to her and begged for help.

• An Ke entered the bar and agreed to accept a drink after the bartender repeatedly insisted on serving her.
• The bartender mixed and stirred an empty glass, and An Ke pretended to drink it before asking about the sun and the safe zone.
• The bartender and attendant gave only scripted answers that everything was normal and repeatedly asked whether she wanted service.
• An Ke heard metallic clanging upstairs, drew her pistol, and cautiously went to investigate.
• An Ke found an attendant scraping his ruined knees and face against a wall, and he turned toward her and cried for help.

He Zheng and Aroro crossed the Safe Zone toward the south gate while discussing rival teams and the unclear Examination prompt. Aroro went to question the soldiers as He Zheng searched a nearby warehouse, unaware that a small shadow was moving underground.

• He Zheng asked Aroro about other strong teams, and Aroro warned that teams with complementary abilities could rival them in combat.
• He Zheng and Aroro discussed the meaning of Transcendence and the celestial crisis, but neither had enough clues to understand the prompt.
• Near the south gate, Aroro gave He Zheng a handmade alarm and went to question the soldiers while He Zheng headed for a warehouse.
• He Zheng heard something digging inside the warehouse as a tiny black shadow passed underground nearby.

Aroro discovered that the tracks at the South Gate belonged to the Magic-Energy Lizards and Mechanical Spiders, who were preparing to attack Ye Lin and the others. He realized he could warn He Zheng but risk dying, or stay silent and possibly survive and gain points, leaving him struggling to choose.

• Aroro followed tracks toward the South Gate and noticed they did not match those of a supply convoy.
• He recognized the tracks as belonging to the Magic-Energy Lizards and Mechanical Spiders, who had arrived together.
• Aroro heard a charging weapon nearby and saw its red light aimed at the warehouse.
• Aroro realized the teams had used a spider to scout Ye Lin and the others and were preparing a concentrated attack.
• Aroro stopped himself from warning He Zheng when he sensed the teams had spotted him, then weighed the risks and rewards of staying silent.

Aroro decided not to warn Ye Lin and He Zheng, but feared Ye Lin would survive the coming battle and kill him afterward. He Zheng entered a warehouse, where a mechanical spider attacked him; he escaped the blast and shouted a warning to Ye Lin.

• Aroro recalled Ye Lin's conversation with He Zheng and realized that leaving them unwarned could put his own life at risk.
• He Zheng entered the warehouse and saw three workers operating a crane as if lifting an invisible load.
• The crane operator accidentally hooked and killed a worker, then removed the man's head while the other workers smiled at He Zheng.
• Aroro's ring flashed, and He Zheng spotted a spider aiming at him from a high window.
• He Zheng used Leaping Slash to escape as the spider's High-Energy Beam exploded inside the warehouse, then warned Ye Lin of the attack.
• At the south gate, Miniature Missiles rose into the air and changed course.

He Zheng fled a bombardment by enemy squads while waiting for Ye Lin and An Ke to reach him, but the lizardfolk intercepted him. He Zheng killed one Magic-Energy Lizard despite being shot through the chest, earning 80 points.

• He Zheng ran through the Residential Buildings to escape the miniature missiles and buy time for Ye Lin and An Ke to arrive.
• Barker ordered one Magic-Energy Lizard to pursue Aroro and led two others after He Zheng, while three Spider Women linked to their vision and prepared laser attacks.
• A Magic-Energy Lizard intercepted He Zheng and attacked, but He Zheng used Frenzy and Odin's Thunder to paralyze it and hack off its arm.
• The Spider Women shot He Zheng through the chest with a laser, but he hurled his Battle Axe and dragged the wounded lizard back to kill it.
• He Zheng received 80 points for killing the Magic-Energy Lizard.

He Zheng was nearly trapped by Barker’s Magic-Energy Lizard squad until a robed young man used his Curse ability to help him escape into concealing mist. The lizards marked them with a Shadow-Chasing Spear, but two gunshots and the sight of a human flying toward them interrupted their attack.

• Barker enraged by the death of a teammate, prepared a powerful attack while the Magic-Energy Lizards and Mechanical Spiders boxed He Zheng in.
• A robed young man called to He Zheng, weakened the lizards with Curse, and spread black smoke that blocked their target locks.
• The young man urged He Zheng to flee and split up, but He Zheng said his teammates could help and asked whether the young man had allies.
• The young man realized He Zheng had killed one of the lizards and explained that its Shadow-Chasing Spear could track them even through the mist.
• Barker threw the spear, marking He Zheng and the young man as the lizards and Mechanical Spiders prepared to attack.
• Two gunshots sounded, and Barker saw a human flying toward them, realizing the newcomer might be third tier.

Ye Lin overwhelmed the Mechanical Spiders Squad with his mental powers and killed Aleya and her two teammates. He then turned toward Barker, who fled toward the outskirts of the city.

• Ye Lin shot through a Demon Lizard’s neck, and Bagel abandoned its wounded teammate to seek help from Aleya.
• Aleya and the Mechanical Spiders attacked Ye Lin with missiles and autocannon fire, but he crushed the missiles with psychokinesis and stopped the bullets in midair.
• Barker realized Ye Lin was not third-tier and charged at him while Aleya activated her shield and began electromagnetic teleportation.
• Ye Lin used Mental Shock to interrupt Aleya’s teleportation and killed the two unshielded Mechanical Spiders with Blood Shadow Impact.
• Ye Lin shattered Aleya’s protective shield with his sword and killed her, then turned toward Barker.
• Barker fled toward the outskirts of the city as Ye Lin charged after him.

Ye Lin and the Soul Peace Team wiped out Barker’s forces in seconds and saved Aroro. After the battle, He Zheng introduced Ye Lin and the others to the young man who had helped him.

• Barker tried to escape with a Teleport Command, but An Ke trapped him with Ice Soul Hell.
• As Barker attempted to detonate his magic-energy core, Ye Lin shattered his protection and killed him with Blood Shadow Splitting.
• The last Magic-Energy Lizard grabbed Aroro and fled, but Huang Liang shot and killed him after Ye Lin spotted them.
• The young man realized Ye Lin was the Soul Peace Team’s captain, and He Zheng proudly introduced the team.
• Huang Liang thanked the young man for helping He Zheng and asked who he was.

Ye Lin’s group escaped the eerie Safe Zone and searched the defeated teams, finding a large haul of points and supplies. As An Ke asked whether they should investigate the Safe Zone further, Ye Lin warned that their next Examination was about to begin, and the system announced the Echo Demon Team’s entry.

• Lin Yu introduced himself and said he was the sole survivor of his team, while He Zheng thanked Aroro for warning and protecting him.
• Ye Lin urged the group to search the corpses and leave the Safe Zone, and they escaped to ruins outside the city.
• He Zheng and An Ke described the strange, seemingly mechanical people they had seen, but Ye Lin asked them to report their loot and points.
• The group pooled equipment and supplies recovered from the Demon Lizards and Mechanical Spiders, including weapons, healing items, and teleportation gear.
• An Ke asked whether they should search for clues, and Ye Lin said there was no time left as the system announced the Echo Demon Team would enter the Examination in thirty minutes.

Ye Lin explained that the system had shortened the pursuers’ entry time to balance the factions after the Second Faction lost many people, and argued that the Examination’s rising difficulty affected everyone. He revealed that the pursuers had two disadvantages, but their first—being delayed by a united First and Second Faction—was no longer viable, leaving the nature of their second disadvantage unresolved.

• He Zheng cursed the system after learning that the pursuers would enter in less than half an hour because too many people had died.
• Ye Lin suggested that the system accelerated the pursuers’ arrival to balance the teams’ relative strength.
• Ye Lin reasoned that the system had forced them into an Examination that was harder for all factions, with the pursuers hunting everyone equally.
• Huang Liang asked what disadvantage the pursuers faced, and Ye Lin said they had two.
• Ye Lin explained that the pursuers could have been delayed if the First and Second Factions had united, but Hera’s plan had failed and too few people remained.
• Ye Lin began to reveal the pursuers’ second disadvantage, calling it an inescapable death trap.

Ye Lin’s group planned to exploit the Examination’s mutual-destruction rule against the teams pursuing them, while Lin Yu joined them and offered to lead them to a hidden military base. As the countdown continued and locator beams appeared nearby, Ye Lin’s group headed for the base, unaware that someone watched them from a distant hillside.

• An Ke realized that killing everyone in the Examination could prevent the pursuing teams from earning enough points to escape, and Ye Lin confirmed they might use the rule once they knew their enemies’ strength.
• Ye Lin offered Lin Yu three Energy Crystals and a chance to leave, but Lin Yu asked to stay and explained that his support enhancement gave him Curse abilities; Ye Lin agreed to bring him along.
• Lin Yu said he had met Hera but had no information about the Patroller, Transcendence, or tire tracks, leaving the group without new clues.
• Ye Lin said they had twenty-four minutes left and planned to ambush the Echo Demon Team before continuing their search.
• Lin Yu offered to guide the group to a hidden military base, and Ye Lin agreed after locator beams appeared nearby; An Ke and Huang Liang silently suspected Ye Lin understood Hera’s final words.
• A pair of brown eyes watched Ye Lin’s group from a distant hillside.

As the group ran through the dark wilderness, Lin Yu explained that his first examination had required them to dance for God. He revealed that trained dancers had received the lowest scores, and their second attempt would decide whether they lived.

• He Zheng asked Lin Yu what might be blocking the sun and whether the attendant's unusual behavior meant the area involved ghosts, while Lin Yu and Huang Liang discussed why the obstruction did not seem to be a celestial body.
• Lin Yu suggested that the area's special feature might be an event, then told the group he had encountered one during his first examination.
• Lin Yu described how his team had been ordered to perform a dance for God atop a towering altar, with better dancing supposedly earning a higher score and a chance to survive.
• Lin Yu revealed that the trained dancers who went first, performing classical and jazz dances, all failed their first attempt and would die if they failed again.

Lin Yu explained that his team survived the dance trial by imitating robots undergoing factory tests, which led Ye Lin to connect the idea to the death examinations. After Lin Yu named his first scenario “Sacrificial Ritual,” a deadly presence locked onto the group as the Echo Demon Team’s arrival was announced.

• Lin Yu recounted how trained, ritual, and other dances failed, while performers who fell, jumped, and kept moving initially scored better.
• Lin Yu explained that an Examinee realized God wanted humans to demonstrate their physical functions like robots being tested, so the group kept jumping and getting back up.
• Ye Lin connected the robot-dance test to the examinations, and Lin Yu confirmed that an Examinee with an engineer father had suggested the idea.
• Ye Lin asked Lin Yu for the name of his first scenario, and Lin Yu answered, “Sacrificial Ritual.”
• A deathly lock-on seized the group, and an announcement warned that the Echo Demon Team would enter in nine minutes as a red vortex opened overhead.

Ye Lin and the others raced toward a hidden mountain base as the Echo Demon Team’s arrival grew more urgent. Ye Lin fused Magic Cannon and Biomechanical Modification into a powerful new ability, then An Ke asked him about the special event he had experienced.

• Ye Lin ordered He Zheng to carry Lin Yu, who pointed out that the hidden base was inside a mountain several minutes away.
• The group hurried toward the base as more survivors died and the countdown to the Echo Demon Team’s arrival shortened.
• Ye Lin weighed whether to keep Magic Cannon and Biomechanical Modification separate or fuse them, then chose fusion to create a trump card.
• The fusion produced Destruction Demon Eye, a Grade B-A ability that enhanced target tracking and continuously fired a Destruction Ray.
• An Ke noticed something had changed in Ye Lin and asked what conclusions he had reached about the special events.

Ye Lin's group reached a concealed military base while fleeing the Demon Squad, hoping to use it as an ambush point. They found the route blocked by a locked, heavily secured door, and with only three minutes left, Aroro offered to help open it.

• An Ke and Lin Yu explained that special events could range from dangerous disasters to unexplained information or occurrences, while Ye Lin wondered whether the Death Exam itself might qualify.
• Lin Yu spotted the route to a base at the foot of the mountain, and An Ke led the group there with less than six minutes remaining.
• The group entered a huge, bloodstained passage, where He Zheng hoped to find weapons, but An Ke and Huang Liang doubted that abandoned equipment would still work.
• The group reached an empty metal hall and found its far door locked despite its powered identification system; Lin Yu admitted he had never gone inside the base.
• With the Demon Squad approaching and no obvious way to bypass the triple-encrypted door, Ye Lin weighed whether to retreat until Aroro offered to help open it.

A mixed-race party led by Earth Dragon, Blood Wolf, and a Gnome Mage hunted the human team, believing its fighters were wounded and vulnerable. As the party moved through the southern wasteland, a flaming object plunged from the sky, leaving their next move uncertain.

• The Gnome Mage questioned whether the party should track down the humans, and Earth Dragon told him to leave if he was afraid.
• Blood Wolf explained that the party needed points to avoid being trapped, while the Gnome Mage warned that the humans had rapidly killed the Mechanical Spiders and Demon Lizard.
• Earth Dragon and Blood Wolf argued that the humans were wounded and had relied on an ambush, persuading the Gnome Mage to keep pursuing them.
• A thunderous impact shook the ground, and the party saw a flaming object falling from the sky.