Recaps

The author reflected on why he wanted to write a Lord of the Mysteries fanfic after someone questioned his lack of webnovel experience. He chose to keep writing the story he loved rather than reshape it to fit market formulas.

• After his college entrance exams, the author researched Lord of the Mysteries and completed a detailed outline for his fanfic’s first volume.
• The person who reviewed his draft asked whether he had written any successful books, and the author admitted it was his first webnovel.
• The author considered abandoning his idea for a more marketable story, then rested and asked himself why he wanted to write it.
• He realized he loved the unwritten story and refused to cut it down to fit formulaic opening chapters.
• The author resolved to keep writing the story he loved, and ended by calling love an answer to what brings a book into being.

Five years after transmigrating, Lin Chuan celebrated his friend Zhou Mingrui’s birthday while recalling how the names of his roommates had made him fear he was in the world of Lord of the Mysteries. A search of the world’s bizarre history reassured him that he had landed in a chaotic alternate Earth instead.

• Lin Chuan scheduled one chapter of his novel, teased readers in the chat, and prepared to attend Zhou Mingrui’s birthday celebration.
• Lin Chuan joked with Zhou Mingrui about a new novel and promised to come over that night.
• Lin Chuan recalled meeting Zhou Mingrui at university and making plans to survive what he thought was the world of Lord of the Mysteries.
• Lin Chuan heard that his other roommates were Lucien and Meng Qi, deepening his suspicions about the world he had entered.
• Lin Chuan searched online and found absurd alternate-history entries, then concluded that he was in a bizarre comedy-like world.

Lin Chuan celebrated Zhou Mingrui’s birthday with him and his parents while reflecting on his fear of forgetting his original home. The chapter ended with Lin Chuan and Zhou Mingrui blowing out the candles together, as Lin Chuan wished him a happy birthday.

• Lin Chuan explained that he had moved to Zhou Mingrui’s hometown and kept to himself because he feared forgetting his past and his parents.
• Zhou Mingrui noticed Lin Chuan spacing out and heard that he had been unusually sleepy and lost in memories for a month, though medical tests found nothing wrong.
• Lin Chuan and Zhou Mingrui joked and wrestled over Lin Chuan’s novel synopsis, which began Zhou Mingrui’s story at the Shaolin Temple.
• Lin Chuan erased the memory of their scuffle from Zhou Mingrui’s parents’ history, then joined them for Zhou Mingrui’s birthday dinner.
• Zhou Mingrui made quiet wishes for his family, Lin Chuan, and a peaceful life before he and Lin Chuan blew out the candles together.
• Lin Chuan wished Zhou Mingrui a happy birthday.

Lin Chuan told Zhou Mingrui he was leaving to visit a hometown he had never seen, then left him a lottery ticket to help pay for his mother's medical care. As Lin Chuan rode toward his destination, he revealed that the ticket-expiration warning was a prank and prepared himself for the unknown hometown ahead.

• Lin Chuan told Zhou Mingrui he planned to leave that day for about a month to visit a familiar hometown he had never seen.
• Lin Chuan gave Zhou Mingrui a notebook as a birthday present and left for the train station.
• Zhou Mingrui found Lin Chuan's note directing him to claim a lottery ticket worth several million and use the money to treat his mother's illness.
• Lin Chuan rode the high-speed train and wrote that the ticket's supposed deadline was made up to hurry Zhou Mingrui along.
• Lin Chuan watched his reflection in the window and closed his eyes as the train carried him toward his unknown hometown.

Lin Chuan returned to the city and home he had not seen in years, overwhelmed by memories of the boy he had left behind. He reached his parents’ door at dusk and finally knocked, leaving the reunion just as the door opened.

• A fellow passenger woke Lin Chuan before his train reached his stop, and Lin Chuan got off and declined the taxi drivers’ offers so he could walk downtown.
• Lin Chuan wandered through familiar streets, remembering places from his childhood and feeling as though his years away had been a dream.
• Lin Chuan recalled the boy he had left behind when he first arrived as a college freshman and felt his old memories return as he approached home.
• Lin Chuan entered his family’s courtyard at dusk, hesitated outside the security door, then knocked three times.
• Lin Chuan’s door opened.

Lin Chuan confirmed that his parents and childhood home did not exist in this version of Earth, then faced his grief by speaking to them at a buffet restaurant. After spending the night alone in town, he resolved to keep living and find a way back to his hometown.

• Lin Chuan learned from the young man at his family’s former home that the house had been built after his birth and that his parents were gone from this world.
• Lin Chuan remembered how the world had repeatedly excluded him from photographs and concluded that he was an outsider in this reality.
• Lin Chuan paid for three people at the buffet, set out food for his parents, and told them about his life and plans before breaking down in tears.
• Lin Chuan accepted the restaurant owner’s refund and casually warned Boss Gao to watch his business partner.
• Lin Chuan spent the night at a crossroads and resolved to survive until he could return to his hometown and tell his parents about his experiences.

Lin Chuan traveled in search of supernatural powers while joking with Zhou Mingrui about his otherworldly origins, but Zhou Mingrui stopped replying after his mother’s surgery. Lin Chuan realized the silence began on April 1, the day Lord of the Mysteries first started publishing.

• Lin Chuan told Zhou Mingrui that he planned to seek supernatural powers, and Zhou Mingrui joked with him before offering support and inviting him to spend New Year’s together.
• Lin Chuan went to Japan to look for Jotaro Kujo but returned without finding what he wanted.
• Zhou Mingrui told Lin Chuan that his mother had an early-stage tumor, and Lin Chuan offered help with the medical costs.
• Lin Chuan visited Mount Longhu and found a supposed ancient cultivation method that resembled something Zhou Mingrui had posted online.
• After Zhou Mingrui’s mother’s surgery, Lin Chuan repeatedly messaged him without getting a reply, then realized Zhou Mingrui had stopped responding after April Fools’ Day, the publication date of Lord of the Mysteries.

Lin Chuan visited Zhou Mingrui’s home and learned from his brother that Zhou Mingrui had died suddenly on April 1. Suspecting a connection to something Zhou Mingrui had done, Lin Chuan entered his room and found a book describing a ritual.

• Lin Chuan arrived at Zhou Mingrui’s home and learned from his brother that Zhou Mingrui had died of sudden cardiac death on April 1.
• Zhou Mingrui’s brother said the family had kept the news from their mother, who was still in the hospital.
• Lin Chuan asked whether Zhou Mingrui had been found in bed wearing his everyday clothes, and his brother reacted with shock at the accurate details.
• Lin Chuan entered Zhou Mingrui’s room and found a thread-bound book titled “Qin-Han Secret Record of Esoteric Arts.”
• Lin Chuan read aloud the book’s instructions for a ritual and confirmed to Zhou Mingrui’s brother that it was what he had been looking for.

Lin Chuan borrowed the Qin-Han Secret Record of Esoteric Arts and concluded that his world might be the world of Lord of the Mysteries, with Zhou Mingrui’s choices altered by Lin Chuan’s influence. As he examined his own unusual thoughts and lack of fear of the Starry Sky, he wondered whether he was still human.

• Lin Chuan borrowed the Qin-Han Secret Record of Esoteric Arts from Zhou Mingrui's older brother, who also asked him to attend Mingrui's funeral.
• Lin Chuan reviewed the world’s similarities and differences from Lord of the Mysteries and considered whether it had always been that world.
• Lin Chuan suspected that his jokes about civil-service jobs had influenced Zhou Mingrui to pass the civil service exam instead of working in IT.
• Lin Chuan realized he had failed to fear the Starry Sky’s corruption when he first arrived and questioned whether his thoughts had been tampered with.
• Lin Chuan recalled telling Zhou Mingrui that he had shed his human form and ascended to godhood, then wondered whether he was really human.

Lin Chuan reconsidered his plan to enter Sefirah Castle and realized his friendship with Zhou Mingrui made him unwilling to leave him to face the apocalypse alone. He left the story resolved to help Zhou Mingrui reach a happy ending, despite his own need to survive and return home.

• Lin Chuan wondered whether his lack of concern about cosmic contamination meant he was not human, then set the question aside.
• Lin Chuan reviewed his plan to use the Luck Enhancement Ritual or an artifact to enter Sefirah Castle and hide there until the future.
• Lin Chuan admitted that he would once have pursued the plan without hesitation, but his four years of friendship with Zhou Mingrui had changed how he saw him.
• Lin Chuan wrote that Zhou Mingrui had to become the Lord of the Mysteries and defeat the Outer Deities, since Lin Chuan could not win the apocalyptic war alone.
• Lin Chuan recalled the many deaths Zhou Mingrui would face and concluded that good people like him deserved happy endings.

Lin Chuan accepted that he might not be human and tried to strengthen the mysterious connection pulling at his spirit. His makeshift ritual succeeded, though the chapter ended before showing what answered.

• Lin Chuan accepted that he might be something beyond human and resolved to use his power to pursue his goals.
• The force tugging at Lin Chuan intensified, then stalled before establishing a complete connection.
• Lin Chuan avoided reading further in the Qin-Han Secret Record of Esoteric Arts and recalled what he could about prayer rituals.
• Lin Chuan improvised a ritual using a marked cardboard box, his notes, bowls of rice, and a recited list of terms.
• Lin Chuan completed the amateur ritual, and it succeeded.

Lin Chuan’s ritual drew him into a void where he found his body from before transmigrating and realized that he was connected to it. He learned that the void was a Sefirah formed from intertwined symbols of nothingness and what lay outside the Oldest One.

• Lin Chuan performed the ritual and heard fragments of his own memories in the resulting whispers.
• Lin Chuan watched the surrounding world fade and opened his eyes in a realm of absolute nothingness.
• Lin Chuan found his pre-transmigration body floating at the center of the void and recognized it as himself.
• Lin Chuan recalled a meteor’s journey toward the blue planet and its unexplained disappearance before his transmigration.
• Lin Chuan learned that the void was the Sefirah corresponding to the intertwined symbolism of nothingness and what lay outside the Oldest One.

Lin Chuan realized that his arrival from outside the world had caused him to converge with the symbols of “beyond the Oldest One” and “nothingness,” forming an ancient sefirah. He could ascend to the level of a Great Old One, but doing so would likely make him vanish into nothingness.

• Lin Chuan understood that his existence had made the previously empty symbol of “beyond the Oldest One” real, forcing it to converge with the sefirah’s symbol of nothingness.
• He feared that the opposed symbols might combine and awaken the Oldest One, but recognized that “existence beyond the Oldest One” could not complete the Oldest One’s true existence-and-nothingness pattern.
• Lin Chuan realized that his true body had become the sefirah after the Oldest One’s failed awakening, while his soul became its first self-awareness.
• He concluded that he could become a Great Old One or even a Pillar at any moment, but the sefirah’s power of nothingness would likely cause him to disappear if he ascended.

Lin Chuan resolved to preserve his human personality as he explored his Sefirah and created a grand hall within its void. He then realized he might have overlooked how his consciousness had entered his current body and suspected something was interfering with his thinking.

• Lin Chuan concluded that his greatest danger was his own gradual transformation and vowed to protect his feelings, values, and attachments.
• Lin Chuan formed a grand hall with a Bronze Long Table and high-backed chairs inside his Sefirah.
• Lin Chuan experimented with changing the hall’s surroundings, including recreating the Himalayas, the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, and an ordinary version of the moon.
• Lin Chuan fixed the setting as his former bedroom and reasoned that he had likely placed his consciousness in his current body rather than transmigrating directly with body and soul.
• Lin Chuan noticed that his memories and connection to his Sefirah had been unusually weak, then realized he felt as though he had been making himself stupid.

Lin Chuan returned from his Sefirah and recognized the Celestial Worthy's influence, then resolved to leave Earth and use his power to change the world's tragedies. Nyarlathotep appeared to address him before fading away, warning him to avoid its other faces.

• Lin Chuan protected himself with his Sefirah, returned to his bedroom, and sensed the Celestial Worthy's blind stupidity and perception barrier over Earth and the nearby Starry Sky.
• Lin Chuan deduced that the Celestial Worthy had concealed deaths connected to Sefirah Castle and realized he had been affected by the same power during his first arrival.
• Lin Chuan decided to flee Earth before the Oldest One awakened, then checked his phone and confirmed that time flowed normally between the world and his Sefirah.
• Lin Chuan reflected on his ignorance of his powers and chose to act according to his own values, save his friends, seek a way home, and pursue a better future despite the risks.
• Nyarlathotep's voice answered Lin Chuan, told him to do what he wished, and warned him to avoid its other thousand faces.

Lin Chuan reviewed his plan to flee before the Original Creator awakened, then discovered he could inhabit both his human body and his sentient Sefirah. At Zhou Mingrui’s funeral, he reassured the family that he was their old friend and gave them protective jade pendants before preparing to leave for another city.

• Lin Chuan decided to escape as far as possible before the Original Creator awakened and later devour the Knowledge Moor to stabilize his power.
• Lin Chuan realized he could exist in his human body and as his Sefirah at once, and could return his consciousness to the Sefirah without a ritual.
• Lin Chuan saw that his appearance had reverted to how he looked before transmigrating.
• Lin Chuan attended Zhou Mingrui’s funeral and convinced Zhou Mingrui’s family that he was their friend despite his changed appearance.
• Lin Chuan gave Zhou Mingrui’s parents and older brother jade pendants, then said he planned to leave for another city.

Lin Chuan visited an antiques market and then traveled to Huang Tao’s hometown to meet his grieving parents and leave them protective charms. After completing the visit, he prepared to leave Earth as the Oldest One’s awakening drew near.

• Lin Chuan bought jade pendants and other old objects, then crossed attending the funeral off his notebook and chose Huang Tao’s hometown as his next destination.
• During a flight, Lin Chuan sensed that the Celestial Worthy’s targeted Fooling over Earth had vanished and realized the Oldest One was probably about to awaken.
• Lin Chuan reached Huang Tao’s home and showed Huang Tao’s mother their old online conversations, easing her into recognizing him as her son’s friend.
• Lin Chuan listened as Huang Tao’s mother spoke about her son’s death and met Huang Tao’s father when he returned from work.
• Lin Chuan declined dinner, left two jade tablets as protective charms for Huang Tao’s parents, and departed to prepare to leave Earth.

Lin Chuan used his Sefirah to pull Huang Tao's and Zhou Mingrui's parents into a protected city in his own Sefirah space, then withdrew from Earth. He left the planet with plans to wait beyond the barrier until Klein awakened.

• Lin Chuan performed a ritual that drew part of his spirit into Sefirah Castle, then concealed his presence from the Celestial Worthy.
• Lin Chuan reshaped his Sefirah space into a city above a sea of stars and used jade plaques to pull Huang Tao's parents and Zhou Mingrui's parents into it as Light Cocoons.
• Lin Chuan erased traces of the rescued people's existence from Earth and confirmed that they had arrived safely.
• Lin Chuan decided not to rescue more people, reasoning that humanity needed enough survivors to preserve civilization after the Oldest One awakened.
• Lin Chuan used his authority to fade from existence and reappear elsewhere, then left Earth on May 5, 2018, beginning his journey through the stars.

Lin Chuan reflected on his loneliness after leaving Earth and decided not to bring people into space just to entertain himself. Reassured that nothing had awakened while he waited, he continued traveling through the cosmos in search of civilizations.

• Lin Chuan recalled exploring stars and practicing his powers, but admitted that the empty cosmos had made him lonely.
• Lin Chuan considered abducting people from Earth for company, then rejected the idea because he did not want to treat innocent people as toys.
• Lin Chuan worried that returning to Earth might cause the Oldest One to awaken, then waited in a star system and saw nothing happen.
• Lin Chuan wrote in his diary that he was not a protagonist whose life was arranged by a narrator, then returned the diary to his recreated bedroom.
• Lin Chuan reminded himself that his games and other entertainment could keep him occupied and that he might encounter other civilizations.
• Lin Chuan set out again, following his intuition deeper into the starry sky.

Zhou Mingrui performed the Luck Enhancement Ritual and found himself above an endless gray fog, where he accidentally summoned Audrey Hall and Alger. As he created a grand palace around them, a young man with black-framed glasses appeared and took a seat at the table.

• Zhou Mingrui prepared four loaves of rye bread and performed the ritual, hoping it could send him back to his former world.
• Zhou Mingrui awoke above the gray fog and reached toward two crimson stars, triggering waves of light in Backlund and aboard a ship on the Sonia Sea.
• A young man with black-framed glasses opened his eyes inside a suspended cocoon above the gray fog.
• Audrey Hall asked the mysterious man if she could leave and then eagerly asked how to become a Beyonder, while Alger watched in silence.
• The gray fog formed a grand palace with a Bronze Long Table, and the mysterious man brought Audrey and Alger to seats across from each other.
• A young man with black-framed glasses emerged from the fog, commented on the palace, and sat in the seventh chair on the left.

Lin Chuan unexpectedly appeared at the Tarot Club and greeted Zhou Mingrui as an old acquaintance. Zhou Mingrui concealed his shock and answered cautiously, while Audrey and Alger tried to infer the relationship between the two.

• Lin Chuan examined Audrey, Alger, and Zhou Mingrui before taking a seat at the Bronze Long Table.
• Lin Chuan greeted Zhou Mingrui with, “Long time no see.”
• Zhou Mingrui was startled by Lin Chuan’s solid appearance but hid his reaction and replied, “You’re here.”
• Audrey concluded that Zhou Mingrui had expected Lin Chuan and quietly noted the seat Lin Chuan had chosen.
• Alger studied Zhou Mingrui’s response, suspected Lin Chuan held a high standing, and chose to remain silent.

Lin Chuan joined Zhou Mingrui, Audrey, and Alger in Sefirah Castle, startling Zhou Mingrui by speaking Chinese and hinting that he knew him. When Audrey asked how to become a Beyonder, Lin Chuan offered a deceptively simple answer, leaving the others to consider his advice.

• Lin Chuan told Zhou Mingrui that he was there, then said in Chinese that he should not be there.
• Zhou Mingrui wondered if Lin Chuan was a fellow transmigrator and recognized him as Lin Chuan.
• Alger stayed cautious while Audrey waited for Lin Chuan to address her question about becoming a Beyonder.
• Lin Chuan told Audrey to find the Blasphemy Slate, choose a Pathway from it, and become a Beyonder.

Lin Chuan explained how people became Beyonders and told Audrey that she could buy early Sequence Potion formulas through informal channels. The chapter left Audrey curious about finding a reliable seller while Alger worried that Lin Chuan had seen through him.

• After Lin Chuan joked that reading the Blasphemy Slate was the best way to become a Beyonder, he explained that it recorded twenty-two Sequence Pathways and their Potion formulas.
• Lin Chuan advised Audrey to seek a Beyonder mentor or join an established organization, but Audrey said she wanted to keep her freedom.
• Lin Chuan warned Audrey that secret organizations could expose members to evil gods, then suggested buying the formulas she needed.
• Audrey asked whether she could buy Potion formulas with gold pounds, and Lin Chuan said early Sequence formulas could be obtained through trade.
• When Audrey asked for legitimate, reliable channels, Lin Chuan listed underground trading, gray areas, and recommendations from acquaintances.

Audrey learned that the greatest danger in buying potion formulas was not being able to verify they were complete and safe. When she asked how to address the two mysterious figures, Lin Chuan gave his name as Temperance.

• Lin Chuan listed common gray-market dangers and prompted Alger to explain that unaffiliated Beyonders could not verify a formula's authenticity.
• Alger warned Audrey that formulas could be deceptively altered, and Lin Chuan explained that a flawed Sequence 9 potion could fail, cause mutation, or lead to losing control.
• Alger said trustworthiness mattered more than ingredients or formulas, while Lin Chuan secretly replenished Klein's spirituality to help him maintain the Tarot Club gathering.
• Audrey asked how Alger would verify a formula, and Alger offered to sell her two Sequence 9 formulas he guaranteed were genuine.
• Audrey asked how to address Klein and Lin Chuan, and Lin Chuan answered, "Temperance."

Lin Chuan introduced himself as Temperance, and Klein named himself the Fool as Audrey and Alger joined their gathering. Alger presented Audrey with two Sequence 9 options, Sailor and Spectator, while Lin Chuan revealed that Spectator belonged to the Dragon pathway.

• Lin Chuan chose Temperance as his code name, and Klein introduced himself as the Fool.
• Audrey and Alger recognized the two names as Tarot cards and addressed the pair as Mr. Fool and Mr. Temperance.
• Alger asked the Fool to witness a transaction between him and Audrey, and Klein agreed.
• Alger described the Sailor potion’s abilities and its ancient name, Sea’s Favorite.
• Alger explained the Spectator potion’s powers and warned that a spectator must remain an onlooker.
• Lin Chuan said that Spectator had no ancient potion name, but its pathway had once been called the Dragon pathway.