Recaps

Mu Daxian exposed two Impersonator Art Students who had been stalking the group and forced one to recharge four petrified light bulbs. He sent the reconstructed two-headed Impersonator off with the bulbs, while Mao Feiyang asked whether Mu Daxian had a backup plan if it fled.

• Mu Daxian lit painted streetlamps, driving the hidden Humanoid Sculptures into pain and revealing two Impersonator Art Students.
• Mu Daxian restrained the Impersonators and removed their limbs while demanding to discuss a favor.
• Mu Daxian persuaded one Impersonator to recharge four petrified light bulbs by siphoning energy from the underworld in the woods.
• Mu Daxian assembled the two Impersonators into one two-headed figure and sent it away with the bulbs, threatening to feed its parts to the Impersonator sculptures if it failed to return.
• Mao Feiyang asked whether Mu Daxian's backup plan involved blowing up streetlamps by hand again.

Mu Daxian explained how the Impersonator Art Students and Experience Students behaved in the gray fog while waiting for the Two-Headed Impersonator Art Student to return with four bulbs. After collecting the bulbs, he broke his promise and killed the Impersonator, leaving Mao Feiyang frightened of him.

• Mu Daxian told Mao Feiyang that the Impersonator Art Students followed a different faith rather than being outright anti-human, and said he was worried about running out of time.
• The gray fog spread through the mountain as night approached, and Mu Daxian explained how Impersonators could feed during Evening Self-Study and how killing them could attract dangerous attention.
• The Two-Headed Impersonator Art Student returned with four bulbs wrapped in its school uniform and handed them to Mu Daxian.
• Mu Daxian told the Impersonator Art Student to take its parts, then attacked and killed it with his drawing board.
• Mao Feiyang recoiled from Mu Daxian, who scolded him and asked why he was afraid.

Mu Daxian explained his plan to use the Impersonator Art Students in a deception feast and assembled them with night-walking species essence into a substitute. The chapter ended with Mao Feiyang realizing Mu Daxian had made the sculpture’s head look like him.

• Mu Daxian reassembled the dismembered Impersonator Art Students into a headless figure and explained that their origins could let them revive.
• Mu Daxian left Mao Feiyang to guard the figure, which came alive and reached for Mao Feiyang’s head.
• Mao Feiyang struck the figure with the drawing board, accidentally splitting it apart with a surge of jade-green energy.
• Mu Daxian returned, scolded Mao Feiyang, then explained that he planned to scramble the Impersonators’ cognition and use them as a substitute in the deception feast.
• Mu Daxian used essence from a night-walking species nest to assemble a half-finished Xenomorphic Sculpture with a head resembling Mao Feiyang’s.

Mu Daxian carried out the Cicada Shedding Plan, using Mao Feiyang’s identity coin and an impersonator to draw the Grinning Angels while the group headed for the Art Building elevator. As the plan approached the elevator, the real Mao Feiyang felt compelled to look toward the Bathroom.

• Mu Daxian explained that he would use an Impersonator Mao Feiyang to distract the Grinning Angels while the group escaped through the elevator, and he instructed Mao Feiyang to hide his identity.
• Mu Daxian carved Mao Feiyang’s Art Student Number onto a blank Student Commemorative Coin and laid out how the real Mao Feiyang should disguise himself and avoid reclaiming his identity.
• Mu Daxian woke Impersonator Mao Feiyang, gave him Mao Feiyang’s original coin, and used a mix of truths and lies to convince him that he was Mao Feiyang.
• Lin Yi’s dream vision jumped forward as a Grinning Angel pursued the group, and he realized that the events were taking place before lights-out in the Dormitory Building.
• Mu Daxian led Impersonator Mao Feiyang through the Teaching Building toward the elevator while the real Mao Feiyang followed; two Grinning Angels hovered nearby, weakened by light from Mu Daxian’s cloth bag.
• As the group neared the elevator lobby and Bathroom, Mao Feiyang felt an unexplained compulsion to look toward the Bathroom.

Mao Feiyang lost his face after the midnight ripple and realized he had to remain Faceless rather than reclaim his identity. In the elevator, six Grinning Angels drained the Impersonator Mao Feiyang while the real Mao Feiyang fought to keep his identity from taking hold.

• Mao Feiyang saw his reflection become a faceless figure and understood that he could not identify himself or assume another identity.
• Mu Daxian led the Impersonator Mao Feiyang and Mao Feiyang into the elevator, where six Grinning Angels surrounded them.
• The Grinning Angels drained the Impersonator Mao Feiyang until cracks spread across its body and its head fell off.
• Mao Feiyang saw the Impersonator Mao Feiyang's head reciting its identifying information and nearly anchored himself to the same identity.
• Mao Feiyang resisted identifying himself as Mao Feiyang when he sensed a Grinning Angel might have noticed him.

Mu Daxian tried to protect Mao Feiyang from the Grinning Angels as the elevator’s lights failed, while Lin Yi observed the gray fog and the strange source of the bulbs’ light from within his dream. The angels finally detected Mao Feiyang, but Mu Daxian drew them away by cutting his hand and became their target.

• Mu Daxian patched Impersonator Mao Feiyang’s crumbling head with stone fragments and a glowing bulb, but the angels soon drained his supernatural power and his body shattered into white powder.
• Mu Daxian used the bulbs’ light and a murmured rhythm to keep the Grinning Angels at bay while Mao Feiyang realized he had not been left to face them alone.
• Lin Yi observed gray malice evaporating in the light and a moth-like mark pulsing inside a bulb, then reasoned that the bulbs generated their own light from within.
• The last bulb went out, and gray fog spread through the elevator, causing Mu Daxian and Mao Feiyang to absorb it and begin turning bluish gray like sculptures.
• The Grinning Angels detected Mao Feiyang and approached him, so Mu Daxian cut his hand and drew all six angels toward himself.
• The Grinning Angels latched onto Mu Daxian’s arms and began draining his supernatural power, easing the pressure on Mao Feiyang.

Lin Yi witnessed Mu Daxian and Mao Feiyang escape the Grinning Angels, only to discover that the Art Building layer was under attack during the gray fog invasion. His dream then revealed that the Security Guard had sensed his future self, warned that time was a curse, and Lin Yi finally awakened in Dormitory 1414.

• Mu Daxian and Mao Feiyang escaped the elevator as the Grinning Angels pursued them, and the Art Teacher protected Mu Daxian with his Searchlight.
• Mu Daxian revealed that his petrified arm had been an illusion anchored by Mao Feiyang's cognition, and that he had hidden his real arm against his chest.
• Lin Yi's vision showed night-walking species swarming toward the Art Building during the gray fog invasion on May 9, Year X023.
• Lin Yi's dream shifted to his previous walk with the Security Guard, who seemed to sense Lin Yi watching and heard his past self ask whether his future self was present.
• The Security Guard warned that time was a curse, and Lin Yi woke in Dormitory 1414 at 6:23 to find Wei Liang packing his shoes.

After a disorienting night, Lin Yi learned that his roommates had taken turns watching over him and recounted his dream about Maozi and Mu Daxian. Their discussion raised the possibility that the Night Watchman Iron Laws restrained the Night Watchman, perhaps making the Art Building his cage.

• Lin Yi saw white powder vanish from his quilt and briefly saw his face become featureless in the mirror, then noticed the dormitory window was open and shut it.
• Tian Bufan revealed that Wei Shan had knocked away the creature that approached Lin Yi, and the roommates had taken turns staying awake to watch over him.
• Lin Yi described his dream, explaining that Maozi and Mu Daxian had visited campus and sharing clues about the Art Department, the Library, and Mu Daxian's knowledge of many rules.
• Lin Yi told the group about the black-apron Chefs and Mu Daxian's Night Watchman Iron Laws.
• Tian Bufan suggested that the Iron Laws might restrain the Night Watchman, and Lin Yi wondered whether the Art Building was also the Night Watchman's cage.

Lin Yi explained the entities called “It” and the Angel Sculptures to Tian Bufan, while the group reasoned through the Cafeteria’s layered structure and its dangers. As they entered the Cafeteria area, they sensed that something was wrong with the entire zone.

• Lin Yi described three kinds of “It,” the Angels and Angel Sculptures, and Mao Feiyang’s encounters with the Grinning Angels to Tian Bufan.
• Tian Bufan proposed the names “It-I,” “It-II,” and “It-III,” and he compared the Cafeteria’s different Layers to plies of tissue paper.
• Lin Yi and Tian Bufan reasoned that Cafeteria Rules about strangers prevented interactions between people on different Layers, while warning that Green Apron Chefs remained dangerous through contamination.
• Lin Yi asked Wei Shan how he could attack Green Apron Chefs, and Wei Shan said he did not know why he was unaffected by them.
• Lin Yi, Tian Bufan, and Wei Shan entered the area marked “Cafeteria-001” and sensed that something was wrong with the whole Cafeteria zone.

Lin Yi sensed that a hostile Layer in the Cafeteria area was trying to pull him away from the normal Layer. As he investigated, his Vision activated and revealed the area in black, white, and gray, leaving him poised to examine what was wrong.

• Lin Yi felt malice press against him as he entered the Cafeteria area, while Wei Liang noticed nothing unusual.
• Tian Bufan sensed an air of death, and he asked Lin Yi to use his Vision to investigate the area.
• Lin Yi realized that another Layer was calling to them and using malice to force them out of the normal Layer.
• As the sunlight vanished and the path distorted, Lin Yi's perspective separated from his body before returning, triggering his Vision.
• Lin Yi saw the Cafeteria area turn black, white, and gray, then spotted a clue as he examined his surroundings.

Lin Yi discovered that blood-like tomato sauce beneath the Pebble Road absorbed sunlight and sent blue supernatural power into streetlamps, helping stabilize the Cafeteria’s Layer during the day. He then identified an unnumbered streetlamp as the source of the malice and realized that stepping beyond the road had distorted his perception of the ground.

• Lin Yi used My Vision to observe blue steam rising from tomato sauce beneath the Pebble Road and flowing into a streetlamp, and he deduced that it helped restrain the Cafeteria’s Layer in daylight.
• Lin Yi told Tian Bufan and the others about his discovery, while Tian Bufan focused on finding out why the group had become targets of the malice.
• Lin Yi noticed a streetlamp with no visible number, found the number Cafeteria-051 at its base, and connected it to the Impersonator Experience Student’s actions the previous day.
• Lin Yi stepped beyond the Pebble Road, and Wei Liang pulled him back before he could enter the Wooded Belt.
• Lin Yi realized that he had perceived flat ground where there was actually a small slope, revealing that his cognition had been distorted.

Lin Yi discovered that the abandoned Cafeteria-051 Streetlamp Pole had stopped blocking supernatural forces, and traced the spreading malice to a Wooded Belt filled with ruined Chef sculptures and petrified Angel feathers. When an eyeball opened inside one feather, Lin Yi fell into another layer and was overwhelmed by a voice demanding that he worship the Angels.

• Lin Yi examined the unnumbered Cafeteria-051 Streetlamp Pole and realized Streetlamp Poles could block malice from other layers, while this abandoned one could not.
• Lin Yi followed the supernatural energy flowing down the slope and saw a mass of battered Chef sculptures in the Wooded Belt, which he suspected were Black Apron Chefs killed fighting Angel Sculptures.
• Lin Yi spotted petrified feather fragments among the sculptures and realized they came from Angel Sculptures, whose presence explained the overwhelming killing intent.
• An eyeball with golden circular patterns opened inside a feather fragment, and Lin Yi felt himself pulled into another layer.
• Lin Yi tried to orient himself using his Student ID, but a voice warped his thoughts and the Chef sculptures began chanting for him to worship the Angels.

Lin Yi resisted the Angel's Ashes by focusing on Boss, then discovered that the Wooded Belt's malice came from dead impersonator experience students and a feather-shaped sculpture. He explained what he had seen to Tian Bufan and the others as they continued walking, leaving Wei Liang to accuse him of fantasizing about him.

• Lin Yi broke free of the Angel's hypnotic influence by shouting that he believed in Boss and using memories of her to resist conversion.
• Lin Yi realized the Chef sculptures and the feather had pulled him into another layer, where dead impersonator experience students radiated malice through the inactive Streetlamp Poles.
• Lin Yi suspected the malice was bait meant to lure people who could sense it, then returned to the normal layer and found it was 7:00.
• Lin Yi told Tian Bufan and the others about the sculptures, the feather, and the newly formed impersonator experience students, then clarified the terms for different impersonators and night-walking species.
• Wei Liang teased Lin Yi about what he had imagined while resisting the Angel, then concluded that Lin Yi must have been fantasizing about him.

Lin Yi and his companions discovered that the Cafeteria Rules had been deliberately destroyed, then crossed a Student Passage that seemed to shift into a cold, gray-white layer. After a Blue Apron Chef appeared beyond the Plastic Air Curtain and vanished from view, Lin Yi entered the Student Dining Hall and realized Lao Mo was missing.

• Lin Yi told Tian Bufan that Mu Daxian and Maozi escaped the Gray Fog by using a plan that involved Student Commemorative Coins.
• Lin Yi explained that the Blue Apron Chef who seemed As If Present was Lao Mo, a black-apron chef and the Cafeteria's last line of defense.
• Wei Liang found the Cafeteria Rules missing, and Lin Yi concluded that someone had deliberately torn them up and discarded the paper scraps.
• Lin Yi noticed the Student Passage had turned gray-white and seemed lit by cold moonlight, though Tian Bufan urged everyone to keep going.
• Wei Liang lifted the Plastic Air Curtain, revealing a mist-shrouded Blue Apron Chef who turned toward him, but the curtain closed before Wei Liang saw it.
• The passage returned to its usual warm appearance as Experience Students emerged, and Lin Yi entered the Student Dining Hall before noticing Lao Mo was gone.

Lin Yi noticed the Student Passage had changed after Lao Mo disappeared and struggled to distinguish the Cafeteria’s ordinary reality from a frightening layer visible only to him. After grounding himself and reaching the meal window, he realized Wei Liang had avoided food that looked like stones, then saw the Impersonators in the shadows begin skipping frames when he swiped his student card.

• Lin Yi noticed that Lao Mo was gone and sensed that the Cafeteria had changed, with Impersonators waiting in the shadowed lines and Blue Apron Chefs drifting through the hall.
• Lin Yi saw the lines turn into rows of broken sculpture-like students and nearly succumbed to a strange call, but grounded himself by recalling people and scenes that stirred positive emotions.
• Tian Bufan said Lin Yi had only glanced aside, while Wei Shan confirmed that something had been wrong with him; Lin Yi continued through the line with his friends.
• Wei Liang ordered rice porridge and fried dough sticks, and Kuai Hongji and Tian Bufan ordered the same; Lin Yi noticed that the eggs and pickled mustard stems looked like stones.
• Lin Yi swiped his student card and saw the Impersonators watching him withdraw their attention, then begin skipping frames in his vision.

Lin Yi and his companions found the Cafeteria increasingly strange, and Wei Liang began leading them toward the Convenience Store using his unorthodox method. As Green Apron Chefs closed in, Wei Liang cried out, leaving the group’s escape unresolved.

• Lin Yi saw soul-like doubles in the Cafeteria queue and noticed human outlines and green vapor behind the Blue Apron Chefs.
• A pale figure appeared in Lin Yi’s tray reflection, and Wei Liang accidentally shattered the Blue Apron Chef behind him with a spinning tray.
• Tian Bufan asked Wei Liang to lead them to the Convenience Store so they could stock up on food.
• Wei Liang returned his tray to the Plate Return Area, then followed a route illuminated by sunlight or indoor lights while Green Apron Chefs emerged from Meal Window No. 10 and pursued the group.
• As the Green Apron Chefs drew close and Lin Yi prepared to fight, Wei Liang suddenly cried out.

Lin Yi and the others escaped the Cafeteria, collected food at the Convenience Store, and discussed the strange people and entities they had seen. The chapter ended as Lin Yi and Tian Bufan both brought up the dream from the previous night.

• Wei Liang stepped aside so sunlight struck and destroyed two and a half pursuing Green Apron Chefs, then led Lin Yi and the others to the Convenience Store.
• Lin Yi and the others selected food, followed the checkout reminders, and left the Student Dining Hall without incident; an unseen figure stood in the Convenience Store doorway as a scarred young man watched them go.
• Lin Yi and his group left the Cafeteria at 7:30 on May 9, Year X023, and Lin Yi recalled seeing people lining up at Meal Windows No. 1 and No. 5.
• Tian Bufan considered Lin Yi's account and suggested that the apparent figures might involve a problem with the layer they occupied, while a special being might have affected the Cafeteria's entities.
• Lin Yi and Tian Bufan discussed the absent Green Apron Chefs and the strange Blue Apron Chefs, then both began asking about the dream.

Lin Yi explained the supernatural streetlamps and the Gray Fog Invasion to Tian Bufan and the others as they discussed how to gather information and save Maozi. Tian Bufan warned the group about the coming danger, then revealed they had taken turns watching Lin Yi while he slept to learn what happened in the Dormitory.

• Lin Yi described how supernatural power fueled the streetlamps, and Tian Bufan suggested asking the Head Teacher for information while continuing to investigate.
• The group saw Mountain Man hurry toward the Cafeteria with a bulging backpack, and Lin Yi told them about his earlier encounter with Mountain Man in his dream.
• Tian Bufan showed unusual interest in Mountain Man, advised the group not to spend much effort investigating him, and asked Lin Yi to explain the Gray Fog Invasion.
• Lin Yi explained what he knew about the Gray Fog Invasion, and Tian Bufan said the Cafeteria crisis might be only the beginning and warned Kuai Hongji to be careful.
• Tian Bufan told Lin Yi that the group had taken turns keeping watch over him while he slept, hoping to learn what happened in the Dormitory at night.

Lin Yi listened as Wei Shan, Kuai Hongji, and Tian Bufan described the dormitory’s strange events overnight, including its apparent inversion and an intruder entering through the bathroom. On the way to the Teaching Building, the group noticed missing streetlamp numbers and considered whether they might have to shelter in the Gymnasium during the gray fog invasion.

• Wei Shan described feeling the dormitory flip upside down, hearing tapping at the window, and sensing a wet creature enter before the Dorm Supervisor restored the window and bathroom door.
• Kuai Hongji recounted the oppressive pressure and strange noises he experienced during his watch, while Tian Bufan said the dormitory settled back into position before morning.
• Lin Yi and Tian Bufan noticed that several streetlamps had lost their numbers and worried that the Cafeteria’s troubles could affect their return to the Dormitory Building.
• Tian Bufan suggested they inspect the Gymnasium during PE and consider it as a possible shelter, while Lin Yi worried about the angel sculptures mentioned in its rules.

Lin Yi noticed that the Campus moss grew in unnatural patterns and discovered that listening closely to it brought on a terrifying phenomenon, which he escaped by pulling himself away. He returned to class with Wei Liang and wondered how much his enigmatic classmate knew.

• Tian Bufan warned Lin Yi to be cautious about Song Rentou and told him to focus on questioning the Athlete Students and Head Teacher about the Gymnasium.
• Lin Yi noticed that moss grew on Building B's steps but not on the nearby Pebble Road or Streetlamp Pole, and he heard wind coming from it.
• As Lin Yi listened to the moss, the world turned gray and the moss seemed to grow into tentacles, but he snapped out of the experience by pushing himself upright.
• Lin Yi questioned how Wei Liang repeatedly led him to important discoveries, while Wei Liang insisted that he was merely riding Lin Yi's coattails.
• Lin Yi and Wei Liang entered Group B Class 2, where Head Teacher 040 waited for them to sign in, and Lin Yi's expression changed as he looked across the Lecture Hall.

Lin Yi found the Lecture Hall empty, studied Head Teacher 040’s attendance roster, and secretly memorized Song Rentou’s details when he arrived. Seeing a strange black silhouette behind Song Rentou triggered a disturbing vision, and Song Rentou then asked Lin Yi if they had met before.

• Lin Yi worried that the missing Experience Students might have been wiped out, then checked Head Teacher 040’s badge and studied the attendance roster.
• Hu Chuanchang and the other returning students arrived to sign in, followed by Song Rentou.
• Lin Yi covertly memorized Song Rentou’s student number, attendance records, and appearance while pretending to look elsewhere.
• Lin Yi saw a black, grinning silhouette behind Song Rentou as his vision distorted, but the figure slipped back inside Song Rentou when Lin Yi blinked.
• Song Rentou stopped Lin Yi and asked whether they had met before.

Lin Yi saw a faceless version of himself in the Bathroom mirror urging him to flee the Campus and kill Wei Liang, but Xu Shunkang interrupted him before he could act. On the way back, Lin Yi asked about the Gray Fog Invasion, prompting Xu Shunkang to demand how he had learned about it.

• Lin Yi left Song Rentou's classroom feeling tense after Song Rentou said he thought they had met before, while Song Rentou sensed someone watching him and searched the Lecture Hall.
• Lin Yi considered the danger posed by Grinning Angels near the Teaching Building's Elevator Area, then went to the Bathroom to inspect his eyes.
• Lin Yi saw blood vessels retreating from his eyeball and a golden glimmer, then heard a faceless reflection in the mirror command him to run and kill Wei Liang.
• Lin Yi felt a violent urge to smash the mirror, but Xu Shunkang grabbed his wrist and brought him back to his senses; Lin Yi realized he had climbed against the mirror.
• Lin Yi asked Xu Shunkang whether Xie Huayang had been injured during the Gray Fog Invasion, and Xu Shunkang pressed him to explain how he knew about it.
• Lin Yi claimed he had overheard someone in a dark green school uniform carrying a drawing board mention Impersonators, a Bell Sound, and the Art Building, easing Xu Shunkang's suspicion.

Xu Shunkang reported the class’s casualties and asked Head Teacher 040 about a suspected Tier Three threat, while Lin Yi learned that Xu had known about the Basement all along. As Lin Yi organized his clues, he realized Mu Daxian’s strange light bulb might be an Angel Sculpture’s eye, and the Grinning Angel appeared in his mind.

• Xu Shunkang identified Mu Daxian as someone who had left the Art Building and hurried to report the sighting to Boss.
• Xu Shunkang told Head Teacher 040 that three Athlete Students had died, six were injured, and the class had lost at least half its Experience Students.
• Xu Shunkang warned Head Teacher 040 that Teacher suspected something above Tier Three had appeared and advised her not to leave the office at night.
• Xu Shunkang explained that he had known about the Basement but had acted to keep others from thinking about it, leaving Lin Yi to realize their earlier misunderstanding.
• Lin Yi returned to his seat and recorded clues in his notebook, then suspected Mu Daxian’s concentric-ringed light bulb was an Angel Sculpture’s eye.
• Lin Yi pictured the Grinning Angel standing in the rain by the Stairwell exit, then turning half its face toward him.

Lin Yi recovered from a disturbing vision of the Grinning Angel and reasoned out what the marks in his notebook meant. He then spotted Mountain Man returning with a third bag, while Song Rentou watched him, and ended the chapter investigating a bizarre manga near the bookshelves.

• Lin Yi imagined the Grinning Angel turning to look at him, feared it was altering his Cognition, and tore up a sketch he had drawn unconsciously.
• Lin Yi noticed Song Rentou watching him and concluded that Song had already set his sights on him.
• Lin Yi worked out that blank, circled, and crossed-out names indicated different student statuses, while checkmarks and crosses recorded sign-ins.
• Lin Yi took Wei Liang's manga to swap for other books, then saw Mountain Man enter carrying a third bag as Song Rentou stared at it.
• Lin Yi secretly watched Mountain Man compare two pocket watches and write in a notebook, then tried reading a strange manga before a nearby book fell open.

Lin Yi discovered strange markings hidden in the scenery of Hentai Manga illustrations but could not decipher them, then went to give Head Teacher 040 a slip of paper. As Head Teacher 040 pulled him into the Teachers' Office to protect him from a supernatural presence, she asked what he had provoked, and Lin Yi began to suspect a recent encounter.

• Lin Yi noticed unusual lines hidden in the scenery in a manga, but he could not work out what information they encoded.
• Lin Yi saw Song Rentou leave the Teachers' Office after following Head Teacher 040, then decided to bring her his slip of paper anyway.
• Lin Yi went to the Teachers' Office with Wei Liang waiting outside, but Head Teacher 040 stopped him at the doorway and dragged him inside as a freezing, distorted presence appeared behind him.
• Head Teacher 040 recited a strange incantation and shut the office door, then asked Lin Yi what he had provoked.
• Lin Yi considered several supernatural beings he had encountered and suddenly thought of a possible cause.