Chen Lun

Biodata

Power Progression

Latest Recorded Statistics

Background / History

Chen Lun grew up in a family that was comfortable without being wealthy. His father died from a hereditary disease that both Chen Lun and his younger sister inherited. Their mother subsequently abandoned them, leaving the siblings dependent on social welfare and unable to afford treatment. After his sister died, Chen Lun wanted chiefly to see more of the world during his own limited remaining life 4.

In Age of Mysteries, he was a middle-ranked player who favored exploration, lore and hidden side quests over competitive strength. He traveled alone, recorded local customs and stories, and shared his discoveries on the game’s forums, earning the nickname Mysterious Crawler. His previous character followed the Moon Faction pathway 2 17 20.

He awakens inside the game world as a prisoner intended for sacrifice by the Red Apple Church. His panel identifies him as an NPC, with more than 407 days remaining before the version 1.0 public beta. Although he retains quests, item inspection and leveling functions, he no longer trusts that player resurrection applies to him and treats death as permanent 1 2 30.

Appearance

• Hair: Black, slightly curly and long enough to fall messily across his face 9.
• Build and bearing: A young man described as handsome; his initial panel calls him a “somewhat handsome young fisherman” 2 9.
• Initial clothing: A ragged linen garment secured with a strip of cloth, with a handmade shell necklace around his neck 2.
• Transformed features: Animal Mimicry can give him serpentine eyes, a forked tongue and dark-gold pangolin scales. These traits disappear when he returns to his ordinary appearance 13 15 40 49.

Personality

Chen Lun combines genuine sympathy with calculated opportunism. He uses Froy’s attachment to her deceased brother—and the necklace’s hypnosis—to approach her, but his account of losing his own sister is true. He intends to rescue Froy even before receiving the hidden quest, and later risks his life rather than abandon her to Father Carter 3 4 13 15.

He is patient when deception offers better odds than force. In prison, he maintains a convincing mindless act despite beatings, deliberately slows his diary interpretations to keep Will dependent on him, and prepares an escape over several days. He also knows when to retreat: his shouted challenge to the armored guards is a distraction for an immediate getaway 4 6 9 13.

His humor often turns self-interest into exaggerated declarations of righteousness. He plans to sell scarce items and copied knowledge to future players while describing these schemes as helping them. Against enemies, however, he is ruthless: he kills gang members and bandits, brainwashes Gary, and conceals Kent’s death from Mrs. Caroline 17 25 28 43 44 46.

Abilities & Skills

NPC Panel and Game Knowledge

Chen Lun retains several game-system functions despite becoming an NPC 2 30.

• Accepts quests, earns EXP, allocates points and inspects mystical items 3 10 11.
• Stores money and mystical substances through his panel 24 43.
• Uses remembered lore to identify threats, recognize future figures and locate possible quest opportunities 2 3 21 34.
• His knowledge is incomplete: the hidden Fate Faction pathway is largely unfamiliar, unlike the Moon Faction route he previously followed 20 49.
• Sanity reaching zero triggers an instant-death state; witnessing corruption and using certain items can reduce it 1 3.

Beast Speech and Animal Assistance

Beast Speech lets Chen Lun communicate with animals and enlist their help 6 7.

• Rats map the prison, report guard positions, remove excavated soil and distribute keys to captives 7 9 11 12.
• Rats and bats distract or attack enemies; a crow helps locate the bandit camp 12 13 14 27.
• A stray dog guides him during the rescue of Froy and Connie 39 40.
• At maximum level, communication extends to certain supernatural animals and beings that qualify as animals conceptually 20.
• The irrational, corrupted Rotting Hounds cannot be turned against their handlers through his animal-control abilities 13.

Animal Mimicry

Animal Mimicry copies useful animal traits through prolonged contact. Chen Lun raises it from LV1 to its maximum level of five 7 11.

• Pangolin Armor protects him during a blunderbuss barrage and later lets him break a bodyguard’s dagger with his fist 39 49.
• Friend of Animals LVMAX is also listed among his passive skills, though its separate mechanics are not explained in the supplied passages 11 45.

Hypnosis — Siren’s Song

His shell necklace influences minds rather than merely inducing sleep 3.

• Affects targets with less than 25 Willpower; each use costs one Sanity 3.
• Used to persuade Walsh, interrogate Kent and turn Gary into a devoted subordinate 17 37 43.
• Can be resisted or dispelled by protective mystical items, including Carter’s Golden Apple Pendant and Feldman’s oil painting 15 49.
• Repeated use risks exhausting his limited Sanity 5.

Transcription

The Record-Keeper subclass allows him to reproduce low-sequence Transcendent knowledge using mystical materials 44.

• Creates copies that he plans to sell to future players 44.
• At maximum level, memorizes acquired Sequence knowledge so he can transcribe it without retaining the original book 44.

Combat and Fisherman Skills

• Combines high Dexterity, firearms, blades, animal distractions and bodily transformations rather than relying on a single weapon 11 12 14 49.
• Uses repeating flintlocks effectively while evading return fire and closing into melee 49.
• Retains Quick Hands and Sharp Eyes LV1 and Sea Legs LV1 from his Fisherman subclass; he deliberately leaves these passive skills unupgraded 2 20.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Siren’s Song: Damaged Grade B occult artifact fashioned into a shell necklace. Grants +2 Charisma while worn and enables hypnosis at a Sanity cost 2 3.
• Philip’s Diary: Quest item containing the Beast Tamer’s Handbook; the source of his first supernatural class and skills 6.
• Surging Badge: Grade D mystical item recovered after Carter’s death. Grants +2 Strength and +2 Endurance, but increases hunger and appetite 17.
• Tongue of Gluttony: Grade C mystical hand crossbow taken after defeating Stuarton. Its attacks inflict extreme hunger, temporary maximum-health loss and localized flesh consumption; its use drains stamina 23 24 25.
• Repeating flintlocks: Supernatural Workshop firearms capable of firing multiple shots; used against bandits, gang members and Feldman’s bodyguards 28 41 49.
• Record-Keeper Kemberney’s Memoirs: Kent’s family heirloom, which unlocks the Record-Keeper subclass 37 44.
• Mad Hands Prototype Drawing — Fireworks in the Palm: Mystically imbued oil painting awarded after the Iron Fist Gang quest. A sufficiently skilled craftsman has a small chance of reproducing the depicted mechanical glove 44.
• Mechanical gauntlets and homemade blunderbuss: Captured weapons later given to Connie for study. Chen Lun considers the crude gauntlets inferior to his own strength and scales 28 40 45.
• Low-sequence Flesh Faction mysterious substance: Holds seven portions by Chapter 45; useful for crafting supernatural items, artificial mysterious objects and future advancement 24 45.

Relationships

• Froy — Rescued companion whose fate he seeks to change. She associates him with the safety once provided by her brother; he promises to keep her alive and seeks treatment for her corruption 4 7 21 30.
• Connie — Hired household maid whom he rescues alongside Froy. He supplies weapons for her to study and offers money for her father’s medicine 35 39 45 48.
• Mrs. Caroline — Kindly neighbor at No. 7 Denton Street. She helps Froy learn cooking, worries about Chen Lun’s livelihood and assists his approach to Taut 34 46 47.
• Walsh — Silver Dragon Trade Association caravan manager who transports him and Froy. Although their first arrangement involves hypnosis, Chen Lun considers him worth knowing 17 19 26 30.
• Gary — Iron Fist Gang leader defeated and hypnotized into obedience. Provides money, information and access to the gang’s resources 42 43 45.
• Kent — Neighbor who helps arrange the attack on Froy. Chen Lun forces him to confess, obtains his family memoirs and later acknowledges privately that he has killed him 35 37 46.
• Taut — Proprietor of the Old Cripple Bookshop. Refuses to sell his Earth Faction knowledge tome, prompting Chen Lun to enlist Mrs. Caroline’s help 45 47.
• Alexis — Eccentric bard rescued from the bandit camp. Chen Lun becomes suspicious when Alexis knows his alias despite never being told it 29 30.
• Red Apple Church — Enemy organization responsible for his captivity. After he destroys its Jadeite Town branch, it declares him a sworn enemy to be hunted until one side is dead 1 26.
• Feldman — Butler connected to Gary and Councilor Daniel. Chen Lun confronts him while searching for information that might lead to Dolly 43 48 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Escape from Apple Orchard Prison

• Accepts the A-rank hidden quest chain to rescue Froy and avoids the mind-altering communion apples on her warning 4.
• Exploits Will’s interest in Philip’s Diary to obtain better treatment while secretly learning supernatural abilities and digging an escape route 6 7 9.
• Kills Will, frees the sacrificial offerings and draws the guards away from their escape 10 12.
• Escapes through his tunnel, then battles Carter to save the recaptured Froy. Turns the Sun-Averting Potted Plant against the priest by provoking his pendant’s solar power, but Froy loses her sight 13 15 16 20.

Jadeite Town and the Red Apple Church

• Cares for Froy after the escape and selects Dolly, the future “Big Eater,” as a possible source of high-sequence Flesh School mystical substance 20 21.
• Defeats Stuarton while the monk is possessed by Bishop Newman, destroys the church’s communication goblet and takes Tongue of Gluttony 24.
• Destroys the Jadeite Town branch, earning EXP, money, mystical substance and regional renown before leaving for Amber City 26.

Arrival in Amber City

• Eliminates a bandit camp en route, freeing abducted craftsmen and Alexis while discovering crude copies of Mad Hands 27 28 29.
• Settles in the outer district because he and Froy lack legitimate identification 30 32.
• Pursues Dolly to stabilize Froy’s corruption and hopes to locate Philip’s Legacy before the public beta begins 30.

Iron Fist Gang and the Search for Knowledge

• Rescues Froy and Connie from the Iron Fist Gang, invades its headquarters and brings Gary under his control 37 39 41 42 43.
• Learns that Feldman supplied the gang’s support and manufacturing orders, creating a lead toward Councilor Daniel and potentially Dolly 43 48.
• Unlocks Record-Keeper, reaches Level 30 and searches books for the knowledge needed to advance beyond Sequence 9 44 45 47.
• Confronts Feldman, kills his enhanced bodyguards and overpowers the Moon Faction abilities borrowed from his spirit-summoning painting 49.

Notable Quotes

“I, Chen Lun, never leave my name when I do a good deed. If you absolutely must know, just call me Red Scarf!” 12

“I said I would change her fate...” 15

“Toward the future.”
— His answer when Froy asks where they are going 26