Chapter Summaries

After defeating the Spiny Fish, Xiao Hao learned that the test server’s seven-day run was ending and prepared for Ghost’s arrival. He traded his Shield Card for a Curse-Kill Card, then waited anxiously as night approached.

• Xiao Hao checked his Spirit Pearl haul and learned from the comments that the test server had a level cap of 10, multiple versions, and a break after its seven-day run.
• Xiao Hao reviewed marketplace offers and traded with another player, giving up his Shield Card for a Curse-Kill Card on the condition that any remaining shield duration be returned.
• The other player survived a giant creature’s passage and returned the Shield Card with only three seconds remaining.
• The other player flirted with Xiao Hao and revealed she was a girl, but Xiao Hao ended the chat after testing how far she would go.
• Xiao Hao reviewed his ten cards as darkness approached and waited for Ghost to arrive.

Xiao Hao used his cards and Darkness Domains to survive the Deep-Sea Ghost's attack by a school of Primordial Snailfish, turning the assault into a source of Spirit Pearls. After upgrading the Coral Shell Room and his creatures, he faced the Ghost directly and planned to eat while preparing for their decisive battle in the early morning.

• Xiao Hao saw a school of Primordial Snailfish approaching the Coral Shell Room, with the Deep-Sea Ghost driving them toward it.
• Xiao Hao used the Slowdown Card, Maintenance Card, and his seahorses' Darkness Domains, then activated the Calm Card to stop the snailfish from healing.
• Xiao Hao used the Magic Defense Card to reduce the damage from the corrosive liquid left by the dying snailfish while the Ghost rotated fresh waves into the attack.
• Xiao Hao upgraded the nearly ruined Coral Shell Room to level 9, gained Spirit Pearls from the dead snailfish, and upgraded his seahorses and mantis shrimp to level 9.
• After the last snailfish died, the Ghost attacked the Coral Shell Room, and Xiao Hao recalled his exhausted seahorses and planned to eat before the early-morning battle.

Xiao Hao drugged the Deep-Sea Ghost with sleeping pills hidden in beer, then endured its assault on the Coral Shell Room through the night. At dawn, he held back his Curse-Kill Card as the badly injured Ghost kept attacking.

• Xiao Hao grilled Prehistoric Spiny Shrimp meat, traded a plate for half a bottle of sleeping pills, and mixed the pills into a beer for the Ghost.
• The Ghost ate the meat and crushed the beer can, swallowing the metal shards; after drinking the drugged beer, it became dazed but soon resumed attacking the window.
• Xiao Hao upgraded the Coral Shell Room and Guardian to level 10, then used the Seahorse's Darkness Domain to keep fighting the Ghost through the night.
• When daylight weakened the Ghost, Xiao Hao used the Double Card and Rebound Card to survive its final attacks, while the Ghost continued clawing at the room.
• The Curse-Kill Card became usable when the Ghost's health fell to 30%, but Xiao Hao held it back as the injured Ghost chose to keep attacking rather than retreat.

Xiao Hao used his cards and Guardians to defeat the Ghost after it attacked the Coral Shell Room. He returned home shaken and checked the game panel, hoping to claim a reward.

• Xiao Hao secretly replenished the Coral Shell Room's magic with Spirit Pearls while the Ghost's health steadily fell.
• The Ghost unleashed its ultimate attack, but Xiao Hao used a Shield Card to protect the room and a Payback Card to turn the attack back on it.
• Xiao Hao used a Silence Card to pin the wounded Ghost in place while the Peacock Mantis Shrimp attacked, but the Ghost broke free and tried to escape.
• Xiao Hao activated his Curse-Kill Card, binding the Ghost in purple talismanic ribbons until it turned to ash after cursing him in the name of the Deep-Sea Ghost clan.
• Xiao Hao recalled his Guardians, returned to the Coral Shell Room, and opened the game panel to look for a reward.

After defeating the Deep-Sea Ghost, Xiao Hao collected a major reward and learned from viewers that ghosts were dead players. As the closed beta ended and the real world faced an awakening terror, he discovered Deep-Sea Survival was only one of many survival games.

• Xiao Hao read comments from veteran players praising his tactics and learned that ghosts could be dead players from different races.
• Xiao Hao received 6,000 Spirit Pearls and the Ghost Scythe Ring, which let him turn his fingers into controllable Reaper’s Scythes.
• Xiao Hao reviewed the notification announcing a seven-day closed beta break, an expansion to 10,000 players per game, and terror entering the real world.
• Xiao Hao realized the phrase “each type of survival game” meant multiple survival games existed, and viewers named Nightmare Survival, Fog Survival, Eternal Night Survival, and Space Survival.

After returning to reality, Xiao Hao realized seven days in the survival game had passed in only two real-world days and decided to keep working to avoid revealing he was a player. At the office, a giant cockroach appeared, and Xiao Hao watched as Director Liu went out to confront it.

• Xiao Hao woke in his rented room, remembered the survival game, and discovered that seven game days had passed while only two days had elapsed in reality.
• Xiao Hao checked the news about missing people returning, then went to work and concealed his recent transformation from his colleagues.
• Director Liu summoned Xiao Hao over his unfinished marketing proposal and lectured him about working hard, but Xiao Hao refused to volunteer for weekend overtime.
• Screams about an enormous cockroach broke out in the office, and Director Liu stormed outside to deal with it while Xiao Hao watched.

A giant mutant cockroach attacked Xiao Hao’s workplace, but Xiao Hao’s presence frightened it into fleeing. After the police eliminated the cockroach, Xiao Hao realized they were severely shorthanded, and a detective watched him closely as he left.

• Director Liu and his coworkers discovered a huge mutant cockroach crawling through the office, and it chased Director Liu into his room.
• Director Liu tried to shove Xiao Hao toward the cockroach, but Xiao Hao’s strength held him in place and the monster sensed danger in him.
• The cockroach retreated from Xiao Hao, who told Director Liu that overcoming fear could make mutated creatures fear humans again.
• Xiao Hao left the office while Director Liu called for help, and police later arrived and eliminated the cockroach.
• Xiao Hao noticed the police were too shorthanded to take formal statements, then went home as a detective watched him closely.

Captain Wang suspected Xiao Hao had frightened the mutated cockroach through an unexplained ability and investigated him as a possible player. He visited Xiao Hao with several officers, and Xiao Hao opened the door to face him.

• Captain Wang ordered officers to collect the cockroach and review surveillance footage after concluding that something had frightened it more than the armed police.
• Xiao Hao searched online and found reports of mutated creatures appearing around the world, then stayed home to gather information.
• The Dragon Kingdom established the Dragon Transformation Pool, and Captain Wang was assigned to help find players still hiding among the population.
• Captain Wang placed Xiao Hao near the top of the suspected-player list and decided to visit him with several officers.
• The officers discussed Xiao Hao's difficult past as they traveled to his apartment, then knocked on his door.
• Xiao Hao opened the door and recognized Captain Wang from the police squad that had responded to the cockroach incident.

Wang Hegang questioned Xiao Hao about his encounter with the Mutant Cockroach and suspected he was a player, but Xiao Hao concealed what he knew and rejected the Dragon Kingdom’s offers. Wang Hegang left without recruiting him, though he kept Xiao Hao on the suspect list, and Xiao Hao watched the team depart, finally at ease.

• Wang Hegang visited Xiao Hao’s cramped apartment and took him and the officers to a café for a private conversation.
• Wang Hegang questioned Xiao Hao’s calmness around the Mutant Cockroach and its unusual behavior, while Xiao Hao played ignorant and avoided the traps in his questions.
• Wang Hegang accused Xiao Hao of being a player and offered support, justice, and material benefits, but Xiao Hao acted confused and declined the offer of redress.
• After learning Xiao Hao had paid the café bill, Wang Hegang concluded that he would not join the Dragon Transformation Pool and ended the meeting.
• Wang Hegang kept Xiao Hao on the list of suspects despite finding no proof, while Xiao Hao watched the team leave and finally felt at ease.

Xiao Hao followed the news about the survival games as the Dragon Kingdom and foreign players argued over weapons, while wealthy people and celebrities fled abroad. After Director Liu fired him, Xiao Hao secured compensation and left his job, pleased with the payout as the game’s next update approached.

• Xiao Hao read online discussions about closed-beta players, then researched animal habitats and biology to prepare for future mutations.
• The Dragon Kingdom announced ten types of survival games and explained the rules, prompting widespread discussion and anger over foreign players’ apparent advantages with guns.
• Dragon Kingdom netizens discovered that wealthy people and celebrities had moved abroad and were showing off their guns, while Xiao Hao doubted those weapons would help in the game.
• Director Liu confronted Xiao Hao for watching the news at work, but Xiao Hao pointed out that the Dragon Transformation Pool’s commander had instructed employees to watch it.
• Director Liu fired Xiao Hao, and Xiao Hao negotiated compensation for his dismissal, unused leave, time off, and unpaid overtime before collecting his pay and leaving.

Xiao Hao encountered the Female Ghost Shadow of his deceased classmate Qiu Yanan, who demanded that he stay and help her. After confronting her about the burdens he had endured, he saw multiple ghost shadows closing in and read a game notification that enraged him.

• Xiao Hao sensed danger on his walk home and saw a mangled Female Ghost Shadow take shape beneath a streetlight.
• The ghost revealed herself as Qiu Yanan, his former middle school classmate, and asked him to save her and stay with her.
• Xiao Hao refused, explaining that he had been unable to protect himself and could not be expected to save her.
• Xiao Hao challenged Qiu Yanan for idealizing his strength without understanding his struggles, then turned to leave.
• Several identical Female Ghost Shadows crawled along a wall toward Xiao Hao as he opened his game panel.
• Xiao Hao read a scrolling game notification and grew angry at the people from the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Xiao Hao escaped Qing Feng’s test by exploiting the Ghost Shadows’ and Ghost Infant’s need for logical reasons to attack each other. Qing Feng took Xiao Hao off his suspect list, while Xiao Hao returned home without realizing how close he had come to a real fight.

• Xiao Hao fled from Qing Feng’s Ghost Shadows while pretending to be an ordinary person, then stopped when a Ghost Infant blocked his path.
• Xiao Hao distracted the Ghost Infant by directing it toward a Female Ghost Shadow and persuaded the Ghost Shadows to help him, creating a standoff between them.
• Xiao Hao slipped away while the monsters remained frozen, and Qing Feng recalled his Guardians after he emerged from hiding.
• Qing Feng concluded that Xiao Hao was not a Nightmare Survival player and crossed his name off his suspect list.
• Xiao Hao evaded pursuit, returned to his home, and decided to shower and sleep before reviewing survival information the next day.

Xiao Hao agreed to attend Jin Chuanfu’s lavish class reunion, then discovered he had been left off the guest list and confronted Jin about the slight. The exchange revived Xiao Hao’s suspicion that Jin had helped force him out of high school.

• Xiao Hao accepted the reunion invitation but told Jin Chuanfu he did not need a gift.
• Xiao Hao read the livestream comments and was pleased to learn Qing Feng had crossed him off his list of suspected players.
• A security guard stopped Xiao Hao at the hotel because his name was missing from the guest list.
• Jin Chuanfu brought the classmates to the entrance and claimed he had forgotten to add Xiao Hao’s name.
• Xiao Hao quoted Jin’s invitation back to him and told him not to throw his courtesy back in his face.
• Xiao Hao recalled Jin’s jealousy and suspected he had played a part in forcing him to drop out of high school.

At his middle school reunion, Xiao Hao realized Jin Chuanfu was using the gathering to recruit Survival Game players through classmates’ connections. Jin Chuanfu’s deliberate slight turned Xiao Hao into an enemy, and Xiao Hao resolved to destroy the Jin family when the time was right.

• Xiao Hao arrived in casual clothes and traded awkward remarks with Du Shijie, while Lin Nanyao urged him not to go too far.
• Jin Chuanfu addressed the reunion and announced gifts before explaining that he wanted classmates to connect him with anyone they knew who was a Survival Game player.
• Xiao Hao recognized Jin Chuanfu’s recruitment plan as an application of the six degrees of separation theory and realized the Jin family was investing in a network of intermediaries.
• Xiao Hao concluded that Jin Chuanfu had ignored his father’s advice to build good relationships and had needlessly made a top-tier player his enemy.
• Xiao Hao decided he would wait until the right moment to wipe out the Jin family.

A temporary wave of biological evolution unleashed monsters across the real world, forcing Xiao Hao and the people around him to seek shelter while players and the military fought back. The chapter ended with the Dragon Kingdom revealing three elite player-defenders aboard a flying aircraft carrier.

• Jin Chuanfu offered rewards for recruiting players, prompting several classmates, including Du Shijie, to side with him against Xiao Hao.
• A system notification announced the evolution wave, and emergency broadcasts ordered people to return home and secure their buildings.
• Xiao Hao fled the hotel, then secretly returned using Shadow Transformation to escort Lin Nanyao home without revealing himself.
• Giant ants emerged from a subway station, and fighter jets killed them as the Dragon Kingdom livestreamed its response.
• Players with guardians and abilities from different survival games battled the growing monsters, while many oversized creatures began appearing across the city.
• The Dragon Kingdom revealed Wu Ting, Mu Saying, and Qing Feng as its public defenders aboard a flying aircraft carrier.

As the evolutionary tide subsided, a level-ten giant tree and Flower Eagle overwhelmed the Dragon Kingdom’s players and threatened Blue Dragon City. Qing Feng’s Ceramic Ghost Infant parasitized the tree, turning its leaves to ceramic and weakening it as the chapter ended with the tree dying.

• Blood-Red Sparrows and a Giant Eagle protected the aircraft carrier while Wu Ting’s dinosaurs, aided by Qing Feng’s Ghost Shadow, hunted monsters in the suburbs.
• Xiao Hao recognized Blue Dragon City in the livestream and watched as the giant tree and Flower Eagle emerged as powerful threats.
• Mu Saying sent the White-Eyed Eagle against the Flower Eagle, while Wu Ting’s dinosaurs attacked the tree, but both monsters proved stronger than the players could handle.
• The giant tree drained nearby monster corpses to regenerate and grow, while its expanding crown spread over Blue Dragon City and tanks failed to stop it.
• Qing Feng announced that it had worked, and the Ceramic Ghost Infant transformed the tree’s leaves into ceramic, causing its branches and roots to wither as the Velociraptors escaped.

The Flower Eagle overwhelmed the Dragon Kingdom’s forces and flew into Blue Dragon City, leaving the leaders pressured by citizens’ pleas and foreign countries’ demands for aircraft carriers. As the Dragon Kingdom prepared to consider a sacrifice, the commander of the Dragon Transformation Pool noticed something unusual.

• The Ghost Infant emerged from the Giant Tree, shrank, and returned to Qing Feng, while Xiao Hao slipped away into a wrecked menswear store.
• The Flower Eagle proved too powerful for the Dragon Kingdom’s weakened Guardians and flew into Blue Dragon City as its defenders fell back.
• Foreign viewers mocked the Dragon Kingdom and other countries offered help in exchange for aircraft carriers, while Blue Dragon City’s citizens pleaded for rescue.
• The Dragon Kingdom’s leaders rejected abandoning their people, despite recognizing that surrendering aircraft carriers would threaten their country’s security.
• As the commander of the Dragon Transformation Pool prepared to agree to the foreign countries’ demands, he noticed something unusual.

Xiao Hao confronted Flower Eagle on the hotel rooftop, and the Ghost Scythe Ring’s aura terrified the special boss and nearby monsters. After learning how powerful his equipment was, he challenged the foreigners coveting the Dragon Kingdom’s aircraft carrier, leaving his identity hidden beneath the Shadow Mask.

• Xiao Hao walked through the devastated street toward the hotel as Flower Eagle flew in to attack it.
• Xiao Hao leapt onto the hotel rooftop, cracking it, and activated his Ghost Scythe Ring as Flower Eagle approached.
• Flower Eagle stopped in fear, while Ghost Infant and the other monsters and Guardians reacted to Xiao Hao’s overwhelming aura.
• Viewers explained that the Ghost Scythe Ring carried the power of the nearly level-20 Deep-Sea Ghost and suppressed lower-tier monsters.
• Xiao Hao asked whether the foreigners wanted the aircraft carrier, then warned them that taking it might burn their hands.

Xiao Hao intimidated foreign leaders who wanted the aircraft carrier, then had his Shadow Seahorses capture and kill the Flower Eagle. He stood atop a hotel in Blue Dragon City as the sunset turned the shattered city into a red sea, leaving livestream viewers awestruck.

• Xiao Hao’s threatening words frightened foreign leaders into withdrawing their hackers and paid trolls rather than pressure the Dragon Kingdom.
• The Flower Eagle tried to flee Xiao Hao, but seven Shadow Seahorses emerged and chased it down.
• The Shadow Seahorses bound the Flower Eagle in Shadow Ribbons and drained its life while viewers watched around the world.
• The Shadow Seahorses returned to Xiao Hao’s side after the Flower Eagle died.
• Xiao Hao stood atop the hotel as the sunset painted Blue Dragon City red, and livestream viewers stared in awe.

Dragon Kingdom netizens defended their unseen top player, while senior officials tried to recruit Xiao Hao into the Dragon Transformation Pool. Xiao Hao recognized that the country needed him as a symbol of national confidence and delivered a pointed warning about how it treated its players.

• Dragon Kingdom netizens mocked foreign commenters who doubted Xiao Hao's strength and claimed he might belong to another country.
• Senior officials ordered their subordinates to contact Xiao Hao and meet his conditions without angering him.
• Wu Ting invited Xiao Hao to join the Dragon Transformation Pool and promised that membership would not restrict his freedom, but Xiao Hao refused.
• Qing Feng stressed that the Dragon Kingdom needed Xiao Hao, and Xiao Hao realized that his presence could reassure the country amid its shortage of players.
• Xiao Hao told the livestream audience that the Dragon Kingdom was united and did not dissect its players for experiments.