Recaps

Lumian investigated suspicious details at Mushu Hospital, including Mother Superior Roland’s dream persona and Old Wang’s strange appearance at a window, then joined Xu Xinyang’s team for a welcome dinner. The chapter ended with Lumian drinking heavily while most of the team was incapacitated.

• Lumian visited Old Ding and Old Wang in the hospital ward, then noticed Mother Superior Roland listed as the hospital’s deputy director.
• Lumian asked Xu Xinyang about the hospital director and learned that President Huang had donated heavily to help establish Mushu Hospital.
• As the group descended in the elevator, Lumian sensed a supernatural chill and smelled blood, then saw Old Wang struggling behind a window on the twelfth floor.
• Lumian chose not to return to the hospital and went with Xu Xinyang’s team to a welcome dinner at a hot pot restaurant.
• Lumian outdrank Xu Xinyang and the other team members, leaving Xu pale and the rest of the group drunk or asleep.

Lumian and his companions prepared for Franca’s planned dinner with Zhou Mingrui and tested which mystical items the Star Dream General Store would buy. The chapter ended with Lumian meeting Anderson early outside Splendid Eastern Community and following him inside.

• Lumian returned to the rented apartment, where Franca and Jenna joined him to plan how Franca would hint at the truth to Zhou Mingrui during their dinner.
• Jenna recounted selling a painting at the Star Dream General Store, and the group chose several mystical items to offer there.
• Jenna tried to sell Panatiya’s Beyonder characteristic and the Corpse Oil Candle, but the shopkeeper refused both and offered thirty thousand for the Pride Armor after it tried to escape.
• Lumian arrived early at Splendid Eastern Community to survey the area and encountered Anderson Hood, who led him inside to begin the visit.

Lumian visited Anderson’s Mute Art Studio, where its paintings came alive and attacked him; he destroyed the painted Anderson and escaped. He later met Anderson Hood outside the community and headed to dinner with Anthony, while Franca and Rosanne waited for him at a hot pot restaurant.

• Lumian followed Anderson to Mute Art Studio and saw paintings depicting scenes that reminded him of Great Adventurer.
• Anderson revealed that the studio’s rules required everyone to act mute, then showed Lumian a painting of his female appearance.
• A sea monster emerged from a painting and attacked Lumian, who fought back as seawater from another painting extinguished his flames.
• Lumian punched the mute Anderson, turning him into a burning portrait; the monsters and seawater vanished, leaving the studio empty.
• Lumian encountered Anderson Hood outside the community, exchanged pointed remarks, and left with Anthony for Workers' Road.
• Franca and Rosanne waited at Yizhou Roast Chicken, where Zhou Mingrui arrived and greeted Franca as someone he had met before.

Franca, Rosanne, and Zhou Mingrui discussed the mysterious drink vending machine over hot pot, and Franca warned Zhou about the drinks that followed Assassin. After dinner, Franca was abruptly expelled from the dream while Lumian watched, concluding that her supernatural hints to Zhou had caused it.

• Franca and Rosanne ate hot pot with Zhou Mingrui, who mentioned a childhood friend who had returned to a hometown hospital after changing careers.
• Rosanne said she had bought a Shaman drink from the mysterious vending machine, and Zhou recalled that an Instigator drink she received had vanished after he left it with soaked mushrooms.
• Franca claimed she had drunk an Assassin drink and warned that the drinks after Assassin and Instigator could lead to serious trouble.
• After dinner, Zhou suspected Franca and Rosanne had been warning him and decided to observe them before speaking with them directly.
• As Franca walked with Rosanne toward a mall, she began suffocating and collapsed while trying to use her phone; her small black pouch vanished.
• Lumian watched Franca rise with vacant eyes and concluded that hinting to Zhou about supernatural powers had quickly kicked her out of the dream.

Franca voluntarily left Dream City after hinting to Zhou Mingrui about supernatural powers and the dangers of the Assassin potion, then woke in Trier with her belongings intact and several days passed in reality. Jenna and Lumian warned Rosanne to limit contact with Franca, and Jenna reported that Rosanne retained her memories while Franca remembered only her assigned background.

• Franca discovered that Panatiya’s Beyonder Characteristic and body part had returned with her from the dream, while her Pride Armor was gone, and realized that dream events had affected her hunger and bodily needs in reality.
• Franca reasoned that opposing forces had tried to eject her and turn her into a marionette, then met Madam Magician and Madam Judgement, who told her to wait a full day and night before reentering the dream.
• In Dream City, Franca recovered after collapsing and told Rosanne she had an old condition; Lumian told Jenna to minimize contact with Franca and avoid sleeping at Dechuang Garden.
• Jenna warned Rosanne not to discuss supernatural powers with Luo Fu, explaining that interference with past history had limits and a cost.
• Jenna left to visit Li Lu and messaged Lumian that Rosanne still remembered their story and help, while Franca remembered only her background and nominal relationships.

Jenna and Lumian investigated the dream’s changing characters while Lumian considered why the Celestial Worthy had pushed Zhou Mingrui toward the Witch pathway. Lumian suspected the goal involved creating Mr. Fool’s Person in the Mirror, and Anderson Hood’s message arrived before he could pursue the idea.

• Jenna returned to Dechuang Garden and confirmed that the current Luo Fu still behaved like Franca’s earlier, conservative persona.
• Zhou Mingrui noticed Luo Fu’s unusual distance, then received Rosanne’s warning not to speak with Luo Fu until the next day.
• Lumian realized Rosanne retained her memories of Franca and Jenna, suggesting dream characters could carry on their work after outsiders were expelled.
• Green told Lumian that the Great Mother’s children were monitoring Zhou Mingrui and trying to prevent him from resigning from the Intis Group.
• Lumian reasoned that the Celestial Worthy might want Mr. Fool to develop a Person in the Mirror, then received a message from Anderson Hood.

Lumian met Anderson at the mall, where Anderson explained how his special trait let him become lucid in dreams and described his split dream selves. Their conversation ended with Anderson revealing that another outsider, Zarathustra, had visited the Tutoring Class.

• Lumian arranged to meet Anderson at six and later encountered Zhou Mingrui while patrolling the mall without revealing anything unusual.
• Lumian and Anderson discussed whether their world was a dream and whether its people were being guided by the dream owner.
• Anderson said that a dangerous encounter in the Divine War Ruins had given him the ability to become lucid in sufficiently special dreams.
• Anderson explained that his mute painter self existed within the dream and that he had lured Lumian into the Art Studio as a joke.
• Lumian said he had come to help the dream owner wake in the best possible state, and Anderson revealed that a visitor named Zarathustra had come to the Tutoring Class.

Lumian learned that Anderson had interfered with Zarathustra’s attempt to use Danitz’s corpse and heard Anderson hint at the Fantasy Society’s ambitions for painted worlds. Outside the dream, Franca checked Niseya’s progress in the Emperor Party and prepared to return to the dream while watching for signs that the Celestial Worthy had marked her.

• Lumian questioned Anderson, who confirmed that Zarathustra wanted to influence someone and eliminate people, and suggested he and the mute Anderson had killed Danitz.
• Anderson explained that he had accepted the Colorful Painting Hotel and hinted that the Fantasy Society sought to make painted worlds into nearly real realms with established order.
• Franca visited Niseya, who revealed that she had become the mistress of Grue, an aide to Louis Gustav, and reported that Louis could not contact an important person.
• Franca ordered Niseya to identify that person and monitor the Emperor Party’s movements, suspecting Louis had lost contact with Emperor Roselle in the mirror.
• Madam Judgement warned Franca that the Celestial Worthy might mark dream visitors and advised her to watch for changes and avoid aggressive probes.
• Franca returned to her room with the Lucky Gold Coin and closed her eyes to enter the dream again.

Franca returned to reality and discovered that the money in her phone wallets had disappeared, while the group discussed the Information Shredder and divided their assets. Lumian planned to assassinate Zarathustra, but when he encountered him at Ludwig’s tutoring class, he prepared to disrupt his actions and protect Zhou Mingrui.

• Franca confirmed that her WeChat wallet was empty and found that most of the money missing from her Alipay had also been spent or vanished.
• Franca and Jenna discussed how the Information Shredder might erase online data, then Franca split the group’s money between herself, Jenna, Lumian, and Anthony.
• Lumian told Anthony he intended to find Zarathustra’s location and kill him, while acknowledging the dangers posed by Zarathustra’s abilities and possible allies.
• Lumian took Ludwig to tutoring and recognized Zarathustra when Ai Nana brought him into the center.
• Lumian moved near the fire alarm and surveillance camera, ready to cause a commotion and obstruct Zarathustra if he approached Zhou Mingrui.

Lumian watched Zarathustra visit the tutoring classes and suspected the Celestial Worthy's side was acting cautiously under Mr. Fool's influence. After Frank Lee's dream persona was arrested, Green brought Lumian to the Psychiatry Department, where he revealed that Li Keji was inside.

• Lumian arranged for Rosanne to warn Zhou Mingrui not to drink the water he had brought, and Zhou followed the advice.
• Lumian saw Zarathustra leave with Huang Jiajia, the dream persona of Cattleya, and later watched police take Li Keji away in an ambulance.
• Lumian concluded that Zarathustra's side had arranged Li Keji's arrest and told Jenna what had happened.
• After finishing his tutoring-class duties, Lumian met Green at Mushu Hospital and followed him to the Psychiatry Department.
• Lumian heard a patient claim he had fought supreme beings and recognized him as the Marionettist who had gone mad; Green then said Li Keji was in the ward.

Lumian agreed to use his divinity to help Green make Li Keji pregnant, while learning that Frank Lee’s mushroom experiments had led to his psychiatric confinement. He arranged a weeklong delay and planned to get Li Keji out before the hospital could intervene, then saw Huang Jiajia arrive with a group of suited people.

• Green asked Lumian to use his divinity to get Li Keji pregnant, and Lumian agreed after considering the Great Mother’s influence over Mushu Hospital.
• Lumian met Li Keji, who explained his ideals of improving food supplies through genetically modified mushrooms and described his bizarre experimental varieties.
• Lumian falsely told Green that Li Keji was pregnant and said the embryo would need a week to stabilize before the obstetrics staff could intervene.
• After leaving the hospital, Lumian told Anthony they should get Li Keji out of the psychiatric department within a week.
• Lumian saw Huang Jiajia arrive at Mushu Hospital with Miss Huang Beibei and several people in suits.

Lumian planned to ambush the Celestial Worthy's agents rather than rescue Li Keji, and learned from a letter that the name Stiano belonged to the God of Steam and Machinery. He prepared tip-off letters accusing Zarathustra of Danitz's murder and entered Arrodes's Mirror-Behind Region to deliver them, where he encountered Police Chief Yagaitze watching the mirror.

• Lumian and Anthony watched the authorities transfer Li Keji, then discussed guarding against an assassination and planned to ambush the Celestial Worthy's agents instead of rescuing him.
• Lumian warned Jenna to protect Rosanne, and he and Anthony went to the Star Dream General Store to collect a letter from Madam Magician.
• The letter said Mother Superior Roland showed no signs of being unusual and identified Yuggus Stiano as the God of Steam and Machinery.
• Lumian messaged Anderson Hood about turning himself in, then had the shop owner write three tip-off letters accusing Zarathustra of murdering Danitz.
• Lumian entered Arrodes's Mirror-Behind Region and traveled toward Police Headquarters to submit the letters through the Mirror World.
• At Police Headquarters, Lumian saw Yagaitze staring directly at the mirror and recoiled, suspecting the police chief had noticed him.

Lumian planted denunciation letters in several Police Headquarters offices, reported key findings to the Major Arcana, and learned more about the Uniqueness personas in the dream. Meanwhile, Rosanne’s safeguards were tested by a mysterious figure made of colored patches, and Jenna continued investigating people close to Zhou Mingrui.

• Lumian used mirrors to leave denunciation letters in Officer Dunn’s and Wang William’s offices, avoiding Yagaitze after black flames revealed spider silk around one letter.
• Lumian wrote to the Major Arcana, asking them to protect Rosanne, investigate Anderson Hood’s real-world circumstances, and noting Li Keji’s arrest.
• Lumian told Anthony that Stiano might have a significant identity, prompting Anthony to reflect on gods and the paths to godhood as they drove away.
• Franca and Jenna offered Rosanne a Mirror Substitute made from her blood and hair; Rosanne agreed, trusting them despite the risks.
• That night, colored patches consumed the parrot in Rosanne’s painting, formed a human shape beside her bed, then restored the parrot before she woke.
• Jenna went to observe dream characters close to Zhou Mingrui and prepared to make contact with Peng Deng.

Jenna and Anthony investigated Peng Deng by arranging a design consultation, and Anthony decided to isolate himself until dawn after finding Peng Deng’s work unusually well matched to his wishes. Meanwhile, Franca prepared for Zarathustra’s visit to Zhou Mingrui’s company, where Zarathustra showed Huang Tao a mirror that revealed an unexpected reflection; Lumian was already infiltrating the hospital holding Li Keji.

• Jenna took Ludwig to a café while Anthony went to Shengwei to meet Peng Deng, and she considered whether Ludwig could attend elementary school.
• Anthony used Hypnosis to get the company manager to assign Peng Deng to his consultation, then found that Peng Deng’s design images matched his unspoken preferences remarkably well.
• Anthony left without signing a contract and signaled Jenna that he would isolate himself until dawn to check for anything unusual.
• Franca told Rosanne not to hint to Zhou Mingrui that something was unusual yet, while she waited to see what Zarathustra would do during his visit to the company.
• Zarathustra showed Huang Tao an antique mirror that reflected Zarathustra as a younger man and Huang Tao as a beautiful crowned woman.
• Lumian infiltrated Crimson Moon through the Mirror World, where Li Keji was being held.

Lumian watched Li Keji’s ward, then staged a supernatural encounter with Zhou Mingrui to warn him about Zarathustra and expose the hidden connections around him. Afterward, Lumian waited at Intis Group for the dream to banish him, hoping Zarathustra would be caught up in it too.

• Lumian observed milky liquid and mycelium emerge from Li Keji’s ward, then left after Huang Jiajia, Huang Beibei, a lawyer, Officer Dunn, and a doctor arrived.
• Franca reported that Zarathustra visited Intis Group without contacting Zhou Mingrui, and Lumian told Franca, Jenna, and Anthony to stop contacting him while he carried out his experiment.
• Lumian entered the men’s restroom, used a Fictional Bottle to isolate himself and Zhou Mingrui, and produced flames with a lighter to hint that supernatural powers existed.
• Lumian warned Zhou Mingrui to watch out for Zarathustra, prompting Zhou Mingrui to connect the warning with Rosanne, Li Ming, and Luo Fu.
• After finishing his patrol, Lumian watched night fall and waited for the dream to banish him, hoping Zarathustra would be banished as well.

Lumian experienced a brief, citywide marionettization in the dream after warning Zhou Mingrui about Zarathustra, then investigated Zarathustra’s hotel and discovered that a historical projection had been hanged in his place. Lumian left without attacking, while Anthony waited in isolation for an anomaly.

• Old Xia began moving and speaking like a puppet, and Lumian realized that he and the surrounding people and vehicles were also stuttering under a marionettization effect.
• After the effect ended, Lumian pretended to need the toilet and used Spirit World Traversal to reach a restroom near Zarathustra’s hotel.
• Lumian entered the Mirror World and saw Zarathustra hanging from a light fixture before the apparent corpse and falling maggots vanished.
• A living Zarathustra appeared, and Lumian concluded that a historical projection had taken the brunt of the targeted marionettization triggered by his hints to Zhou Mingrui.
• Lumian considered assassinating Zarathustra but left the mirror unnoticed, while Zarathustra and his attendants turned toward the window after he departed.
• Anthony isolated himself in a cheap hotel after contacting Peng Deng and waited for an anomaly.

Anthony’s reaction to Peng Deng led Lady Justice to suspect that his fear had caused him to leave the dream, while Lumian and Franca’s group continued investigating Zarathustra and Zhou Mingrui. The chapter ended with Zhou Mingrui realizing that Rosanne and Franca were warning him about Zarathustra and were connected to Li Ming.

• Anthony felt as though he was being expelled from the dream after contacting Peng Deng, then voluntarily left when he feared he was becoming a marionette.
• Lady Justice concluded that Anthony’s fear had made him mistake a hallucination for being kicked out and advised him to spend three hours outside the dream.
• Lumian told Jenna about the previous night’s events and arranged for Rosanne to remind Zhou Mingrui about Zarathustra.
• Franca helped Rosanne plan how to bring up Zarathustra, and Rosanne told Zhou Mingrui that Zarathustra was the boss of a company negotiating with their group.
• Franca warned Zhou Mingrui to watch his step, and he inferred that she and Rosanne were cautioning him about Zarathustra and working with Li Ming.

Jenna auditioned for Hall Film Company and investigated the actor playing Gehrman Sparrow, learning that a previous actor had been left in a vegetative state after a car accident. Lumian identified the injured actor as An Xiaotian, suspected a connection to Antigonus, and planned to investigate him at Crimson Moon Hospital.

• Jenna impressed the Hall Film Company interviewers with her performance and was told to wait for their decision.
• Jenna saw Jia Yu, the actor playing Gehrman Sparrow, and learned that the originally intended actor had been left in a vegetative state after a car accident.
• Jenna discovered that the injured actor's name was missing from the information she could find and reported the mystery to Lumian.
• Lumian and Anthony searched for details, then asked Anderson Hood, who identified the actor as An Xiaotian and said he was at Crimson Moon Hospital.
• Lumian suspected An Xiaotian might correspond to Antigonus and asked Anthony to write about him while he planned to visit the hospital.

Anthony received updates about Rosanne, Li Keji, and Anderson Hood, while Lumian investigated Zarathustra and suspected Emperor Roselle might be operating in the dream. Lumian then visited the unconscious An Xiaotian, whose vital signs surged when Lumian arrived and whose finger moved.

• Anthony read the Major Arcana's warning that Li Keji must not be corrupted or turned into the Celestial Worthy's puppet, and learned Anderson Hood could not be found in Aisala.
• Lumian arranged for pinhole cameras and listening devices, then planted them in Zarathustra's room and observed a business dinner from a mirror.
• When President Huang looked toward Lumian's hiding place, Lumian suspected Emperor Roselle had entered the dream and might be conspiring with Zarathustra to control Huang Tao and the Intis Group.
• Lumian saw no abnormality in Zarathustra after nightfall and concluded the dream's subconscious might no longer react to his name without a new stimulus.
• Lumian found the unconscious An Xiaotian in Crimson Moon Hospital, and the patient's readings became active before his finger moved slightly.

Lumian encountered a disturbing warning from An Xiaotian in the hospital dream, while Franca, Jenna, and Ma'am Justice coordinated a response to concerns that President Huang might be under Roselle in the Mirror’s influence. The chapter ends with Ma'am Justice revealing that her work on Great Pirate 3 was also an attempt to help bring about Mr. Fool’s awakening.

• Lumian saw An Xiaotian’s fingers twitch, then entered a corridor filled with silent hospital figures who each tried to warn him before the scene rewound and forced him out of the dream.
• Lumian reasoned that An Xiaotian was trying to convey crucial information and resolved to find a way to contact him again despite the dream’s restriction.
• Franca and Jenna read Lumian’s message about President Huang and Zarathustra, then decided to alert Bernadette through the Major Arcana.
• Jenna left the dream and told Ma'am Justice about the suspected threat to President Huang, and Ma'am Justice sent a dream messenger to contact the Queen of Mysteries.
• Ma'am Justice told Jenna that her work on Great Pirate 3 was also part of her effort to help realize the words, 'The World awakens, The Fool returns.'

Madam Justice explained how the team tried to create Gehrman Sparrow in Dream City through Great Pirate 3 and actor An Xiaotian, but the attempt failed after An Xiaotian and his sister fell into vegetative states. Jenna returned to reality with the revelation that Antigonus could not explain An Xiaotian’s warning, leaving her and Franca to consider whether the Great Mother could heal him.

• Madam Justice told Jenna that Gehrman Sparrow had no counterpart in Dream City, so the team tried to create one to awaken “The World.”
• Madam Justice and Madam Magician created Great Pirate 3, but both attempts resulted in Madam Justice or Madam Magician being kicked out of the dream.
• Madam Justice cast An Xiaotian as Gehrman Sparrow after Antigonus approved, but An Xiaotian suffered a car accident and became vegetative on the first day of filming.
• Madam Justice said Jia Yu later played Gehrman Sparrow, but the film failed to awaken Zhou Mingrui, and people gradually forgot An Xiaotian.
• Jenna told Franca that Antigonus could sense Mr. Fool’s dream but had never entered it and did not know what An Xiaotian wanted to warn Lumian about.
• Jenna and Franca wondered whether the Great Mother could heal An Xiaotian, while Lumian was posing as the Great Mother’s Divine Child.

Franca and Jenna considered using Zhou Mingrui to play Gehrman Sparrow in a remake of Great Pirate 3 as a possible way to awaken the World. When Rosanne faced dismissal, Franca sought help from Bernadette and then used mysticism pathogens to empty the Administration Department, leaving Rosanne’s dismissal delayed and suspected Beyonders exposed.

• Franca proposed that Zhou Mingrui could play Gehrman Sparrow in a remake of Great Pirate 3 and potentially awaken the World, though Jenna noted the many obstacles.
• Rosanne told Franca that President Huang planned to fire her, and Franca suspected the dismissal was connected to threats against Zhou Mingrui’s friends.
• Bernadette, appearing as Huang Beibei, agreed to investigate her father but asked Franca to keep Rosanne out of the handover process for a week in return for payment.
• Franca got President Ai to agree to plead Rosanne’s case, then spread mysticism pathogens that caused stomach flu among the Administration Department employees.
• After the sick employees were taken to Crimson Moon Hospital, President Ai told Rosanne to hold the fort and not worry about dismissal, while Franca told Lumian that the healthy staff might be Beyonders.

Lumian guarded Rosanne, considered using Li Keji’s mushrooms to awaken An Xiaotian, and monitored Zarathustra in preparation for an ambush. He discovered that Jia Yu, the actor who played Gehrman Sparrow, had visited Zarathustra and began checking whether the Listening Device had captured their conversation.

• Lumian stayed near the Administration Department to protect Rosanne while employees recovered from the Mysticism Pathogens, then returned to the Security Department with Old Xia.
• Lumian rejected dangerous ways of awakening An Xiaotian and considered asking Li Keji to create a mushroom that could exploit Mr. Fool’s beliefs and reverse the symbolism.
• Jenna learned that Hall Film Company wanted her to sign an Agent Contract and felt relieved to have a job.
• Lumian retrieved surveillance recordings of Zarathustra to study his abilities before a planned attack.
• Lumian saw Jia Yu visit Zarathustra late at night and paused the footage to check whether the Listening Device had recorded their conversation.

Lumian and Anthony realized Zarathustra was using the planned Intis Group merger to turn dream-created companies into real money and resources, so Lumian began preparing to eliminate him. Meanwhile, Jenna signed with Hall Film Company and the team rented Magic Mirror Arrodes, leaving them equipped for their coming operation.

• Lumian and Anthony identified Zarathustra's recruitment of Jia Yu and the Intis Group merger as key parts of his plan to gain resources, and Lumian urged them to act against him soon.
• Lumian visited Li Keji in the hospital and used Instigation to encourage him to develop mushrooms that could cure a vegetative patient's condition.
• Jenna negotiated and signed a three-year acting contract with Hall Film Company, receiving a thirty-thousand advance.
• Jenna collected the team's transferred funds and rented Magic Mirror Arrodes from Star Dream General Store for two hundred and twenty thousand a day.

Lumian, Franca, and Jenna questioned Magic Mirror Arrodes about Zarathustra’s abilities and whether he had detected Lumian’s surveillance. The mirror revealed that Zarathustra knew someone had spied on him, then disclosed that Peng Deng had rented it most recently.

• Franca asked how Zarathustra’s Beyond Abilities manifested, and Magic Mirror Arrodes described his marionettes, Historical Void images, disguises, wishes, and other powers.
• Magic Mirror Arrodes asked Franca whether she had thought about doing something with Lumian while Jenna was absent, and Franca admitted she had thought about it but never acted.
• Lumian asked whether Zarathustra had discovered his surveillance, and the mirror said Zarathustra knew someone had watched him but did not know who.
• Magic Mirror Arrodes asked whether Lumian loved or valued Franca and Jenna, and Lumian said he valued them.
• Jenna asked who had rented the mirror most recently, and Magic Mirror Arrodes answered that it was Peng Deng.