Chapter Summaries

Lumian and his companions learned that the resurrected female corpse was a marionette connected to the Celestial Worthy, and Lumian destroyed the evidence before it could attract attention. The next morning, Franca remained ill, so Lumian and Anthony set out to contact the Major Arcana while Jenna stayed behind to care for her and Ludwig.

• During Spiritism, the female corpse confirmed she was a marionette, and Lumian and his companions saw her threads extending into the darkness above, which they associated with the Celestial Worthy.
• Before the apparition vanished, the female corpse said Mr. Fool and the Great Mother had given her humanity, leading Lumian to suspect the Great Mother had helped create an independent marionette at Mushu Hospital.
• Lumian found no additional items on the corpse and offered it to Ludwig in exchange for obeying Jenna; after Ludwig agreed, Jenna, Franca, and Anthony left the Mirror-Behind Region.
• Ludwig said eating the female corpse would not restore him to Sequence 4 unless he also received Vazan Sanson's corpse, and he named his Sequence 4 as Sea Monster.
• The next morning, Lumian confirmed Franca's illness was a lingering negative effect, then arranged for Jenna to care for Franca and Ludwig while he and Anthony went to contact the Major Arcana.
• Lumian entered Star Dream General Store as their destination in the map app.

Jenna encouraged Ludwig to study and rewarded him with snacks, while Franca reflected on their warm domestic life. Lumian and Anthony investigated a possible hidden Marionettist before Lumian found Arrodes in a strange general store and asked what it could tell them about waking Mr. Fool.

• Jenna persuaded Ludwig to study, explaining that it could help him learn human rules and integrate into society, then offered snacks as rewards.
• Jenna cared for Franca as she recovered, and Franca found comfort in their family-like routine with Jenna and Ludwig.
• While driving with Lumian, Anthony noted that a security guard's behavior suggested a hidden demigod-level Marionettist and found a report about an irrational madman discovered near Bright Moon Mall.
• Lumian and Anthony visited the Star Dream General Store, where Lumian deposited letters addressed to Leonard Mitchell at the Church of Tranquility.
• Lumian examined a magical mirror that identified itself as Arrodes and asked whether it had any advice about waking Mr. Fool.

Lumian questioned Arrodes in the Star Dream General Store, learned to beware of the night, and discovered the mirror and other antiques were far beyond his means. After meeting the strangely familiar international student Stiano, Lumian sent Jenna and Anthony to investigate the Dream Tutoring Class while he stayed behind to care for Franca.

• Arrodes warned Lumian to beware of the night, then asked him about becoming a Witch and wearing women's underwear; Lumian answered both questions without punishment.
• Lumian asked the shopkeeper the prices of Arrodes and a brass book, learned they cost five million and nine million respectively, and left without buying or renting anything.
• Lumian and Anthony met Stiano photographing their rental car; Anthony later said Stiano gave him the same sense of familiarity he felt inside Steam Church cathedrals.
• Lumian asked Jenna and Anthony to take Ludwig to the Dream Tutoring Class and investigate Mr. Fool's enrollment and the effects of the Divine Emissary's death, while he stayed with Franca.

Lumian and Franca discussed the corruption spreading through Mushu Hospital while he cared for her at home. Meanwhile, Jenna enrolled Ludwig in the Dream Tutoring Class, where Principal Ai assigned him to Anderson’s introductory class and Anderson proposed teaching him to cook instead.

• Lumian helped Franca recover and fed her yellow peach while they discussed how the Mother Tree of Desire and other evil gods were corrupting Mushu Hospital’s dream from its basement upward.
• Franca wondered aloud whether she might rather remain asleep if her own dream contained everyone she cared about.
• Jenna took Ludwig to the Dream Tutoring Class and asked the receptionist about weekend courses, then negotiated the introductory English fee down to 5,000 with Principal Ai.
• Principal Ai warned Jenna that Anderson’s teaching could give children bad study habits, but Jenna enrolled Ludwig in his class.
• Anderson questioned Ludwig about his interests, learned he liked eating, and suggested teaching him to cook; Jenna recognized him as Danitz’s roommate.

Jenna and Anthony investigated the Dream Tutoring Class after the Divine Emissary’s murder, and Anderson Hood hinted that people in Dream City seemed to be following scripts before revealing he had been joking. Lumian’s group decided to continue observing key figures, avoid going out at night, and investigate Peng Deng next; the chapter ended as Lumian and Franca entered the Star Dream General Store to collect a reply and inspect the Brass Book.

• Jenna questioned Principal Ai and Anderson about Teacher Da’s murder and learned that Anderson had reported his disappearance to the police shortly afterward.
• After leaving the tutoring class, Jenna and Anthony discussed Anderson’s behavior, and Anderson told them that people around him seemed to be acting from scripts before laughing it off as a prank.
• Jenna learned that Principal Ai had once been Ludwig’s teacher at the Church of Knowledge.
• Lumian told Jenna and Anthony to keep observing key people and wait to question Anderson until he was alone; he and Jenna prepared food for Ludwig and planned to avoid going out after dark.
• Lumian planned to visit the Star Dream General Store and observe the nearby police station in the morning, then investigate Peng Deng in the afternoon.
• The next morning, Franca accompanied Lumian into the Star Dream General Store to collect the Major Arcana’s reply and see the Brass Book.

Franca, Lumian, Jenna, and Anthony investigated the Star Dream General Store before reading Madam Magician’s explanation of how death and advancement in the Dream City could affect reality. The letter warned that becoming a Half-God through a dream potion was possible but dangerously difficult to make safe.

• Franca examined a brass book whose blank pages briefly displayed unreadable text, then saw a winged, feathered snake that the shopkeeper called her pet.
• Lumian collected the Major Arcana’s reply, and Franca wondered whether the shopkeeper’s snake was a miniature Death God pathway Mythical Creature.
• A man selling listening devices and pinhole cameras prompted Franca to check the car for scientific surveillance; Jenna’s divination found none, and Franca and Lumian suspected the seller had been an ally warning them.
• Madam Magician’s letter confirmed that the Witch of Despair Beyonder Characteristic and related items were real, and explained that those whose real consciousness entered the dream could die there and release characteristics into reality.
• The letter said a person could advance to Half-God in the Dream City, but suppressed Sequence 4 dangers would return upon leaving unless the potion was fully digested first, a process made perilous by the dream’s uncertain duration.
• Madam Magician cautioned that Mr. Fool could not easily use such dreams to help others advance, and that prolonged dreams and the risks of potion acting made the idea impractical.

Lumian and his companions investigated why the Celestial Worthy had brought the real Witch Panatiya into the dream and considered how Witches might relate to fate and Mr. Fool’s awakening. After observing Peng Deng, their car broke down in a suspicious coincidence, and Stiano offered to help.

• Lumian and his companions discussed Panatiya’s origins and questioned why the Celestial Worthy had used a real Witch marionette instead of a dream image.
• Anthony proposed that an ordinary woman gradually becoming a Witch would have been a better way to approach Zhou Mingrui, and Lumian suspected the abundance of Witches might symbolize fate’s choice.
• Lumian and his companions watched people leaving Police Headquarters, then went to observe Peng Deng at his workplace.
• After Peng Deng entered the building, Lumian told the group to observe his girlfriend and flatmate next, but Franca’s car suddenly failed to start.
• Lumian noted the breakdown’s suspicious timing, and Stiano appeared and offered to help repair the car.

Lumian and his companions investigated Peng Deng’s routine and tried to test the dream city’s nighttime abnormalities, while adding Stiano as a WeChat friend after he repaired their car. Their movie outing led them to an unexpected encounter with Madam Magician at a bookstore signing.

• Stiano repaired the group’s car, and Lumian added him as a WeChat friend, finding posts about information, machinery, and a marvelous machine.
• The group watched Peng Deng during the day and saw him visit Yuzhou Stir-Fry, but Zhou Mingrui never appeared before Peng Deng went home.
• Lumian and the others decided not to follow Peng Deng after dark because his repeated failure to meet Zhou Mingrui at night seemed suspicious.
• Lumian proposed going out at night like ordinary people, and Franca suggested a movie and more scratch-off lottery tickets.
• At the mall, Franca and Lumian recognized the romance author at a bookstore signing as Madam Magician.

Lumian, Jenna, and Franca discovered that Madam Magician appeared in Mr. Fool’s dream as the romance novelist behind the Great Pirate series, which echoed Fors Wall’s real-world Great Adventurer books. They watched Great Pirate 3 and recognized dream versions of several real people, while the film’s Gehrman Sparrow left Lumian struck by his resemblance to Zhou Mingrui.

• Jenna and Lumian recognized Madam Magician at a bookstore signing, and Franca found that the dream’s Great Pirate series mirrored the real-world Great Adventurer series written by Fors Wall.
• Lumian suggested Madam Magician’s novelist identity might reflect her real-world role as Fors Wall and that the books helped make Gehrman Sparrow an object of worship; Franca regretted that Lumian had burned the letters they could have asked her to sign.
• The group went to the fourth floor, where Franca bought seats, popcorn, and cola for them to watch Great Pirate 3.
• As the movie opened, Jenna and Lumian recognized Vice Admiral Iceberg as resembling Principal Ai and Madam Hermit as resembling Cattleya, while Lumian identified the film’s Gehrman Sparrow as resembling Zhou Mingrui.
• Ludwig spotted grilled fish in the movie and asked Lumian to feed him, so Lumian stuffed popcorn into his mouth.

Lumian and his companions tested whether nighttime pranks could trigger changes in Dream City, then reviewed their evidence before Lumian took Ludwig to the Dream Tutoring Class to meet Zhou Mingrui. The chapter left Lumian inside the class, having added the teacher Anderson Hood on WeChat.

• Lumian pranked elevator passengers by pretending an unseen companion had entered, and the lights flickered as the elevator descended.
• Lumian explained that he was testing whether an eerie story could provoke a response from the dream, and the group returned home without further incident.
• Over the weekend, Lumian and his companions reviewed their notes, then agreed that he and Ludwig would separate from the others in case meeting Zhou Mingrui risked expulsion from the dream.
• Lumian took Ludwig to the Dream Tutoring Class, introduced himself as Lee Lu's father, and added Anderson Hood on WeChat.

Lumian tested whether brief, low-key contact with Zhou Mingrui would provoke a reaction from the dream or the Celestial Worthy, while Franca and Jenna discovered they had won a lottery prize. Lumian returned safely to the apartment and reported that nothing unusual had happened yet, though he warned the others the Celestial Worthy might still be waiting for them to reunite.

• Lumian reviewed Anderson Hood's Moments, sent him a brief voice message, and later spoke briefly with Zhou Mingrui after Business English class without leaving a strong impression.
• Lumian took Ludwig out before Zhou Mingrui could see him, then spent the night observing for changes; Anderson did not contact him, and no immediate restrictions or other abnormalities appeared.
• Franca remembered the lottery draw and discovered that she and the others had won more than twenty second-prize entries worth over 150,000, prompting her to worry about attracting attention.
• A thunderstorm brought torrential rain overnight, and Lumian wondered whether the flooding and weather signified something before taking Ludwig out for breakfast.
• Lumian returned with Ludwig to the rented apartment and told Franca, Jenna, and Anthony that his brief contact with Zhou Mingrui had caused no obvious consequences, while cautioning that the Celestial Worthy could be delaying its response.

Lumian and his companions discussed how to approach Zhou Mingrui and submitted job applications to the Intis Group, while Franca and Jenna suspected that Mr. Fool’s influence was subtly helping them. Their lottery prize collection was delayed by a suspicious series of setbacks, and Lumian received an interview after a lightning strike killed and injured Intis Group security staff.

• Lumian joked about being expelled from the dream, then warned the group that the Celestial Worthy’s intervention could leave them with no second chance.
• Franca submitted the group’s résumés to the Intis Group, and Lumian considered ways to reach Zhou Mingrui without drawing the Celestial Worthy’s attention.
• Franca and Jenna interpreted the team’s recent good fortune as a manifestation of Mr. Fool’s inclinations, and Anthony agreed to collect their lottery winnings.
• Franca, Jenna, Anthony, and Ludwig reached the lottery center late after delays and learned that its head had died by suicide during an anti-corruption investigation; staff then refused to pay the prize that day.
• Lumian told Franca that the Intis Group had invited him to interview, and she saw a report that lightning had struck a sedan carrying the company’s security personnel, killing one and injuring three.

Lumian, Franca, and Jenna rented an apartment in Dechuang Jiayuan to approach Rosanne, an Intis Group employee, while investigating the dream. After Jenna met Rosanne and returned to the apartment alone, the lights suddenly went out.

• Lumian said the group would join the Intis Group despite the strange deaths in its security department, and they went to find a new residence.
• Lumian, Franca, and Jenna rented an apartment in Dechuang Jiayuan, where Rosanne lived, and Franca bought a mysterious Sleepless beverage from a vending machine that vanished moments later.
• Jenna met Rosanne at the complex and added her on WeChat after Rosanne offered to paint her portrait.
• Jenna returned to the apartment alone, spent the evening waiting for anything unusual to happen, and saw no abnormalities for nearly two hours.
• Jenna switched on the bathroom light, heard a sizzling sound, and the apartment plunged into darkness.

Jenna witnessed Rosanne defending Dechuang Garden’s Spirit World barrier from monsters, while Lumian and Franca tested a Sleepless potion and planned to redeem their lottery prize. Lumian arrived at the Intis Group building for an interview and encountered President Huang Tao in the elevator lobby.

• Jenna called property management to fix a tripped breaker, then discovered in her Astral Body that Rosanne was protecting Dechuang Garden from invading monsters.
• Lumian tested the Sleepless beverage on a rat, which began mutating before Ludwig swallowed it and said he was storing its Beyonder Characteristic.
• Lumian and Franca decided Franca and Anthony would visit the lottery center without the ticket while Lumian kept it, testing whether the dream’s rejection targeted the ticket.
• Lumian carried the lottery ticket to the Intis Group building and studied its unusual mix of company departments and tenants.
• Lumian waited by the elevators and recognized President Huang Tao, the head of the Intis Group, as he appeared beside him.

Lumian, Franca, and Anthony successfully claimed a second-prize lottery ticket while Lumian attended an interview at Intis Group. Franca received an interview invitation, but the group remained uncertain about who was preventing first prizes from being claimed.

• Huang Tao rode the employee elevator to his clubhouse and privately wondered why he had found Lumian attractive.
• Franca waited in the car with Ludwig while Anthony went to claim the lottery prize, then hid nearby to monitor the exchange.
• Lumian transferred the second-prize ticket through a mirror to Anthony, who handed it to the lottery staff and claimed the prize.
• Lumian used his fate abilities during his interview, gave the interviewers an elaborate account of his past, and was told to wait for a decision.
• Franca learned that the group had received over 156,000 in prize money and was invited to interview at Intis Group the next morning.
• Jenna watched Rosanne return home, change clothes, and leave again with a white handbag.

Jenna investigated Rosanne through mirrors and discovered evidence that Rosanne was a Painter whose art depicted monsters trapped in cages. Their messages revealed Rosanne’s admiration for protectors, leaving Jenna to suspect that this protective instinct was resisting the Fantasy Society’s corruption.

• Jenna used the Ice Mirror Charm to spy on Rosanne’s apartment and recognized the creatures in Rosanne’s paintings as monsters from the Spirit World community, all shown inside iron cages.
• Rosanne returned home, painted a silver door on the window, and entered the mirror-behind region, but Jenna escaped before Rosanne found her.
• Jenna used Witch’s Mirror Magic to watch Rosanne’s self-portrait move on her phone screen, confirming that Rosanne’s paintings could affect reality.
• Jenna told Rosanne about a dream in which Rosanne protected the neighborhood, and Rosanne said her father and his colleagues had been true guardians.
• Jenna asked whether Rosanne had ever painted about protection, and Rosanne replied that she had not and that she had failed.

Jenna learned about the monsters attacking the Spirit World Community from Rosanne, while Franca and Lumian discussed Ludwig’s new abilities and prepared Franca for her interview. Franca was chosen by Huang Beibei as the most conservative applicant, leaving her poised to join Intis Group.

• Jenna ignored Rosanne’s message, then watched Rosanne repel creatures at the barrier and heard her name and describe several kinds of monsters.
• Franca asked Ludwig what abilities he gained from eating the Sleepless Rat, and he said he could see and sense danger in darkness and had gained spirituality and strength.
• Lumian asked Ludwig whether he wanted to leave the dream, and Ludwig admitted he liked its food, cartoons, and the way Lumian treated him.
• Franca worried about her interview, and Lumian comforted her by recalling how Aurora used to reassure him.
• Franca attended the Intis Group interview as Luo Fu and answered the interviewers’ questions without using Fascination.
• Huang Beibei selected Luo Fu as the most conservative applicant.

Anthony used hypnosis to learn about Intis Group’s administration department, while Lumian and Franca secured jobs there with different terms. Jenna decided to postpone searching Rosanne’s apartment, hoping to preserve the goodness still left in her.

• Anthony bumped into Zhang Qing, then hypnotized him by offering bottled coffee and drew out complaints about President Huang and the administration department’s new hire.
• Anthony declined to exchange WeChat details with Zhang Qing to avoid tying too many leads to Intis Group, then signaled Franca and separated from the others until the next day.
• Franca told Lumian that Bernadette might be able to enter the dream and help them, and Lumian later learned he had been hired as a security guard for 3,500 during probation and 4,500 afterward.
• Franca received an offer for 6,000 during probation and 7,000 afterward, but the job required a daily dress code of blouses, skirt suits, stockings, and high heels; she decided to take it rather than let Jenna face President Huang.
• Jenna chose not to search Rosanne’s apartment yet, fearing she might provoke Rosanne and damage the protective side of her personality.

Jenna discovered that Rosanne’s supernatural self-portrait kept returning to her phone after deletion, and she warned Lumian and Franca that investigating Rosanne might worsen her corruption. Lumian used a program supplied by Stiano to erase the image, while Franca realized that supernatural abilities could make digital threats especially dangerous in Dream City.

• Jenna found Rosanne’s self-portrait back in her photo album after deleting it twice and told Lumian and Franca what had happened.
• Jenna explained her concerns that Rosanne’s protective actions reflected both her humanity and Mr. Fool’s influence, and that provoking her could deepen her corruption.
• Franca warned Lumian not to enter the image and confront Rosanne directly, then suggested asking Stiano for help with the phone virus.
• Lumian sent Stiano a screenshot, received an Information Shredder program, and used it to permanently remove the portrait from Jenna’s phone.
• Franca speculated that supernatural images could spread through the internet and wondered whether Witches or high-ranking Mystery Pryers could control computer and phone viruses.

Franca joined Intis Group, and she and Jenna used their lottery winnings to repay their loans while discussing how to wake Mr. Fool. As they watched Rosanne in the dream, a giant owl-like creature appeared above them after they woke to a danger premonition.

• Lumian warned Franca and Jenna that Rosanne might investigate the missing photograph and urged them to stay alert.
• Franca told Jenna she had been hired by Intis Group and agreed to buy work clothes with her.
• Jenna persuaded Franca to pay off their small loans, and Franca transferred money to repay their teammates as well.
• Franca and Jenna discussed their failed attempts to wake Mr. Fool and considered having one person tell Zhou Mingrui the truth.
• Jenna and Franca watched Rosanne drive back invaders at the barrier, then woke to a foul stench and a pair of eyes beneath the ceiling.