Chapter Summaries

Lin Rui confronted the theater assistant manager over the money withheld from his food delivery and attacked him after he insulted Asians. He sent Andrea away and asked where Director Sophia was as midnight approached.

• Doyle sold merchandise backstage, collected protection money from the theater security guard, and learned that an Asian food vendor had asked about him.
• Andrea warned Lin Rui that Doyle was a drug dealer and police informant whom theater staff feared, except for Director Sophia.
• The assistant manager shorted Lin Rui on payment and demanded a kickback, then insulted Asians; Lin Rui punched him, kicked him unconscious, and took the missing two hundred dollars.
• Andrea feared Lin Rui would be arrested, but he told her to leave and said he would handle the unconscious assistant manager.
• Lin Rui asked where Director Sophia was and learned she had a private room at the theater; he said that her being asleep was exactly what he wanted.

Lin Rui entered Sophia Kaman’s dreamlike magic tower, accepted a quest to eliminate Doyle, and received an enchantment for his equipment. Back in Nightmare Space, he attacked the manager’s assistant and confronted the theater security guard.

• Sophia Kaman described Doyle as an evil spirit’s servant and agreed to reward Lin Rui for killing him, prompting a quest to appear.
• Sophia enchanted Lin Rui’s leather armor and longsword, then allowed him to deal with the theater’s corrupt staff as he saw fit.
• Lin Rui returned to Nightmare Space and beat the manager’s assistant, leaving him unconscious and injured.
• Lin Rui found the security guard dozing on the theater’s second floor and dragged him into Nightmare Space.
• The security guard drew his gun and threatened Lin Rui, who accelerated and launched an icy blade at him.

Andrea found Frankie injured and called 911 for an ambulance, while gunfire broke out at the Gershwin Theatre. In Nightmare Space, Lin Rui fought a powerful fallen guard and called on Sophia Kaman for help, leaving her dream disturbed by his plea.

• Andrea returned to the prop area, found Frankie battered and confused, and insisted on calling an ambulance despite his protests.
• Andrea told 911 that Frankie had severe injuries and requested urgent, advanced medical care.
• A fallen security guard opened fire at the theatre entrance as Lin Rui dragged his soul into Nightmare Space.
• Lin Rui found the guard transformed into a powerful monster, was badly outmatched, and fled while the guard pursued him.
• Sophia Kaman dreamed of Lin Rui intruding into her mind, then heard him call for her to save him.

Lin Rui and Sophia joined forces in the nightmare to defeat Tyrant while police killed the rampaging security guard, Campbell, in the theater. After waking, Sophia connected her dream to the shooting and began suspecting that Lin Rui knew more than he let on.

• Sophia struck Tyrant with lightning in her nightmare, and Lin Rui stabbed him through the head while bullets flew between them.
• Campbell fired wildly in the theater until responding NYPD officers shot him dead, bringing the immediate threat to an end.
• Lin Rui returned backstage beside Andrea, while Sophia woke and sketched the demon hunter whose name she had forgotten.
• After staff told Sophia that Campbell had been shot dead, she recognized him as the monster from her dream and hurried backstage.
• Sophia spotted Lin Rui as people evacuated the theater, and they walked toward the exit without speaking while she suspected he knew something.

After reporting Doyle’s drug dealing to Pastor Essen Borg, Lin Rui learned that the DEA was following up on the tip. Agent Robin arranged to meet him at the food truck, leaving Doyle at risk of a law-enforcement investigation.

• Police and theatre staff covered up the shooting at the Gershwin Theatre, while Doyle learned that Nissen had died and went looking for the food truck he had been extorting.
• Lin Rui watched Doyle from a distance, then rode back to Pastor Borg’s church with Andrea.
• Lin Rui told Pastor Borg about the theatre’s kickback demand, the extortion of Adrian and his wife, the shooting, and Doyle’s drug dealing.
• The next morning, DEA Agent Robin called Lin Rui after receiving a tip through Pastor Essen Borg and arranged to meet him at the food truck.
• Lin Rui told Linda that a DEA agent was coming and remarked that someone was in for trouble.

Agent Robin questioned Lin Rui about his connection to Pastor Essen Borg and the charity project, while Lin Rui explained how he had found the pastor. Their conversation was interrupted by Doyle and his gang, who confronted Lin Rui at the food truck, leaving Robin face to face with the drug dealer he had come to discuss.

• Agent Robin watched Lin Rui’s busy food truck before approaching in plain clothes and introducing himself as a narcotics agent.
• Robin told Lin Rui that a city council member had complained about Doyle, a drug dealer and police informant, harassing a charitable project.
• Robin questioned how Lin Rui had found Pastor Essen Borg, and Lin Rui said he had remembered the pastor from charity coverage on television.
• Doyle arrived with several men, demanded protection money, and insulted Lin Rui while his gang surrounded the food truck.
• Lin Rui recognized Doyle and told Robin that the man he had been discussing had come to them.

Lin Rui helped Agent Robin arrest Doyle and two of his accomplices, completing his mission to punish the henchmen. He later visited Sophia in her dream and received the skill 'Steel Lungs and Viscera.'

• Doyle tracked down Lin Rui's food truck with several underlings, but Agent Robin revealed his DEA badge and ordered Doyle to surrender.
• Robin and the other officers arrested Doyle and two of his accomplices, and they found contraband in Doyle's pockets.
• Robin warned Lin Rui that he remained suspicious of him, while Lin Rui received notice that his mission was complete.
• Lin Rui continued serving food at the Gershwin Theatre, where he learned the assistant manager was facing a costly medical evacuation.
• Lin Rui met Sophia in her dream and asked her for combat training, so she taught him 'Steel Lungs and Viscera.'

Sophia recorded her dream about teaching Lin Rui a skill, while Lin Rui continued working with the Jones family and helped Toby improve his studies and lose weight. After the partnership split its profits, the Jones sisters each claimed the reward they had promised Lin Rui, leaving him exhausted and Linda furious.

• Sophia woke at midnight, recorded her dream of teaching Lin Rui “Steel Lungs and Viscera,” and wondered whether they shared dreams before choosing to keep her distance.
• Lin Rui spent the following week working at the Gershwin Theatre and talking with Sophia in his dreams, then collected $5,400 in profits from the food cart.
• Linda stepped back from the cart, Samantha agreed to take her place, and the Jones family planned follow-up treatment for Mr. Jones.
• Toby reported earning Bs and losing ten pounds, and Lin Rui praised his progress under the effects of Sophia’s Suggestion Technique.
• Cynthia took Lin Rui upstairs to fulfill her promised reward, then Samantha and Andrea each took him to the bathroom in turn while Linda silently cursed him.

Lin Rui sought a quiet place to build his strength after being exhausted by the Jones sisters’ triple reward, and Pastor Borg gave him access to an abandoned neighborhood gym. Lin Rui barely trained before Toby’s progress and the food truck’s steady profits earned him the promise of an enhanced reward, renewing his resolve to work out.

• Linda teased Lin Rui about rewarding him herself, while he admitted he needed to get stronger for the remaining stages of his wager with the Jones sisters.
• Pastor Borg showed Lin Rui an abandoned gym and gave him its key, warning him to train during the day because gang members frequented the area at night.
• Lin Rui cleared a small area and began exercising, but soreness, work, and rain left him training only once during the week.
• Cynthia told Lin Rui that Toby’s teacher praised his progress and that he was likely to earn an A, while the food truck’s profits remained steady.
• Cynthia told Lin Rui that the Jones family planned to give him an enhanced version of triple the pleasure, and Lin Rui renewed his resolve to work out.

Lin Rui trained at the gym with Toby and completed a mission reward that temporarily granted him half of Toby’s attributes. The card transformed Lin Rui into a heavily muscled figure, leaving Toby convinced he had used a powerful drug.

• Lin Rui completed an exhausting rowing workout and prepared to train his legs as his strength continued to improve.
• Toby arrived after school, and Lin Rui let him into the gym so they could train together.
• Lin Rui trained squats while Toby exercised on a spin bike and continued losing weight.
• A notification announced that Lin Rui’s mission to help Toby lose twenty kilograms was complete and awarded him a Lesser Attribute Enhancement Card.
• Lin Rui activated the card, and his muscles rapidly grew as his attributes increased.
• Toby saw Lin Rui’s transformed body and asked what high-tech drug he had taken.

After using the card to enhance his abilities, Lin Rui tested his extraordinary strength and fitness at the gym with Toby, who assumed he had taken steroids. On their way home, Lin Rui killed an armed robber who threatened them, then hurried Toby away from the scene.

• Lin Rui easily squatted with a hundred kilograms, then completed twelve repetitions with a hundred and forty kilograms while Toby blamed his sudden strength on steroids.
• Lin Rui tested several other exercises and showed strength, endurance, explosive power, and reaction speed far beyond ordinary people.
• As Lin Rui and Toby walked through their dangerous neighborhood, Lin Rui noticed a suspicious man watching them and warned Toby to hurry at the convenience store.
• A white man threatened Lin Rui and Toby with a gun, so Lin Rui dodged and struck the robber's throat, leaving him choking and convulsing on the pavement.
• Lin Rui pulled Toby into an alley and left, while the convenience store clerk called a body collection service about the dying man.

Lin Rui returned to the church after taking Toby to the subway, while Toby’s weight loss and improved behavior impressed another mother. Mrs. Anderson then brought her rebellious daughter Molly to meet Leon and asked him to tutor her, leaving Molly to challenge him about whether he had a girlfriend.

• Lin Rui took Toby to the subway and returned to the church without Toby learning that he had killed a would-be robber.
• Toby returned home lighter and more energetic, and Mrs. Jones praised Leon’s success as his tutor to a visiting mother.
• The visiting mother asked Mrs. Jones for Leon’s contact information because her daughter was struggling at school and had joined a gang.
• Mrs. Anderson went to Pastor Borg’s church with her daughter Molly and asked Leon to help straighten her out.
• Leon emerged from the bathroom wearing only a bath towel, and Molly stared at him before asking provocatively whether he had a girlfriend.

Lin Rui agreed to help Mrs. Anderson steer Molly away from a Bronx gang and keep her on track, while refusing to force a romance. Mrs. Anderson arranged for Molly to live at the church with Lin Rui, promising him a reward for looking after her.

• Molly confessed to Mrs. Anderson that she was attracted to Lin Rui and hurriedly tried to improve her appearance.
• Father Borg told Lin Rui that the church had drawn more people since Lin Rui arrived and asked him to help Molly.
• Mrs. Anderson asked Lin Rui to date Molly and explained that Molly wanted to join a dangerous neighborhood gang.
• Lin Rui agreed to treat Molly like a younger sister and protect her from bad influences.
• Mrs. Anderson arranged for Molly to live at the church, attend school, and work out with Lin Rui, then promised Lin Rui a reward for caring for her.

Mrs. Anderson entrusted Molly to Lin Rui, who refused her advances and brought her into the Nightmare Space on an armed patrol. After Lin Rui showed Molly what gang life could lead to, she admitted she had only rebelled against her mother for fun as they continued through the darkness.

• Mrs. Anderson brought Molly to the church, paid Lin Rui to care for her, and received his promise to keep her on the right track.
• Molly tried to spend the night in Lin Rui's room, but he sent her back to bed and said he would show her the price of freedom.
• At midnight, Lin Rui joined Master Borg on an armed patrol, and Molly unexpectedly appeared in the Nightmare Space and followed them.
• Lin Rui showed Molly people twisted by the darkness and warned her that joining a gang could cost her her body, will, and dignity.
• Lin Rui killed a charging monster with his flaming sword and told Molly he would end her suffering if she ever became one of the fallen.
• Molly said she had only wanted to rebel against her mother for fun, and she continued the patrol with Lin Rui and Master Borg.

Molly woke at the church and went to school with her mother, admitting she had abandoned her plan to join a gang but still wanting Leon as her boyfriend. After they left, Pastor Borg learned from Officer Kane that a string of apparently natural deaths among homeless people had improved neighborhood crime statistics and might be linked to supernatural urban legends.

• Lin Rui woke Molly and told her to get ready because Mrs. Anderson would take her to school at seven thirty.
• Molly ate breakfast with Pastor Borg and learned that Leon had left early with Samantha to set up his food truck in Central Park.
• Mrs. Anderson picked Molly up, and Molly apologized for wanting to join a gang before saying she wanted Leon as her boyfriend.
• Pastor Borg saw body-recovery workers load a corpse into an ambulance while Officer Kane explained that rents had risen after crime figures improved.
• Officer Kane told Pastor Borg that ten homeless people had died in two months, with no evidence of violence or suspicious activity, and speculated that supernatural rules might be responsible.

Lin Rui trained with his enhancement card at the Bronx gym, where Molly arrived with her classmates and they mocked the run-down equipment. He silenced them with a heavy squat, but a newcomer at the entrance challenged his strength and compared him unfavorably to himself.

• Lin Rui returned to the gym and used his enhancement card to train with a 100-kilogram barbell.
• Molly brought seven or eight classmates to the gym, and they criticized the old equipment while sizing up Lin Rui.
• A quest urged Lin Rui to prove himself after the teenagers looked down on him, and he performed a set of squats in front of them.
• Lin Rui asked Molly to add weight and then lifted a 150-kilogram barbell for a squat, stunning the teenagers.
• A mocking voice at the entrance called Lin Rui the Asian kid stronger than Toby and claimed Lin Rui was no match for him.

Lin Rui and Toby fought off the gang members who attacked the gym, and Lin Rui defeated their leader with a barbell. A hidden quest awarded Lin Rui one free attribute point.

• The gang leader confronted Lin Rui while one of the thugs tried to grab Molly, who fled down the corridor.
• Lin Rui struck the gang leader with a water bottle and dumbbell, then urged Toby to fight.
• Toby charged one thug into the dumbbell rack, while the remaining two fled as Lin Rui advanced on them.
• The gang leader opened a butterfly knife, but Lin Rui blocked the gym exit and thrust a bare barbell into his chest.
• The hidden quest declared Lin Rui victorious and granted him one free attribute point.

Lin Rui, Toby, Molly, and their classmates fought off George’s gang at the church gym, then gave their accounts at the precinct. Officer Kane recognized Lin Rui as Leon and said the police would review the gym’s surveillance footage before deciding what happened.

• Molly escaped the thug holding her and kicked him in the groin while Toby continued beating George.
• Lin Rui stopped Toby when police sirens approached, and Toby, Molly, and the students acted injured and frightened as officers entered the gym.
• At the precinct, the thugs claimed they had been attacked, while Toby, Molly, and the students described the gang’s threats and assault.
• George accused Lin Rui of striking him with a barbell, and Lin Rui said the gym cameras would prove he acted in self-defense.
• Officer Kane recognized Lin Rui as Leon through Pastor Borg and said the police would check the footage.

After Lin Rui fought off five gang punks at the gym, surveillance footage confirmed his self-defense claim and helped him and the others get released from the police station. Pastor Borg praised Lin Rui’s restraint, while the ride home left Molly and Toby marveling at the fight and Lin Rui’s preparation.

• Agent Robin suspected Lin Rui was unusual and bet the deputy chief that Lin Rui would leave the station without charges.
• Officer Kane reported that gym surveillance showed the gang punks had started the fight and that Lin Rui had acted in self-defense.
• Mrs. Anderson’s lawyer demanded the release of the children, and their parents and guardians completed the paperwork and took them home.
• Pastor Borg praised Lin Rui for decisively stopping the gang punks without attacking them excessively.
• Molly excitedly recounted the fight to her mother, while Toby asked Lin Rui why he had installed cameras at the gym.
• Lin Rui told Toby that he had prepared for trouble because he knew someone would come looking for it.

Lin Rui left the chapel to seek Sophia’s help with Molly and the neighborhood gang, but Sophia confronted him for visiting less often and refused to help. The chapter ended with Lin Rui taking her hand and promising to visit at least three times a week.

• Essen Borg told Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Anderson how gangs targeted vulnerable children with violence and drugs, while Toby and Molly joked about the fight at the gym.
• Lin Rui said the gang’s leader could be dealt with by killing him, then left the chapel and drove to the Gershwin Theatre to enter Nightmare Space.
• Lin Rui found the tower’s staircase stretching endlessly until Sophia appeared in the sitting room and accused him of neglecting her.
• Lin Rui asked Sophia for help guiding Molly back to her mother and for spells to protect himself from the gang, but she refused.
• Lin Rui took Sophia’s hand and promised to visit her at least three times a week.