Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi recruited One Cigarette to help manage his planned sect and tested whether Spirit Infusion could give a player a flying sword usable outside the game. One Cigarette logged out and returned ten minutes later, apparently confirming the experiment had worked.

• Peak Blazing Fire and Pinnacle players tried to attack One Cigarette and his companions, but Zhao Laosan drove them off with a flying tiger-headed saber.
• Zhao Laosan flew One Cigarette, One Dish, and One Head of Garlic to Ling Yi at the frozen lake, where Ling Yi asked One Cigarette to help manage his future sect.
• Ling Yi used Spirit Infusion on One Cigarette's Gold-Slashing Sword, then sent him with Zhao Laosan to raise its sword spirit to tier-one spiritual treasure status.
• Ling Yi told One Cigarette to log out and return ten minutes later to test whether the infused sword worked in the real world.
• One Cigarette logged back in and stared at Ling Yi in disbelief, leading Ling Yi to conclude that the experiment had succeeded.

Ling Yi defended the frozen lake against an enormous alliance of players, imperial soldiers, and Jianghu experts while building up an arsenal of spirit treasure swords. After the attackers were wiped out, Snow of Frost appeared to claim the ice qilin, but Ling Yi killed her with one strike and found three large sect tokens among her drops.

• Ling Yi ordered his flying swords to kill anyone entering the valley and gave One Cigarette, One Dish, and One Head of Garlic Spiritual Power shields and instructions to collect loot.
• After unaffiliated players and then imperial soldiers and Jianghu fighters attacked, Ling Yi infused purple swords with spirits and used his flying swords to slaughter more than six hundred thousand attackers over the course of the battle.
• One Cigarette and the others gathered equipment, manuals, and pills as Ling Yi grew his collection to more than two hundred first-tier spirit treasure flying swords.
• When the red water in the frozen lake began to clear, Ling Yi warned his companions to retreat and faced Snow of Frost, who declared that the ice qilin was hers.
• Ling Yi strengthened his shields and Giant Tooth Sword with Spiritual Power, broke through Snow of Frost's Frost Domain, and killed her in one strike.
• Ling Yi found dozens of books and three large sect tokens among Snow of Frost's drops.

Ling Yi defeated the sixteen cultivators who ambushed him, upgraded the Giant Tooth Sword, and prepared for the Ice Qilin’s arrival. When the Ice Qilin emerged and demanded his submission, Ling Yi struck first and began pummeling it.

• Ling Yi killed one cultivator to break the Eight Trigrams Li Fire Formation, then used his flying swords to defeat the remaining attackers.
• Ling Yi looted the cultivators’ spoils, upgraded the Giant Tooth Sword to fourth grade, and gained the Opening the Orifices skill.
• Ling Yi told the Giant Tooth Sword to train the flying swords, while his party gained levels and nearby players watched from outside the valley.
• Ling Yi sent Zhao Laosan, One Cigarette, and the others out of the valley as the Ice Qilin emerged from the lake and froze the area with its innate cold flame.
• Ling Yi rejected the Ice Qilin’s demand for submission, punched it across the ice, and followed with a rapid series of Sun-Character Thrust Punches.

Ling Yi subdued the Ice Qilin, learned that the game world was a fragment protected by a Data Seal, and established the Huayang Sect. After returning from three days offline, he equipped thirty thousand real-world soldiers in the sect and sent them out to level up, with the reason tied to his visit to Cloud Valley.

• Ling Yi forced the Ice Qilin to surrender, accepted its pet contract, and learned about its abilities and the world's origins from its inherited memories.
• The Sacred Sect's elders discussed Snow of Frost's power to undo the Data Seal and ordered her talent strengthened while reclaiming other SSS-rank talents.
• Snow of Frost destroyed thirty-seven sects, while Reincarnation founded the Huayang Sect and then disappeared for three days.
• Players struggled to find a way forward as they avoided the threatened sects and most could not join the Huayang Sect.
• Ling Yi logged back in, admitted thirty thousand newly arrived players into the Huayang Sect, bound Spirit Infusion equipment to them, and sent them to level up under Zhao Laosan, One Cigarette, and the others.

Ling Yi explained how Cloud Valley had turned Jianghu into a game and stolen its origin power, then pulled Shen Xue from the game to prevent her from destroying it. After arguing with the author about the rushed plot, Ling Yi and Yin Wanqing chose to try a Marvel world, where Ling Yi would transmigrate as a complete protagonist replacement.

• Ling Yi learned that Cloud Valley had drawn Jianghu from a spatial rift, sealed it with photon energy, and used players to read its data and steal its origin power.
• Ling Yi revealed his identity as Ling and joined forces with the authorities; he extracted Shen Xue, also known as Snow of Frost, from Jianghu and sent her to Cloud Valley.
• Ling Yi and Yin Wanqing confronted the author about the story's rushed developments, while the author blamed Ling Yi's Consciousness Clone for changing the planned plot.
• The author proposed writing Marvel again, and Ling Yi asked to see the Marvel Universe outline despite previously rejecting the idea.
• Ling Yi and Yin Wanqing approved the outline and decided to transmigrate into the Marvel Universe, with Ling Yi replacing its protagonist completely.

After surviving a gang delivery job, Ling Yi prepared to launch his Diablo dungeon and recruit players, but Brock warned him that they had been framed before gunshots cut off the call. Ling Yi hid in a secret compartment and activated the dungeon, bringing ten players into the game.

• Ling Yi and Brock Mason delivered a shipment for the Timberwolf Gang and received six thousand dollars each.
• Ling Yi asked Brock whether he wanted to leave gang life, then decided to let him enter the Diablo dungeon to level up.
• Ling Yi configured the dungeon, chose ten initial players, and created Player Marks for them.
• Brock called to warn Ling Yi that the shipment was gone and they had been made scapegoats, then gunshots abruptly ended the call.
• Ling Yi destroyed his written plan and hid in a secret compartment stocked with food and weapons.
• Ling Yi activated the dungeon and deployed the marks, and the system confirmed that ten players had logged in.

Nick Fury and the others were pulled into the Rogue Encampment instance, where Tony Stark’s group tested its monster-fighting mechanics and Steve Rogers thawed from the ice. The chapter ended with Steve ready to level up and Nick’s group preparing to test a health potion.

• Nick Fury, Natasha, Barton, Coulson, Pepper, Happy, Tony Stark, Helen Cho, Peggy Carter, and Steve appeared in the Rogue Encampment instance, where they learned its rules.
• Tony Stark led Pepper, Happy, and Helen Cho outside the camp and killed a spiny rat, gaining experience, coins, and a health potion.
• Ling Yi received experience and unlocked the System Shop while hiding from the people involved in a criminal conspiracy.
• Steve thawed from the ice, reunited with Peggy Carter, and agreed with Nick that they should level up.
• Barton showed Nick’s group a health potion, and Steve handed it to Peggy to test its effects.

Peggy drank a health potion and returned to youth as Steve and the others prepared to explore the game world. Tony’s group reunited with them, and everyone agreed to level up and gather supplies before fighting Blood Raven, while Ling Yi reached level 7 in the real world and chose a powerful, varied set of skills.

• Peggy drank the small health potion, regained her youth and strength, and agreed with Steve to finish their long-delayed dance.
• Barton explained the game’s monsters and experience system, and Steve summoned his shield as the group prepared to leave the encampment.
• Tony, Pepper, Happy, and Helen Cho returned after dying while fighting monsters, and Tony explained their failed attempt to challenge Blood Raven.
• Nick introduced Tony to Steve, Peggy, Natasha, Barton, and Coulson, and Tony recognized Peggy from his childhood.
• Tony and the others agreed to level up, find equipment, and save for potions before facing Blood Raven together.
• Ling Yi reached level 7, distributed his attributes and skill points, and gained heightened senses and a broad set of combat and scouting abilities.

Nick Fury and the others defeated Blood Raven, gathered equipment, and returned from the instance to test how its items and portals worked in reality. Nick discovered that a town portal could be set outside the instance and saw the new power as a chance to confront the hidden force inside S.H.I.E.L.D., while Alexander Pierce began questioning his brief disappearance.

• Steve, Natasha, Barton, Peggy, Helen Cho, and the others killed Blood Raven, then assigned her equipment to Steve, Natasha, and Barton.
• The group returned to camp, received archer mercenaries from Kashya, and decided that most of them would leave the instance while Steve and Barton stayed to level up.
• Nick returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters with a mercenary, confirmed that his equipment could appear in reality, and discovered that a town portal scroll could designate a real-world destination.
• Nick considered using the instance's power to strengthen his control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and counter the unknown force he suspected was operating inside it.
• Alexander Pierce called Nick about his disappearance and invoked the World Council of Elders, but Nick rejected his explanation and ended the call.

Tony, Pepper, Happy, Steve, and Nick adapted to their growing powers from the game instance, while Ling Yi investigated Brock’s death and uncovered a plot involving the Hand. The chapter ended with Ling Yi identifying the Japanese ninja group behind the shipment theft as the Hand.

• Tony, Pepper, and Happy tested their increased strength, then leveled up in the game and reached level 10, choosing their respective classes and skills.
• Steve escaped the iceberg with his Paladin skill Holy Fire and met Nick, Coulson, and Natasha, who took him through a town portal.
• Ling Yi investigated the Pigeon Gang and learned that someone had stolen a Kingpin Group shipment and framed him and Brock.
• Ling Yi confronted Babuke Neil and Nick at the Timberwolf Gang headquarters, where NieR admitted that Japanese ninjas had ordered them to take the shipment.
• Ling Yi concluded that the ninjas who had set up Brock and him belonged to the Hand.

After confronting the consequences of Stark Industries’ weapons sales, Tony realized his uncle Obadiah had betrayed him. A convoy ambush killed his soldiers, and Tony used his ice magic to slaughter the attackers before confronting their frozen leader.

• Ling Yi left Hell’s Kitchen for Queens after NieR’s death went unnoticed by the Timberwolf Gang.
• In Kamar Town, an old man showed Tony a Stark Industries bullet and accused his weapons of killing his family and the town’s residents.
• Tony questioned General Morris about his weapons deal, then rejected Morris’s plan to use them for slaughter.
• On the return journey, Tony’s convoy was attacked with Stark-marked missiles, and the blast killed all the soldiers.
• Tony survived the explosions with his shield and Ice Armor, then destroyed the attackers’ vehicles with Ice Bolt.
• Tony froze the bald attack leader and recognized the betrayal as Obadiah’s doing.

Tony had Obadiah arrested and joined Steve’s group to explore the Dark Passage, where Ling Yi secretly watched them fight. After seeing their progress, Ling Yi decided to expand the player roster by selecting four new players, including villains and other powerful figures.

• Tony fired Obadiah, whose paralysis device failed to stop Happy, and had him taken away; Obadiah’s shares went to Tony.
• Tony, Pepper, Happy, and the others joined Steve’s party and entered the Dark Passage after reaching level 10.
• The group defeated a pack of Dark Hunters using curses, poison, buffs, and coordinated attacks, while Steve and Hawkeye sensed they were being watched.
• Ling Yi observed the party from an invisible projection, gained experience, and left without revealing himself.
• Ling Yi decided to add selected players and chose Ivan Vanko, Bruce Banner, Wilson Fisk, and Steve Strange.

Ling Yi selected the second batch of Marvel players, weighing each candidate’s abilities, flaws, and potential to change their fate in the game. After choosing ten heroes and villains, he considered whether Thanos might also be worth recruiting.

• Ling Yi chose Loki, hoping to see what choices he would make when given a chance to change his fate.
• Ling Yi selected Bucky Barnes to see how he, Steve, and Tony would interact in the game.
• Ling Yi chose Norman Osborn because he wanted to change Norman’s future and the futures of Harry Osborn and Spider-Man.
• Ling Yi selected Mindy Macready, Eddie Brock, and Matt Murdock, hoping to see Mindy’s potential, test Venom in a game instance, and help Daredevil grow stronger.
• Ling Yi finished choosing ten players and considered recruiting Thanos, but doubted he could change Thanos’s firm belief that wiping out half of all life would save the universe.

Ling Yi invited young Peter Parker to lunch, easing some of his loneliness in the unfamiliar world. Bruce Banner joined the Rogue Encampment instance and chose to erase Hulk's soul while keeping a controllable transformation ability, and Ling Yi's system used the collected soul and gene data to complete the Barbarian skill tree.

• Ling Yi abandoned the idea of recruiting Thanos and spent experience to create ten new Player Marks.
• Ling Yi invited Peter Parker to lunch, and Peter called Aunt May before accepting the offer.
• Peter enjoyed Ling Yi's pork ribs and sent Aunt May a video from Ling Yi's phone.
• Bruce Banner received three choices for dealing with Hulk's soul and chose to erase it while retaining a controllable transformation.
• Banner arrived in the Rogue Encampment and learned about the instance and the Chosen Ones.
• Ling Yi received a system notice that Hulk's soul and mutated gene data had completed the Barbarian skill tree.

Ling Yi discovered that the barbarian skill tree had gained transformation skills as ten new players entered the Rogue Encampment and tested the game’s rules. The players split into pairs to explore, while Ling Yi wondered how their real-world abilities would interact with the game.

• Ling Yi inspected the barbarian’s new Transformation and Enhanced Transformation skills and wondered whether the Game System could alter other classes’ skill trees.
• Kingpin recognized several players, dismissed Mindy’s desire for revenge, and left the Rogue Encampment; Ivan Vanko and Loki also departed to test whether the world was real.
• Strange accused the players of staging an elaborate prank, while Loki showed him the system interface and vanished using invisibility.
• Mindy discovered that players lost HP and respawned by kicking Norman Osborn, then invited him to party up; Eddie Brock and Matt Murdock also teamed up and left.
• Bucky Barnes and Bruce Banner discussed their painful pasts, formed a party, and left the encampment; Strange eventually followed them out alone.
• Ling Yi watched the new players disperse and wondered why Bucky’s metal arm and Brock’s Venom carried over while Loki’s magic did not.

Kingpin returned from the game with the assassin class and used his new skills and a game weapon to confront the Hand in Hell's Kitchen. After matching Madame Gao in strength, he used his boosted speed to kill her with one punch.

• Kingpin reached level 10, chose the assassin class, and allocated most of his free attribute points to agility before being logged out.
• Kingpin rejected the shadow double's independent decisions and summoned Lester, who reported that Madame Gao and her ninjas had overwhelmed him.
• Kingpin gave Lester a lightning javelin from his game inventory, and Lester learned its properties when he took it.
• Kingpin and Lester attacked Madame Gao's lair, where Kingpin confronted her over the Hand's control of Hell's Kitchen's Southern District.
• Kingpin's fist clashed evenly with Madame Gao's, but his assassin acceleration let him evade her attack and kill her with a punch.

Banner and Bucky chose Sorcerer and pushed through the dungeon until they reached level 18 and unlocked Teleportation, while Mindy, Norman Osborn, and Loki also advanced their classes. After the second batch of players returned to reality, Loki watched Thor receive the warriors’ admiration and reflected on his envy and ambition to inherit Asgard’s throne.

• Banner chose Sorcerer for its escape skills, and Bucky chose the same class to pursue revenge and make up for the seventy years he had lost.
• Banner and Bucky fought through the monastery dungeon, reached level 18, and put their attribute points into intelligence to use Teleportation across distances of up to fifteen kilometers.
• Mindy returned as an Assassin, Norman Osborn as a Druid, and the second batch of players left the game dungeon after three hours in reality.
• Loki returned to Asgard as an Assassin, valuing its combat-capable Clone skill and imagining how he could use it alongside his illusions.
• Thor defeated Sif on the training grounds and received cheers from the warriors, leaving Loki resentful and convinced that he was better suited to rule Asgard.

Loki resolved to prove Odin wrong by pursuing his own path, while Strange discovered that leveling up in the game improved his real-world abilities and returned to play. Ling Yi watched the players develop their builds and hoped someone would clear Act I so he could enter the instance and exploit its remaining opportunities.

• Odin named Thor heir to the throne, and Loki vowed to prove Odin had made the wrong choice by leveling up in the game instead of joining Thor's invasion of Jotunheim.
• Strange tested his improved strength and dexterity in a difficult surgery, then logged back into the game, eager to gain more power.
• Ling Yi judged Strange poorly suited to heroism and noted that Ivan Vanko chose a Druid shapeshifter while Eddie Brock chose an Amazon archer and agreed to erase Venom's consciousness.
• Ling Yi redeemed an optimized Venom for 200,000 experience points and reached level 19, while the experience needed for level 20 rose to one billion.
• The second batch of players completed their class changes, and Strange reached level 10 as a Sorcerer with skills spread across fire, cold, and lightning.
• Ling Yi reflected on the players' slow progress through Act I and waited for someone to clear it so he could enter the instance and grind monsters.

Banner demonstrated control of Hulk's power by escaping General Ross's forces on a flying security door, while Betty rejected her father's ambitions. Later, the two batches of players met, and Kingpin used his influence to make agreements with Mindy, Damon, and Matt about Hell's Kitchen.

• Banner visited Betty at Culver University, but she refused to leave with him as General Ross's forces arrived.
• Banner transformed, flew away on a security door at over Mach twelve, and escaped Ross's pursuit.
• Betty condemned Ross's ambition and left him after he ordered Blonsky to capture Banner by any means.
• Nick and the other players met Kingpin and Mindy, who had agreed to peace while Kingpin promised to help resurrect Mindy's mother.
• Kingpin offered Matt control over the illicit businesses in Hell's Kitchen, and Matt told him to keep them strictly business; Kingpin then issued decrees against coercing people into crime.

Bucky revealed that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and was preparing Project Insight, forcing Nick to reconsider his plans and recognize the threat posed by players. Tony learned Bucky had killed his parents while under Hydra’s control, attacked him, then eventually calmed down and left to prepare for a fight against Hydra.

• Kingpin told Nick that Hydra operatives had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and that he would discuss cooperation after Nick dealt with them.
• Bucky reunited with Steve and revealed that Hydra remained active, had infiltrated powerful organizations, and planned to use Project Insight to kill potential enemies.
• Bucky explained that Dr. Zola had uploaded his consciousness to computers and that Project Insight would use three Helicarriers and the Zola Algorithm to target hundreds of thousands of people.
• Bucky confessed that he had killed Tony’s parents while controlled by Hydra, and Tony attacked him repeatedly until Bucky’s level fell to zero.
• Kingpin warned Nick that players and instance-world equipment could reshape power in the world, then agreed to join Nick’s proposed team.
• Tony calmed down, told Nick to contact him when S.H.I.E.L.D. moved against Hydra, and left while Steve offered to help Bucky regain his levels.