Chapter Summaries

Suren was pulled into a thought-triggered Cursed Space resembling a thousand-year-old hospital and learned that he could escape by reciting the full name of the resentment’s owner. As he searched for clues, a knife-wielding nurse appeared behind him and vanished after he fired at her.

• Suren recognized that the basement of 88 Ginkgo Street had drawn him into a Cursed Space that appeared when he realized it existed.
• Suren used the All-Seeing Eye to learn that the space depicted Havel Hospital’s inpatient department and that reciting the resentment’s owner’s full name would free him.
• Suren decided to search the hospital for records that might reveal the owner’s identity, while avoiding the morgue.
• Suren found a ward marked with the duty nurse’s name, Janice George, but saw no one in the ward or nurses’ station.
• Suren spotted the reflection of a bloodstained nurse holding a knife, fired twice, and found only bullets in the wall as the nurse disappeared.

Suren discovered that the hospital’s curse manifested frightening thoughts as real threats, then tested the rules by creating and defeating physical monsters. He descended to the second floor, where he encountered the famed blind gunslinger Bill and wondered whether Bill had previously occupied the space.

• Suren realized the Ghost Nurse appeared when he imagined it and could only frighten him, not physically harm him.
• Suren deduced that the hospital manifested frightening thoughts and that emotional fear was required for the manifestations to become dangerous.
• Suren deliberately imagined hostile nurse monsters, confirmed they were physical, and easily defeated them while examining them.
• Suren explored the third floor, found several nurses’ duty rosters, and went down to the second floor.
• Suren found Blind Detective Bill outside a hospital room and recognized him as a celebrated Bounty Hunter and Firearm Master.

Suren encountered Blind Detective Bill inside the Cursed Space beneath 88 Ginkgo Street and learned Bill had followed a missing-person case there. Bill’s fears materialized into powerful monsters, and after he wounded one, two more appeared as Suren fled upstairs.

• Suren met the wounded Blind Detective Bill, who identified the building as a Cursed Space and said he had followed a missing-person case there.
• Suren and Bill questioned each other, while Bill tried to verify Suren’s identity with a code phrase from the Umbrella Organization.
• Bill imagined a powerful blood gorilla into existence, and Suren realized his thoughts were creating the monsters.
• Bill used the Woodpecker and Viper's Kiss to shoot the blood gorilla with precise sound localization and overlapping shots.
• Two Flying Head Monsters appeared in the corridor, and Suren retreated to the third floor.

Suren returned to the second floor and confirmed that Bill was a dead man reenacting his final moments, then persuaded him that the monsters came from their thoughts. The two searched the hospital for a way to escape the Grade S Cursed Space, found the Living Corpse Research diaries, and triggered an abnormal sound from deeper in the hospital.

• Suren saw Bill reappear on the second floor and was grazed by a bullet when Bill drew his gun.
• Suren returned and explained to Bill that controlling their thoughts could prevent monsters from appearing, and Bill agreed to work with him.
• Bill explained that the space was likely formed by a powerful resentment and that reciting its source's name might break it.
• Suren and Bill searched the hospital, found a safe in the Dean's Office, and opened it.
• Suren found diaries about the Living Corpse Research project signed by Thermidor M. Chekhov and stored them in his Storage Ring.
• An abnormal sound came from a deeper part of the hospital shortly after they opened the safe.

Suren escaped a cursed hospital after a blue-skinned Living Corpse killed Bill, and judged the space too dangerous to enter again. Bill’s memories revealed that he had been investigating the defected vice dean Nikolai J. Emirich, and Suren fled 88 Ginkgo Street when he realized the site might be a trap.

• A blue-skinned Living Corpse appeared at the office entrance and killed Bill with one punch.
• Suren escaped to the basement of 88 Ginkgo Street by completing the name he had read in the notebook, then identified the hospital as a Black T-Sealed Level Cursed Space.
• Suren devoured Bill’s Gray Mist and gained his memories, perception abilities, gun skills, and information about Nikolai J. Emirich’s defection and Bill’s investigation.
• Suren suspected that 88 Ginkgo Street was a trap and that its hunter might come to investigate, so he grabbed the scythe containing Black Scythe and rushed outside.

Suren met the cloaked Top-Tier Professional who had set the basement Cursed Space as a trap, and traded his account of surviving it for a free Alchemical Implant and future compensation. The man revealed that he was a Master Craftsman with the Mind Reader talent, while Suren left with the promise of collecting his implant in five days.

• Suren sensed an intruder in his living room, but the cloaked man restrained him and said he meant no harm.
• The cloaked man recognized Hypnos's Night Black Scythe and offered to forge Suren's implant in exchange for information about the Cursed Space.
• The cloaked man explained that he had investigated the space years ago, sealed it, and later used the basement as a trap to divert people investigating him.
• Suren described the hospital, its Terror Manifestation rule, the blue-skinned living corpse, and how he escaped after encountering Bill's lingering soul.
• The cloaked man tested Suren's account with questions about the hospital and offered him additional compensation beyond the implant.
• The cloaked man revealed that his talent was C-042—The Mind Reader, and told Suren to collect his implant from Rosen's Alchemy Shop in five days.

After Nikolai J. Emirich left, Suren decided to move away from the dangerous apartment and examined the Living Corpse Research Diary. He traced its experiments to the ancient alchemist Thermidor M. Chekhov and realized the diary connected Pestoya to the Active Corpse, while leaving him unable to understand the research or act on his idea of using the corpse as a puppet medium.

• Nikolai J. Emirich spoke with Suren, revealed his intentions, and left without entering the basement.
• Suren decided to move out rather than remain near the conflict surrounding the basement trap.
• Suren studied the Living Corpse Research Diary and found its technical material far beyond his current knowledge of Alchemy.
• Suren learned that Thermidor M. Chekhov had recorded attempts to resurrect the dead, including experiments that created an Active Corpse.
• Suren recognized Pestoya's name in Chekhov's first entry and connected her to the girl from Storm Manor.
• Suren realized the blue-skinned Active Corpse might serve as a puppet medium for the scythe, but put the diary away without pursuing the idea.

Suren met Danny to buy advanced potions, including a Mutation Tolerance Enhancement Potion and two restricted laboratory-grade body enhancers, while learning that a laboratory accident had caused mutations in the underground sewers. Two days later, he obtained the finished Eight-Armed Spider God Spear Alchemical Implant at the black market.

• Suren moved his equipment into a rented basement on Green Street and tested two training devices, finding that they improved muscle stimulation and recovery.
• Suren met Danny and bought the last vial of Mutation Tolerance Enhancement Potion, plus a PTX Berserk Amplification Potion and a Lester VI Generation Blood Cell Enhancer.
• Suren offered to buy any future potions Danny needed to sell, and Danny warned him that a past Inner City laboratory leak had mutated creatures in the underground sewers.
• Two days later, Suren obtained the Eight-Armed Spider God Spear Alchemical Implant at the black market.

Suren fused the Eight-Armed Spider Spear Implant and tested its new abilities in the underground chamber. He discovered that it greatly improved his toughness, mobility, and combat options, though controlling many puppets at once still challenged him.

• Suren examined the Eight-Armed Spider Spear Implant and confirmed its properties with the All-Seeing Eye.
• Suren used a Five-Pointed Alchemy Array to fuse the Implant, becoming a true Tier 1 Professional and gaining increased toughness and resistances.
• Suren formed eight Sorcerer Seals to activate the Implant and climbed the walls and ceiling with its Spider Arms.
• Suren tested the Spider Spears’ piercing power and used their limbs to control steel wires and puppets.
• Suren tried controlling four puppets at once, tangled the wires around the room, and remained pleased with the Implant.

Suren’s workshop preparations were interrupted when the Cross Society summoned its members to the Elephant Tavern, where it faced the Steam Party over control of Green Street. Negotiations collapsed, and Martin Reis’s public insult left both gangs poised for violence.

• Suren finished making ammunition belts and boxes for Azure Ghost and fitted one to his crude mechanical armor, Iron Man I.
• Kai summoned the Cross Society to the Elephant Tavern, where Suren found its members facing a large Steam Party force.
• Kai told Suren that the Reis Family had split into seven factions and that the third branch’s Martin Reis had arrived in Green Street.
• Mad Dog Hogg demanded that the Cross Society leave Green Street, but Smoker Samb rejected the demand and the negotiations broke down as both sides raised their guns.
• Martin Reis threw a bottle onto the negotiation table and insulted the Cross Society members from the tavern’s second-floor railing.

Young Master Martin ordered the Cross Society to leave his family’s Green Street establishments within three days, while Smoker and the other cadres weighed the threat of open conflict. Suren suspected the dispute reflected a larger struggle against Madam Philo, and Smoker left to consult the Cross Society’s president.

• Young Master Martin rejected negotiations and demanded that the Cross Society withdraw from his establishments within three days, dismissing Madam Philo’s influence.
• Suren inferred that the confrontation on Green Street was tied to a wider political struggle and a possible move against Madam Philo and her allies.
• Young Master Martin paid for the drinks and left the Elephant Tavern with his bodyguards and the smug Steam Party members.
• Kai and other squad leaders urged Smoker and Red Demon to retaliate, but the cadres recognized the danger of starting a war.
• Smoker ordered the Cross Society members not to act rashly and said he would return to headquarters to ask the president what to do.

After Young Master Martin was killed in an ambush, Banner ordered the Steam Party to attack the Cross Society, while Kai and Suren prepared to defend Green Street. The Steam Party’s massive convoy arrived, and Suren anticipated gaining Mechanical Knowledge from the battle.

• Hogg reported to Banner that Young Master Martin had left Green Street safely, and Banner explained that the conflict could reshape the outer city.
• A captain told Banner that Young Master Martin had been killed in an attack on the Reis Family convoy, with a survivor identifying an attacker who could transform into a red giant.
• Banner ordered the Steam Party to assemble and attack the Cross Society, while Hogg suspected the killing was a trap and Banner realized both gangs had been manipulated.
• Kai and Suren prepared the Cross Society’s defenses on Green Street as gang members gathered for a fight.
• The Steam Party’s convoy arrived with hundreds of vehicles, and Suren watched it, confident he could protect himself and eager to gain Mechanical Knowledge.

The Steam Party launched a sudden, overwhelming attack on Green Street, forcing the outnumbered Cross Society into a desperate defense. After Suren killed a distant sniper with Thunder Serpent, Kai asked him to retake the ruined building’s high ground, and Suren set out alone.

• The Steam Party attacked Green Street with armored vehicles, artillery, and a force far larger than the Cross Society’s, driving the defenders into the alleys.
• Kai led the Green Street Squad’s defense while Suren used his perception and concealed shots to avoid exposing his full strength.
• The Steam Party pushed toward the ruined building after its rooftop sniper was killed, and Suren sensed an enemy sniper targeting him.
• Suren dodged the sniper’s shot and killed the sniper through a window over three hundred meters away with Thunder Serpent.
• Kai asked Suren to retake the ruined building’s high ground, and Suren agreed to go alone.

Suren infiltrated a ruined building and used a sniper rifle to protect Kai’s team while the Cross Society fought the Steam Party in Green Street. After ambushing successive groups of enemies inside the building, he prepared for a stronger wave of captain-level Professionals.

• Suren climbed the ruined building’s outer wall, killed two snipers on the fourth floor, and took their equipment and Memory Fragments.
• Suren used the snipers’ rifle to kill two Steam Party fighters threatening Kai’s team, then evaded fire from an armored vehicle’s heavy machine gun and continued providing cover.
• Suren saw Golon fighting three Steam Party officers and decided to remain in the building to ambush more enemies.
• After a warning bomb signaled an infiltration, Suren filled the fourth floor with smoke and killed six attackers approaching by the stairs and windows.
• Suren used his Puppet Doll to stun a crowd of Steam Party members and shot thirteen of them before repositioning as more footsteps came from downstairs.

Suren ambushed and killed Parker Cecil and the Steam Party squad that stormed the ruined building, while Kai's group was driven back outside. Kai rushed to help Suren, then found him alive among the bodies and was stunned by the scale of his victory.

• Parker led nearly twenty Steam Party members into the ruined building and exposed Suren's position, but Suren used his Wailing Dolls to incapacitate the attackers.
• Suren killed Parker and the rest of the squad, then extracted memories, mechanical knowledge, a prosthetic-arm blueprint, and mental power from Parker's corpse.
• With the sniper fire gone, Kai's group was overwhelmed, and Kai ordered his men to retreat while he charged toward the ruined building to help Suren.
• Kai found corpses on the stairs and reached the fourth floor, where Suren aimed a gun at him before recognizing him.
• Kai saw Parker and thirty-three other enemies dead, and Suren asked him to help loot the battlefield before a cadre arrived.

Suren and Kai were chased by the Steam Party after escaping the wrecked building, and they were trapped under overwhelming enemy fire. Suren prepared to turn the fight around with a flashbang, an ammunition-fed pistol, and a puppet decoy as Kai realized he intended to face dozens of enemies head-on.

• Suren heard people approaching, set traps beneath the corpses, and led Kai across the rooftops to escape the Steam Party.
• Steam Party members recognized Kai and surrounded the pair as they fled toward the Honeycomb Building Area.
• Pinned down by heavy fire, Kai offered to draw the enemies away so Suren could escape, but Suren prepared an ammunition box connected to his pistol.
• Suren gave Kai a puppet decoy and told him to run out after the flashbang while Suren handled the enemies.
• Suren asked whether Kai had seen any Tier 2 Professionals, then gauged the enemies' positions and announced he was ready to throw the flashbang.

Suren and Kai turned their escape into a counterattack, with Suren’s overwhelming firepower wiping out the Steam Party’s ordinary fighters and killing Iron Lung Durand. They withdrew into the Honeycomb Building as reinforcements arrived on Green Street.

• Suren used a Flashbang to signal the attack, then suppressed the Steam Party with continuous fire while Kai charged into their ranks.
• Suren and Kai worked together to kill the ordinary Steam Party fighters as Kai fought their captains, Scissorhands Hawthorne and Iron Lung Durand.
• Suren killed Durand with two armor-piercing shots, revealing his mastery of the secret art Overlapping Shots.
• Hawthorne fled into a ruined building, while Suren helped the wounded Kai retreat into the Honeycomb Building.
• Heavy artillery struck an armored vehicle on Green Street, and Kai recognized that their reinforcements had arrived.

After the gang war left Green Street in ruins, Suren used his spoils to train and build mechanical devices. When his Spider Bomb repeatedly exploded, he realized his mechanical knowledge had serious gaps and decided to ask Nikolai J. Emirich for help, hoping to learn more about the world and advancing as a Professional.

• The three-day gang war ended after the Inner City's major families mediated, leaving Green Street ruined and both gangs heavily weakened.
• Suren received a substantial reward from Boss Qiantiao but avoided public recognition for his role in the fighting.
• More than half a month later, Suren's Spider Bomb exploded during testing, prompting him to recognize that his mechanical knowledge was scattered and lacked theory.
• Suren decided to use the favor owed by Nikolai J. Emirich and rode to Rosen's Alchemy Shop in Shadow Alley to leave him a message.

Suren sought Mr. Black’s advice on Second Tier advancement and learned that his suppressed emotions threatened his mental health, while Mental Power Secret Techniques could help him control his power. Mr. Black offered him alchemy textbooks and invited him to a black-market circle where high-level Professionals exchanged knowledge.

• Suren visited the black market to find Mr. Black and bought a Cheetah IX Micro Six-Cylinder Steam Boiler for his Iron Man Mark II.
• Mr. Black agreed to give Suren his alchemy textbooks and explained that Puppet Masters had many possible Second Tier advancement paths.
• Mr. Black advised Suren to pursue Mental Power Control and warned that suppressing his emotions could cause a dangerous backlash.
• Mr. Black explained that a Mental Power Secret Technique could help Suren control his disordered Mental Power, though he said his own technique was too dangerous for Suren.
• Mr. Black told Suren that the newly discovered Dawn City ruins would bring ancient relics to the black market and invited him to a high-level alchemy knowledge exchange circle.

Suren followed Mr. Black to a secret inner-circle meeting beneath the Black Market, where powerful professionals exchanged information and rare goods. After hearing the group’s rules and observing several trades, Suren asked for a mental power secret technique and cursed puppet-control thread, and someone offered to show him a suitable thread.

• Mr. Black gave Suren a Cloak of Concealment and explained the inner circle’s membership, secrecy, and exchange rules.
• Mr. Black brought Suren to a hidden gathering where fifteen cloaked professionals exchanged information about events and fugitives across Old Lindun.
• The members traded rare materials, knowledge, and equipment, with Mr. Black acting as the gathering’s appraiser and guarantor.
• Suren asked the group for an ancient alchemist’s Mental Power Secret Technique and cursed thread suitable for a Puppet Master.
• One cloaked figure said they had a strange cursed thread that might meet Suren’s requirements and offered to show it to him.