Recaps

Ji He received a generous payment from Yu Yun, then watched a video accusing World of Disorder of being a scam. Meanwhile, the other closed beta players learned that the game would be taken offline for maintenance until August 7.

• Ji He received twenty thousand yuan from Yu Yun and told Zhongde to send his payment code.
• Ji He watched a video that called World of Disorder a scam and asked the developers for a closed beta code, then reacted in shock to a new phone notification.
• Cui Yuan arrived at work and learned that his director was being questioned by three men before seeing a gaming platform notification.
• Jing Ming, Zhou Jue, Yu Yun, and a former professional player also saw the notification.
• At 10:00 a.m. on August 6, 2037, World of Disorder announced server maintenance lasting until 8:00 p.m. on August 7.

Ed leveled up, used [Verdant Crown] to encase six unconscious players in protective vines, and traveled to Dragonborn Village. He offered to meet the village chief alone, claiming he could suppress mutation and help the villagers carry on.

• Ed reached level five and focused his new attribute points on psionic energy compatibility.
• Ed used [Verdant Crown] to grow six seeds, then wrapped the unconscious players in hardened vines to protect their bodies.
• Ed walked to Dragonborn Village at dawn, openly displaying his emerald half-crown.
• When the village guards challenged him, Ed asked to meet the village chief and offered a way to suppress mutation, giving the chief three minutes to come alone.

Ed confronted the chief of Dragonborn Village and used his knowledge of Alienation to negotiate a trade. The chief agreed to discuss a long-term supply of ironware in exchange for fruit that could help curb the villagers’ Alienation.

• A guard went to report Ed’s warning about Alienation while the other kept watch over him.
• The chief of Dragonborn Village arrived and questioned how Ed had discovered the village’s secret.
• Ed explained that the Demonic Tide caused Alienation through outside organisms or objects, then proposed doing business with the chief.
• Ed offered the chief a fruit, and the chief confirmed that it lacked the taste of Alienation.
• Ed proposed trading the fruit for ironware to slow Alienation among the villagers, and the chief considered the deal.

Ed offered the Dragonborn Village chief mutation-resistant fruit to slow the villagers’ declining lifespans, and the chief weighed the risks of accepting the trade. After learning the fruit trees would only produce three resistant crops, the chief agreed to the arrangement and asked Ed whether he was an apostate.

• The village chief recalled how the dragon scale had caused generations of accumulating mutations, shorter lifespans, and worsening crops in Dragonborn Village.
• Ed explained that his optimized [Tasteless Fruit] was free of mutation and had gained mutation resistance through Little Green.
• The village chief asked whether Dragonborn Village could keep and grow the fruit’s seeds, and Ed confirmed they could.
• Ed said each tree’s first three crops would retain most of their mutation resistance, but later crops would be no better than ordinary village crops.
• The village chief accepted that the fruit could help preserve the villagers’ current lifespans, then asked Ed whether he was an apostate.

Ed and Sali agreed to trade fruit for iron tools, and Sali revealed that a dragon lived in the nearby mountain. Ed left to seek an audience with the dragon, while Sali told the villagers that the dragon’s approval would determine whether the deal stood.

• Ed and Sali agreed that one fruit would be exchanged for a small iron tool, with supplies traded through occasional visits between their camps.
• Sali wrote an agreement and explained that the dragon would judge any dispute, with part of the compensation going to the dragon.
• Sali told Ed that the regional bishop pursuing him had died in the dragon’s flames and confirmed that the dragon lived in the mountain.
• Sali warned Ed that the Tree Worship Church had replaced a former bishop within seven days after Dragonborn Village killed him, but Ed stuck to his plan to resolve matters within thirty-two hours.
• Ed headed east to seek an audience with the dragon, while Sali returned to the village and told the villagers that the dragon’s approval would decide the deal.

Ed entered the red dragon’s treasury to negotiate a deal, but discovered the dragon’s extensive commission business before meeting its owner. The dragon awakened and asked Ed what had brought him there.

• Ed collected a gene sample from an aberration corpse outside the dragon’s mountain cave.
• Ed offered his blood to open the stone door and entered the dragon’s enormous gold-filled treasury.
• Ed found a sign advertising the dragon’s services, including arson, kidnapping, money laundering, and refining fool’s gold.
• The red dragon awakened, approached Ed, and asked what had brought him there.

Ed sought a loan from a red dragon and offered to double its wealth in exchange for time. He challenged the dragon’s belief that money meant precious metals, leaving the dragon confused and himself asking to be killed instead of continuing the deal.

• Ed approached the red dragon for help, but the dragon recognized him as the Tree Worship Church’s wanted experimental subject and lamented that it had burned the bounty to death.
• Ed asked to borrow money, and the dragon ordered him to leave before sealing the cave entrance and demanding a satisfactory deal.
• Ed promised to double the dragon’s wealth and asked what money was; the dragon answered that precious metals were money and declared its ambition to become the richest dragon.
• Ed explained that trade would create money from any goods, so the dragon could never seize all of it or control every intelligent being.
• Ed judged the dragon’s knowledge inadequate, abandoned the deal, and asked the dragon to kill him at low heat, medium rare.

Ed taught a red dragon basic economics to secure its admiration and persuade it to lend him money. The dragon agreed to consider the loan after Ed offered an annual interest rate of one percent.

• Ed held his ground against the dragon, which acknowledged his superior learning and agreed not to kill him before learning more.
• Ed explained currency and money to the dragon, earning its admiration with lessons on wealth and contracts.
• Ed asked how the dragon would unify currency across the Barony of Tur, but told it the plan would come later.
• Ed brought up their deal, and the dragon wavered between killing him, adding him to its collection, and lending him money.
• Ed offered to pay interest, then proposed an annual interest rate of one percent.

Ed persuaded a red dragon to consider lending him money at one percent interest and proposed borrowing a huge sum. The dragon agreed to sign a blood contract, but Ed rejected its draft as amateurish and claimed it contained loopholes.

• Ed persuaded the dragon that a long-term loan could turn its wealth into a mountain of gold and agreed on a contract lasting less than two hundred years.
• The dragon decided to lend Ed money, and Ed requested one hundred thousand gold coins, one million silver coins, and ten million copper coins.
• The dragon drew up a blood contract on two gold coins and sent it to Ed for review.
• Ed returned the contract, saying he was willing to sign but had spotted at least three loopholes.

Ed corrected loopholes in his loan contract with the dragon, Seraphina, then used her interest in economics to propose that she join his team and oversee its currency circulation. The chapter ended with Seraphina considering his offer.

• Ed pointed out three loopholes in the contract concerning coin denominations, interest settlement, and changes to the agreement.
• Ed and Seraphina revised the contract, sealed it with their blood, and completed the pact.
• Seraphina asked Ed to name a price for teaching her about gold coins and economics.
• Ed explained that he needed the loan to command his undead Soul Returners and proposed that Seraphina join his team to manage its currency circulation.

Ed persuaded the dragon to join his team as a bank president, offering it access to economic knowledge in exchange for protecting and managing the undeads’ deposits. After signing an indefinite contract, the dragon prepared to leave with Ed by swallowing its hoard, leaving Ed wondering how it would handle future withdrawals and loans.

• The dragon asked about Ed’s team and learned that it would run a bank for the undead, safeguarding their money and recording deposits in pact vessels.
• Ed explained his plan to consolidate the Barony of Tur and control its currency, exciting the dragon with the prospect of eventually controlling money across the world.
• Ed dictated an employment contract that gave the dragon the bank president position and access to his economic knowledge without payment, and they both sealed it with blood.
• After reading the contract and beginning to study its wording, the dragon agreed to leave with Ed, who still needed to visit two villages.
• The dragon transformed into a hundred-meter crimson dragon and used suction to swallow the gold coins filling its cave while Ed wondered how it would later make loans and withdrawals.

Ed watched Seraphina free herself from a tail fused into the cave wall, then shared dragon meat with her and learned she could transform into a dragonkin girl. They left the cave together after Seraphina explained that a kidnapped princess had given her the dress she wore.

• After swallowing the cave’s gold, Seraphina discovered that her tail had fused into the rock through Alienation.
• Seraphina cut off her trapped tail, broke away its petrified shell, and ate the flesh because dragons could not casually discard their bodies.
• Ed offered to teach Seraphina cooking methods, and Little Green collected a pureblood red dragon gene from the meat he ate.
• After swallowing the rest of her tail, Seraphina transformed into a dragonkin girl and asked Ed to leave with her.
• Seraphina told Ed that a princess she had kidnapped over a hundred years earlier gave her the dress and had hired her to kill her seven siblings.

Ed left the cave with Seraphina after secretly preparing a vine-based resurrection fallback, then used the corpses outside to create a skeletal horse and disguised himself as a Tree Worship Church priest. He rode to Upperstream Village and summoned its residents, leaving them gathered before him at midnight.

• Seraphina questioned Ed's lack of fear, and he refused to reveal his fallback plan before she accepted that he had his secrets.
• Ed recalled how he had connected himself to a seed hidden among the corpses so he could transfer his consciousness if Seraphina killed him.
• Ed and Seraphina emerged from the cave at dusk, then separated as she headed toward the old castle.
• Ed grew the seed into a creature that assembled a skeletal horse from the remains, then put on a Tree Worship Church robe.
• Ed rode to Upperstream Village and rang the tax collectors' bell until nearly a hundred villagers gathered around him.

Ed introduced himself to the villagers as Adrian, the new bishop and tax collector, and warned them to report anyone else claiming the title as an apostate. He rewarded Kaping and announced tax cuts, then returned to the old castle before dawn, expecting his players to come back.

• Ed ordered the villagers to look at him and claimed that he was Adrian, the new bishop and tax collector.
• Ed warned the villagers that any other bishop who appeared soon would be an apostate and told them to report the impostor.
• Ed identified Kaping as the villager who had given the previous tax collector information and granted him ten years without taxes.
• Ed announced three months without taxes for Upperstream Village and Midstream Village, followed by reduced taxes for the next year.
• Ed named Kaping the village chief, gave him a leaf that let him contact Ed, and told villagers they could seek help from the Holy See's warriors for one seed.
• Ed rode back to the old castle as dawn approached, expecting his players to return.

After maintenance, Great Wei Boxing Champion and the other players discovered major new systems, settlements, and compensation items in World of Disorder. Do Some Farm Work left the castle safe zone and found the new Bank, where a red-haired dragon girl was speaking with the Guide.

• Great Wei Boxing Champion read the update announcing quests, trust, currency, banking, trading, zone classifications, new settlements, and improved NPC intelligence.
• The players received silver coins, copper coins, and a Cocoon, which Shit Appraisal Master considered a potential shield against low-level attacks.
• Zhongde suggested visiting the Guide Shop, and Do Some Farm Work led the group out of the castle to find the Guide.
• Do Some Farm Work received a warning that he had entered a neutral zone and spotted a new Bank beside the castle.
• Do Some Farm Work saw a red-haired girl with dragon horns talking to the Guide behind the Bank counter.

Ed helped Seraphina run the newly built bank, where [Do Some Farm Work] opened a copper-tier account and deposited his money. After hearing the requirements and fees for upgrading, he left determined to earn more.

• Ed asked Seraphina how the stone bank hut had appeared, and she explained that she had cast it from stored lava.
• Ed prompted Seraphina to follow her bank-teller instructions when [Do Some Farm Work] arrived to deposit money.
• Seraphina took one copper coin from [Do Some Farm Work] and inscribed his account information on it.
• [Do Some Farm Work] deposited 50 silver and 499 copper, and Seraphina confirmed his copper-tier balance.
• Seraphina explained the benefits and costs of higher account tiers, and [Do Some Farm Work] declined to upgrade before leaving to make money.

Ed showed the six beta players a system interface with quests, a shop, and hiring options, opening up new ways to earn rewards and buy supplies. The players found a costly mount for sale and began discussing its upkeep before turning their attention to the [Hire] tab.

• The other beta players opened accounts with Seraphina and deposited their money to protect it from losses on death.
• Ed showed the players daily, invitation, and special quests, including trading with Dragonborn Village, exploring the territory, and killing Strangler Figs.
• The players inspected the shop and learned they could sell monster materials, buy healing and combat items, and purchase a five-gold four-legged hoof beast.
• Shit Appraisal Master joked about buying the hoof beast with a loan, but Do Some Farm Work explained that their accounts did not support loans.
• Howling Pothos urged the group to check the [Hire] tab, saying its contents were hard to describe.

Ed introduced paid services for the players, including healing and combat help, while Seraphina’s assassination and battle fees proved vastly higher. After the players set out on quests, Seraphina asked why the Soul Returners returned their wages, and Ed explained his money system before introducing her to the idea of a bank run.

• The players examined Ed’s prices for body restoration, resurrection, healing, and combat assistance, then debated the new fees and the value of buying supplies ahead of time.
• The players opened Seraphina’s service list and found her assassination, battle, and war fees were far higher than Ed’s.
• Two players accepted the trade-route quest and left for Dragonborn Village with fruit, while four others set out to explore; the group postponed the Strangler Fig quest until some of them leveled up.
• Seraphina asked Ed why the Soul Returners returned the money he gave them, and Ed explained that they could use recorded funds but did not truly own the coins.
• Ed explained that relying on precious-metal contracts would not work as the Soul Returners and money supply grew, then began describing a bank run to Seraphina.

Good Times Don't Last and Shit Appraisal Master crashed their cart when its axle broke and discussed how to repair it. The chapter ended with Li Yu, fascinated by the game's realistic monsters and bestiary, applying for the closed beta.

• Good Times Don't Last and Shit Appraisal Master traveled through the wilderness in a makeshift cart and talked about the game's realism.
• The cart's axle broke, throwing both players off and spilling fruit across the ground.
• Good Times Don't Last suggested chopping down a tree to make a replacement axle, while Shit Appraisal Master asked about the Rat King entry in the bestiary.
• Li Yu studied the Rat King entry and wondered how the creature's many rats coordinated their actions.
• After seeing players' monster photographs on the official site, Li Yu began filling out the closed beta lottery questionnaire.

Ed finished teaching Seraphina about currency overissuance and bank runs, then reviewed the growing interest in World of Disorder and selected four players for the next closed beta. The chapter ended with two of the winners revealing their acceptance to friends and family.

• Ed finished explaining currency overissuance and bank runs to Seraphina, then went online after she left.
• Ed found that the game's website had over 300,000 views, more than 30,000 registered users, and over 8,000 beta applications, so he tasked Little Green with screening them.
• Little Green filtered the applications, and Ed selected Dawn Ah, Pond Fish and Old Abyss, Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger, and Dark Archmage for testing the next day.
• Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger announced his acceptance in a group chat, where an administrator muted him so the others could tease him until the following evening.
• A girl at a dessert shop told her friends that she had been selected for the beta.

[Great Wei Boxing Champion] and [Zhongde] reached Upperstream Village while mapping the territory and met its village chief, Kaping. Kaping welcomed them as elite warriors sent by Bishop Adrian and led them into the village, leaving them wondering what preparations awaited.

• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] told [Zhongde] that their video had been posted and spotted a village near a stream.
• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] and [Zhongde] approached the village cautiously as a villager ran to report their arrival.
• Kaping came out to meet the pair and asked whether Bishop Adrian had sent them.
• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] said they were mapping the territory on Lord Adrian's orders, and Kaping welcomed them to Upperstream Village.
• Kaping invited the pair inside, and [Zhongde] wondered whether the villagers had prepared a feast.

[Zhongde] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] accepted a quest to repair Upperstream Village’s homes, earning the villagers’ trust through hard work. While they queued up repairs, Kaping told them how the Tree Worship Church took control of the area after the Demonic Tide and recalled a local mage who became a monster.

• [Zhongde] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] accepted the quest to repair the villagers’ leaking roofs and collapsed walls.
• The two players repaired Kaping’s roof with tools and materials supplied by the villagers, impressing them with their stamina and skill.
• After testing the repaired roof, the villagers eagerly asked for help, and Kaping organized their homes into a repair queue.
• [Zhongde] told [Great Wei Boxing Champion] that he had majored in civil engineering, and they headed to the next house.
• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] asked Kaping how long the village had been under the Tree Worship Church’s protection.
• Kaping said the Church took over after Baron Tuer died and recalled that a village mage had fused with his hut and become a terrifying monster after the Demonic Tide began.

After completing their first trade in Dragonborn Village, [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] decided to use their coins to buy extra goods and resell them at camp. The village chief welcomed them inside to do business, while [Zhongde] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] continued repairing homes in Upperstream Village.

• [Zhongde] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] repaired roofs and low walls in Upperstream Village as [Zhongde] wondered how the others were doing.
• [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] arrived in Dragonborn Village with a repaired cart and exchanged sixty Tasteless Fruits for iron spearheads, axe heads, and shovel heads.
• After completing the contract trade, [Shit Appraisal Master] proposed buying extra goods to haul back and resell at camp.
• The village chief agreed to sell them goods for coins, and [Shit Appraisal Master] showed his pouch of coins.
• The Dragonborn Village villagers welcomed the two players inside and arranged for someone to watch their cart.

[Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] explored Dragonborn Village, learning about its shops and smithing trade while searching for goods to resell. They left with ten sets of cheap clothes each, planning to sell them at a markup.

• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] entered Dragonborn Village after learning the area was a Neutral Zone.
• [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] explored the medieval-style village and found a clothing shop.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] questioned the half-dragon shopkeeper about where he got his cloth, but the shopkeeper explained that he made the clothes himself and got cloth through traveling merchants.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] explored the village and found that most residents ran small smithing workshops amid the constant heat.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] and [Good Times Don't Last] returned to the clothing shop and bought ten sets of the cheapest clothes each to resell at a markup.

The players shared their earnings and purchases at the castle while the Dragonborn Village chief discovered that their dragon master’s lair was empty. A note revealed the dragon had gone to the castle for fun, leaving the chief to seek them there.

• Great Wei Boxing Champion and Howling Pothos described earning tree seeds and copper from repairs and mapping, while Shit Appraisal Master admitted he and Good Times Don't Last had lost money on purchases.
• The clothing shopkeeper recognized three silver coins from the traveling merchants as dragon coins and brought them to the chief of Dragonborn Village.
• The chief realized the dragon coins might mean their master was in danger and hurried to the dragon’s lair.
• The chief found the lair empty and feared the dragon had abandoned Dragonborn Village.
• The chief found a wooden board saying the dragon had gone out for fun and could be found at the castle.