Recaps

Duolin taught [Howling Pothos] Directed Alienation in exchange for ten tree seeds, and the player succeeded on his first attempt, turning his right hand into a small wooden knife. Just as [Howling Pothos] realized he had learned the skill, his body collapsed and went still.

• Duolin offered to teach [Howling Pothos] Directed Alienation for ten tree seeds.
• [Howling Pothos] exchanged his money for ten seeds and gave them to Duolin.
• Duolin explained the history and principles of Directed Alienation before guiding [Howling Pothos] through his first attempt.
• [Howling Pothos] found a faint wisp of Psionic Energy and successfully alienated his right hand into a short wooden knife.
• [Howling Pothos] confirmed he could use Directed Alienation again, then collapsed and lay motionless.

Ed explained that the elite warriors were the souls of the Tree God’s earliest believers, returned as Soul Returners, and Duolin recognized Ed as the Son of God. As the playtest ended, Ed gained Duolin’s devotion and learned that the Soul Returners needed nightly maintenance, though he still felt he had forgotten something.

• Ed realized [Howling Pothos] had collapsed because his accumulated experience overflowed, and told Duolin the player would recover after a dozen hours.
• Ed told Duolin that the elite warriors were the souls of the Tree God’s first believers, and Duolin understood that they were Saints who knew nothing of Alienation abilities.
• Duolin concluded that Ed was the Son of God, but Ed asked him to call him Bishop or God’s Favored instead.
• Ed told Duolin to keep his identity secret, use his judgment about what to tell trusted teammates, and teach future Soul Returners as usual.
• The ten players finished their twelve-hour playtest, and Duolin learned that the Soul Returners’ bodies required a secret nightly maintenance method bestowed by the Tree God.
• Ed felt that the past two days had gone smoothly but could not remember what he had forgotten.

In the real world, players discussed Howling Pothos’s new skill and Zhongde began planning practical village buildings. Cui Yuan was summoned to meet three serious-looking people who revealed they knew his personal background.

• Howling Pothos told the group he had learned Directed Alienation from Duolin but could only make weak, small-scale changes with his limited psionic energy.
• Good Times Don't Last and Shit Appraisal Master briefly fell out over the skill’s effect on iron tools, then made up and discussed future investments.
• Zhongde asked new group members to use their in-game names, then Zhou Jue began sketching village buildings and researching infrastructure ideas.
• Cui Yuan’s director called him into an office, where three unfamiliar people remained after the director left.
• The man in charge recited Cui Yuan’s school, household, and family information, and Cui Yuan realized they had likely come because of the strange game.

Cui Yuan described World of Disorder’s unusually realistic features to investigators, who admitted they could not intervene and received a new assignment at a bioengineering institute. In the game, Fasi grew worried about the silence from Upperstream Village and set out to find out what had happened there.

• Cui Yuan confirmed that he had posted two videos and told the investigators that the game’s advertised features, including full immersion and intelligent NPCs, were real.
• Cui Yuan asked whether he could keep playing and posting videos, and the lead investigator allowed him to do both.
• After Cui Yuan left, the investigators said they could not intervene in World of Disorder and prepared to fly to the Bioengineering Research Institute in Province A.
• Fasi received no news from Bishop Adrian or Upperstream Village after reporting the apostates, and debris from the river left Midstream Village uneasy.
• Fasi feared that either the apostates or Adrian might kill him, so he decided to walk upstream to check on Upperstream Village.

Fasi found Upperstream Village destroyed and followed a sign toward the Shattered Castle, fearing that Bishop Adrian had lost to the apostates. There, he discovered that Kaping, Duolin, Aoda, and Bishop Adrian were working together, leaving him bewildered about where he stood.

• Fasi found Upperstream Village reduced to ruins, with no bodies or clear signs of casualties, and guessed that its villagers had gone to the castle.
• Fasi followed an arrow pointing toward the castle and headed there beneath the moonlight.
• Duolin and Aoda ambushed Fasi near the castle and restrained him.
• Kaping appeared and greeted Duolin as an ally, confusing Fasi.
• Bishop Adrian descended before them, and Fasi realized that he, Kaping, Duolin, and Aoda were on the same side.

Ed resolved the misunderstanding with Fasi and appointed him as his liaison in Midstream Village, then worked overnight to remodel [Howling Pothos]'s body. The player woke to new game notifications and a detailed panel showing his level-up points and abilities, and began considering how to allocate them.

• Ed learned that Midstream Village had not received word that the threat was over, and decided Fasi was promising enough to serve as his liaison there.
• Ed gave Fasi a leaf that let him contact Ed mentally, then told him to rest until morning.
• Ed used roots and vines to remodel [Howling Pothos]'s body and reserved his level-up attribute points for him to allocate.
• [Howling Pothos] woke to an updated player interface, a new ability, and confirmation that his body maintenance was complete.
• [Howling Pothos] read his level-up details and examined his attributes and abilities while considering how to spend his available points.

[Howling Pothos] studied his new talents, allocated his level-up points, and transformed his hand into a stronger dagger. The players celebrated as [Zhongde] called for help clearing the river and beginning cabin construction.

• [Howling Pothos] read the descriptions of [Soul Returner] and [Directed Alienation (Plant)] and considered how they would shape his faction and attribute choices.
• [Howling Pothos] got up after the other players found him staring at the announcements, then told them he had reached level 1.
• [Howling Pothos] allocated his five basic and three special attribute points, and he felt his body and plant-sense grow stronger.
• [Howling Pothos] concentrated psionic energy and transformed his right hand into a dagger, drawing cheers from the players and awe from Duolin.
• [Good Times Don't Last] and [Shit Appraisal Master] took the modest dagger as a sign that alienation remained difficult and that their iron-goods business could continue.
• [Zhongde] called players to clear the river so cabin construction could begin, while Fasi watched the commotion from a castle window.

Fasi watched the lively construction around Ed’s castle and, jealous of Upperstream Village’s chance for a new home, asked whether Midstream Village could join the settlement. After receiving encouragement from Ed and the villagers, he hurried back to Midstream Village to bring them the offer, while Ed hoped they would accept so he could unite the barony for his plans.

• Fasi watched Elite Warriors and apostates haul timber and prepare a construction site, then learned from Ed that he was building homes for Upperstream Village’s displaced villagers.
• Fasi asked Ed whether Midstream Village could move to the settlement, and Ed told him to ask Kaping, the villagers, and Captain Duolin.
• Fasi asked Kaping and other Upperstream villagers about the move and received their approval, while Duolin gave him a reminder about the Tree God.
• Fasi hurried back to Midstream Village before eating, and Ed watched from the castle, hoping its villagers would join the growing settlement.
• Ed planned to unite the barony before making the blasphemers and perpetrators of violence pay and restoring the Tree God’s radiance to White Wax Town.

Fasi brought Midstream Village’s chief and several elders to inspect the castle settlement, while Elite Warriors dealt with a monster disrupting their timber salvage in the river. Duolin and the players wounded and killed the creature, leaving the chief to consider the settlement’s strength.

• Fasi escorted Midstream Village’s chief and elders around the castle, where the chief saw a thriving group of young residents and began reconsidering his decision.
• A river monster stole a player’s harpoon, and the Elite Warriors used rotten meat to lure it within reach.
• Duolin used Directed Alienation to grow a barbed wooden arrow and strike the monster, after [Howling Pothos] advised him to add barbs.
• The players hurled short spears at the wounded monster until it could no longer struggle and floated to the surface.

After the players killed a strange fish, Midstream Village’s chief accepted Ed’s offer to join his settlement, which he named Riverside Village. As the players prepared the fish for dinner, [Epic-Level Giant] hooked something enormous in the river.

• The players hauled a meter-long fish ashore, and [Epic-Level Giant] recognized its unusual fins and decided to try fishing for the group.
• Midstream Village’s chief and villagers agreed to move to Ed’s settlement after he offered to exchange mature tree seeds for silver and permanently abolish their seed tax.
• Ed named the combined settlement Riverside Village, while the players named the strange fish Claw Fish and began preparing it for dinner.
• [Epic-Level Giant] shouted for help after hooking a huge creature, and a cloud of blood appeared in the river as [Dawn Ah] realized what the fish had been eating.

After [Epic-Level Giant] lost a leg to a giant Claw Fish, [Howling Pothos] investigated the game’s underwater mechanics and discovered that plant people could hold their breath for a long time. He wiped [Dawn Ah]’s debt in exchange for helping with the test, then explained how the discovery could benefit combat players.

• [Epic-Level Giant] was bitten by a giant Claw Fish while fishing and lost his lower leg, but the players pulled him from the water.
• [Zhongde] bandaged [Epic-Level Giant] and told him to get surgery from the Guide, and [Epic-Level Giant] paid Ed twelve silver for a replacement leg.
• [Howling Pothos] questioned [Epic-Level Giant] about surviving underwater for three minutes and learned that drowning had not affected him as it would in real life.
• [Howling Pothos] asked [Dawn Ah] to pull him out after five minutes underwater, offering to erase his debt in return.
• [Howling Pothos] discovered that plant people could hold their breath underwater for a long time and said the ability could help combat players.

Ed approved Duolin’s report to the Holy See and expanded his map of the surrounding region. Meanwhile, a traveling merchant arrived at Dragonborn Village, where the villagers traded for ore and fabric.

• Duolin wrote to the College of Cardinals that the five clerics had died from dragonfire and named the supposed black dragon Nige Ganhuo, with Ed’s approval.
• Ed told Duolin to send Yiden a letter as well, then used the shared vision network to inspect his expanding map and noticed the river ran south through White Wax Town.
• Dragonborn guards spotted a traveling merchant’s mobile fortress approaching their village and alerted the villagers.
• The village chief allowed trading to begin on the wall, and Dragonborn households collected imported ore for their smelting work.
• The traveling merchant praised his fabric to the clothing shop owner, who admired it but hesitated to buy clothes that the Dragonborn would quickly ruin.

A traveling merchant learned from the clothing shop owner that the Tree Worship Church’s new village near the old castle used common currency, and he redirected his mobile fortress there despite warnings about its master. In the real world, Li Yu investigated the game’s lifelike characters and found a popular short-video collection featuring Ed.

• The traveling merchant tried to sell strange wares to the clothing shop owner, who refused but suggested the new village near the old castle might have buyers.
• The shop owner warned the merchant that the village’s master was dangerous, and the merchant paid him for the information before steering his mobile fortress west.
• Li Yu examined the activation codes on his phone and wondered how the game had delivered them so quickly, while reflecting on how lifelike its characters seemed.
• Li Yu found Zhong Lele’s short-video collection of screenshots featuring Ed and read comments praising Ed’s appearance and asking how to access the game.

Li Yu gave Lü Yang an activation code for World of Disorder, then offered another to his advisor, who accepted and immediately called Professor Li about obtaining beta access. In the game, players discussed Midstream Village residents asking Ed to move to Upperstream Village, while Zhongde looked forward to new construction work.

• Li Yu told Lü Yang that he had earned activation codes through hunting and gave him one, hiding that there were more available.
• Li Yu visited his advisor and offered him another game activation code; the professor accepted and asked whether the game needed a helmet.
• After Li Yu left, his advisor called Professor Li and said he had obtained access to the game's beta.
• In the closed beta group chat, Xiexie Huigu and Great Wei Boxing Champion discussed Midstream Village residents asking Ed what it would cost to move to Upperstream Village.
• Zhongde welcomed the prospect of new construction work, while Xiexie Huigu, Zhong Lele, and Easily Soluble in Water said they planned to leave once they had saved enough money.

Zhongde recruited his dorm friends to help draft building plans by promising them closed beta access to World of Disorder. Meanwhile, Lin Xi invited her friend to try the game and discovered that her friend had saved a gallery posted by [Zhong Lele].

• Zhongde decided to recruit new players to help gather resources and messaged his dormant dorm chat.
• Zhongde promised [Brain Bling], [Enemy from the Sky], and [Add Ice Fiercely] beta access in exchange for drawing plans for his construction project.
• Lin Xi reflected on how her summoner build and the game were affecting her thoughts in real life.
• Lin Xi's friend asked whether she was playing the game all night, and Lin Xi invited her to play together.
• Lin Xi introduced World of Disorder's features, and her friend showed her a saved gallery posted by [Zhong Lele].

Lin Xi recruited her game-averse friend into World of Disorder after showing her a character screenshot, while Professor Li entered the game on a covert mission to investigate its technology and NPCs. He appeared in the castle as Evergreen Tree, met Li Yu, and began examining his youthful new body.

• Lin Xi told her friend that Zhong Lele was the game's poster boy, and her friend eagerly decided to join World of Disorder after seeing his image.
• Lin Xi's friend asked how to play and whether the game had character pulls, then revealed that she had only played Solitaire and Minesweeper.
• Professor Li met with two black-clad men in a requisitioned hospital room, confirmed his mission, and put on a gaming helmet.
• Professor Li entered World of Disorder as Evergreen Tree and appeared in the castle beside Li Yu, who was logged in as Dawn Ah.
• Evergreen Tree recognized Li Yu and noticed that his in-game legs felt much stronger than his real ones.

Li Yu helped the professor and Lü Yang connect to the game, then guided them through their first hunt outside the castle. After catching a Vine Sheep, Lü Yang questioned whether it was actually sick.

• Li Yu stopped [Backstabbing Expert] from celebrating wildly, and [Dawn Ah] explained that he had given an activation code to the professor as well as Lü Yang.
• The professor took charge and asked what they should do, so [Dawn Ah] recommended completing a beginner quest by hunting prey animals.
• [Dawn Ah], [Evergreen Tree], and [Backstabbing Expert] left the castle to hunt, and [Evergreen Tree] studied the map and the delta-like terrain.
• After their spears missed a Vine Sheep, [Backstabbing Expert] outran it and caught it.
• [Dawn Ah] asked why Lü Yang seemed distracted, and Lü Yang said he did not think the sheep was sick.

[Backstabbing Expert], [Dawn Ah], and [Evergreen Tree] confronted a top-hatted stranger who had shot the Vine Sheep and tried to claim it. After [Evergreen Tree] calmed the encounter, the stranger apologized and introduced himself as a merchant seeking to trade with their settlement.

• [Backstabbing Expert] found a bloody puncture wound on the still-living Vine Sheep, and [Evergreen Tree] suspected it had been shot.
• A top-hatted man appeared, claimed he had spotted the sheep first, and fired a concealed dart at the group.
• [Dawn Ah] blocked the dart with his forearm, pulled it out, and faced the attacker without showing pain.
• [Evergreen Tree] stepped between the groups and suggested they settle the misunderstanding without fighting.
• [Dawn Ah] demanded payment for the sheep, and the stranger mocked their knowledge before apologizing and asking which settlement they belonged to.
• The stranger said his wagon and goods were nearby and proposed doing business with the settlement near the castle.

[Dawn Ah], [Evergreen Tree], and [Backstabbing Expert] negotiated with the traveling merchant Gray and agreed to escort him to their settlement. Gray freed his mobile fortress from the mud using a disturbing source of fuel, and the group set off for camp.

• [Dawn Ah] pressured Gray into paying ten silver coins for the Vine Sheep, then questioned him about why he had been hunting when his truck still held food.
• Gray revealed that he needed more fuel and showed the group his enormous mobile fortress, which had become stuck in the mud.
• Ed watched the encounter through the three men's eyes, warned Duolin about the approaching merchant, and triggered a quest to bring Gray to camp.
• Gray refused to let the three aboard his private truck, then fed the Vine Sheep and aberration corpses to something inside the fortress.
• Gray turned a brass key to start the mobile fortress, which crawled out of the mud, and invited the others to lead the way.

Gray’s mobile fortress reached the castle, where Ed met the traveling merchant and learned he came from the unfamiliar Graycast Corridor. Their first meeting ended with Gray taking interest in Ed, who introduced himself as both lord and bishop while claiming he had come to resolve problems in White Wax Town Parish.

• Gray parked his mobile fortress outside the castle and set up a stall, while [Dawn Ah] and his companions reported their quest to Ed before returning to hunt monsters.
• Ed summoned Duolin to meet the merchant, and three players persuaded Duolin to let them join; Ed agreed after recognizing [Zhong Lele].
• Ed and Duolin led the players to Gray, who mistook Duolin for the settlement’s leader before Ed introduced himself as lord and bishop.
• Gray said he was a traveling merchant from the Graycast Corridor and expressed interest in befriending Ed.
• Ed told Gray he had come to solve problems in White Wax Town Parish.

Ed negotiated with Gray, a traveling merchant from the Graycast Corridor, and realized that farming could give the Tree Worship Church grain to sell. Gray planned to leave after one day, while Ed grew suspicious that he was not human.

• Ed asked Gray about the Graycast Corridor and learned that Gray had inherited a trade route from his teacher.
• Gray showed Ed his goods, but Ed considered how to keep precious-metal currency circulating locally and decided grain could become a local specialty.
• Ed concluded that improving the villagers' health required uncovering the cause of their mutations and capturing Yiden by taking the church in White Wax Town.
• Gray said he would stay only one day, and Ed told him he hoped to sell grain on Gray's next visit.
• Ed noticed that Gray's shoulder did not feel like flesh and suspected that the heavily wrapped merchant was not human.

Ed bought supplies from Gray, including mithril ore that Seraphina claimed without paying, and then entered Gray’s mobile fortress to inspect rare goods. Gray opened his shop to the players, while [Howling Pothos] sensed a smell of blood near the fortress.

• Seraphina demanded all of Gray’s mithril ore and insisted dragons never paid, so Ed agreed to cover the cost while secretly planning to default on her loan.
• Ed bought the mithril ore and half the fabric, weapons, and aberration materials for a total of 50 gold, while Seraphina’s ore cost 100 gold.
• Gray invited Ed into the mobile fortress to inspect rare goods as he prepared to trade with the players outside.
• The players began buying Gray’s weapons and dried aberration parts, while [Good Times Don't Last] recognized the familiar bargain-basement weapons and left without buying.
• [Howling Pothos] sniffed the air and sensed a smell of blood coming from the mobile fortress.

Aoda visited White Wax Town’s church to observe Yiden while pretending to be exhausted and deliver letters from Duolin. After uncovering signs of corruption and bloodshed, Aoda left with new uniforms and a mounted messenger, still suspecting that something was wrong inside the church.

• Aoda rode conspicuously through White Wax Town, and a cleric who spotted him hurried into the church’s hidden passage.
• Yiden conducted grisly work in a basement before meeting Aoda and accepting Duolin’s unsealed report and a second letter.
• Aoda told Yiden that Duolin’s expedition was exploring the old castle and promised him a share of its legacy, prompting greed from Yiden.
• Yiden read both letters, believed Duolin was merely foolish, and prepared twenty-five uniforms and a mounted messenger for Aoda.
• After escorting Aoda out, Yiden learned that the clerics had dealt with someone downstairs, while Aoda noticed the church smelled of blood.

Ed bought Gray’s resentment-filled flail while [Evergreen Tree] investigated the game and its world during a successful hunt with his students. After the test ended, Ed learned that the Tree Worship Church’s experiments were still killing people and began planning an attack on its church in White Wax Town.

• Ed bought Gray’s flail for five gold after dismissing most of his other collectibles as useless.
• [Evergreen Tree] and his students hunted six aberrations, and [Evergreen Tree] learned about the world from Aoda while concluding that the game’s people and ecology seemed remarkably real.
• [Evergreen Tree] and [Backstabbing Expert] logged out when the one-day test ended.
• Duolin told Ed that two more Soul Returners had fainted during practice, while Aoda brought back troubling news about the blood at the church in White Wax Town.
• Ed asked Duolin how many people would be needed to take the church, specifying that he should estimate based on Soul Returners who had not gone into slumber.

Ed and Duolin planned an attack on the Tree Worship Church in White Wax Town, while Ed persuaded Seraphina to offer strategic advice despite her contract. The chapter left them considering a dragon’s tactic for drawing out defenders as a possible part of their battle plan.

• Duolin estimated that Ed’s side needed sixty Soul Returners to attack the church and warned that clerics should be captured alive to keep the Holy City from learning of their deaths.
• Ed set a goal of attacking before the end of August and asked Duolin to prepare a comprehensive battle plan.
• Ed discovered that Seraphina was eating mithril ore to smelt and store it, then asked her to advise on the attack.
• Seraphina agreed that her contract did not prevent her from giving advice and suggested drawing defenders away from the church before striking the main target.
• Seraphina said the dragon who used that tactic was eventually beheaded by a human hero, and its blood was used for bathing.