Chapter Summaries

Duolin’s challenge knocked several eager players off the platform, prompting Ed to remind him to ease the requirements while keeping higher tiers for skilled Saints. [Howling Pothos] then chose a broadsword challenge and rapidly began using Directed Alienation, leaving the players eager to see what weapon he would produce.

• Duolin offered a standard-issue dagger to anyone who could withstand five of his attacks, and eager players rushed onto the platform.
• Duolin knocked [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] off the platform, while their companions laughed at them.
• Ed told Duolin over the local network to lower the minimum standard and add higher challenge tiers, and Duolin agreed to be more careful.
• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] called for [Howling Pothos], who arrived and accepted Duolin’s broadsword challenge.
• Duolin transformed his hand into a wooden broadsword and attacked as [Howling Pothos] quickly began using Directed Alienation.

[Howling Pothos] faced Duolin’s combat test, using a buckler, implanted Deadwood Vine, quick reflexes, and an acrobatic dodge to pass all five moves. Duolin approved his performance, and the spectators celebrated his remarkable skill.

• [Howling Pothos] blocked Duolin’s first sword strike with a tiny buckler without taking a step back.
• [Howling Pothos] grew Deadwood Vine from his left arm to absorb and divert Duolin’s second strike.
• [Howling Pothos] deflected Duolin’s third strike with a fruit knife, and Duolin declared him passed.
• [Howling Pothos] asked to continue the challenge and chose to face Duolin’s final two moves unarmed.
• [Howling Pothos] ducked Duolin’s hook and leaned backward to evade his follow-up kick, passing the fifth move.

[Howling Pothos] defeated Duolin’s five-move challenge using strangler figs rooted around his legs and earned an S rating, a title, and a dagger. Players then shared recordings, and a forum guide began cataloguing Duolin’s moves and ways to survive them.

• [Howling Pothos] revealed that he had used strangler figs to root himself in place, prompting players to praise his tactic.
• Duolin gave [Howling Pothos] a dagger from the Bishop, and his quest log recorded an S-rated milestone and unlocked a new stage requiring a squad, weapons, and vehicles.
• [Howling Pothos] left the challenge area and began considering which teammates to recruit as other players lined up to fight Duolin.
• Players uploaded recordings of the challenge, and viewers debated the game’s combat freedom and NPC intelligence.
• [Slacking Master] posted a guide listing Duolin’s unarmed attacks and strategies used by players including [Howling Pothos], Pond Fish, and Old Abyss.

Players shared strategies for defeating Duolin’s challenge, while Evergreen Tree suspected Duolin was holding back. Meanwhile, Dark Archmage emerged from her Cocoon near White Wax Town and planned to return there before investigating at night.

• A forum guide detailed ways to overcome Duolin’s broadsword and spear-staff forms, revealed a hidden ranged form after three failures, and listed the quest titles awarded for different clears.
• Players discussed the guide, traded complaints about Duolin, and shared their attempts to complete his challenge.
• Evergreen Tree and the students watching Duolin noticed his stiff movements and suspected he was distracted and going easy on them.
• Dark Archmage checked that the woods and White Wax Town remained undisturbed, then reviewed the update that enabled unrestricted login.
• Dark Archmage decided to show herself in White Wax Town before logging off and returning at night to investigate, and she checked her Cocoon.

[Dark Archmage] returned to White Wax Town to investigate its clerics and bishop, relying on techniques she had studied in novels. The cleric disguised as the innkeeper played along with her questions, while she mistook his evasions for signs that the townspeople were controlled; after she left, he wore a terrifying smile.

• [Dark Archmage] checked and hid her [Cocoon], marked its location on her map, and headed toward White Wax Town.
• [Dark Archmage] entered the inn through a second-floor window and came downstairs, surprising the cleric disguised as the innkeeper.
• The disguised cleric wondered why [Dark Archmage] had returned after the previous night's investigation and worried about what she was capable of.
• [Dark Archmage] returned to the front desk and offered the disguised cleric two silver coins to tell her what was strange about the clerics and bishop.
• The disguised cleric gave her misleading praise of the town's clerics and bishop, while [Dark Archmage] interpreted his words as proof that they controlled the townspeople.
• [Dark Archmage] gave him the coins and returned to her room as the disguised cleric and his handyman watched; after the door closed, the cleric smiled ominously.

[Dark Archmage] escaped the clerics in White Wax Town and learned that the Tree Worship Church had special affinities with plants. She resumed investigating at night, while Ed watched the players from his castle and Duolin came to see him.

• [Dark Archmage] slipped out of the inn before armed clerics arrived, and the cleric captain found her room empty.
• Yiden confronted the middle-aged cleric for failing to arrest [Dark Archmage] and threatened him with a pin grown from a Virginia creeper seedling.
• Players on the forum warned [Dark Archmage] to avoid the church and explained that Tree Worship Church members had special affinities with plants.
• [Dark Archmage] logged in again at night to avoid the church, watch for people active after dark, and map the area.
• Ed monitored the few players online from his castle, then turned toward the door when Duolin knocked.

Ed planned the coming attack on White Wax Town with Duolin, using the river network to solve the Soul Returners’ travel and logistics problems. A Dragonborn arrived to report that Dragonborn Village had finished Ed’s commission, but would only allow him to collect it.

• Duolin told Ed that twenty-four Soul Returners had passed the test and explained his concerns about marching them twenty kilometers without rest or supplies.
• Ed showed Duolin a map of the connected rivers and explained how troops could travel by boat into the heart of White Wax Town.
• Ed said the attack would likely begin within five days, once intelligence, troop boats, and the remaining preparations were complete.
• Aoda reported that a Dragonborn had come to the castle, and Ed met the young messenger outside so he would not stand higher than the sleeping Seraphina.
• The Dragonborn told Ed that Dragonborn Village had completed his commission but offered pickup only, prompting Ed to decide he would explain logistics to Seraphina so she could persuade the village to deliver.

[Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and [Good Times Don't Last] traveled to Dragonborn Village to collect Ed's goods, where they learned the strange armor was an alchemical golem. [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] then asked Xisuo to help him become a Dragonborn, and Xisuo agreed to take him to the village altar.

• On the cart, [Good Times Don't Last] told [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] that he and [Shit Appraisal Master] had money tied up in unsold stock, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] suggested hiring villagers to run a shop.
• At Dragonborn Village, [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] and [Good Times Don't Last] collected a huge, damaged suit of armor for Ed's quest.
• The village chief identified the armor as an alchemical golem that their ancestors' books described and said the villagers could still repair it.
• [Good Times Don't Last] posted pictures of the golem on the forum while [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] asked the chief about becoming a Dragonborn.
• After [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] invoked Seraphina's instructions, Xisuo introduced himself as the village chief and warned that Dragonborn transformations shortened human lifespans.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] firmly chose to proceed, and Xisuo offered to take him to the altar.

Xisuo initiated [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] into the Dragonborn and explained that becoming a true Dragonborn usually took two years. When [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] insisted he needed power sooner, Xisuo offered him dragon scales to eat, then returned to matchmaking him with his daughter.

• Xisuo led [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] to the altar, where he completed Dragonborn initiation rites and became a recognized companion.
• Xisuo explained that [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] would normally need to live by the sacred scale for two years before becoming a true Dragonborn, and suggested training him as the next village chief and marrying him to his sixteen-year-old daughter.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] refused to wait two years, saying he needed power quickly because war might be near.
• Xisuo revealed a basement full of scales shed by Dragonborn and told [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] that eating them was the fastest way to gain power.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] took several scales and promised to make the Dragonborn name resound throughout the world, while Xisuo again raised the subject of his daughter.

Lion Hidden in the Eyes returned to the castle, then sought help with using dragon scales to accelerate his Alienation and entrusted them to Evergreen Tree for study. Meanwhile, Ed explained to Seraphina why the Graycast Corridor’s mobile fortresses made its trade network more important than the Eternal Domain.

• Good Times Don't Last teased Lion Hidden in the Eyes about nearly being matched with a Dragonborn woman, and the two returned to the castle.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes collected his quest reward and tried unsuccessfully to eat the dragon scales, deciding they might work as armor instead.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes asked Dawn Ah for help implanting the scales, but Evergreen Tree offered to study them for a gentler method and promised to implant them if he found no alternative within two days.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes gave Evergreen Tree the scales and planned to train his Animal Compatibility.
• Ed told Seraphina that Graycast Corridor’s mobile fortresses supported profitable trade between the continent’s powers.

Ed persuaded Seraphina to guard the castle while he prepared to take the Soul Returners out, and pitched a future Dragonborn Logistics business once he captured White Wax Town. Meanwhile, [Dark Archmage] gathered intelligence in White Wax Town as Ed monitored her progress, and Duolin’s squad began building boats for a possible river campaign.

• Ed described a fee-based delivery business to Seraphina and said it could become profitable after he took White Wax Town and improved the road.
• Ed asked Seraphina to guard the castle and its surroundings while he led the Soul Returners out, and she agreed.
• [Dark Archmage] overheard patrolmen discuss a basement, a woman sought by the bishop, and Yiden’s authority, then returned to the [Cocoon] with her intelligence at 60%.
• Ed watched [Dark Archmage]’s feed and held back her quest progress so her intelligence gathering would stay aligned with the castle’s combat preparations.
• Ed learned that Duolin and his squad could build simple boats, so he assigned them a riverside plot to use as a dockyard.

Ed supported [Evergreen Tree]'s plan to study unusual organisms and asked him to submit a formal application for a research area. [Evergreen Tree] agreed to prepare it by sunset and returned to his students.

• Ed instructed Duolin to double the boat's dimensions so it could carry the troops to White Wax Town.
• Players continued helping Duolin, and nearly ten had leveled up, while [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] still hoped his companions would discover something useful about [Animal Compatibility].
• [Dawn Ah] persuaded [Evergreen Tree] that they needed a dedicated place to conduct research and urged him to ask Ed for one.
• [Evergreen Tree] met Ed and requested a small area to study special organisms affected by the Demonic Tide.
• Ed agreed to support the research but asked [Evergreen Tree] to submit an application listing the project details, budget, and expected results.
• [Evergreen Tree] agreed to deliver the application before sunset, and Ed offered a temporary room in the restricted area while the requested building was completed.

[Evergreen Tree] assigned [Backstabbing Expert] to collect mutated plant samples and a file, while [Dawn Ah] was tasked with writing an application. Meanwhile, [Dark Archmage] explored near the church and discovered a suspicious yard, where she came face-to-face with a woman.

• [Evergreen Tree] sent [Backstabbing Expert] to gather mutated plant samples and find a file or hacksaw blade.
• [Evergreen Tree] explained the application situation to [Dawn Ah] and ordered him to write an application for Guide Ed.
• [Dark Archmage] woke from the [Cocoon], allocated her new stat points to agility, will, and [Plant Compatibility], and set out to map the area near the church.
• [Dark Archmage] noticed a fenced yard with unusually soft, raised ground and no path to the back door, then approached the house cautiously.
• A woman opened the back door carrying a wooden basin, and she and [Dark Archmage] stared at each other as the basin fell from her hands.

[Dark Archmage] encountered a couple secretly digging a tunnel beneath their home to rescue their child, who was imprisoned under the church in White Wax Town. After exchanging information, she learned that the Church had been taking local children for decades and discovered the escaped boy’s name: Ed Adrian.

• [Dark Archmage] caught the couple’s basin of soil before it could spill and entered their home to talk with them.
• [Dark Archmage] and the couple exchanged information, revealing that she had come to investigate apostates in White Wax Town’s church and that their tunnel led toward the church.
• The couple explained that the Church had taken local children for decades, claiming they would receive religious education and training.
• The man said a wounded child had escaped from beneath the church a month earlier and told them their own child was among those imprisoned.
• The man identified the escaped boy as Ed Adrian, whom [Dark Archmage] hoped to find for more information.

[Dark Archmage] discovered that the tunnel beneath White Wax Town reached a point near the church, where she heard a young girl singing. In the dungeon below, Tiya continued her story about her grandfather and two rare elves.

• [Dark Archmage] crawled through the couple’s tunnel and estimated that its end lay beneath the church.
• [Dark Archmage] considered calling players for backup but heard a young girl singing through the dirt wall.
• The dungeon’s prisoners remained forgotten as the battered innkeeper lay barely alive and the children sat listlessly in their cells.
• Tiya resumed her story and told Number Four how her great-grandfather offered her grandfather as a servant to the elves who had cured him.
• Tiya said the elves refused the offer and revealed that they were [Sealers] who sealed away terrible calamities.

Tiya’s story and song led [Dark Archmage] to locate the dungeon and make contact with the imprisoned test subjects through her Deadwood Vine appendage. She promised to rescue them as the bishop’s combat formation approached, then returned with an ear.

• Tiya told the prisoners how her grandfather met two elves during the Demonic Tide and began singing the song one elf had left behind.
• A vine pushed through a hole in the dungeon wall, and Tiya’s cellmate touched it, prompting a startled human cry from the other side.
• [Dark Archmage] traced the singing to the dungeon, used her vine to peer through the wall, and prepared to speak to the prisoners.
• The vine returned with a mouth, and [Dark Archmage] identified herself as an Elite Warrior from the Tree Worship Church’s advance party and promised to rescue the prisoners.
• After the barely breathing innkeeper tried to speak, [Dark Archmage] returned repeatedly, bringing an ear into the dungeon.

[Dark Archmage] discovered that thirty-nine people, including Darnell and Tiya's father, were imprisoned beneath the church in White Wax Town, then called for players to help rescue them. Cui Yuan could not join immediately because of work, but [Zhongde] took the day off and hurried to log in.

• Tiya's father told [Dark Archmage] that the clerics were wary of her and described their atrocities before falling asleep.
• [Dark Archmage] counted thirty-nine prisoners in the dungeon and learned that the clerics had suspended their experiments while trying to catch her.
• [Dark Archmage] told Darnell's parents that their son and the other children were alive, and warned them that the rock wall blocked their digging.
• [Dark Archmage] posted a call for backup on the official World of Disorder forums, urging players to bring digging tools and help free the children.
• Cui Yuan contacted [Zhongde], who took the rest of the day off and said he would be online in ten minutes.

[Zhongde] led a group of players toward White Wax Town to support [Dark Archmage], while [Dark Archmage] revealed Ed Adrian’s connection to the town’s church in a forum post. Cui Yuan read the post and began to suspect Ed was central to the story, as someone in the castle cried out that they had been doxxed.

• [Zhongde] gathered players and led them to the river, where Duolin provided a small boat for their journey to White Wax Town.
• [Zhongde] split the team between the boat and raft, and the players rowed downstream to scout the route for the troops following them.
• [Dark Archmage] published a forum post revealing that Ed Adrian had told the couple digging a tunnel about corruption beneath White Wax Town’s church.
• Cui Yuan read the post and considered whether Ed was the story’s protagonist because he differed from the other test subjects.
• A startled person in the castle shouted, “Holy shit, who doxxed me?!”

Ed learned more about his merged past and decided to assign his original rescue quest to someone else. In White Wax Town, [Dark Archmage] and [Zhongde] gathered players to begin rescuing the children imprisoned beneath the church.

• Ed replayed [Dark Archmage]'s memories and reflected on the original owner's escape, then decided to entrust the rescue of his former companions to her and [Zhongde].
• [Dark Archmage] and [Zhongde] rendezvoused by the river and received the new Savior quest to rescue everyone in White Wax Town Church's underground prison.
• [Dark Archmage] led the players past a patrol and through the town to the house where the couple's tunnel entrance was hidden.
• [Dark Archmage] told the couple that Ed had ordered the children rescued before the bishop's attack, and the couple agreed to help.
• [Dark Archmage] assigned lookouts while [Zhongde] led the players in widening the tunnel.

The players dug a tunnel beneath a couple’s house to rescue the children, while Yiden ordered the clerics to search White Wax Town from its outskirts. As the players prepared to cut through the tunnel wall, Ed announced the next phase of the mission, drawing even casual players into the fight.

• Under [Zhongde]'s direction, the players dug and reinforced a tunnel, using the couple’s furniture for timber.
• Yiden punished a cleric for failing his tasks, then ordered four teams to search inward from the edges of town.
• After three hours of digging, the players learned the clerics were far away, and [Zhongde] told them to start cutting.
• Ed announced that the first phase’s player requirement had been met and that the second phase would begin in two hours.
• [Epic-Level Giant] joined the combat mission after his attempt to challenge Duolin ended with him being thrown from the arena.
• Qualified players formed teams and prepared weapons and vehicles as more players planned to challenge Duolin.