Chapter Summaries

Traveling merchant Gray Gris returned to Great Labyrinth City after a rough journey through the Graycast Corridor and completed the handover of his goods and reports. He left his battered mobile fortress at the unloading station, with his rare time off still ahead of him.

• Gray Gris woke aboard his worn mobile fortress and reviewed the report he planned to submit in Great Labyrinth City.
• Gray spotted a much larger fortress emerging through the fog, and the two fortresses narrowly scraped past each other after their owners exchanged curses.
• Gray reached the city walls, followed the road to Great Labyrinth City, and presented his identification and documents at the gate.
• Gray unloaded 53 crates of goods and confirmed the proceeds and details of his 65-day trading trip with a staff member.
• Gray finished the handover and looked over his battered fortress, which was coated in dust and marked by holes and scrapes.

Gray took the Antasia to a repair station, where a mechanic cleared monsters from its power compartment and agreed to repair it. He then returned to his home repair shop, where his wife Nora found that he had only half a heart left.

• Gray brought the Antasia to the repair station, and the old mechanic teased him about calling it his master's wife.
• The mechanic found bloodied, half-devoured monsters in the power compartment and destroyed them before they could cause the Antasia to stall.
• Gray ordered brand-new power components and left the Antasia with the mechanic for repairs.
• Gray returned to his repair shop and exchanged sarcastic greetings with his wife, Nora.
• Nora saw Gray's bloodied half-mechanical body and demanded to know why half his heart was missing.

Gray returned home with a damaged chest, and Nora repaired him while he recounted his encounter with a trainee knight and the people he had met. After the Notary Office summoned him to verify his mission report, Gray confirmed that a settlement leader had promised to trade grain, leaving the notary to suggest his luck might be turning.

• Gray told Nora that a trainee knight from the Eternal Domain had stabbed him with a lance, and she repaired his chest while listening to his travel account.
• Nora installed Gray's second mechanical heart, which meant he no longer needed winding.
• A messenger from the Great Labyrinth City Notary Office delivered a request for Gray to give a detailed account of his mission report.
• Gray met notary Bobby, confirmed that his report about Ed's promise to trade grain was accurate, and was asked to describe the settlement.
• Bobby told Gray that his luck might be about to turn.

Gray reported on the Tree Worship Church’s settlement to a notary, who explained that a successful grain trade could qualify Gray for a medium fortress and told him the Grand Foundry Master was choosing a successor. The notary then asked Gray to describe the settlement’s people, and Gray tentatively called them friendly.

• Gray recounted his journey to Dragonborn Village while two people recorded his account.
• The notary explained that the Corridor and the Eternal Domain were in a prolonged standoff and said a stable grain trade could earn Gray enough merit for a medium fortress.
• The notary told Gray that the Grand Foundry Master would choose a successor within two years and that candidates had to be under thirty and make an outstanding contribution.
• Gray imagined that his work might connect him to the succession, but the notary interrupted his daydream and ordered him to answer questions directly.
• The notary asked about the settlement’s common people, and Gray recalled their orderly, cheerful behavior before describing them as fairly friendly.

Players became obsessed with the Gloomy Sanctuary after discovering its achievements could be upgraded and ranked, while a twenty-player team’s normal-difficulty attempt collapsed after the Tree Worship Church broke through their formation. The raid ended in another wipe, and team leader [Zhongde] recalled the developers’ lengthy update announcement.

• Players continued challenging the Gloomy Sanctuary, which had earned the church bell the nickname “death knell,” and hunted aberrations when they ran out of tickets.
• [Howling Pothos] led a ten-player team to clear the dungeon on easy difficulty and earn [A Glimmer of Light].
• Players discovered that the achievement had hidden card art and a ranking, prompting a rush to compete for high rankings on easy and normal difficulty.
• After [Xiexie Huigu] died, Yiden ordered the clerics to attack and break the players’ formation.
• The clerics killed the players, including healer [Easily Soluble in Water], and the team’s attempt ended in a wipe.
• [Zhongde] closed his eyes and recalled the developers’ update announcement.

After reading the latest version announcement, Zhongde reflected on how rapidly World of Disorder had changed since the liberation of White Wax Town. He rode toward the castle to meet his roommates, whose closed beta slots he had earned by gathering offerings.

• Zhongde declined Concrete Mixed with Spaghetti’s invitation to run the dungeon again and said he would help his roommates begin the game.
• Zhongde boarded the cart bound for the castle, where new players logged in for the first time.
• Zhongde reflected on the game’s recent updates, the viral battle videos, and the new closed beta slots.
• Zhongde remembered his promise to his roommates and had spent a day gathering enough offerings to secure three closed beta slots.

Zhongde waited at the castle for his three roommates to enter the game, while they finished their character setups in the real world. Brain Bling, Enemy from the Sky, and Add Ice Fiercely awakened in their vessels, reunited with Zhongde, and celebrated being together in another world.

• Zhongde rode Ed’s battered golem bus to the castle and was surprised to see a new player, Ever-Changing Master Ye, catching fish where Epic-Level Giant had struggled.
• Zhongde messaged his roommates, who reported that they were preparing to log in, and told them he would meet them at the castle.
• In the real world, the young man customizing his character reviewed the four basic attributes, randomized his allocation, and entered the game.
• Brain Bling, Enemy from the Sky, and Add Ice Fiercely awakened in their vessels and greeted Ed, who welcomed them with a special dialogue from Zhongde.
• Zhongde met his three roommates at the castle entrance, and they celebrated the Room 303 reunion in another world.

Zhongde showed his three new roommates around the bustling castle and explained how players could build relationships with its increasingly lifelike NPCs. He left them with advice about potential mentors and a warning about the overwhelming strength of Seraphina.

• Zhongde recalled how the castle had once been wilderness and pointed out Good Times Don't Last, who had been badly beaten by a Deadwood Vine.
• Zhongde took his roommates on a tour, explaining the bank, its red dragon attendant Seraphina, and how befriending NPCs could earn players benefits.
• Upperstream Village NPCs thanked Add Ice Fiercely for helping design their new houses, surprising him with their intelligence.
• Zhongde explained that Xilǐ'er could teach knightly techniques but said Seraphina was vastly stronger and too expensive to learn from.

Zhongde introduced his roommates to the game’s construction work and persuaded them to join his concrete-pouring army while keeping an eye out for future battles. Seraphina agreed to reorganize Dragonborn Village as a company and, after Ed guided her through naming it, established Seraphina Unlimited Prominence.

• Zhongde explained that Howling Pothos was selling his carnivorous-plant farm and described how construction work could offer opportunities in the game.
• Zhongde persuaded his three roommates to start with beginner quests and join his concrete-pouring army, though they insisted they still wanted to fight.
• Seraphina told Ed she accepted his proposal to reorganize Dragonborn Village into a company.
• Ed explained company naming and venture capital to Seraphina, who decided the company should invest in other businesses.
• Seraphina rejected the name Seraphina Venture Capital Co., Ltd. and insisted on replacing “limited” with “unlimited,” establishing Seraphina Unlimited Prominence.

[Lion Hidden in the Eyes] accepted Seraphina’s delivery quest and headed to Dragonborn Village, deciding to announce the castle’s victory while revealing his new Dragonborn form. The village guards spotted him approaching and rushed to alert the chief.

• Players in White Wax Town and Shattered Castle showed little interest in Seraphina’s five-silver quest, so it went to [Lion Hidden in the Eyes].
• Seraphina recognized [Lion Hidden in the Eyes], gave him a yellowed-paper package, and paid him in advance.
• On the way to Dragonborn Village, [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] decided to share news of the castle’s victory and injected a reddish potion to transform into a Dragonborn.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] sprinted across the wilderness toward the village, carrying Seraphina’s package.
• Dragonborn guards spotted the approaching outsider and hurried to notify the village chief.

[Lion Hidden in the Eyes] visited Dragonborn Village with news of White Wax Town’s liberation and delivered Seraphina’s papers to Xisuo. The papers dissolved the village and reorganized its Dragonborn as employees of a company, with new titles and work rules taking effect the next day.

• Xisuo admitted [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] into Dragonborn Village and welcomed him as one of their own.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] told Xisuo he had learned to become a Dragonborn quickly and reported that White Wax Town had been liberated.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] gave Xisuo the papers Seraphina had sent, and Xisuo read them aloud in substance.
• Xisuo initially said Dragonborn Village would cease to exist, alarming [Lion Hidden in the Eyes], then clarified that only its name and organization would change.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] read Seraphina’s order: the village would become the Dragonborn Labor Company, villagers would receive employee roles, and the new rules would take effect on August 23, 908.

[Lion Hidden in the Eyes] explained Seraphina’s decree to the villagers of Dragonborn Village, earning their gratitude and completing a quest. As he headed back to the old castle and posted about the decree on the forums, his transformation faded and Mild Weakness made him collapse.

• The village chief asked [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] to explain Seraphina’s decree, and he accepted a quest to help the villagers understand it.
• The village chief gathered the villagers, and [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] explained the decree in plain language.
• The Dragonborn celebrated the decree’s terms, including their freedom to travel and the requirement to pay half their earnings to Seraphina.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] completed the quest and walked back toward the old castle as his transformation began to wear off.
• [Lion Hidden in the Eyes] posted a forum account of his experiences, then collapsed when Mild Weakness took effect.

On the World of Disorder forums, players discussed hiring Dragonborn villagers and learned that their labor cost far less than hiring players. At the Great Prospects Chamber of Commerce, Good Times Don't Last realized the new rates made his contract with a player look like a terrible deal, and he and Shit Appraisal Master concluded that capital had set them up.

• Forum users discussed the game’s rapid development and the prospect of hiring Dragonborn villagers to work in shops.
• Lion Hidden in the Eyes said Dragonborn labor cost about one silver coin per day, or roughly 25–28 silver coins per month, for around nine to ten hours of work daily.
• Good Times Don't Last compared the new rates with his contract, which had bought four hours of a player’s labor for one silver coin, and saw that the shop’s earlier deal had become a loss.
• Good Times Don't Last wailed in despair, startling Second-Class Biscuit and drawing Shit Appraisal Master over to ask what was wrong.
• After Good Times Don't Last sent him a link, Shit Appraisal Master joined him outside, and the two said they felt capital had set them up.

Pond Fish and Old Abyss helped her friend Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop create a character built for survival and casual sightseeing, then showed her a disturbing way to grow plants in the game. The chapter ended with Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop watching a Deadwood Vine revive after drinking Pond Fish and Old Abyss’s blood.

• A real-world player browsing the World of Disorder bestiary logged in and added Pond Fish and Old Abyss as a friend.
• Pond Fish and Old Abyss advised Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop to invest in constitution and willpower for extra survivability.
• Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop entered the game with a character modeled on her real face and asked Pond Fish and Old Abyss to take a picture for her brother.
• Pond Fish and Old Abyss saw Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop’s heavily defensive stats and learned she planned to relax, admire NPCs, and grow flowers.
• Pond Fish and Old Abyss stabbed a Deadwood Vine into her forearm, and the vine revived after absorbing her blood.

[Pond Fish and Old Abyss] found a safe, casual activity for [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] and took her into the forest to finish her beginner quest. They used [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] as bait for a "Plum Blossom" Deer, and [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] caught it with a Deadwood Vine.

• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] warned [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] to stay in the [Safe Zone] and suggested buying a small vine farm for her.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] led [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] across the river to the logging site, then into the forest to hunt a monster for her beginner quest.
• After [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] passed a paralytic toxin check, [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] told her to play dead and hid in nearby bushes.
• A "Plum Blossom" Deer emerged and bared its teeth at [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop], who lay motionless as bait.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] ensnared the deer with a Deadwood Vine and pulled [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] to her feet.

[Pond Fish and Old Abyss] helped [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] kill a mutated deer and get started in World of Disorder. She then met [Howling Pothos] to discuss buying his mutated plant farm, learning how it produced income as they negotiated over its one-gold-coin price.

• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] and [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] lured and killed the mutated "Plum Blossom" Deer, though [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] felt unsettled afterward.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] guided [Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop] through the beginner essentials and helped her open a copper-tier account.
• [Howling Pothos] practiced his Directed Alienation skill, then hurried to meet [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] after she showed interest in his farm.
• [Howling Pothos] asked for one gold coin and showed them his fifteen Deadwood Vines and three Strangler Figs.
• [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] recognized a Deadwood Vine cutting she had bought from the guide and learned that [Howling Pothos] had sold it to Ed for less than the guide charged.
• [Howling Pothos] explained that the farm could bring in around thirty silver coins a month after expenses if the plants received adequate nutrition, while [Pond Fish and Old Abyss] had not yet agreed to buy it.

Pond Fish and Old Abyss and Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop bought Howling Pothos's Deadwood Vine farm and renamed it the Greenhouse. Ed then explained the properties of new seeds to Do Some Farm Work, beginning with Tasteless Fruit and scarlet millet.

• Howling Pothos offered to sell the profitable but time-consuming Deadwood Vine farm to Pond Fish and Old Abyss and Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop.
• Pond Fish and Old Abyss paid for the farm, and Howling Pothos gave them a guide to raising aberrant plants.
• At the old castle, Pond Fish and Old Abyss completed the ownership transfer with Ed, and the new owners named the farm the Greenhouse.
• Do Some Farm Work asked Ed about the new seeds, and Ed explained that Tasteless Fruit took about forty days to grow, had a short shelf life, and could mutate after three generations.
• Ed explained that scarlet millet matured in about thirty days, needed drying for storage, and had to be processed before eating because raw millet caused sprouts to grow from the eater.

Ed explained the final crops and the effects of the Demonic Tide to [Do Some Farm Work], who left to begin farming. Ed then heard Xilǐ'er's report on the nearby villages and concluded that their residents did not yet trust the new leadership.

• Ed described Angler Melon as a nutrient-hungry vegetable whose fruit tasted like whatever the eater most wanted, and Pine Hemp as a slightly toxic, nonfood cash crop with uses still to be discovered.
• Ed explained that the Demonic Tide had shortened crop growth cycles and encouraged faster reproduction and more mutations, while [Do Some Farm Work] headed out to buy seeds and discuss sowing with two volunteers.
• Ed watched White Wax Town grow more active as players helped residents and locals opened stalls selling goods made from their symbiotic plants.
• Xilǐ'er reported that Gungnir's young trainees were enthusiastic and could handle the training, though they needed more food.
• Xilǐ'er told Ed that residents of nearby villages showed little reaction to news of his appointment, new tax law, and possible relocation, and Ed said they had no reason to trust the Tree Worship Church's new leadership yet.

Ed outlined a possible spell-based way to restore Xilǐ'er’s memories after resurrection, though he admitted it was still uncertain. He then questioned Duolin about the Tree Worship Church’s reporting procedures and began teaching him to use reports to portray himself as a loyal servant by identifying someone as treacherous.

• Ed told Xilǐ'er he hoped to enchant Radish so she could see a mirror immediately after resurrection and recover her self-awareness, but said the plan still needed study and cooperation.
• Ed sent Xilǐ'er back to continue training Gungnir and contacted Duolin through Little Green’s local network.
• Duolin explained that the Tree Worship Church sent monthly reports to the Verdant Holy See and copied them to provincial authorities, though the versions differed and the provincial reports used a cipher.
• Ed told Duolin to ask Yiden to explain the cipher, using his notoriety among the Soul Returners as leverage if he resisted.
• Ed promised to teach Duolin how to write reports and argued that a loyal servant needed someone to report as treacherous.

Duolin visited the imprisoned Yiden on Ed’s orders and asked whether he would drag others down with him if he had no hope of escape. Yiden agreed to reveal the Stained Ones’ cipher if Ed would ensure they shared his fate, then explained how to write it before returning to fight the Soul Returners.

• Duolin entered the church’s hidden passage and met Yiden in the final boss room.
• Yiden deduced that Ed wanted the cipher in his memory and asked what he would receive in exchange.
• Duolin relayed Ed’s question about whether Yiden would drag others down with him, and Yiden agreed to help if the Stained Ones met the same fate as him.
• Yiden taught Duolin the cipher’s rules, including its writing materials, style, and secret mark.
• Duolin left through the hidden door as Yiden began his battle with the Soul Returners.