Chapter Summaries

[Great Wei Boxing Champion] joined the closed beta as a Soul Returner and learned about the world and his starting attributes. The players set out to explore northeast from the castle with new interface features, while Ed decided to take the server down for a day tomorrow.

• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] regained consciousness in the castle and recognized the Soul Returner lore from the compendium.
• The veteran players welcomed [Great Wei Boxing Champion], explained their plan to explore northeast, and left Ed behind as their guide.
• Ed announced new map, photography, and low-stamina alert features, which the players began using.
• [Great Wei Boxing Champion] shared his attributes, and the players explained how constitution and willpower worked.
• Ed watched the players depart, then set out to grind monsters and told Little Green he wanted to take the server down for a day tomorrow.

Ed planned to use the server downtime to introduce villagers as new NPCs while the players hunted monsters near Upperstream Village. As the players headed back toward the castle at dusk, they encountered a powerful Rat King and appeared to face an immediate fight.

• Ed told Little Green he would shut down the servers for a day to introduce new NPCs from Upperstream Village.
• A rat gorged itself on a Vine Sheep carcass until it became bloated, then squeaked toward the sky as movement stirred in underground burrows.
• [Zhongde] and the other players agreed to return to the castle before the daily testing session ended, and they rejected his idea of using the rat's brain to make a Soul Returner.
• On the way back, [Shit Appraisal Master] stopped to harvest a Plum Blossom Deer while his companions went silent and readied their weapons.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] turned and saw a red-named Rat King only a few paces away, then told [Zhongde] they would not have to wait until tomorrow.

Ed planned to use the players’ enthusiasm for farming to organize an effort against the Rat King, while the players returned to the castle after fleeing from it. The chapter ended with Ed revealing that he had seen the Rat King and asking the players about the trouble they encountered.

• The players escaped the slow-moving Rat King and headed back toward the castle, discussing how to document and handle the creature.
• Ed and Little Green evaluated a tasteless fruit as a safe crop, and Ed decided to use the threat of rats to motivate the players to clear farmland and fight them.
• Ed collected the fruit’s gene and used the Territory Secret Pact to command Weightlessness.
• The players visited Howling Pothos’s Deadwood Vine test plot, where the vine had revived and absorbed the scraps he fed it.
• Ed asked the players whether they had run into trouble, then pointed northeast and said he had seen the Rat King from the castle.

Ed provoked the divided players into choosing to fight the [Rat King] by warning that it would destroy their Deadwood Vine farm. [Howling Pothos] organized a battle plan and asked Ed to help, leaving Ed wondering whether the player knew he could fight.

• The [Rat King] approached, and the players split evenly between fighting it and retreating before forced logout.
• Ed suggested the players could escape by abandoning their loot, then warned that the [Rat King] would find and kill the Deadwood Vine seedling regardless.
• The players rallied behind [Howling Pothos], who assigned the group roles to lure the [Rat King], dig a pit, and attack it.
• [Howling Pothos] asked Ed to join the fight if an opportunity to kill the [Rat King] arose.
• Ed sensed that [Howling Pothos] was sincere and wondered whether the player knew he was a capable fighter.

Ed joined [Howling Pothos]'s plan to trap the [Rat King], and the players began luring the swarm toward their ambush. The attack started, but the [Rat King] proved difficult to damage as [Zhongde] and [Do Some Farm Work] dug the pit.

• [Howling Pothos] asked Ed to restrain the [Rat King] with his binding spell, and Ed agreed to help.
• [Howling Pothos] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] covered themselves in beast blood and lured the [Rat King] toward the planned trap.
• [Good Times Don't Last] threw a short spear at the [Rat King], but it killed only a dozen or so rats before the swarm consumed the weapon.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] charged toward the [Rat King] instead of throwing away his spear.
• [Zhongde] and [Do Some Farm Work] dug furiously with iron shovels while the transplanted Deadwood Vines helped loosen the soil.

The players’ plan to trap the Rat King reached its climax as they lured it toward a pit while fighting off its rats. The Rat King fell into the trap, leaving the group ready to take advantage of its predicament.

• [Zhongde] asked [Do Some Farm Work] about their promised forty-sixty split, and [Do Some Farm Work] said he would settle the money after logging out.
• [Shit Appraisal Master] charged the Rat King with two spears while [Good Times Don't Last] guarded against attacking rats, causing the Rat King’s divided forces to struggle to move.
• The Rat King abandoned the decoys and focused on its attackers, so [Howling Pothos] warned them that they had lost aggro.
• [Zhongde] announced that the pit was ready, and [Good Times Don't Last] pulled [Shit Appraisal Master] into a retreat as the Rat King pursued them.
• [Howling Pothos] and [Great Wei Boxing Champion] watched as the Rat King rolled down the slope and fell into the pit.

Ed trapped the Rat King in a thorny vine cage and used Paralysis Flowers while the players attacked through openings. With logout approaching and the Rat King still alive, [Howling Pothos] asked Ed to use his full strength, and Ed began empowering Little Green.

• Ed used Deadwood Vines to cage the Rat King in the pit and grafted Paralysis Flowers onto the vines.
• When the flowers' toxin weakened but did not incapacitate the rats, Ed opened attack windows and ordered the players to stab the Rat King.
• The players steadily reduced the Rat King's health, while [Howling Pothos] realized they would not defeat it before the 20:00 logout.
• [Howling Pothos] asked Ed to use his full strength to kill the Rat King, and Ed accepted the request.
• Ed withdrew his hands from the ground and greatly expanded Little Green's share of his power.

Ed killed the Rat King's core and secured victory for the players, who celebrated before being forced to log out. Left alone, he turned to the aftermath and began digesting the remaining rats while considering the game's publicity and his lack of money and NPCs.

• Ed drove his wooden sword into the Rat King's core, weakening the swarm and winning the battle.
• The players celebrated their victory, then were forced to log out at 20:00.
• Ed realized the players' recordings could bring more publicity, but he needed to shut down the servers because he lacked money and NPCs.
• Ed used Paralysis Flowers to kill the remaining rats, then had the vine cage absorb their bodies.
• Ed sat beside the cage and considered the experience gained as the rats began to digest.

After logging out, the players discussed whether the Guide had stolen the Rat King’s kill and speculated about the game’s EXP, loot, and open-ended mechanics. Great Wei Boxing Champion asked about the group’s earlier adventures, and Good Times Don’t Last began recounting them.

• Good Times Don't Last added Great Wei Boxing Champion to the players’ group chat, where they discussed the Guide landing the final blow on the Rat King.
• Howling Pothos guessed that EXP might be shared while loot might go to whoever struck the killing blow, and the others planned to find out when they logged in again.
• Do Some Farm Work offered to share a recording of the fight, and Great Wei Boxing Champion asked for footage to edit and post.
• Howling Pothos asked Great Wei Boxing Champion about finding the closed-beta Easter egg, and he confirmed that he had found it and might make game videos his main job if the game became popular.
• Howling Pothos and Shit Appraisal Master speculated that players had triggered the Rat King themselves rather than followed a scripted quest.
• Great Wei Boxing Champion asked what the others had done during the first days of the beta, and Good Times Don't Last recounted their early exploration, hunting, river crossing, and battle preparations.

Cui Yuan and the players discussed World of Disorder’s strange invitation mechanic and speculated that Odin Game Company was using the game to test or train artificial intelligence. They decided to keep playing while watching for clues, and Cui Yuan prepared to leave for work.

• Good Times Don't Last explained that beta players could gain access by sacrificing prey to an NPC, while Cui Yuan learned there was another route.
• Cui Yuan asked what the players knew about Odin Game Company, and Zhongde pointed out that the game’s immersion was unusually powerful.
• Zhongde argued that the game might be a cover for experiments because it lacked basic notices and disconnected players from their bodies while they slept.
• Do Some Farm Work suggested the players might be training AI NPCs, and the group considered whether an invitation system screened out unsuitable players.
• Cui Yuan said the helmets had an upper power limit, planned to investigate the game later, and asked players to send him recordings for videos.
• Zhongde told Shit Appraisal Master that he liked black hair.

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.