Chapter Summaries

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.

The Dragonborn Village chief rushed to the castle after recognizing a clue that something had happened at the sacred mountain, where he found Seraphina. Seraphina subdued him and asked Ed to explain the situation, leaving the chief waiting for answers.

• The Dragonborn Village chief realized that events involving Ed and the dragon coins might explain the message on the board, then hurried toward the castle.
• The chief landed near the bonfire in a berserk half-dragon form, alarming the six players and drawing Ed and Seraphina's attention.
• Seraphina spoke to the chief, and her power made him revert to human form and approach her respectfully.
• [Good Times Don't Last] realized that Seraphina was the dragon in Dragonborn Village, while the other players watched the chief's audience.
• The chief presented three dragon coins to Seraphina and admitted he feared for Dragonborn Village; Seraphina then asked Ed, her “Business partner,” to explain what had happened.

Ed and Seraphina secured Dragonborn Village as a friendly trading partner, earning the players a permanent discount and access to dragonborn mercenaries. Later, Ed asked Seraphina about black dragons and Nidhogg, but she knew nothing about them.

• Ed told the village chief that he and Seraphina were allies, and the chief agreed to inform the villagers and resume their trade.
• Ed changed the exchange rate to four fruits for five iron items, offered delivery, and left the contract with Seraphina.
• The village chief returned to Dragonborn Village, and Ed’s announcement changed it into a safe zone, established friendly relations and a trade route, and unlocked dragonborn mercenaries for hire.
• The players discussed reselling goods using the discount, then Good Times Don't Last discovered their stock had lost money before they had sold anything.
• At 20:00, Ed explained to Seraphina that the players’ bodies could move for only half of each day because of insufficient soul compatibility.
• Ed asked Seraphina whether black dragons and Nidhogg existed, but she knew nothing about Nidhogg or his other names.

Ed arranged a discounted trading deal with Seraphina and felt secure under her protection. Meanwhile, a newly appointed bishop arrived in White Wax Town, where Yiden learned that he would take over the church’s experiments while the new bishop handled everything else.

• Seraphina asked Ed for her commission, and Ed explained that she would receive half the money saved by his subordinates’ discounted trades after the deal went through.
• Seraphina recorded the commission terms on a dragon scale while Ed promised to explain aging in cooking.
• Ed told Little Green that Seraphina made him feel far safer than it did.
• A newly appointed bishop rode into White Wax Town and confronted the local clerics, who had been delaying the arrival of their superiors.
• The new bishop identified himself as Duolin and gave Yiden a cardinal’s letter assigning him the diocese while leaving Yiden responsible for the suspended experiments.

Yiden briefed the newly appointed bishop Duolin on White Wax Town's diocese and the apostate Ed, who had stolen a sacred relic and killed five clergy. Duolin agreed to begin his duties and tour the diocese with all four of his subordinates, despite Yiden's warning about the danger.

• Yiden assessed Duolin, learned he knew the Church's account of Ed's crimes, and discussed the apostate's escape.
• Yiden showed Duolin a map of the diocese and warned him about the Black Forest, the former Barony of Tur, and Dragonborn Village.
• Duolin said his five-person group would take up their duties, and Yiden asked the experienced tax collector to start collecting overdue taxes.
• Duolin proposed touring the diocese with the new tax collector, but Yiden warned that Ed might kill him too.
• Duolin acknowledged Yiden's concern and declared that all five newcomers would tour the diocese together.

Players discussed the village chief’s visit as an explanation for the server downtime and guessed that the game connected their world with another one. Ed summoned four new Soul Returners, who awoke in unfamiliar bodies, and directed them to help restore order under the guidance of experienced players.

• Good Times Don't Last suggested that the village chief’s visit explained the server downtime and the new trade route and banking features.
• Good Times Don't Last noted that the players’ reward came as discounts encouraging them to interact with Dragonborn Village.
• Seraphina observed Ed’s daily summoning ritual and watched ten Soul Returners awaken.
• Four new players entered their bodies, reacted to the castle and its inhabitants, and introduced themselves in the group chat.
• Ed welcomed the newcomers and directed them to tools and work to help restore order under the other Soul Returners’ guidance.