Xu Shaowei

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

Xu Shaowei has a classically elegant appearance and favors qipaos despite the practical clothing usually worn by apartment survivors. Her dignified presentation contrasts sharply with her animated expressions and outspoken conversation 34 102.

• Teal qipao: Worn at her first meeting with Su Cheng, accompanied by a jade hairpin and folding fan 34.
• Purple qipao: Worn at their post-competition reunion at An Tavern 102.

Personality

Xu Shaowei is straightforward, outgoing, and expressive. She readily shares her Gene Lock ability with Su Cheng at their first meeting, reassures Yan Yu about eventually unlocking hers, and helps make the newcomer comfortable. Her candid complaints and exaggerated reactions quickly dispel the formality suggested by her appearance 34.

She is deeply afraid of ghosts—even horror films can frighten her to tears. After her first supernatural instance, disturbing images repeatedly returned whenever she closed her eyes. Nevertheless, fear does not prevent her from fighting: during the White Moon City competition, she struggles against possession and attacks a ghost with a wooden sword 34 151 156 164.

She openly despises the Toward the Moon Society’s predatory behavior. After its leader, Shen Ying, nearly kills her, Xu Shaowei retaliates by circulating a detailed portrait and warning others about her. With trusted friends, she is affectionate and playful, frequently praising Su Cheng in extravagant terms 34 102 158 177.

Abilities & Skills

Enhanced Perception

Her Stage One Gene Lock ability greatly strengthens her perception 34.

• She shares its general effect while comparing Gene Lock experiences with Su Cheng.
• Its precise range, activation conditions, and limitations are not specified 34.

Drawing

Xu Shaowei’s art training allows her to produce a highly lifelike portrait of Shen Ying from their encounter 102.

• She circulates the drawing to expose the Toward the Moon Society’s leader.
• The portrait enables Su Cheng to recognize Shen Ying as the woman who massacred villagers in the Plague instance 102.

Supernatural Combat

Xu Shaowei uses special weapons and investigative tools against ghosts, although she remains vulnerable to illusions and control effects 156 163 164 165.

• Resisting possession: Fights the ghost infant for control of her body and narrowly avoids an approaching car 156.
• Expelling a possessing ghost: Cuts her palm with a blood-absorbing utility knife, forcing the ghost infant out as its soul dissipates 156.
• Fighting through an illusion: Breaks the masked man’s illusion and kills him, but falls victim to a subsequent control trick 165.
• Signaling while controlled: Directs Su Cheng’s attention toward the black bead at her waistband, allowing Su Cheng to break its hold 165.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Blood-absorbing utility knife — Appears in her hand while she is possessed. Absorbs blood from her cut palm and expels the ghost infant; she initially does not remember where it came from 156.
• Short wooden sword — Used to stab ghostly hands emerging from a hotel wardrobe 164.
• Compass — Its needle points toward a concealed presence behind her hotel curtains 163.
• Life-saving items — An unspecified item saves her after Shen Ying’s attack leaves her in monster-infested water. She later confirms that she carries protective items in White Moon City 102 163.
• Temple talisman — Obtained while her memories are sealed; proves useless against the ghosts in her hotel room 156.
• Folding fan and jade hairpin — Accessories worn with her teal qipao at An Tavern 34.

Background / History

Apartment Life and Meeting Su Cheng

Xu Shaowei lives in Zone C and is already acquainted with Yan Yu when the latter introduces her to Su Cheng at An Tavern. Having recently unlocked her Gene Lock, she compares experiences with Su Cheng and adds her on vx. The three then tour the Central Circle together 33 34.

She has completed a special instance and received a street-level competition ticket. She initially declines an opportunity to compete because she has not yet unlocked her Gene Lock. She also explains the ticket system and warns Su Cheng about the Toward the Moon Society’s robberies 34.

Xu Shaowei, Yan Yu, and Su Cheng subsequently maintain a three-person group chat to exchange information and supplies. When Su Cheng asks about classes, Xu Shaowei admits that she has never heard of them and offers to investigate 43 52.

First Competition and Shen Ying

Xu Shaowei later registers for the Apartment Joint Competition. At registration, she has survived for sixty-one days, placing her outside the grouping available to Su Cheng and Yan Yu 66.

Her competitive instance takes place at sea among contestants who have all survived for more than sixty days. Shen Ying attempts to recruit her into the Toward the Moon Society, using a lie detector to question her about her real-world identity and demanding that she eat bugs. Xu Shaowei refuses and is attacked, eventually falling into the sea and nearly dying among the monsters. A life-saving item allows her to survive 102.

After returning, she warns her friends about Shen Ying’s combat skills and life-detection ability. She also draws and circulates Shen Ying’s portrait, undermining the anonymity provided by her half mask 102.

Xu Shaowei later relays a veteran survivor’s theory that unknown dangers are emerging in the real world. She emphasizes that whether Gene Locks, classes, and special items remain available after leaving the apartments is still uncertain 131 132.

White Moon City: Sealed Memories

In the district competition’s White Moon City instance, Xu Shaowei’s apartment memories are sealed. She lives alone in a two-bedroom apartment on the seventh floor of Red Moon Garden, unknowingly occupying the same building as Su Cheng 151 152.

After ghostly disturbances drive her into the corridor, Mu Ling opens her otherwise immovable door and lets her retreat inside. Su Cheng later tries to awaken her memories by drawing attention to their identical wristbands and inconsistencies in the world. Xu Shaowei instead concludes that Su Cheng is recruiting for a pyramid scheme and leaves 151 153.

She seeks a protective talisman and takes refuge in a hotel, but a ghost infant possesses her and drives her into the rain. While struggling for control, she encounters Shen Ying, the rainy-night killer. Xu Shaowei expels the infant with her utility knife, and Mu Ling blocks Shen Ying’s subsequent attack. Su Cheng arrives after Xu Shaowei collapses 156.

By the next morning, Xu Shaowei has recovered her memories. She and Su Cheng confirm that they share the mission to ensure the annual celebration in the square proceeds smoothly. Xu Shaowei also needs to address her after-school care job, fearing that her absences will cost her its qualification certificate 158.

Man Moon Hotel

Xu Shaowei and Su Cheng successfully apply as sleep testers at Man Moon Hotel. Xu Shaowei forfeits her rental deposit to sever her connection to Red Moon Garden and, now aware of the deception, stops indulging the instance’s fake parents 160.

At the hotel, she receives the same room where she previously encountered the ghost mother and infant. She and Su Cheng discover matching arrangements of black stones beneath their beds and split up to investigate 161.

A wardrobe encounter traps Xu Shaowei in an illusion controlled by a masked man. Although she breaks the illusion and kills him, his final trick forces her to join a sacrificial ritual involving Yan Yu. She retains enough awareness to signal the location of the controlling bead; Su Cheng crushes it and frees her. Xu Shaowei then helps eliminate the ghosts involved in the ritual 164 165.

Final Investigation and Survival

Xu Shaowei joins Yan Yu and Yun Xi for the investigation inside White Moon City while Su Cheng, Lu Heng, and Wang Tai explore beyond its boundary. She distracts Manager Lin so Su Cheng and Lu Heng can leave the hotel 171.

Her group discovers an underground chamber combining a dissection room and sacrificial altar, photographs the evidence, and fights Hu Ding’s group. After killing them, they must contend with the blood-vessel heads emerging from their bodies 177.

Xu Shaowei survives the Calamity’s appearance and the interruption of the competition countdown. Afterward, she celebrates with her friends in their group chat and proposes another Central Circle gathering 177.

Relationships

• Su Cheng — Close friend and trusted ally. They exchange survival information, share mission details openly, and cooperate throughout White Moon City. Xu Shaowei repeatedly credits Su Cheng with saving her life 34 158 165 177.
• Yan Yu — Established friend who introduces her to Su Cheng. The three regularly meet at An Tavern and share information and supplies through their group chat 34 52 102.
• Mu Ling — Protector during Xu Shaowei’s memory-sealed period. Follows her at Su Cheng’s request, intervenes against hostile ghosts, and blocks Shen Ying’s killing blow 151 153 156.
• Shen Ying — Enemy who tries to force her into the Toward the Moon Society and later attacks her again in White Moon City. Xu Shaowei exposes her identity through a circulated portrait 102 156.
• Yun Xi — Fellow investigator during the White Moon City competition; works with Xu Shaowei and Yan Yu on the city-side investigation 170 171 177.

Notable Quotes

“Why does everyone want me dead... But I’m going to live!” 156

“Being in the same instance as my Sister Cheng makes me feel so safe.” 158