Wu Ye is transported to the Continent of the Gloomy Abyss, a place with no daytime or righteous path, only blood moons, dead forests, a city of mass graves, and man-eating ghost elves. He binds himself to the "Dark Realm Sign-In System": he signs in at a burial mound and gets a corpse-oil lantern, signs in at a ruined elf settlement and summons a remnant soul, then signs in at a blood moon altar and recruits a ghost general. While others flee from elves, he recruits them; while others fear ghosts and monsters, he trades them for rewards. Starting out as a lowly lamplighter in the City of Mass Graves, Wu Ye signs his way to a ghost encyclopedia, an army of ghost generals, and a dark elf royal court, while uncovering the truth behind the continent's corruption by the "Heaven-Eroding Pact" and the sacrifice of all living beings. Only after signing in across all nine abysses does he realize that the System itself is also a remnant soul left behind by the one who split the heavens.
