Lyson

The ending of the series has three main scenarios as of now:

1) Comatose Jiushi wakes up and everything was a dream, so he spends the next 50 years creating the virtual world he dreamed about so he can see everyone one he dreamed of.

2) Jiushi had entered a virtual game world, then he 'wakes up' back in his reality after having purified the game, and the virtual world ceases to exist. Lanzhu included, he ceases to exist as he states he would in ep 36. So he spends the next 50 years creating the virtual world he experienced and the people in it, as a comfort for his loss before he dies.

3) Everything that happens in the series happens inside a virtual world, and after the virtual world is purified, everyone from the real world who lived/died in the virtual world returns to the real world with all their memories wiped and they go back to their normal lives.

Which one do you feel most likely fits the series ending? You can decide,

The ending of ep 6 was like AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

It's not bromance. It's a censored BL. Never mind 50 years, Lanzhu plainly suggests that Jiushi should consider an alternative to a girlfriend and in no way wasn't it obvious that he meant himself, he'd been flirting since ep 1. 'Bromance' has always been a forced tag on Cn BL's, because they have no choice but to call it that to get it broadcast, and The Spirealm DIDN'T even do that, they tried to slip past censorship. The Spirealm, and in fact, none of the CN BLs are bromance in the end, and none of the relationships portrayed feel platonic. Don't let it irk you though, people who call it bromance probably just need the physical or verbal confirmation of it or else they don't really feel it's valid or real.

Hi! If you scroll up the page a little here on MDL, you'll see that in the recent discussion's section I've posted links to read the novel, online, ePUB and PDF. And, to your other question, the novel is not censored, the relationship between Nanzhu (Lanzhu) and Qiushi (Jiushi) is openly written! :3

The novel is amazing, but so is the series. Since you've already started the series you might prefer to finish it before starting the novel, it'll give you some visual ideas of the novel which is more detailed about the door world. I preferred to read the novel to the end first because it's the original but each person may feel differently. Also the endings of each are totally different, once again, due to censorship.

The reasons are actually totally different in the novel and drama, because the entire premise of the series is different from the novel, but in both it's revealed near the end, so yeah, it might be best to watch.

The Spirealm, best thing since TU. Censored BL.

8.9 today? I hope it holds, this show absolutely deserves that rating.

The show was originally released as 78 eps, and was then removed from iQiyi. When it was reaired on Viki and Viu, they'd condensed the episodes to 38. Adding intro and outro music is the only change with eps combined to decrease the format length, the episodes all contain the exact same content of the initial 78 eps.

Glad you enjoyed the novel ending 😊 And sure, ask me anything here anytime! So about Gao Dawei. Maybe you noticed that in the series they do not show his face or make him stand out in any clear way? That's because Gao Dawei was created as a plot device for the series. He doesn't exist in the novel because the novel is not based in a game, it's based in a real alternative world. So Gai Dawei's role in the series was merely to create a virtual video game premise.

As for the ending of the series, there are three main scenarios as of now:

1) Comatose Jiushi wakes up and everything was a dream, so he spends the next 50 years creating the virtual world he dreamed about so he can see everyone one he dreamed of.

2) Jiushi had entered a virtual game world, then he 'wakes up' back in his reality after having purified the game, and the virtual world ceases to exist. Lanzhu included, he ceases to exist as he states he would in ep 36. So he spends the next 50 years creating the virtual world he experienced and the people in it, as a comfort for his loss before he dies.

3) Everything that happens in the series happens inside a virtual world, and after the virtual world is purified, everyone from the real world who lived/died in the virtual world returns to the real world with all their memories wiped and they go back to their normal lives.

Which one do you feel most likely fits the series ending?

Np, and yep, the novel is more violent/scary than the show. Happy reading ✌️😁

The former, they're dead. In the novel, the people who died 'exist' inside the Door World realm like 'NPC's', they are not alive or real, they become a part of the Door World's 11th door. Hence the reason Qiushi chooses to to return to the real world, because even though so many people were lost, he knew Nanzhu would meet him in his real world, alive.

Np. So, the ending is VERY different.
The entire 11th door is much, much longer and more detailed. It's the same in that Nanzhu and Qiushu go back to a few years earlier in their pasts and have to face previous enemies, NPC's and Door Gods, also encountering former 'good acquaintances and friends' to help them survive. But the series cuts it short and changes the events drastically, but in the novel it's much longer and the outcome is different;

In the novel, after they 'clear' their respective levels they become totally separated and stuck inside the Door World where everything seems 'perfect' because everyone who was killed is alive, but it's all fake.
After a short-ish while stuck in there, Qiushi manages to figure out the key to get out first, because he's smort like that, and he does get out, eagerly choosing to return to the real world (where people really died), because even though many people were lost, he wants to be with Nanzhu (their relationship is already established by that point in the novel, so they are a couple). But when he gets back Nanzhu is not in the real world, and no one seems to know who he was or that he existed and Qiushi is confused but he can't do anything about it, so he goes on with life as much as he can, going through a bit of a hard time because he doesn't know what happened to Nanzhu.

Nanzhu on the other hand, is still stuck in the Door World because he is gradually regaining his memory, which he wiped just in order to meet Qiushi. So, Nanzhu is not a human. And he knew of Qiushi before because Nanzhu is a God of the Door Realm realm, and years before he'd been watching Qiushi cross the doors for some time and he fell in love with him and chose to leave his place as a God, take on a corporeal humanoid form and enter Qiushi's world to meet, interact with, get to know him and eventually be with him. But in order to do that 'naturally', he wiped his memory of being a God so he could be as human-esque as possible.

Stuck in the Door World for a long while (about a year), Nanzhu, having remembered what and who he is and why he did what he did, he finds the key and leaves the Door World (his realm) and chooses to go back to Qiushi's world.
Upon returning, (and as per the rules of his realm, if someone doesn't make it out of he 11th door they are forgotten) he'd been forgotten, until he turned up again, then everyone who had forgotten him remembered him. He turns up at Obsidian, and the new leader of Obsidian (a character not included in the series) contacts Qiushi to let him know Nanzhu has returned.

Qiushi is, of course, feeling feels of shock and relief and happiness and he goes straight to Obsidian. He and Nanzhu are reunited then and as they were already an established couple prior to all that happened, they pick up where they left off and continue to be together, very HAPPILY. The extras from the novel include some great Nanzhu and Qiushi couple scenes. If you ever want to read them, there are links I've posted on the Discussion Board here to read the novel. You can even start from chapter 139 to skip the final door's horror and read them being reunited and getting back together, and the extras that follow. They're sassy and loving and domestic all at once!

Feel free to ask any other questions✌️😁

np ✌️

Seconded. Fun watch.

It's been ages since I read the novel so I went to check and yeah, it was the aunt, uncle, cousin and the servant who bit it and cleared the curse.

Yeah, I wish someone could have told me too. You can still read the novel from chapter 130 (Qiushi entering the 11th door) until the novel's end and just ignore the last 8 minutes you've seen, that's what I do, then everything ends better imo.

You can watch it officially on Viki or Viu if you have a subscription or can afford to subscribe (and have no geolock). Alternatively, you can find sources to watch unofficially with fansubs in the recent discussion forum here on The Spirealm's MDL page (above). You can also find links to read the novel in the recent discussion section (above).

The thing is, considering the fact he has trust issues and that the video, text messages, and even the footage of where those two guys left him at the train station is all circumstantial evidence and even create a certain amount of suspicion around him, there's nothing concrete that doesn't one hundred percent confirm he didn't willingly take drugs and end up like that. For those reasons, he probably really thought it was best to sort it out and lock down at least one solid lead (scar face) without having to try and explain himself to his own people with nothing concrete. But then he lost his gun and he started experiencing withdrawal and so it went.

That's how I saw it anyway.

Yep, I reckon that at the beginning, and also it'll be a permanent blemish on his rep and he'd be suspended while under investigation right after a major promotion, that for a guy who looks like he doesn't have anything going for him besides his career. Maybe he thought he'd sort it out quickly too by catching the dude with a scar, but once he lost his gun, he already went from the frying pan into the fire, and so the ball started rolling.