Summoning Gods and Demons

Summoning Gods and Demons is a post-apocalyptic crisis novel by the web writer Fengzhilange, first serialized on Zongheng Chinese. "A sudden mutation, everyday life collapsing in an instant. Faced with extremity, ordinary people suffocate and die, while heroes rise above the rest." The story begins with this sudden collapse of the everyday: the protagonist, Wende, is drawn into an "inner world" teeming with all kinds of fantastical creatures, where monsters roam and lairs abound, and where hunting monsters grants power and resources. Humans in the real world naturally hold the status of "summoners" in the inner world; they can open a mental projection space of their own, build special structures within it, and recruit and train various troop types, whose power can then be summoned into battle. In reality Wende is a laid-back, unambitious sort, but in the inner world he dares to fight and struggle. He gathers troop types and companions drawn from anime and games, and from his first battle and early explorations, through dealings with fairies and a hound king, to purifying mutated individuals and facing "the coming of war," he gradually rises above the crowd of summoners. While investigating the truth of the mutation, he destroys powerful enemies hostile to humanity; in a rhythm that alternates building and base development with combat and adventure, one man's struggle becomes a war fought by many. The book combines otaku-flavored fun with an apocalyptic atmosphere, and both its subject matter and its setting show a degree of originality.