Jiang Ye nodded, looking pretty calm, and casually asked, “Have you cleared your Personal Instance yet?”

“Got your Fated Item, so you’re stronger now?”

Yang Wenchao shook his head. “Nope.”

“Huh?” Jiang Ye was a bit surprised. “You haven’t cleared your Personal Instance? Even Yang Xiaoman has.”

But Yang Wenchao shook his head again, eyes complicated. “Didn’t Xing Man also skip his? You didn’t find a Survival Stone on him, did you?”

That was true.

Jiang Ye nodded, and Yang Wenchao started explaining:

“Most Personal Instances aren’t that hard to clear.”

“Some, like Yang Xiaoman’s, are probably just about planting flowers or gardening—it’s an easy pass.”

“But that’s just the general case.”

“Generally, the easier it is to find a Personal Instance in the apartment, the lower its difficulty.”

“The harder it is to find, the tougher the challenge.”

“There are even some so well hidden they trigger special alerts when discovered. Those are the highest difficulty level.”

That did match what Wan Xin said.

Jiang Ye’s instance, hidden extremely deep, was top-tier in difficulty.

Then Yang Wenchao looked at him again, a complicated expression on his face. “Also, the harder a Personal Instance is, the greater the player’s ability and potential.”

“But here’s what’s weird—”

“You only have a C-tier Gold Element Affinity. Why would you get matched with a top-level instance?”

That’s what left Yang Wenchao stunned.

It was only now that he vaguely realized—

Maybe Jiang Ye wasn’t as simple as he appeared.

Not just in terms of personality.

But in strength too!

Yet his strength really did seem to be C-tier…

Another strange thing—why did the Blood Mist Guy look exactly like him and even follow his orders?

Plus, not long ago, Yang Wenchao had watched one of Lin Jing’s duels.

Based on Lin Jing’s performance and the rumors swirling around the VIP spectators,

he became deeply aware—

This real-life version of Doomsday Apartment wasn’t a 100% replica of the game.

There were things here that didn’t exist in the game.

Like the bizarre ability Lin Jing showed during battle!

That power looked even stronger than a regular Ability!

And judging by what the spectators were saying, it wasn’t just Lin Jing who had that kind of skill.

So…

Yang Wenchao seriously suspected—

What if Jiang Ye only seemed to have a C-tier Ability, but actually had some strange power?

Like maybe the Blood Mist Guy, who looked like his bodyguard, was really a manifestation of Jiang Ye’s eerie ability?

And that’s why Jiang Ye’s instance had such a high difficulty level?

If that were true…

Then Jiang Ye, who was on the War God Ranking, might actually be this same Jiang Ye he knew!

Just thinking about that rocked Yang Wenchao to the core!

He used to believe he was the strongest among all his classmates in the same apartment.

He’d even been confident that among all players in the school, he had the most potential.

But then came Bald Guy, and now Jiang Ye.

D*mn it, forget the whole school—even just in their own class within the apartment, it was full of hidden monsters…

And by his own plan, Jiang Ye might even get the Kill-on-Sight Order reward…

Just thinking about all this made Yang Wenchao feel like his Dao heart was about to shatter!

Still, he managed to calm himself.

After all, this was just speculation.

The Jiang Ye on the War God Ranking might not really be this Jiang Ye.

And the high difficulty of the instance could be for other reasons…

He took a few deep breaths, then heard Jiang Ye ask:

“With my C-tier Ability, isn’t this instance too hard for me?”

“What if I bring the Blood Mist Guy along? Would it be easier then?”

Hearing this, Yang Wenchao became even more convinced—

That Blood Mist Guy was definitely part of Jiang Ye’s ability!

He paused for a moment, and when he replied, his tone was much more cautious and serious:

“I’m not sure about the Blood Mist Guy’s true strength.”

“But if you can get the Kill-on-Sight Order reward, then even the toughest instance will feel as easy as Yang Xiaoman’s.”

Alright, we’re back to the Kill-on-Sight Order again.

Jiang Ye thought for a bit, then said honestly, “Of course I want the Kill-on-Sight reward.”

“But you mentioned earlier, we’d need to sign a Contract between you, me, and Huang Bo.”

“Right now, it’s just the two of us. And the key person—Huang Bo—is no longer in our apartment.”

“Besides, I don’t have his contact info, and I don’t even know which apartment he moved to.”

“We can discuss the trade and the Contract once all three of us are together.”

“But the real problem now is—how do we get Huang Bo back to our apartment?”

That’s what he said, but Jiang Ye was sure Yang Wenchao had already thought of a way to get all three of them in one place—otherwise he wouldn’t have shown up like this.

Sure enough, Yang Wenchao answered without hesitation:

“Didn’t they recently announce early access to Apartment 0000?”

“I want to meet you there, just after midnight, and head to Apartment 0000 together.”

“There’s a high chance we’ll run into Huang Bo at Apartment 0000.”

“Then, with the three of us there, we can make the Contract.”

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Why are you so sure?”

Yang Wenchao smiled. “Didn’t you just say Huang Bo is researching ways to fake death like the Reincarnated Eerie?”

“As soon as he finds a viable lead, he’ll have to go to Apartment 0000. It’s just a matter of when.”

“We can wait for him there.”

“Besides, Apartment 0000 has tons of opportunities—it’s a way faster place to grow than just staying in our own apartment.”

“So what do you say? You in or not?”

Honestly, Jiang Ye already had a feeling—

This early access to Apartment 0000 was probably another trap set by the Apartment Boss specifically for him.

But his situation was unique. As long as his Main Body didn’t enter Apartment 0000, it’d be fine.

And his Replica—especially Replica No. 1 with its plain old C-tier Ability—could go and check it out.

Still, he didn’t agree immediately. He turned to Yang Wenchao and asked:

“But I heard from Bald Guy that crossing apartments requires a special item. Do you have it?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Apartment 0000 is different from the others. Any player can apply for cross-apartment travel from the Apartment Administrator.”
Hearing that, Jiang Ye was puzzled again:
“Apartment Administrator? Come to think of it, didn’t you mention in the lobby on the first floor that you wanted to kill the Apartment Administrator? Didn’t he try to set you up after that?”
Yang Wenchao looked shocked: “You got set up by the Apartment Administrator?”
Jiang Ye nodded. “Yeah, he disguised himself as Ding Deng to lure me into killing him. Luckily, I held back and didn’t make a move.”
Upon hearing this, Yang Wenchao’s expression turned serious.
He thought for a moment before analyzing, “I didn’t get set up. But if he was afraid of being killed and tried to trap you, then if you say you want to leave our apartment, he’d probably be happy to see you go.”
“Alright.” Jiang Ye nodded. “Then after midnight, we’ll head to Apartment 0000 together and see if we can find Huang Bo.”
Yang Wenchao had originally wanted to ask Jiang Ye about his rent.
But after considering the possibility that Jiang Ye was pretending to be weak, he figured there was no need.
The two chatted a bit more, agreed on a time to meet at Apartment 0000, and then Yang Wenchao left Room 2025.
His goal was achieved, but his feelings were complicated.
Truthfully, deep down, he hadn’t planned on letting Jiang Ye get the Kill-on-Sight Order reward.
What he told Jiang Ye was a three-person contract.
But in reality, he just wanted to use Jiang Ye to get in touch with Huang Bo.
Once he fully connected with Huang Bo and established a mutually beneficial relationship, he was confident he could kick Jiang Ye out of the picture.
Turn the three-person agreement into just him and Huang Bo.
And after that, Jiang Ye could go chill wherever.
However, now that he realized Jiang Ye wasn’t simple, that three-person agreement might not be so easy to rewrite.
He even seriously suspected…
If things didn’t go well, maybe it would be Jiang Ye and Huang Bo who kicked him out.
Thinking this, Yang Wenchao felt a bit heavy.
Still wounded and in a sorry state, he headed straight for the Red Light Elevator without hesitation.
He pressed all the buttons from the 20th floor to the 1st floor.
Only this way would he increase the chance of encountering a Secret Realm in the Red Light Elevator.
Even though Secret Realms had more Eerie Beings and a higher death rate…
He had no choice. The invisible pressure Jiang Ye brought made him crave strength even more!
When he was watching Lin Jing’s duel, seeing a top-tier boss wield such bizarre powers, he had just been awed and envious.
But realizing that someone he knew—Jiang Ye—might also possess such eerie abilities, that hit differently!
It’s like… a beggar doesn’t envy a billionaire for being rich, but he will envy another beggar who lives better than him.
In his eyes, he and Lin Jing were worlds apart.
But with Jiang Ye, they were still on comparable ground.
And as it turned out, the god of fate hadn’t abandoned him.
With better starting Ability and a higher Initial Apartment floor than average, Yang Wenchao’s luck wasn’t bad.
After going through a string of bad luck, he now really was turning things around.
When the Red Light Elevator opened on the 18th floor, Yang Wenchao had already vanished.

Jiang Ye didn’t know any of this.
His Replica No. 1, after Yang Wenchao left, headed to the storage room to check out that hidden Personal Instance.
Meanwhile, Replica No. 2 met up with Wan Xin to complete the trade for the Thirty-Win Streak Reward.
The reward Jiang Ye drew for thirty wins was an item called [Blood-Spirit Comb].
It looked like a blood-red comb and could release hair-like wires as sharp as steel—deadly and great for crowd control, a pretty solid AoE weapon.
However, it didn’t seem as good as the reward for twenty wins.
And Wan Xin seemed a bit disappointed too, asking rather unwillingly:
“In your three random reward options for the thirty-win streak, was there anything called [Void Mirror]?”
Jiang Ye shook his head. “Nope.”
Wan Xin was surprised. “How can that be? Your ten-win and twenty-win rewards were both solid!”
“Why wouldn’t the thirty-win give you [Void Mirror]? Wait, did you pay for a Win Streak Package or something?”
Wan Xin was just throwing out guesses.
But Jiang Ye suddenly remembered. “Oh, right—when I hit thirty wins, I ran into an old acquaintance. He chatted with me and asked me for a favor, then surrendered on his own…”
“Could that have affected my thirty-win reward?”
“…” Wan Xin looked exasperated. “Of course it affected it!”
“A win like that is basically a fake match—of course the reward quality drops!”
“No wonder your thirty-win reward suddenly tanked in quality… ah, whatever, guess I was unlucky. Our contract had a gamble built into it anyway. I won’t hold it against you.”
It was obvious Wan Xin was disappointed, but he could accept it.
He gave Jiang Ye part of the strategy guide and added, “The rest—about one-third—I’ll send before midnight.”
Jiang Ye skimmed through it and saw that the info on Apartment 0000 was in that “remaining third” Wan Xin mentioned.
He didn’t push the issue and instead asked Wan Xin,
“Earlier, Cheng Qun said once Apartment 0000 opens, he’ll go there to find the Zhuang Zhou Dreaming Butterfly.”
“I haven’t asked you yet—why did you suddenly give up your War God Ranking position and trade with me for the thirty-win reward? Was it also to prep for exploring Apartment 0000?”
Wan Xin’s expression turned a bit complicated. He sighed, looking a little miserable:
“I really have bad luck.”
“Not only do I tend to get negative effects from chance-based items, but I always run into Eerie Beings when monster-hunting…”
“The main thing is, whatever I plan, it never works out.”
“I was hoping to get the [Void Mirror] through you, but you got [Blood-Spirit Comb] instead.”
“And yeah, originally I did want to explore Apartment 0000 as soon as it opened, just to try my luck.”
“But then came the full-server Kill-on-Sight Order for Huang Bo, and now, I really don’t dare go.”
Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Ah!” Wan Xin let out another heavy sigh. “You don’t understand—Apartment 0000 is the one apartment that connects all regions.”
“Like how apartments 0001–9999 exist in our region and others.”
“But Apartment 0000 is shared across every region.”
“If it were just that, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But now there’s that Kill-on-Sight Order.”
“And that mysterious guy, Huang Bo—if he has any sort of information-gathering ability, he’ll definitely go to Apartment 0000 eventually.”
“And any player with some tricks up their sleeve who wants to kill him will find a way to force him there.”
“So yeah, Apartment 0000 is going to be crawling with top-tier players—and with Huang Bo involved, it’ll be a total bloodbath.”
“A scene like that… for someone with my crap luck, it’s basically a death sentence!”
“So I’m just gonna lay low for now. Once Huang Bo kicks the bucket, then I’ll head to Apartment 0000 to explore.”
I see…
Jiang Ye gave a slight nod, fully agreeing with Wan Xin’s cautious approach.
Wan Xin probably picked up on Jiang Ye’s approval and sighed again: “You too, man.”
“You’ve got decent strength, but you’re still a walking bad luck magnet.”
“Also, when you one-shotted me, you used a bizarre ability similar to what Lin Shen uses, right?”
“So you’re a Dark-type Being! The fact that you even survived Huang Bo’s rampage in our apartment is already lucky—seriously, you’d better not go poking around Apartment 0000 trying to join the siege on Huang Bo…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep