When Ouyang said the words “death countdown,” his tone was rather grave.

However, what Jiang Ye was thinking at the time was—

What the h*ll???

If what Ouyang said was true, and one day in the Doomsday Apartment was controlled by something like the Moon Phase Clock, and was super long…

Then the Shadow Curse he placed on a player that causes death at the next midnight would be seriously nerfed!

Originally, he thought “death at the next midnight” meant not surviving the next 24 hours.

But in the Doomsday Apartment, who the h*ll knows how long it’d take for the next midnight to arrive!

This this this…

Jiang Ye was speechless!

But soon, he snapped back to reality and looked at Ouyang with a blank expression.

“So what you’re saying is—”

“No matter how strong or arrogant I am now, when the Doomsday Apartment meets its end, I’ll perish along with it.”

“So from a big-picture perspective, we players struggling to survive are tied together by fate.”

“You want to use that as the foundation to invite me to cooperate…”

“Have me join you and the other players who’ve touched the main storyline, to try and change the doomed ending of the Doomsday Apartment?”

He spoke calmly and clearly, his tone mild and even.

But Ouyang could obviously sense the resistance in his words.

He didn’t answer directly, but instead asked out of nowhere, “You look pretty young, are you a student? Have you learned C language?”

The sudden change of topic caught Jiang Ye off guard, but he still nodded slightly:

“Even though our computer teacher was often sick and the math teacher had to fill in…”

“I did learn a bit of C.”

That surprised Ouyang a little.

From what Jiang Ye said, it was obvious he was still a high schooler.

After all, in university, math teachers wouldn’t be hijacking computer classes.

On the contrary, if you were a computer science major, C would be a core course, and stuff like calculus and linear algebra would take a backseat.

Ouyang himself was a computer science major in college. Realizing that Jiang Ye was even younger than him gave him a bit of a mixed feeling.

After a moment of silence, he asked again, “You learned a bit—so you know what int is, right?”

Jiang Ye nodded. “Integer data type.”

Ouyang: “short?”

Jiang Ye: “Short integer.”

Seeing that he really knew his stuff, Ouyang returned to the main topic:

“Then what’s the difference between int and short?”

Jiang Ye answered smoothly as ever: “Short integers take up two bytes, so they have a smaller data range.”

“The range for int?”

Jiang Ye had no idea why this guy was suddenly talking about C language.

But thinking that, well, it’s a game, probably connected to coding somehow, he still gave an answer:

“I remember int is 4 bytes, 32 bits. So the range is, for negatives, down to negative 2 to the 31st power; for positives, up to 2 to the 31st minus 1.”

Ouyang nodded again, then seriously asked, “So if—”

“int i = 2^31 – 1;”

“What would the value of i be after i++?”

It was a super simple question. Jiang Ye answered immediately: “After overflow, it naturally becomes negative 2 to the 31st.”

Ouyang nodded again. “Right, you know overflow.”

“In games, when there’s a bug, sometimes this kind of data overflow also happens.”

“When a number exceeds its range, it jumps straight from the positive end to the negative end.”

“So in the game world, when a number gets too big and overflows, it becomes negative.”

Only now did it seem like Ouyang was actually talking about the game.

Jiang Ye followed his logic, thinking things through.

But then—

This guy suddenly switched topics again and asked another question out of the blue:

“You know the Law of Entropy Increase, right?”

Entropy?

Jiang Ye was a science student.

In high school physics, they barely touched on “entropy,” though in chemistry it came up in entropy change questions.

Still, he knew that the “Law of Entropy Increase” Ouyang was referring to was from physics.

After thinking for a moment, he answered seriously:

“If you mean the specific thermodynamic function, I don’t really get it.”

“But if you’re talking about the general conceptual meaning, I think I do—”

“Entropy increase is a spontaneous and irreversible process.”

“And according to the law, all living things will eventually go extinct. Even the universe is constantly heading toward destruction.”

Ouyang nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant—”

“According to the Law of Entropy Increase, everything is destined for extinction.”

“And preventing the end of the world—that’s exactly what the main plot of the Doomsday Apartment game explores.”

“All the major factions in the Doomsday Apartment should be working on this issue, trying to find a way to stop the inevitable end.”

“And the part of the main storyline that Lin Jing, I, and most of the core players encountered came from the Duoe Organization.”

“According to the leader of the Duoe Organization—”

“If the world’s inevitable demise is derived from the Law of Entropy Increase,”

“Then, is it possible that if we find a way to reverse entropy, we can prevent the world’s destruction?”

“But the Law of Entropy Increase is an established rule.”

“From a scientific standpoint, reversing entropy is completely impossible.”

“But, just like I mentioned earlier—”

“When i is assigned the maximum positive value of int, and you do i++…”

“That i, in an instant, changes from a max positive number to a negative number.”

“The principle is simple: data overflow.”

“And the method the Duoe Organization came up with to reverse entropy is just like this ‘overflow’ with i!”

“Essentially, it’s not a true ‘reversal,’ so it doesn’t violate the Law of Entropy Increase.”

“If you think of the Law of Entropy Increase as something like i++ in programming…”

“Then this kind of reversal doesn’t happen by rewriting i++ to i–.”

“Instead, you wait for i to increase to the point where it breaks through the limits of its own data type.”

“Just like in my earlier example—it instantly shifts from 2 to the 31st minus 1 to negative 2 to the 31st.”

“So although there’s no ‘decrease’ in the process…”

“The result still achieves the reversal of entropy increase.”

Ouyang probably worried Jiang Ye wouldn’t understand, so he explained it all in detail.

But in truth, from the moment he brought up “reversing entropy,” Jiang Ye had already gotten what he meant.

He even knew that Ouyang was likely using i++ to analogize the Law of Entropy Increase, and “data overflow” to analogize the reversal of entropy, just to make it easier for him to understand…

Actually, Ouyang didn’t need to use that analogy—Jiang Ye already understood what he was trying to say.

But it was precisely that analogy that deeply shocked Jiang Ye!

Because Jiang Ye had seen a similar sci-fi video before, one that also talked about the Law of Entropy Increase and trying to reverse it to change the world’s inevitable destruction.

In the video, humanity had already gone extinct, but had left behind an AI robot named “Cosmic Tree.”

This robot’s mission was to reverse entropy and stop the world from being destroyed.

By the end of the video, of course, the AI robot had failed its mission.

In the end, it was forced to admit—

Entropy cannot be reversed; the world’s destruction is inevitable.

When the video demonstrated the world’s end, the screen turned pitch-black.

At that moment, Jiang Ye saw his own reflection in the black screen.

His eyes were surprisingly calm…

After all, the destruction of the world felt far too distant;

So distant, it seemed unrelated to him.

However, just as he was about to exit the video,

A beam of light suddenly lit up on screen.

What followed was the depiction of the universe’s birth.

From the moment God said “Let there be light,” the universe came into existence, and gradually evolved and developed…

The video, which had been quiet, was now accompanied by an epic soundtrack.

Jiang Ye smiled faintly.

He thought, what the video meant to express was—

The destruction of the universe is followed by its rebirth.

And this was quite consistent with the idea Ouyang was trying to convey about “reversing entropy.”

So the moment Ouyang brought it up, Jiang Ye understood—because he had seen that video.

What truly shocked him was Ouyang using programming language to draw an analogy.

Back then, while watching the video, Jiang Ye hadn’t really thought deeply about why the destruction of the universe was followed by its birth.

But now, from Ouyang’s perspective of data overflow…

He suddenly realized—

Why would the rules of the world resemble the rules of programming so closely?

Could it be that the world he saw was actually a massive database…

The entire world was like that variable i. When it reached the limit of its data range, it overflowed and jumped back to the start?

Jiang Ye originally wasn’t very interested in this so-called main storyline.

But at this moment, he felt a bit dazed.

Seeing his expression, Ouyang sighed helplessly, “I mean… I think I’ve made it pretty clear? You still don’t get it?”

Jiang Ye snapped back to reality and shook his head. “It’s because I do get it that I’m a little shook.”

Then, after a brief pause, he took the initiative to speculate:

“So based on this theory, the Duoe Organization’s true goal in the main storyline isn’t really to save the world.”

“Because by their logic, after the old world is destroyed, a new world will naturally be born.”

“So their goal is to figure out how players like themselves, who live in the old world, can achieve individual ‘entropy reversal’ during the greater process of world-scale entropy reversal, and survive into the new world…”

As he said this, his eyes lit up with surprise:

“Isn’t this kind of situation really similar to the Reincarnated Eerie in the Beginner Apartment?”

“If the Beginner Apartment is seen as a small ‘world system,’ then it also transitions from destruction to the birth of a new world…”

“And the Reincarnated Eerie would be the one who managed to achieve individual ‘entropy reversal’ and survived the old world’s destruction into the new one!”

Then he went even further:

“The Beginner Apartment is destroyed on the eleventh day, and so is the Doomsday Apartment…”

“So maybe the birth and destruction of the Beginner Apartment is actually a simulation of the Doomsday Apartment?”

“And the Duoe Organization is trying to find answers from these simulated scenarios?”

Ouyang stared blankly for a moment and nodded stiffly.

He hadn’t expected Jiang Ye not only to truly understand, but to make so many leaps in thought.

He couldn’t help but exclaim, “You really never played the game or touched the main storyline?”

Jiang Ye shook his head. “Really never. But I’ve seen sci-fi videos that align quite a bit with what you’ve described about the main storyline.”

Ouyang’s look grew a bit complex. After a long pause, he finally said, “So, do you believe what I’ve said about the game’s main plot now?”

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. “I believe it… about seventy to eighty percent.”

But just a moment later, he changed the subject:

“As for helping you guys convince the White-Clad Woman to kill the Apartment Administrator, I’m willing to agree.”

“But, the conditions—I set them.”

Ouyang had come here to talk business.

But now, Jiang Ye had clearly taken the initiative.

Ouyang considered it for a moment and nodded. “Alright. Go ahead.”

“First condition—”

Jiang Ye raised one finger and said steadily:

“I can go talk to the White-Clad Woman, but whatever conditions she asks of me in return for this task need to be passed on to your side.”

Ouyang thought for a bit, then nodded. “As long as it’s not something outrageous, that’s fine.”

Then Jiang Ye raised a second finger:

“Second condition—”

“There’s no guarantee of success in convincing the White-Clad Woman.”

“If it doesn’t work out, I don’t want to feel like I wasted my time for nothing.”

“So I want an upfront delivery fee—or call it a middleman’s fee.”

Before Ouyang could respond, he raised a third finger:

“Last condition—”

“If it works out and the White-Clad Woman agrees to kill the target Apartment Administrator, I want an additional reward.”

These three conditions essentially clarified the structure of the deal between them—

First, Lin Jing and Ouyang would have to pay Jiang Ye a “delivery fee,” or a “deposit” showing their sincerity in asking him to help.

Whether the mission succeeded or not, the deposit would be non-refundable.

Second, any demands made by the White-Clad Woman would be fulfilled by Lin Jing and Ouyang.

That would effectively make their transaction with Jiang Ye a proxy transaction between them and the White-Clad Woman.

And Jiang Ye would just be the “middleman” running the errand.

Finally, if it did succeed, Jiang Ye—the middleman—would also receive a tip.

Ouyang had grown up in a society of favors and connections, so he naturally understood how these things worked.

When you ask someone for help, first you pay a token amount;

During the process, you give more support;

After success, you reward the one who ran around making it all happen.

Of course, in real life, it’s not always cash—it could be a dinner, a favor owed.

But in the Doomsday Apartment, clearly this wasn’t a society built on favors.

So the terms had to be clearly laid out in advance.

What Jiang Ye proposed wasn’t quite the transaction model Ouyang had originally imagined.

Still, after some thought, he nodded in agreement and even offered proactively:

“We can sign a Contract and divide the transaction into three parts—”

“Part one is the deposit; part two is the task itself.”

“Part three branches into two outcomes based on the result—”

“If the task fails, you don’t get the third part’s payment;”

“If it succeeds, we pay you the third part.”

“We want it to succeed, so we’ll commit to supporting the second part of the task.”

“You want it to succeed, so you can get the third part of the reward.”

“In this way, our goals align.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep