Jiang Ye had heard a fusion announcement before—but from a player’s perspective.

And he had been a total noob at the time, not understanding anything.

But this time’s announcement…

He heard it first from an Administrator’s perspective.

Then, as an Administrator, he issued the announcement to the players of Apartment 1010,

informing them about the apartment fusion.

The whole process was pretty novel to him.

At the same time…

or rather, just before that.

No. 1 Jiang Ye, along with Yang Wenchao and Wan Xin, was standing in the hallway between Room 4443 and Room 4445 on the 44th floor of Apartment 4444.

Yang Wenchao had already briefly explained how he discovered the missing Room 4444 inside the game.

His thought process was this—

there might be a fractured space between Rooms 4443 and 4445.

Simply put, he drew a flat layout on paper.

On the map were Rooms 43, 44, and 45.

Then he drew two lines—between “43 and 44” and “44 and 45.”

His hypothesis was this—

whenever a player stepped onto either of those two lines, they’d be directly shifted to the next line.

So from a player’s perspective, it seemed like the two lines were seamlessly connected.

Players would never feel like there was a Room 44 in between.

They’d even get the impression that Room 44 simply didn’t exist.

This kind of setup was pretty common in sci-fi films.

It wasn’t hard for Yang Wenchao to come up with the idea.

What was really hard was verifying it.

How do you prove that there really is a fractured space between those two lines, a space that players can’t reach?

Yang Wenchao just happened to be the obsessive type.

When he was trying to learn about Light-type Abilities, he reset accounts over and over.

And to test this theory, he ran countless experiments too.

Of course, he tested both the fractured space theory and farmed Light-type accounts at the same time.

After all, if an account didn’t have a Light-type Ability, he was gonna scrap it anyway.

And the process of finding Room 4444 involved intentionally getting characters killed over and over.

So it actually worked out as killing two birds with one stone.

And so, through his repeated attempts and constant account suicides,

he really did discover a method to enter the fractured space between those two lines.

When Yang Wenchao told Jiang Ye, he went straight to the point and shared the result of his countless trials—

“There’s a reward for hitting a Thirty-Win Streak in the Duel Room, a super useless one called 【Mechanical Core】.”

“Looks like a mechanical chip, and it has the word ‘REBOOT’ engraved on it.”

“Its effect is super simple—”

“Implant it near the player’s heart, and when the player dies, the 【Mechanical Core】 activates.”

“The player will revive in a ‘Mechanical Undead State.’”

“But compared to normal resurrection items, this one sucks.”

“Technically, the dead player isn’t actually coming back to life.”

“Instead, the 【Mechanical Core】 takes over, giving them 1 hour of active time.”

“Theoretically, it’s used to take revenge or fulfill a last wish.”

“Once the time’s up, the player dies again…”

“So from a player’s view, it’s pure garbage.”

“But I used that item to enter the fractured space between Rooms 43 and 45 at exactly midnight in the Mechanical Undead State!”

“Sounds pretty simple when I explain it now, right?”

“But in reality, it was pure luck that I even found this out!”

“First, you can only enter the fractured space at exactly midnight in Mechanical Undead State.”

“Any other time won’t work.”

“Second, the Mechanical Undead State itself is super weird.”

“In that state, the player is technically dead, so you lose control over your character.”

“What that means practically is—”

“Your mouse and keyboard can’t control anything.”

“You just sit there watching your character move on their own, like watching a cartoon.”

“So the Mechanical Undead character is basically uncontrollable.”

“To make it go into the fractured space exactly at midnight, you need to pass on a very specific ‘last wish.’”

“And at this point, you’ve probably realized—”

Yang Wenchao raised an eyebrow, looking a bit helpless as he continued:

“Basically, to enter Mechanical Undead State, your character has to die first.”

“Then the entire process—entering Graveyard 4444 and burying the account there—is all carried out by the Mechanical Core.”

“In other words, entering Graveyard 4444 like this is a one-way trip with no return.”

“I was already dead before I even entered Graveyard 4444.”

“What came after was just the burial.”

“But if you want to go into Graveyard 4444 while still alive and explore…”

“Then I have no idea how to help.”

He was right—Yang Wenchao was talking about the in-game scenario.

Dying in-game just meant losing an account.

But now, they were real, living people, and couldn’t afford to experiment casually.

Wan Xin had been listening carefully and immediately grasped Yang Wenchao’s point.

After a moment, he asked, “So, if we gave you a 【Mechanical Core】 right now, would you dare use it to enter Graveyard 4444?”

Yang Wenchao shot him a glare: “Are you stupid?”

“I found that secret in-game, and even when I had everything ready, I still failed multiple times!”

“That Mechanical Undead form has garbage control—I failed to get buried in Graveyard 4444 several times!”

“When it’s just a game account I’m planning to delete, sure, failing doesn’t matter.”

“But now we’re talking about real people. If I fail, I’ll actually die!”

Wan Xin, however, just shrugged and countered like it was obvious:

“You’re scared of dying? Didn’t you say you’ve buried tons of accounts in-game?”

“Maybe if you die, you’ll just resurrect in the graveyard.”

It sounded oddly reasonable.

But Yang Wenchao rolled his eyes: “You know that’s a ‘maybe,’ right?”

“I’m not betting my actual life on a f***ing ‘maybe.’”

“And even if it works, then what?”

“In the game, I could still see the character’s POV on the monitor during Mechanical Undead State.”

“But now, who the hell knows what I’d even experience in that state?”

Yang Wenchao was clearly losing it, but Wan Xin still wouldn’t let up:

“What’s the problem? Just strap on some random surveillance gear beforehand, and we’ll be able to watch whatever happens to you after you die in that Mechanical Undead form.”

These two obviously couldn’t stand each other ever since that whole AIDS incident—

they could argue eight hundred times a minute.

Jiang Ye didn’t join the argument—

he was silently thinking to himself:

Maybe he could use a discarded Replica to try out this so-called Mechanical Undead State.

He was even kind of curious—

would a Mechanical Undead Replica still count as a Replica?

What if, even without attaching surveillance tools, he could still perceive what his undead Replica experienced?

He was still thinking when—

Yang Wenchao, who had been rendered speechless by Wan Xin, seemed to pick up on what was on his mind and proactively changed the subject:

“I tried that in the game. Using a Replica to create a Mechanical Undead State doesn’t work.”

“Undead State is a very strict condition.”

“If you’re not a complete lifeform, you can’t undergo a complete death.”

“So incomplete Replicas can’t enter Graveyard 4444 in Undead State.”

Alright then.

Jiang Ye casually nodded.

But in his heart, he thought—

My Replicas aren’t your average Replicas.

My Replicas can even drop Survival Points when they die!

If they can drop Survival Points, they must count as complete lifeforms.

Still, a Replica’s life was a life.

And it wasn’t midnight yet.

At this moment, Jiang Ye couldn’t try it out directly.

Also…

Just as he was thinking that,

the apartment fusion he had initiated was proceeding, just as expected.

Every surviving player in Apartment 4444 heard the following announcement—

【Emergency Announcement from Beginner Apartment:】

【VIP Player Mo Chayuan is initiating a fusion between this apartment and Beginner Apartment 1010!】

【The two Beginner Apartments will complete the fusion within 10 minutes!】

【Fusion rules are as follows:】

【1. The apartment group chat and Apartment Ranking Board will be merged normally.】

【2. Apartment administrators will undergo optimization selection and fusion.】

【Within 10 minutes, a PK Battle between the administrators will commence.】

【If a winner is determined within 10 minutes, that administrator will become the fused apartment’s administrator.】

【If no winner emerges within 10 minutes, the 4444 administrator will automatically be appointed as the administrator.】

【3. Due to the unique nature of Apartment 4444, the fused apartment and its administrator will retain the 4444 designation.】

【4. If the same room number exists in both apartments with different tenants, an optimized selection fusion will be applied.】

【5. All special features of Apartment 4444 will be preserved. If Room 4444 in Apartment 1010 has a tenant, they will lose their room usage rights.】

【6. For further details, consult the optimized administrator after the fusion is complete.】

Clearly, due to the unique nature of Apartment 4444,

this announcement differed somewhat from the previous fusion.

No matter which administrator won,

the final apartment number and administrator designation would be 4444.

Even if the PK Battle ended in a draw between the 4444 and 1010 administrators,

it would be ruled as a victory for 4444!

This must be a privilege exclusive to a special apartment!

Jiang Ye only gave this expected announcement a quick analysis.

But Yang Wenchao beside him was outright shocked!

He couldn’t hold back his amazement—his eyes were wide as saucers.

After a long pause, he suddenly looked toward Jiang Ye, as if hoping to see the same stunned reaction reflected in his face.

Jiang Ye knew exactly what was shocking him.

So he very cooperatively put on a stunned face and said, full of disbelief:

“What the—? No way! Our starter apartment is this in-demand?”

“First we fused with 1010, now we’re fusing with 4444…”

“After this fusion… doesn’t that mean we’re back from the dead again?”

“Wonder how the old classmates will feel seeing you alive again?”

According to Zhang Jintian, Wang Lingling had even claimed she killed Yang Wenchao to assert dominance…

Now imagine her seeing Yang Wenchao’s name light up again in the apartment member list…

What kind of expression would she make?

He almost wanted to appear in front of Wang Lingling, using Yang Wenchao’s face,

flash her a friendly smile, and say:

Hey there! How’s it going?

Surprised? Caught off guard?

Hahahahaha!

Jiang Ye couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself.

Meanwhile, the old classmates from Apartment 1010 were also in shock.

Beyond that, they were full of panic!

【What the—? No way! Our starter apartment is this popular?】

【Holy sh*t! This is our second apartment fusion!】

【And seriously, “4444” as an apartment number? Could it be any more ominous?】

【It’s not just about being ominous! Didn’t you see the announcement said Apartment 4444 has “special properties”? That means it’s different from the others!】

【WTF! Last time we fused, it was with Class 9, and we still got stomped! Now this time it’s a “special apartment”—what if the players inside are ultra strong and just wipe us all out?!】

【We’re doomed, we’re doomed! I’m freaking out! This is worse than the last fusion!】

【Can Sister Ling please say something to calm everyone down? I’m really panicking right now QAQ @Wang Lingling】

【I don’t think even Sister Ling can help here! We might actually need… Jiang Ye!】

Zhang Jintian:【Heh! Back when you all were busy isolating Jiang Ye in the Mutual Aid Group, you were all tight as hell. Now you want him to save the day? Aren’t you guys full of sh*t?】

Zhang Jintian’s one comment shut the group up completely.

And while Yang Wenchao was still stunned and the old classmates were in a panic,

the newly revived Administrator Replica had, according to the rules, entered a PK Battle with the 4444 Administrator.

Before the battle started, Jiang Ye had already transferred the【Observer】to his Administrator Replica.

Once the PK Battle began, both administrators were pulled into a space resembling a Duel Arena.

Because 1010 had talked so much sh*t in the group earlier, trash-talking and dragging hatred everywhere,

as soon as he appeared,

he heard the taunting shout from the 4444 Administrator across from him:

“How’s that? Happy now?”

“Did you pay attention to the fusion announcement? Feel the special nature of 4444 yet?”

“Didn’t understand what privilege meant before? Bet you get it now—”

“Here, I, 4444, am the privilege!”

“This so-called PK Battle doesn’t mean a damn thing!”

“Just by standing here, I am the 4444 Administrator!”

“I was before, I am now, and I always will be.”

“And you—even if you reincarnated ten thousand times—you’ll never replace me!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep