【Ding!】

【Newbie Apartment Time: Day 2, 0:00!】

As if echoing through a solemn and eerie silence,

this announcement suddenly rang out in every player’s mind.

The announcement voice in the Newbie Apartment was usually rather grating.

Every time it sounded, players would shudder involuntarily.

But this time, the announcement that it was now 0:00 on Day 2…

Even though it was still that same harsh voice,

players didn’t find it unpleasant.

Instead, it carried a strange, heavy weight.

Like a temple bell suddenly tolling—long, distant, and lingering.

Of course, how one felt about the sound varied from person to person.

Each player would only experience one type of reaction.

And most would assume others felt the same way.

But Jiang Ye had multiple Replicas.

So he immediately noticed—

each Replica felt the stroke of midnight differently.

The most distinct reactions came from the Dark-type Replica and the Light-type Replica.

At that very moment,

the Dark-type Replica felt a surge of excitement.

A baseless thrill—indescribable, a rush of pleasure and clarity.

Meanwhile, the Light-type Replica

felt a sudden wave of unease.

He even suspected… someone was watching him.

Growing paranoid, he looked around cautiously, eyes wary and alert.

At the time, the Light-type Replica was with He Xingyue.

Naturally, He Xingyue noticed his scanning gaze—but didn’t seem surprised.

She waited in silence for a while, until the time fully reached 0:01,

before she returned from her solemn composure and said:

“Don’t worry. No one’s watching you.”

“Almost all Light-type Players feel that way at 0:00.”

“By contrast, Dark-type Players tend to feel excited.”

“This phenomenon is similar to how yin energy peaks at midnight.”

Only after hearing her explanation did the Light-type Replica settle down,

forcing the anxiety in his heart to ease.

Still, he looked around again and frowned:

“But I really felt it…

Like someone glanced at me right at 0:00…”

“Did you ever get that sensation—of being watched?”

He Xingyue raised a brow in surprise and blurted out:

“This is your first time experiencing 0:00?”

“Huh?” Jiang Ye was stunned.

He thought: What else would it be if not my first time?

Technically, it was his second time.

After all, it was now the second day at 0:00.

But on Day 1 at midnight, all players arrived at once,

so no one really had any distinct reaction to the time.

Back then, Jiang Ye didn’t even have an Ability—much less a Light-type Replica.

He Xingyue, as a Light-type Reincarnated Player,

had experienced countless midnights.

She thought for a moment and said:

“My first ten times in the Newbie Apartment,

I never felt that being-watched sensation.”

“It wasn’t until my hundred-somethingth midnight that I started feeling like… someone glanced at me.”

“But your case is unique. You’re an exposed Light-type…”

Jiang Ye was alarmed: “What do you mean?”

“You’re saying, at 0:00… someone really is watching us?”

“And because I’m already exposed, I got noticed earlier—

Is that what you mean?”

He Xingyue shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

“All I know is—

0:00 in the Apartment is a very sacred moment.”

“If the Newbie Apartment is in reincarnation,

and the Doomsday Apartment is also in reincarnation…”

“Then perhaps, each day we live through—

can be seen as a kind of mini-reincarnation.”

“If that’s true,

then every midnight marks the start and end,

the threshold of this cycle…”

Reincarnation…

Day after day…

Start, end, threshold…

Jiang Ye didn’t expect He Xingyue to interpret midnight from such a philosophical angle.

To be honest, for Jiang Ye—

his most painful time was senior year of high school.

That really felt like daily reincarnation.

In the most suffocating moments, he’d feel like

every day was a copy of the last.

Every day repeated itself.

Only the countdown to the college entrance exam on the blackboard changed.

It dropped by one each day.

But now, in the Newbie Apartment,

his days no longer repeated test prep and worksheets.

Naturally, that oppressive feeling of daily cycles was gone.

Still, if you detach from personal experiences,

and ignore worldly changes—

then time itself, from 0 to 24, is a cycle.

That so-called sacred moment—

is both 24:00 and 0:00…

Jiang Ye frowned, collected his thoughts, and asked He Xingyue again:

“There’s something else that confuses me—”

“You’re now a seasoned Reincarnated Player.

You can conceal your Light-type aura well,

and calmly face the sacred moment of 0:00…”

“That’s all fine.

But the real question is—”

“When you weren’t a Reincarnated Player yet,

when you awakened your Light-type Ability as a newbie,

and survived your first day in the Newbie Apartment—

How did you hide your Light-type aura back then?”

He Xingyue raised a brow and replied calmly:

“Other Reincarnated Players helped me, of course.”

Jiang Ye pressed on:

“Then what about those other Reincarnated Players?”

“Every one of them had to have a newbie phase, right?”

“So how did the first-ever Light-type Player,

without help from any Reincarnated Player,

manage to hide their Light aura?”

Realizing he’d gotten her into a logical trap,

He Xingyue chuckled:

“You have to understand—

whether it’s the Newbie Apartment or the Doomsday Apartment,

they didn’t exist fully formed.

They evolved gradually from nothing.”

“The first Light-type Player…

Do you know when they appeared?”

“Honestly, I don’t either.

Because the true first Light-type Player

must have already died long ago.”

“Back in the very first round of the Newbie Apartment…

I’d guess the Doomsday Apartment didn’t even have factions yet—

maybe not even players!”

“Back then, the Apartment’s civilization

was basically in the ‘Stone Age.’”

“During that era,

Light-types might’ve actually thrived.

After all, they could suppress Dark-type Players.”

“That era might have been one where Light reigned supreme—Light was strong, Dark was weak. Light hunted and exterminated Dark-type players, giving them no way to survive…”

“It’s just that over time, as Apartment civilization evolved, it became what it is now—Light completely suppressed by Dark, struggling to survive.”

Well…

That explanation, Jiang Ye could accept.

He had just been thinking about regression to the mean in society, and had even used dynastic cycles as an analogy for the Doomsday Apartment.

He had imagined that the Apartment’s destruction would come once its social classes became rigid and unchanging.

And from Wu Ying’s memories, he also knew—

The current time in the Doomsday Apartment was nearing the end of Day 8.

In other words, the entire Doomsday Apartment was about to enter Day 9 at 0:00.

It just wasn’t clear exactly when that moment would come.

Which meant… the Doomsday Apartment had existed for a long, long time.

Its social hierarchy was already relatively fixed—its destruction was likely near.

And for Light-type players to reach the point where simply being “seen” could get them killed…

It hadn’t happened overnight.

It was a product of long-term historical evolution.

In the history of the Doomsday Apartment, there must have been times when Dark-type players and non-Dark players joined forces to purge the Light-type—a full-blown racial massacre.

Even so, some Light-types must have survived in hiding.

Secretly engaging in rebellious acts, like “restoring the Ming” or something similar.

Those older Light-type players in hiding would naturally have the motive

to assist newly awakened Light-types.

Every player had self-interest.

But when all Light-types were brutally suppressed,

they’d have every reason to band together.

One deadly weakness Light-types had compared to Dark-types was—

they simply weren’t as numerous.

Thinking along these lines, Jiang Ye, as a fellow Light-type, couldn’t help but ask He Xingyue:

“So now, are you the one responsible for guiding me, the new generation of Light?”

After all, so far, she was the only Reincarnated Light-type Player who had revealed her identity to him and shown even the slightest inclination to help.

But clearly, he was thinking way too wishfully—

He Xingyue immediately shook her head:

“Your situation is… a bit too special.”

“You said Light is your second Ability, but you won’t tell me what your first Ability is.”

“With that kind of secrecy, you’re not considered true Light,

and it’s hard for you to be fully accepted.”

“On top of that, your identity is exposed.

You’ve got a Kill-on-Sight Order on your head…”

“To be honest, even just talking to you like this is already a huge risk for me.”

“And that Jiang Ye you’re connected with—he’ll also become a target for all Dark-type players,

just for being associated with Light.”

As she spoke, He Xingyue suddenly shot a deep glance at Huang Bo.

She had witnessed this guy’s power.

He had nearly caused Apartment 4444 to collapse.

If the Administrator of Apartment 4444 hadn’t brought in a top-tier VIP Player to clean up the mess…

the Apartment might have been gone.

All of that—was thanks to this person standing before her.

So He Xingyue sighed:

“If you could survive one full cycle and become a Reincarnated Player…”

“Then maybe, I could introduce you to more hidden things—

stuff you don’t even know exists.”

“……”

Hearing that tone, Jiang Ye knew things weren’t looking good.

As expected, when he asked again about Guan He—

whether she had a Privilege Identity, whether Light-types could hold such identities—

He Xingyue refused to answer.

So, yeah—he finally saw it clearly—

As a Light-type Player with “special circumstances,”

he wasn’t accepted by the broader Light-type group at all!

And this so-called Light-type organization…

was probably just like the Apartment Trader—far beyond his imagination…

Jiang Ye had planned to ask about the Trader too,

to see how much He Xingyue knew.

But he’d previously interacted with the Trader as Jiang Ye.

Now he stood before her as Huang Bo.

So to avoid suspicion, he didn’t ask.

In the end, he simply asked:

“Will you be going to Apartment 0000?

I hear there are a lot of benefits there?”

He Xingyue shook her head, but didn’t answer.

She used Light and Shadow Escape and vanished on the spot.

Before leaving, her fading voice echoed faintly:

“The Void Mirror Palace is gone.

It’ll be hard to talk again anytime soon.”

“But if you can cross zones…

Some other zones still have Void Mirror Palaces.”

Other zones…

Jiang Ye was still pondering that

when suddenly, his Administrator Work Badge received a message—

from someone using an Administrator Substitution Badge.

Zhang Jintian: 【Boss Admin… there’s a batch of players requesting permission to enter Apartment 0000. Should I approve them?】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep