Stick… together?

Jiang Ye thought, well, that’s unexpectedly kind of her.

Didn’t even mind how ugly I look.

Still, he had some reservations in his heart:

“Sticking together like that—nothing weird’s gonna happen, right? Like, you won’t take advantage of me or something?”

He Xingyue: “???”

“Me, take advantage of you? Have you even looked at that disaster of a face? I should be the one worried you’ll take advantage of me!”

“…No, no.” Jiang Ye quickly explained, “Big Sis, you misunderstood.”

“I didn’t mean that kind of ‘taking advantage’ between a man and a woman. I meant—”

“Like, if I stick to you, will you secretly peek at my data panel or something?”

“Or maybe, will you have the right to use my abilities?”

He was mainly worried that sticking together would work like fusing with a clone, and that He Xingyue might be able to borrow his abilities.

He Xingyue was speechless: “Come on, that’s obviously not possible!”

“If just merging two beams of light could also merge abilities, wouldn’t all Light-type players become invincible by fusing?”

Jiang Ye thought: well, not exactly.

Even with all my clones fusing, I only get a little stronger.

Still far from invincible.

But yeah, thinking it through—

This fusion of light and light should only be on a physical level.

Not quite at the “chemical reaction” level. No way abilities would stack.

So he didn’t press further. He activated Light and Shadow Escape and shifted his form into a beam of light, merging into the other beam.

It was his first time getting so up close with a girl.

But in light-form, he could phase through walls—there was naturally no physical sensation toward another beam of light.

Clearly, He Xingyue knew there’d be no feeling either, which was why she allowed him to stick close.

Then, with a simple “Stick tight,” she indeed used her Light and Shadow Escape to take Jiang Ye flying.

While enjoying the ride, Jiang Ye thought—

This light-fusion method wasn’t a bad way to save energy.

His other clones were all busy: fighting opponents, grinding monsters, leveling up… overall, their stamina usage wasn’t too bad.

But this particular Light-type clone had really high consumption.

After analyzing the reason, it all came down to Light and Shadow Escape using way more energy than typical skills.

Of the five bottles of Moonlight Essence He Xingyue had given him earlier, he’d already sipped through four.

And that was being super frugal—now he only had one bottle left.

If, moving forward, other Light-type clones used Light and Shadow Escape to carry him, then the main Light clone’s energy drain could drop significantly.

While thinking about that—

Jiang Ye suddenly realized He Xingyue had brought him to a new location, a space that resembled a Mirror Palace in the Void.

It looked like a Mirror Palace because all six surfaces of this space were mirrors.

As they zipped through in light-form, rays bounced and scattered everywhere, dazzling and disorienting.

He Xingyue quickly returned to her physical form and took a sip of Moonlight Essence.

Then she waved her hand and brought out three items.

The first two were the tools she’d promised to give Jiang Ye.

The third was Human-Skin Sand.

“Spread this on your face. It’ll sting a little, but nothing you can’t handle.”

Jiang Ye thought, pfft, easy. One of my clones already has facial paralysis from raw pain.

He was quite practiced by now. He quickly scooped a handful of Human-Skin Sand and rubbed it onto his face.

Soon, a brand-new Huang Bo–style 【Disguise Mask】 was freshly made.

Jiang Ye casually asked, “Can I keep the leftover Human-Skin Sand?”

He Xingyue didn’t care: “Sure, no problem. That stuff’s cheap.”

“But here—this one you’ll have to wear.” As she spoke, she handed Jiang Ye another 【Disguise Mask】.

It wasn’t the one he just made, obviously.

She explained: “Since someone’s going to impersonate you, you’ll need to disguise yourself too—to prevent any complications.”

Jiang Ye thought, wait a sec…

This disguise mask—

Am I supposed to disguise as Jiang Ye?

Disguising as myself?

But when he put the mask on, he just looked like an ordinary middle-aged bald guy.

Alright, guess it was the default version of a Disguise Mask.

Jiang Ye put it on and promised to stay undercover—not showing up again as Huang Bo.

He Xingyue nodded and reminded him, “Same reason as before—don’t use your Light-type abilities lightly either.”

Jiang Ye nodded again.

Then He Xingyue couldn’t help but jab at him: “You actually look a bit handsome now with that bald head.”

“……”

Handsome my a**!

This bald head ain’t even remotely good-looking!

Jiang Ye was speechless. He didn’t snap back. After a brief moment of thought, he passed along a message for He Xingyue:

“That Defender player who tied me up earlier—he told me to deliver a message to the Light-type organization—”

‘Black tides drown the steps of the temple,

The raven steals the weight from the scales,

The snow of Olympus is now laced with ashes from the crow’s wings.’

“That’s how it goes, I think. Do you know what it means?”

He Xingyue seemed lost in thought. After a long pause, she simply said, “I’ll pass it along for you,” and vanished with the Huang Bo–style Disguise Mask.

Leaving Jiang Ye standing there dumbfounded, thinking:

What the hell… Where even is this place? You could at least let me out, right?

Then the mirrored walls around him disintegrated into dust with a rustle, and he realized he hadn’t gone far.

He was still within the ruins of the Mirror Palace in the Void.

Wearing the Disguise Mask and now appearing as a bald man, Jiang Ye stepped out of the ruins and returned to Room 6996.

Suddenly, he noticed something surprising—

This Disguise Mask… actually wasn’t the default version after all.

It must’ve been modified by the 【Mask Master】?

Because now, when he appeared in Apartment 9669 wearing this mask, his displayed name was no longer “Huang Bo.”

It was a completely fake name—Lu Renjia.

Elsewhere.

Within the Reincarnation Graveyard.

A Defender clone, resting atop the 【Stone of This Life】 to recall his memories, gradually absorbed the memory of that Defender player through his “dream.”

And those vivid memories instantly made the usually pure-hearted Jiang Ye feel thoroughly… tainted.

It had been mentioned before—this Defender was a “handsome young man.”

And his looks? Yeah, genuinely handsome.

When he raided the newbie apartment to surround and eliminate the Light-types, that was still him without makeup.

But in his daily life at the Doomsday Apartment, this guy showed up to every occasion in full glam…

And when he was fully made-up, his face was easily on par with any pop idol.

As the saying goes—where there are beauties, there are always men’s gazes.

So, for a man who meticulously maintained his handsome looks, it was only natural that there were always women around him too.

This Defender player’s original name was Zhang Wei.

Later, he felt that such an ordinary name didn’t match his stunning looks.

So he changed his name to Zhang Minghan.

In real life, Zhang Minghan was a model.

Of course, modeling was just his current occupation. His real dream was to become a celebrity idol.

But before he could chase that dream, he got swept into this Doomsday Apartment.

This guy had it rough during his time in the newbie apartment.

He didn’t have great talent, and his combat power was weak.

And because he was good-looking, he became a target for other guys.

The Stone of This Life was much more effective than when Jiang Ye had previously stolen Wu Ying’s memories.

To the point that Jiang Ye felt like the things that happened to Zhang Minghan had actually happened to himself.

Some of the particularly tragic experiences in those memories made him deeply uncomfortable—he’d never been beaten down like that before…

It gave him a glimpse into what it felt like to be a powerless weakling in a world where strength was everything—how utterly devoid of dignity it could be.

All the kneeling, all the bootlicking—just to survive…

And Zhang Minghan really was the kind of guy who could throw everything away.

Things that others would rather die than do—

He could let go of all pride, just to stay alive.

Maybe it was exactly that kind of do-or-die mindset that allowed him to survive the newbie apartment while stronger players around him died one after another…

But still—without power, no matter how much pride he swallowed or how much he begged the strong, it wouldn’t help.

Once he entered the Doomsday Apartment, his life was far worse than Wu Ying’s.

Wu Ying had already thought his life was miserable, constantly being toyed with by fate.

But his suffering was mostly psychological—betrayal and manipulation by others.

Zhang Minghan’s suffering? That was real, physical, mental…

Exactly the kind of pain a powerless weakling would go through.

Still, as they say—where there’s life, there’s hope.

Zhang Minghan’s days of misery finally reached a turning point because he’d survived long enough.

He’d been scraping by in the slums of the Doomsday Apartment’s lower hive levels for who knows how long.

But one day, after saving up enough money, he hired a Spirit Nurturer to help him awaken a Glyph Pattern Ability.

That’s right—a Glyph Pattern Ability!

When Jiang Ye saw the memory of Zhang Minghan awakening it, he was stunned!

After all, Zhang Minghan was a Defender!

Defenders were non-Dark-type players!

They only had innate abilities, no Glyph Pattern Abilities!

And on Zhang Minghan’s data panel that Jiang Ye checked, there wasn’t any Glyph Pattern Ability listed either!

So, as expected…

Zhang Minghan must’ve had some experiences afterward that turned him from a Dark-type player with a Glyph Pattern Ability back into a normal non-Dark-type player!

Once Zhang Minghan gained that Glyph Pattern Ability, his growth sped up dramatically.

He had clawed his way up from rock bottom—making him far more resilient than the average person.

He’d gotten used to treating people with constant groveling, with zero dignity.

Only after slowly growing stronger did he begin to reclaim his long-lost pride bit by bit.

And during that process, he also quickly figured out a survival path that suited him.

You know what they say—like repels like, opposites attract.

That face of his? When teaming up with male players to explore dungeons, he was always the one getting targeted—unless he ran into a gay guy…

But if he teamed up with female players, he’d often be treated more favorably.

So, Zhang Minghan began actively mingling among female players.

It wasn’t necessarily about flirting or harassment. More like he played the role of a “gay best friend,” and won a lot of women over.

Of course, when the bond got close enough, some emotional comfort was only natural.

With that handsome face of his, and all those carefully tailored personas for his female friends, he managed to rake in quite a few benefits.

And just like that—

Step by step, Zhang Minghan started climbing higher and higher.

His regular female teammates were constantly changing.

And as his strength and status rose, so did the caliber of women he could get close to—more powerful, higher standing.

Until one day, he came into contact with a female Defender…

That’s when his life began to change direction.

From Wu Ying’s memories, it was clear—most Dark-type players naturally looked down on Defenders.

They saw Defenders as self-righteous and weak.

Most Defenders didn’t bother to argue back and kept a deliberately low profile.

Zhang Minghan, deep down, used to look down on Defenders too.

But when it came to women, he went out of his way to show respect and attentiveness.

And with all his prior experience, he could quickly figure out targeted ways to win over different women.

Through this process, he gradually came to realize—

Defender players… might not be as aloof, stubborn, or weak as he had assumed.

In fact, he keenly sensed that—

Defenders might be hiding some kind of secret!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep