“Voluntarily surrendered?? Don’t tell me this rookie, Number 666, secretly bought a Win Streak Package without us knowing??”

“So, was this a fixed match? No way, right? If it really were fixed, what was the point of that Duoe member rambling on just now? Drama king? Loves putting on a show that much?”

“Impossible! That definitely wasn’t an act! He was clearly full of confidence, ready to block this rookie from getting ten Ten-Win Streaks!”

“In the end, it must be that this rookie has some kind of insane ability, and once again one-shotted that Duoe glyphmark member!”

“Holy sh*t? What kind of broken skill is that?! I didn’t even see how he made a move!!”

The audience members, whether they bet on Jiang Ye to win or lose, were all utterly shocked.

Of course, the ones who bet on Jiang Ye to win were not only shocked—they couldn’t stop grinning.

They turned right around and fired back at the ones who just mocked them for betting on Jiang Ye.

By comparison, the ones most shocked were, of course, the members of the Duoe Organization.

But their discussion wasn’t out in the open on the 119th floor—

It was in their internal group chat:

Xing Xiu: [What’s going on? Even a glyphmark member lost??]

Qi Bai: [It really looked like Wu Ying surrendered on his own!]

Zisang Haoyun: [Could it be a mind-control type ability, making Wu Ying surrender voluntarily?!]

Xu Shen: [No way! If the opponent really had a mind-control type ability, Wu Ying would’ve been able to replicate it! And with his combat instincts, there’s no way he would’ve been caught off guard by something like that!]

Xing Xiu: [Maybe it’s not an ability, but an item? After all, Wu Ying can’t replicate items, right?]

Tong Sang: [Doesn’t feel like that either! First, we didn’t see that guy use any item. Plus, item activation is usually slower than abilities—Wu Ying’s a glyphmark member, he wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake!]

Zisang Haoyun: [No matter what, Wu Ying’s loss was way too fishy! Hurry up and explain @Wu Ying]

Tang Yi: [Yeah, why hasn’t Wu Ying come out to clarify anything yet??]

Three whole minutes of chatter filled the Duoe internal group.

Finally, the highly-anticipated Wu Ying spoke up:

[This is seriously cursed!]

[I think I really was hit by some kind of mind-control ability and got force-controlled for three minutes!]

[The truly freaky part isn’t that I don’t know how I lost!]

[It’s that, based on your chat messages, I should’ve lost that duel three minutes ago!]

[Logically, no matter what kind of mind control I was under, I should’ve returned to normal the moment the duel ended!]

[But I didn’t snap out of it until just now!]

[A full three minutes completely unconscious!]

[And the key point is, those three minutes didn’t even take place in the duel arena!]

[What the h*ll did that kid do?!!]

Wu Ying dropped a whole string of messages, venting his inner shock.

And the other Duoe members? They were just as dumbfounded!

[What the h*ll?! A method of controlling your opponent that lasts even after the duel ends??! How’s that possible!]

[This?? This kid’s way too freaky!]

[If that’s true, then his ability overrides the duel system?? No way! No freakin’ way!!]

[Yeah! No way! Wu Ying, could you have made a mistake??]

Wu Ying: […]

How the f**k could I have made a mistake?!

But seriously, this situation is just too unbelievable!

Even as he said it, he knew it would be hard for anyone to believe.

If he hadn’t experienced it himself, he wouldn’t believe it either!

As the group was heating up over his explanation—

Suddenly, a message popped up from the group owner!

Duoe (Group Owner): [Bring the Scroll of Memory and the Soul-Calming Bell, and do another match @Wu Ying]

[If you still lose the duel, make sure to stay in the Shadow Replica state. I want to see for myself what the h*ll is going on.]

The group instantly quieted down a lot after that message.

After a long pause, someone finally chimed in:

[Still lose… So you’re planning to lose to that guy again?]

[But if he stays in Shadow Replica form, he can fully replicate the opponent’s ability. Then we can study it together!]

[Yeah, we have to figure out what the hell’s up with that kid!]

Wu Ying: […]

Truth be told, Wu Ying really didn’t want to match with Jiang Ye again.

I mean…

He was so cocky just now.

Was planning to go big, and instead made a big mess.

And it all played out in front of a huge audience.

The psychological trauma Wu Ying was dealing with right now… immeasurable.

He even thought about ditching his identity altogether.

Starting over with a brand new identity…

Otherwise, he couldn’t bear to face anyone!

Yeah! He had to switch identities!

Wu Ying thought it through and naturally agreed to Duoe’s request.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ye himself had no idea any of this was going on in the far-off Doomsday Apartment.

He only started checking out his Ten-Win Streak rewards after the effect of Replica Fusion ended.

The reward for a Ten-Win Streak was still a “choose one out of three.”

But from the veteran Duoe players and the top dogs in Apartment 9999, Jiang Ye already knew—

Ten-Win Streak rewards were way more generous than those for Three- or Five-Win Streaks.

In fact, the combined rewards from Three and Five couldn’t even compare to a single Ten-Win reward.

So yeah, he was pretty hyped.

But with three options, he had no idea what to pick.

In the end, he just closed his eyes and picked the middle one at random.

Once the choice was confirmed, the contents of all three rewards flipped over one by one.

The first card flipped over to show—

[Eye of Death (Special Accessory)]

Effect 1: Dark-type skill damage +5%;

Effect 2: Dark-type damage resistance +10%;

Effect 3: Immunity to standard dark-type instant death effects.

D*mn!

This special accessory was seriously OP!

The damage boost was percentage-based!

That kind of item could stay relevant long-term and not get phased out!

The key was Effect 3—it could even block instant death effects!

Jiang Ye was practically drooling—it was almost enough to make him regret not picking that reward.

Even though he didn’t have any dark-type abilities yet,

he was destined to have Infinite Replication,

so dark-type talents were just a matter of time!

What a pity he didn’t pick it.

The second reward, the one Jiang Ye had chosen, flipped over to reveal—

[Phantom Lantern (Eerie Item)]

Light the oil lamp, and wherever its light shines, a phantom replica will appear.

PS1: The phantom replica’s strength is equal to that of the body illuminated by the lamp;

PS2: The phantom replica’s duration equals the time the lamp stays lit;

PS3: If the Phantom Lantern is maintained using corpse oil, the phantom replica may inherit the abilities the corpse oil’s owner had during their lifetime.

Uh, what the…

How did he randomly pick an item that just so happened to be related to replicas…

His luck was seriously kind of freaky!

Still, Jiang Ye was pretty happy with the reward.

Sure, he could already create replicas.

But the problem with his replicas was the cooldown for controlling them.

Even though the Replica Reflection Mirror solved that to some extent,

it still took 30 seconds to create a replica using the mirror.

Which meant if he needed Replica Fusion to last more than 3 minutes,

there would be a 30-second vulnerability period.

Now, with the Phantom Lantern, the cooldown issue had a new workaround.

Even though he hadn’t tried it yet,

Jiang Ye felt that—

if even regular players replicated into his form could be controlled by the X-tier Infinite Replication ability,

then a replica created by the Phantom Lantern should be no different from the ones made by the Replica Reflection Mirror,

and should also be controllable using replication skills.

Moreover, replicas made by the Phantom Lantern should also be disposable and replaceable just like the Replica Reflection Mirror’s.

So this item, for him, was practically another heavy-hitting weapon!

And on top of that…

this thing could be maintained with corpse oil,

giving replicas a chance to inherit the deceased’s abilities…

For some reason, when he saw the words “corpse oil” on the card,

an image suddenly popped into Jiang Ye’s mind—

that time on the rooftop, when he applied “hair serum” to the woman in white’s hair…

Just saying…

that so-called hair serum…

what kind of oil was it, exactly?

Jiang Ye didn’t dig further.

After stashing the Phantom Lantern card he picked, he glanced at the third, unchosen reward.

The third card flipped over, and it read—

[Distorted Box (Eerie Item)]

A distorted special space. Items placed inside will vanish into the space.

But sometimes, unknown objects may be retrieved—could be resource items, or eerie monsters.

This eerie item looked pretty interesting, too.

With long-term use, it might yield surprising rewards.

Maybe even items like the Eye of Death or Phantom Lantern could be pulled from the Distorted Box.

But this thing required time and was heavily luck-based.

All in all, Jiang Ye was quite satisfied with his chosen Phantom Lantern.

And after his Ten-Win Streak ended, he didn’t jump straight into the eleventh.

Instead, he headed to Lin Jing’s duel arena to see just how far “Let Lin Jing Fly” had taken him.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Lantern was instantly transferred to his main body through Shared Replica Space.

As for Jiang Ye’s main body, he was currently examining that Blackened Replica.

Although his main body could use replica skills on the blackened version,

it wasn’t a consciousness-shared replica,

so he still kept his guard up against it.

So when the Blackened Replica entered Room 2025, the main body and Replicas No. 3 and 4 hid in the bedroom.

Only Replica No. 1 remained in the living room to study the blackened one.

He directly instructed the Blackened Replica:

“The nine hands you showed earlier, can I see them again?”

The Blackened Replica was obedient enough, instantly summoning nine severed hands that floated around him.

But this time, Jiang Ye searched all nine hands and didn’t find the tattoo he had seen before.

He frowned and said straight to the Blackened Replica:

“I clearly saw a tattoo on one of your severed hands in the first-floor lobby. Why isn’t it there now?”

The Blackened Replica blinked his pitch-black eyes and smiled softly as he spoke:

“Hmm? Earlier? Did I accidentally expose it?”

“……”

That smile was seriously creepy—he looked way too much like an evil villain.

Hearing that, Jiang Ye almost thought this guy was about to rebel.

Thankfully, after saying “expose,” he voluntarily floated one severed hand over to Jiang Ye,

showed him the tattoo on it, and said, “Here it is.”

This time, the tattoo wasn’t on the palm—it was on the back of the hand.

Jiang Ye was surprised: “This tattoo can change positions? You said earlier it was ‘exposed,’ so does that mean it has to stay hidden?”

The Blackened Replica blinked again and took a moment to organize his words before calmly explaining:

“It’s not called a tattoo—it’s a glyphmark. It represents our ability and serves as our unique symbol.”

“It doesn’t have to be hidden, but hiding it makes it easier for us to disguise ourselves as human.”

“If it’s exposed, we can just pretend to be humans with tattoos.”

Disguise… as humans.

Jiang Ye swallowed and seriously mulled over those words.

So…

beings with tattoos weren’t human, but… “Eerie”?!

Holy sh*t!!

Then what about Huang Qi, with his tattoo? He looked human,

but was actually an Eerie?!

So that line the woman in white said—

she didn’t recognize Huang Qi,

she knew that “Huang Qi” wasn’t really Huang Qi, but an Eerie?!

Even that guy in Apartment 9999, Ke Peng, who asked him about Huang Qi—

he must have known Huang Qi was no longer the real Huang Qi!

So he and the woman in white didn’t care about the name “Huang Qi” at all.

Because they both knew… that wasn’t really Huang Qi!

He was a player whose identity had been replaced by an Eerie!

So in this Doomsday Apartment, there might be people who looked human…

but on the inside, weren’t human at all?!

Even Ke Peng from Apartment 9999…

there’s a good chance he wasn’t human anymore either!

Even this Blackened Mirror Replica…

at his core, he wasn’t “human” anymore!

Granted, as a simple Mirror Replica, he was never really “human” to begin with.

But now, his identity was clear—he was Eerie!

This…

Jiang Ye suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

But then he quickly thought—

If Huang Qi was really an Eerie inside, why was he so weak?

He got one-shotted by Jiang Ye without resistance?

He quickly asked the Blackened Replica:

“How do these glyphmarks show up on human players? Does having a glyphmark automatically mean they’re Eerie?”

The Blackened Replica shook his head and answered the second question first:

“Of course not.”

“Humans can also have glyphmark abilities.”

“In fact, humans with glyphmark powers can be stronger than the Eerie.”

“Because an Eerie can only invade one human player.”

“And a player who’s already been invaded can’t be invaded again.”

“So Eerie players are fated to only possess one glyphmark ability.”

“But human players—if strong enough—can have multiple glyphmark abilities at once.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep