So——

Humans can have glyphmarks, and Eerie can also have glyphmarks?

And Eerie can disguise themselves as humans—like that Huang Qi guy, he must be an Eerie, not a human, right?

Jiang Ye immediately blurted out another question:

“Then if they both have glyphmarks and both look human, how do you tell the difference between a human and an Eerie?”

The Blackened Replica went quiet for a moment, then answered:

“The most obvious difference is——”

“Eerie don’t ask how to tell humans and Eerie apart.”

“Or rather, Eerie don’t care whether the humanoid player they see is human or Eerie—only humans care.”

“There are a lot of technical differences——”

“For example, Eerie have colder body temperature, and their blood is cold too;”

“For example, Eerie can only possess one glyphmark—anyone with multiple glyphmark abilities is definitely human;”

“For example, when using glyphmark abilities, those with overwhelmingly powerful effects are usually Eerie.”

“For example, most eerie items have different effects depending on whether they’re used by a human or an Eerie.”

“When Eerie use eerie items, the item usually fuses into their body and becomes part of them—the effect is stronger than when humans use it.”

“There are also some eerie items that can be used to directly distinguish between humans and Eerie.”

“Oh right, aside from eerie items, there’s another category of item that behaves differently when used by Eerie or humans——”

“And that’s luck-based items.”

Luck-based items?

Holy sh*t, Jiang Ye was stunned.

The Blackened Replica continued explaining on his own:

“When human players use luck-based items, the main purpose is to increase drop rates when fighting Eerie monsters and lower the chance of getting invaded.”

“When Eerie players use luck-based items, they don’t get better loot drops, but they do reduce the chance of being recognized by human players as Eerie.”

Jiang Ye clicked his tongue in amazement.

So, that Lucky Bracelet Huang Qi had was to prevent people from realizing he was an Eerie?

But back then, he really thought Huang Qi looked like a perfectly normal human—there was nothing suspicious at all.

Just as he was thinking that, the Blackened Replica added another piece of trivia:

“Usually, only very weak, newborn Eerie use luck items to hide their identity.”

“Someone as powerful as me doesn’t need luck items at all, and no one can tell I’m an Eerie player.”

???

Wait, what???

Jiang Ye thought this was some serious educational content,

but this guy suddenly started bragging about himself.

The key thing is…

Did you even hear yourself just now???

“No one can tell you’re an Eerie player”???

Come on!

Jiang Ye didn’t notice Huang Qi was an Eerie at all.

But this Blackened Replica? He spotted right away that something was off—like obviously off!

Even a random normal person could tell the Blackened Replica was suspicious.

He had the same face as Jiang Ye,

yet his classmates could instantly tell he wasn’t the real Jiang Ye.

And this guy still had the confidence to say no one could tell he’s an Eerie player???

Jiang Ye’s face basically said “Seriously?” without him needing to say a word.

The Blackened Replica seemed to pick up on it.

Still wearing that creepy smile—

but now with his eyebrows furrowed, the whole expression looked ridiculously awkward.

“My case is special——”

“Because the one I invaded was already an abnormal human player.”

“Normally, when Eerie invade normal humans, they can perfectly imitate the human’s appearance.”

“Even the way that person talks and acts can be replicated to the last detail.”

“But the person I invaded was already a bit dumb and weird-looking—not like a regular human.”

“So me acting this much like a human while copying an abnormal template is already pretty impressive.”

Uh…

Now that he puts it that way, it does make sense.

After all, the Eerie had invaded Jiang Ye’s Mirror Replica.

And that Mirror Replica really was kinda dumb,

so this guy had copied him perfectly.

So he wasn’t actually dumb—it was just him copying the Mirror Replica so well that he looked dumb?

Hah…

In that case, isn’t this all Jiang Ye’s fault?

Anyway, Jiang Ye had finally figured it out——

Back in the Blood Mist Space, when that thing crawled out of the abyssal rift and invaded his body,

and he felt a coldness worse than Frost Mist Invasion—

that was when he got invaded by an Eerie.

At the time, he had swapped Replica No. 3 with the Mirror Replica.

So the one that got invaded became the Mirror Replica.

And after that, the Mirror Replica changed.

The biggest change——was that he seemed to have broken free from the Replica Reflection Mirror’s control,

and could no longer be dismissed.

Jiang Ye thought he had figured it out.

But in reality—

if he had just seen what really happened back then on the woman in white’s big monitor,

if he knew just a little more about Eerie—

he’d realize how totally bizarre and abnormal his invaded Mirror Replica actually was!

But hey, ignorance is bliss, right?

Because he didn’t know any better, he just assumed that a Mirror Replica getting invaded and going all black and freaky was totally normal.

The only thing he did find odd was——

Just now, hearing this Eerie brag about being “super strong and mighty”…

So this guy was not only powerful, but also proud.

But then why did this proud Eerie listen to Jiang Ye’s commands?

Was it because of his X-tier Infinite Replication ability that all his replicas obediently followed him?

But that didn’t add up either.

On the battlefield, even that shadow had become his replica,

but it hadn’t immediately turned obedient.

With the question stuck in his head, he just asked it out loud.

The Blackened Replica, being surprisingly obedient, answered honestly:

“Because you’re strong, and you can help me get stronger!”

That matter-of-fact tone made Jiang Ye feel a little embarrassed.

So… the fact that he was strong was already an open secret among Eerie players?

And the woman in white saying he was “dirty” earlier—

that meant she was also an Eerie player, right?

Jiang Ye continued asking the Blackened Replica and quickly learned more about the Eerie——

First, he was curious about how to obtain glyphmark abilities.

Pure Eerie needed special environments and long-term nurturing to gain glyphmarks.

In general, wild Eerie couldn’t acquire glyphmarks on their own.

Most Eerie with glyphmarks today were artificially cultivated.

And why would anyone cultivate Eerie? Simple—

Because for humans to gain glyphmark powers, they usually needed to use Eerie.

There were all sorts of ways for humans to obtain glyphmarks.

But nearly all of them came with the risk of turning into an Eerie player.

Currently, the most mainstream and lowest-risk methods were two:

First: Tattoo Method.

A human first tattoos the desired glyphmark ability onto their body.

Then, like an Eerie, they spend time nurturing it.

When the time is right, they seek out an Eerie with the same glyphmark ability,

allow it to enter their body, then kill it from within to fully absorb the glyphmark power.

The benefit is obvious—low risk.

The chance of turning into an Eerie player is less than 10%.

But the downside is just as obvious—

right after gaining the glyphmark, it’s weak and needs time to grow.

Second: Eerie-Raising Method.

A person actively cultivates an Eerie, forming a close bond.

Then they allow the Eerie into their body and kill it from within to acquire its glyphmark.

There are even professional Eerie Raisers who help people bond deeply with Eerie.

So deeply that when the Eerie enters the host,

they might even choose to self-destruct willingly.

And this method of raising Eerie—without hiring a professional Eerie Raiser—came with high risks.

Hiring one meant hefty expenses.

So between the two mainstream methods, the former was still more popular.

After all, even in the Doomsday Apartment, the poor still outnumber the rich…

Of course, neither of these mainstream methods were something Jiang Ye could try at his current stage.

That’s why it was rare for beginners to gain glyphmark abilities.

Most players only had a small chance of acquiring them after they formally entered the Doomsday Apartment and fought hard for a while.

That said, gaining glyphmark powers during the Beginner Apartment phase wasn’t impossible.

Take Huang Qi, for example.

He actually had a decent chance to develop a glyphmark ability and grow stronger.

Because he had one unique trait——

He had a tattoo!

Right! It was only after his conversation with the Blackened Replica that Jiang Ye realized——

The tattoo on Huang Qi’s body wasn’t a glyphmark ability.

It was the reason an Eerie had marked him!

Players who already had tattoos before the apocalypse were easily targeted by lesser Eerie.

So-called “lesser Eerie” typically didn’t have glyphmark powers.

But after invading a tattooed player, there was a high chance the Eerie could slowly nurture a glyphmark ability.

It was kind of like the tattoo method, just flipped around.

But Huang Qi was too weak. Even though the tattoo method had low risk, he likely still ended up becoming an Eerie player.

Which also explained why Jiang Ye thought Huang Qi wasn’t strong.

Because that guy never had the chance to grow.

Maybe, if he hadn’t met Jiang Ye, he really could’ve become one of the top newbies.

But if this really was a world where all people had been transported here to survive—

with a global population base that large, Huang Qi couldn’t be the only one with tattoos.

According to the Blackened Replica——

Those players who already had tattoos had a certain chance of nurturing glyphmark abilities even during the newbie phase!

But whether those players were still human or had become Eerie… hard to say.

The tattoo method might be low-risk for veteran Doomsday Apartment players,

but for beginners, killing an Eerie inside your own body was almost impossible!

It was like a mortal being possessed by a Nascent Soul-level cultivator—

and the mortal has to reverse-kill the Nascent Soul…

Is that even possible? Almost definitely not.

But in novels, the impossible always seemed to happen to those stunning geniuses.

Jiang Ye sorted through all this and came to a few conclusions——

The opponent he fought in his Ten-Win Streak, the one who perfectly replicated him,

most likely used a glyphmark ability.

Veteran players having glyphmarks wasn’t rare.

But using them against rookies… that was kind of bullying.

Also, Lin Jing’s “Quick Battle Card” attack in his first duel probably used a glyphmark ability.

Whether Lin Jing was human or Eerie… hard to say.

Going by the Blackened Replica’s explanation,

Eerie could perfectly imitate their host after invading.

And with luck-based items, they were basically flawless.

Then there was the woman in white.

Also according to the Blackened Replica, all those so-called NPC residents were actually Eerie.

Why didn’t NPCs kill players?

Because they had a better way: invade and become players!

Even the various odd jobs in the apartment…

Might be for helping NPCs pick targets!

And that NPC riot on Day 8 mentioned in Apartment 9999,

where they’d start attacking players…

Maybe that was when the invasion phase officially began!

And those veteran players who dropped in later—

who knew how many were human, and how many were Eerie…

It all opened up a much bigger world.

Jiang Ye had originally thought he could use Replica Fusion to hijack Lin Jing’s “Quick Battle” reward pool.

But now, knowing about glyphmark powers, he didn’t dare act recklessly.

After all, no matter how good your stats or abilities are,

if someone has a glyphmark ability that copies everything about you…

That’s a walking Kakashi, going toe-to-toe with anyone!

Well, okay—

If someone turned into his replica and tried to match him 1:1, Jiang Ye actually wouldn’t be afraid.

But for most players, that would be a nightmare.

That said, Jiang Ye himself didn’t have a glyphmark ability.

But his Blackened Replica did.

If he wasn’t afraid of the risks and forced a fusion with the Blackened Replica,

he should be able to use those glyphmark powers too.

Thinking that, Jiang Ye looked at the Blackened Replica again and asked,

“You just said you’re a particularly strong Eerie—so what glyphmark abilities do you have?”

When that came up, the Blackened Replica’s creepy smile took on a proud air.

He floated three hands in front of Jiang Ye, each displaying a tattoo, and slowly said:

“I have three glyphmark abilities.”

???

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Jiang Ye reacted immediately: “Didn’t you say Eerie are only supposed to have one glyphmark ability?! Why do you have three???”

Wasn’t that totally contradictory?

Or had this Blackened Replica been lying to him the whole time and just slipped up now?

But that didn’t make sense either.

If he were lying, why expose all three glyphmarks?

Just showing one would’ve been enough.

The Blackened Replica clearly hadn’t expected Jiang Ye to react so strongly.

He thought Jiang Ye already knew how awesome and special he was.

Turns out… he was being treated like just another Eerie?

He furrowed his brows again:

“But didn’t I already say——”

“You’re really strong, and you can make me stronger.”

“And… didn’t you know?”

“In the Blood Mist Space, I wasn’t invaded by a single Eerie.”

“I dealt with all the Eerie in there at once.”

“The master of the Blood Mist Space probably got scared sh*tless and destroyed the entire place.”

“But someone as strong as me, of course I wasn’t destroyed.”

As he spoke, the Blackened Replica blinked again and gave a creepy smile—

but behind those pitch-black eyes was unmistakable pride.

Jiang Ye suddenly realized——

Wasn’t the master of the Blood Mist Space the woman in white?

She got scared sh*tless? Seriously??

Oh right!

The woman in white suddenly rushed over around the same time Jiang Ye noticed something was wrong with the Replica Reflection Mirror.

He had thought she came from Apartment 9999 just to settle a score with him…

But maybe not?

Thinking back, Jiang Ye suddenly realized——

That moment in the Gloomy Forest, when he got pulled into a blood-soaked sheet—

maybe that was the woman in white’s doing?!

Maybe she ran over in a panic because she was so shaken, and wanted to study him?

So putting it all together…

This incident of his Mirror Replica being invaded wasn’t simple at all, huh?

According to the Blackened Replica——

A normal person can only be invaded by one Eerie.

But this Mirror Replica had summoned all the Eerie in the Blood Mist Space in one go…

But can that even be called “invasion” anymore?

If a Nascent Soul cultivator force-possesses a mortal, that’s called a possession.

But if a mortal starts hunting down Nascent Souls to eat—

can you still call that “possessed”??

That’s not even about what’s possible anymore.

That’s just… insanely bizarre!

Jiang Ye swallowed nervously and asked,

“Then… can you still keep eating—I mean, can you still be invaded by Eerie now?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep