Holy sh*t!

Not only had he leveled up, but he also got a Black Iron Treasure Chest!

Replica No.1 quickly picked up the treasure chest, while Replica No.2 immediately checked his status panel—

【Jiang Ye】

【Level: 1 (0/100)】

【Stamina: 6.2】

【Energy: 6.2】

【Combat Power: 54】

【Survival Points: 0】

【Ability: Hard Work Pays Off (S)】

【Skills: Absolute Focus (A), Combat Stance (A)】

As expected, his Stamina and Energy increased by 1 point each!

And his Combat Power had skyrocketed to 54!

With this level of strength, he was undoubtedly among the top players in the apartment!

More importantly—

The monster he had just killed was a Level 1 "Shadow Ringed Serpent."

Yet he had taken it down while still at Level 0!

This just proved how insanely powerful an S-tier ability was!

Jiang Ye figured that Yang Wenchao’s ability must be at least S-tier—maybe even higher.

Of course, it was also possible that Yang Wenchao had some other advantage.

Jiang Ye quickly shook off his thoughts and opened the Black Iron Treasure Chest.

Inside was a silver-white ring.

As usual, he had Little Bing perform a Detection scan—

【Spatial Ring (Level 1)】

【Effect: Provides 1 cubic meter of storage space. Cannot store living beings.】

Damn! A Spatial Ring!

It wasn’t exactly a combat enhancement, but it would definitely make his actions more convenient.

Now that he thought about it—

Bai Ruowan’s Pocket Space didn’t seem as special anymore.

However, there was a key difference—

The Spatial Ring could be stolen.

Bai Ruowan’s Pocket Space, on the other hand, was permanent and non-transferable—and it was likely much larger than just 1 cubic meter.

Still, for now, this was more than enough.

Jiang Ye equipped the ring onto Replica No.1’s finger and stored both the kitchen knife and Little Bing inside it.

His right hand still felt stiff and weak from the snake’s venom.

But after rubbing it for a while, the numbness started to fade.

With heightened caution, he continued his way to Apartment 2064.

Meanwhile...

Jiang Ye didn’t notice—

But as he walked away, the door to Apartment 2048...

Silently creaked open.

A dark shadow flickered past the doorway—

And then, the door shut again without a sound.

Fortunately, there were no more dangers along the way.

When Jiang Ye finally arrived at Apartment 2064, he didn’t hesitate.

Since he had already decided to test the cleaning job, there was no point in hesitating now.

Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door—

A sudden system notification rang in his mind—

【Ding!】

【Apartment Announcement: Congratulations to Yang Wenchao for becoming the first player in this apartment to reach Level 2! Reward: Black Iron Treasure Chest x1】

What the hell?!

Yang Wenchao already reached Level 2?!

That was insanely fast!

Jiang Ye immediately opened the group chat—

Little Likun had just shared an update—

【Yang Wenchao hasn’t been ambushed by monsters again. He must have been battling players from other apartments this whole time!】

It didn’t take long for others to connect the dots—

【Wait... so you can level up by fighting in the Duel Room too?!】

【He probably won against players from other apartments. That’s why he leveled up!】

【So now, Yang Wenchao is officially the strongest player in our apartment?】

【Damn! I want to challenge players from other apartments too! But the Duel Room is only available to players living on the 20th floor or higher!】

【I feel like if Jiang Ye wants to survive today, his best bet is to fight in the Duel Room too. There’s no way he can pay that insane rent just by doing odd jobs!】

【Sigh… Some people want to fight in the Duel Room but don’t have the chance, while others have the chance but are too scared to fight. That’s just how the world works—just like how money always flows to those who don’t need it.】

【Tragic. But at least we’re lucky to have someone like Yang Wenchao in our apartment!】

It was obvious—

Many students were still hostile toward Jiang Ye.

Some were even mocking him outright.

Jiang Ye ignored them, but in his mind, he was now eager to use the Duel Room.

With Replica No.2’s strength, his chances of winning were high.

The Knock at the Door

While these thoughts ran through his head, Replica No.1 finally knocked on Apartment 2064’s door.

But then—

Something terrifying happened.

At that exact moment—

Jiang Ye’s main body, resting in Apartment 2025, also heard knocking!

His entire body jolted, and he instinctively turned to look at his own door.

What the f***?!

Was he hallucinating?!

There was no way that Apartment 2064 and Apartment 2025 were… the same room, right?!

Or...

Did knocking on any apartment door on this floor cause knocking sounds to echo through all the rooms?!

Jiang Ye wasn’t sure.

But the eerie knocking sound sent chills down his spine!

Meanwhile, at Apartment 2064—

The door silently swung open.

But there was no one behind it!

Replica No.1’s entire body tensed, his back breaking into a cold sweat.

But after a closer look—

He realized...

There was someone there.

Or rather—

It was a robot assistant, similar to Little Bing.

It was just so short that it was hard to notice at first.

Jiang Ye let out a sigh of relief.

Then, the assistant’s cold, emotionless voice rang out—

"Are you Cleaner No.007? Please present your work ID."

This robot assistant had clearly been customized.

Unlike Little Bing’s cute and soft voice, this one spoke with a strict, professional tone—

It sounded exactly like a no-nonsense office worker.

Hearing it, Jiang Ye instinctively thought of his math teacher.

The pressure instantly skyrocketed!

Jiang Ye didn’t dare waste time—he quickly presented his work ID.

The miniature robot scanned it and then led him into the apartment.

As it glided across the floor, it continued speaking in that strict, businesslike tone—

"The owner is not home. I will supervise your cleaning task."

Jiang Ye let out a small sigh of relief.

No people? Good!

He had mild social anxiety and was worried that interacting with the tenant might be dangerous.

But as he glanced around the apartment’s living room, something felt off.

The place was spotless.

It didn’t look like it needed cleaning at all.

Before he could ask, the robot spoke again—

"The owner is very particular about hygiene, which is why the apartment is so clean."

"Your task is—"

"To find exactly 10,086 strands of the owner's fallen hair."

"You must then wash, dry, apply hair treatment to each strand, and carefully store them. Once completed, your task will be considered finished."

(⊙o⊙)？？

Jiang Ye froze.

What kind of bizarre cleaning task was this?!

But then again—

Weird as it sounded, it didn’t seem that difficult.

And this robot assistant seemed reasonable enough.

So he simply asked—

"Do you have any special tools for collecting hair?"

From what he had learned at the Cleaning Service Hub, cleaning tools were supposed to be provided by the tenant.

No need to bring his own.

However—

The robot’s response was—

"The owner’s hair is extremely valuable. It must never be touched by vacuum cleaners, mops, or any other cleaning devices."

"You must search for it with your eyes and pick it up by hand."

"And you must be extremely careful. Not a single strand can be damaged."

"If even one hair is ruined…"

The robot’s display screen showed a terrified expression before it continued—

"The owner will be very, very angry. And your fate… will be very, very tragic."

"...Very, very tragic..."

What the f***?!

Jiang Ye swallowed hard and asked—

"Can I cancel this cleaning task right now?"

"Of course," the robot replied.

Jiang Ye felt relieved for a second.

Until—

"You only need to pay a 12,000 yuan cancellation fee."

...???

WHAT THE F***?!

His wages for this job were only 6,000 yuan!

But the cancellation fee was 12,000?!

Why not just rob me outright?!

Jiang Ye had already racked up 350,000 yuan in debt.

And while debt was debt, he couldn’t just give up and let it pile up endlessly!

With no other choice, he gritted his teeth and asked—

"Where exactly is your owner's fallen hair?"

"It’s scattered throughout the entire apartment. However, the bathroom has the highest concentration."

Jiang Ye sighed. "Fine. I’ll start in the bathroom."

Meanwhile…

While Replica No.1 was stuck doing the most absurd cleaning task ever,

Replica No.2, still invisible with the Disguise Mask, had remained outside Apartment 2064.

After confirming that No.1 wasn’t in immediate danger, he decided to head to the Duel Room on the first floor.

However—

He had barely taken a few steps toward the elevator…

When suddenly—

A dark shadow blocked his path!