The bald man looked like a warm-hearted, straightforward good guy.

But Jiang Ye wasn’t stupid.

His school had even held lectures on fraud prevention.

There was no way he’d believe this bald guy’s nonsense.

Still, he didn’t reject him outright. Instead, he put on a curious expression and asked,

“So, the Duel Room’s system… isn’t it random matchmaking? Can you actually pick your own opponent?”

The bald man grinned and explained,

“The Duel Room does have both matchmaking mode and challenge mode.”

“But in matchmaking mode, even though it’s called ‘random,’ the system actually pairs you with an opponent whose combat power is roughly the same as yours.”

“In that case, your chances of winning are about fifty-fifty. If you win some and lose some, it’s hard to make money. If you’re unlucky, you might even lose money!”

“But in challenge mode, you can choose a weaker opponent. That way, your chances of winning go way up.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ye felt something was off.

“If everyone just challenges weaker opponents, won’t the weaker players go bankrupt in no time and stop coming to the Duel Room?”

The bald man chuckled and shook his head. “Of course not!”

“The Duel Room is fair. In challenge mode, both sides have to agree before the match can happen.”

“If a stronger player challenges a weaker one, the weaker player can completely refuse.”

“But us newcomers all start as 【Nameless Black Iron】, basically nobodies.”

“Just looking at appearances, you can’t tell who’s strong or weak.”

“So in challenge mode, you often get matches where one side is way stronger than the other.”

“For the stronger side, it’s like picking up a bargain.”

“And what I mean is—I can help you pick up those bargains!”

“The opponent’s a girl, weak as hell, and way too naive. Super easy to trick.”

“I pretended to be weak and challenged her before. Won easily.”

“If she didn’t already know she can’t beat me and reject my challenges outright, I wouldn’t be passing her along to someone else.”

The bald man’s logic actually made some sense in a way.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then deliberately put on a conflicted, guilty expression.

“But… she never did anything to me. If I go out of my way to scam her, wouldn’t that be kind of wrong?”

As soon as he said this, the bald man visibly froze.

He stared at Jiang Ye for a long while, as if hesitating.

But soon, he suppressed whatever emotion he was feeling and deliberately widened his eyes in shock.

“Come on, bro, don’t tell me you’re this naive?”

“When you got teleported into the apartment, didn’t you hear the system say ‘Doomsday Apartment’?”

“It’s the freaking apocalypse! You’re seriously still trying to follow moral codes like some saint?”

“The key point is, even if you don’t scam others, others will scam you!”

“Besides, in an ‘apocalypse’ setting like this, I think our moral standards should be a little lower.”

“From that perspective, this isn’t even ‘scamming.’ It’s called ‘teaching a lesson’!”

“I mean, it’s not like anyone’s dying in the Duel Room. If we scam someone once, at least they’ll learn from it!”

“Looking at it another way, we’re actually doing a good deed here!”

“Of course, if your conscience really won’t let you, I won’t force you. Let’s just say we were chatting and made a new friend.”

“But bro, since you’re here in the Duel Room, that means you live on the 20th floor or higher. Your daily rent must be over a hundred thousand, right?”

“Not sure if I’ll even see you tomorrow, though…”

“Speaking of which, we’re both bald. That’s a kind of fate, isn’t it? What a pity, sigh…”

The bald man’s regretful tone made it sound like Jiang Ye was already dead because he couldn’t pay rent.

Jiang Ye knew exactly what this guy was doing—trying to pressure him with rent.

It was just like those scam cases where they lure people in with promises of easy money.

That “girl” the bald guy mentioned was most likely his accomplice.

They probably figured Jiang Ye wasn’t strong and wanted to work together to scam him!

Jiang Ye thought for a while and felt a bit torn.

Because according to the bald guy, opponents in matchmaking mode would have combat power similar to his.

Without absolute strength or hidden cards, making stable money through matchmaking mode would be tough.

So, if he really wanted to profit in the Duel Room, challenge mode was the better option.

The problem was, opponents in challenge mode could refuse.

How to make others think he was weak and accept the challenge—that was the real problem every “bargain-hunting” player faced.

And guys like this bald man, who teamed up to scam people, were probably everywhere.

Should he just expose the bald man outright… and then join his scamming gang instead?

Jiang Ye pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the 【War God Ranking】 and asked the bald man,

“But based on what you said about these two modes, how do the top-ranked players on the War God Ranking have a 100% win rate?”

“If they’re that strong, weaker players definitely wouldn’t accept their challenges.”

“And the opponents they get in matchmaking mode should also be strong.”

“In that case, shouldn’t it be impossible to maintain a perfect win rate?”

The answer to this question was actually quite simple—

The bald man had just mentioned that matchmaking mode pairs players based on combat power.

And a player’s combat power value is determined by their attributes, abilities, and skills.

But their items aren’t factored in!

This meant that two players with the same combat power value could still have a huge gap—if one had powerful items, they could completely crush the other!

This was something you’d notice after watching a few matches.

And this was why the top-ranked players on the War God Ranking could maintain a 100% win rate.

Jiang Ye had just arrived at the Duel Room, so it was normal if he didn’t know.

Of course, the bald man was well aware of this secret—but he had no intention of telling him.

He deliberately lied,

“Well, maybe those top players have their own unique advantages.”

“For example, if they trained in martial arts, even if their opponent’s combat power is similar, they could still keep winning.”

“The world of top-tier players is beyond our imagination, so it’s normal if we don’t get it.”

Normal?

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and started forming some theories about why the top players kept winning.

And as these theories took shape, he looked at the bald man again… and suddenly had a bold idea!

Because…

There were plenty of newbies in this first-floor lobby.

So how did this bald guy single him out as a scam target?

Did he just look easy to fool?

Or was it a random pick?

Probably neither.

Jiang Ye’s mind shifted, and he suddenly turned to the bald man with a smile,

“Bro, I thought it through. Conscience can’t put food on the table. If I don’t start making money, I won’t even be able to pay today’s rent!”

“Bro, take me under your wing! I’ll definitely remember your kindness!”

The bald man had spent all this effort just waiting for these words!

He sneered inwardly, but his face still wore that friendly, enthusiastic grin as he said—

"Hey, it's not about taking you under my wing. No need to be so polite. I just believe that having more friends means having more opportunities!"

"But speaking of which, you’ll need to tell me your combat power first. That way, I can make sure you can actually beat that girl."

Jiang Ye nodded and, with his honest, naive-looking bald head, replied earnestly,

"No problem. My ability is a C-tier Gold Element Affinity. My stamina is 1.2, energy is 2.4, combat power is 5.5, and I’ve also mastered a skill—Golden Light Technique."

He spoke so smoothly, without a hint of hesitation, that it didn’t seem like a lie at all.

The bald man was secretly pleased and immediately started hyping him up.

"Come on, bro, with that strength, you’re already considered a strong player in the entire Duel Room!"

"And yet, you were just saying you were too weak to fight? That’s way too cautious!"

Jiang Ye put on a confused look and continued in his honest tone,

"Am I really strong? I have no idea."

"Before the apocalypse, I was just a shut-in, fat and lazy. Never exercised, never even killed a chicken!"

"This 5.5 combat power—when it comes down to a real fight, I might not even be able to use half of it!"

Hearing this, the bald man finally relaxed.

After all, trying to scam someone with 5.5 combat power would’ve been a bit of a challenge.

But if this guy couldn't fully use his strength? That was perfect!

So he patted Jiang Ye on the shoulder and reassured him,

"That’s fine! Even if you can only use half of your 5.5 combat power, it’s still an easy win!"

"Come on, I’ll take you to find that naive little girl!"

"But bro, you’ll have to talk to her yourself. I scammed her before, so if she sees us together, she definitely won’t accept your challenge."

Jiang Ye nodded, showing he understood.

At the same time, as this bald man led Jiang Ye toward the second floor, he secretly sent a private message to his accomplice:

[Got another newbie. 5.5 combat power. Seems pretty gullible, probably not pretending to be weak.]

The recipient, whose contact name was Li Ran, replied immediately:

[Does he have any items? Players on the 20th floor should have started with a Bronze Treasure Chest.]

This so-called "bald man" was actually named Xu Jingyao.

She quickly replied to Li Ran:

[Nah, he’s as unlucky as me. His Bronze Treasure Chest only gave him a Disguise Mask. So just like me, his actual appearance is completely hidden. Whether he’s a guy or a girl, no one knows.]