Wha—what the hll???

Bro?!

Yang Wenchao’s the one provoking you in the chat—what the hll does that have to do with me, Jiang Ye?!

He’s the one who killed your lackeys, I’m just some random bystander!

Why are innocent passersby getting dragged into a fight between you top dogs?!

This is too much!

Do you really think bystanders don’t have tempers too?!

At that moment, Jiang Ye’s main body and several Replicas all flared up in anger!

Good thing his No. 3 Replica was still stationed in Room 2025.

And he could summon Mirror Replicas at any time.

But the fact remained—his paralyzed main body was in that room, a total liability.

And this time, with the main body involved, the situation was more dangerous than ever before!

No matter what, he had to make sure the main body didn’t suffer even a scratch!

Replica No. 3 immediately began equipping every item scavenged from Huang Qi that it could carry.

The new Mirror Replica stood at the ready in full alert.

Meanwhile, Replica No. 1 on the rooftop put on a panicked face, fully diving into his role as the drama king:

“We’re screwed, we’re screwed! Bro Chao, what now?! Are you really confident you can beat that Xing Man?”

“How about this—go camp outside my room right now. The moment Xing Man shows up, just one-shot him on the spot?”

But as soon as he said that, Jiang Ye thought, nah, not good enough.

What if Yang Wenchao loses it too—kills Xing Man, then decides to break into his room next?

So maybe... maybe the best outcome is that Yang Wenchao and Xing Man actually go for mutual destruction, take each other out?

Wait, no.

Jiang Ye reconsidered—the real priority now was this:

Figure out what the hell is going on with these rooms.

Guys like Xing Man, Huang Qi, and those maniacs trying to wipe out their entire apartment—

How exactly are they getting into other people’s rooms to kill them?

And for the players inside those rooms—is there any way to stop them from breaking in?

On one hand, his main body needed protection from any potential intrusions.

On the other, if his No. 2 Replica from the cross-apartment wanted to go full slaughter mode,

it’d be best if he could learn how to break into other players’ rooms too.

His face looked panicked, but in his mind, he was running through every possibility.

Suddenly, he felt a hand press down on his shoulder.

It was Yang Wenchao—calm as ever—as he rested a hand there and said casually,

“Chill, bro!”

“You really think Xing Man’s not coming to the rooftop because of something like ‘saving face’?”

“He just doesn’t know how strong I am.”

“But to be fair, I don’t know how strong he is either.”

“So when he tells me to go to your room to meet him, of course I’m gonna reject it—for ‘face,’ you know?”

Sure enough, as he was saying that, Yang Wenchao also replied to Xing Man in the chat:

【Heh. You tell me to come over, and I just come? What, I got no self-respect now?】

That one line.

Suddenly, Jiang Ye saw the whole situation clearly!

So that’s how it is!

These two guys, barking at each other in the chat like rabid dogs,

Acting like they could one-shot the other without breaking a sweat!

But in reality…

They were both just probing, bluffing,

And neither one actually intended to make the first move!

Using “face” as an excuse to tell the other to come find them,

While avoiding making a move themselves.

Which meant, in practice, neither one was actually planning to make a move on the other!

So on the surface, it looked like they were moments away from an all-out duel to the death.

But in reality, neither had any intention of fighting—at least, not yet.

Still, dragging this out wasn’t a real solution either.

They’d have to face each other sooner or later, right?

Jiang Ye looked at Yang Wenchao, a bit puzzled.

Yang Wenchao narrowed his eyes, then smiled and said,

“If I really had to face Xing Man, I’m pretty confident. Not 100%, but I’ve got a shot.”

“For now, while we’ve got time, might as well keep boosting my strength.”

“I figure he’s probably thinking the same thing.”

“So it’s a race to see who can power up faster.”

As he spoke, Yang Wenchao waved his hand and pulled out that poster of his.

After thinking for a moment, he said seriously,

“Your room’s been exposed to Xing Man now, so it’s definitely not safe anymore.”

“Actually, this whole Beginner Apartment isn’t safe anywhere.”

After another pause, he continued:

“Right now, if you want to stay alive, you basically only have two options—”

“First, cancel the lease.”

“That means giving up your place at Room 2025 and renting a new room.”

“Then, keep that new room number a secret—tell no one.”

“In fact, if you’ve got the money, you could rent on a higher floor—like the 30th, 40th, or even 50th!”

“At those heights, no other player can even reach them for now.

And if the room number stays hidden, you’ll be basically safe.”

“But here’s the harsh truth—”

“You’re broke! Totally poor!”

“And the Apartment Administrator on the first floor is probably being watched by Xing Man’s lackeys.”

“If you try to do a lease transfer down there, it’s gonna be risky as hell!”

“So basically, you’ve only got one other option…”

Jiang Ye listened carefully, thinking Yang Wenchao’s second option was going to be something like teaming up.

He was already wondering whether he should join up with him.

After all, it sounded like Yang Wenchao was about to make a major power-up soon.

If they worked together, maybe he could pick up a few tricks on how to get stronger fast.

At the very least, he’d gain some valuable experience.

But sticking close to Yang Wenchao would definitely be dangerous.

Plus, there was a high chance of his Replicas being exposed too…

He still hadn’t made up his mind.

What caught Jiang Ye off guard was…

Yang Wenchao’s second option wasn’t teaming up with him at all!

It was—

“The situation’s a bit special right now.”

“That woman in white went chasing after the bald guy.”

“She might not be back for a while.”

“So for now, you can hide in her room.”

“You know which one it is, right?”

That stunned Jiang Ye. “You want me to hide in her room? Is... is that even possible??”

Yang Wenchao raised a brow. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Aren’t you working there as a cleaner?”

“The cleaning order on your badge should still be marked as 【Incomplete】, right?”

“With that, plus the fact that she left in a hurry and didn’t give any instructions, her dumb personal assistant bot at home probably won’t reject your visit request.”

“And if she suddenly comes back, you can just explain that you were waiting for her to confirm the order since it wasn’t completed.”

“Sure, waiting in someone’s home just to confirm an order sounds pretty dumb and suspicious.”

“But you already look dumb enough, so she won’t doubt you.”

…??

“And that woman’s room was originally NPC housing, so Xing Man and his lackeys likely won’t break in.”

“So before she returns, your safety should be guaranteed.”

Uhh…

That actually… kind of made sense?

But Jiang Ye still couldn’t help but be suspicious—

Was Yang Wenchao trying to screw him over again?

As he hesitated, Yang Wenchao cut straight to the point:

“I gave you the analysis. What you choose is your business.”

“Either way, I’m not gonna be responsible for whether you live or die.”

“If you don’t want to go to the white-dressed woman’s room and would rather wander aimlessly around the apartment, that’s your call too.”

“But tagging along with me and slowing me down? Forget it. Not happening!”

“……”

D*mn!

So cold! So heartless! QAQ

Just wait till my bald bro comes back—I’ll totally ride his coattails and throw my weight around!

Jiang Ye had his little mental drama moment.

But he also understood clearly now—

While Yang Wenchao made it sound like he was giving options, he really had no intention of helping him.

What Jiang Ye chose was completely up to him.

All Yang Wenchao gave was a suggestion…

He didn’t even wait for Jiang Ye to decide—

He just grabbed his hand and slammed it onto the poster.

The next thing Jiang Ye knew, it felt like he was yanked right into the poster.

He stumbled, and the surroundings instantly changed.

He was now in the stairwell on the 20th floor.

Yang Wenchao left him with one final line:

“Live or die, it’s all up to your luck.”

Then he vanished with a flash.

This No. 1 Replica of Jiang Ye’s was seriously weak.

He didn’t dare stay in the stairwell and bolted straight toward Room 2025.

At this point, Xing Man hadn’t made it to the 20th floor yet.

After Yang Wenchao’s “saving face” reply in the chat, the two had exchanged a few more cocky lines.

Then Xing Man started acting on his previously recited “death list”!

As of now, Ge Zining from 0602 and Yang Wei from 0836 had already “gone offline.”

And right before they died, it seemed they too were forced by Xing Man to post begging messages in the group chat.

From their messages, you could tell—they died in utter despair and pain, tormented to the end.

Xing Man, on the other hand, seemed to be getting a kick out of this live death-by-text thing.

Just as Jiang Ye’s Replica was about to reach Room 2025, he saw Xing Man’s arrogant message in the chat:

【Who’s next, I wonder?】

【Oh, little Bai Ruowan from 1208.】

【That name sounds like a girl, huh?】

【Tsk tsk, I’ll have to be extra gentle with girls.】

Just four short lines,

But every word practically screamed “psycho.”

The fear spread like wildfire through the entire Beginner Apartment via the chat group.

At this moment, most of the students were shivering in utter despair!

They didn’t dare speak in the chat, but in their hearts, they were cursing—

Why?!

Why is “saving face” so damn important to Yang Wenchao?!

Wouldn’t the gratitude he’d get for killing Xing Man be more rewarding than this so-called “face” crap?

Or maybe… was Yang Wenchao just bluffing all along? Maybe he actually had no confidence in beating Xing Man, so he used “face” as an excuse?

But if that was the case, then what were the rest of them supposed to do…

They were all going to die, weren’t they…

If only heaven would send someone to kill Xing Man!

Where was that VIP player who initiated the Apartment Fusion?

Didn’t she have special privileges?

Couldn’t she use one of them to pull something off and save the rest of the players here?

This feeling of being consumed and drowned by the fear of death was too much to bear!

Many students had already sunk into hopelessness, not even knowing where to place their final hope.

They used to whine about the overpriced food in the Low-End Mall,

Back when they were just hungry, that already felt like suffering;

But now, they were realizing—

There’s a kind of despair even worse than going hungry.

They used to think nothing was harder than senior year of high school.

Now, faced with the threat of death, they were actually longing for the exam room they once dreaded…

【Knock knock knock—】

【Miss Bai Ruowan, it’s your turn to open the door now~】

Xing Man’s twisted “live broadcast” continued.

Jiang Ye’s No. 1 Replica finally made it back to Room 2025.

First thing he did—

Pulled out the Attribute Fruits from his Spatial Ring and started feeding them to his paralyzed main body one by one!

The first Black Iron-tier Stamina Fruit increased his Stamina by 0.5;

But the second one only added 0.4.

Then came the Bronze-tier Stamina Fruit.

Jiang Ye had assumed it would boost Stamina by a full 5 points—

After all, the Bronze-tier fruit cost 10 times more than the Black Iron-tier!

But in the end, the Bronze-tier Stamina Fruit only increased Stamina by 1 point!

Which meant, after eating 3 Attribute Fruits and blowing 120,000 game coins...

His Stamina had only gone up by 1.9!

He ate 3 Energy Fruits too—and the result was the same.

A total increase of just 1.9 Energy.

Jiang Ye started to form a theory—

These Attribute Fruits probably had a usage limit.

After all, the first and second Black Iron-tier fruits had different effects.

And the effect clearly didn’t match the price.

If each fruit gave a flat boost—0.5 from Black Iron-tier and 1 from Bronze-tier—

Then the price difference between them should only be double.

But they were ten times apart.

So it must be due to a usage cap.

Maybe if he took a third Black Iron-tier fruit, the boost would drop to just 0.3.

By the sixth one, it might not give any boost at all.

With that in mind, the Silver-tier Attribute Fruit, priced at a whopping 5 million, might not be as powerful as he’d thought.

But then again, it made sense.

If there were no restrictions on these fruits, people could just go on killing sprees, rack up Survival Points, trade them for cash, and eat Attribute Fruits nonstop until they became invincible.

Thinking along those lines, Jiang Ye suddenly had a pleasant surprise—

Normal players might hit a limit with Attribute Fruits...

But he wouldn’t!

Because he had Infinite Replication!

Once one Replica hit the fruit limit, he could just swap in a new one to keep going!

And with Replica Fusion on top of that…

Wasn’t that basically the same as having no limits at all?!

Of course, that was something to plan for later.

Right now, he was down to just 20,000 in the bank!

Even so, he still didn’t plan to trade Survival Points for money.

Instead, he transferred the Survival Points earned by his No. 1 Replica from killing Tang Xuan to the main body.

After the main body gained roughly 2 more attribute points, it generated a fourth Replica!

And these four Replicas would likely be his limit for today.

By midnight, he’d have to pick one to merge back and boost his main body’s stats significantly,

So he could generate even more Replicas the next day.

Thinking that through—

He realized that before fusing the chosen Replica,

He should probably stuff it full of Attribute Fruits to the limit.

Which meant buying Black Iron- to Silver-tier Attribute Fruits in bulk—

Another massive spending spree!

Especially since the Silver-tier ones cost a staggering 5 million each!

Still…

His cross-apartment No. 2 Replica was already causing a stir over in Apartment 9999.

Just like when Huang Qi and Yu Xiangming had suddenly dropped into their apartment.

Now, with Jiang Ye dropping into Apartment 9999,

He naturally drew the attention of the players there as well.

But what they were fixated on was—

【What the hell is this?! A measly Level 1 player dares to move across apartments?!】