When Jiang Ye first glanced at it, he thought it was just a decorative bronze box.

He almost ignored it completely.

But then he realized—that bronze texture didn’t match the luxurious aesthetic of the walk-in closet at all.

That’s when he took a second look.

After pulling it out, he discovered—

It was a Bronze Treasure Chest!

To think that Wang Lingling’s reward for being the first to reach Level 1 was only a Black Iron Treasure Chest…

Yet Jiang Ye had casually found a Bronze Treasure Chest right inside his apartment!

His first thought was that it might be a trap.

But after carefully checking, he found no hidden dangers.

Just to be safe, he grabbed a clothes-drying rod, hid behind the kitchen island counter, and activated the chest from a distance.

With a soft ding, the treasure chest opened—still no danger.

Inside the chest lay a black mask.

Without a skill for appraisal, Jiang Ye had no way of knowing what effects the mask had.

Meanwhile, his replica had followed Lu Shen and Bai Ruowan to the first-floor gathering point.

The first floor of the apartment didn’t have any residential units.

Instead, it resembled a hotel lobby, with a massive open space.

The students who had come to gather were all assembled in the main hall.

Near the apartment entrance, there was a reception desk.

Seated there was a cold-faced middle-aged man—likely the legendary Apartment Administrator.

A large group of students, led by Wang Lingling and Gao Chang, were gathered at the front desk, seemingly negotiating with the administrator.

When Jiang Ye and the other two arrived at the hall, they weren’t able to head directly to the reception desk.

They were stopped by You Ziyu, a Class 2 student.

He introduced himself as the designated record keeper assigned by Wang Lingling, responsible for logging the player panels and apartment numbers of new members joining the Unity and Cooperation Team.

Lu Shen, being a popular top student, had no problem getting along with people.

After agreeing to have his information recorded, he casually asked You Ziyu:

"Can we check the records?"

You Ziyu nodded readily:

"Of course!"

"Sister Ling and Chang-ge made it very clear—our Unity and Cooperation Team is all about sharing information and resources."

"So, the records are basically open for everyone to see."

Perhaps because Lu Shen and Bai Ruowan’s player panels were quite good, You Ziyu was surprisingly enthusiastic, even offering a quick rundown:

"So far, I’ve recorded the panels of over thirty students. The majority have C-tier or D-tier abilities—around twenty or so in total!"

"Among them, quite a few didn’t even unlock any skills!"

"As for E-tier and F-tier abilities, there are three students, none of whom unlocked a skill. They’re basically useless."

"In comparison, Lu God and Jiang Ye, you two are actually doing pretty well—you both at least unlocked some decent skills."

"Especially you, Lu God! You even got a C-tier skill—you’re definitely the strongest among the C-tier ability users!"

"In fact, in the early stages, you might even be stronger than some B-tier ability users!"

"Right now, among the thirty-plus members in our group, you should rank in the top five!"

Clearly, You Ziyu had a high opinion of Lu Shen.

Jiang Ye, on the other hand, was a bit surprised.

Lu Shen… actually ranked in the top five?

If that was the case, then his own C-tier ability with a D-tier skill might actually be above average.

Lu Shen was also surprised.

Glancing at the records, he quickly noticed—

Among the thirty-plus students, only one had an A-tier ability!

And that student had only unlocked a single C-tier skill.

As for B-tier abilities, excluding Bai Ruowan, there were only five students.

Yet four of them had only D-tier skills.

Only one had managed to unlock a C-tier skill.

If ranking purely based on skill levels—Lu Shen actually did rank in the top five!

Realizing this, his frustration about awakening a C-tier ability instantly disappeared.

So what if his ability rank was low?

His comprehension was top-tier—he was already stronger than most of the so-called "higher-ranked" ability users!

But then, Lu Shen couldn’t help but sigh:

"Looking at this… our Unity and Cooperation Team is actually kinda weak."

"In eight days, the veteran players will arrive—are we really going to be able to handle that?"

You Ziyu also sighed:

"Ugh… let’s worry about that when the time comes."

"Besides, we only have thirty-plus members now. If more people join later, maybe we’ll get some strong ones."

While Lu Shen and You Ziyu were talking, Jiang Ye subtly glanced through the records.

Among the thirty-plus students, most had either Elemental Affinity or Enhancement-type abilities.

The Elemental Affinity types were mostly gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, with corresponding skills.

The Enhancement types included abilities like Stamina Enhancement and Energy Enhancement, which boosted attributes.

There were also a few unique ones:

"Vision Enhancement", which came with a detection skill.

"Hearing Enhancement", but that student didn’t unlock a skill.

"Sound Enhancement", which granted a sonic attack skill.

"Combat Mastery", which seemed to be a combat-enhancing ability and came with a skill called "Desperate Strike".

The most unusual of them all was Xiao Likun’s ability—"Comprehension Enhancement."

Jiang Ye hadn’t expected even comprehension to be an ability!

He wondered—would one of his future replicas eventually awaken "Comprehension Enhancement"?

But strangely enough, despite enhancing comprehension, Xiao Likun hadn’t unlocked any skills.

Maybe he had the potential but lacked a compatible ability?

If Xiao Likun could obtain another ability, his potential might be limitless.

But for now, there were still too many unknowns.

Nobody knew if it was possible to acquire additional abilities, or whether ability ranks could be upgraded.

Regardless, after reviewing the records, Lu Shen looked much more confident.

Even You Ziyu showed him extra respect.

"By the way, Lu God, did you find a Black Iron Treasure Chest in your apartment?"

Hearing this, Jiang Ye immediately perked up.

Lu Shen, on the other hand, was stunned.

"Wait—what?! There are treasure chests in the apartments?!"

"Sh*t! I didn’t see anything!"

"Damn it! Why didn’t anyone mention this in the chat group?! I need to go back and check right now!"

"Hey! Lu God, calm down!" You Ziyu said with a laugh. "Not everyone gets one."

"So far, out of our thirty-plus members, only Xu Yuewan from Class 1 found a Black Iron Treasure Chest in her apartment."

"Her chest contained a red fruit. She was afraid it might be poisonous, so she didn’t eat it right away."

"But when she brought it to the team, Chen Yuchen used a detection skill and confirmed—it was a Spirit Fruit that increased Energy."

"And Sister Ling and Chang-ge were really fair about it—they didn’t try to take it from her."

"After eating it, Xu Yuewan’s Energy stat increased by 0.5 points!"

"Other students went back to search, but no one else found a chest."

"So Chang-ge guessed that treasure chests must have a really low spawn rate."

"But there are a lot of rooms on each floor of the apartment, and we newbie players only occupy 80 of them."

"So, there could be treasure chests scattered in other rooms as well!"

Hearing this, Lu Shen’s mind immediately started racing.

"But if there are treasure chests in other rooms… there could also be dangers, right?"

"Could it be that Wang Lingling leveled up by going into other rooms and fighting monsters?"

"Well…" You Ziyu shook his head. "Actually, Sister Ling hasn’t revealed the secret to leveling up yet. She said she’d wait until more people gathered before explaining everything at once."

"But from what I gathered, it doesn’t seem like she leveled up by exploring rooms and killing monsters."

"Also, it looks like she won’t be able to reach Level 2 anytime soon."

"She’s curious about what’s inside the other rooms too, so right now, she’s negotiating with the Apartment Administrator."

"If she confirms that it’s safe, she’ll probably start organizing teams to explore the rooms and search for more treasure chests."

At this point, Jiang Ye, who had been quiet the entire time, suddenly asked:

"Are all the treasure chests filled with useful items?"

"Could there be some that contain hidden dangers?"

Hearing this, You Ziyu narrowed his eyes and studied Jiang Ye carefully.

Instead of answering, he asked a question in return:

"What’s this? Did you find a treasure chest in your apartment too?"

Jiang Ye quickly shook his head:

"No, I was just thinking… This apartment we’ve been transported to should have dangers, right? But so far, we haven’t really encountered any threats."

Lu Shen nodded in agreement:

"Exactly. The initial announcement literally called this place the ‘Doomsday Apartment’—with a name like that, there should be tons of dangers, right? Like a Resident Evil-style disaster or something?"

"But up until now, we haven’t run into anything dangerous at all."

Bai Ruowan innocently chimed in:

"But this is just the Newbie Apartment, right? Maybe it’s normal for there to be no real danger?"

You Ziyu nodded as well:

"That’s what I’m thinking. Plus, we’re not totally safe! Didn’t the announcement say that failing to pay rent means getting erased?"

Saying that, he turned back to Jiang Ye:

"Jiang Ye, your room number is 2025. That means you’re on the 20th floor, right?"

Jiang Ye nodded: "Yeah."

"Then your room is the highest floor I’ve recorded so far. How much is your daily rent?"

Jiang Ye was silent for a moment.

Then, he calmly answered:

"125,000."

???

As soon as that number dropped, You Ziyu, Bai Ruowan, and Lu Shen all froze in shock.

Bai Ruowan exclaimed:

"That expensive?! I thought the ones in the group chat saying their rent was in the thousands were already ridiculously high!"

"But yours is over a hundred thousand?!"

"You, you, you—there’s no way you’re keeping that, right? You have to cancel the lease!"

Jiang Ye nodded.

But before he could say anything, You Ziyu’s face turned serious:

"In your case… I’m afraid canceling the lease won’t be that simple."