“The fifth lab rat.”  

“Jiang Ran, male, 23 years old, a super workhorse holding multiple roles. Although he was trapped here by us, we discovered he used to draw comics. Although he stopped updating, if he can survive for more than a day, ten thousand yuan will be sent to him through the comic channel as a comic reward.”  

Jiang Ran’s profile and photo appeared on the electronic big screen.  

After seeing Jiang Ran’s photo, many comments popped up in the live chat room.  

They all said Jiang Ran looked a bit handsome or something like that.  

The long-haired beauty no longer held the tablet but put it down.  

She smiled at a black camera and said with a gentle smile:  

“Now, the 25th round of five lab rats has been fully introduced.”  

“Dear members, please start placing your bets. The minimum bet amount cannot be less than 100,000 yuan!”  

After this announcement, everyone in the live chat began placing bets while discussing at the same time.  

About half an hour later, betting ended.  

The long-haired beauty waved her right hand, and the electronic big screen behind her showed the previous five people including Jiang Ran, with their avatars arranged vertically from top to bottom.  

They formed a table.  

The long-haired beauty looked at the table and said:  

“The first lab rat, Qin Fei, received a total betting amount of 10.99 million yuan.”  

“The second lab rat, Wang Xixi, received a total betting amount of 50.98 million yuan.”  

“The third lab rat, Murong Fu, received a total betting amount of 66.23 million yuan.”  

“The fourth lab rat, Xiao Nuo, received a total betting amount of 5.67 million yuan.”  

“The fifth lab rat, Jiang Ran, received a total betting amount of 1.08 million yuan.”  

Everyone in the live chat can only bet on one of the five lab rats.  

There is no limit on the betting amount.  

The minimum is 100,000 yuan. You cannot bet 101,000 or 105,000 yuan—you must bet directly 110,000 or more.  

Whoever among the five lab rats survives until the very end, being the last to die,  

those who bet on him will not only get back their own bets but also take all the money wagered on the other lab rats.  

From this table,  

betting on Murong Fu, who is expected to survive the longest and die last, has the highest amount.  

Betting on Jiang Ran has the lowest amount.  

But this does not necessarily mean Jiang Ran’s bettors are few.  

After all, it is possible that a member, a rich sponsor, is very optimistic about a certain lab rat and bets a large sum of money.  

While some lab rats have many bettors, these sponsors are just testing their luck and only bet the minimum 100,000 yuan.  

Therefore, after checking the amounts, the long-haired beauty began to announce how many people bet on each lab rat.  

Of course, the situation just described rarely happens.  

Basically, the more money bet, the more people have bet.  

After all, no lunatic would blindly throw too much money on a lab rat with zero certainty.  

Unless you are a star player.  

For example, that guy who survived three rounds.  

Next, the long-haired beauty checked the number of bettors.  

Sure enough, the lab rat with the least amount had the fewest bettors, and the one with the most money also had the most bettors.  

The one with the most is the third lab rat, Murong Fu, who received the highest amount of bets.  

The one with the fewest is Jiang Ran.  

Jiang Ran only had six bettors.  

Among them, five people only bet the minimum amount of 100,000 yuan each.  

That adds up to 500,000 yuan.  

This means the remaining 580,000 yuan was bet by one person.  

The long-haired beauty could check who placed that bet.  

She found that the person who bet 580,000 yuan was a user named Diamond Bachelor.  

The long-haired beauty could see it.  

Others watching the live stream could also see it.  

When the viewers saw Diamond Bachelor bet 580,000 yuan on Jiang Ran, the live chat exploded.  

Not because of anything else, but because Diamond Bachelor had won more than he lost in the previous 24 rounds of betting.  

He was a constant winner.  

There was a leaderboard showing who among the bettors had won the most money in total.  

Diamond Bachelor was far ahead in a broken, uncontested lead.  

He was called the gambling god by the people in the live chat.  

Even though none of the people in this “Distant Relatives Are Not As Good As Close Neighbors” game’s live chat were ordinary.  

Everyone’s true identity was either a big business owner or a super wealthy second or third-generation heir.  

They all had pride in their hearts, looking down on others.  

But in this matter, they all sincerely respected Diamond Bachelor.  

Then someone asked:  

“Brother Wang, why are you betting on Jiang Ran? This guy was dragged in here by force, a total newbie who knows nothing, no caution at all. He’ll definitely be the first to die. Even if he’s lucky, he can’t be the last to die among the five! So what’s your reasoning behind betting on him?”  

Diamond Bachelor rarely spoke in the live chat, but if someone asked him something valuable, he would answer.  

He said: “Intuition, a man’s sixth sense.”  

Domineering Female CEO: “Last time you said the same thing. So are you saying all your successful bets are thanks to a man’s sixth sense? Then why is my woman’s sixth sense never right?”  

Little Dragon Girl: “Don’t worry, Female CEO Sister, this time Brother Wang will definitely fail. His sixth sense will be 100% wrong!”  

Fairy Sister: “Yes, I just don’t believe his sixth sense will still be right this time. After all, he’s had misses before!”  

Although he won more than he lost, this time Diamond Bachelor bet on Jiang Ran, a newbie forced in.  

So everyone else in the live chat thought Brother Wang would mess up.  

Therefore, they all felt gleeful about it.  

At this moment,  

the long-haired beauty cleared her throat and continued:  

“Since betting is complete, the 25th round of the ‘Distant Relatives Are Not As Good As Close Neighbors’ game officially begins!”  

After finishing, the long-haired beauty disappeared into the surrounding darkness, as if swallowed by black ink.  

But the electronic big screen behind her did not lose its glow; instead, it showed a live image.  

In the image was Jiang Ran, who had just entered the apartment building.  

...  

Jiang Ran carried a large backpack and pulled a suitcase. Upon entering the apartment building, he was immediately attracted by the pleasant interior decoration.  

At this moment, a series of hurried footsteps, “da da,” approached.  

A young man in his twenties rushed out of a room and hurried over.  

Upon reaching Jiang Ran, he immediately introduced himself and handed over a white business card.  

“Hello, Mr. Jiang Ran.”  

“I am the administrator of Alice Apartment. You can call me Xiao Zhang.”  

Jiang Ran looked at Xiao Zhang in front of him, who seemed about the same age.  

He looked ordinary, always smiling kindly, wearing a black uniform.  

Jiang Ran took the business card and glanced at it. It had Xiao Zhang’s name, job title, and phone number.  

“If you have any problems in the apartment later, you can call me directly or come downstairs to find me. I live there.”  

Seeing Jiang Ran take the card, Xiao Zhang continued to introduce himself and pointed behind him, where his usual residence seemed to be.  

“Alright, got it. By the way, my name is Jiang Ran. You don’t need to use honorifics with me. We’re all equals.”  

Jiang Ran gave a warm smile toward the administrator Xiao Zhang.