【Ding!】

【Warning: Package No. 10086 under your responsibility has been illegally opened. Your work badge has been automatically reported as lost!】

【Please retrieve the package and complete the delivery before midnight, or you will be required to pay a lost package compensation fee of 12,600!】

【If the compensation fee is not paid by midnight, 1 Survival Point will be deducted!】

【If Survival Points reach a negative value, the player will be erased!】

【If more than three packages are lost, this work badge will be permanently banned!】

One after another, these notifications popped up on Jiang Ye’s work badge and echoed directly in his mind.

The warning matched exactly what Gao Chang and Ding Deng had mentioned before.

Except for one thing—

His compensation fee was a whopping 12,600!

That was 4,000 more than what had left Ding Deng in despair!

But Jiang Ye was already 125,000 in debt to the apartment.

Another 12,600 wasn’t going to make much of a difference.

He quickly steadied himself and focused his gaze on the contents of the package.

Inside the cardboard box was a palm-sized, dark silver sphere.

It had a metallic texture with a futuristic, high-tech feel.

It was surprisingly heavy in his hand, giving off a solid, weighted presence.

Aside from that, there was a small protrusion at the bottom of the sphere.

When Jiang Ye accidentally touched it, the sphere suddenly emitted a sound:

“Ding! Would you like to input your fingerprint to bind this product?”

The unexpected voice startled Jiang Ye.

He immediately glanced around with heightened vigilance.

Only after confirming that no one was nearby did he cautiously whisper, “Yes.”

“Ding! Fingerprint input in progress…”

“Ding! Intelligent Assistant is binding…”

“Ding! Your personal assistant has been created. Initial designation: ‘Little Bing.’ Would you like to customize the name?”

As soon as the phrase “Personal Assistant has been created” was spoken—

The sleek, high-tech sphere suddenly sprouted a head and four limbs!

Its round little head was only slightly smaller than its body, and a miniature display screen lit up on its face.

At that moment, the screen displayed a cheerful emoticon: (^▽^)

At the same time, a childlike, joyful voice rang out:

“Master! Master! I’m your personal assistant, Little Bing! Would you like to customize my settings now?”

Jiang Ye heard the words “personal assistant” and immediately felt his heart sink.

He had risked everything to steal this package because he needed to increase his combat power as quickly as possible!

This wasn’t some vacation resort—it was a survival apartment!

What the hell did he need a personal assistant for?!

What he wanted was real combat strength!

And now, he was 12,600 in debt because of this tiny thing?!

Jiang Ye felt a wave of deep disappointment.

He didn’t even have much of a life, so why would he care about customizing a life assistant?

Skipping the customization step entirely, he asked bluntly, “Little Bing, tell me exactly what you can do.”

“I can provide basic housekeeping services, such as cleaning and garbage disposal.”

“I can also provide emotional support, including singing, chatting, and telling jokes.”

“Oh! Here’s my status panel, Master—please take a look!”

As it spoke, Little Bing’s display screen showed its stats:

【Little Bing】

【Level: 0】

【Stamina: 1】

【Energy: 1】

【Combat Power: 2】

【Ability: None】

【Skill: Detection (E)】

Seeing this data panel, Jiang Ye’s heart sank even further.

This tiny thing… with a combat power of 2… was completely useless!

Housekeeping? Emotional support?

That was absolutely useless in his current situation!

However, a sudden thought crossed his mind, and he hurriedly asked, “Can you go to the service station, pick up a work badge, and do cleaning jobs?”

Little Bing blinked its digital eyes playfully. “Nope~”

“Little Bing’s cleaning abilities are too basic and cannot replace professional cleaning staff.”

“Also, since I am not a living being, I cannot obtain a work badge.”

“That means I can’t do Errands, Tutoring, or any specialized services.”

“……”

Jiang Ye was utterly crushed.

As a last resort, he asked, “Do you have any combat abilities at all?”

“Hmm…”

Little Bing hesitated for a moment before replying cautiously:

“Little Bing has a ‘Self-Destruct’ ability, which can instantly kill any player with a combat power of 10 or below.”

“Against players with a combat power of 20 or below, it can cause serious injuries.”

“However, once the ‘Self-Destruct’ function is activated, Little Bing will be permanently destroyed…”

As it spoke, its display screen even showed a crying emoticon: o(╥﹏╥)o

Hearing this information, Jiang Ye finally felt a tiny bit of relief.

At least… this self-destruct ability could serve as a trump card in a desperate situation.

But compared to the 12,600 price tag, it still felt incredibly unworthy.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it now.

The package was already opened—he couldn’t just shove it back inside and return it…

Wait.

Or could he?

Jiang Ye’s eyes flashed as he suddenly asked Little Bing, “Do you know if an already opened package can be repacked and delivered?”

“Uh…”

Little Bing’s display screen showed an utterly stunned expression (ΩДΩ) before quickly responding:

“Generally speaking, as long as the contents have not been used and the recipient does not refuse the package, it can be repacked and delivered.”

Contents must not show signs of use…

Jiang Ye’s gaze turned to Little Bing again.

“Can the signs of you being used be erased?”

“Uh (ΩДΩ)…”

“Master, you can unbind me, but as an AI assistant, any signs of use cannot be erased.”

"Unless you return me to the original factory for a factory reset."

After this conversation, Jiang Ye suddenly realized that Little Bing wasn’t completely useless.

At the very least, it seemed to know a lot.

So, he casually asked, “Do you know where your original factory is?”

Little Bing seemed confused. Its display screen showed a puzzled expression:

“The original factory? Of course, it’s at the original factory.”

“……”

Jiang Ye was speechless. “No, what I mean is… uh, is your original factory also an apartment?”

“No. The place I was created isn’t called an apartment. It’s called a factory. Factories and apartments are different types of buildings.”

A factory… an apartment…

So, outside of this Doomsday Apartment survival game, there were other buildings?

But this wasn’t something Jiang Ye could look into at this stage.

There was no point overthinking it now.

After hiding the mini robot on his person, he returned to the Errands service station to take his second delivery job.

Now that he knew packages could be repacked and redelivered as long as they weren’t visibly used, he was much bolder.

At the same time, since losing more than three packages would result in a permanent ban, he had to be strategic.

This time, he picked a package destined for the 18th floor.

Higher floor, higher value!

With luck, he might get an item that could instantly skyrocket his strength!

If not… with the massive debt he had, he might not even survive today!

Jiang Ye repeated his trick and carried the package into the stairwell.

This time, he didn’t even bother climbing to the 6th floor.

He stopped at the third-floor landing, between the third and fourth floors.

Before opening the package, he scanned his surroundings again.

At the same time, he casually checked the chat group.

And what he saw was another shocking message!

【What the hell?! Why is another person missing from the chat?!】

【It’s Cai Daming from Class 1! I remember he took an Errands job!】

【What do you mean?! Are you saying Errands might be dangerous too??】

【Maybe he went exploring somewhere mid-delivery and ran into danger?】

【No clue! And we still haven’t found the bodies of Fan Yuhang or Chen Yuan! We don’t even know how they died!】

【I’m getting more and more scared… What do we do? I want to go home… I want my parents… sob sob…】

【For f***’s sake, stop crying! Is crying going to solve anything? Your parents aren’t here—no one’s going to comfort you!】

【Everyone, just be careful while working! Focus on making enough for rent and improving your strength—things should get better later!】

【But still… Cai Daming should’ve at least sent a message before he died! That way, we’d at least know how he died!】

【Maybe the danger was too sudden—he didn’t have time to send anything.】

【Sh*t! If it’s that kind of danger, then we’re all doomed if we run into it!】

The chatroom was filled with fear and anxiety.

Some of the more timid girls had already started crying out of fear.

Even Jiang Ye felt a weight settle in his chest.

At the same time, his determination to grow stronger as soon as possible became even more intense.

Meanwhile, his main body, still wearing the disguise mask and appearing bald, went to the Errands service station to collect a work badge.

Naturally, this attracted the attention of the other Errands workers.

However, no one dared cause trouble.

They only whispered about the bald man in the chat group but didn’t actually do anything.

Thus, Jiang Ye’s disguised main body successfully obtained a work badge and his first Errands job.

At the same time—

His Replica smoothly opened the second package.

This time, the compensation fee was a staggering 26,000!

Inside the cardboard box was a jet-black dagger.

The blade looked razor-sharp, with a faint red glow shimmering along its edge.

Jiang Ye’s mind lit up.

He immediately pulled Little Bing from his hiding place and commanded, “Little Bing, use your Detection skill to analyze this dagger.”

“Yes, Master!”

Little Bing agreed cheerfully.

A moment later, its mini display screen showed the dagger’s details:

【Poison Blade Blood Dagger】

【Stamina +4】

【Energy +2】

【Poison Attack +10】

【Chance to trigger: “Deadly Poison” and “Bleeding” effects.】

Hiss…

Jiang Ye took a sharp breath.

This dagger was way better than the disguise mask he got from the Bronze Treasure Chest!

Not only did it boost his stats more, but it also added Poison-type attacks!

And it even had a chance to trigger Deadly Poison and Bleeding!

Although he wasn’t sure how those effects worked exactly…

At this stage, most beginner players were unarmed.

To put it bluntly, except for a few strong ones, almost everyone else was a weakling!

With this dagger, Jiang Ye could instantly surpass 99% of the students!

Even in the Duel Room, his chances of winning were far greater than losing!

However, just as he was about to pull out the Poison Blade Blood Dagger in excitement…

A voice suddenly rang out from the stairwell above, on the 4th floor.

“Oh~ not bad. Looks like you got yourself a strong weapon.”