No!

Xiao Likun suddenly realized something—

Previously, some classmates had discovered Black Iron Treasure Chests in their apartments.

But out of all of them, only a small handful had found treasure chests.

And now, after watching so many battles, Xiao Likun was starting to suspect—

What if every apartment room on the 20th floor and above had a guaranteed treasure chest?

Maybe even a Bronze Treasure Chest, a tier higher than Black Iron?!

Hiss…

If that were true…

Then while players on the 20th floor and above had higher rent, they also had far better perks!

Before, Xiao Likun had thought that most players on higher floors wouldn’t survive the day.

But now, thinking about it—he was actually a little jealous!

At the same time, another thought crossed his mind—

Jiang Ye had started on the 20th floor. Did his apartment have a treasure chest too?

Did he not find it, or did he find it but keep quiet?

With this in mind, Xiao Likun suddenly felt—

Maybe Ding Deng’s death wasn’t so unfair after all.

Jiang Ye had started on the 20th floor, had a C-tier ability, had opened packages, and had opened a treasure chest.

He even leveled up to 1!

His strength was already among the top in both classes!

But then—

You Ziyu had mentioned before that Jiang Ye’s loan limit was only 50,000.

Surviving past today would still be incredibly difficult for him.

Xiao Likun’s thoughts began to stir—

If Jiang Ye didn’t make it through the night…

What would happen to his treasure chest items?

—

While he was deep in thought, the battle on screen between the bald guy and the delivery rider had reached a stalemate.

It was clear that the bald guy had high stats—he kept dodging the delivery rider’s massive battle axe.

But the delivery rider’s teleportation skill made it impossible for the bald guy to land a hit on him.

The two exchanged attacks, yet neither could touch the other.

But the stalemate wouldn’t last forever.

Combat consumed Stamina and Energy.

And neither of their skills could be used endlessly.

—

Inside the arena, Jiang Ye was starting to feel impatient.

Both Absolute Focus and Combat Stance had a time limit and a long cooldown.

In most battles, he could only use them once!

If he didn’t end the fight quickly…

Once the skill durations ran out, his boosted attributes would drop sharply.

His combat awareness would also take a serious hit!

At that point, he might actually lose to the delivery rider!

—

At the same time, the delivery rider was also growing anxious.

His teleportation ability drained Energy,

And swinging around a heavy battle axe burned through Stamina at an alarming rate!

If he couldn’t finish the fight quickly, it wouldn’t end well for him either!

—

Watching from the screen, Xiao Likun could feel the tension from both fighters.

For the first time, he had no idea who would win.

He was sure that both Jiang Ye and the delivery rider had realized each other’s weaknesses by now.

And at that moment—

The bald guy made a mistake!

When the delivery rider swung his battle axe at him once more—

Jiang Ye’s dodge was noticeably slower than before!

The axe slashed into his left shoulder!

Deep!

The heavy battle axe even got stuck in his bone!

Seeing this, the delivery rider’s face lit up with joy!

But just as he was about to go in for the finishing blow—

His smile froze.

Because—

Despite looking exhausted and sluggish just moments ago,

Despite being badly wounded, his face pale from blood loss—

Jiang Ye’s movements were now faster than ever!

Far more agile than before!

He completely ignored the pain in his left shoulder.

In fact, he twisted his body, tearing his own wound even wider, just to turn around faster!

His right hand—

Dagger slashing toward the delivery rider’s throat!

—

At that moment, Xiao Likun understood everything—

Jiang Ye was trading a serious injury for a chance to land a fatal blow!

If the delivery rider dodged,

Then the heavily injured Jiang Ye would definitely lose.

But if the delivery rider failed to react in time,

And got his throat slit by Jiang Ye’s superior stats…

Jiang Ye would win instantly!

This was an all-in gamble—trading injury for victory!

Xiao Likun held his breath, unable to blink.

—

And in the end—

The delivery rider lacked true combat awareness.

He didn’t dodge.

The exhilaration of landing his axe strike was still frozen on his face—

His pupils dilated in shock—

And then—

As his throat was slashed open, his eyes slowly dimmed.

—

Jiang Ye’s attributes were just too strong!

With a single dagger strike, he nearly severed the delivery rider’s head from his body!

—

Thankfully, the gruesome scene didn’t last long.

The screen quickly displayed—

[Win]

—

Wang Qiang was once again left stunned.

After a long pause, he murmured in shock,

"This bald guy… is he really a classmate our age?"

"He fights like he’s trained before!"

"Do you know if any of our 80 classmates from Class 1 and Class 2 have serious combat training?"

Xiao Likun thought for a moment. "Liu Shun, maybe? He practiced Taekwondo."

Wang Qiang sighed with envy.

"F*ck… I always wanted to learn Taekwondo or Karate when I was a kid."

"But my family wasn’t well-off, and my parents wanted me to focus on studying instead…"

"This is ridiculous! What's the point of studying anymore? Fighting is the real deal now!"

Xiao Likun glanced at him and couldn't help but think—Bro, it's not like you were that great at studying either.

—

Meanwhile.

When Jiang Ye returned to his seat in the second-floor lobby of the virtual space, he instinctively covered his left shoulder.

Even though the battle had been virtual, the pain from that deep axe wound felt way too real!

If it weren’t for Combat Stance keeping him absolutely focused, he might have slowed down from the pain—giving his opponent the chance to dodge that fatal strike!

That had been way too close!

He was starting to truly understand just how important combat awareness was.

However, at this moment, he was a little undecided—

Now that he had 1,600, should he continue fighting in the 100-900 betting range to sharpen his combat awareness further?

Or should he jump straight to the 1,000-9,000 range for higher stakes?

Just as he was debating, a familiar system announcement echoed in his mind!

—

【Player Zhao Yudie has posted a Duel Room announcement:】

【Hello, everyone! I’m Zhao Yudie, the lead actress of The Tyrant Master’s Three Lifetimes of Sinful Love.】

【In five minutes, I will be participating in a Random Matchmaking battle.】

【If you’d like to watch my fight, search for Room 151 in five minutes!】

【Thank you all for your support! I truly appreciate it.】

—

Aside from the first line being the system prompt, the rest was spoken in Zhao Yudie’s own voice!

Jiang Ye was stunned.

Players could post announcements?!

Around him, other players started talking excitedly—

"Wait… is that really Zhao Yudie?! Holy sh*t! I’m a huge fan! I’ve only ever seen her on TV—I never thought I’d get the chance to see her in person!"

"F**k! She’s totally using her celebrity status to pull in a huge audience! If she gets 100 spectators, that’s an extra 1,000 bucks in her pocket!"

"Are you kidding? With Zhao Yudie’s fame, 100 viewers is way too low. I bet she’ll get at least 1,000!"

"I think even that’s an understatement! She specifically posted an announcement—even people who aren’t her fans might check it out! I wouldn’t be surprised if she got over 10,000 viewers!"

"10,000 is a bit of a stretch… We’re still in the beginner phase, and not that many people would spend 100 bucks just to spectate."

"Wait—am I the only one wondering how Zhao Yudie even posted an announcement?"

"It’s simple—winning streaks in Random Matchmaking give small rewards. This ability to post announcements is probably her streak reward."

"Holy sh*t—so that means Zhao Yudie is actually strong?!"

"Obviously! Why else would she invite spectators? If she loses, she only gets 10% of the spectator earnings—the rest goes to the winner! If she loses, she’s basically handing her opponent free money!"

"F**k! Now I kinda wanna be the one fighting Zhao Yudie!"

"Yeah, good luck with that! If she’s bold enough to do this, she’s definitely insanely strong—and she probably has multiple powerful items! She might even be a potential War God Ranking contender!"

"Damn! No wonder she’s my goddess! She was a standout in the entertainment industry, and now she’s dominating Doomsday Apartment too!"

"Come on… the entertainment industry and ‘clean reputation’ don’t exactly go together…"

—

While many players were passionately discussing Zhao Yudie, Jiang Ye gathered some new information—

So Random Matchmaking win streaks gave random rewards!

Was this how Yang Wenchao reached Level 2?

Would he also get a reward if he won three matches in a row?

With that in mind, Jiang Ye leaned toward staying in the 100-900 betting range and winning two more matches first.

That would give him a higher chance of achieving a win streak reward.

Decision made.

He placed a 900 bet and started a new Random Matchmaking battle.

—

Jiang Ye wasn’t particularly interested in Zhao Yudie’s fight.

But in the second-floor lobby, plenty of players were highly invested.

Even Li Ran, who had just finished a Random Matchmaking battle, felt a tinge of jealousy after hearing the announcement.

"Being a celebrity really pays off, huh?" she muttered.

"Before Doomsday, she was already making millions per day—and now, even after the world has ended, she’s still raking in cash thanks to her fame!"

Xu Jingyao was just as bitter about it.

"Ugh! I hope she gets matched against a pro and loses! Then all the spectator money she generated from her announcement would go straight to her opponent!"

Li Ran glanced around at the surrounding players and remarked,

"I bet a lot of people are thinking the same thing as you."

"Some of them are probably praying that they get matched with Zhao Yudie in five minutes so they can cash in big!"

Xu Jingyao’s eyes lit up. "Ran-jie! What if you get matched against Zhao Yudie and beat her?! We’d be filthy rich!"

"This kind of jackpot is way better than scamming people!"

But Li Ran shook her head.

"With my current strength, I already struggle to beat players of similar combat power."

"Against Zhao Yudie? No chance."

"If she can post an announcement, it means she’s won at least three matches in a row."

"And if she’s bold enough to invite an audience, it means she’s extremely confident in her abilities."

"Even if we have the same combat power, I’d never be able to defeat her."

Xu Jingyao sighed in disappointment. "Damn… yeah, you’re right."

—

Meanwhile.

Jiang Ye’s second Random Matchmaking battle ended in an easy victory.

Unfortunately, his opponent had only bet 100—so he only earned 100 as well.

But it wasn’t all bad.

Thanks to Combat Stance, he gained experience from every fight.

And the more he fought, the more he realized just how powerful "Hard Work Pays Off" truly was!

He was seriously starting to believe—

This ability might just be the pinnacle of all S-tier abilities!

The growth it gave him was insanely obvious!

—

If nothing unexpected happened, by midnight, Jiang Ye planned to merge this key replica back into his main body to boost his core strength.

With that thought, he made a small adjustment—

And without wasting time, he jumped straight into another Random Matchmaking match.