Solo kill...

The Apartment Administrator?!

The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere shifted once again.

The looks aimed at him grew even more bizarre!

The top players had stayed quiet so far, mostly because Lin Jing was present.

But now, they couldn’t hold it back any longer!

Wang Chengjin was the first to speak up, already suspicious from earlier:

“This kid! His mouth is way too big!”

“I swear, every word out of his mouth is like farting—pure trash talk!”

“Exactly! Lin God already said it’s impossible to solo the Apartment Administrator, and this guy just insists he can do it!”

“And don’t forget when he claimed he’d get ten wins in ten minutes and beat Lin God to 100 straight wins... That’s straight-up boldfaced bullsh*t! I’ve never seen someone this shameless in my life!”

“Key point is—he’s a total noob! He’s either irresponsibly running his mouth, or he’s just blindly arrogant and clueless!”

Clearly, no one here believed Jiang Ye could really solo the Administrator.

Some of the more ruthless players even started whispering:

“So what if Lin God really goes back on his word? This isn’t some peaceful game server—it’s a real f**ing apocalypse!”

“You can kill someone for Survival Points. Killing for a Golden-Tier Duel Machine? Even more reason!”

“Exactly. Even if Lin God turns on him and robs him, it just proves the guy’s too weak!”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if that cross-apartment NPC wants us to kill this guy!”

“An ordinary man guilty only of possessing treasure—he’s got a Golden-Tier Duel Machine. Maybe the NPC gave that as a reward for killing him!”

“Right! That must be why she announced that he got the Golden-Tier Duel Machine!”

“Normally, NPCs don’t give out rewards before a quest is completed. Why’d this guy get his reward in advance?”

“Holy sht, you’re right! Maybe those rewards are meant for whoever kills him!”

“Yeah! Don’t forget—the NPC was chasing him to begin with!”

The more they discussed, the more convinced they became.

Even Jiang Ye couldn’t help but start wondering—

Was that white-robed woman really trying to use the rewards as bait, hoping someone would kill him?

Were those rewards actually meant for these veterans?

But just as he started to doubt—

“Lin God” swept his gaze across the room.

And that one glance, full of pressure, instantly shut up all the players of Apartment 9999.

Lin Jing also directly said to the crowd,

“You think an NPC would offer a Golden-Tier Duel Machine as a reward just to have a Level 10 player kill a Level 1?”

Normally, quest rewards are based on the difficulty of the task.

If that Duel Machine really was the reward for killing Jiang Ye…

Then it meant, in that NPC’s eyes, Jiang Ye was strong—

Not someone just anyone could kill.

Besides, Lin Jing didn’t believe the NPC needed to go through all that trouble just to deal with a low-level rookie.

If she really wanted him dead, she could’ve just given out a direct assassination quest—no need for theatrics.

So these players were clearly speculating based on their own self-interest.

And once that was pointed out, they looked a bit embarrassed.

Lin Jing turned his gaze back to Jiang Ye.

After a short silence, his tone grew a little strange:

“The quest you took... I’m guessing it’s not just to kill the Apartment Administrator, right?”

“Your conversation with the NPC sounded ridiculous…”

“But your quest—don’t tell me...”

“...Is to kill the Apartment Boss?”

Though he phrased it like a question, his tone was basically stating a fact.

And there was something complicated in that tone.

Jiang Ye frowned.

He felt like Lin Jing’s words carried some kind of calculation—maybe even bad intentions.

He didn’t answer.

But it seemed Lin Jing didn’t need him to.

After another pause, he said calmly,

“Like I said before—if you get ten wins in ten minutes, we’d bring you along for battles. That was about Life-or-Death Duels.”

“But now, your Golden-Tier Duel Machine can be used in Life-or-Death Duels too.”

“So I figured... there’s no need to follow our original agreement.”

“You seem to think I’m eyeing your Duel Machine.”

“But honestly—”

“Jiang Ye, I actually admire you.”

“They think your claim about soloing the Administrator is just empty bravado.”

“But I think, just having that kind of confidence already makes you better than most.”

The players nearby were all stunned.

They stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they just heard!

This had to be the first time Lin God ever said he admired someone?!

And he was praising Jiang Ye’s “trash talk”??

Did he seriously think Jiang Ye could really solo the Apartment Administrator?!

At the same time, Lin Jing’s word—“admire”—changed the mood drastically.

The looks from the other players in Apartment 9999 shifted again.

Before, they looked down on him, full of disdain for a cocky noob.

Now? Like they’d seen a ghost.

Suspicion, shock…

Some even had a hint of envy and jealousy in their eyes.

After all, none of them had ever received Lin Jing’s “admiration.”

And Jiang Ye himself—at first, Lin Jing’s words did make him feel a brief rush of satisfaction.

Being praised and acknowledged always feels good.

Even more so when it comes from someone above you in strength and status.

It’s like an elementary school kid being praised by a respected teacher instead of a random kindergartner.

Lin Jing was that respected figure in Apartment 9999.

So when he said “admire” and meant “respect”—

Of course Jiang Ye’s heart stirred.

But he quickly snapped out of it—and grew more alert.

He remembered how the Black-Robed Player in the three-win streak got taken down.

How the cross-apartment Huang Qi got one-shotted.

He hadn’t forgotten a thing.

Lin Jing’s words just now had shifted too suddenly.

That “admiration” probably had an agenda.

So Jiang Ye’s expression stayed calm, his face expressionless as he stared at Lin Jing.

That cool attitude made the other 9999 players itch with frustration.

But Lin Jing didn’t seem to care. He just kept praising:

“To me, in all of Apartment 9999, the only person truly qualified to fight by my side—

...might be you.”

The top players around them just about exploded from jealousy.

Their expressions grew even more complicated.

Lin Jing smiled briefly to ease the tension, then brought the topic back:

“Maybe you do have the power to solo the Apartment Administrator.”

“But when do you plan to do it?”

“Tomorrow? The day after? In five days? Seven days?”

“Tomorrow or the day after, you probably won’t have the strength to pull it off.”

“And if you wait five or seven days—sure, maybe you’ll be strong enough,

But then you’ll have barely any time left to complete your final objective: killing the Apartment Boss.”

“So…”

“I still hope we can cooperate in taking down the Apartment Administrator.”

“Let’s try to finish that within three days.”

“As for the Golden-Tier Duel Machine—if you don’t want to give it up, I won’t force it.”

“But—”

“Though taking down the Administrator is our mutual goal, and cooperating benefits both sides,”

“you’re the one who received the Administrator-killing quest, so you’re getting more out of this.”

“So I hope, when it comes time to kill the Apartment Boss, I can be involved too.”

“How does that kind of cooperation sound to you?”

This...

This wasn’t so much a “cooperation” as it was Lin Jing helping him complete the quest!

Jiang Ye couldn’t help but wonder—

What’s up with this Lin Jing guy?

Praising him, acknowledging him, and now even helping with the quest?

On the surface, Lin Jing’s request was to be part of killing the Apartment Boss.

But in practice, that still helped Jiang Ye!

Could it be that Lin Jing had sharp insight and sensed the “main character aura” in him, so he wanted to cozy up in advance and hold the thigh?

No.

Definitely not.

There’s something off about Lin Jing!

Jiang Ye grew increasingly cautious inside.

But on the outside, he put on an expression as if moved by Lin Jing’s goodwill.

He paused a moment, then finally opened his mouth:

“So what you’re saying is, I don’t have to do the ten-win streak anymore?”

Lin Jing smiled again. “Of course.”

“After all, I don’t have the right to ‘bring you along.’”

“What I want—”

“Is to fight side by side with you.”

“……”

Jiang Ye stayed silent.

The rest of the players in Apartment 9999 were even more silent.

They could hardly believe what they were witnessing: Lin God actually being this cordial to another player?!

What the actual f***?! Who was this Jiang Ye guy?!

Could he be some secret powerhouse from before the apocalypse—so strong even Lin God looked up to him?!

While the others speculated about Jiang Ye’s mysterious background as the reason Lin Jing was showing such respect—

Wang Chengjin had a flash of inspiration.

He remembered...

In the Doomsday Apartment game, after the first whale team succeeded in killing the Apartment Administrator,

other whales naturally followed suit.

In the end, there were about ten teams who managed to kill the Administrator.

But among those ten successful teams, something unusual happened.

That anomaly ended up producing the game’s strongest player.

However, the player who caused that event was later confirmed to have suddenly died at home.

So no one ever knew what had really triggered that incident.

But now...

Wang Chengjin had a sudden thought—

What if the player who mysteriously died in real life and triggered that anomaly...

was someone like Jiang Ye, who had taken the quest to kill the Apartment Boss?!

If that were true...

Then Lin Jing’s actions would make perfect sense.

He didn’t really admire Jiang Ye.

What he wanted was to team up with him, kill the Administrator—

And then reproduce that game anomaly that made someone the strongest of all time!

Thinking this way, even Wang Chengjin began to have ideas of his own...

All of them admired “Lin God,” but that was only because of his overwhelming strength.

Lin Jing wasn’t a real god—and they weren’t true believers.

If one day, someone emerged who could crush Lin Jing’s power—

That person would replace him as the new “god.”

And why couldn’t that person... be Wang Chengjin himself?

He wanted to walk the path of the strongest too!

Wang Chengjin lowered his eyes and clenched his fists.

His youthful blood boiled up again, uncontrollable.

(Of course, he was actually pretty young already.)

Someone his age should be riding high, full of ambition, worshipped by thousands—not the other way around.

Thinking this, his gaze swept to Jiang Ye.

This ignorant, fearless noob...

He’d be the stepping stone on the path to godhood.

Let’s just see who steps on that stone first—him or Lin Jing!

Wang Chengjin clenched his fists tighter,

Like a passionate youth setting a grand ambition.

When he looked up again, his eyes were noticeably brighter.

While the others were still guessing at Jiang Ye’s background,

Wang Chengjin went straight over with a sycophantic smile, completely changing his tune from earlier ridicule:

“D*mn, bro! Never expected you’d actually have the potential to earn Lin God’s admiration!”

“Guess I judged you wrong—don’t take it personally, man.”

“Oh, by the way, I’ve been calling you ‘bro’ and ‘kid’ this whole time, you’re a guy, right? That bald look—can you switch it off?”

The other players watched Wang Chengjin switch faces so fast, and all felt a wave of disdain—

Typical bootlicker.

But Wang Chengjin didn’t care.

He was already imagining the day when he’d step on Jiang Ye, surpass Lin Jing, and become the one everyone fawned over.

As for Jiang Ye?

Of course he didn’t change his bald appearance.

He had no idea what Lin Jing and Wang Chengjin were plotting.

But for now, things seemed calm.

No rush to get the ten-win streak.

Honestly, he kind of wanted to go back to his apartment.

But that would cost 1 Survival Point—which he didn’t have at the moment.

Plus, he had a feeling that Lin Jing wouldn’t let him leave before the Administrator was taken down.

So he didn’t mention going back.

Instead, he used “checking quest rewards” as an excuse to head to the Administrator’s desk on the first floor and rent a room on the 20th Floor.

Then he went to his new apartment room to sort through the rewards from the white-robed woman.

Meanwhile, having retrieved her hair, the white-robed woman returned to Apartment 1008—specifically, Room 2064.

Jiang Ye wasn’t in sight when she arrived.

Her Personal Assistant robot didn’t say anything either.

The white-robed woman glanced calmly around her apartment, then walked straight to the large TV in the living room.

She let out a cold little laugh toward the screen and casually pressed the remote.

The TV flickered on.

The screen showed the gloomy forest Jiang Ye had passed through when she brought him to the rooftop.

But now, the camera was moving—like a pair of eyes were searching the forest.

And then—

The “eyes” locked onto something.

Right there in the middle of the forest...

Was the figure of Jiang Ye’s Replica No. 1!