Jiang Ye’s figure crept stealthily through the Gloomy Forest.

Originally, Replica No.1 had just snuck into the White-Robed Woman’s home.

Meanwhile, over on Replica No.2’s side, he was getting schooled by the big shots from Apartment 9999 about how overpowered cross-apartment NPCs were.

Right then, he had a bad feeling. As soon as Replica No.1 entered Room 2064, he was already thinking about making a run for it.

But the ridiculous part was—

Getting into 2064 was easy. The Personal Assistant Robot just let him through without question.

Leaving, though? He couldn’t even get the door open!

And that robot clearly had no intention of letting him out either!

So while Replica No.2 was cursing out “Y**g Wenchao, you son of a b*tch,”

Replica No.1 was also cursing…

Later, Replica No.2 received a task, and it seemed like the White-Robed Woman had left.

Replica No.1 immediately sensed something was off.

So he made a bold decision on the spot—

He grabbed his Cleaner Badge and started fiddling with the White-Robed Woman’s TV.

And somehow, just like before, the TV screen really did transport him into the Gloomy Forest.

He had no idea when the White-Robed Woman would come back.

But he remembered clearly that somewhere in this forest was the “white bedsheet” that could teleport him to the rooftop of the Apartment.

So as long as he could make it there before she returned…

He should be safe, right?

And that’s how we ended up with this scene: Jiang Ye sneaking around in the Gloomy Forest.

What he didn’t know was—

Right at that moment, the White-Robed Woman was lounging on her couch in the living room, casually watching him move through the forest on the TV screen.

Her gaze drifted off as she thought—

This guy… does he really have what it takes to kill the Apartment Boss?

Usually, when NPCs hand out tasks, they do so because they believe there’s a decent chance the chosen Player can actually complete them.

But…

Killing the Apartment Boss?

Even Yinsu herself couldn’t pull that off…

And this sneaky little Level 0 trash on the screen?

Yinsu leaned back on the couch, shaking her head slightly, wondering how she ever ended up giving him a task in the first place.

But just a moment later, her eyes turned cold. She raised her hand, and a thin black thread shot straight toward the TV screen.

Meanwhile, back in the Gloomy Forest, Jiang Ye had finally found the "white bedsheet" that led to the Apartment rooftop.

It was hanging from a leafless, dead tree.

The sheet was pure white, no bloodstains.

Just as Jiang Ye was about to run toward it—

Suddenly!

From another nearby dead tree, a bloodstained white bedsheet shot out and sucked him in!

What the h*ll?!

What’s going on?!

Jiang Ye’s face changed drastically, and the next thing he knew, the whole world around him had shifted!

It was still eerie and grim, but the sky was blood-red, and the air was thick with a fog that reeked of blood.

Even just breathing made his body feel weak, like something wet and cold was seeping into his bones.

And at that moment, he realized—

His already poor attributes as Replica No.1 had taken a huge hit!

His whole body went weak, just like when his Main Body was low on stats and trying to control three Replicas at once!

And to make it worse—

While in this weakened state, he suddenly heard the hiss hiss hiss of snakes!

Within mere seconds, hundreds of black venomous snakes were slithering toward him at lightning speed!

F**k me—!

My trypophobia’s about to go off the charts!

Jiang Ye nearly cursed out loud on the spot.

But he didn’t have time for that—more importantly—

He quickly fused Replica No.3 and its Mirror Replica into himself!

Normally, fusing two No.3 Replicas would skyrocket his Combat Power past 200 for sure!

But with his attributes halved by the blood mist, the fusion barely gave him the power of one Replica!

Thankfully, when he cast Frozen Domain, the swarm of snakes still got frozen and slowed down massively!

This was the first time Jiang Ye truly felt how powerful Domain Skills could be.

He didn’t dare waste a second. He immediately followed up with Frost Mist Invasion, sending icy fog sweeping toward the snakes!

At the same time, notifications started ringing out in his mind:

[You’ve killed a Level 1 Shadow Ring Snake! Gained +10 Energy Points!]

[Ding! You’ve leveled up to Level 1!]

[Stamina increased by 1 point!]

[Energy increased by 1 point!]

[You’ve killed a Level 1 Shadow Ring Snake! Gained +1 Energy Point!]

Clearly, after leveling up, killing more Level 1 snakes only gave him 1 point each.

But with hundreds of snakes swarming him—

Once the “+1 Energy Point” notification rang out a hundred times, he finally got another alert:

[Ding! You’ve leveled up to Level 2!]

[Stamina increased by 1 point!]

[Energy increased by 1 point!]

Leveling from 1 to 2 still only gave one point each to Stamina and Energy.

After that, killing more snakes didn’t yield any Energy Points.

Luckily, in less than a minute, he’d wiped out most of the venomous snakes!

And from all those hundreds of snakes, he only got one Black Iron Treasure Chest.

Jiang Ye picked it up and collapsed to the ground, feeling like he’d just narrowly escaped death.

But he barely had a few seconds to rest before—

From within the blood mist, he suddenly heard a rustling sound.

At the same time, he felt the ground under his butt start to shake!

Jiang Ye tensed up instantly and stopped resting.

He quickly noticed—

The rustling sound was coming from the twisted trees around him!

And there were more of them than there had been snakes!

Worse still, these trees seemed to have long-range attack capabilities—

Even from a distance, they could lash out at him with extended branches!

In this situation, his Frozen Domain could only cover two or three trees on the edge.

Anything farther out? Totally out of range!

Still, with things getting dicey, Jiang Ye cast Frozen Domain, then used Frost Mist Invasion and his Ghost Ring Blade to quickly destroy one of the trees.

And a new alert rang in his mind:

[You’ve killed a Level 3 Twisted Treant! Gained +100 Energy Points!]

This time, a Level 2 killing a Level 3 got him 100 points!

But it still wasn’t enough to push him straight to Level 3.

Jiang Ye didn’t dare let up. He quickly repositioned, dodging the whipping branches while continuing to cut down Twisted Treants.

[You’ve killed a Level 3 Twisted Treant! Gained +100 Energy Points!]

...

But as time went on, the pressure in Jiang Ye’s heart kept growing!

Sure, he’d one-shotted those hundreds of venomous snakes just now pretty easily—

But that was because he fused two Replicas!

Once the three-minute fusion window ended, the only ones he could still fuse were Replica No.4 and the Mirror Replica of No.3!

And to make a new Mirror Replica, he had to stand in front of the Replica Reflection Mirror and display his Data Panel for 30 seconds!

Thirty seconds during a crisis battle like this… could easily get him killed!

So, what now?

Was Replica No.1 about to be sacrificed just like that?

While Jiang Ye was feeling the weight of this crisis and growing more anxious by the second…

Back in Room 2064, Yinsu lounged on her couch, staring at the screen in front of her, lost in thought.

That must be… Replica Fusion?

This kid…

Hard Work Pays Off, Gold Element Affinity, Ice Element Affinity?

Those three… they must all be Replicas.

So his Main Body probably has an SSS-tier Ability?

It has to be SSS-tier, right?

After all, having a Data Panel that even Detection can’t pick up on—and looking exactly like a normal Player’s Replica…

This was a first for her, too.

SSS-tier abilities were rare, but not unheard of.

Still, even with an SSS-tier ability, trying to kill the Apartment Boss who oversees the Beginner Apartment during the early stages?

The odds were still next to impossible.

But…

Yinsu watched as Jiang Ye swiftly took down his tenth Twisted Treant, successfully hitting Level 3.

She consoled herself with a thought—

Maybe… just maybe… if she rounded the odds enough, “next to impossible” could kinda-sorta be equal to “a tiny sliver of hope”?

On the other side.

In Apartment 9999, Room 2025.

Replica No.2 Jiang Ye had immediately sensed danger the moment Replica No.1 got sucked into the blood mist. Without hesitation, he jumped into action, trying to win a lifeline for No.1!

He pulled out the Golden-Tier Duel Machine from the Spatial Ring given to him by the White-Robed Woman.

At first, the machine was no larger than a palm.

But with a press of the top button, it suddenly expanded, transforming into a hulking device three meters wide and about five meters tall!

Its matte black surface gave off a luxurious, high-end vibe, far beyond any Duel Machine Jiang Ye had seen so far.

But with Replica No.1 in critical danger, he had no time to admire it. He immediately tried to enter the Golden-Tier Duel Machine.

Unlike the ones in the Duel Room, this one didn’t deduct any fees.

Instead, it instantly performed an identity binding.

Just like how internet café computers are public, but your home PC is private.

The Duel Machines in the Duel Room could be used by anyone, as long as they paid.

But this private one didn’t need payment—just an identity bind, and it could only be used by him.

Normally, buying one of these private Duel Machines would cost a fortune for any Player.

At the very least, this Golden-Tier Duel Machine of Jiang Ye’s definitely wasn’t cheap!

Maybe it couldn’t even be bought with Game Coins—it might cost Survival Points instead!

So yeah, it counted as a Survival Point Item, no wonder even someone like Lin Jing had their eyes on it.

Hopefully, this thing really did have some powerful functions…

After quickly binding his identity, Jiang Ye entered the Virtual Duel Space.

But unlike before, he didn’t arrive at the first-floor lobby or the second-floor Duel Zone.

Instead, it felt like he was in a luxurious, low-key VIP suite!

There were sofas, a coffee table, a wine cabinet, bookshelves, even a projector and karaoke sound system!

All of this stuff would normally cost money to access in the entertainment section of the Low-End Mall.

But here, he could enjoy it all directly inside the Golden-Tier Duel Machine!

Still, Jiang Ye wasn’t here to chill.

He immediately started checking out the Duel Machine’s features.

Soon, he realized each wall of the suite seemed to correspond to a different function.

On the north wall, his personal information was displayed:

[Jiang Ye]

[Combat Power: 54]

[Record: 4-win streak (100%)]

[Title: Nameless Black Iron]

[Game Coins: 50.02 million]

[Points: 0]

[Survival Points: 0]

[Items: Announcement Card ×3, Privilege Card ×3, Privilege-Exempt Card ×3, Quick Win Card ×1]

Wait—wait!

What was up with these items?!

Where did all these cards come from?!

After a quick check through his mind’s Operation Console, he saw a silent system prompt:

[First login to the Golden-Tier Duel Machine today: Automatically received Announcement Card ×3, Privilege Card ×3, Privilege-Exempt Card ×3, Quick Win Card ×1!]

D*mn…

So the Golden-Tier Duel Machine not only came with a VIP suite, but also gave out free cards daily?

These cards—if converted into Game Coins—had to be worth a fortune!

That basically meant using this machine not only cost nothing, but made him money every day!

No wonder it was a Golden-Tier Duel Machine. Straight-up badass!

But none of this solved the crisis Replica No.1 was in.

So without even checking what the Quick Win Card actually did, Jiang Ye started exploring other functions.

On the east wall, he found Duel Mode Options:

Beginner Mode, Normal Mode, Survival Mode.

None of these helped with the current emergency, so he moved on without digging deeper.

Then he touched the south wall.

This time, a Redemption List appeared on the screen!

Its main function was to let him use Game Coins, Points, or Survival Points to redeem listed Items.

And depending on his title, he could even enjoy some discounts.

Unfortunately, with a title like Nameless Black Iron, he basically got no discounts.

If the High-End Mall in the Apartment was like a physical luxury store…

Then this Redemption List was like online shopping.

The items listed weren’t physical in the space—they were just images and descriptions, like a product page.

But the advantage of online shopping? You didn’t have to wander around physically—it was way faster.

Tons of products, scrollable at a glance.

There was even a search function—super convenient and saved tons of time.

Right now, Jiang Ye could only use Game Coins for redemptions.

But hey, he had 50 million Game Coins!

He could pretty much buy whatever he wanted!

Problem was… anything he bought would show up on Replica No.2’s side.

Even the Skill Scrolls from the White-Robed Woman’s task rewards—he wanted to give them to his Main Body, but how?

As his eyes scanned the list, something suddenly caught his attention—

A very familiar item: Delivery Box!

----------------------------------------

[Black Iron-Tier Delivery Box]

Price: 100 Game Coins

Effect: Delivered to the designated Apartment’s Errands Station within 3 days

PS: No defensive measures. High chance of loss. Insurance recommended.

[Bronze-Tier Delivery Box]

Price: 1,000 Game Coins

Effect: Delivered within 1 day

PS: Some defensive features, but still some risk. Insurance recommended.

[Silver-Tier Delivery Box]

Price: 100,000 Game Coins

Effect: Delivered to the specified location in 3 seconds

PS: Very low chance of loss. Recommended for high-value item transport.