Li Ku: "Two, or three."

Jiang Ye: ????

"Then what makes you think I'm an NPC?"

"Uh..." Li Ku explained, "The question itself isn't the key point; the key is the subsequent questioning and self-verification..."

As he spoke, he lightly coughed twice, looking somewhat awkward: "Ahem, well, it seems we don't need to dwell too much on this issue."

"......"

Jiang Ye was speechless and was just about to say something when Li Ku directly asked again:

"By the way, Witch Gui, do you know of a game called 'Doomsday Apartment'?"

Jiang Ye nodded: "Some players in the Novice Apartment had played a game called 'Doomsday Apartment' before being drawn into the Novice Apartment."

"However, that game had already shut down before they were pulled into the apartment."

Following this information, Li Ku said in a serious tone: "But the problem is..."

"None of the players in the Prison have had any contact with the 'Doomsday Apartment' game."

"That's why I just suspected that Ji Zixuan might be a fake person."

"Could it be that he was originally an NPC in a game, and after prolonged game debugging, gradually came to believe he was a real player..."

"And then, even after being drawn into this hidden space instance, he still thinks he's a player who played the game?"

Hmm...

Jiang Ye, following Li Ku's train of thought, was just about to say something when Li Ku suddenly asked again:

"Witch Gui, you... have you played that game called 'Doomsday Apartment'?"

His words were filled with probing intent.

Clearly, he already seemed to have a certain inclination towards his own speculation.

Jiang Ye didn't hesitate much before shaking his head: "I truly have not played the 'Doomsday Apartment' game."

Li Ku let out a slight sigh of relief.

However, Jiang Ye immediately followed up: "But in reality, I have come into contact with people who played the game, real people like me."

Li Ku was slightly taken aback: "Meaning that..."

"There exists a social connection between those who played the game and those who didn't."

"Through the existence of this social link, it indeed seems impossible to continue understanding those who played the game as NPCs within the game..."

"But..." Li Ku still seemed reluctant to overturn his hypothesis.

He thought about something, and finally challenged Jiang Ye again:

"Then why is it that only players in this hidden space instance include those who played 'Doomsday Apartment,' while players outside this instance, not a single one has played 'Doomsday Apartment'?"

Jiang Ye also didn't know how to answer this question.

Li Ku didn't dwell on the answer either. Instead, he looked towards the tightly closed door of room 2218 and changed the subject:

"How did the exploration go?"

Jiang Ye was quite candid: "Just like the tombstone area of the Burial Ground, everything inside looks like it was looted by bandits and robbers. At the same time, a downward staircase appeared, identical to the underground palace in the tombstone area, suspected to lead to an unknown space."

Li Ku fell into thoughtful silence, then asked: "So when do we go explore the unknown?"

This question carried hidden implications.

Both the unknown space in the tombstone area and the one in 2218 awaited exploration.

And the prerequisite for exploration was eliminating the potential threat—Administrator 4444.

Jiang Ye already had the Administrator's mimic mask in his possession.

He also had a Skin Sand item that could be used to create a mimic mask of Li Ku.

However, when Administrator 4444 was in the mist zone, Jiang Ye's clone senses couldn't detect him either.

So, they still had to wait for Administrator 4444 to return before they could use the 【clone kills clone】 bug exploit on him.

Moreover, how to kill 4444 was also a problem.

But actually, compared to Administrator 4444, compared to the unknown spaces in the tombstone area and 2218...

Jiang Ye was more urgently hoping to meet the Nomadic Merchant again.

In this world of Day 9, the Novice Apartment was operating normally.

Ji Zixuan also had a Survival Jade Token used to store survival points.

That was clearly given to him by the Nomadic Merchant.

Therefore, the Nomadic Merchant was still roaming between Novice Apartments, exercising his privileges and duties.

If he could meet the Nomadic Merchant again...

Jiang Ye might receive more guidance.

But as he and Li Ku wandered around the apartments, the Nomadic Merchant never appeared.

Jiang Ye wasn't sure if it was because the Nomadic Merchant didn't want to see him, or...

Because he wasn't alone?

Actually, he could also acquire an administrator identity and try to summon the Nomadic Merchant again.

But...

Jiang Ye thought about it and finally decided to split up with Li Ku for now.

So, after some consideration, he took out the Survival Jade Token from Ji Zixuan's spatial equipment and explained to Li Ku:

"This is a key item for this hidden instance, called the Survival Jade Token."

"It comes from a mysterious black shadow. The fact that we've been together all this time might affect your chances of getting a Survival Jade Token from that shadow."

"So next, let's split up and act separately for a while."

"On one hand, we wait for Administrator 4444 to return from exploring the mist; on the other hand, you can try wandering around to see if you can bump into the shadow."

As he spoke, Jiang Ye also kindly reminded: "The shadow is very powerful. You'd better not offend him."

This kind reminder startled Li Ku: "So strong he can break my Death State effect?"

Jiang Ye thought about it and politely stated: "Strong enough to take away your Death State effect."

?!

Li Ku was even more shocked, instantly not very keen on wandering alone and bumping into the shadow!

However, Jiang Ye explained further: "The shadow is also a privilege holder. He won't just snatch things from you."

"Even if he takes a liking to something, he'll choose to trade. And it's the kind of trade that will make you willing."

With this explanation, Li Ku finally relaxed: "Alright, then after we split up, when and where do we meet up?"

Jiang Ye thought about it, then used Ji Zixuan's player panel to add Li Ku as a friend.

He also conveniently created a Heart Demon Nest for Ji Zixuan.

"If you see the shadow and get a Survival Jade Token, remember to send me a message."

"If you never see the shadow, then wait until the Administrator returns and gather in the lobby on the 1st floor."

Li Ku nodded, then frowned again: "When the Administrator returns, can we detect it immediately?"

Jiang Ye smiled: "I can detect it immediately. I'll send you a message when the time comes."

Li Ku seemed thoughtful and continued nodding.

Afterwards, Jiang Ye gave a few more instructions, and the two temporarily went their separate ways.

Not long after they split up, Li Ku directly sent him a message:

[Can I freely kill the players in this instance?]

Seeing this message, Jiang Ye instinctively glanced at the Apartment Chat Group.

As expected, after the apartment fusion, almost all the messages in the chat group came from players of the 4444 Apartment.

Due to the special nature of the 4444 Apartment—game players who had buried their accounts could resurrect in the Burial Ground.

Therefore, the entire 4444 Apartment had quite a few experienced and powerful game players.

The overall player strength far exceeded that of the ordinary players in the 4869 Apartment.

Correspondingly, the powerful players of the 4444 Apartment naturally had slightly more arrogant personalities.

It wasn't hard to imagine that some unlucky fool with no sense had probably accidentally provoked Li Ku.

But...

Jiang Ye thought about it and replied to Li Ku:

[Theoretically, yes. However, most players from the 4444 Apartment are game players, and there's a Probability they still carry resurrection chances.]

[Rather than directly killing them, you could try to gather more information from them, such as their experiences resurrecting in the underground Burial Ground...]

He originally intended to leave it at that.

But after thinking again, he added another reminder: [For example, after they resurrected in the coffins in the underground Burial Ground, who used what method to release them from the coffins.]

This series of messages surprised Li Ku quite a bit. He directly replied: [So that underground Burial Ground is actually a resurrection point for game players?!]

Jiang Ye: [You can ask the players yourself.]

After saying that, Jiang Ye entered the red-lit elevator and pressed the button for floor 99.

Messages couldn't be received in the elevator, and the chat group couldn't be viewed either.

His gaze rested on the elevator button panel as he absentmindedly pondered the doubts in his heart.

And when the elevator floor display jumped from "49" to "50"...

Jiang Ye suddenly felt an inexplicable tremor.

It was as if the elevator had suddenly malfunctioned!

Accompanying this malfunction tremor, a strange infant's crying sound suddenly rang in his ears.

In the empty elevator, this crying sound echoed continuously, making it sound even more bizarre!

Soon, the crying was even mixed with infant laughter.

The two sounds intertwined, echoing back and forth within the elevator...

Jiang Ye only felt his nerves instantly tense, an inexplicable feeling of suffocation as if he couldn't breathe!

What the hell is this?!

Triggered a strange secret realm within the red-lit elevator?

But...

The elevator only stopped at the 50th floor for about 1 minute before resuming its upward journey as if back to normal.

The floor number quickly jumped from "50" to "51."

The subsequent floor numbers also increased normally one by one.

But that eerie infant crying and laughter continued to reverberate in the elevator, tormenting Jiang Ye's mind!

He took a deep breath, pressed his hands against his temples, forcing himself to calm down.

Holding on like this, the elevator normally made a "ding" sound at the "99th" floor, and the doors opened.

Jiang Ye thought that stepping out of the elevator would make the strange sounds disappear.

But they didn't!

Even after stepping out, the sounds became louder, as if coming from above the entire 4444 Apartment, constantly stimulating his eardrums, destroying his mental will!

For a moment, Jiang Ye's eyes turned red, nearly collapsing out of control!

Almost by instinct, he detached from Ji Zixuan's physical body.

He originally thought this would dispel this inexplicable mental torment...

However, contrary to expectations—

After detaching from Ji Zixuan's physical body, his Conscious Soul Body felt like a dark-type creature directly exposed under Lightburn, nearly collapsing on the spot!

Once again, survival instinct made him rapidly seize Ji Zixuan's body again.

Only this time, he didn't directly occupy Ji Zixuan's physical body. Instead, he hid inside the Heart Demon Nest he had constructed on Ji Zixuan.

This way, Ji Zixuan's physical body was still controlled by Ji Zixuan himself.

The man was utterly bewildered.

But after so many experiences of being seized back and forth...

He wasn't a fool, so he naturally realized—

He had been targeted by a terrifying "Portable Old Grandpa"!

And this "Portable Old Grandpa" was probably a villain! 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He showed absolutely no respect for his will, just seizing his body!

Fortunately, this body seizure didn't seem permanent...

From time to time, he could return the body to him.

Feeling fortunate about this, Ji Zixuan immediately heard the "Portable Old Grandpa's" voice filled with extreme pain:

"You... can you hear... infant crying and laughter..."

"Infant crying and laughter?" Ji Zixuan nodded, "It's so obvious, of course I can hear it."

Simultaneously, he belatedly realized: "Is it this sound that's causing you pain, Senior?"

Jiang Ye originally wanted to confirm what Ji Zixuan felt upon hearing the sound.

Now, judging from his reaction, it wasn't hard to conclude—

Ji Zixuan seemed to have no reaction to this sound!

What the hell is going on?!

A sound specifically targeting him?

Who was it? Administrator 4444? Or some game player from the 4444 Apartment?

Or perhaps the existence that destroyed his room 2218?!

Jiang Ye felt extreme pain, his mind on the verge of collapse.

He originally wanted to ask Ji Zixuan some questions.

But in this state, he couldn't utter a complete sentence!

However...

This Ji Zixuan, whether out of schadenfreude or something else, suddenly blurted out:

"I saw in the chat group that all players can hear this infant crying and laughter!"

"At the same time, some players said—all the monsters in the entire apartment seem to have fallen into an out-of-control state upon hearing this sound!"

Clearly, Ji Zixuan was genuinely taking pleasure in others' misfortune.

Because he had realized that this "Portable Old Grandpa" seizing him was some powerful monster!

This powerful monster suddenly returning his body wasn't due to a guilty conscience.

It was because the infant crying and laughter suddenly echoing through the apartment caused mental damage to all monsters!

Jiang Ye could certainly hear the schadenfreude in Ji Zixuan's tone.

However, he couldn't even remind this guy about the effects of the 【Heart Demon Nest】.

He only felt that his consciousness seemed on the verge of completely losing control the next second!

No!

Can't just sit here and wait for death!

Since it was confirmed that staying in the 【Heart Demon Nest】 and staying in Ji Zixuan's physical body provided almost the same defensive effect against this mental attack.

The Witch Gui Jiang Ye directly surged out from the 【Heart Demon Nest】 and once again seized Ji Zixuan's physical body.

The pain remained terrifying and profound.

His consciousness felt like it could collapse at any moment!

Jiang Ye, clinging to this last shred of consciousness, used Ji Zixuan's physical body and survival points to generate a clone!

He didn't even have time to check this clone before his consciousness completely fell into collapse!

Almost the moment the Witch Gui Jiang Ye's consciousness collapsed...

A Jiang Ye clone materialized out of thin air.

He hadn't chosen the 【mutated clone】 effect, so this clone appeared in Jiang Ye's own likeness.

And because the Witch Gui Jiang Ye's consciousness instantly collapsed...

This newly generated Jiang Ye clone was like an isolated island, without any shared consciousness.

Just like when Li Ku tricked the Cardboard Box Monster about "amnesia"...

He, as a person, was in an "amnesiac" state.

From the moment of his birth, there were no memories in his mind, only—

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

And upon seeing the out-of-control Ji Zixuan, who looked like a red-eyed monster, his instinctive reaction was a cry of shock:

"Holy crap?! Senior, spare my life!"