Chapter 186: Chapter 186

From Wu Ying’s expression, Zi Sang Haoyun could tell he had figured it out.

So he gave a straightforward explanation:

“That’s right, it’s exactly what you’re thinking—”

“Every time a new Beginner Apartment is born, it comes with two types of beings.”

“One is human players, and the other is Eerie beings.”

“Human players are those who were alive before entering the apartment.”

“Eerie beings are those who were already dead before entering.”

“You already know this—”

“Those Eerie beings can invade players, obtain player status, and awaken the memories they had before dying.”

“Can be reborn in a different sense by becoming an Eerie Player.”

“Just like you, Wu Ying.”

“You were already dead before entering the apartment.”

“Yet now, you’re a living Eerie Player.”

“Of course, you became one through your own efforts.”

“But other eerie beings can become Eerie Players with the help of their living family members.”

“That’s why veteran players descend into Beginner Apartments—not just to enjoy the perks or show off in front of newbies...”

“More importantly, they come to search for their family members.”

“They comb through the Eerie beings, looking for loved ones who died.”

“Then help them undergo Eerie Transformation, become Eerie Players, and bring them back in a whole new way.”

Jiang Ye gave a subtle nod.

That was exactly what he’d inferred from Zi Sang Haoyun’s words.

But clearly, Zi Sang knew much more. He continued:

“You’ve been through the Beginner Apartment too. Ever done any of those janitor, errand-runner tasks?”

Jiang Ye nodded, then shook his head.

He replied in Wu Ying’s identity:

“I know about them, but I never did any.”

“By the time I became an Eerie Player, the apartment was already chaotic. Hardly anyone was still doing those jobs.”

“Exactly.” Zi Sang Haoyun smiled faintly. “But have you ever wondered—”

“Those so-called part-time jobs… are completely meaningless!”

“Delivering packages to eerie beings, cleaning up, providing services to them...”

“All this time-consuming, energy-draining stuff—plus the use of Apartment-exclusive Game Coins...”

“It all exists just to burn through newbie players’ time and energy!”

“When a ton of players are busy focusing on these pointless chores…”

“They naturally won’t think about grinding monsters or leveling up.”

“And even if a few do choose to fight monsters and level up—”

“Only a very small number actually see through the apartment’s true nature and act decisively.”

“Plus, even those players usually head for the deep ends of the corridors to find monsters.”

“Very, very few think about targeting the Eerie beings inside apartment rooms.”

“That’s why, usually by Day 8, when veteran players descend—those eerie beings in the apartments are still alive and well.”

At this point, Jiang Ye finally had an epiphany:

“The whole ‘work for Game Coins to survive’ model is just a way to keep newbies in check,

to stop them from targeting the eerie beings living in the apartment rooms…”

“Because those eerie beings are the ones the veterans plan to bring back to life?”

Zi Sang gave him a knowing look and went on:

“Plus, the eerie beings in these apartments—

they’re actually divided into two categories.”

“In the far ends of the hallways, you’ll find some homeless eerie beings.”

“Inside the apartment rooms, though, are the ones that appear far more noble.”

“Those homeless eerie beings, put simply, have no one left who remembers or cares about them.”

“Like you—those eerie types can only rely on themselves to become Eerie Players.”

“And even then, there’s a risk of failure when they try to invade someone.”

“But the ones who have their own apartment rooms—”

“Those are the ones whose living family members are actively searching for them to help them revive properly and become Eerie Players.”

Jiang Ye frowned slightly.

Zi Sang Haoyun instantly picked up on his confusion, leaned in, and said in a lower voice:

“Feels weird, right?”

“How exactly are the ‘remembered’ and ‘unremembered’ eerie beings sorted?”

“Why do those with family get rooms?”

“My guess is, it’s arranged by someone higher up—someone like the Apartment Boss.”

“And don’t you think—”

“Those Defenders who refuse to awaken Glyph Pattern Abilities,

and the Reincarnated Eerie who refuse to invade players in the Beginner Apartments…”

“Aren’t they kinda similar?”

“Most players think the Reincarnated Eerie go through rebirth on their own inside the apartment.”

“But I have a theory—just a personal theory, okay—”

“I think those Reincarnated Eerie might be the deceased family members of Defender Players.”

“Normal players, once they revive a loved one, they’re content.”

“But Defenders are so self-righteous. Even if they revive a loved one,

they might not want them to become Eerie Players by invading others.”

“So instead, they let their loved ones become Reincarnated Eerie who cycle through rebirth in the apartment—”

“Maybe hoping one day, they’ll return as full human beings,

without needing to rely on Eerie invasion to gain player status.”

Zi Sang claimed it was just speculation—

but Jiang Ye thought it sounded incredibly plausible.

And all the information Zi Sang had revealed today—

completely shattered Jiang Ye’s previous understanding!

The eerie beings living in apartment rooms…

were actually the deceased loved ones of veteran players,

waiting to be brought back and turned into Eerie Players…

And with that line of thinking—

Jiang Ye finally realized how his Light-type Replica had “broken the contract” and ended up so hated!

His Light-type Replica had made a massive mistake.

Ordinary players level up by fighting monsters—

and if they kill eerie beings, it’s always the wild, unclaimed ones from the halls.

But his Light-type Replica?

Back when he was recklessly going all out—

he used Light-type skills directly inside the apartment rooms!

At the time, he killed quite a few Dark-type players—

but even more, he slaughtered who-knows-how-many of the eerie beings living in those rooms!

In fact, in Apartment 9999,

he had almost completely wiped out the eerie beings in the housing units!

Then he went on to several other apartments and did the same.

By the time he returned to Apartment 1010 to rescue his Main Body—

It was thanks to those reckless attacks on room-bound eerie beings

that his Light-type Replica had leveled all the way up to Level 10!

It seemed that Light-type had been captured alive precisely because of this incident!

Looking back on the way that furious woman had acted when she caught the Light-type,

Jiang Ye finally pieced everything together—

The “Wang Hanmo” she mentioned must be the leader of the Light-type organization.

And the woman herself was very likely from the Defenders’ Alliance.

Between the Defenders’ Alliance and the Light-type organization,

there was apparently some kind of agreement.

And part of that agreement…

likely involved a restriction that Light-types must not harm the eerie beings in apartment rooms.

But Huang Bo’s Light-type Replica clearly didn’t know or follow the rules—

he killed off tons of those room-dwelling eerie beings.

So his actions were labeled a “breach of contract.”

And as for that woman saying she was "waiting for someone"...

the person she waited for was her deceased family member,

who would have appeared in a housing unit as an eerie being.

Whether that person had been among those killed by Light’s reckless rampage—

that was still unclear.

Now that Jiang Ye had figured out why the Light-type was so hated and captured alive,

he finally felt a little relieved.

At the same time, he was seriously thankful—

Thank god he hadn’t made a move on Little Bai.

Back when his power had started rising,

he had even considered whether to just take out Little Bai for a massive gain…

But now it seemed, Little Bai’s background wasn’t just tied to the Hundred Eerie Alliance.

She might also have powerful Defender Players backing her!

And it wasn’t just her—

even the other Reincarnated Eerie likely had protectors behind the scenes.

Guan He, for example—

whoever stood behind her probably wasn’t ordinary, either.

As for who was behind Little Bai...

Jiang Ye didn’t know why,

but his instinct immediately thought of Zhou Yuling.

for a Reincarnated Eerie like Little Bai, who seemed to have self-awareness...

Had she awakened the memories of her former life?

Or did she just have consciousness, but no memory?

He was just about to ask Zi Sang Haoyun more about the details of Reincarnated Eerie—

When suddenly, Zi Sang Haoyun seemed to sense something,

and cautiously turned to look to the right.

At the same time, from that direction came a voice:

“I heard your Duoe Organization has someone named Wu Ying,

who used Phantasm Parasitism to replicate Jiang Ye’s identity?”

a young man with darkened lips slowly walked over toward the Duoe members,

scanning the group as he asked:

“Which one of you is Wu Ying?”

Among the veteran players, Wu Ying was basically a small fry.

The other Duoe members all turned to look at him.

The dark-lipped youth looked directly at him and asked again:

Jiang Ye stared at the guy’s black lips and replied:

“Bro, you look like you’ve been poisoned.”

That abrupt comment instantly froze the air around them.

A few clueless spectators nearby even snorted with laughter.

The young man’s face turned pitch-black—figuratively and literally.

His gaze toward Jiang Ye turned ice-cold and venomous:

What, are you offering to cure me?”

Jiang Ye immediately waved his hands:

“Unfortunately, I’m not qualified for that.”

The youth sneered and spoke bluntly:

“You’re using your identity as Wu Ying right now, right?” Check latest chapters at N0velFire.ɴet

“Switch to Jiang Ye. I want to see your Data Panel.”