Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Anyway, of all the deaths he currently knew of, "Erasure" was probably the highest tier.

He just didn’t know if it was SSS-tier, or if it had already reached X-tier.

However, the Blackened Replica didn’t give a clear answer either.

“Some items or skills do mention a ‘priority’ when it comes to death, and there really have been classifications from F to SSS-tier death.”

“But between players, there’s no way to split death that precisely, and usually we don’t describe death using F to SSS tiers.”

“Instead, there's a separate system—a set of death evaluation standards—”

“The lowest level is called [Pseudo-Death of the Flesh], which should correspond to F to E-tier deaths.”

“This generally refers to players dying from regular physical or magical means, but their physical body isn’t badly damaged, the death hasn’t exceeded 24 hours, or the corpse has been kept frozen for no more than three days.”

“And typically, players in a Pseudo-Death of the Flesh state can be resurrected using abilities or items.”

“Above Pseudo-Death of the Flesh is [Destruction of the Flesh], which corresponds to D to C-tier death.”

“This kind of death usually also comes from regular physical or magical attacks, but the body is extensively damaged, and standard resurrection spells struggle to bring them back.”

“Still, resurrection is possible in these cases too.”

“You’d need an SS-tier resurrection skill, plus an item to reconstruct the body.”

“But SS-tier skills are already extremely rare, and resurrection skills are even harder to come by. Plus, items that can reconstruct a body are usually hard to find.”

Eh? Items to reconstruct the body are hard to find?

Then maybe it’s just that SS-tier skills aren’t strong enough.

If it were SSS-tier or X-tier, maybe grabbing a random lotus root would be enough to rebuild the body?

Jiang Ye silently threw in a light jab in his head.

The Blackened Replica continued, “Whether it's [Pseudo-Death of the Flesh] or [Destruction of the Flesh], there’s actually a simpler form of resurrection—Eerie Transformation, continuing life in the form of an Eerie.”

“But while Eerie Transformation seems easy, it actually requires an intense obsession and sense of purpose, and the side effects are severe.”

“Above these two tiers of bodily death is a higher-level death called [Annihilation of the Eerie Soul], corresponding to B to A-tier deaths.”

“Annihilation of the Eerie Soul generally results from high-level soul attacks or eerie abilities.”

“For example, the Glyph Pattern ability [Phantasm Parasitism]—in the first two tiers of bodily death, it can still allow resurrection by parasitizing an enemy’s shadow.”

“But once it reaches the [Annihilation of the Eerie Soul] tier, it becomes very difficult to use Glyph abilities for resurrection.”

“However, [Annihilation of the Eerie Soul] can still be countered with certain special Eerie Items. But the resurrection process is more complex than a normal Eerie Transformation, and takes much longer.”

“Often, the person helping with this type of resurrection dies before the process is complete.”

“So resurrection from Annihilation of the Eerie Soul usually ends in failure, and when it fails, it often results in the birth of a powerful Abnormal Eerie.”

“For example, many [Secret Realms] in the Doomsday Apartment were created specifically for the purpose of resurrecting someone who suffered Annihilation of the Eerie Soul.”

“And the final boss in those Secret Realms is the Abnormal Eerie born from a failed resurrection.”

“The longer the resurrection cycle lasts, the stronger the resulting Abnormal Eerie.”

“That’s why the longer a Secret Realm has existed, the more difficult it tends to be.”

“Above [Annihilation of the Eerie Soul] is an even higher tier—[Annihilation of the Will], which corresponds to S to SSS-tier death.”

“Annihilation of the Will generally means you're truly dead, with no medium for resurrection.”

“There aren’t many documented cases of this kind of death, since not many have reached that level.”

“Still, there are ways to counter low-level [Annihilation of the Will].”

“For instance, some incredibly powerful top-tier players might manage to split off a sliver of their ‘will’.”

“In that case, even with low-tier [Annihilation of the Will], there could still be a shot at resurrection.”

“Of course, [Annihilation of the Will] spans a range—some versions are so absolute that even the split-off will gets annihilated, leaving no chance of revival.”

“And Erasure should correspond to SSS-tier death.”

“Of course, that’s just what players say.”

“After all, there has never been a way to resist Erasure-level death.”

“So its classification is purely speculative.”

So basically, it might be X-tier?

Either way, Jiang Ye couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

But then, the Blackened Replica seemed to remember something else and added, “Actually, there’s one more hypothetical death type that has no recorded case—Ultimate Erasure.”

“Some players speculate that there might be a type of Ultimate Erasure that completely eliminates all traces of a person’s existence.”

“Even the memories of people still alive would be wiped clean.”

“No one would remember that the person ever existed.”

“This kind of death would be the true highest tier of all.”

“But obviously, it’s just a theory.”

“After all, even if it were real, no one would remember it…”

A death where no one remembers your existence…

That really is terrifying.

But it also can’t be proven true. It remains only a guess.

Someone actually caused that kind of death to someone else?

What kind of terrifying existence would that take? To erase traces and affect the memories of all?

Jiang Ye didn’t dare dwell on such a horrifying being—he just took it as an eye-opener.

He then took out the Dice of Fate from the Replica Shared Space.

“The instant death effect from rolling [Skull] on this—does it correspond to Eerie abilities that cause [Annihilation of the Eerie Soul]?”

The Blackened Replica nodded, “Yeah, most Eerie Items cause Annihilation of the Eerie Soul.”

Annihilation of the Eerie Soul, corresponding to B and A-tier deaths, was fully within the death coverage of [Replica Substitution].

So, even if Jiang Ye rolled [Skull] with his Main Body, it would probably just trigger the death of a weak replica in his place.

Besides, it couldn’t be that unlucky to roll [Skull] on the first try, right?

With that thought, his Main Body was honestly kind of tempted.

How about letting a Mirror Replica try it first?

That made Jiang Ye remember—

He’d created so many Mirror Replicas, but always using a replica to do it.

His Main Body had never once made a replica of himself.

So… would a replica made from the Main Body be able to replicate the X-tier Ability [Infinite Replication]?

And those Replica Skills...

If they could be copied, then when using [Replica Fusion] with a Mirror Replica, how would the cooldown work?

With that in mind, Jiang Ye decided to try it for the first time—he had his Main Body step in front of the Replica Reflection Mirror.

Then, he displayed his Data Panel and stood in front of the mirror for 30 seconds. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ n0velfire.net

But in the end, the mirror didn’t react at all.

The reflection inside stayed just that—a reflection. No replica was created at all.

Jiang Ye found it strange, so he tried using the Phantom Lantern to create a replica of the Main Body.

But that ended in failure too!

All his replicas could make replicas.

So why couldn’t the Main Body?

Does that mean his Main Body can only use the Infinite Replication ability to make replicas?

But then again, Jiang Ye didn’t dwell on it.

After all, even if the Main Body really did replicate the Replica Substitution skill,

then if he rolled [Skull], a replica would still die in his place.

So he completely gave up on trying to make a replica of the Main Body.

Instead, he had Replica No. 4—the weakest in combat—create a Mirror Replica to act as the substitution option.

Then, the Main Body personally studied the Dice of Fate.

The Dice of Fate wasn’t something you could just toss on the ground and call it a roll.

You had to calm your mind and light up all six symbols.

This process ensured the one using the Dice of Fate was doing it “voluntarily.”

In other words, Cheng Qun couldn’t force someone else to use the Dice of Fate.

Because unless you voluntarily calmed your mind and immersed your will into the die, the six symbols wouldn’t light up.

On top of that, the die had to be thrown from three meters high.

And it would spin automatically while airborne.

Meaning, normal dice-rolling skills didn’t work on this item.

After getting everything ready, and with all six symbols glowing, Jiang Ye tossed it three meters into the air.

The Dice of Fate spun wildly in midair, its six glowing symbols flashing in a dizzying display.

Meanwhile, at the Duel Arena, Jiang Ye and Wan Xin showed up together as Replica No. 2.

Since it was a backdoor match, both were pretty relaxed.

Jiang Ye even took the chance to ask Wan Xin some questions:

“Hey Brother Wan Xin, do you know any special-numbered apartments that have special Training Rooms or Dojos to boost combat power or aid in skill comprehension?”

Wan Xin was relaxed too, raising an eyebrow: “What, not planning to go for a Win Streak?”

But for that, a single replica was enough.

His replicas would only grow in number moving forward.

Naturally, he needed to scout out good spots for “AFK training.”

Though he didn’t say that directly in response to Wan Xin’s question.

So he just smiled and said, “Nah, I just got two Golden-Tier Skill Scrolls.”

“Feels like using such rare items casually would be kind of wasteful.”

“So I wanna go to one of those Dojos that enhance Comprehension, and then use the Golden-Tier Skill Scrolls.”

Wan Xin raised an eyebrow: “Dojo? Cheng Qun told you about that, huh? Looks like he’s really planning to go to Apartment 0000 to find Zhuang Zhou Dreaming Butterfly…”

Then, after a brief pause, he glanced up and teased:

“Backdoor match, now trying to gain advantages—are we really that close?”

Jiang Ye felt a bit awkward.

He was trying to get info from Wan Xin while also planning to steal his War God Ranking spot.

Definitely came off as ungrateful and heartless.

Seeing Wan Xin’s attitude, he responded politely, “Brother Wan, if you’ve got any terms, just name them!”

Wan Xin saw he was being so reasonable and gave a squinty-eyed smile.

Then suddenly blinked to Jiang Ye’s side.

He didn’t attack but lowered his voice and said:

“I wanna make a deal with you.”

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow: “What kind of deal?”

Wan Xin chuckled, “I want the reward for your Thirty-Win Streak.”

“In return, I’m willing to throw this match and let you get on the War God Ranking!”

“Yeah, I’ll hand over my spot on the War God Ranking to you!”

“Think about it. You, entering the War God Ranking with the title Nameless Black Iron—what an honor that would be!”

“You’d be the center of attention, the flashiest guy in the entire Duel Zone!”

“The name Jiang Ye would be known and admired by everyone!”

“And on top of that, you’d get the War God Ranking Reward—a room in Apartment 9999 and a full War God Set!”

“The total value and prestige of that combined is definitely worth more than five hundred million!”

“And I’ll throw in something even more valuable—an exclusive Beginner Apartment Gameplay Guide!”

“Don’t think that just because you’ve freeloaded some info from me that you’ve seen the real stuff.”

“The real high-value guides—you haven’t even touched the surface!”

“And these real guides? Their value can’t be measured in money!”

Wan Xin’s pitch honestly sounded like some pyramid scheme recruitment speech.

Jiang Ye was speechless. He thought: D*mn it, I can beat you myself. Why would I need a rigged match?!

As for that so-called guide—whether it's even worth anything is just a bunch of hot air. Not even a single word to back it up!

Jiang Ye wasn’t stupid. He was about to outright reject the deal, but then his eyes shifted, and he changed his tune:

“The value you’re talking about? Sounds like nothing but fluff.”

“Unless you can give me a tiny sample—something solid to prove your guide is legit—then maybe I’ll consider this deal.”

Wan Xin thought for a second, then decisively nodded: “Alright, I’ll leak a bit through my fingers—just a tiny piece of valuable info.”

“Since you're aiming to boost your Comprehension…”

“In Apartment 6996’s Room 9669, and Apartment 9669’s Room 6996, there’s a shared space called the Void Mirror Palace.”

“Clear the Void Mirror Palace once, and you not only cross between the two apartments, but also gain a boost to your Comprehension.”

“Of course, that boost works like the Attribute Fruit effects.”

“Strongest on the first try, weakest by the fifth. No effect after the sixth.”

“In other words, the Mirror Palace only needs to be done five times max.”

“But in practice, clearing it once takes a full day.”

“Five times means five days.”

“In our Game Player guides, we usually don’t recommend doing all five.”

“Since the Beginner Phase only lasts ten days, and there are lots of scenes to boost your power, it’s impossible to experience them all.”

“So in the beginner guide, we’ve laid out different gameplay routes for different goals.”

“For example, if you’re going full Comprehension build, the Mirror Palace only needs to be cleared three times.”

“Then you can pair it with other Comprehension-boosting scenes.”

“If you’re lucky, you can even prepare special items to combo for better results.”

“That way, in ten days, you can max out Comprehension as much as the Beginner Phase allows.”

“Of course, Comprehension builds are pretty rare in our game.”

“Most people go for Attribute builds, Luck builds, or a jumbled Balanced build.”

“There are also pure casual players who don’t care about strength—just for fun.”

“In short, you’ve got only ten days. Depending on your goal, your time should be planned accordingly.”

“And this kind of planning? Only applies to Whales. Normal players just spend their time grinding.”

“Plus, real-life conditions may differ from in-game ones too.”

“But no matter how you spin it, the guide helps players plan their time—and that value is undeniable!”

“So? Was that tiny tidbit satisfying?”

“Can we make the deal now?”