[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c":3,"chapter-surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-224":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Surviving the Doomsday Apartment—With Infinite Clones!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},949496,1242,"Chapter 224: The Master Breaks Character","surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-224",224,"\u003Cp>For some reason...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the Buddha-like, bald uncle laugh heartily...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye suddenly remembered that phrase—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"People who love to laugh usually have good luck.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somehow, he felt that this saying was even more fitting for this bald uncle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because that slightly chubby face of his looked like it was born to smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It gave off an incredibly kind and friendly vibe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, one of the main reasons Jiang Ye had thought this shopkeeper valued fun more than profit was because of his identity—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Mask Master].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So a \"Mask Master\" could just as easily be considered a Toy Master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And someone like a Toy Master was super cool in a child’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, they were very likely someone with a strong sense of childlike wonder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, just because someone had a permission-based title didn’t necessarily mean they matched the traits of that title.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it could serve as a reference point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this Mask Master, Jiang Ye couldn’t help but relax a bit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least, emotionally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was still vigilant when it came to the shop rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He put away the eight masks, holding the disguise mask separately in his right hand, and smiled at the shopkeeper:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So, this counts as a successful identification? What about the reward for the Today’s Special Offer...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cheerful, smiling bald man clearly wasn’t the type to go back on his word. He casually placed a hand on the [Shop Rules Mask] that had been reattached to the wall and waved Jiang Ye over:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come on, follow me to my workbench.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye cautiously asked, “This counts as getting the shopkeeper’s permission, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shopkeeper rolled his eyes at him. “Look at you, so paranoid.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, he suddenly flicked out a small, dark-golden metal tag. “Take this first—official permission granted. Stop acting so scared.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Jiang Ye took the small metal tag, a notification rang in his mind:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Ding!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【You are about to receive a temporary status. Do you accept?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Yes \u002F No?】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected the VIP Customer of this shop to actually be a temporary status?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bald man caught his expression and raised an eyebrow. “From that look on your face, have you encountered other temporary statuses before?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then asked back, “Does Subcontracted Administrator count as a temporary status?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh? Subcontracted Administrator?” The bald man looked genuinely surprised. “From what I know, it’s pretty rare for an administrator to grant someone subcontracting rights.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye’s mind turned quickly, and he explained, “I’ve only seen another player become a subcontracted administrator—I haven’t experienced it myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the truth. He had seen Zhang Jintian become a subcontracted administrator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for himself, he really hadn’t taken on that role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether the bald guy believed it or not was unclear. In any case, he sized Jiang Ye up while walking into the secret passage that had opened at the [Shop Rules] board.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they walked, he lazily explained:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Generally, any somewhat decent permission-based identity can grant temporary statuses.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like the Subcontracted Administrator you mentioned, and the VIP Customer status I just gave you—they’re both temporary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A player can only have one permission-based identity, but there’s no limit on temporary statuses.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“However, the permissions of temporary statuses are quite weak, and they can be revoked at any time by the one who granted them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For example, the Subcontracted Administrator title can be canceled at any moment by the issuing administrator.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And your VIP Customer status can also be revoked by me at any time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But since this came as the third reward from the Today’s Special Offer, as long as you don’t do anything outrageous, I generally won’t cancel your VIP status.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for what this temporary status lets you do, you can check it yourself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To put it simply, there are three benefits—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, with this status, you can contact me anytime.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Second, you can ignore the shop rules while in this store.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third, you get a 20% discount on purchases, and all purchases earn points.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And those points can be used to redeem exclusive, non-sellable items that can’t even be bought with Survival Points.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know about the luxury goods bundling system, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s the same idea—some VIP customers spend a ton just to rack up enough points to get their hands on ultra-rare non-sellable items.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye had heard of the bundling system before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Basically, when you try to buy a super in-demand luxury bag, the store clerk will tell you they’re out of stock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once you flash the cash and hit a certain spending threshold, suddenly even the rarest items become magically available.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They claim it’s because not just anyone can get those popular products.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But let’s be real—it’s just artificial scarcity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Creating a sense that rarity equals value, and that hard-to-get things show off your status.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are they really selling bags?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, they’re selling items that ordinary people can’t get—symbols of money and status.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In summary: they scam the rich, not the poor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye, being a poor man, couldn’t really relate to luxury goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he could imagine that the non-sellable items in the Mask Master’s shop were truly valuable—not artificially hyped-up crap like luxury stores peddled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, if it took spending Survival Points to earn those rewards...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then even the most precious non-sellable items felt pretty far out of reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still had the rest of the Today’s Special Offer rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he followed the bald man into the secret workshop, Jiang Ye checked the details of the VIP Customer temporary status.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t help but joke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So being a VIP means I can ignore the shop rules... does that mean I can walk out freely? Touch any masks I want? Do whatever I feel like?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do whatever you feel like?” The bald man, now seated at his exclusive workbench, gave him a cold sideways glance. “Go ahead, try it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye chuckled awkwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course he knew—it wasn’t really \"do whatever you want.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, this VIP status could be revoked at any time by the shopkeeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he did anything that crossed the line and pissed off the shopkeeper, once that VIP tag was gone, he’d be back to strictly following the shop rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So this so-called “ignore shop rules”...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was really just turning “without shopkeeper permission” into “shopkeeper tacitly permits.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant he no longer had to be so overly cautious, worrying about accidentally touching some kind of mask-type item.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye sat down across from the workbench quite relaxed and laid out the eight masks he brought in a neat row on the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bald man across from him raised an eyebrow and said directly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“From the looks of this, you plan on using all three of your free modification chances and your one chance to pick a mask from the warehouse, huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye nodded, then pointed straight at the Special-Class [Maniac Mask], explaining:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This mask—I snatched it from someone else. They said it might’ve taken synthesizing ten Maniac Masks in the [Chaos Furnace] to get this one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Its effect is: it can be used ten times, one hour per use.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course, I’ve already used it once, so there are nine uses left—nine hours, which is 540 minutes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Personally, I feel that one-hour intervals are too long. A lot of time gets wasted in between.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I was thinking—could you modify it so it’s like a video, with a [Pause] and [Play] function?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I want to use it, I hit [Play]; when I don’t, I hit [Pause], so I can fully utilize those 540 minutes without wasting a single second.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that simple explanation…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bald man’s cheerful, friendly face instantly stiffened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rolled his eyes and said with no expression, “Play and pause…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why don’t I just give you a time stopwatch—whenever you’re doing something, you press it and time starts flowing, and when you’re not, you pause time and it waits for you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve got some f**king nerve!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye thought about it carefully and had to admit—yeah, wanting the mask’s 540 minutes to pause and resume like that was a bit greedy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he changed his request: “How about splitting the 540 minutes into 540 one-minute uses instead? That should be doable, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That made the bald guy let out a frustrated laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You ever seen a time-limited item with over five hundred uses??”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me be clear—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is a time-limited item. The modifications can only stay within the bounds of what’s allowed for time-limited items.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And for time-limited items, the usage limit absolutely does not exceed 100 times!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only 100 uses max.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant each use would be 5.4 minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye figured—killing an administrator probably didn’t take 5.4 minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But maybe... he could wear the [Maniac Mask] to kill the administrator, then put the [Maniac Mask] on someone else while he wore the [Enforcer Mask] to farm survival points at a hundredfold rate?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If so...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, he settled on it:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, 100 times it is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then help me modify this mask so it can be used 100 times, 5.4 minutes each.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And add one more thing—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“During each use, I want to be able to freely change who wears the mask.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like, I wear it for one minute, then give it to Zhang San for 3 seconds, and then Li Si for 3 seconds…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can that effect be done?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Buddha-faced Mask Master, who had been in such a good mood moments ago from the earlier fun, immediately felt a migraine coming on after hearing that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That headache probably felt like what a corporate grunt experiences when the client suddenly throws out a bunch of wildly unreasonable demands—while acting like it’s all perfectly normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way he looked at Jiang Ye now was exactly the way a tired worker would stare at a brain-dead client.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just wanted to crack open Jiang Ye’s head and scream—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This isn’t reasonable! This isn’t reasonable! Can’t you think about the poor guy who has to implement this crap when you make demands!?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to be fair...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye’s request, while annoying, wasn’t technically impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the three free mask modification chances—that was something the shopkeeper himself had promised as part of the special offer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bald man took a deep breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He swore to himself that he would never again offer “mask modification” as a free gift in any special event.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He absolutely hated modifying masks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he did it by his own design, fine—it was enjoyable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But having to follow the customer’s ideas? Absolute torment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took another deep breath, closed his eyes for a second, and finally agreed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine. Your first modification chance will be used for this [Maniac Mask].”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You still have two chances left.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With two chances remaining, Jiang Ye naturally glanced at the [Enforcer Mask] that paired with the [Maniac Mask].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That thing was a beast for farming survival points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He got right to the point: “Can you modify this [Enforcer Mask] so that instead of giving 100x survival points when killing a ‘maniac,’ it gives 1000x, 10,000x, or even higher?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mask Master’s face was completely blank: “How about I just make it give you a few hundred million times survival points instead?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Or better yet, 1 billion survival points per second—wouldn’t that be easier and faster?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1909,"2026-06-03T07:17:36.055Z","2026-06-03T07:17:41.424Z",1,"novelbin.me","a526ba3a9aa7b7517da6162c43487d7cb373042f8503777ae0255d329ae8e52b","surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-225","surviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-chapter-223",575,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-doomsday-apartment-with-infinite-c-cover.jpg"]