Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 59: Enforcers’ Trial

"Thank you for helping us, our benevolent landlord!" A scream greeted Aiden as soon as the elevator doors opened.

All twenty-four people he had selected were standing there. Some were bowing, some were openly staring at him. All of them had washed up and were wearing proper clothes, not the rags that they had to wear in the camp.

Everyone was there as if they wanted to make a good first impression on the man who turned the fearsome Karina into a docile subordinate.

Yet to Aiden, it felt like they were at a zoo and he was the exhibit.

"Who put you up to this?" Aiden asked, stepping out of the elevator.

"Sir..." Marcus mumbled from the side.

He wanted to surprise Aiden, but it didn’t seem like he was surprised in the way Marcus had envisioned. Aiden smiled and waved his hand, and two vending machines appeared inside the elevator.

"Since you like surprises so much, I’ll give you one too," he instructed Marcus. "Set these up on this floor, by yourself."

Marcus looked at the bulky machines and sighed. He wasn’t even an evolver. How was he supposed to move them alone? After all, a single machine was nearly seven hundred pounds!

While Marcus got to work, Aiden addressed the selected individuals. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting them to look like gladiators, but they truly were a scrawny bunch.

Forget about attacking the butcher gang, if I were to give them proper classes, their bodies would fall apart.

Aiden had planned to assign them classes and divide them into four groups. He would then arm them and send them outside to get some experience.

Once they could deal with outside threats, he would have them train others and create a small army to deal with the likes of the Butcher Gang.

However, he changed the plan after seeing how fragile and malnourished they looked. While they had talent, it didn’t mean they could just jump in and defeat boss monsters or even gangs.

That shit only happens in movies.

After all, they had neglected their bodies for over a year. Right now, they were a burden to him more than being his enforcers.

"Form a line with your backs against the wall," Aiden instructed.

Surprisingly, the group did so without any delay. They already had high loyalty towards him. It wasn’t strange considering they held Karina and the wolves in high regard, and the latter held immense admiration for Aiden in their hearts.

Once they were in place, Aiden waved his hand, and a small holographic screen appeared before them.

[Currency: 12 caps have been added to your storage.]

[To access storage, repeat the word ’storage’ in your mind.]

Since there was no ’system’ to guide them, Aiden decided to take the role himself. He briefly explained the commands to them and then waited with crossed arms.

The people fiddled with their system while Aiden waited for them to stop playing with the screen.

Within seconds, a man with brown hair exclaimed as his status page was displayed before him.

[You have been awarded <Currency: Caps x3> for your discovery.]

Everyone saw the reward notification and realized there was more to the system that Aiden had shown them.

"Twelve caps is your weekly allowance," Aiden announced, "As long as you’re a resident of this floor, as long as you’re useful to me, you will receive that even if you’re sick or injured."

"However, the more promise you show, the more rewards you’ll reap. Just like Gordon here," Aiden continued after reading the brown-haired guy’s name from his status page.

"You’ll be rewarded for every action you take as long as you learn something new or provide something of value to this building."

Aiden was in the middle of his lecture when someone opened the shop section. Like Gordon, the girl was also rewarded with three caps.

That was the trigger, and suddenly, the group began yelling all sorts of wild names, hoping to unlock an ’easter egg’ and earn some more caps.

[Host, should we stop them?]

No need. Let them go at it.

Honestly, seeing them reminded him of his first day in the Otherworld. Back then, he was yelling any word that came to his mind, much like they were now, hoping to get a reaction out of the system.

Besides, weren’t they the ones who interrupted him? By not tying their tongues and severing their limbs, Aiden was already showing enough kindness to them.

Just then, there was a loud thump. Aiden turned around and saw Marcus finally setting up one vending machine on the right end of the corridor.

"Phew... thank god I had the gauntlet," he said, whipping the sweat off his forehead.

"It’s upside down," Aiden yelled from the other side of the corridor.

"...dang it!"

While Marcus fixed his mistake, Aiden issued the first quest to the enforcers via their system.

+++

You have been assigned a mission!

• Mission type: Settling In.

• Objective: Help set up 2 vending machines.

• Bonus objective: Get it done in less than three minutes.

• Progress: 0/2

• Reward: 50% shop discount token x1 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

• Bonus Reward: Caps (amount will vary based on performance)

• Upon failure: Immediate expulsion from the ’Enforcer’ program.

• Failure condition(s):

> Rejecting the mission.

> Failing objective.

• Time Limit: 10 minutes.

+++

They rushed to help Marcus as soon as the mission appeared before them. They didn’t know what the so-called enforcer program was, but as long as they got better treatment than the rest, they wouldn’t want to get kicked out of it.

Marcus saw the hungry bunch charging towards him and welcomed the help with open arms. However, instead of receiving help, he was pushed to the side.

"Oi! What is wrong with you lot!" he complained, but no one listened to him.

As he kept talking, they even lifted him up and put him on top of the vending machine, like he was a child throwing a tantrum.

They were full of excitement now, but Aiden couldn’t help wondering what would happen once their ’tutorial’ ended and they faced their very first real quest.

[They will make good followers.]

Indeed.