Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 7: Quest Assignment

"W-Why is this happening...?" James stammered.

He was huddled in a corner, hugging his knees. He was scared shitless, even though he knew the fourteenth floor was safe. He knew it because he had been one of the people who helped rid the floors of monsters months ago.

The barricade on the fifth floor still kept the monsters away. Yet being all alone there, he couldn’t help but shake in fear.

"H-How did I end u-up here?"

James only remembered cursing the strange man before suddenly finding himself downstairs. He tried climbing back up, but something strange happened whenever he tried.

[By the Landlord’s mandate, only contracted tenants can access the 15th floor.]

It wasn’t James’s first time seeing such floating words. He had seen it back when he awakened. It wasn’t anything serious, his physique got better and more robust.

Back then, it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Until that one fateful day. Memories from that time still haunted him mercilessly.

"What a f-fool I was..."

Now that he was alone, he had time to reflect on his actions. The more he thought about it, the more he hated himself. He was once an ideal man, someone Alisha looked up to.

Yet ever since that incident, he had let himself go. The body he prided himself on was long gone, replaced with flabby fat. He looked like the people whom he hated the most.

But none of it compared to the disgusting thing he did today.

"I can’t believe I... did something like that," he mumbled, staring at his hand. The same hand with which he brought violence upon Alisha.

James wasn’t a heartless piece of crap. He knew what he had done was unforgivable, especially in front of Lily.

"I... just didn’t want to be abandoned."

Upon seeing the new guy acting so familiar towards Alisha, he immediately thought she was going to abandon him for the man. He thought, who wouldn’t abandon the ugly bastard he had become for a fit, handsome guy?

That’s why he had grabbed Lily, thinking he would not let Alisha take his child from her, even if she was adopted.

Unfortunately, his actions were perceived as cowardly. He couldn’t even defend himself because he was too overwhelmed.

The next thing he knew, he was kicked out by an invisible force, which was still stopping him from clearing any misunderstandings with Alisha.

"Enough!" he yelled and slapped himself. "Enough of this pathetic groveling. I need to man up and find a way back to Alisha’s heart—"

James had barely said those words when a never-before-seen screen flashed before his eyes.

+++

You have been assigned a mission!

• Mission type: Scavenging

• Objective: Find and retrieve up to 3 weapons.

• Bonus objective: Kill monsters (Additional rewards can be obtained).

• Progress: 0/3

• Reward: Restoration of tenancy.

• Upon failure: Immediate eviction.

• Failure condition(s):

> Rejecting the mission.

> Failing objective.

• Time Limit: None

Note: [Item: Makeshift Spear] would be awarded upon accepting the quest.

Accept the quest?

[Yes] [No]

+++

***

Sometime ago...

"Hm... I should probably register some weapons here as well." Aiden mumbled.

He had registered some items in the store. Like a single water bottle, first aid kits, protein bars, and some hygiene products like soap and stuff.

With the remaining four slots, he wanted to add some weapons, both melee and ranged. After all, he didn’t know what kind of monsters were roaming around the earth now.

"It’s better to be prepared for everything. There’s just one problem."

It could be considered a limitation, but in order to register an item in the shop, he must have that item physically with him.

"The skill would be too OP if I could just think about adding nukes or a magic sword in there, and it actually appeared," Aiden chuckled.

If the skill had been that overpowered, he would have destroyed the apocalypse itself.

"Gotta make-do with what I have here," he thought, entering the living room. "Wait a minute!"

Seeing Alisha there, he suddenly remembered her wielding a makeshift spear.

It’s not the best thing, but at least it’s something!

"Ahem, Alisha, care to spare a moment?"

"Of course, Aiden," she replied with a calming smile.

"Where did you put that spear of yours...?"

Aiden had barely said the words when Alisha’s face turned pale.

"No! You can’t step out. It is too dangerous!"

Aiden was taken aback. It had been a while since someone was worried about him. Seeing Alisha like that brought a strange joy in him, but he couldn’t let it interfere with his work.

"I’m not going anywhere," he said, pulling her into a hug. "I couldn’t even if I wanted to."

"What do you—?"

"It’d be better if I showed you."

Dragging her along, he opened the door and reached out with his hand. A moment later, he was zapped again. This time, even visible sparks shot out to make it look worse than it actually was.

"See? I can’t—"

"Why would you do that!?" Alisha exclaimed, grabbing his hand. "I would have believed you even if you didn’t hurt yourself!"

She kept fussing over his hand and only let go after checking for burn marks. As if realizing their actions were getting weirder, she let go of his hand and walked outside.

"You wait here, I’ll get the spear from home..." she said, looking away.

As she left, Aiden stood at his doorstep, staring at his hands.

"...her touch doesn’t feel strange."

Within minutes, Alisha rushed back with the spear and handed it to Aiden.

"But what will you do with it?" she asked.

"You’ll see," Aiden smiled.

[Register item: Makeshift Spear to the shop?]

Yes.

[Item registered!]

[Weapon Blueprint: Makeshift Spear, unlocked!]

+++

Item: Makeshift Spear

Cost: $230

Durability: 50 points (can be repaired once broken)

Description: A broken broomstick with two knives taped to the sides.

+++

Woah, it’s the first time I got a blueprint of something!

Aiden clicked the blueprint notification, already thinking of ways to improve the simple weapon. But his joy didn’t last long.

[Please upgrade the <Maintenance> skill to unlock this section.]

Oh, right... forgot about that.

He closed the prompts, bought a new spear from the shop, and gave it to Alisha. As confused as she looked by the series of events, Aiden just smiled and walked away.

Now with a weapon in hand, he could commence the next part of his plan.

Let’s see, how do I design a quest?

[Here is a mission prompt. Please fill in the required fields and select the individual to assign the mission.]

A couple of minutes later, Aiden stepped back to admire his work.

"Yes, this will do. Send it away."

[Please select the dweller to assign this quest.]

"James Irwin."

[Proceeding will cost you: $1,530.]

"...even sending quests costs money?"

[Nothing is free in this accursed world.]

"Aren’t you the one taking the money? Why curse the world for it?"

[...]

[Sending the mission to the assigned dweller.]