Night, deep into the night.
Ye Chuan brought Lan Xiaoke back home.
"Your place looks so shabby on the outside, but the interior is this well-decorated?" Lan Xiaoke floated behind Ye Chuan, asking as he turned on the lights.
Her face was full of curiosity. After all, Lan Xiaoke hadn’t left the fifth floor of Silver Mountain Academy in ages. Everything outside felt new to her—she could only catch glimpses of the changing world through the school’s renovations, the scenery outside the window, and snippets of students’ conversations.
And who in their right mind would leave the exterior crumbling with peeling tiles while the inside was lavishly furnished?
A humble shell, but a mighty core.
"The exterior will get fixed too—just needs some time." Hearing Lan Xiaoke’s remark, Ye Chuan grinned, thinking of the over a million yuan he now had.
With that much money, fixing the outer walls would be a piece of cake.
This trip had earned him a cool million, and it all felt like a dream.
Still, he hadn’t expected there to be others in this world who surpassed ordinary people—so-called "super warriors"?
Seems like things weren’t as simple as he’d thought. In such uncertain times, he needed to focus on boosting his strength.
Only with power could he stay calm and rake in more cash.
But before that—
"Lan Xiaoke, do you know why I saved you?" Ye Chuan turned to look at her.
Lan Xiaoke froze mid-float, her body pausing for a moment.
How would she know why he’d rescued her? The ghost girl glanced around at herself before finally asking, "Big backpack?"
"No."
"Cuteness?"
"Not that either."
Lan Xiaoke shook her head, then slumped in defeat. "I dunno. My life’s in your hands anyway—just finish me off if you want. ‘Whatever floats your cloud’ or whatever."
"That’s such an old meme…"
Ye Chuan pulled out a rental contract from the drawer and tapped Lan Xiaoke’s head. "Here, sign this agreement with me!"
Lan Xiaoke stared at the contract for a long moment, her chubby cheeks blank with confusion.
"I got no money."
"No need for payment. Just live here, and I’ll cover your food, fun, and everything else," Ye Chuan said.
Lan Xiaoke was stunned.
A deal like this? Free room and board, plus entertainment?
Or… was she the entertainment?
She was a ghost—maybe this guy had some weird fetish?
"Yeah, just stay here," Ye Chuan nodded.
Lan Xiaoke eyed him suspiciously. She wasn’t the sharpest, but she wasn’t dumb either.
Sometimes, she could be pretty sharp.
After all, she hadn’t been the worst student in her class.
But right now, her life was in his hands. He could twist her into any shape he wanted, and she couldn’t resist.
Touching the collar around her neck, Lan Xiaoke could only silently sign the contract.
[Lan Xiaoke]
The moment she signed, Ye Chuan’s phone buzzed. He immediately pulled it out to check—
[New Tenant Discovered: Lan Xiaoke
A mysterious student who choked to death on instant noodles. No special abilities, but her growth potential might be S-tier?]
[Quality: B]
[New Tenant: Lan Xiaoke has successfully moved in.]
[Tenant: Lan Xiaoke
Strength: Level 1 Minor Ghost
Status: Controlled (Ye Chuan)
Daily Income: 1,000 (Chance to obtain ghost-type items)
Daily Points Earned:
…]
[Current Favorability: 1 (Affects system rewards, behavior, and interactions)]
[Current Trust Level: 20 (If too low, tenant may leave)]
In the tenant menu, alongside Bai Qianshuang, a new chibi avatar appeared.
…
A thousand a day?
Not bad—that’s 30k a month.
Ye Chuan stroked his chin. Plus, the rent would increase as her favorability rose.
But that wasn’t the main point. His gaze landed on the mission tab, which now showed the "Recruit Two Tenants" task as complete.
Ye Chuan claimed the reward immediately. To avoid missing anything like last time, he swiped through a few more times to confirm everything was collected before checking the prize.
[Congratulations! You’ve obtained a Guarantee Card. Added to inventory.]
Guarantee Card?
[Item: Guarantee Card
Effect: When used, guarantees one bottom-tier reward in any Universal Landlord APP gacha system.]
Oh?
This thing’s amazing.
A guaranteed bottom-tier pull? Think of the savings!
Ye Chuan pondered whether to use it for a guaranteed physique or spirit root.
Just as he was admiring his reward, he noticed Lan Xiaoke staring at him, puzzled by his phone-induced trance.
"Come on, I’ll introduce you to the other tenant."
With that, Ye Chuan led Lan Xiaoke to Bai Qianshuang’s door. After all, Bai Qianshuang was a Golden Core-stage powerhouse—what if she casually obliterated Lan Xiaoke on sight?
He knocked, but there was no response.
Ye Chuan checked his phone to see Bai Qianshuang’s status—
Chibi Bai Qianshuang sat cross-legged on her bed, deep in meditation. Seeing she was cultivating, Ye Chuan gave up and turned to Lan Xiaoke.
"Qianshuang’s busy. But be careful around her—she could erase you with a breath."
Lan Xiaoke: "?"
What kind of tenant is this?!
No safety guarantees?!
Terrified, Lan Xiaoke squirmed like a noodle. But Ye Chuan was just messing with her—Bai Qianshuang wouldn’t attack without reason. He’d already warned her to confirm identities before acting.
As long as Lan Xiaoke didn’t do anything stupid, she’d be fine.
Total scaredy-cat.
Since Bai Qianshuang was still cultivating, Ye Chuan didn’t disturb her further. Instead, he took Lan Xiaoke to her new room.
He pushed open the door, revealing a clean white bed, wooden floors, and a gaming PC setup with a plush sofa in the corner—fully equipped.
"Is this your room?" Lan Xiaoke glanced around.
"Your room. Everything here is yours to use," Ye Chuan said, only to find Lan Xiaoke staring at him like he was a monster.
"My… room?"
"Problem?"
Ye Chuan had used the Universal Landlord APP’s one-click decoration feature on the way home.
Lan Xiaoke looked uneasy. "Shouldn’t you lock me in a basement cage? Only giving me food if I behave?"
"What kind of messed-up fantasies are you having?" Ye Chuan deadpanned.
Though if tenants had special requests, he wasn’t entirely opposed.
After all, building a basement with the decoration feature was easy—done in an hour. And if Lan Xiaoke really wanted a cage… well, that could be arranged too.