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003
「Will you accept 'Kang Mu-yeol' as a tenant?」
A strange message popped up in front of my eyes.
"What the hell is a tenant?"
That guy smashing the zombies' heads in seems to be Kang Mu-yeol.
Honestly, I was conflicted.
If I wanted to save him, I could.
If I shouted out the window, I could draw the zombies' aggro away.
Besides, since the house is a Safe House guaranteed by the System, I didn't think anything terrible would happen just by drawing a little zombie aggro.
Of course, I didn't even dream of going down there with a weapon.
However, the risk of saving that guy that way was quite high.
If I saved him and brought him into my house, he might smash my head in just like he was smashing the zombies'.
The world has collapsed, and this house is full of food.
Of course, there's the defensive barrier called a Safe House, but it was uncertain whether the Safe House's rules would apply to someone I invited into the house of my own volition.
"But what if I accept him as a tenant?"
Then the story changes.
Asking if I'd accept him as a tenant is, in other words, a proposal from the System.
That guy becoming a tenant meant that he would also enter my System.
In other words, it meant the System's rules would definitely apply to him.
It's much safer than just letting him in blindly.
"I'll accept him as a tenant."
「Proposing to 'Kang Mu-yeol'.」
Suddenly, the man stopped in his tracks and looked around.
It seemed the proposal had reached him.
「'Kang Mu-yeol' has accepted the proposal.」
「'Kang Mu-yeol' is now a tenant.」
「A tenant cannot harm you.」
"Oh!"
Just as I expected.
Now I can save him with peace of mind.
I opened the window and shouted.
"Hey! Come into this building! It's Unit 404!"
Kang Mu-yeol and the zombies looked toward me at the same time.
I waved my hands to make sure I drew the zombies' aggro.
In that brief moment.
Kang Mu-yeol threw himself toward my Villa.
The zombies chased after Kang Mu-yeol.
But Kang Mu-yeol was faster.
I had my ear pressed against the front door.
Tadadadadadak!
I heard the sound of someone running up the stairs.
The footsteps got closer.
-Help me! The zombies are chasing me!
I heard his voice from outside too.
I quickly opened the front door.
I saw Kang Mu-yeol running toward me.
"Come in quickly!"
Kang Mu-yeol practically flew into the house.
As soon as he entered, I closed the door and even engaged the auxiliary lock.
"Haa, haa, haa, haa. Thank you. Are you perhaps the building owner?"
"The building owner?"
I live on the top floor, but I'm not the building owner.
"Aren't you the one who offered the tenant proposal?"
"Ah, that's right. I made the proposal."
Did the Status Window tell him I was the building owner?
I don't have that kind of wealth. I didn't want any unnecessary misunderstandings.
"I'm not the building owner, just someone living here. You seemed to be in danger."
"Ah, well, whatever it is, thank you. You really saved my life."
"It's nothing. Would you like a glass of water?"
"Water? You're sharing water?"
"If you're hungry, I'll give you some bread too."
"Even bread? I haven't eaten anything since yesterday, but..."
"Please, sit comfortably. I'll bring it to you."
"I don't know if I should accept this..."
"If you're a tenant, we're neighbors. I can share this much."
I handed the bread and water to Kang Mu-yeol.
Kang Mu-yeol stuffed his mouth full of bread and gulped down the water.
"Keu-uh-uh! I don't know how long it's been since I've had bread. This is delicious."
"Eat slowly."
I waited for Kang Mu-yeol to finish the bread.
Kang Mu-yeol kept moving his jaw without rest, even while pounding his chest with his fist.
I waited for him to finish the bread before asking.
"Are you by any chance Kang Mu-yeol-ssi?"
"How do you know my name...?"
As the System had informed me, the man's name was indeed Kang Mu-yeol.
As expected, the System is reliable.
"I have my ways of knowing."
"Ohhh..."
I had accepted Kang Mu-yeol as a tenant, but...
Usually, just because people are tenants doesn't mean they live in the same house.
I had lived alone until now.
Being alone was comfortable.
However, right now, only my house was a Safe House.
I couldn't just kick him out after having gone through the trouble of accepting him as a tenant.
「The Safe House is at full capacity.」
「The tenant needs a place to stay. Secure a house.」
「Quest: Secure Unit 403.」
"Oh."
The capacity of this house was only one person. Just me.
To accept a tenant, I needed a separate house.
The System even set the goal for me.
Secure Unit 403.
It's something I need to do right now.
"Have you recovered a bit?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. I feel a bit more alive after eating."
"Then let's go see the house where Kang Mu-yeol-ssi will stay."
"My house? I don't live here?"
"You have to live here now. Do you have any moving luggage?"
"No, no. I don't have anything like that. But what do you mean by 'my house'?"
I pointed at the wall.
"Move in next door."
I wrapped newspaper and tape around Kang Mu-yeol's arms.
"Thank you."
While I was at it, I wrapped his legs too.
It was because of the cliché where a zombie that you thought was dead on the floor suddenly bites your leg.
Kang Mu-yeol checked the makeshift protective gear wrapped around his arms and legs.
It was sturdy enough that even zombie teeth couldn't pierce it.
"Don't you need to wear protective gear, Min-jun-ssi?"
"I'm not going."
"Ah! I thought we were going together."
"First, you need to check if there are any zombies inside. If there are zombies, smash them. No need to overexert yourself."
"Understood. Then I'll be going."
"Please work hard to secure your own home."
"Ah... yes."
Kang Mu-yeol pressed his ear against the front door and listened.
I checked the intercom to see if there were any zombies in front of the front door.
"I don't see any zombies on the intercom."
"I don't hear any sounds either. Then I'll be going."
Kang Mu-yeol slowly opened the door.
—Click.
I waited for Kang Mu-yeol to return.
Kang Mu-yeol carefully pulled down the door lock handle of Unit 403.
"...Oh."
I thought it would be locked, but the door opened smoothly.
It was the same structure as Kwon Min-jun's house, where I had just been staying.
"Ugh, what is this smell?"
The disgusting stench of rotting corpses pierced my nose.
My hand gripping the baseball bat tightened.
I opened the door to the nearest bathroom.
Blood was splattered everywhere.
The metallic smell, different from the stench of rotting corpses, made me dizzy.
Kang Mu-yeol closed the bathroom door and headed to the living room.
There was blood splattered in the living room too, but no zombies were visible.
There was one room left.
If there were any zombies, it was highly likely they would be in this room.
Kang Mu-yeol raised the baseball bat and carefully opened the bedroom door.
Kkiiiiik—
'Damn it.'
The door made a noise, probably because the hinges were rusty.
A zombie that had been standing still in a dormant state next to the bed slowly raised its head.
I've smashed quite a lot of zombie heads.
Smashing the head of the only zombie trying to wake up from a dormant state was an easy task.
"Hup!"
Pashak!
With a dull thud, the zombie's head turned into mush.
The headless zombie collapsed to the floor.
I looked around the room to see if there were any other zombies.
The zombie that had just fallen was the only one.
Now, there were no zombies left in this house.
Aside from that, Kang Mu-yeol clutched his aching head.
"This is my new house?"
It seems like just getting rid of the smell is going to be a chore...
I waited for Kang Mu-yeol to return safely.
"Should I have gone with him?"
I soon shook my head.
I didn't think I, who had been avoiding exercise for a while, would be of any help.
Kang Mu-yeol was the guy who smashed zombie heads even while surrounded by a horde of zombies.
The house was small, so I would have just been in the way.
That was when.
「Unit 403 secured.」
「Will you set Unit 403 as 'Kang Mu-yeol's' house?」
"Already? His combat power is indeed considerable. I'll set it as Kang Mu-yeol's house."
「Quest complete! Rewards are being distributed.」
「Level up.」
"Oh, my level..."
Just as I was about to check the Status Window.
A crashing sound came from next door.
Urgent footsteps.
Did something happen?
Kung-kung-kung!
"Whoa!"
Someone knocked on the front door violently.
It was different from a zombie's knock.
If a zombie's knock was a rhythmic kung, kung, kung, the knock I heard now was an urgent kung-kung-kung.
It's a person.
-It's me! Kang Mu-yeol!
I opened the door.
Kang Mu-yeol entered my house, grabbed his knees, and gasped for air.
"Did you do it, Min-jun-ssi?"
"...Do what?"
Since he was speaking without context, I couldn't understand what he meant.
"First, calm down and tell me slowly. What did I do?"
I handed water to Kang Mu-yeol and said.
Kang Mu-yeol took the water, drank it slowly, and caught his breath.
Just when I thought he had calmed down, he spoke urgently again.
"The house! The house suddenly turned clean. The blood and zombie corpses disappeared...!"
"Could you try taking a deep breath first?"
I cut off Kang Mu-yeol and made him take a deep breath first.
Only after taking five or six deep breaths did Kang Mu-yeol speak properly.
"The house, which was covered in blood and even had zombie corpses, suddenly turned white and became clean. The blood and corpses disappeared without a trace."
"Ah..."
I thought I knew what he meant.
It seemed it became a new house the moment I set it as Kang Mu-yeol's house.
"That's a good thing. It would have been hard to clean, wouldn't it?"
"Ah, yes. Of course. Absolutely. Thank you so much. If there's anything you need me to do, please tell me."
Kang Mu-yeol bowed his head deeply.
Even if it were impossible systemically, the worry of him stabbing me in the back was gone.
'More importantly, it said my level went up.'
「Tenant Development unlocked!」
「You can improve a tenant's stats with Coins.」
A new feature had been unlocked.