Apocalypse Landlord: My Tenants Are All Beautiful Heroines.-Chapter 9: Getting Over The Bottleneck

Oi system, is it possible to give shop access to others?

Aiden thought while registering the ’weapons’ James brought to the shop.

[Not with the host’s current class. The feature will unlock in the future.]

Aiden didn’t argue, just nodded and rested his eyes.

In his days as an idle demon lord, Aiden had thought about ways to give others their own pseudo-systems.

It would have all the features a generic RPG system had. They could level up, change or equip new classes, and whatnot.

Sadly, people in the Otherworld weren’t interested in that crap. However, Earthlings would be open to it.

Besides, if he could give the residents a leveling system, it would encourage them to hunt. This, in turn, would fill his pockets faster.

As for why Aiden wanted that, the reason was simple.

I’m bored.

He had been happy seeing the gaming consoles, thinking they would be the best way to pass his time. Unfortunately for him, the foolish system created the digital edition consoles.

It only had childish games preloaded. Anything other than that had to be bought and downloaded from the console’s store.

The problem?

There was no internet!

Forget about the internet. Even if the system somehow magically created it, the servers from which he could download games were ancient history.

Only Lily has the patience to play that Astrabot or whatever that thing is.

Thinking about the little one brought a smile to his face. Having Alisha and Lily live with him had lifted the gloom surrounding him. Even they were happy regaining some normalcy in their lives.

Unlike the rented apartment, Aiden’s place had both: running electricity and water. Thanks to that, their affection had already maxed out in a single day.

The little one even called me big bro. Nice.

He expected Alisha’s affection to rise faster, but he had reached a bottleneck. No matter what he did, it didn’t increase beyond 99. At first, he thought that was the limit, but the system informed him otherwise.

[Some psychological barrier is preventing her from completely falling for the host.] 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

It has to be related to this body’s past.

Alisha’s stuck-up affection wouldn’t have affected Aiden so much if she weren’t trotting around in denim shorts and a less-than-fitting tank top.

He felt like a lion trapped in a zoo. Delicious food was right in front of him, but he couldn’t have it. Why? Simply because he had morals.

Consent is the ultimate reward of courtship.

He shook the image of her curvy body out of his head, focusing on more important things.

"Who were those people?"

If James hadn’t blacked out back then, he wouldn’t have to waste his time answering such stupid questions. Then again, those children could have easily harvested him for resources, just like they did with that goblin.

Honestly, it didn’t matter who they were. Aiden wanted to recruit them as tenants because they seemed strong. Much stronger than James, who fainted at the sight of a skeleton.

There was also the issue of restricting them. The stronger they were, the more harm they might cause.

Not to mention, given their strength, he would have to give them special treatment. But he could worry about that if he managed to recruit them.

"Controlling them wouldn’t be an issue once they become tenants."

With a sigh, he got up and leaned on the balcony railing. Unlike the morning, now he could see various monsters lurking around, thanks to his enhanced vision.

"With so many monsters roaming around, even that group wouldn’t dare to venture far... wait a minute."

A sudden thought hit him.

Given the risk of traveling on foot, that group most likely lived nearby.

"I could send James to look for them, but then what?"

Unlike Alisha and James, who were desperate to be saved, the group seemed to be self-sufficient.

Just providing them with food and water wouldn’t be enough to lure them. Not to mention, they already had better weapons than the ones he could provide.

"What else can I give them? Something that no one else could?"

[Protection.]

"...right. Why didn’t I think of that?"

When it came to the apocalypse, no matter how strong someone was, they couldn’t be at a hundred percent ease of mind. Just one mistake could lead to gruesome death.

But Aiden could give them that peace of mind.

As usual, there was a problem.

"It sounds too good to be true."

Gullible people might have believed in safe havens back when the apocalypse just begun. In fact, they would have flocked over to the building.

However, a year had passed since the world went to shit. Anyone gullible either became some monster’s dinner or had to kill that part of themselves.

"Even Alisha and James only accepted it because they were desperate," Aiden nodded to himself. "No one would accept that my strange abilities exist without suffering genuine desperation or seeing my skills in action."

While Aiden was lost in his thoughts, someone appeared behind him.

"Aiden, do you have a minute?" Alisha asked.

"Of course," Aiden turned around, smiling at her. "Is something the matter?"

Alisha shook her head before continuing, "I just... wanted to thank you for helping James. I know he might not look like it, but he was a kind person once."

"Although I don’t think I’ll ever get over what he did, thank you for giving him another chance."

Well, as long as you’re over him.

Aiden thought with a kind smile plastered on his face.

"I... did it for Lily. I mean, even in an apocalypse, having a father is a must, right?" he said, acting casual.

"Oh, I forgot you don’t remember anything about me or your past," Alisha chuckled as she joined him at the balcony. "We adopted Lily. She was the sole reason I got married to James."

"Wait, what?"

"I know, right? James’s ex wasn’t a nice human. She tortured Lily under the guise of parenting. When James told me about it, I thought to help him out."

"Right... I forgot Earth had strange norms when it came to parenthood," Aiden mumbled.

Thankfully, Alisha didn’t hear the strange words.

"The courts wouldn’t give her custody to a single father—"

"So you married him to get Lily out of the terrible environment."

Alisha nodded, "I planned on divorcing James after a few months, but then the apocalypse came knocking, and here we are. I don’t like him, and I feel you don’t either, but you still helped him. That gave me the courage to confront my true feelings, and it changed something in me."

[Tenant: Alisha Irwin’s affection rose to 100%]

[Tenant: Alisha Irwin’s affection stat has evolved to desire.]

[Tenant: Alisha Irwin’s desire rose to 3%]

Aiden was trying to decipher the meaning of those notifications when Alisha cupped his cheeks and stood on her toes.

"...consider this a reward," she whispered as her lips met Aiden’s.

However, instead of enjoying the moment, Aiden’s eyes were fixed on something else.