Chapter 1: The Golden Landlord
The sky was not blue. It was a swirling, violet abyss of mist and stardust.
Ren Solari gripped the cold, pulsing crystal at the center of his ten-meter-wide floating rock. This was his "Lord's Core." Five minutes ago, he had been standing in a coffee shop in Seattle. Now, he was a King of Nothing.
[System Notification: Lord's Core Initialized.]
[Scanning Soul... Talent Awakening...]
Around him, thousands of other floating islands drifted in the distance. He could hear the faint screams of panic echoing across the void.
[Warning: Talent Grade "F" detected... Error... Soul Resonance detected...]
[Hidden Logic Triggered: You have a history of "Property Management" on Earth.]
[Unique Talent Awakened: The Eternal Landlord (Ex-Rank).]
Ren blinked. Ex-Rank? The manual that had been burned into his brain told him that SSS-Rank was the limit.
Talent: The Eternal Landlord
Passive - Property Tax: Any ally or vassal living within your territory yields 10% of their gained experience and resources to you.
Active - Eviction: You can forcibly teleport any hostile entity out of your territory once every 24 hours.
Active - Lease Agreement: You can grant "Temporary Citizenship" to other Lords. While under your roof, they receive a 50% defense boost, but you own 100% of their land's "Rights."
"Wait," Ren whispered, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "In a world where everyone is fighting to be a Lord... I'm the one who owns the lease?"
A rustle in the tall grass at the edge of his island caught his attention. A Void Rat (Level 1) crawled out, its eyes glowing red. Ren looked at his starting equipment: a blunt wooden spear.
"First rule of real estate," Ren said, bracing his feet. "No squatters."
He lunged. The spear connected with a sickening crunch.
[You have slain a Void Rat. +5 XP.]
[Property Tax Triggered: As the owner of this land, you gain a 2x bonus on self-harvested kills. Total: +10 XP.]
He wasn't just a Lord. He was the Landlord of the Apocalypse. And he had a lot of renovating to do.