Claiming a Home

The inventory window that appeared before Justin looked like a grid with ten vertical and horizontal squares. Curious, he decided to test it by placing his baseball bat and a can of food into the grid. His hand slipped into the inventory like passing through liquid, and when he pulled it back, both the bat and the can had disappeared from his grasp.

"So, a can takes up one square, and the baseball bat takes up six," Justin muttered, nodding to himself after confirming how much space the items took up. With this much room, he could carry everything he had with him. Satisfied, he placed his entire backpack into the inventory and dismissed the window.

Just as he finished checking his reward, the system presented him with a new quest.

"Ding ! New Quest: Secure a Home"

Category: Main Quest

Details: Even in a safe zone, no one can sleep in the open air. Choose one of the vacant buildings to claim as your own.

Reward: Ownership of the selected building and access restriction rights.

"...I'm supposed to live in one of these?" Justin said, his face scrunching as he took in the sight of the ramshackle medieval-style huts surrounding him.

The thought of living in one of these rundown shacks made him cringe. Honestly, living in a basement apartment that was 30 years old seemed more appealing than staying here.

However, as he scanned the area, his eyes caught sight of a few buildings that stood out. Among the rows of dilapidated huts, a few houses were in notably better condition.

"Well, these look a bit more livable," Justin thought. While most of the huts resembled primitive medieval cottages used as both stables and homes, these particular buildings had a Romanesque design, much sturdier and more well-kept than the rest.

He had just started walking toward one of these better houses when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hold it right there!"

"...?"

Justin turned, confused by the sudden command.

"Is he a beta tester?" Justin thought as he sized up the man who had shouted at him. The guy was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, his arms covered in tattoos, and his belly slightly bulging. There was no way this guy was an NPC—he had to be one of the beta testers.

"Hold it? You're talking to me?" Justin asked, unsure.

"Who else would I be talking to?" the man replied, glaring at him.

Justin sighed internally. Another guy using informal speech for no reason. Though annoyed, he decided to get to the point.

"Why are you stopping me? I'm just trying to enter this house as part of my quest," Justin explained.

"That's exactly why I'm stopping you," the man shot back.

"What?"

"That house already belongs to someone. And if you take it, that's going to cause a big problem for me," the tattooed man said, shrugging casually while motioning toward the other dilapidated homes.

"Pick one of those houses over there. Don't even think about touching these," the man said.

"So, you're saying someone's already living here?" Justin asked, trying to understand.

"Ugh, you talk too much. You curious or something?" the man sneered, his face twisting as he glared at Justin.

"These houses are reserved for my boss and his crew. So, keep your hands off them. Got it?" he growled.

That one sentence was all Justin needed to understand the man's intentions. His "friends" were most likely other thugs like him. He was trying to stake a claim in the safe zone so that later, he could gather more scumbags like himself to establish control.

Justin laughed. The absurdity of the situation was too much to hold in. So, this guy was trying to hoard the best spots in the safe zone for his gang, eh?

The tattooed man's face twisted in irritation as Justin laughed.

"Hey, what's so funny, you bastard? You think I'm a joke?" he snapped.

"Black Missile," Justin said, cutting him off before he could finish.

Sparks flew from Justin's fingertips as a Black Missile shot toward the man's head. It was aimed to either cause a concussion at minimum or death at worst. Frankly, Justin didn't care which outcome it would be.

Boom!

"Holy—!" the man yelped.

However, the missile exploded before it could hit the man, blocked by an invisible barrier.

" Ding! Combat is prohibited within the safe zone."

"Ding! All physical and magical interference is nullified by the system."

"Ding! To engage in combat, please leave the safe zone."

"Oh, right. This is a safe zone," Justin muttered, remembering that the area had its name for a reason.

"C-c-crap!" the tattooed man collapsed to the ground, trembling after witnessing the missile's power. Although it hadn't hit him, he must have realized how deadly it was from the blast alone.

Justin, not missing a beat, aimed at him again.

"Black Missile."

Boom!

"Aaaaah!" the man screamed as the second missile exploded, again blocked by the barrier. Justin tried once more, but the result was the same—both Black Missile and Energy Drain were completely ineffective within the safe zone.

Disappointing, but what could he do? At least the area's safety was guaranteed, so Justin decided to accept the trade-off.

"You bastard! I'm gonna kill you!" the man screamed, pulling out a mace from his inventory and pointing it at Justin threateningly.

"Go ahead. Try," Justin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What?" the man stammered.

"I said try. Go on, hit me," Justin challenged, his tone calm.

The tattooed man just blinked, his mouth opening and closing as he chewed on his lip. He clearly knew that attacks wouldn't work inside the safe zone.

"Guess you're smarter than you look. A pig with the mind of a fox, huh? It's confusing. Pick one," Justin mocked.

"You...! You think you can stay in here forever?! You'll have to leave the safe zone eventually, and when you do, I'll kill you!" the man threatened, trying to regain control of the situation.

This was too much for Justin. The absurdity of the man's words left him momentarily speechless.

"Really? So, you're just going to wait until I step outside to kill me? What about you? You think you can live in here forever?" Justin asked, chuckling.

"W-what the hell are you talking about!?" the man yelled, confused.

Justin sighed. If there was one thing he'd learned from encounters with people like Gavin and this guy, it was that these types never understood subtlety.

"Fine. Let me spell it out for you. How about this? When we meet outside the safe zone, you can run at me as fast as you can and try to kill me. Meanwhile, I'll shoot you with magic until you're dead. Sound fair?" Justin asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Huh...? Wha—?" the man's eyes widened as the realization of what Justin was saying dawned on him.

Finally. He was starting to get it.

Justin glanced at the man and found himself wondering again why these idiots, armed with melee weapons, were so eager to challenge him.

No armor, no shield, no helmet, yet they still thought they could take him on.

Somehow, it was one of the greatest mysteries of humanity.