Landlord Before the Apocalypse

Years ago, Blackwater Island became the centre of the world's attention. An island that suddenly appeared one day in the middle of the black sea for no apparent cause or reason, it was naturally a great mystery that led to the development of many conspiracy theories.

The island was soon populated by a range of foreign inhabitants and a lively city developed in a rapidly progressing decade. Eventually, the hype around this mysterious island died down, but Backwater City was still renowned for its unusual legal situation where it was technically under the direct jurisdiction of the UN. This jurisdiction existed for international political reasons and was tentative at best, leading to a vast thriving underworld of crime and depravity.

Decades passed by, and now, most residents of the city were born and raised there.

It was midnight in the city, yet the atmosphere was lively and filled with life and energy. A limousine passed through the the bustling area and drove out from the city centre, entering the residential area just around the edge.

Zhan slumped lazily in the back of the limousine and stared out of the window with a vacant expression. He was still somewhat injured, but his injuries had been treated and his life was no longer in any danger.

As for why he was injured? Naturally, it was because he had just fought in a gladiatorial death match in the syndicate's arena. Since he was still alive, he was clearly the victor.

"Zhan, there's no need for you to continue on as a competitor in the arena…why not join the syndicate instead? You already have experience with managing property, and your skills are unquestionable. The money you could make as a true member is just as good as what you're earning now, but the risk is nowhere near as extreme."

Aside from Zhan, there was also an old man sitting opposite him in this limousine, along with a woman to the old man's side and a burly man on his other side. These two stayed silent and expressionless as the old man spoke to the still recovering Zhan.

Zhan's gaze casually drifted towards the old man and he shook his head slowly.

"The risk is what makes this all fun, I don't want to work some tedious ordinary job."

"Being an elder in the syndicate can hardly be considered an ordinary job." The old man chuckled. Zhan raised an eyebrow.

"You're actually offering me a position as an elder right from the start?"

"I am." The old man nodded, but then paused as he studied Zhan. "You still won't accept it?"

"Nope." Zhan shook his head slowly. "I got into this world because I wanted to fight. I'm not interested in the business and the money. Well, having more money is nice, it's just not my priority."

"I see." The old man turned away and looked out of the window. He didn't seem surprised that Zhan turned down his offer, even though this position was one that men would literally kill to attain…in fact, simply 'killing' wasn't even close to enough to earn this position.

"Old man…I know that you're super old and you're probably going to die any day now, but I'm really not a good choice for a successor. I just want to fight, I won't deal with any tedious things." Zhan spoke with a laugh, looking at the old man teasingly.

The old man's eye twitched, whilst the two individuals besides him struggled to keep straight expressions.

Really, how could this guy talk to the syndicate's leader, the villain who struck fear into the hearts of millions, as if he was some dying old cripple?!

"Like fuck I'm going to die soon! Damned brat, who would want a battle freak like you as a successor anyway? Tch…"

Seeing the old man's irritation, Zhan just laughed and didn't say anything else.

A few minutes later, Zhan stepped out from the limousine. The old man watched as he walked away, then sighed and closed the door, disappearing before even checking that Zhan's injured body made it in through the door.

A sharp jolt of pain shot through Zhan's left leg with each step he took. He also felt the stitches around his stomach coming loose, but he didn't show a hint of discomfort on his face. He walked directly up the stairs and into the tall sleek black apartment complex.

Upon entering the ground floor of this complex, Zhan arrived at the reception area. Further back there was a dining hall and a gymnasium. Despite being injured, Zhan made his way towards the dining hall, a place that was open 24/7.

The staff working around the ground floor noticed him and welcomed him back as they would any other guest. However, one young woman in particular, the manager of the apartment complex, dropped what she was doing and approached Zhan as she saw him making his way through the reception.

"Landlord…" She started, but Zhan interrupted her right there.

"Shia. I told you not to call me that in public. If people know I'm the landlord, they'll come to me with their problems…and I refuse to do any real work like that."

"…Zhan." She spoke after staring at his serious expression for a moment, letting out an exasperated sigh. The woman flicked her long black hair and looked up at the man in front of her. She noticed that he was injured, as he often was when he returned after being away for a few days.

The landlord of this apartment complex, the man called Zhan who could only be in his early twenties at most, was a total enigma to her. Her peers always thought highly of her, since she became the manager of such a highly regarded apartment complex at the age of just 21…but the man before her actually owned the entire building!

A total of 120 apartments, along with dining facilities, gymnasiums and other such conveniences. The flats ranged from single studio flats for young professionals, shared blocks favoured by groups of students, to lavish condo's used by the rich. It was a peculiar apartment block owned by a peculiar man.

Aside from herself, nobody else, either staff or residents, knew that Zhan was the landlord and owner of the huge block.

"What is it Shia?" Zhan glanced down at the young woman and asked. He had to admit that she was a beauty, which was honestly about one third of his reason for hiring her. He figured that if he was needed to deal with someone in order to manage this apartment complex, they might as well be a pretty girl.

Well, she was also quite capable though.

"Land- Zhan, there were four more applicants for room 118 whilst you were away, and there was also an applicant for room 119."

"I told you to handle all of that, so long as they can pay, then I don't care who moves in."

Shia frowned at that.

"For such a condo, I think that we should do thorough background checks on them."

"No. Part of the appeal of this block is that we don't ask questions, everyone is entitled to their secrets and privacy. If they can pay, they can stay." Zhan was firm on this point, mostly because it meant less work for him.

He bought this apartment complex from the syndicate a year ago. It was in a good location and he planned on moving to this area anyway, plus, he realised that it would be more convenient if he owned the place. Since he had accumulated quite a large sum of money in the syndicate's arena, but was technically and legally speaking unemployed, he thought that being the owner and landlord of an apartment complex would also be a good cover.

As for those minor details like the authorities wondering how a young unemployed man had managed to suddenly accrue such a valuable asset, Zhan didn't care at all. The syndicate handled all of those tiresome matters on his behalf.

Shia was silent for some time as she followed Zhan into the dining hall. The dining hall was split into different areas depending on how fancy you were feeling.

"Single booth please." Zhan said to the waiting staff with a smile.

"Right this way sir, we have a booth for two free now."

"No, I-"

"That's excellent, thank you." Shia smiled at the staff and interrupted Zhan, who sighed and followed after the waiter.

"Should my employee really be so tedious?" He complained.

"You're injured again." Shia ignored him and stated bluntly.

"It's nothing."

They entered a cozy booth in the more lavish part of the restaurant, completely secluded from the outside. Zhan ordered his meal before even sitting down, whilst Shia also got something to eat.

"I guess you're expecting me to pay for you?" Zhan spoke with a melodramatic sigh as he dug into his steak.

Shia didn't reply at first and just stared at his meal. He didn't just order a single steak, but three large steaks, an entire roast chicken, four burgers, some smoked salmon and enough side dishes to setup an entire party banquet. If she hadn't already seen him eat such a meal before in the past, she would assume that he was just a rich wasteful young master.

Compared to her chicken wings and salad, it really was a big difference.

"You can afford it." Shia replied as she rolled her eyes.

As they ate quietly, Shia examined Zhan's condition. He was wearing casual clothing, a pair of jeans and a dark t-shirt. The clothing was dark and covered his injuries, whilst Zhan himself showed nothing on his face. If she wasn't so astute, she wouldn't even know that something was wrong.

However, after she once saw Zhan changing by chance and the visage of his insane body entered her eyes, she now knew that things were never as they seemed when it came to her employer.

Zhan's body back then was covered in old scars. She only saw his upper body and arms, but his chest, stomach, arms and back were all ridden with old healed over scars. Not only that, but he had six deep cuts that required stitches, one of which had ripped and was the reason for him changing his clothing.

She was shocked at that time, but she was used to it by now. She noticed the small movements he made so as to avoid aggravating his injuries, he was surely injured on his leg and stomach at the very least.

"How did you get injured?"

Zhan looked up from his meal for a moment, then replied with a completely straight face:

"Dominatrixes are really intense nowadays."

"What a great excuse, I think it becomes more exotic every time I ask." Shia smiled and shook her head, then wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up to leave.

"I need to get back to work."

"Yes, you do." Zhan agreed.

"Landlord…" Shia paused and turned back as she left the booth. "…Just be careful."

With that, the booth became silent. Zhan finished his meal and let out a satisfied sigh afterwards.

"Nothing like a big meal to assist recovery after a battle." He smiled to himself, then left a sizeable sum of cash on the table as he left the booth silently.

He returned to the reception area and was about to get into the lift to return to his apartment, but then paused as his eyes landed on a girl who was sitting by herself on a sofa, one of the many luxurious adornments scattered appropriately in this reception area. The girl was looking at her phone, but she kept looking up, showing an uncertain and hesitant expression, then looking back to her phone.

'That girl…she moved in recently. I know we don't do background checks, but I did specify that residents at least need to be 18. Otherwise, it could cause me some tedious problems if I allow runaway kids to hide out here…hmm.'

After squinting at the girl for a moment, Zhan was still unable to decide if she was old enough to be living here or not. In the end, he approached the girl and stopped in front of her. Looking down from here, he realised that she was actually quite attractive, but he didn't want to make any certain assessments until ascertaining her age.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked directly.

"H-huh?" The girl was startled and nearly dropped her phone as she looked up. Her bright blue eyes widened, combined with her fair skin and blonde hair, she looked a bit like an angel.

"You look a bit anxious. Everything ok?" Zhan asked again, raising one eyebrow.

"I-I'm fine." The girl looked down, then glanced back up at Zhan and realised that he was staring at her. She seemed to muster up the courage to keep speaking and asked:

"Do you, do you live here too?"

"Mm, I do. How about you? I think I've seen you around."

"Ah, I moved in recently. I'm a student at the university…" It seemed that saying this much was her limit, she soon trailed off and dropped her eye contact.

Zhan sighed, then sat down next to her on the sofa.

"You say you're a student? Are you living here with a group of friends then?"

"N-no." The girl shook her head. "I'm in one of the lower apartments, living by myself."

"Oh?" Zhan raised an eyebrow. He was starting to understand now.

"You're a first year, right? You don't know anyone in this part of the city?"

"That's right." The girl nodded meekly. She was starting to calm down and was able to continue talking, though she was still looking down and avoiding his gaze.

Zhan stared at her for a moment and finally sighed. He had enough experience dealing with liars to tell that this girl was telling the truth. Since she was a university student, it meant that she was at least old enough to live here, though she should just be 18 or 19, and alone, in an unfamiliar city…

He considered just leaving her since there wasn't really a reason to stay, but in the end, he felt like talking to this girl some more. Because she was struggling, and as the landlord of this place, he should help out the residents now and then, right?

Yeah, that was it. He definitely wasn't just talking to her because she was cute. He definitely wasn't that sort of person…ahem.

Little did Zhan know that this conversation was the last he would have before the beginning of the apocalypse.