"Hello there. I’ve come to bargain."
"Huh? Who’s this bastard?" One of the delinquents cocked his head at Arthur. "Listen here, man. If you don’t want any trouble, then go pick one of those shitboxes beside ours. This land is ours."
"Wow. You’re so patriotic, I think I even shed a tear," Arthur said, narrowing his eyes.
All of a sudden, his eyes widened.
"Wait, Loren?"
"Hmm? You know me?"
Loren, a black-haired man with a muscular body, approached him.
"How do you know me?"
But it didn’t take him long to recognize Arthur, either.
"Arthur? The hell are you doing in this place? Didn’t know you were on the same train as me. Heck, I would’ve come and said hello if I knew."
"Hahaha. Likewise," Arthur replied, hiding a smile.
He didn’t think coincidences like this existed, but apparently, they did.
Loren was one of his childhood friends. They stopped talking after Arthur moved out of town. Before that, though, the two of them had both been delinquents, doing the most out-of-pocket stuff imaginable without feeling the slightest bit bad about it.
Now, though, Loren had gone through a serious upgrade...
And a mini downgrade.
He had gained some serious muscles, but his hairline had been pushed so far back that it was only a matter of time before he went bald.
Despite it all, Loren was a good friend, and Arthur wasn’t about to fight him.
"You know, I came here because I thought I’d get a slightly bigger house for myself and my wife," Arthur said.
"Wife? Woah, dude. You got married?" Loren’s eyes widened.
"A few weeks ago, yeah. We were just heading out on our honeymoon, too. Sigh. I guess I’ll just have to pick out a different house since you own this one."
Arthur lowered his head and began walking away.
He didn’t get very far before Loren placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Had I known, I would’ve sent you flowers. How about this? Me and my boys will take the house opposite this one. It’s almost as big, so we won’t have any issues. As for you, why don’t you take this house as a gift of sorts?"
"You mean it?" Arthur was surprised. "You know I can just take the other one, right?"
"Nah, you can’t. There are more delinquents in that one. We’ll have to raid the place. Oh, right. Where’s your wife?" Loren asked.
Arthur sighed.
"She’s in the hospital. She got a bunch of injuries from the crash. Guess what? We all have free health insurance."
The moment all the delinquents heard the words free health insurance, it was as though a goddess had descended from the heavens and kissed each of them on the forehead.
Their country didn’t have free health insurance, so they had to accumulate injuries because they were too expensive to treat.
Now?
They were going to the hospital the moment they settled into their new homes.
"Heh. Arthur, I’ll talk to you later. Don’t forget to invite us over for dinner one of these days so I can introduce you to these boys."
By these boys, he meant the delinquents.
"Will do. Have fun. I’m going to go settle in," Arthur said.
With that, he entered the home that had coincidentally been gifted to him.
In reality, he knew Loren’s personality. He also knew that he could get the house from him if he tugged at his heartstrings.
Obviously, Arthur was going to compensate Loren with plenty of delicious food. While he had technically wronged him by taking the house, they were still good friends.
And good friends made amends.
The house was just as big as it had looked from the outside.
There were six bedrooms, three bathrooms, three baths, and plenty of other luxuries, such as a fancy kitchen with a marble countertop.
It was a rich person’s home, without a doubt.
Now, he was that rich person.
***
After a few hours of back-and-forth, Arthur managed to do some cleaning and chose the master bedroom.
It had always been his dream to live in a room this big.
There was even a computer inside, meaning he could go on the internet and figure out exactly what this world was.
But that could come later.
He heard a knock on his door, and when he came downstairs, there was a man in a black suit waiting for him in the kitchen.
"Uhh... Help yourself to anything you want?"
The man turned around.
"I’ve eaten, thank you. On the contrary, I want you to fill out some paperwork. I heard about your situation. Your wife’s situation is also peculiar, so you’ll be signing on her behalf as well."
They’re not going to ask any more questions about whether we’re actually married? I did show that nurse a soda-can pull tab instead of a normal ring. Oh well.
"Sure."
Arthur sat down and grabbed a pen.
The man took out a stack of papers and had Arthur sign his name pretty much everywhere.
He read through all the details carefully, making sure there wasn’t some kind of kidney-selling clause hidden in there.
There wasn’t.
However, there was another clause that made him somewhat suspicious.
"If we don’t become working-class citizens within five years, you’re going to send us to jail?"
"That’s right. We’re not allowed to give people freebies for an undetermined amount of time. So long as you can earn even a penny by any means necessary, you can stay. It’s pretty simple, and it does favor people like you."
People like me, huh? Well, I’m still a bit suspicious, but I’ll just sign it for now.
With that, he put his signature on every required line.
Once he was done, the man in the suit asked for some basic details, such as his name, surname, and, for some reason, his level.
He was still Level 1.
Judging by the man’s pitiful reaction, that was very bad.
Why discriminate against levels, though? There is experience, so we can obviously raise them. Weird.
"Here are the keys to the home. The deed is also in your name. As for your identification, it will be produced by tonight. You’ll receive it in the mailbox. Good day to you, Arthur Vegas."
The man left, and Arthur felt relieved once again.
Until that woman woke up, he had to bear with this situation and find out more about this world.
So, for starters, he made his way back to his master bedroom and fired up the computer.
And yet, the very first page he opened already made his jaw drop.
"What the..."