When David and Marin arrived at the entrance to the apartment complex, David was stunned.
⟪ Eh? Was it just too dark and rainy last night that I didn't notice how insanely huge this place is? ⟫
Calling the place where Marin lives an 'apartment complex' would be an understatement as it's more like a luxury high-rise.
It's a 30-story building with fancy, spacious balconies for each resident. The top floor has penthouse suites with two levels and all the rest of the units are 2LDK, nothing more and nothing less.
"Um... Marin, are you sure the rent here is only 200,000? Now that I'm looking at it, that seems way too cheap..."
"Hmm~. Now that you mention it, I suppose it is fairly cheap for what it is. Now that I think about it, I was just asked if I wanted to attend an interview to see if I'm eligible to live here when I was looking for places to live. They only asked a couple of questions at the interview, then told me I could move in right away~!"
⟪ And that didn't strike you as strange? ⟫
"I see. Who offered you the interview?" David asked.
"I can't remember her name, but she was super cute~! She said I would be a good addition to the community here and told me that the interview was really just a formality to be sure. When I told her the monthly budget my dad gave me, she said it would be fine and she adjusted the price to fit me, heheh~."
"That... sounds kinda unrealistic. Do you know who owns the building? They've gotta be operating at a loss, right?"
"Ehh~, I'm not sure. We can ask once we get to the Administrative Office if you want? I already sent a text to the manager and informed her that I'd be bringing an applicant and she said she would be here."
⟪ Yeah, I kinda need to know who is kind enough to allow Marin to live in a fancy-ass building like this at a super cheap price. If it's some perverted old man, I'll just turn him into a mindless puppet. If it's a nice and charitable old man, I'll just make sure to keep an eye on him so he doesn't try anything funny with Marin. ⟫
[David, you realize a woman could own this building as well, right?]
'Yeah, but if a woman owned the place, I wouldn't care. So no need to overthink it.'
[...]
"Sure, let's ask once we're there. Thanks for letting her know ahead of time, that saves a lot of time. Also... Was this gate always here?" David asked as he pointed to the gate in front of the building's courtyard.
"Yep~! Maybe it was left open last night and you didn't see it. We passed through it this morning too, I'm surprised you didn't notice it."
⟪ Ah, I was probably too deep in thought thinking about Marin and other things to even notice it this morning. ⟫
"Yeah, I must've been spacing out, haha. Anyway, 'Roselia Heights', huh? Sounds as fancy as it looks."
Marin grabbed David's hand and dragged him toward the building, "Okay, enough talking! Let's gooo~!"
David chuckled and followed her inside the lobby. Instead of heading to the elevators, they turned right toward a door with a nameplate.
The nameplate showed 'K.T., Roselia Heights Owner'.
"K.T.? What does K.T. stand for?"
Marin shrugged, "Dunno, but she's never in her office and I've never met her. She has an assistant that takes care of everything and acts as the manager, but she's super friendly so you don't need to worry~!"
David nodded and started mentally prepping, figuring out how to make a doll to co-sign, estimating what he'd need for security deposit, first month's rent, utilities, all that.
knock knock knock
David rapped his knuckle on the door and patiently waited for a response.
The door swung open almost immediately.
"Good afternoon~! You must be the new applicant!" A curvy blonde woman in a sharp red blazer and pencil skirt greeted them with a bright smile. Her long, wavy hair bounced slightly as she moved aside to let them in.
David stepped in slowly, eyes quickly scanning the office.
It was cozy but well-furnished. A dark wooden table, a small couch, a glass desk with a laptop, and a wall filled with organized binders and documents were visible.
"I'm Milly Ashford, manager of Roselia Heights and personal assistant to Miss K.T."
Her eyes landed on David again, this time lingering a bit longer.
"And you must be?"
"David Star."
"…David Star?"
"Yeah?"
Milly blinked once. Her smile didn't drop, but her eyes lit up for a moment.
"Well, well~," she said with a small laugh, smoothing her skirt as she walked back around to her desk. "That's a name I didn't expect to hear today."
David raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Come in, sit down, both of you. Let's make this official-looking, at least."
Marin plopped down on the couch without hesitation and started snacking on some candy from a little jar on the table. David sat across from Milly's desk, a little confused at her reactions.
Milly tapped on her laptop keyboard briefly before folding her hands.
"So, David. 15 years old, starting school next week at Hoshinoumi Academy, currently looking for a new place to live. Sound about right?"
"…Yeah," he said slowly. "How do you know all that?"
"Oh, we do a bit of background checking here before we offer interviews and we had planned on offering you one soon anyway," she said casually. "It's nothing serious. Just enough to make sure we don't invite any creeps into a building full of cute girls, y'know?"
⟪ That sounds like BS. Marin barely got asked anything. ⟫
"But hey, good news! You already passed with flying colors!" she said cheerfully. "So! One unit just opened up and I think it's the perfect fit. PH-01. Penthouse suite, 30th floor. Two levels. Big balcony. Excellent sunlight."
David blinked. "Wait. A penthouse?"
"Yup~!"
"That sounds way out of my price range."
Milly gave a little wink. "Oh, don't worry about all that. Your rate's been specially adjusted to match your situation. Let's call it a scholarship. We do those sometimes, for rare cases. For you, Miss K.T. has already waived any fees for your first three years."
Marin coughed up the candy she was eating.
[Marin] 'Wait wait, why does HE get a free penthouse?! You better not be trying to seduce my boyfriend! Er, actually David probably wouldn't mind if that were the case...'
David had a bewildered, yet suspicious look on his face. "...Why?"
"Why not?" she said with a grin. "Sometimes, you just find someone who fits exactly what we're looking for. Right time, right place, right person."
⟪ This is way too convenient. Who the hell runs a place like this? ⟫
He leaned forward a bit. "K.T. is the owner, right? Can I meet her?"
Milly paused, then smiled politely. "Ah, no. Miss K.T. is… very private. She doesn't meet with residents. Or even me much these days. Everything she does is remote. She's kind of a ghost."
⟪ A ghost who drops penthouse keys on high schoolers. Cool. Totally normal. ⟫
Milly stood up and handed him a sleek envelope with a keycard inside.
"You'll find your suite already set up with basic furniture and appliances. Utilities are handled. You just need to unpack and start your new life."
David slowly took the envelope, still wary.
"I feel like there's something you're not telling me."
"No need to be so suspicious, just consider it a lucky break!"
She smiled and led them out of her office, ignoring the suspicious gaze that David was giving her.
⟪ Seriously, what the hell just happened? I was prepared to brainwash the manager if they ended up being scummy or tried taking advantage of me, but I ended up getting a free penthouse suite? I'm not one to deny good things that come to me, but there's no way in hell I can trust this. ⟫
"Umm~... David, do you secretly know Milly or Miss K.T.?" Marin asked with a shocked expression.
Ever since she heard Milly start talking about giving David a penthouse suite for free, she was so stunned that she couldn't do anything except stare at them in bewilderment.
David shook his head, "No, I was prepared for a lot of scenarios, but this one was definitely not on my list. She knew about me ahead of time, but she doesn't seem to have any ill intentions."
David rubbed his face as he tried to wrap his head around everything.
"Whatever, I have a penthouse now... Gods, that feels weird to say... Anyway, wanna come up and check it out with me?"
Marin came back to her senses and jumped in excitement, "Yesss~! I'll have to know where your suite is anyway if I'm going to visit you, heheh~."
David nodded and held her hand, leading her to the elevators.
As they were about to step into an elevator that just arrived, five similar looking girls exited the elevator first before David and Marin could enter.
A girl with short pink hair made eye contact with David before she gave a flirty smile and wink, walking away with the other girls while swaying her hips.
David's lip twitched as he and Marin entered the elevator and hit the 'PH' button.
⟪ Nope, no more for the day, please. I didn't see a damn thing... ⟫
[Marin] 'Eh? Did he know those girls? Wait... Could they be from yet another franchise?'
⟪ The universe needs to calm down and stop throwing cute women in my line-of-sight... I'm definitely staying in my apartment until school starts. Too much has happened in a single day and I don't even have time to process my own thoughts. ⟫
A few seconds later, the elevator doors opened, revealing a grand hallway with 17 doors spread out, each containing a keycard reader and golden nameplates next to them.
David and Marin walked out of the elevator, looking around at nameplates to see which one was 'PH-01'.
There were some nameplates that David read which made him frown, but he opted to ignore them and instead focus on getting settled in his new home and flirting with Marin.
Finally, they found David's suite.
Unlike what they thought, 'PH-01' was the only suite that wasn't on the sides of the hallway, rather it was at the very end in the center.
What baffled David was that the nameplate read, "PH-01 - David Star".
"... Marin, do you think someone just happened to be really skilled and fast, allowing them to create the nameplate and install it in the same time it took us to leave Milly's office, enter the elevator, and arrive here...?"
Marin was equally surprised. "Um... I don't think so..."
⟪ As I thought, there's something up with Milly and that K.T. woman. Maybe I should just setup a barrier that alerts me if anyone weird tries to enter my suite and knocks them unconscious? That would probably be the most efficient way to capture someone for interrogation. ⟫
"Hm... Oh well, whatever happens will happen so let's just check the place out."
David swiped his keycard against the reader and once he heard the lock click, he opened the door.
David and Marin were shocked when they saw the suite and proceeded to take a tour of the place with their mouths wide open.
It was the biggest penthouse suite in the entire building, and it showed. Two levels, open-concept layout with a huge living room that blended into the kitchen, dining area, and lounge space. Six bedrooms, two full bathrooms, two extra toilets, and even a laundry room.
There was a balcony too, big enough for a table and chairs with a clear view of the surrounding city, Ochanomizu. It was definitely fancy, but not over-the-top.
⟪ This place is seriously amazing. Nicer than any place I've lived in before, both in my past life and this one. ⟫
David and Marin finished their tour on the balcony so they were both looking out over the city, enjoying the gentle breeze outside.
"What do you think, Marin?" David asked as he turned to look at Marin.
"It's so big and fancy~!" She replied with an excited smile.
"I'm definitely going to be coming over to hang out a bunch~! You should turn one of the bedrooms into a big nerd zone where we can relax and watch a ton of anime whenever we want on super big TVs~!"
David chuckled and pulled Marin back into the suite. "Haha, that sounds like a good idea. Should I link our places together? I can create a door on an empty wall here and then connect it to a similar door in your apartment with magic."
"OHHH~! THAT WOULD BE SO COOL~!"
"Heheh, good. I'll whip that up real quick and then you won't have take the elevator to get to my place."
David walked over to an empty section of wall next to the stairs leading to the second level and used his magic to create a dark wooden door that looked way too fancy for any normal apartment.
It wasn't in the way and didn't look bad, rather it gave a mysterious feeling to the living space.
David walked up to the door and ran his hands across the doorframe, enchanting it with various runes before stepping back and looking at his work proudly.
"Okay, I'll be back in just a sec."
David used a simple spatial relocation spell and teleported himself to Marin's apartment.
Repeating the steps from earlier, he created an identical door in Marin's apartment, right in the hallway next to her bedroom.
He opened the newly-created door in Marin's apartment and entered it, walking out of the same door in his own suite which gave Marin a shock.
"Whoa~! Now I can just come here whenever I want, heheh~!"
Marin, being the cute and energetic little thing she is, ran back and forth between David's suite and her own apartment with a look of joy on her face.
"I configured the doors so that only you and I can open them. If either of us have any guests, they won't be able to open the doors. If the doors are already open, they won't be able to enter, but they will be able to see the other side. It's just a little security measure, but I can alter it as needed in the future."
"Ohhh~. That's awesome~! Now that you have your own place, what do you plan on doing?"
David sat down on the couch in the lounge area and held his chin in contemplation.
"First, I'll drop off all of the stuff I bought at COSPA in your guest room. Then, I'll choose a bedroom for myself and a bedroom for an office. I'll setup my office to have a time-dilation barrier with a 1:24 difference, meaning one hour outside is one day inside. That should give me plenty of time to do some of the work I have planned."
"I'll create a few computers and a laptop for myself, then create a bank account and a company in a way that doesn't look like I created it out of thin air. I need to go to the store and buy some groceries as well, but I might just order what I need with my phone so I have more time to work on other things."
Marin was slowly getting numb to everything that David could do, but she was still impressed each time David said something new nonetheless.
[Marin] 'My boyfriend is so cool~!'
After listing off everything he needs to do, David stood up and went through the spatial transfer door and dropped off everything from COSPA into the guest room in Marin's apartment.
They had agreed to work on the cosplay together, but Marin said she wasn't in a hurry so they had time before they started.
Since David had things to do, Marin decided to stay in her apartment for now and play some eroges so she didn't distract him, though David wouldn't have minded having her keep him company.
When David was back in his suite, he picked the biggest bedroom that was at the end of the hall as his own. Then, he decided to use the room right next to it as his office.
He setup a time-dilation barrier in the office, making it so that 24 hours inside the room is the same as 1 hour outside the room. It can only be activated by him for now and doesn't drain his mana so he could keep it running indefinitely if he wanted to.
Since he wasn't doing anything super time-consuming, he left the barrier deactivated so time flowed normally.
He then created desks, chairs, tables, and cushions before spreading them out and making the room nicely furnished.
Using the 'Modern Technology' section of his mental database, he created a multitude of monitors, computers, mice and keyboards, equipment for music creation, equipment for digital art, game consoles that already exist in this world, large televisions, and anything else to make the office a perfect place for NEETs.
⟪ I'll have to use my office as a reference in case any of my women in the future are NEETs and/or gamers. This place would be perfect for them and it wouldn't be hard to recreate it. ⟫
[NEET women] '...I wanna see it...'
He used his hacking skills to create bank accounts for himself as well as his new company that he also created called 'Sovereign Core'.
With his new bank accounts created and most things ready for him to officially start his new life, he Robin Hooded some companies that were involved in less-than-legal activities and filled his personal bank account and his business account to give himself some starting capital.
David's personal bank account now had two million yen while his business bank account had twenty million yen.
He ordered some groceries and went back to work.
⟪ I know I said I wouldn't steal money, but... The companies I stole from were crooked as hell anyway, okay? Plus, my business needed some starting money and I needed to give myself a bit of a financial boost as well. ⟫
⟪ It's definitely not because I wanted to order a bunch of groceries without having to leave my suite to do so... I have a strong feeling that if I leave, I'll end up running into my neighbors and I don't want to deal with new franchises, okay? At least give me some time to spend with Marin, jeez. I feel like I spent our date dealing with girls from other franchises and that made me feel guilty as hell. ⟫
[Marin] 'Hmm, strangely, I didn't really mind. But, it does feel nice to have David thinking about me, heheh~.'
⟪ Anyway, with my company created now, I can start working on the simple things. I'll have to work with publishers to get any written works out there, but creating games will be a breeze. Since I can remember every detail of every game perfectly, I can recreate whatever I want! ⟫
⟪ And oddly enough, there's a major player in the games industry missing. I don't know why, but Square Enix doesn't exist. Therefore, I'll start with creating the Final Fantasy series. Since it's 2015, I'll obviously make to match up with modern technology, but I have a feeling people won't truly care too much until the later ones get released. ⟫
David started planning out the games he would create and decided that he could easily recreate the first six Final Fantasy games by himself, but he decided that when he moves on to the next games, he'll require some help since it would take more time and effort to do it alone.
It didn't take much time for the groceries he ordered to arrive and he quickly put everything away in their proper place.
Before long, it was already nearing 10:00 pm.
David texted Marin and told her he was going to sleep, but he didn't receive a response.
'She must have fallen asleep earlier. Oh well, I'll see her tomorrow.'
He created a barrier around his suite and Marin's apartment, causing anyone with ill intentions to either pass out and be bound with a magical rope if they're women, or slowly feel their souls being torn apart and be bound with a magical rope if they're men.
The intruders would then be sent to one of the rooms in David's suite that he made into somewhat of a prison cell. If someone isn't given the permissions, they can't leave the room and there's only a single bed and free-standing toilet in there.
The toilet is enchanted to remove any waste in it though, so no need to worry about any nasty smells or dirtiness from the unlucky prisoners.
Once his security measures were in place, he took a shower, walked into his bedroom, and crawled into his luxuriously massive bed that could easily fit ten people.
For some reason, the bed was already there and wasn't something David created with his magic.
⟪ Haaa, today was way too busy. Felt much longer than a single day. Hopefully, my days in the future won't be like this, I don't think I could handle it. ⟫
With that final thought, David rolled over and fell asleep, enjoying the feeling of the soft and cool sheets wrapping around his naked body.
...
"Miss K.T., I would like to inform you that David Star has moved in today. He's now in the penthouse suite we've left open for him and judging by the groceries he ordered earlier, it seems he is settling in quite nicely."
In one of the rooms at House of Blue Skies Orphanage, the black-haired girl with the alias "K.T." was listening to her assistant's report on the other end of the phone.
"Ara ara~, thank you for notifying me, Milly. I'm aware he moved in and he has indeed been quite busy~. Please keep an eye on him for me for the time being. I'll be able to meet with him soon, but it has to be perfect~! How are the other residents? You've invited my old friend to live there, no?"
"Indeed, Miss K.T. She was initially against the idea as she lives in a rather nice mansion already, but when I told her that it would be a good place to make various connections, she said she would give it a try and promised to stay in a penthouse suite for one year. It seems that telling her that her rival lives here was also a factor that caused her to accept the arrangement."
K.T. laughed, "Kihihihihi~! Those two girls will bring a lot of entertainment to my darling~! Ahh~, I can't wait to talk to him! These past 48 years have been torture, but it's almost time! Kihihi~! It'll be great! Milly, for doing such a good job, I'll give you a bonus of ten million yen. Go out and have some fun!"
"Understood. Thank you for your generosity, Miss K.T."
K.T. disconnected the call and leaned back in her chair.
"I've waited so long~. The next few days are going to feel like torture, but I can deal with it."
She closed her journal that had the title "My Darling ♥" on the front before jumping into her bed and commencing her nightly ritual.
---
(A/N: Some girls will be like Milly. They'll be from a certain franchise, but will be completely disconnected from it. In Milly's case, she's here, but the other characters and events from Code: Geass don't exist. Also, there are some girls like Milly who will have interactions with David, but won't be able to hear his inner voice.
If it isn't obvious yet, Roselia Heights will be a focal point for David and his harem. The specifics of who K.T. is, how she knows David, and how she managed to own such a massive building will be explained in the future as time goes on. I'm going to try to keep the next few chapters simple and not introduce any new franchises directly for a little bit unless they need to be introduced for the narrative's sake.
Anyway, as always, thanks for reading this garbage web novel.)