The cry of surprise also surprised Roland. He hurriedly turned his head to the side and noticed a lady covering her mouth while staring at him intently.
The lady has messy hair, a simple shirt and pajamas. It was apparent that she had just woken up based on her current look. Her looks were 'ok' in Roland's opinion while her age seems to be around thirty years old.
At this moment, Roland had just gotten out of the shower. His hair was still wet while a white towel was wrapped on his lower body.
"W-who are you?" The lady said as she stared at Roland.
A blushed could not help but rise on her face as her eyes involuntarily glanced at Roland's six packs. Her eyes got naughty as it suddenly traveled downwards, fortunately, Roland interrupted her on time.
"Calm down. Calm down, landlady. It's me, Roland, I'm the one who rented the room upstairs, remember?" Roland hurriedly explained seeing her flustered expression.
The lady in front of him was the daughter of the owner of this house. She was the one who collects rent every month. She lives in one of the two rooms downstairs, but she just moved here months ago. Roland did not even know her name.
"R-Roland?" The landlady thought for a moment before she recalled a scrawny young man who rented the room upstairs.
She took Roland's images from her mind and compared them to the Roland in front of her.
Their faces aligned and she saw the resemblances. But his body that she remembered was like the difference between heaven and earth.
As far as she could recall that boy has always been scrawny and thin. Although his face was handsome, due to his thin body, he was not that appealing to the eyes in her opinion.
And yet, the Roland in front of her, 'H-how did he become so… hot... Errr… muscular?'
The landlady's face blushed at her strange thoughts. Her mind was suddenly filled with strange thoughts. To be exact, she was imagining a lot of dirty thoughts that centered around Roland.
"Oh, right. It's a good thing you're here. I want to inform you that I will move out soon."
Hearing that, the landlady was startled. Seeing Roland's transformation, she was reluctant to let him go. In the short moment that she saw him that way, her desires to the opposite sex was suddenly ignited.
It would be better if he stayed in the house, that way, she would still be able to see his… body.
She suddenly recalled something. For the past few months that Roland was here, he seemed to be always late on rent. And in fact, the recent month that she personally collected his late rents, he would always appear to be unwilling to let go of the money.
"Why are you moving out? Are you dissatisfied with your room? You can move downstairs if you want. You can change rooms with the tenant next to my room, its air conditioned, how about it?" The landlady said.
"Landlady, that's not it. I have always been satisfied with my room. However, I already found a new home. I will move there soon," Roland replied, oblivious of what the landlady was up to.
"But you can't move out yet. You still have to pay for this month's rent before moving out." The landlady finally laid out his trump card.
Before Roland could reply, the landlady sprinkled him some bait.
"How about this? I'll exempt you for this month's rent and you will move downstairs, in the air-conditioned room. However, you must pay me in another manner…" The landlady suddenly approached Roland with a suggestive gesture.
Her hand was about to touch his muscular chest, but Roland shivered and hurriedly dodged to the side.
He suddenly recalled the conversation he overheard from the tenants upstairs. Apparently, the landlady was actually a club dancer that gives extra services to the audience as long as money was involved.
The tenant upstairs even claimed that he already scored on the landlady once.
At that time, Roland did not think much about it and only treated it as the guy boasting. However, seeing the landlady's suggestive actions, as well as the 'seductive' look she was giving, perhaps, what he overheard was real?
Roland shivered at the thought of it. Although he was a virgin, he also had his dignity. He would not want to get laid and have his virginity taken by some 'prostitute', right?
Even if his assumptions about her were wrong, he was still not willing to get laid.
Roland ran past her and hurriedly climbed the stairs.
"Nah. I'll pass on the offer, landlady. Thank you though!"
"Huh? Are you sure about that? Hey, don't get ahead of yourself. How about exempting you from two months' rent? But you must stay with me in a single room?"
Seeing that Roland did not pay attention to her offer, the landlady harrumphed coldly as she went inside the bathroom.
Back in his room, Roland secretly heaves a sigh of relief. It seems that he really needs to move out as soon as possible.
'That landlady sure is thirsty,' he thought.
He looked at his watch and noticed that it was already nearing 8 AM, only 10 minutes left. He was also hungry already. Just as he was about to inform Stacey, he suddenly received a chat from her.
"I'm already here, where are you?"
"Just in time, I'm about to go out!" Roland replied as he hurriedly changed into his newly bought clothes.
He was still wearing a white shirt paired with a new pair of black jeans. He only bought one pair of shoes, so he was still wearing that one.
He took the property deed with him before he went downstairs cautiously. After seeing that it was safe- the landlady was not around, Roland stormed off.
The street was bustling with activities, in contrast to the scene last night. Illegal street vendors displayed all kinds of items beside the street as buyers filled the streets. Cars and even motorcycles could barely pass through.
This was an overly populated area and Roland passes here every day so he was not unfamiliar with the sight.
He looked around before he spotted Stacey's sedan parked amidst the crowded street.
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Goal #1: Reach 100 Power Stones, completed.
Bonus Chapter: 1/2