The moment the System's hit list materialized in his mind, Adrian instantly recognized the parameters of his new hunting ground.
It was a composite urban reality—a bizarre, seamlessly integrated amalgamation of several famous modern television dramas. Hu Yifei, Chen Meijia, and Zhuge Dali were the eccentric beauties from the iPartment universe. Andy and Qu Xiaoxiao were the high-society elite prey from Ode to Joy. As for the trio of Lin Xiao, Gu Li, and Nan Xiang... they belonged to the dramatic, ruthlessly materialistic world of Tiny Times.
These three distinct storylines were all centered in the sprawling metropolis of Shanghai, so it wasn't entirely surprising the System had mashed them together into a single, target-rich environment. After all, if the mundane world of School Days could seamlessly transition into the bloody apocalypse of Highschool of the Dead, a modern urban crossover was child's play.
What truly intrigued him, however, was the vast discrepancy in their assigned bounties.
The genius Zhuge Dali was worth a massive twelve points, while easy marks like the airheaded Chen Meijia or the desperate gold-digger Fan Shengmei were only worth a pathetic two points each.
'That makes a certain kind of sense,' Adrian mused, pacing the floor of his new, pristine apartment. 'In terms of popularity and sheer ease of acquisition, the latter are barely a challenge.'
'Take Fan Shengmei, for example. The woman is a slave to her family's crushing debts; a thick stack of cash could buy her absolute, groveling submission without a second thought. And a clueless girl like Chen Meijia? You wouldn't even need money. With a handsome face and a few sweet lies, you could trick her into your bed in an afternoon.'
'But Lin Xiao and Nan Xiang?' Adrian frowned, analyzing the Tiny Times targets. 'They are manipulative, high-maintenance parasites. Even with their elite social status, a five should be the absolute maximum bounty. Why are they worth eight and ten points?'
[Clarification: For any female target successfully claimed by the Host, the Host must guarantee her absolute exclusivity. She must not have any intimate physical contact with other men for a full calendar year. The scoring mechanism reflects the psychological difficulty of maintaining absolute control over highly manipulative or independent subjects.]
Upon sensing his cynical questioning of its impartiality, the System immediately provided a cold, mechanical response.
'Ah. That makes perfect, ruthless sense,' Adrian nodded in realization.
Getting a manipulative, materialistic parasite into bed was simple; but keeping a disloyal gold-digger entirely faithful and isolated from other wealthy men for a full year required absolute, suffocating psychological domination.
'But System,' Adrian sneered internally, 'for a supposedly dark and evil entity, your criteria are remarkably focused on harem-building. You might as well rebrand yourself as a breeding simulator.'
The System remained dead silent, having dispensed its directive. Adrian was quite satisfied with this. After all, no predator likes being monitored by a parasite twenty-four hours a day.
After waiting for a moment and receiving no further notifications, Adrian stood up, stretched his new limbs, and began to rifle through the sleek, modern apartment to determine his host's identity. The System was notoriously terrible at providing background exposition; he always had to uncover his own operational parameters.
He pulled open a heavy drawer in the master bedroom, retrieving an ID card, a household registry, and a massive, heavy stack of red property deeds.
'Adrian Li. Han ethnicity. Male.'
He looked at the ID card, a cynical smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He had been placed into a localized version of himself.
Based on the surrounding clues—empty takeout boxes, high-end gaming rigs, and pristine glass display cases filled with expensive anime figurines—the original owner of this body had been a pathetic, reclusive shut-in. He had zero social influence and absolutely no interaction with the outside world.
However, as the old saying goes: A homebody is only pathetic until you see his bank account. Before his parents had perished, they had left this shut-in a literal empire of real estate. He possessed eighteen luxury properties scattered across the most lucrative districts of Shanghai. He had achieved absolute financial freedom just by collecting rent every month. His net worth was exponentially higher than the miserable, struggling "social elites" bleeding themselves dry in the corporate towers downtown.
Adrian flipped through the heavy stack of property deeds, his dark eyes widening slightly before a predatory smile slowly spread across his face.
iPartment 3601, 3602, 3701...
Ode to Joy Community 2202, 2302... Sunshine Garden 1008...
He was shocked to discover that, apart from the Tiny Times heiresses, almost every single female target on the System's hit list was currently residing in a property under his direct ownership!
He wasn't just a hunter dropped into a random city; he was their landlord. He was the absolute master of the roofs over their heads.
Instantly, a barrage of dark, cinematic scenarios flashed through his mind: desperate female tenants forced to pay rent with their bodies, and arrogant girls brought to their knees, begging on the carpet because they couldn't afford their monthly lease.
However, Adrian quickly shook his head, forcefully cooling his bloodlust.
'I must not let my apocalyptic habits blind me,' he reminded himself coldly.
In the zombie-infested ruins of Japan, he ruled with a katana and heavy munitions. He could collar women, torture them, and force them into absolute submission without a shred of consequence. But this was modern, surveillance-heavy Shanghai—one of the most law-abiding metropolises on earth.
He was just a wealthy second-generation heir, not an untouchable warlord. He couldn't just drag these women into a basement and lock them up without triggering a massive police manhunt.
If he wanted to break these women and claim their points, he had to play the modern game. He could lie, deceive, extort, and bury them in financial manipulation—but he absolutely could not leave behind blatant, illegal evidence of coercion. If one of these modern women turned around and accused him with hard evidence, he would be facing decades in a concrete cell. A true predator adapts to his environment; his weapons were no longer steel and gunpowder, but capital and leverage.
Besides, even for a desperate target like Fan Shengmei, demanding she sleep with him simply to waive a few thousand in rent was a clumsy, low-tier tactic. He needed to ensnare them completely.
Fortunately, he held the ultimate high ground. He possessed vast wealth, a handsome, youthful vessel, a dashing demeanor, and the literal keys to their homes. Seducing and cornering a few urban women would be a sophisticated, highly entertaining game of chess.
After memorizing all the addresses on the property deeds, Adrian stripped off the original owner's stale, casual clothes and changed into a sleek, tailored suit.
It was time to inspect his domain.
As a responsible, deeply caring landlord, it was perfectly reasonable and legally permissible for him to conduct a few surprise inspections on his properties, wasn't it? Furthermore, he had absolutely no idea what stage the various television plots were currently at. He needed to physically scout the scenes and confirm the timeline before he could begin spinning his webs.
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