Neighbors
The historic downtown immigrant district of Los Angeles wasn't quite as sprawling as its East Coast counterparts.
However, the rental prices in this specific, heavily policed area were relatively expensive, primarily because it was significantly safer than the other chaotic, gang-ridden districts.
Arthur Sterling wasn't exactly a wealthy man just yet, so the weathered apartment building he ended up renting wasn't situated right on the main commercial avenue.
Instead, it was tucked away quietly in a nearby, tightly knit community boasting a large, vibrant Italian-American population.
It was a classic, six-story apartment building facing a relatively quiet street. Aside from completely lacking a modern elevator, the overall living environment here was actually quite decent.
Arthur had carefully inquired with the local real estate agency earlier that morning. He learned from the talkative agent that this old apartment building was originally constructed back in the nineteen seventies and was nearly thirty years old.
Most of the long-term residents currently living here were middle-aged workers and quiet elderly people.
Moreover, the total occupancy rate of the entire residential building was barely over half, giving the echoing hallways a peaceful, deserted feeling.
After strictly confirming that there were no overly complicated immigrant gang issues here, and ensuring that he wouldn't be rudely woken up by stray gunshots and brutal street fighting halfway through the day.
Arthur firmly decided to rent the place.
The specific rental apartment he finally chose was located all the way up on the sixth floor.
The actual layout here wasn't considered incredibly large, but it was significantly bigger than the decaying, old apartment Arthur had rented before.
It featured a very practical floor plan with two decent bedrooms, one bathroom, one living room, and one kitchen, totaling roughly about sixty square meters of solid hardwood and plaster.
The aging kitchen and the tiled bathroom were both very small, with each of those utility rooms being only about four or five square meters in total size.
But for a single young man living entirely alone, it was certainly more than enough space to breathe.
The absolute only troublesome thing about this new location was the strict parking situation.
The nearest secure parking lot to the apartment building was located over a full kilometer away.
He would literally have to walk across several long, winding streets just to get to his vehicle every single day.
If Mia wanted to secretly visit him in the future, parking her flashy, highly modified car would at least be much more inconvenient and risky than before.
However, the overall environment here was much better, much safer, and significantly larger than where Arthur had previously rented.
Consequently, the monthly rent was absolutely not cheap, costing him a staggering fifteen hundred dollars a month in cold hard cash.
This steep price was nearly double the monthly cost of the crumbling apartment Arthur had rented previously.
Fortunately, thanks to his recent, highly lucrative underworld jobs, he currently had a thick stack of money. He confidently signed a three-month short-term lease, planning to strategically decide later whether he actually wanted to renew the contract.
That very day, Arthur spent the entire daytime shopping in the bustling downtown market district.
The spacious apartment he was currently renting had absolutely no electrical appliances other than a humming, old refrigerator and a heavy television set.
Furthermore, when Arthur had violently moved out of his previous place, he hadn't brought any of his old clothes, worn-out underwear, or scuffed shoes.
He essentially had to start his entire domestic life completely from scratch. Even heavy winter blankets, steel pots, nonstick pans, and ceramic bowls needed to be purchased brand new.
That sunny day, Arthur truly enjoyed the rare, incredibly relaxing pleasure of unrestricted shopping.
Moreover, he carried his massive, invisible dimensional private space with him everywhere he went.
No matter exactly how large or incredibly heavy the purchased items were, he didn't need a delivery truck. He just needed to find a quiet, completely empty spot in an alleyway and casually stuff the shopping bags right into the private space.
Arthur Sterling still possessed a very basic, fundamental moral conscience.
He could righteously rob dangerous criminals, execute ruthless black-eats-black operations, and target ill-gotten gang wealth without a second thought, but he absolutely did not target innocent, ordinary working-class people.
Otherwise, simply by utilizing the invisible private space, which was rapidly growing larger recently.
Arthur could have quickly amassed a massive fortune just by using the private space for zero-dollar shopping daily in massive chain supermarkets and high-end department stores.
In the bitter end, after spending several thousand dollars to properly furnish his new life with high-quality goods.
Arthur brought all the hidden boxes back to his newly rented apartment and immediately started getting busy.
He rapidly unpacked the cardboard boxes, assembled the metal frames, and connected the brand-new appliances to the wall power.
While he was intensely focused on it, he also set up the few small, heavy pieces of wooden furniture he had acquired.
Arthur worked very hard, sweating profusely in the humid afternoon air, because during the repetitive assembly process, the familiar, cold mechanical voice rang out clearly in his mind. He unexpectedly activated a brand new [Carpentry] skill and a highly useful [Electrician] skill.
This sudden, double system notification truly put him in an incredibly good mood.
Coupled perfectly with the advanced [Computer] skill that was triggered when he previously bought a high-end laptop.
In just a few short days, Arthur had successfully and successively activated several entirely different, practical life skills.
Regardless of whether he would actually use these mundane skills in his dangerous, cinematic future or not.
Arthur deeply understood the core principle that having many diverse skills is absolutely never a burden to survival.
Moreover, for every single extra skill he managed to trigger and register in the system menu.
The gradual leveling up of those seemingly useless skills would grant Arthur a highly precious, permanent free attribute point.
Furthermore, each level up would also miraculously increase the dimensional size of his invisible private space by exactly one cubic meter.
Therefore, regarding the newly obtained, domestic skills he obtained today.
No matter exactly how completely useless they seemed for a street fight, Arthur would diligently continue to level them up.
When one is busy entirely alone in a quiet room, time always passes completely without realizing it.
So much so that when a sudden, heavy knocking sound rang out, it startled him.
Arthur checked his watch and suddenly realized that it was already past nine o'clock at night.
Oh no, he muttered under his breath, wiping his brow.
I got entirely too engrossed in the wiring without realizing the time.
Due to the newly triggered [Electrician] skill, Arthur, who had some basic electrical knowledge in his previous life, had gone a bit overboard.
Besides simply installing the new appliances, he also took the perfect opportunity to thoroughly check the aging wiring of his entire residence.
Plus, he had bought some heavy, complex furniture that required loud, forceful self-assembly with steel tools.
As a direct result of his intense focus, he completely lost track of time for so long.
In the United States, there are many strange, highly enforced local laws and noise ordinances.
Among them, making excessive noise in one's own home that disturbs the surrounding neighbors can easily lead to formal complaints or even immediate police reports.
And regarding this specific type of civilian complaint, which is not dangerous but still heavily boosts police performance metrics.
US police generally react far more proactively to noise complaints than when they hear about armed robbery, grand theft, or violent gang fights.
Arthur quickly put down the heavy steel tools in his calloused hands. He was right in the middle of making some simple, custom modifications to a heavy wooden bookshelf he had purchased.
Hearing the sharp knocking outside grow significantly louder and much more urgent, he quickly grabbed a clean shirt nearby.
Then, he used the soft fabric of the shirt to quickly wipe the heavy sweat from his face and broad chest, and quickly walked over to the entryway to pull open the heavy wooden door.
The absolute moment he opened the door, Arthur was immediately bombarded by an angry woman's sharp words.
"Hey, mister," the woman snapped, her hands resting firmly on her hips.
"What exact time do you think it is right now?"
"Stop making all this horrible noise immediately, or I swear I will call the police on you."
Standing right outside Arthur's apartment was a woman who looked incredibly ripe and breathtakingly beautiful.
She had gorgeous, short to medium-length golden hair that was undeniably sexy and wildly alluring.
But what aggressively caught Arthur's attention the most was the spotted, leopard-print long shirt she wore, and the two massive, pale semicircles clearly and generously revealed at the deep neckline of the fabric.
As well as the tight, hip-hugging mini-skirt that perfectly and unapologetically highlighted her rounded, spectacular curves.
Is she thirty, or is she forty? Arthur wondered silently, his enhanced mind briefly freezing.
The true age of Western women is always a profound mystery, especially those hovering somewhere between twenty and forty.
Some are very young but look incredibly mature, sophisticated, and deeply charming.
Some who are past thirty look like they are completely weathered, appearing forty or fifty years old.
However, there are a very rare few who remain absolutely full of vibrant charm and raw allure even well into their thirties and forties.
Coincidentally, the stunning woman standing furiously at Arthur's door was one such perfect example.
"Hello, Madam," Arthur greeted her smoothly.
Arthur smiled charmingly as he casually put on his unbuttoned shirt, apologizing to her politely and gracefully. "I deeply regret that we had to meet under these loud, unfortunate circumstances!"
"My name is Arthur Sterling, and I am the new tenant who just moved in today," he explained, his voice a low, calming baritone.
"Since I was heavily organizing the furniture and appliances entirely alone, I accidentally kept myself busy until now," he continued, gesturing vaguely to the messy room behind him.
"I sincerely apologize for the absolute trouble and headache I have caused you tonight."
When Arthur had first opened the door, the beautiful blonde woman was initially absolutely furious and ready to yell.
But after getting a crystal clear look at her handsome new neighbor, her angry momentum completely stalled. Especially since Arthur had taken off his shirt while working blindly inside the hot apartment earlier.
When he quickly put the shirt back on just now, his distinctly muscular, perfectly sculpted upper body inevitably flashed before her eyes for a long moment.
As a direct result of that visual impact, the beautiful blonde woman's eyes were instantly glued to his chest and abdomen.
She usually worked as a popular hostess in high-end bars and loud nightclubs, and she had naturally seen all sorts of wealthy men.
Yet at this exact moment, the beautiful blonde woman suddenly felt a massive shift in her mood.
Perhaps it had been a bit too abrupt and overly aggressive of her to stomp over here looking for violent trouble.
As Arthur smoothly finished buttoning his shirt, her gaze regretfully moved up to his chiseled face.
The instant the beautiful blonde woman clearly saw his rugged, incredibly handsome features, her eyes became even more fixed and entirely captivated.
What an incredibly handsome, rugged young stud, she thought to herself, her anger melting entirely into raw heat.
Regardless of race, culture, or skin color, most people's fundamental aesthetics are actually quite universally similar.
Arthur in this new, cinematic life was definitely ruggedly handsome, tall, and undeniably dashing.
Even according to the strictest Western standards of male beauty, his sharp jawline and deep eyes were considered completely outstanding.
Driven entirely by a sudden, inexplicable surge of hormonal impulse, the beautiful blonde woman didn't know what exactly came over her.
A completely unexpected sentence suddenly popped right out of her glossy lips as if she hadn't even thought about it.
"Um, do you perhaps need any help in there?" she asked, her voice dropping an octave into a sultry purr.
Arthur was completely stunned for a brief moment, not expecting the sudden, drastic change in her aggressive attitude. Then, realizing the golden opportunity standing right in front of him, he quickly flashed an even brighter, highly magnetic smile.
"If it is not entirely too much trouble for you, having a beautiful neighbor's help would be absolutely wonderful!" Arthur replied warmly.