Chapter 281: Getting Past Inherent Bias
During his first day in Tehran, after what time he had spent being interrogated by the local intelligence services, Alex worked the entire day with the local nuclear engineers and physicists. Using the knowledge he had gained thanks to Nina’s efforts, and his ability [Retention] to give guidance to the Iranian authorities on how to effectively finish their projects, which were already close to completion.
In reality, Alex did not need to do nearly as much work as he thought. Simply point these scientists and engineers in the right direction, help them over some of the hurdles they had, and then fuck off. And that was exactly how Alex spent his first few weeks in Tehran.
But as Alex stayed in the strange, and foreign nation which ran counter to his beliefs of hedonism and pleasure. He found something interesting. There was indeed a heroine located in Tehran that he would need to conquer.
The woman’s profile appeared on Alex’s minimap one day while he was being escorted through the city by several armed security agents. This prompted Alex to ask the driver of his motorcade to pull over. Though they protested the idea of letting Alex walk through the streets without escort, after all Israel was known for conducting attacks against Iran’s nuclear scientists and engineers, Alex insisted.
With some convincing, the motorcade pulled over, and Alex departed from an armored limosine. Though the security agents tried to follow Alex, he managed to give them the slip, before transforming back into his normal self, after he canceled the ability [Master of Disguise] which made him appear like he was an Arab man.
Once Alex had escaped from his “protectors” and re-assumed his proper appearance, he approached the building where the heroine was located. It was a grand hotel of some sorts. One which Alex was not staying at.
There were plenty of international visitors staying in this hotel, and Alex had to sift through them all to find the girl who he was supposed to conquer. Curiously enough, it was not a guest, but rather a young woman working the front desk as a receptionist who was his target.
The woman was what Alex might call a “Persian beauty” though her hair was concealed beneath a headscarf, he could tell it was a long and silky black. The woman’s skin was nearly white, with only a slightly brown complexion. Her eyes were as green as emerald, while her lips were a beautiful red, no doubt thanks to the makeup she was wearing.
[Name: Jasmine Behzadi]
[Occupation: Hotel Receptionist]
[Ethnicity: Persian]
[Age: 18]
[Likes: Wealth, traditional, conservative, and family oriented men]
[Dislikes: Western Men, particularly those who have a hedonistic and liberal mindset]
Alex felt as if at least one of these things would immediately qualify him from conquering this woman’s heart and mind. After all, he was the definition of a nihilistic hedonist. Although he was lacking in liberal values, being far more apolitical in nature, Alex was definitely not the kind of man this woman should ever fall for.
And yet, he felt a need to try to win her over. After all, wasn’t that the point of him being transmigrated into this manga? Thus, Alex approached the woman, who forced a smile when she saw that a Western Man was standing in front of her, and introduced himself in the most natural way possible for this situation.
“Excuse me, miss, I don’t actually have a reservation, but I was wondering if you have any rooms that are currently available?”
Jasmine did not outright frown, but she tried her best not to roll her eyes. This was the nicest hotel in Tehran, and this foreigner just wanted to rent a room as if it were readily available. Sure, there might be a few, but the arrogance of these westerners to even assume this was an option.
She was quick, of course, to perform a search, and while she did this, Alex spoke to her about her apparent dislike of him. Calling her on the spot, which she did not expect.
“I’m sorry, I’m confused. Have I done something to offend you, or are you simply annoyed by the fact that I am a foreigner?”
The young woman’s emerald eyes widened in disbelief as she heard this, was this man seriously trying to get her in trouble with her employer, she was quick to force a smile and do some damage control, in an attempt to persuade this pest that she didn’t hate him because he was a westerner.
“No, sir, not at all, it’s… It’s just been a long day, that is all. There we go. I can see it here. We have three rooms available, though I must warn you, the rooms that are currently available are all very expensive. So perhaps you would like to take your business elsewhere?”
It was obvious the woman was trying to get Alex to leave, which simply made the man more determined to change her mind about him, and thus he reached into his wallet and pulled out a credit card, one that was linked to a foreign account that the United States government couldn’t track, and then handed it to the woman. With a charming smile on his face, Alex surprised Jasmine by accepting her offer without even asking the price.
“I assure you, money won’t be an issue, go ahead and reserve your largest and most comfortable room for me, or at least of the ones you have available.”
Jasmine eyed Alex with curiosity as she swiped his card, when the transaction was compelled she treated him much better than she had before, after all, although he was a western man, Alex was apparently quite wealthy, and at his young age that was surprising. Not only that, but he dressed rather traditionally, insofar that he was wearing a lavish three piece suit. Thus, with these two small green lights, he was able to get past her initial reservations.
The Persian beauty then handed Alex his hotel room card with a genuine smile on her face.
“There you go, sir, enjoy your stay!”
Alex smirked and took his card from the woman before walking up to the hotel room he had just rented for the evening. After all, he could not stay for long, because his handlers were no doubt tearing up the streets in search of him. But Alex had now gained a slightly more favorable impression on Iran’s heroine. And he would begin a complicated scheme to win her heart over the coming days.