Epic-grade equipment clearly wouldn't be easy to acquire. Tsukikawa Shu put that aside for now, but with a 1% chance for Fine Grade equipment and 0.5% for rare equipment, those rates were incredibly generous by gacha standards. They might even be higher than some predatory games.
No matter how powerful you were in a game, it was all fake. But in this Inner World, your strength was real!
With odds like these, and no need to spend money, it was like farming artifacts in Genshin Impact by yourself. How could he not go all in?
He just didn't know how long it took to clear a dungeon once. The acquisition rates were pretty high, so the time required probably wouldn't be short either.
His Muramasa was rare equipment, one of the rewards for marrying Goto Hitori. It was more than enough to get through the early survival phase in the Inner World. As for Skull Crusher Hammers, they were only Fine Grade. Even after wandering around for three days with good luck, he had only picked up two.
—And that was with Tsukikawa Shu not needing to fear most of the monsters in this city.
For lower-level people, forget wandering the streets—they wouldn't even dare leave the house. Where would they find equipment for him to pick up? Besides, items in this world didn't respawn. The equipment Tsukikawa Shu had acquired over those three days was entirely the benefit of being an early pioneer. After a while, he probably wouldn't even find a bone.
Looking at those rewards, Tsukikawa Shu really wanted to start farming dungeons immediately, but there were more important matters to deal with first.
"What a shame. I brought plenty of food with me. I came in this time planning to level up properly, but I still have to prioritize finding food."
Tsukikawa Shu searched the area for shelters that might be hiding food.
"You've been here before?"
Wearing slippers, Hiratsuka Shizuka hugged her pajamas tightly around herself to keep herself from being exposed.
Having come without any preparation, she clearly couldn't adapt to this place.
"This is my second time here," Tsukikawa Shu said. "I stayed here for three days the first time."
"You became this proficient after just three days, Tsukikawa?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka was stunned.
Judging from Tsukikawa Shu's calm and composed expression earlier, she would have believed he had spent years here.
The current Tsukikawa Shu was nothing like the lazy, carefree boy he was at school. He was more like a calm wolf carefully searching for prey.
Following behind Tsukikawa Shu and Goto Hitori, she kept reading the messages in the System Chat Group.
Everyone inside was crying misery. It wasn't just newcomers; even people who had entered once before were wailing in despair.
As Veteran Players, many had prepared plenty of food, intending to find somewhere to hide and endure this period. But they had never expected the system to confiscate all their equipment the moment they entered.
This time, they couldn't get through it just by gritting their teeth and holding on.
At first, the chat group had remained relatively calm. Many people were merely panicked and curious, while some were even a little excited. But with every passing hour, its atmosphere changed.
"Help... Does anyone have medicine? I was bitten by a spider."
"Please, I can't walk anymore... Can someone come help me...?"
"Please, I really can't hold on much longer."
Some people had already been injured. The forum automatically swallowed useless messages, so they could only plead for help in the chat group again and again.
From the scattered messages, Hiratsuka Shizuka learned that the culprit was a kind of giant spider. They liked hiding in the dark and ambushing players. They were dangerous and impossible to detect; no one knew which corner they would suddenly leap out of to devour someone.
Yet less than five minutes later, that ID's messages could no longer be seen.
And there were plenty of pleas for help like that.
This time, everyone had been forced to confront those monsters and all kinds of danger. Injuries and death were unavoidable.
Some people might still have intended to keep hiding, but human stamina was limited. The longer they delayed, the weaker they would become. That was the deadliest part.
Anyone with normal intelligence knew they should act as quickly as possible while they still had their strength.
And so, one tragedy after another began unfolding in the chatroom.
Every plea for help that abruptly stopped in the chatroom represented a life lost. The sight horrified Hiratsuka Shizuka.
They were both entering the Inner World for the second time, yet when she looked at Tsukikawa Shu's back ahead of her and then at the people in the chat group, the difference was enormous.
"If they choose to post a bounty on the forum, the system won't swallow their posts. The chances of being rescued are small, but there would still be some," Tsukikawa Shu said after glancing at the chat group.
"But as newcomers, what could they possibly offer as bounty rewards?"
This was the cruelest and most naked reality.
Hiratsuka Shizuka's hand tightened around her collar.
If she hadn't met Tsukikawa Shu and had wandered around aimlessly instead, she would probably have become one of those miserable newbie players in the chatroom.
And here she was, still worrying about whether she might expose herself... Wasn't that too naive?
Hiratsuka Shizuka secretly glanced at Tsukikawa Shu walking beside her. He wasn't staring at her at all.
Seriously, did an older woman who couldn't even get married need to be afraid of a young man like him? Hiratsuka Shizuka thought.
She was truly embarrassing every adult out there...
"We'll stay here tonight."
Tsukikawa Shu looked at the abandoned hotel in front of them.
It was on the edge of the city, close to the dungeon location, and it had plenty of supplies.
The farther out they went, the more dangerous it became. For players below level ten, this place was practically forbidden territory. Tsukikawa Shu didn't need to worry about anyone else coming to compete with him for it.
When they entered the hotel lobby, seven or eight giant spiders were lurking inside. The moment they saw people enter, they all opened their eyes and quickly prepared to pounce.
The spiders in the outer ring of the city had much greater combat power and agility than those in the city center.
But this time, Goto Hitori didn't even need to use crowd control. Tsukikawa Shu carried Muramasa in one hand and a Skull Crusher Hammer in the other, then charged straight at them.
With one slash, he split the three spiders leaping at him into halves. Then he raised his left hand and smashed apart a spider monster attempting to attack from the ground.
Green fluid sprayed everywhere, leaving Hiratsuka Shizuka dumbstruck.
Based on the chatroom messages she had just read, she recognized these spiders as the deadly monsters that had killed many newbie players. Yet in Tsukikawa Shu's hands, they had no ability to fight back at all!
(New author here, please vote! QWQ)
In less than a minute, Tsukikawa Shu had cleared every monster from the lobby.
Carefully stepping over the corpses, Hiratsuka Shizuka checked the monsters' levels as well. They were all between level 15 and 20.
Did I just latch onto my student's thigh? Hiratsuka Shizuka thought.
She had never expected that lazy little brat would one day be able to stand on his own. As his teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka felt a bit gratified, like an old mother watching her child grow up.
Tsukikawa Shu kicked open one of the hotel's changing rooms. Opening the wardrobe, he found rows upon rows of women's business attire, apparently uniforms for hotel staff.
Tsukikawa Shu turned around and looked at his teacher's chest, as well as the cup and toothbrush she was still holding.
"There are clothes and shoes in the hotel, so you don't need to keep covering yourself like that."
Tsukikawa Shu looked her over from head to toe. "Teacher Hiratsuka is more conservative than I imagined in everyday life."
"...What exactly do you think your teacher is like?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka's pretty face flushed red. One hand covered her exposed cleavage, while her other hand reached out to knock Tsukikawa Shu on the head.
"Hmm... Someone so desperate because she can't find a boyfriend that she's pretty open in private?"
Tsukikawa Shu said.
Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't be bothered to argue with him. She pushed him out of the room, shut the door, and only then began changing clothes.
"How old is your teacher?" Goto Hitori scooted closer to Tsukikawa Shu.
"Hmm... Maybe five or six years older," Tsukikawa Shu said. "Or maybe six or seven."
"Is she married?" Goto Hitori asked.
"Definitely later than you," Tsukikawa Shu said with a smile.
"Don't talk about that..." Goto Hitori averted her gaze and smoothed the hair by her temples.
She had just become an adult and gotten married before even entering society. Whenever she thought about it, she felt an indescribable embarrassment.
As they spoke, the door opened again a moment later, and Hiratsuka Shizuka emerged in her changed clothes.
She wore a white shirt with a business skirt underneath, her thighs wrapped in black stockings. She truly had the beauty of a professional office worker.
"I couldn't find any long pants."
Hiratsuka Shizuka adjusted her hair as she walked out.
She wasn't used to wearing this outfit. Instead, she felt chilly below her thighs.
Having covered her private areas, Hiratsuka Shizuka finally regained some of the dignity of a teacher. She skillfully pulled out a pack of women's cigarettes she had found in the room, lit one, and let wisps of white smoke rise.
"Not bad. Very charming."
Tsukikawa Shu looked over his teacher's outfit from head to toe as if admiring a work of art. He nodded and said, "I feel like Teacher Hiratsuka can take another step forward on the road to marriage."
"You brat!" Hiratsuka Shizuka put one hand on her hip while tugging Tsukikawa Shu's ear with the other. "Are you deliberately bringing up what you shouldn't?"
Topics like marriage and boyfriends had always been forbidden subjects for Hiratsuka Shizuka. Whoever brought them up got hit.
Of course, Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't beat Tsukikawa Shu now. She could only tug his ear symbolically to preserve her dignity as a teacher, which made it look even more like an intimate interaction.
The abandoned hotel was abundant in supplies, and the three of them found quite a bit of food.
The hotel kitchen could still be used. Tsukikawa Shu couldn't be bothered to remain as cautious as last time. After clearing out the monsters lurking in the kitchen, he simply cooked the ingredients they had found.
As the army stew simmered, Tsukikawa Shu glanced at the Inner World chatroom.
"Help! There are werewolves here! I'm hiding in a hotel wardrobe. Can someone save me!"
"Does anyone have hemostatic medicine... I'm injured, I'm going to die..."
"Please save me. You can have my body, you can have my property, anything is fine. I don't want to die here..."
"Good luck! Werewolves have double attack power at night. I don't want to throw my life away!"
The chat channel was still filled with miserable cries. As night fell, even more of these unarmed players were injured or killed, and despair permeated the entire chatroom.
There were countless people offering up their bodies or wealth, yet the chances of anyone being able to rescue them were exceedingly slim.
Other than Tsukikawa Shu, everyone was barely able to look after themselves. Who had time to rescue anyone else?
The next two days would probably be the same. There was nothing worth watching.
As for the forum, players who had already adapted to the brutal rules of this Inner World were conducting transactions.
After closing the chatroom, Tsukikawa Shu placed the finished army stew on the table.
"I didn't expect your cooking to be this good, Tsukikawa."
Hiratsuka Shizuka took a bite.
"My dream is to become a househusband," Tsukikawa Shu said. "Preferably one supported by a beautiful loli."
"You've got quite the dream," Hiratsuka Shizuka said.
"By the way, how did you two get together?"
After eating and drinking her fill, Hiratsuka Shizuka became nosy again.
"Well... haha..." Goto Hitori scratched her head, finding it difficult to say.
"We met in the Inner World," Tsukikawa Shu said. "But it's a little complicated."
Tsukikawa Shu then explained how he and Goto Hitori had signed the Marriage Contract, and he also showed Hiratsuka Shizuka the system interface.
Hiratsuka Shizuka immediately froze stiff.
"So you... you two are married?! You're already married?!"
I haven't even gotten married yet! Hiratsuka Shizuka screamed inwardly.
And this was a contract that surpassed the law.
After binding their fates, the two of them were basically one. Both had to sincerely take care of everything concerning the other, and they couldn't easily dissolve the contract.
"You could see it that way," Tsukikawa Shu said, taking Goto Hitori's hand again.
Before you continue