[Monster Hunter (Beginner): Successfully kill a monster settlement above level 20]
Just as Tsukikawa Shu had said, the moment his post went up, the forums and chat rooms exploded!
"Come on, let's grind some levels first."
Tsukikawa Shu stopped paying attention to the forum post and led Goto Hitori and Hiratsuka Shizuka out of the hotel.
Meanwhile, the forums had already erupted.
"A level 20 player? Are you kidding me! Can someone really level up that fast?"
"To get so many hunting achievements, I'm wondering whether this guy found some way to bring guns into this world."
"These monsters are insanely tough. It's not like having a gun means you can kill them."
"By the way... what exactly is a dungeon? Has anyone seen one of those things?"
"No idea. Maybe they'll only open once we reach a high enough level."
The comments beneath the post instantly began surging. Many people refused to believe it, but the honor title awarded by the system and the displayed level could not possibly be faked.
Beyond those comments, even more people wanted to recruit or curry favor with Tsukikawa Shu.
"Ten million yen for a fine weapon. Interested? I'm sick of this world!"
"Mr. Tsukikawa, I am a director of Tomie Company. If possible, I am willing to trade half my company's shares for a deal with you."
"Get lost, what kind of nobodies are you? I'm the mayor! I need food and water right now, preferably a weapon too. We can discuss the specific terms in person..."
"Big brother, what do you think of me? We can add each other on LINE first. Once we're back in the original world, the two of us can take our time talking privately. I'll definitely satisfy you~"
Both the forums and chat rooms became lively. Faced with this sudden big shot, everyone rushed to make a move, unwilling to miss the chance to cling to such a powerful backer.
Although Tsukikawa Shu had made the post in order to form contracts with more high-quality women, his level and strength were right there for all to see. Men and women alike all wanted to get acquainted with him.
Of course, some people were also hoping to fish in troubled waters.
"Just booking a face-to-face chat gets you an Experience Card? Is there really such a good deal?"
Seeing such generous terms, some people tried clicking on it.
[Your gender is male. You do not meet the requirements. Access denied.] [You are over thirty years old. You do not meet the requirements. Access denied.]
Very quickly, the system ruthlessly shut them down.
In this Inner World where life and death hung in the balance, everyone did their utmost beneath Tsukikawa Shu's post to display their strength and status, hoping to win the support of this big shot.
Naturally, even more people who knew how to keep a low profile had already begun trying to contact Tsukikawa Shu in secret.
Yet more than an hour passed without any response from Tsukikawa Shu.
Tsukikawa Shu had no intention of wasting time on such matters.
"Hitori, formation control!"
As Tsukikawa Shu's voice fell, Goto Hitori immediately activated her class skill.
"Hehehe... I'm useless..."
Goto Hitori's body still swayed unsteadily, her eyes vacant as she radiated an intense negative aura.
The swarm of diving bats was immediately affected. One after another, they fell to the ground like a shower of black rain.
If anyone else encountered a bat swarm of this scale, they would not even be able to run. They would quickly be caught and gnawed down to bare bones by those monsters.
But Goto Hitori's Formation Master class was their natural nemesis. Individual bats had very low resistance, so once Goto Hitori activated her skill, she could knock them down in droves.
"This is the skill you gave your girlfriend?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked as she looked at Goto Hitori.
"I gave her an Exclusive Skill Card. The skill it awakened based on the user's attributes was this one." Tsukikawa Shu was somewhat helpless as well.
Still, Goto Hitori really was useful.
Yeah, both during the day and at night.
The bats on the ground were still flapping about.
Hiratsuka Shizuka held a kitchen knife and stabbed the bats to death one by one.
[You gained 6 Experience Points] [You gained 6 Experience Points] [You gained 6 Experience Points]
Even for someone as athletic as Hiratsuka Shizuka, after an entire day of dull, repetitive stabbing motions, her hands began to ache terribly.
These bat swarms were easy to hunt and well suited for Hiratsuka Shizuka to farm Experience Points from, but each individual bat gave very little experience.
Panting from exhaustion, Hiratsuka Shizuka sat down to rest for a while and glanced at her level.
[Your level is: 5]
She curled her lips.
"How much experience do you get from each monster?" Hiratsuka Shizuka looked toward Goto Hitori.
"Ah..." Goto Hitori opened her panel and checked.
"Eight points."
"..."
That damned Double Experience again.
This was a talent that only those bound to Tsukikawa Shu through a Marriage Bond could enjoy.
Originally, Hiratsuka Shizuka, as the monster's killer, should have received the larger share of the experience. But with Double Experience, Goto Hitori gained even more than Hiratsuka Shizuka did.
"We've basically cleared out all the nearby bat nests. Next, we should look for Giant Rat nests. Those are also fairly easy to farm." Tsukikawa Shu said.
"Is there anything easier to farm than these bats and Giant Rats?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked weakly.
"Not that I know of."
Tsukikawa Shu said, "Only these monsters are easier to control. Hitori can control the field. For other species, we'd have to cripple their mobility before killing them to be safe."
"..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka clenched her fists. They ached so badly that she was nearly out of strength.
Sweat had long soaked through her clothes. Her white shirt clung tightly to her body, accentuating her curves, while her black bra was clearly visible beneath it. She was drenched from head to toe, as though she had just been pulled from the water.
In this situation, she could not worry about much else. She simply took off her black Stockings and set them aside, even undoing the buttons at her chest.
Of course, with Tsukikawa Shu there, she did not dare undo them all. She only loosened a few, exposing a slight glimpse of cleavage.
"At night, the danger level is higher, and it's not very efficient for grinding levels."
After giving it some thought, Tsukikawa Shu said, "Don't push yourself as hard as during the day. Gain three levels. The hunters who specifically target players are generally around that level now, so Teacher Hiratsuka will have the most basic ability to protect herself."
"...Gain three levels? Are we going to grind all night?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked.
"Isn't that obvious?" Tsukikawa Shu said.
"...When you first came here, did you also grind Experience Points all night?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked.
"Not really." Tsukikawa Shu said as if it were only natural. "We had a Double Experience bonus."
"..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka had finally witnessed just how difficult this Inner World was.
If she kept grinding, she would not die in a monster's jaws—she would die here first... Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at her slightly trembling limbs from overexertion and hesitated.
"By the way, what level are you now?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked.
Tsukikawa Shu looked at his interface.
"Twenty-one," Tsukikawa Shu said.
For a high-level player, farming these low-level monsters was a waste of time.
"..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka scratched her cheek, feeling a little embarrassed.
Ever since entering this world, she had relied on Tsukikawa Shu to take care of her. She had been holding him back the entire time.
Tsukikawa Shu did not mind.
During the break, he casually checked the forum.
As expected, there were more than 999 comments tagging him.
After skimming through them, he found that most had been posted by men, offering money and power from their original world in exchange. Tsukikawa Shu ignored them all.
Tsukikawa Shu held the initiative now. Once he returned to the original world, he could naturally obtain those things, but he neither needed nor wanted so much of them right now.
Besides that, a small number of women had also commented beneath his post. Their flirtatious intentions were obvious from their words, but Tsukikawa Shu ignored them all as well.
Every benefit had its price. Those who truly wanted his help had already booked private chats with him.
Opening another page, Tsukikawa Shu saw one red notification dot after another for booked private chats.
Experience Cards were precious items in this world, especially in the early stages. Only by leveling up could one defeat the low-level monsters and slowly continue grinding.
Because of this, quite a few people had come to fish in troubled waters.
But Tsukikawa Shu did not care.
The system used real-name registration. Tsukikawa Shu scanned through the names one by one, looking for familiar ones.
The system rated female characters based on popularity, so Tsukikawa Shu could not be bothered to look at minor extras.
He did not care about minor extras. His gaze swept past the names until he finally spotted one he recognized.
"Fujiwara Chika."
Tsukikawa Shu rubbed his chin, then clicked to accept the booking.
In an abandoned mall in the city center.
A group of students was gathered together, every face covered by a layer of gray dust.
Beside them lay a male student with bandages wrapped around his arm. It looked as though no one knew how to dress a wound, so it had only been crudely wrapped. He also had many other injuries across his body and clothing.
The male student was completely motionless now, with no breath left in him.
"This is all the food we could find."
Tanuma Tsubasa placed the cans he had been holding on the ground.
"This little? Under normal circumstances, it would only last us one day..."
As Tanuma Tsubasa's girlfriend, Kashiwagi Nagisa was equally worried.
They were students of Shiritsu Shuchuin Academy, a prestigious school with an orthodox heritage, originally established specifically to educate the children of nobles and samurai families. Most of its students were born into wealthy, famous families or were the children of officials. It was a true upper-class academy.
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