Normally, they would have been attending classes at school, each of them diligent in their studies. After school, they either practiced music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, or were driven home by servants to gradually take part in managing business or government affairs, or attend social dances.
Who could have imagined that just yesterday, everyone had been transported into this perilous Inner World?
Fortunately, there were several boys among them, and they had nervously made it through the first day.
But the real trouble came next: the food crisis.
"We can only ration it... If it's five days, this little bit of food should be enough to last..." Tanuma Tsubasa said.
"What the hell is this place?! I want to go home! I want to go home!"
An overweight male student could no longer endure it and broke down crying with his head in his hands.
How could they, who had lived comfortable lives in an aristocratic school, possibly endure this kind of treatment?
Everyone fell silent as they looked at the meager food laid out on the ground.
It was not as though they had not considered searching for more food after arriving in this world, or trying to hunt monsters and level up.
But they quickly came to understand the difficulty.
If they attacked together, hunting a lone low-level monster was not difficult. The problem was that the monsters now often traveled in groups, leaving them no way to strike. They might even be killed instead.
That was the disadvantage faced by players who entered later. The number of monsters was limited, and a considerable portion of the easy-to-hunt monsters had already become someone else's Experience Points.
Only those high-risk monsters remained, and everyone was already avoiding them whenever possible.
And after seeing the desperate cries in the chat group, everyone fell into fear and huddled inside this abandoned shopping mall, too afraid to go outside.
All the knowledge they had learned as members of the upper class, all their knowledge of business and politics, was useless here.
"My phone battery is almost dead too..." Iino Miko looked at her phone.
"..." Fujiwara Chika also touched her phone, still trying to contact the outside world.
But clearly, this place was a space separate from their original world. There was no way to contact the outside.
After trying for a while, she turned off her phone.
"Five days in total. There are still four days left. If we hold on, we can get through this. Yeah!"
She nodded and raised her tiny fist to encourage herself. Always cheerful and somewhat naive, she could quickly adjust her mood.
An illustration is available here and can be viewed after updating the version.
"Grrr..."
However, the growling of her stomach immediately betrayed her.
Everyone looked at her. The others were not in as good a mood as she was.
"Uh..."
She could only dejectedly lower her hand.
"We all know the reality. You don't need to cheer us up," Iino Miko sighed.
"Come on, cheer up. We have food now, so we won't starve to death for the time being."
Fujiwara Chika smiled. "The Veteran Players from the previous batch in the chatroom seemed to have endured it the same way. They went hungry for three whole days."
As the Student Council secretary, Fujiwara Chika's grades were not especially outstanding, but she was sharp-minded. Since entering this Inner World, she had been conserving her strength and maintaining an optimistic attitude.
But the others did not have such a good mentality.
Iino Miko glanced at her, too lazy to respond. She hugged her knees and sat motionlessly in a corner, conserving as much strength as possible.
The limited food was placed in the middle. Silence spread among them like some enormous beast, slowly swallowing everyone into an abyss.
Especially that overweight male student. His eyes had remained fixed on the canned food. He had the lowest tolerance for hunger; his eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing was gradually growing heavier.
"Nita, it's not time to distribute the food yet. It must wait until tomorrow," Tanuma Tsubasa emphasized.
The overweight male student named Nita Satoru pursed his lips and could only continue enduring it.
Everyone was watching, and the food would be distributed with strict fairness. He did not dare reach out and take any himself.
Just then, Fujiwara Chika noticed something.
"Hm?" Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the system interface.
"That Tsukikawa Shu approved my appointment request!"
"You actually made an appointment for something like that?" Iino Miko was stunned.
The other people nearby also cast shocked looks her way.
Shiritsu Shuchuin Academy was originally a school for the upper class, lofty and refined in every respect. It could not possibly have anything to do with such vulgar matters.
And now, just look at the kind of post this Tsukikawa Shu had made.
He had directly put the words "Widely Recruiting Virtuous Wives" in the post title. It was not merely vulgar—it was downright despicable!
Although his level and strength were indeed high, once someone entered Shiritsu Shuchuin Academy, they had to draw a clear line between themselves and such crude, lowly things.
That was why every girl had directly ignored the post.
Even though they might be killed by monsters at any moment, even though they were still hungry!
This was the dignity of the upper class!
"Ahaha... I was just giving it a try. Look, that person seems to have plenty of equipment. Maybe I could even get a few Experience Cards for free?"
Seeing that the atmosphere had turned bad, Fujiwara Chika hurriedly laughed. She had not expected her friends to react so fiercely even in the Inner World.
Yet everyone's eyes remained fixed on her.
They did not object to what she had done, but their silent acceptance carried a trace of confusion and disgust.
Fujiwara Chika was the Student Council secretary, and her background was beyond compare. She was the daughter of a political family; her great-grandfather had been a former prime minister, and her uncle served as a current minister. Her lineage was exceedingly distinguished.
Someone with such an identity should be even less connected to a guy like Tsukikawa Shu, who looked like nothing more than a punk.
"Uh... What does the law call it again? Necessity, right? We're still in danger anyway. It's good to have one more hope."
At that moment, Iino Miko hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
Only then did the surrounding students withdraw their gazes.
Iino Miko let out a breath.
The Inner World was a place that exposed human nature. She had never expected her classmates to look at Fujiwara Chika like that at a time like this, all because of some aristocratic status.
"Iino! Thank you so much!"
Fujiwara Chika lowered her voice, grabbed Iino Miko's hands, and teared up as though she were about to cry.
It was a little exaggerated, but Fujiwara Chika truly had never received such looks from her classmates before. The usually innocent and carefree girl had been somewhat frightened.
"Alright, alright. Just be more careful next time," Iino Miko said.
"But are you really planning to agree to that guy's conditions?" Iino Miko glanced again at the information listed in Tsukikawa Shu's post.
It was very tempting, but not a single one of his conditions was acceptable to people of the upper class.
"How could I? I don't even know him." Fujiwara Chika pouted. "I was just seeing if I could get something for free..."
"That's good." Iino Miko sighed in relief.
This Tsukikawa Shu's post looked completely unreliable. How could someone from the upper class possibly submit to something like that?
Just then, a private message arrived from Tsukikawa Shu.
"You there?"
Tsukikawa Shu sat on the hotel sofa with one leg crossed over the other, looking utterly relaxed.
A moment later—
Fujiwara Chika: "Ahaha, I'm here."
Tsukikawa Shu: "Are you sincerely applying?"
Fujiwara Chika: "Um... I'm just taking a look..."
Fujiwara Chika: "Tsukikawa, you're really amazing. You can even eliminate level 20 monsters, and you opened a dungeon too. I don't even know what a dungeon is."
Tsukikawa Shu: "Are you sincerely applying?"
Fujiwara Chika: "...How did you deal with those monsters, Tsukikawa? During the initial beginner stage, is there any way to deal with those monsters?"
Tsukikawa Shu: "Are you sincerely applying?"
Fujiwara Chika: "Uh..."
Tsukikawa Shu boredly looked through the chat log, entirely uninterested in Fujiwara Chika's clumsy attempts at flattery.
He did not believe that a young lady like Fujiwara Chika, with such a deep background, would want to throw herself into his arms after suffering only two days of setbacks in the Inner World.
It was just break time, and he had nothing better to do than greet a few familiar people.
After a while, the other side replied again, this time with a long series of messages.
Fujiwara Chika: "I'm sorry! I wasn't sincere. I just saw what you wrote in your post and wanted to try my luck."
Fujiwara Chika: "But I really need these Experience Cards. The six of us are all in danger right now. We can't hunt those monsters, and we don't dare go out to look for food.
Fujiwara Chika: "Your post said that as long as you approved my appointment request, I could get Experience Cards. I really need them."
Fujiwara Chika: "Of course, of course! I won't take your things for free. The Fujiwara family will offer equivalent items in exchange, and I'll compensate you for my initial offense as well! Please forgive me, Mr. Tsukikawa!!!"
After reading the replies, Tsukikawa Shu found them somewhat amusing.
He had a fairly good impression of Fujiwara Chika. At least from their chat, she did not have the airs of an upper-class person. She was polite, and most importantly, she understood fair exchange.
"Sure. I won't go back on my word about the Experience Cards," Tsukikawa Shu replied.
At that moment, Fujiwara Chika was huddled together with Iino Miko, anxiously waiting for Tsukikawa Shu's response.
They did not need that much. They only needed to get some Experience Cards and level up. Once they possessed a certain degree of strength, they could escape the danger of the early beginner stage.
When she finally saw Tsukikawa Shu's reply, Fujiwara Chika smiled at last.
Then her system interface displayed:
[Received a gift from Tsukikawa Shu: Experience Card ×3]
"He didn't go back on his word!" She happily hugged her best friend.
"It seems... he's not especially bad after all." Iino Miko finally changed her opinion of Tsukikawa Shu somewhat.
At the very least, he did not seem like the sort who would use strength to coerce and tempt girls.
Without wasting any time, Fujiwara Chika immediately entered the system interface and opened the Experience Cards.
However...
[This Experience Card cannot be used. You are not a member of Tsukikawa Shu's Marriage Contract.] [This Experience Card cannot be used. You are not a member of Tsukikawa Shu's Marriage Contract.] [This Experience Card cannot be used. You are not a member of Tsukikawa Shu's Marriage Contract.]
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
She tried several times, but every attempt failed. Fujiwara Chika was dumbfounded.
"What's going on? Is there an error?" she asked, utterly confused.
Just then, Tsukikawa Shu sent another reply.
Tsukikawa Shu: "I won't go back on my word about the Experience Cards. I can give them to you."
Tsukikawa Shu: "But I should make this clear: only members of my Marriage Contract can use my Experience Cards."
"Th-then what's the difference between that and not giving them to me at all?!"
Fujiwara Chika was dumbfounded.
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