(Second Update) (Continued)

Shiritsu Shuchuin Academy.

Though it was an aristocratic school, the students here studied no less diligently than those at any other school.

Pens scratched across paper as everyone around them buried their heads in their work.

Only Nita Goichi, his eyes bloodshot, sat there looking down at his phone.

"Guides, guides... Are there any useful guides at all...?"

He scrolled through forum after forum and chat group after chat group, desperately searching for the survival guides supposedly posted by experts.

There were survival guides, but they were all very low-level, and they did little to reduce the danger.

In the end, it still came down to luck.

And it was not just Nita Goichi. Nearly everyone who had entered the Inner World and survived had stopped focusing on their studies these past few days, instead falling into an endless abyss of fear.

No one knew when they would enter the Inner World again, nor did they know whether they would survive the next time.

Everyone was striving to stay alive.

"I have to live. I will live..."

Nita Goichi muttered to himself, the fat on his face trembling.

"If worst comes to worst, I'll hire a bodyguard. As long as I pay enough, I'll definitely find one. I definitely will! I'll survive!"

Fujiwara Chika was also scrolling through her phone, wearing an unusually serious expression.

She had once been carefree, cheerful, and lively, but after entering the Inner World and witnessing those brutal things, she had no choice but to do everything she could to prepare.

She lay back in her reclining chair and stretched her stiff limbs after sitting for so long.

A computer sat before her, displaying all sorts of information and data collected over the past few days.

Fujiwara Chika had an exceptional memory and could remember every name she had seen in the Inner World. As soon as she returned, she had people begin investigating those players.

She had also skipped all her classes and taken a long leave, using all her time to organize the data so she could improve her chances of survival and growth when she entered the Inner World for the second time.

That was right—not merely survival, but growth as well.

Constantly hiding was not a solution, and constantly seeking others' protection would eventually lead to betrayal.

What happened in the Inner World would ultimately have a massive impact on the original world. If she could not establish herself in the Inner World, then her world would eventually be devoured by the strong.

Society had not yet fallen into major turmoil only because there were too few players and their levels were still too low.

But incidents of people leaping across rooftops or committing robberies had already become far more common lately. Players with even a few levels could cause damage to society with physiques stronger than ordinary people's.

"I can't find even one person with principles..."

Fujiwara Chika bit her finger and frowned at the computer screen.

Many people who had barely gained some strength in the Inner World had already impatiently begun stealing and robbing in the original world.

Her own strength was too weak. In the early stages, she could easily die when facing vicious monsters and Player Hunters, so Fujiwara Chika also wanted to find capable people to protect her in the Inner World.

But the candidates had to be rigorously screened.

The Inner World could inflict a massive shock upon present-day Japan. At this point, power and money were not particularly appealing to strong players, nor could they threaten them.

Precisely because of that, she needed someone who at least possessed the moral bottom line of a human being—someone who would not turn into a beast just because they were no longer bound by the law.

Yet Fujiwara Chika had used all the influence and connections available to herself and her family, spent enormous sums gathering player data and information, and had even acquired the police files containing every player's personal information. The result, however, left her deeply disappointed.

Most of them were ordinary people incapable of even fighting a chicken, and they were only Level 1. They could basically be confirmed as Experience Packs.

They might seem law-abiding and polite in their daily lives, but once they gained power or lost their restraints, the true nature of their humanity was fully exposed.

Every kind act was built upon equal status and position between both parties, as well as various forms of compulsory restraint.

Fujiwara Chika browsed through the forums about the Inner World.

They were flooded with armchair players and all sorts of convincingly fake posts meant to mislead others.

Thanks to surviving players, the Inner World forums had seen their traffic explode, drawing plenty of spectators as well.

After studying the guides posted by real players, some bored people had gradually pieced together the Inner World's setting, then let their imaginations run wild and began fabricating guides.

They had not originally meant any harm. Those who had never entered the Inner World simply did not believe such a place existed. They only wanted attention.

To real players, those guides were riddled with holes. Naturally, they did not believe them and simply ignored them.

But there were also plenty of onlookers passing by.

When the Inner World opened for the second time, some people had believed the fake guides on the forums and ended up dying directly in the mouths of monsters.

The Inner World forums were bustling now. Though the interface was crude, it was the only place where they could communicate.

And the hottest topic lately was Tsukikawa Shu.

Even the "Widely Recruiting Virtuous Wives" post Tsukikawa Shu had made on the forum, which had originally sunk to the bottom, had been dug back up. Its comments were exploding in number.

Every refresh brought several new comments.

"What kind of trash post gets pinned? I'm here for guides, not to look at scum like you!"

"Disgusting. Without the restraints of the law, you dare to do whatever you want in another world?"

"What Widely Recruiting Virtuous Wives! You're insulting women! Sisters, we absolutely cannot allow this disgusting man to keep doing whatever he wants!"

"That's right! We need to speak up for women and seek justice for women's rights!"

Just as before, there were indeed plenty of curses, but they were quickly drowned beneath a tidal wave of astonishment and groveling flattery.

"So this is the big shot called Tsukikawa Shu?"

"Big shot, please carry me!!"

"Mr. Tsukikawa, here is my contact information. I am a director of the Fujioka Group. Whatever Mr. Tsukikawa wants, just say the word, and I will make it happen."

"Mr. Tsukikawa, I am the mayor of a certain county. I have one daughter. Might Mr. Tsukikawa honor me with a private conversation?"

"Although I have no daughter, I do have several contracted celebrities under my company. If Mr. Tsukikawa does not mind, I can make some introductions..."

No one knew whether Tsukikawa Shu was the strongest player in the Inner World, but the various glory medals and level he had revealed there had truly shocked everyone.

Whether he was the strongest or not, there was no harm in currying favor with him first.

Fujiwara Chika took Tsukikawa Shu very seriously. She used connections to obtain firsthand information from the police and organized people to analyze and investigate him overnight.

The reason so many notorious thieves and unsolved cases existed was, first, because police manpower and funding were limited, making it impossible to pursue every case to the end. Second, some cases might involve political figures or sensitive individuals, so they could not be investigated too deeply.

But after investing enormous manpower and resources, finding out exactly what a person had done over the past dozen or so days was not difficult.

Fujiwara Chika had also obtained a report on him through her own methods.

Yet when she saw the information, Fujiwara Chika was somewhat surprised.

"Tsukikawa Shu has actually always been a law-abiding good citizen?"

Though he possessed powerful strength, he did not seem to want to use it to gain anything. On the contrary, he still went to school happily every day.

His life was so simple that even Fujiwara Chika found it hard to believe.

Every day, he went to school, dated his girlfriend, bought groceries, and went home to cook. The cycle repeated without a ripple. He was completely ordinary.

"After gaining such incredible power, doesn't he want to do something with it?"

"If he doesn't want to break the law, then he could at least imitate those heroes in movies and punish evil, right?"

But he seemed to enjoy wasting his abilities like this, strolling every day with his girlfriend through shops Fujiwara Chika considered cheap and eating food that was even discounted at the supermarket.

Fujiwara Chika found this deeply puzzling.

The original world had no superpowers, but weren't status, power, and money another kind of superpower?

Aristocrats would never leave their wealth and authority idle. They would use those things to live better lives and gain greater benefits.

For Inner World players, strength was capital—capital that could be used to obtain greater benefits.

Originally, Fujiwara Chika had believed that Tsukikawa Shu, this Great Demon Lord, should now be someone steeped in evil.

Either he would directly use his strength to burn, kill, loot, and commit every kind of evil.

Or he would collude with the wealthy and officials trying to curry favor with him on the forums, using indirect methods to seek profit. Tsukikawa Shu, this Great Demon Lord, would serve as their protector while gaining a large group of lackeys to serve him. He would be equally guilty of countless crimes.

Fujiwara Chika had investigated every player whose name she could remember. Without exception, they had all gone down that path. Either their true nature had been exposed, or they had been unable to resist the temptations of the powerful and wealthy and joined them in corruption.

But this guy...

Fujiwara Chika could not understand him. At least, from the perspective of someone from high society, she simply could not understand him.

Could this guy possibly just be a simple pervert? Was he merely thinking of using his immense strength to... build a harem?

Fujiwara Chika could only reach that conclusion.

This... counted as a different kind of person with principles, right?

Fujiwara Chika carefully reviewed the information about Tsukikawa Shu again.

"It seems like he treats his girlfriend quite well too?"

This left Fujiwara Chika even more surprised and confused.

His girlfriend, how should she put it, was just an ordinary girl who even liked wearing tracksuits while shopping.

She was a little unfashionable, too...

Could it be that something about her hit his particular fetish?

Fujiwara Chika could not figure it out no matter how hard she thought.

It was perfectly normal for an ordinary person to find a girlfriend like that, but why would someone as absurdly strong as Tsukikawa Shu like that kind of girl?

If he wanted someone of another type, or someone prettier, it would be effortless.

Whether it was a rich young lady or a popular celebrity, he could have either.

If you said he was not interested in women, then he had posted Widely Recruiting Virtuous Wives on the forum.

But if you said he was a pervert, he had not tried to pursue any of those better women. Instead, he genuinely seemed to be dating someone.

"Is a strong person lowering himself to experience ordinary life?"

"That doesn't seem right either. Before the Inner World appeared, he had also just been an ordinary person."

Fujiwara Chika could not figure it out no matter how hard she thought.

"I can't find anyone worth trusting."

Fujiwara Chika slumped back in her reclining chair like a deflated balloon.

There were not actually as many players who entered the Inner World as she had imagined, and finding a player who was strong enough while also possessing basic human principles... was simply impossible.

Should she consider Tsukikawa Shu, the Great Demon Lord?

Tsukikawa Shu's handsome selfie flashed through Fujiwara Chika's mind, and she hurriedly patted her cheeks.

"No!"

"Absolutely not!"

Tsukikawa Shu lay on his bed, idly browsing the forums as well.

His post had indeed received enormous attention. There were countless private messages, and people from every field wanted to make themselves known to him.