In the Multiverse, I Only Get Stronger by Marrying Wives

"What do you guys think you're doing? My contract clearly states you have to help us level up, and I've already paid the deposit."

Iino Miko was on the verge of tears from anger.

"That won't do, my lady. This is something we absolutely cannot compromise on," the male bodyguard player said.

With that, he stopped talking and threw himself back into the fight to gain experience.

The female bodyguard player also shot Iino Miko a cold glance. Fearing that someone else might snatch her monsters, she followed behind and continued grinding for levels.

"How could this happen..."

Iino Miko crouched down, a wave of despair, frustration, and fear washing over her. "What am I going to do?"

Not being high enough level meant she had no ability to protect herself. Danger was always present.

"I actually quite agree with Futada-kun's point of view,"

At this moment, a frail-looking boy pushed up his glasses and said, "I don't think we need to get stronger. Since our bodyguards are our own people, we should concentrate our resources better."

"Yeah, look at them killing those things all day, they're so dirty. I don't want to do that."

"We can just pay for it. Look at the important politicians, do they need to train so hard themselves? Aren't they all protected by bodyguards?"

The girls were mostly in agreement.

But Iino Miko clearly felt the biggest difference between the Inner World and the real world.

Her original plan was to first rely on the protection of the two bodyguards, and then gain more experience herself to level up quickly, securing the most basic means of self-preservation.

Now, it seemed that wealth, status, and power from the original world were rapidly being replaced by the powerful forces of the Inner World.

The reason players in the Inner World accepted her contract was simply because they weren't strong enough yet and were still tied to money and power.

Once they truly became powerful, like Tsukikawa Shu, all the money and power from the original world would be no different from trash in their eyes...

Fujiwara Chika had been silently observing the events of the past period.

When she learned of these cruel realities, Fujiwara Chika also found it hard to believe and experienced a period of loss and despair. However, she had now come to terms with it.

But she couldn't just sit around and wait for death...

She kept looking at the chat window on the System, at that guy named Tsukikawa Shu.

Should she send another message? She hesitated.

A sound like tearing silk from a zither string ripped through the night sky, followed by a burst of firelight illuminating a corner of the horizon.

A lizardman covered in rock let out a piercing roar, spitting a long tongue of fire. However, its limbs were bound by a strange purple mist, rendering it immobile.

Immediately after, a knuckleduster engulfed in flames smashed down from mid-air. The flames transformed into a giant lion, roaring as it tore its prey to shreds below.

In an instant, shattered rock and scorched flesh exploded along with a massive burst of flame.

Tsukikawa Shu stood in the distance, watching the battle while eating a freshly roasted sweet potato.

They were now quite a distance from the town, and the monsters had reached the level 40-45 range.

The wilderness wasn't barren either; there were many plants, both familiar and unfamiliar. Tsukikawa Shu had found quite a few sweet potatoes.

Since Goto Hitori and Hiratsuka Shizuka's weapons had been upgraded to Epic Grade, their combat power had significantly increased.

Even a level 45 Rock Lizardman leader couldn't withstand the righteous onslaught of Goto Hitori and Hiratsuka Shizuka. The ordinary level 40 Lizardmen were utterly routed.

At this stage, high-level players could already wreak havoc with just Rare Grade weapons. Epic Grade weapons were completely on another level.

[Your contractor Goto Hitori eliminated a Lizardman, all members gained +150 EXP]

[Your contractor Hiratsuka Shizuka eliminated a Lizardman, all members gained +150 EXP]

[Your contractor Hiratsuka Shizuka eliminated a Lizardman Leader, all members gained +300 EXP]

Gaining EXP for everyone felt great.

Excluding their usual "lewd" time, after a whole afternoon and evening of hard fighting, the three of them had reached level 39. With a bit more effort tomorrow, they would reach level 40 and unlock the level 40 Goblin Instance.

However, at this moment, Tsukikawa Shu checked the System chat log and found another familiar person.

Fujiwara Chika: "May I bother you for a moment?

Fujiwara Chika: ＞︿＜

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't pretend to be cute," Tsukikawa Shu replied.

Fujiwara Chika: "Um, could I ask for your help?"

Fujiwara Chika: "We hired some players to act as our bodyguards, but the situation has become rather delicate. These people no longer follow our instructions after entering the Inner World."

Fujiwara Chika recounted the general situation of the day in the chat.

Tsukikawa Shu read the messages and could anticipate what had happened.

A group of players who were more than ten levels higher naturally wanted to accumulate experience and unlock instances as quickly as possible. Anything that went against this goal would be ignored without hesitation.

As for contracts and laws, they did have effect in the original world. But the problem was that the situation in the Inner World described in the contract wouldn't be recognized by any court.

Only a very small portion of people knew about the current state of the Inner World. If you told others, they wouldn't believe you, making the contract a piece of scrap paper.

And even if others acknowledged the existence of the Inner World, so what? The legal constraints of the original world would eventually be broken by a more powerful force.

Tsukikawa Shu: "At least they're fulfilling their duty to protect you now. Don't ask for too much else."

Fujiwara Chika: "We can only afford their protection now because we're paying them a huge reward, but this kind of relationship probably won't last long."

Tsukikawa Shu: "And so?"

There was no reply for a long while, as if the other party was carefully choosing their words.

Fujiwara Chika: "I beg for your investment. I need some Experience Cards. Once I grow stronger, I can also bring back more resources to repay you."

Fujiwara Chika: "You can think of this as loan sharking. I'll use my family's name as collateral. I'll repay you with principal and interest. If I can't, you can take my life."

In the temporary camp where Shuchiin Academy students were resting, the other students had already fallen asleep from exhaustion.

Only Fujiwara Chika couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. After much deliberation, she still held onto a sliver of hope and sent a message to the great demon, Tsukikawa Shu.

And now, her fingers trembled as she typed the last sentence.

This was a gamble.

She gambled that Tsukikawa Shu, as her investigation suggested, was at least a person who held onto his principles, and would remain a passable "good person" in the future.

She was also gambling on her own future. With some levels gained, and with her own abilities and luck, could she truly repay the debt?

If she won, she could survive in this Inner World on her own strength, without sacrificing her body.

If she lost, her life would belong to someone else, and she might suffer all sorts of humiliation. She could only hope Tsukikawa Shu wasn't a beast.

This was the helplessness of the weak; even small matters required staking everything they had as a wager.

And if she couldn't repay, and couldn't bear the humiliation, would she have the resolve to end her own life?

Fujiwara Chika herself didn't know. Having lived a life of luxury and carefree days, she had never considered such questions before.

Tsukikawa Shu looked at Fujiwara Chika's reply and found it quite amusing.

"Do they really think I'm some great demon? Am I that evil?"

If the other party hadn't reminded him, Tsukikawa Shu wouldn't have thought of loan sharking in the Inner World.

But now, it seemed the other party's attitude was at least sincere, and they were indeed being pushed to the brink.

"I hate loan sharks. And I don't need to invest in others."

Tsukikawa Shu replied, "However, I can give you Experience Cards. I'll also give you a Destiny Contract. As before, only if you agree to this contract will the items I give you be unlocked."

"Consider this a safety net for you."

Tsukikawa Shu didn't need Experience Cards himself. He had an abundance of all sorts of equipment and lacked nothing.

After waiting anxiously for a moment, Fujiwara Chika quickly checked Tsukikawa Shu's reply.

"Safety net..."

The general situation was that Tsukikawa Shu was gifting her some items, but these items were sealed and could only be used after signing a contract with him.

Immediately after, her system inventory gained some new items.

[Tsukikawa Shu has gifted you items:]

[Large Experience Card * 15 (Locked)]

[Weapon * Rare Grade: Ice Fairy Handgun (Locked)]

[Item * Rare Grade: Special Short Finger Gloves (Locked)]

[Class Card: Gunner (Locked)]

[Skill Card: Frosty Cold Tide (Locked)]

Along with the items, a Marriage Contract also arrived in her system inventory.

Only after signing this contract would the above items be unlocked.

Looking at the items Tsukikawa Shu had sent, Fujiwara Chika didn't know if she felt relieved or grateful, but inexplicably, she let out a sigh of relief.

Fifteen Experience Cards, plus the three she had received before, meant reaching level 20 was no problem. And he was so generous, gifting her Rare Grade weapons and items, along with a Class Card and Skill Card?

Or perhaps, he simply didn't care for these items and could afford to just throw them away.

She glanced around. Some bodyguard players were still awake, vigilantly watching their surroundings.

The female bodyguard hired by Iino Miko was wiping her baseball bat. It was only a Fine Grade weapon, but she treated it like a treasure; it was her strongest weapon at this stage.

How strong was this Tsukikawa Shu? Fujiwara Chika couldn't imagine.

But looking at the locked items in her system inventory, she felt an inexplicable sense of peace...

"No, no, no!"

She suddenly slapped her own cheek.

These were still items she couldn't use! How could she feel at ease!

This action drew wary glances from the two players on guard duty.

"Ahaha... It's nothing, it's nothing. Just a little bug..."

Fujiwara Chika chuckled.

Afterward, she found a corner where no one was paying attention and opened the contract to read it carefully.

"..."

After reading it, Fujiwara Chika fell into a state of confusion and hesitation once more.

The contents of the contract were the same as what Tsukikawa Shu had said: to forge a destiny and become marriage partners, and it was more binding than the laws of her original world.

But... but... &

"These benefits are too good..."

After reading the contract, Fujiwara Chika was shocked by the gains that came with forging a destiny with Tsukikawa Shu.