Yet before long, everyone discovered that there was not a single monster nest anywhere nearby.
"What's going on? Are all the nearby nests empty?"
"Could Tsukikawa Shu have farmed them all as Experience Packs?"
"No way, right? With so many of us, just using up our dungeon runs would take at least half a day. Add in rest time, and spending the whole day on this instance would already be about all we could manage. Who would have that much spare time to farm wild monsters?"
Yet no matter how thoroughly they searched, they could not find a single creature capable of providing Experience Points.
They created a group chat and communicated through the system chat, all of them deeply confused.
Some people did find a few monster nests, but every one of them was abandoned. All the monsters inside had vanished, leaving only dried black fluid congealed in the soil outside the caves.
"Could it be that Tsukikawa Shu also ate up all the wild monsters around the Goblin Instance as Experience Packs?"
Everyone had no choice but to acknowledge that conclusion.
The chat group fell silent.
Aside from clearing instances every day, he still had enough time to wipe out all the nearby monsters within just a few days.
As the players ventured farther and farther out, seeing one emptied nest after another, they all fell silent.
"Good lord, there's a huge crater in a level 20 Werewolf Lair... Those are level 20 werewolves with insanely tough vitality! And the corpses have already rotted—there are at least twenty of them!"
"Same here. I found a Lizardman Lair, and it was wiped out too. It looks like it only took one big move. If there weren't corpses nearby, I wouldn't even recognize it as a blasted-open nest."
The farther the Elite Committee members searched, the more the sights before them shocked them.
In the end, after compiling everyone's information, they had no choice but to reach a final conclusion.
Within a radius of over ten kilometers, not a single wild monster had survived. All of them had been turned into Experience Packs by Tsukikawa Shu and his group!
Still, no one was willing to give up, and they continued toward the outer regions.
"No matter how strong Tsukikawa Shu is, clearing an instance still takes at least a few hours, right? We can't just stand around waiting during those hours!"
Kyuutake Itsuki said, "Keep exploring. I refuse to believe we can't find a few suitable wild monster nests."
"With our stamina, the monsters within twenty kilometers can all be our prey. Keep searching!" Miyamoto Daichoku also sent a message.
This time, everyone expanded their search range once more.
Half an hour later, a player with relatively fast movement finally sent a message.
"Hahaha, I found a Forest Wolf Lair that hasn't been wiped out yet! Brothers, get over here! There have to be enough of these monsters for us to farm."
"Coming, coming! Don't fight over them, okay? This time, we need to level up properly."
"There should still be enough time. Anyone within five kilometers, come over. We'll join forces and wipe out this pack of Forest Wolves!"
Seeing the messages in the group chat, Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku, who were also worried about having no wild monsters to farm, became anxious.
Kyuutake Itsuki: Send the coordinates. We're heading over.
Kyuutake Itsuki was the strongest in the group. Although most people did not want to share Experience Points with him, they did not dare defy him.
A moment later, the coordinates were sent out.
"Deep in the forest. Let's go!" Kyuutake Itsuki grabbed his cleaver and prepared to leave.
"By the way, do you know the habits and traits of Forest Wolves?" Miyamoto Daichoku asked.
"Who cares? We can't let the others snatch that experience from us!" Kyuutake Itsuki said.
He checked the coordinates. They were not too far away, and there would still be enough time to return and run the instance after clearing that monster nest.
He was already full of pent-up rage.
He had finally reached level 20, thinking he could soar by farming instances, only to run into Tsukikawa Shu.
Only one team could enter the Goblin Instance at a time. And in the Inner World, strength determined who went first and who had to wait.
All he wanted now was to level up quickly and make up for the Experience Points he had lost while waiting!
Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku did not delay. Following the coordinates sent by the other party, they hurried in that direction.
The two weaved through the forest for a while.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Miyamoto Daichoku stopped.
"What's wrong? You don't want the others stealing those Experience Points either, do you?!" Kyuutake Itsuki snapped.
"Wait, look at the group chat..." Miyamoto Daichoku's face changed drastically in an instant.
"Run! Run now! These aren't monsters we can handle. They're all above level 40!"
"Level 45! There's a level 45 Wolf King here. It ate one of our people!"
Just as Kyuutake Itsuki saw those two messages, a long wolf howl came from ahead in the woods.
It was followed by trembling ground and falling trees! Faintly, they could hear human screams. Something massive was charging toward them!
Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku instantly went pale.
Trees were knocked down one after another. Every time the unknown behemoth's paw struck the ground, it caused a tremor.
And that gigantic monster was still drawing closer!
"Go, move..." Miyamoto Daichoku's face was filled with panic.
Faintly, the two could see three or four people in the distance being chased by a pack of monsters.
These Forest Wolves had leaves growing across their bodies, providing natural camouflage. They were nearly twice the size of ordinary gray wolves, but now that they had locked onto their prey, their eyes gleaming with eerie green light looked especially terrifying.
Every Forest Wolf was above level 40. They were simply not something people in their teens could handle.
Even Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku could only run for their lives when faced with creatures like these.
Especially since there was a Wolf King among them, a head taller than the other Forest Wolves and level 45!
"Damn it, how did those guys provoke such powerful monsters?!"
Kyuutake Itsuki cursed as he desperately fled backward.
But there was no time to discuss anything more. The most urgent matter was escaping with their lives.
Dust billowed behind them. The Forest Wolves were extremely agile, constantly darting and leaping through the undergrowth, while the even larger Wolf King charged straight ahead like a small mountain. It could even spew flames from its mouth, knocking down trees along the way before setting them ablaze.
The players who had first discovered the Forest Wolf pack ran forward, gasping for breath. At their current stage, their stamina was far inferior to those high-level Forest Wolves.
During their first clash, one player had instantly died beneath the Wolf King's claws, while the others had all suffered injuries to varying degrees.
"AAAAAH!"
The lowest-level player clutched his injured abdomen. He stumbled over a branch and fell, and when he turned back again, the wolf pack had already closed in. In an instant, he was pounced upon by the wolves. After a scream, his body was torn to pieces.
But that bought the people ahead of him time and an opportunity to escape.
After a harrowing chase, the group finally fled out of the forest just as their stamina was about to give out, narrowly escaping the monsters' hunt.
They scrambled into an open area, all of them panting heavily and exhausted to the point of collapse.
"Could it be that Tsukikawa Shu already farmed all the nearby monsters, leaving only monsters above level 40?" Miyamoto Daichoku said.
"How is that possible... Does that mean his strength is already on par with those monsters?" Kyuutake Itsuki said.
"Someone capable of wiping out every monster in the level 35 to 40 range could at least fight this level 45 Wolf King, right?" Miyamoto Daichoku said.
They had originally wanted to farm more Experience Points while they had nothing to do, but instead they had suffered unnecessary casualties. Even the two level 20 players, Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku, had nearly died here.
In that short time, two of the ten bodyguard players had died, while another three had been injured.
"You bastards, don't you know that monsters get stronger the farther you go from town? And you still dared go so far to provoke monsters of this level?"
Kyuutake Itsuki was furious. He grabbed one player by the collar and lifted him directly off the ground.
"I... I was only following your instructions to expand the search range..." the other party said fearfully.
"You dare talk back!"
Kyuutake Itsuki smashed his fist into the man's face, leaving him bruised and swollen, blood pouring from his nose.
"Enough. Do you want more casualties? Are we still running the instance or not?"
Miyamoto Daichoku finally stepped in to stop him. "When it comes down to it, didn't you fail to scout out what level the Forest Wolves were yourself?"
"Hmph!"
Only then did Kyuutake Itsuki snort coldly and viciously throw the player, who had been beaten dizzy, onto the ground.
This was not the only group to encounter such a situation. Every player who went out and managed to find wild monsters encountered the same thing.
The only remaining wild monster nests were not only far from the instance, but also extremely high-level. Every one of them was above level 40, capable of instantly killing these so-called elite players with a single blow.
Seeing the situation in the group chat, the Shuchiin Academy students near the Goblin Instance were also shocked.
They were currently hiding in nearby grass or bushes, terrified of being spotted by Player Hunters or monsters.
All those elite players acting as bodyguards had no interest in watching over their own Sugar Daddies. They had all run far away to farm Experience Points.
"These people really wasted our money! They just abandoned us and ran over ten kilometers away?"
"They're this irresponsible? I'm firing them!"
Some Shuchiin Academy students finally realized the reality of the situation and became furious.
"Resources should go to the best people. It would have been fine if Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku went, but everyone ran off all at once. What kind of nonsense is that? I'll give them a proper lesson when they get back."
Nita Goichi scratched at the mosquito bites covering his skin and was also extremely angry.
At first, they had only planned to search nearby for a few wild monsters to supplement their experience, but now they had gone farther and farther, straight to a location over ten kilometers away. At that distance, what kind of bodyguards were they?
And it would have been one thing if only some of them had gone. Instead, all ten bodyguard players had run off on their own, leaving these weaklings behind to tremble in fear.
Fortunately, the nearby monsters had actually all been cleared out by Tsukikawa Shu, so there was no danger. Otherwise, given how dangerous the town outskirts currently were, everyone would have died within five minutes.
However, they did not understand the current situation. They could only continue acting cautiously, enduring mosquito bites as they lay trembling in grass and woods, frightened and anxious.
"Only monsters above level 40 are left? What's going on?"
Tanuma Tsubasa scrolled through the group chat, finding it deeply strange. "Did Tsukikawa Shu clear out all the nearby wild monsters? But the wild monsters around an instance should at least be in the level 20 to 30 range, right? Could he really clear them all out in just a few days?"
Faced with that question, all the students looked at one another.
Only a small number of people clearly understood the gap between levels and combat power in the Inner World. As for these level 1 weaklings, there was even less need to mention it.
After a while, those who had eagerly gone out to seize Experience Points returned to the Goblin Instance looking utterly disheveled, many of them injured.
During this rash exploration, two of the ten bodyguard players had died outright, and the rest had all suffered injuries to varying degrees.
"You bastards, you just abandoned us and went off to grind levels yourselves?"
Nita Goichi leaped out of the grass, furious. His pale, plump flesh was covered in mosquito bites.
Of course, he was not saying this to his own two bodyguards. The two bodyguards he had hired were the highest-level ones and the people who most deserved to obtain resources. Naturally, it made sense for them to go out and explore for more Experience Points.
They were dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to the entire committee. Naturally, Nita Goichi could understand that.
But he needed to give everyone else a proper lecture!
"You should think of the collective, consider the collective's interests, and take pride in the collective. You can't always focus narrowly on leveling yourselves up."
Nita Goichi said to the bodyguard players, "Only when our Elite Committee grows stronger can you enjoy better treatment. Only then can the entire committee serve as your solid backing. Do you understand?"
"As the chairman, I must point out this mistaken behavior of yours! And I must prevent such things from happening again!"
Imitating the mannerisms of the senior executives and elders at meetings in his family company, Nita Goichi kept lecturing the bodyguard players and began another speech.
As the highest-ranking manager, he had a responsibility to lead the entire team toward prosperity while preventing short-sighted people like these from damaging the collective's future!
At Nita Goichi's lecture, the veins on many people's foreheads bulged.
Before you continue