(Second Update) (Continued)

"This instance really had incredible returns." Miyamoto Daichoku was also green with envy, his hand constantly rubbing the grip of his gun.

If it had been anyone else, he would have pulled out his gun and robbed them already. But the person before him was Tsukikawa Shu, someone he could not afford to provoke, so he could only forcibly suppress the agitation in his heart.

Meanwhile, Tsukikawa Shu was watching the standoff between the two sides outside the instance with great interest.

Seeing that the sunlight had softened and the sky had darkened, Tsukikawa Shu could roughly guess what had happened outside just now.

The moment he came out, Tsukikawa Shu had already spotted and recognized Ryūgamine Mikado. However, the other party was some distance from the instance and apparently had no plans to enter it today.

"Move, move, move! Stop resting and get into the instance already!"

Urged on by Kyuutake Itsuki, all the players still capable of fighting stood up and followed him as they ran toward the Goblin Instance.

However, just as Kyuutake Itsuki was about to step into the instance, a katana wrapped in golden lightning blocked his path.

Kyuutake Itsuki broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly stopped. Had he been a moment later, that katana would have split him in two.

"Friend, I know you're in a hurry."

Tsukikawa Shu looked at him with a faintly amused smile.

"But don't rush just yet."

(As of midnight on the 27th: 354 monthly votes, 12,392 in tips, and 378 blades. Excluding the bonus chapters before premium release, that means 10 bonus chapters are owed in total. Current bonus chapters: 1/10.)

Ryūgamine Mikado had also seen Tsukikawa Shu's photo. He had been about to step forward and greet him, only to see Tsukikawa Shu suddenly draw his sword, with no idea what he intended to do.

We're almost out of time to farm experience, and you're telling me not to rush?! Kyuutake Itsuki was both angry and anxious, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Under normal circumstances, if anyone dared block him like this, Kyuutake Itsuki would have cut them down immediately.

But the person standing before him was Tsukikawa Shu, the strongest demon lord. He could only plaster a smile across his face.

"Uh... Lord Tsukikawa, is there anything else?" He sounded utterly fawning, though his smile was hideous.

"Who allowed you to enter the instance first?" Tsukikawa Shu asked.

"This... I discussed it with that little brother over there."

Kyuutake Itsuki desperately suppressed the emotions on the verge of exploding as he said with a smile, "If you don't believe me, you can ask him."

"Oh." Tsukikawa Shu glanced toward Ryūgamine Mikado.

With Ryūgamine Mikado's kindhearted, somewhat naive personality, he really would do something so disadvantageous to himself.

"Then did you get my permission?" Tsukikawa Shu asked.

Kyuutake Itsuki froze.

"You five, come here." Tsukikawa Shu beckoned to the other five people.

"Now it's your turn to enter the instance," Tsukikawa Shu told them.

Tsukikawa Shu had already used up his instance runs, so he had not cared who entered next. But after chatting with Fujiwara Chika earlier, he discovered that the Elite Committee had serious problems.

There were at least two Player Hunters among them, and their president, Nita Goichi, was no good person either. If an organization like that was allowed to grow, order in the Inner World would descend into chaos.

Of course, that was the broad reason. Tsukikawa Shu was not some righteous hero.

The real reason was that Tsukikawa Shu was annoyed.

Nothing more than that. They had no grudge against each other, but he simply found the organization repulsive and disgusting.

Besides, this could trigger a system quest.

[Ding! You have triggered a new quest.]

[A good wife requires some groundwork. Your future wife has been bullied—shouldn't you return the favor? While you're at it, raise her favorability!]

[Quest objective: Fujiwara Chika joined an organization she was not particularly willing to join. Please give this organization a thorough lesson.]

[For every lesson you give them, the system will reward you with 1,000 Refined Ore!]

[If you can't get over it, just give them a few more lessons.]

Most of the time, the system played dead. Every once in a while, it would pop out to mess around. The quests it issued were strange as well.

Of course, no matter how strange they were, they could not compare to the initial quest where taking a wife and having children earned rewards!

Since there were system rewards too, there was nothing wrong with conveniently acting as a champion of justice. It counted as contributing to the new order of the Inner World. As for DOLLARS, he would merely be doing them a favor along the way.

Naturally, no one else knew why Tsukikawa Shu had suddenly cut in halfway.

The five of them were all dumbfounded. They had never expected Tsukikawa Shu to suddenly interfere.

"Mr. Tsukikawa, we really did discuss it. They should be the ones entering first..." Ryūgamine Mikado explained.

But before he could finish, one of the core members beside him, Yumasaki Walker, interrupted him.

"Really?"

Yumasaki Walker's eyes lit up, his normally narrowed eyes widening. "Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Tsukikawa! We will definitely remember Mr. Tsukikawa's kindness!"

Although Tsukikawa Shu looked quite young, seemingly around their age, adding "Mr." could not go wrong.

He looked so excited and grateful that it could even be called fawning. It would not have been surprising if he had dropped to his knees the next second.

The instance's rewards were so great that even the coldest person would lose their composure over them.

"Get in!"

Tsukikawa Shu's tone remained unquestionable, and he could not be bothered listening to their fawning praise.

Ryūgamine Mikado was still utterly confused and wanted to say something, but his friend beside him quickly shoved him.

"Alright, alright, Mr. Tsukikawa. We'll be going now."

Yumasaki Walker smiled brightly, then forcibly dragged Ryūgamine Mikado into the instance. "Hurry up."

The group disappeared into the vortex of the instance's stone gate.

"...Lord Tsukikawa, this... this isn't right, is it?"

Kyuutake Itsuki smiled, but he was actually on the verge of losing control of his anger. "You've already used up your instance runs, so what happens next isn't your business anymore, right? Going by first come, first served, we should be the ones farming the instance!"

"Who talks about order in the Inner World?"

Tsukikawa Shu laughed instead.

Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku could tell now that he was deliberately targeting them!

"..."

But they could not beat him, so what else could they do?

Kyuutake Itsuki and Miyamoto Daichoku could only swallow their anger, returning to their resting spot with dark expressions.

[You successfully made the Elite Committee lose their composure once. System reward: Refined Ore x1000.]

Tsukikawa Shu looked at the reward that had arrived and felt quite pleased.

The Elite Committee members had also found a temporary place to rest at the edge of town: an abandoned hotel.

Night fell, and a bonfire was lit outside the hotel.

Naturally, the Elite Committee's high-level players were in no good mood. Their strength had barely improved today, yet they still stared at the Goblin Instance's stone gate, hoping that the DOLLARS players who entered first would finish their runs and come out.

At that moment, several Shuchiin Academy students were gathered around the bonfire, heating canned food.

"Say, does the other team know that Tsukikawa Shu?" Tanuma Tsubasa had been wondering about it the entire time.

"It certainly looks that way. If this keeps up, our organization won't be able to develop at all." Tomioki Nagisa was also deeply worried.

If the group wanted to keep growing, farming instances was an unavoidable step. But with Tsukikawa Shu blocking them here, he was an obstacle they could not overcome.

"Could someone among us have offended him? Or perhaps he didn't receive enough benefits?" a frail-looking boy with glasses asked.

"Offending him seems unlikely... None of us know him, and no one has had a conflict with him, right?" Tanuma Tsubasa thought for a moment. "Other than Fujiwara."

"Ahaha, it doesn't really count as knowing him. I just went to talk with him on my own," Fujiwara Chika said with a smile.

"He didn't force you to do anything, did he? Or tempt you into doing something?" Tanuma Tsubasa asked.

"Huh? No." Fujiwara Chika blinked. "I actually think he seems like a pretty good person."

"A pretty good person? He deliberately picked a fight with our organization, and you still think he's pretty good?"

Upon hearing that, a female student immediately became displeased. She looked at Fujiwara Chika suspiciously. "Don't tell me you were fooled by some sweet talk?"

"Senpai isn't so bad at judging people that she can't see through someone," Iino Miko said.

"..."

After being rebutted by Iino Miko, the other girl clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, but said nothing more.

In terms of status and background, there really were not many people who ranked above Fujiwara Chika.

By then, the Shuchiin Academy students had split into two factions. One was Fujiwara Chika's side, which hoped to become stronger and ensure they had some ability to protect themselves. The other was indifferent, believing they could use money and power to make high-level players work for them. Why go through all the trouble of leveling up and fighting monsters themselves?

The former's goals conflicted with those of the Elite Committee's high-level player bodyguards. Both sides wanted to seize resources, so friction was inevitable. The latter stood with those high-level player bodyguards and gave them all kinds of support.

With different goals, they had nothing much to talk about.

As the night deepened, most of the students went to sleep, leaving fewer and fewer people by the bonfire.

Some bodyguard players had originally continued guarding the instance, hoping the DOLLARS team would clear it and come out quickly. Then they could use the tiny bit of time before the instance reset to farm some experience and equipment.

However, second by second, the time passed. When midnight arrived and the instance runs reset, everyone was disappointed.

"Fuck, today was a complete waste! Those guys took ridiculously long to farm it!"

Someone viciously smashed the can in his hand onto the ground.

Fujiwara Chika looked around. The students nearby had all lain down, and the bonfire's glow was gradually fading.

She opened the chat window and found Tsukikawa Shu's name.

Fujiwara Chika: "Are you asleep? Can we talk face-to-face?"

By now, Fujiwara Chika was certain that Tsukikawa Shu was not a bad person. Though he really was lecherous, he also seemed to be a person with principles.

No one in this world was perfect, and there were not actually many people who could be like Tsukikawa Shu.

But appearances alone could not determine everything. To verify her conclusion, Fujiwara Chika still decided to find an opportunity to speak with him in person.

A moment later—

Tsukikawa Shu: "I'm doing something important. Wait twenty minutes."

"Something important?"

Fujiwara Chika did not quite understand, but since he had told her to wait, she would wait.

The distance was not far, and the nearby wild monsters had already been wiped out by Tsukikawa Shu as bonus Experience Packs, so there was no danger.

When she entered the abandoned hotel, she saw the handsome young man roasting sweet potatoes, with plenty of fruits and melons beside him.

There was also a sofa and a coffee table nearby. Hiratsuka Shizuka and Goto Hitori sat on the sofa, their faces somewhat flushed. Goto Hitori in particular held a cup of water as she drank, her gaze drifting uncertainly.

The two women's clothes were somewhat disheveled, and some of their hair had stuck together, clearly soaked through with sweat.

As for Tsukikawa Shu, he looked even more casual. His chest was even bare, and it was obvious that he had not tidied himself up.

Even someone utterly inexperienced in this sort of thing could tell what had happened.

"So bold... Th-this is a threesome, right?!"

Fujiwara Chika covered her mouth with both hands.