[Time Until the "Inner World" Opens: 23:00]
[Players Entering the Inner World for the Second Time:]
[Players Who Have Previously Entered and Successfully Survived]
[This time, the Inner World will absorb more new players — 50% will be randomly chosen, and 50% will be people connected to old players.]
[Connections include, but are not limited to: family, friends, enemies, etc.]
Watching the countdown on the system screen, Tsukikawa Shū wasn't particularly nervous.
As for the fact that the Inner World might pull in people around him — he wasn't worried either.
Judging from what he'd seen on the forums, and his own firsthand fights against players in the Inner World, more than ninety percent of the survivors were probably still stuck at Level 1. Only a tiny fraction had managed to level up by hunting monsters or other players, and even then, not by much.
Take Kōda Ken, for instance — the one he killed last time. Hitting Level 7 or 8 was already considered impressive.
Time in the Inner World flowed separately; it didn't affect the real world. You could be pulled in at one moment, and when you came back out, it would still be that same moment in reality.
Eat when you should, play when you should — no need to worry about it messing with real life.
Of course, if you died in the Inner World, that was another story.
In contrast, death in the Inner World did affect reality.
Tsukikawa Shū opened his palm, and unnoticed by anyone, a bloodstained iron hammer appeared in his hand.
It was a weapon he'd obtained inside the Inner World — [Skullcrusher Hammer].Items from the Inner World could be brought into the real one, and even the powers and skills obtained there could still be used here.
He didn't know exactly how many people had entered the Inner World so far, but judging from how stable Japan still seemed, it couldn't be that many — otherwise the country would've turned into Gotham City by now, with Arkham University overflowing with "talent."
When he got to class, Tsukikawa Shū went about things as usual — took out his textbook, then lazily slumped back in his chair.
The students around him were all still buried in their books.
With one arm slung over the backrest, he took out his palm-sized notebook, flipped expertly and precisely to the page he wanted to review, and was just about to glance over it in his "don't-care-about-anyone" posture when a mature, curvaceous figure walked up to him.
"Tsukikawa Shū."
Hearing someone call his name, he raised an eyebrow slightly and saw a pair of legs wrapped in black stockings, attached to a tall woman in a sleek black business outfit.
Hiratsuka Shizuka — his Japanese teacher. Young, sexy, and extremely popular among the hormone-fueled boys in the class.
"There's a task I need to give you," Hiratsuka said, leaning one hand on his desk and bending forward slightly.
Her expression was a bit languid, and a faint trace of perfume drifted to his nose.
"Hiratsuka-sensei," Shū said, without changing his laid-back posture."Do you really think it's reasonable to waste the time of someone standing at a turning point in his life?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka was the faculty advisor for the Service Club, and mentioning the Service Club naturally brought to mind that sharp-tongued ice queen — Yukinoshita Yukino.
Even though he possessed a cheat that literally required him to marry women to grow stronger, that didn't mean Tsukikawa Shū was ruled by his lower body, chasing after every girl he saw.
If he were to pursue someone, it'd be someone like Bocchi, for instance — not because of looks, but because she was easy to deal with, easy to get along with, and the system rewards were pretty good too.
As for Yukinoshita Yukino… Shū didn't dislike her, but he wasn't particularly interested either.
If he had to choose, he'd rather go after her sister Yukinoshita Haruno, or even this teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"You're seriously worried about not getting into your dream university? What, even Tokyo U isn't good enough for you now?" Hiratsuka pressed on, unfazed.
"We're holding a joint mixer soon with Kaibin Comprehensive High School. You know our student council president is just a first-year — there's no way she can handle something like that. So they've asked the Service Club to help."
Kaibin Comprehensive…?
Tsukikawa Shū frowned slightly.
Back during his first trip into the Inner World, he'd killed four students from that school — one of them even a student council member.
That meant there were probably more from that school who had entered.
And as for that student council… Shū didn't have a good impression of them. Mostly self-important, brainless types who loved to push blame onto others while never actually doing anything useful.
He wondered if they'd be the kind to throw away their humanity like Kōda Ken had once things got tough inside the Inner World. That'd be interesting to see.
"Anyway," Hiratsuka sighed, "you should already know Yukinoshita Yukino's personality. You can probably imagine how well she'll handle a social mixer."
"So I'm counting on you — the most handsome boy in the entire school — to save the day."
"While I appreciate your brutal honesty in that last sentence," Shū said, snapping his notebook shut with a clack, "you expect me to just go because you said so?"
"You're going," Hiratsuka said flatly, not giving him a chance to refuse. She turned and walked away, leaving behind a graceful silhouette and a faint lingering fragrance in the air.
Tsukikawa Shū sat there, hesitating.
Should he accept her request or not?
He didn't dislike Yukinoshita Yukino, but they'd barely interacted — helping her out sounded like a hassle.
[Main Quest Triggered: Help Yukinoshita Yukino Out of Her Predicament][System Reward: Rare Job Card ×1, Custom Blue-Tier Weapon ×1][PS: The way you're trying to come up with excuses is adorable.]
"…"
Shū stared blankly at the system notification that popped up in front of him.
The words might've been cold and robotic — but damn, it knew him too well.
He didn't think someone like Yukinoshita Yukino could be easily "captured," and even if she was, she probably wouldn't accept the idea of him carrying around a whole flock of metaphorical angel wings.
Still—when the system literally hands you rewards like that… might as well give it a try.
That same day, Gotō Hitori still sat through class looking completely dazed, her mind miles away.
No matter the subject, to her it all sounded like some kind of ancient riddle.
Social anxiety didn't just make her awkward — it made her a terrible student too.
Especially after she got a boyfriend, her brain was completely occupied with thoughts like how to go on a date and what their wedding would be like, giggling to herself like an idiot.
It couldn't be helped — unloved kids were like that.
A shut-in's specialty was, after all, being a total pushover.
That Tsukikawa Shū could still manage to have a relationship was because his grades were top-tier — he didn't have to worry about getting into a good university.
But for Gotō Hitori, if she ever did go on a date, she'd probably have to spend most of her free time afterward being dragged into tutoring sessions by Shū.
Still, that was a problem for future Mrs. Bocchi to worry about.
As for now?
Just enjoy the date.