Players who can farm high-level monsters and more monsters will grow increasingly powerful, eventually creating an insurmountable level gap.
By the end of the day, both of them had gained a lot. When Tsukikawa Shuu opened his system backpack, it was stuffed to the brim with drops from monster kills and random items they'd picked up along the way.
They even managed to find two green-quality weapons.
While unknown areas were still a mystery, Tsukikawa Shuu had already collected all the material drops available from level 1–20 monsters. It was more than the two of them could ever use.
"With this mountain of materials, they should be very useful later on," Shuu mused.
As long as this Inner World continued to exist, players would naturally form their own society, complete with a market for material trades.
Right now, Tsukikawa Shuu and Gotou Ichiri were both capable of defeating enemies above their level. Because of that, they'd managed to farm a lot of high-grade materials that most others couldn't get their hands on, giving them a major advantage.
Hmm… Using rare and valuable materials to gather a harem of fine wives didn't sound like a bad idea either.
While holding Gotou Ichiri's small hand, Tsukikawa Shuu casually walked and pondered over how many boats he could realistically have a foot in.
He looked at Ichiri beside him—she still had that dopey, cheerful look, eyes squinted shut in bliss, soaking in the joy of having finally gotten a boyfriend.
In the real world, yeah, maybe he'd count as a certified scumbag. But at least he was the kind of scumbag who'd take responsibility for every girl he got involved with.
Well, that was the standard for the real world. In the Inner World, power was everything, and there was no such thing as monogamy.
"It's getting late. Let's find a place to rest," Shuu said.
Gotou Ichiri nodded in agreement.
As they looked around for a safe spot like the one from the night before, they noticed a group of people ahead—arguing as they walked, not looking particularly happy.
"Looks like they're from Kaibin Integrated High School," Ichiri observed after watching them for a while.
Tsukikawa Shuu dug through his memory and vaguely remembered them too.
Kaibin Integrated was a high school featured in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. The blue-haired boy at the front was a student council member, though just a background character.
Tsukikawa Shuu didn't think much of that student council. It was full of self-important types who loved giving orders but never wanted to take action or responsibility themselves.
…
"I'm in the student council. I'm way more capable than you all. If you don't follow my orders, don't expect me to share any of the loot!"
The blue-haired student barked at the others around him, full of arrogance.
The three students nearby looked frustrated but didn't dare to talk back.
Kaibin Integrated was a prestigious school, and only students with above-average leadership or smarts made it into the student council. That gave Kōda Ken a solid position among the group.
Originally, Kōda had been a low-level student council gofer. But after coming to this other world, he transformed from a nobody into a king—finally tasting the sweetness of having power.
He gripped the bloodstained steel pipe in his hand, eyes gleaming with twisted satisfaction as he looked at the fresh stains that hadn't fully dried.
He used to be the kind of student who followed the rules, but in this lawless world, all the ugliness of human nature had been let loose.
Especially after he discovered that killing other players granted experience—and let him take all their gear—he dropped the good-boy act entirely.
Monsters were vicious, but humans? Much weaker. Especially right now, when it was the Inner World's first opening and no one had real combat power yet.
So he played the role of a model student to get close, then struck when their guard was down.
Players were worth much more experience than low-level mobs.
He even roped in three classmates, threatening them into joining him.
Work with him and they'd share EXP. Refuse, and it was death.
By balancing threats and incentives, Kōda Ken had successfully formed a player-hunting squad.
In addition to looting EXP and items through murder, he'd even violated two female students.
"This world is dangerous. If you're not cruel, you won't survive," Kōda said, continuing his manipulative monologue. "Things like morals and conscience mean nothing here."
"As for those girls we used? Who's going to care? They're weak. In this world, all they'd do is die anyway. Might as well give us some experience and let us have some fun while they're at it. You wouldn't want such good EXP to go to waste and get eaten by monsters, would you?"
The three others said nothing—silently agreeing.
They hadn't been able to resist temptation either. Once Kōda had taken the lead, they'd followed without much hesitation.
"As long as none of us talk, no one will know what we've done in this world. We can go back to our normal lives when this is all over," Kōda reminded them again.
But just then, Kōda spotted two figures standing at a distance—Tsukikawa Shuu and Gotou Ichiri.
Likewise, Shuu and Ichiri had already noticed them.
Thanks to his increased level, Shuu's vision had improved significantly. Even from afar, he could clearly see the bloodstains on the four students' weapons.
"Hey there, you guys new to this world too?" Kōda called out with a friendly smile, instantly slipping back into his good-student act. He approached with his pipe in hand.
The other three followed in silence, weapons ready.
Four versus two. One of them just a frail-looking girl. No contest. Kōda didn't even bother hiding his intentions much longer.
This Inner World had only been open for two days. Everyone's levels were roughly the same. But Kōda and his group had already killed several players, giving them an overwhelming advantage.
All they needed was to get close enough, lower their guard, and those two would become EXP fodder.
Tsukikawa Shuu didn't respond.
Whether it was his prior impression of this background character or the current situation, Shuu had no doubt—Kōda had shown his true colors in this world.
Kōda still looked like the picture-perfect good guy, but when four people armed to the teeth charged straight at them, it was clear enough.
"Ichiri, get ready to fight," Shuu said.
Gotou Ichiri nodded in response.
Perfect. Shuu had just been thinking of testing what kind of skills could be looted from players.