Mabufu route is fastest. Worldie has a guide on here

Yes

From what I know japanese isn't faster, it's just the fact that japanese runners are better at the game

Personally i would recommend going the hardware route as in my experience the RNG manips are more consistent on hardware compared to emu (but maybe thats a skill issue lmao)

Yes, here you go https://discord.gg/DJYHxAy