Building Favorability

Kurumi felt this was a hint from an NPC. Once they entered the forest, they would probably have to face other monsters.

The group began making their way through the forest.

Kurumi's Spirit Dress was extremely inconvenient in the woods, so she had no choice but to take out a machete and cut down the thorns jutting out along the path.

After about ten minutes, the leader walking in front suddenly stopped and said nervously, "A magical beast is approaching. Prepare for battle!"

The moment he finished speaking, more than a dozen wild boars burst from the bushes on both sides. The spikes on their backs burned with flames as they lunged viciously at the Elemental Sprite in the middle of the group.

System Prompt: You have encountered a surprise attack by Fire Thorn Pigs. Protect the Elemental Sprite, or the mission will fail!

Fire Thorn Pig

Level: 31

Life Level: Ordinary Magical Beast

HP:

Attack: 1000

Defense: 120

Skills: Charge, Fire Spike Launch, Fire Element Affinity

Monster Description: They came for the Elemental Sprite. As long as they obtain the Elemental Sprite, they can evolve!

With the NPC's warning, Kurumi had remained vigilant. The instant the magical beasts appeared, she activated her skill!

City of Eating Time! Shadow!

She grabbed the Elemental Sprite and switched places with one of the shadow clones scattered throughout the group, perfectly evading the boars' charging attacks.

-120!

-521! (Critical Hit!)

-250! (Critical Hit!)

-120!

What luck...

After dodging the monsters' attacks, her three clones and main body attacked the same monster together, triggering two critical hits in an instant. The boar's HP dropped by nearly a thousand points at once!

At this attack speed, Kurumi could take down one in half a minute!

Accelerated by the City of Eating Time, the other NPCs easily dodged the first wave of charges and launched their counterattack.

Bang, bang...

Kurumi fired in scattered bursts, applying the Second Bullet's passive slowing debuff to every boar, while relying on her shadows to dart around the battlefield. Unfortunately, shadows took 100% additional damage, so they could not withstand many hits from the boars.

"Ding—your team has killed a Fire Thorn Pig. You received 33 experience points!"

"Ding—..."

"Ding..."

Before Kurumi ran out of ammunition, the boars had been cleared out.

The NPC leader looked over and praised, "A marvelous ability."

The other NPCs spoke up as well.

"As expected of an Elite Adventurer. That ability is incredible!"

"And that red magic circle beneath our feet—standing on it makes my body feel much lighter, and my attack speed has increased quite a bit too!"

"Amazing. It feels a little like the Northern Witch's abilities. Miss, are you from the north?"

Having witnessed Kurumi's abilities, the temporarily assembled NPC team could not help voicing their admiration. Their attitude toward her also became much warmer.

Beauty might not conquer adventurers who lived on the edge of life and death, but strength could!

"System Prompt: Your reputation in Forest City has increased. Your abilities have earned these adventurers' respect. Adventurer's Guild reputation +100."

Oh? Her reputation had actually increased. It seemed they had looked down on her because of her low level in the early game, and only began taking her seriously after witnessing Kurumi's extraordinary abilities.

Reputation settings in the "Meta World" were extremely important.

Generally speaking, the higher one's reputation, the more followers one would have, along with all kinds of hidden benefits.

However, reputation was also divided into local reputation and regional reputation.

Local reputation was not recognized elsewhere, but regional reputation was different. For example, if Kurumi had 300 points of Carron Empire reputation, the Elemental Association would recognize that, rather than her 1,400 points of Adventurer's Guild reputation.

The reputation ranks were: Unknown (White), Slightly Known (Blue), Somewhat Famous (Purple), Legendary Figure (Red), Eternal Epic (Gold), and Mythical Name (Rainbow).

At present, Kurumi's reputation within the Adventurer's Guild was at the Somewhat Famous stage.

To reach Mythical Name, one would probably have to become an existence like the Seven Gods.

"I apologize for underestimating you before. I should not have questioned an elite member of the guild," the leader said as he walked over.

"It's fine. I was only here to complete the mission anyway." Kurumi waved her hand. If one lacked strength, one would be looked down upon anywhere. That was perfectly normal.

"Ding—Adventurer Theodore's favorability toward you +5!"

"System Prompt: Charm talent effect triggered. Additional favorability +5. Theodore's current favorability toward you is 10!"

Kurumi froze for a moment. Could NPC favorability increase like this too?

The higher an NPC's favorability, the more strange opportunities would automatically come knocking. That was because NPCs who liked you would mention you in front of other NPCs, causing them to remember you, and missions would then come to you automatically.

Kurumi wondered whether she should put on an act of playing weak before every NPC in the future, then amaze them during missions. Would that let her farm favorability?

"Alright, let's keep moving." Theodore shed his previous coldness and eagerly returned to the front of the group.

Led by the experienced leader, the group moved through the forest with ease.

But even if they had not taken a wrong turn, the dangers could not possibly diminish. After all, this was a barren forest—a paradise for monsters.

Not long after they started walking, a herd of deer with glowing red eyes appeared on the path.

Needless to say, Kurumi once again used her skill to slow all the magical deer.

-250!

-370!

-220!

"Ding—your team has killed a Mutated Deer. You received 30 experience points!"

"Ding..."

A brief battle came to an end.

Since she had not landed the killing blow herself, Kurumi could not enjoy the experience bonus for killing monsters above her level.

After all, Kurumi only dealt a few hundred damage, while these adventurers in their thirties dealt at least over a thousand. It was difficult for her to snatch the final sliver of HP.

After walking for a while longer, they encountered another group of magical beasts blocking the road.

After dealing with them, the system sounded a prompt that had not appeared before.

"Ding, after repeatedly encountering danger, the Elemental Sprite Axi has remained unharmed. She feels completely safe, and her favorability toward you +1!"

"System Prompt: Your Charm talent has taken effect. Favorability gain doubled. Elemental Sprite Axi's current favorability toward you is: 2."

So escorting Elemental Sprites home could increase these little fellows' favorability?

It had to be said that these little lives were essentially citizens of the Elven Empire. They were highly wary of all non-elven life because they were "supplements." That was perfectly normal. Therefore, in Kurumi's previous life, raising the favorability of these Elemental Sprites had been extremely difficult!

But now, she learned from the system that to increase an Elemental Sprite's favorability, all she had to do was put them in danger, then protect them!

This was...

Kurumi had done missions like this in her previous life, but she had already possessed a flying skill at the time. When she accepted such missions, she simply flew them straight home, rarely encountering danger along the way...

The other players in her previous life had probably used all kinds of shortcuts to complete this mission as well, which was why no one had ever discovered the secret to increasing Elemental Sprite favorability.