Grinding Favorability

Kurumi felt this was a hint from an NPC. After entering the forest, she'd likely have to face other monsters.

The group began to traverse the forest.

Kurumi's spiritual outfit was incredibly inconvenient in the forest, forcing her to pull out a machete and chop away the thorns that sprouted along the path.

About ten minutes later, the leader walking ahead paused, saying nervously, "Monsters are approaching. Prepare to fight!"

As soon as he spoke, a dozen wild boars suddenly emerged from the bushes on both sides. The thorns on their backs were still emitting fire, and they lunged towards the Elemental Sprite in the middle of the team with fierce eyes.

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

[Fire Thorn Pig]

Level: 31

Life Level: Normal Monster

HP:

Attack: 1000

Defense: 120

Skills: Charge, Thorn Barrage, Fire Affinity

Monster Description: They are here for the Elemental Sprite. If they obtain the Elemental Sprite, they can evolve!

With the NPC's hint, Kurumi had remained vigilant. The moment she saw the monsters appear, she instantly activated her skills!

City of Eating Time! Shadow!

Grabbing the Elemental Sprite, she swapped positions through her shadow clones scattered throughout the team, perfectly dodging all the charging attacks from the boars.

-120!

-521! (Critical Hit!)

-250! (Critical Hit!)

-120!

What luck...

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

At this attack speed, Kurumi could finish one off in half a minute!

Under the acceleration of the City of Eating Time, the other NPCs easily avoided the first wave of charges and counterattacked.

Bang, bang...

Kurumi fired shots dispersedly, applying the passive slow buff of the Second Bullet to each boar, while relying on her Shadow to maneuver around the battlefield. Unfortunately, her Shadow's injuries increased by 100%, meaning it couldn't withstand many hits from the boars.

"Ding— Your team has killed a Fire Thorn Pig. You have shared 33 experience points!"

"Ding—..."

"Ding..."

Before Kurumi ran out of ammo, the boars were cleared.

The NPC leader looked over and praised, "Marvelous abilities."

The other NPCs also chimed in.

"As expected of an Elite Adventurer, these abilities are amazing!"

"And that red magic circle under your feet. Standing on it, I feel my body lighten considerably, and my attack speed has also improved!"

"Impressive. It feels a bit like the abilities of a Northern Witch. Are you from the north, young lady?"

The NPCs in the temporary party, witnessing Kurumi's abilities, couldn't help but express their admiration, and their attitude towards Kurumi became much more enthusiastic.

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

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

Heh, reputation increased too. It seems they underestimated my weak early-game level and only started to value me after experiencing my magical abilities.

Reputation settings in the Meta World are very important.

Generally speaking, the higher your reputation, the more followers you'll have, and you can gain various invisible benefits.

However, reputation is divided into local and major area reputations.

Local reputation isn't recognized elsewhere, but major area reputation is different. For example, if Kurumi had 300 reputation in the Carron Empire, the Elemental Association would recognize that, rather than the Adventurer's Guild reputation of 1400.

Reputation levels are divided into: Obscure (White), Slightly Known (Blue), Moderately Famous (Purple), Legendary Figure (Red), Epic Eternal (Gold), Mythical Name (Color).

Currently, Kurumi's reputation within the Adventurer's Guild is at the Moderately Famous stage.

To reach the Mythical Name stage, one probably needs to become an existence like the Seven Deities.

"I apologize for underestimating you earlier. I shouldn't have doubted an elite member of the Guild," the leader said, walking over to apologize.

"It's fine. I was just trying to complete the mission," Kurumi waved her hand. Being looked down upon is normal when one's strength is insufficient, no matter where they are.

"Ding— Adventurer [Theodore]'s Favorability towards you +5!"

"System prompt: Talent Charm effect triggered, Favorability +5, current Favorability with [Theodore] is 10!"

Kurumi blinked, surprised that she could increase an NPC's favorability like this.

The more favorability an NPC had with you, the more inexplicable opportunities would automatically come knocking. This was because NPCs who liked you would mention you to other NPCs, leaving an impression on them, and quests would then automatically appear.

Kurumi pondered if she should always play the role of a weakling hiding their strength when interacting with NPCs in the future, and then reveal her true capabilities during quests to gain favorability.

"Alright, let's continue our journey." Theodore, his previous coldness gone, enthusiastically returned to the front of the group.

Led by the familiar guide, everyone easily navigated through the forest.

However, even if they didn't take a wrong turn, danger was still inevitable. After all, this was a desolate forest, a paradise for monsters.

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

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

-250!

-370!

-220!

"Ding—You killed a Mutated Deer, you gained 30 experience points!"

"Ding..."

A brief battle ended.

Since she didn't personally deliver the killing blow, Kurumi couldn't enjoy the experience bonus for defeating monsters of a higher level.

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

After walking for a while, they encountered another group of monsters blocking their path.

After dealing with them, a prompt sound that hadn't appeared before chimed in.

"Ding, after encountering several crises consecutively, the Elemental Sprite [Axi] has remained unharmed. She feels a strong sense of security, and your Favorability has increased by 1!"

"System prompt: Your Charm talent has taken effect, doubling the Favorability increase. Current Favorability with the Elemental Sprite [Axi] is: 2."

So, escorting Elemental Sprites home could increase their favorability?

It was important to know that these little lives were essentially citizens of the Elf Empire. They maintained high vigilance towards beings other than elves because they were "supplements," which was quite normal. Therefore, in her previous life, gaining the favorability of these Elemental Sprites was an incredibly difficult task!

And now, through the system, she learned that to increase their favorability, all she needed to do was expose them to danger and then protect them!

This was...

Kurumi had also undertaken this type of quest in her previous life, but back then she already possessed flying skills. When she took on such quests, she would simply fly them directly to their destination, rarely encountering danger along the way...

It was likely that other players in her previous life had also used various "cheating" methods to complete this quest, which was why the secret to increasing the Elemental Sprites' favorability had never been discovered.