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"Wait a minute… so you're telling me that even after being ranked so high, all you got was just twenty points of reputation?!"
Looking at Robin's unbelievable expression, Emilia couldn't help but giggle. "I did only just 'enter' the rankings, after all. And we can't underestimate the value of these twenty points."
The reputation value of players and non-players alike was measured from zero to a hundred, with zero being completely 'unremarkable' or 'unknown' to most people to a hundred being someone who was practically worshipped and followed blindly.
Of course, the reputation score of an individual varied from region to region, but that went without saying. Until one hit ten points, their reputation simply showed 'The Unknown', and changed to 'The Beginner' at ten, and 'The Well-Known' at twenty.
Although being a 'ranker' only gave her these 'measly' twenty points of reputation, it was a 'universal' increment to her reputation given that the 'ranking' was followed by all the major kingdoms. She became 'well-known' in almost every region of Arcadia in an instant!
Not to mention, getting to the required 'fifty' points for the main quest would also be a lot easier with this boost.
It was a pity that the kills within the arena didn't count towards the 'Unique Monsters' required for upgrading her [Wisdom of the Forest], or she could have already gotten its [Vigilance] to level two. But as it was, the count was still stuck on five out of ten.
Danielle hummed thoughtfully. "If it is as you expect, and this increment of twenty points is actually good, doesn't that mean that we were just wasting time collecting all those demonic cores for the Traders Guild?"
Emilia grinned. "I don't think so at all. Being able to establish a relationship with the Traders Guild should prove to be of good use later, and didn't they promise us some good rewards anyway?"
The rest of her team also recalled the rewards for the material-gathering quest, and couldn't help but nod.
"Compared to the complete set of [Grey] quality gear promised by the adventurer's guild, that thing's really much more useful." Crystal smiled.
Of course, everyone knew that she must be talking about the free attribute potions, but didn't mention it to prevent their 'secret' from leaking to the masses.
Emilia just smiled. "Right? The day's almost over, so let's get to the inn and log out first. Then we can submit the materials we gathered tomorrow."
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Although the number of people watching Emilia and her team's livestreams wasn't as high as it had been before the 'secret' of Arcadia was leaked, the topic of 'new features and content' in the game world was naturally very popular, and it didn't take long for hundreds of articles and numerous news stories to spread their 'exploits' all around.
Of course, as the one most concerned about this 'unexpected rival', the hero was no exception. The moment he exited from the game, one of his friends who had been tasked with keeping tabs on all the 'remarkable' opponents he recognized filled him in on what happened.
"So she's not only good at discovering secrets, but is also an excellent fighter… huh." Darryl hummed thoughtfully. "My home country seemed to have really given birth to a 'gem' again."
When he realized that things weren't exactly going according to his plan after the release of Arcadia, Darryl had obviously been extremely disturbed and rattled, and made some hasty decisions.
As the only one who knew of its secret, he was supposed to be the 'first' and 'best' in everything from that point on, he thought. That was how it should have been!
But Darryl didn't become the world-renowned genius by being a conceited fool who couldn't control his own emotions, and quickly came back to his senses, and started fixing his mistakes.
To get the cooperation of Welkin and its authorities, misleading them with some 'secrets' was just right, anyway, and it would also accelerate the growth of his supporters later on.
Moreover, the road to the top could never be easy, and Darryl was sure that he would have to crush quite a few stepping stones on the way there.
According to that thing, Arcadia would usher in the age of heroes, so how could things be so easy? If he really wanted to be the very best, he would have to be not only diligent, but also smart.
Since it was certain that he would be facing countless obstacles on his way to success, having just the few 'followers' he currently had was far from enough.
It was a pity that fate didn't allow him to keep the secret of Arcadia to himself for long enough, or he would have definitely tried to pull Emilia over to his side.
Having someone like Emilia, who was both lucky and skilled, would definitely make his job a lot easier. Of course, he would have to tame her first, but Darryl had never had much trouble with that sort of thing. Even if she was much smarter than she looked, there was no infallible human in this world.
Most people were too weak to sweet words, after all. And if they came from someone they already admired, the effect those words had on them would be even greater. For a young girl like Emilia, he just needed to figure out her one point of weakness, and all her defenses would come crumbling down.
As it was, though, Karamine would never allow one of their 'best' players to leave the country now. Not until they were sure that the impact of Arcadia on the human body was 'greatly exaggerated', at least.
But just because he couldn't pull her over to his side yet didn't mean that Emilia was of no 'use' to Darryl at the moment. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
While his own country was being so uncooperative, a tool like Emilia, who was mostly unrelated to him and could easily be discarded, was exactly what Darryl needed.
He couldn't help but grin. "Tell Colman to come and meet me right away… I have a new task for him."
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This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢