"What is so important about this Neutral Reputation?" Ethan asked, gingerly touching his swollen cheek. The sting of the slaps was nothing compared to the sting of public humiliation.
"Yes! We can also gain it!" Miranda snapped, turning her hostility onto the City Captain. "Sir, you respect her because of her reputation, right? Tell us the way to acquire it! We will get it right now!"
The crowd that had gathered burst into loud, raucous laughter. Soldiers and citizens alike doubled over, pointing.
"Oh gosh! These guys are truly newbies!"
"Hahahaha! Look how she said it, like gaining a Neutral Reputation is easy!"
"We will get it right now! Hahaha, so foolish."
"They're looking for a death wish!"
"Hahaha! They won't easily see it!"
Ethan, Angela, Alice, and Miranda felt the weight of the city's disdain press down on them. Their faces darkened with a mix of shame and furious confusion.
"Captain, at least, you owe us an explanation," Ethan pressed, his tone low and threatening, a last vestige of his old arrogance.
The Captain merely glanced at him, a flicker of cold pity in his eyes. "Forget it. There is no way you'll survive long enough to even understand it." He turned sharply and walked away, his guards following, still chuckling.
"What is wrong with these people? Why are they still laughing?" Alice asked, clutching her forearm, unable to process the scorn.
Jessica, who had stood apart watching the exchange, finally spoke, her voice flat and pragmatic:
"They're still laughing because what you said is the most stupidest thing ever." She fixed the four with a cold, unforgiving glare.
"Oh right! General Jessica!" Ethan rushed to her, a desperate plea in his eyes. He quickly adopted a servile smile, forgetting his earlier dismissiveness. "General... Can you please tell us how to get the Neutral Reputation?"
Jessica's eyes narrowed. The panic radiating from Ethan disgusted her.
"From the brief information I've gathered," she stated, making sure her soldiers heard her: "Neutral Reputation can only be acquired by slaying a powerful monster. Even a hundred of your current selves wouldn't be able to scratch one." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the four disgraced survivors.
"You have been a liability and a distraction since we arrived. I risked my unit to bring you to safety. My duty is to the soldiers who followed me, not to your entitlement." She looked them dead in the eye. "From now onwards, you are on your own. Never come to me for anything."
With that final, decisive decree, Jessica turned and led her twenty surviving soldiers away from the gate and into the main street, marching with military precision.
The abandonment was absolute.
"This?" Ethan froze, staring at the retreating backs of Jessica's unit. Their last shield, their last resource, was gone.
"No! How the hell can we survive in this unknown world when no one will help us?" Miranda cried out, her face pale, the fear finally overcoming her anger.
"This is it, we are done for," Angela muttered, collapsing onto the cobblestones, the weight of their isolation crushing her spirit.
"Miss."
Angela turned her head weakly. Standing over her was a girl with messy black hair, smudges of dirt still on her face, and a recognizable, but filthy, St. John's University school uniform.
"You?! You're from St. John's University!" Angela exclaimed, surprised by the familiar logo. The girl offered a small, tired smile and nodded.
"Why are you bothering yourself with us?" Alice asked, folding her arms. The suspicion and bitterness still ran deep.
"These people are already looking at you with disdain. If you stay around us for long, you will have a bad time in this city, thanks to Mirabella."
The girl looked at the surrounding citizens, who were indeed casting suspicious glances, but she didn't flinch.
"Humans should help one another, even in Galaxy Fall," the girl said simply. She pointed toward a massive, five-storey building dominating the far end of the street. "It seems I got here just before you did, but you don't know about that building yet."
"What is that?" Ethan asked, surprised by the girl's calm certainty.
"Those people in that building won't care about Mirabella's warning if it means profit, at least she is not that strong, yet. That building is where you go for quests, reputation, and legitimate earnings. It's called the Galaxy Association. It is the main administrative and quest-giving force in the city."
At the mention of reputation, the four's faces instantly lit up again.
"What reputation?" Ethan demanded, his voice eager.
The girl stared at his bruised face for a moment, her eyes reflecting quiet understanding.
"Um... Fixed Reputation," she answered. She looked confused by their intense reaction to the word.
"Another type? What's the use for that?" Miranda asked, intrigued.
"I heard the Fixed Reputation is divided into three tiers, each associated with the empire funding the quest—they use the empire's first alphabet. You know the empires, right? The Sword, Dragon, and Eagle?"
"Yes... we know them," Alice nodded quickly.
"Fixed Reputation isn't as strong as the Neutral Reputation," the girl explained, "but it grants you access to better quests, discounts, and certain locked-off areas in the city. It's better than having nothing." She looked around nervously again.
"I'm heading to my Inn now—I need to freshen up and change into something more... befitting," she smiled slightly, acknowledging her appearance. She looked up at the four, a genuine offer in her eyes.
"Do you want to join my guild?" she asked. "I just created it. My classmates and I are the only members now. We don't even have a headquarters yet, but a start is a start. What do you say?"
Ethan, still focused on Mirabella's reputation and the Captain's respect, politely declined. "Sorry, we will have to refuse." He leaned in. "But do you know the easiest way to get the Neutral Reputation?"
The girl's smile faded, replaced by a serious expression.
"You all know Bosses, right? Monster Bosses?"
"Yes. We lost soldiers to a Boss and couldn't kill it, so we had to run," Ethan admitted, the memory causing him genuine pain.
"I'm truly sorry for your loss," Grace said, her sincerity undeniable. "But to get a Neutral Reputation, you have to kill a Boss far stronger than those Monster Bosses. This creature is known as a World Boss, and they are extremely rare and difficult to locate." She paused, then offered the critical piece of information.
"The other way—and the best way for groups—is that if a Guild kills a World Boss together, every member of that guild instantly receives a Neutral Reputation. This only works if you are formally registered as part of the Guild that lands the final blow. It doesn't work by just teaming up."
The four looked at each other, a new, desperate idea forming in their eyes.
"Well, if that's all, I need to go." Grace turned to leave.
"Wait!" Angela called out, finding her voice. "What's your name, Junior?"
The girl looked over her shoulder, the faint smile returning.
"I am Grace."