Chapter 551: Reputation Gain
From the perspective of reputation, the Mythical Beast Conference crowned Orochimaru as the greatest victor.
The legend of the ultimate God Killer Equipment, the Mythical Demon's Return, was particularly significant.
This legend would continuously generate substantial reputation points for Orochimaru.
People's desires, fueled by self-interest, would perpetually rise.
These desires fed off one another.
Much like the legacy of the former Pirate King, it had become an instinctive pursuit for pirates venturing to sea.
If everyone chased it, others felt compelled to follow.
This chain reaction ensured Orochimaru would gain a steady stream of reputation points as long as this hope endured.
Beyond this new avenue for reputation, Orochimaru's gains during the live broadcast were less than those of Madara and Aizen.
As a god-tier figure, he appeared sparingly, and people held him to a higher standard.
Madara amassed over 4.6 million reputation points during the conference, with additional gains from the newspaper's circulation.
By the event's end, his total from the Mythical Beast Conference could approach or exceed 6 million reputation points, a significant haul.
Aizen fared slightly better, accumulating just over 5 million reputation points during the conference.
With the newspaper's impact, surpassing 6 million was easily within reach.
Though Madara and Aizen shone brightly at the conference, they weren't the only stars.
Numerous other formidable figures drew attention.
Yet, their substantial reputation gains weren't solely due to their strength.
Reputation was easier to earn in this world compared to two years ago, driven by four key factors: population, strength, new races, and new system audiences.
The population factor stemmed from global development, with more islands now equipped for live broadcasts.
However, this had limited impact.
Through system observations and analysis of world reputation trends, Kai determined that population wasn't the sole driver.
Initial viewership significantly influenced reputation, but beyond a certain threshold, its effect diminished.
Strength was another factor.
The Great Martial Era had made people across the seas generally stronger.
While age, personality, resources, potential, and environment constrained most, a small minority experienced significant change.
Relative to the vast population of the seas, this "small" group was substantial.
The Great Martial Era had undeniably transformed the seas, boosting reputation gains per event.
However, this approach had a ceiling, resembling an exponential function with reputation as the horizontal axis and strength as the vertical.
As reputation increased, the strength required to boost it grew exponentially, reducing its impact at higher levels.
The third factor was new races, specifically those born from the world itself.
The fear demons of Fear Island, created through Apostle Celestial Dragon's ability and the authority of Ryumon Sukuna, were distinct from pure demon species.
These fear demons, born via Sukuna's direct creation, lacked a strong connection to the world.
Other fear demons, spawned by Celestial Dragon, were similarly disconnected.
Without a deep tie to the world, the system couldn't extract world power to generate reputation points.
Unless the world naturally birthed demons capable of creating others, this would remain challenging.
The world was evolving, influenced by the spread of Avatar powers.
This change stemmed from the world's instincts.
As the world developed spirituality or even wisdom, it would spawn minions from scattered systems.
Avatars would then need to outwit it.
To the world, each Avatar was a black hole, siphoning its essence.
How could it tolerate this?
As for Kai, the orchestrator, he might be overlooked.
The god-level Avatar system drained the world's power, but what did that have to do with him?
He was just a poor, helpless man behind the scenes.
The world might even thank him for silently saving sentient beings and dividing it into four realms: Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, Hades, and the New Underworld.
These soul realm changes partially drove the world's instinctual evolution, originally intended to expand reputation audiences.
Unexpectedly, the world capitalized on this.
Now taking shape, it had settled in Hueco Mundo's chaotic evolution zone.
Kai, having contributed greatly, remained favored by the world, a meritorious figure needing its care.
In this wave, Kai was ready to endure the pain and join the world's camp.
Being an undercover agent targeting the world wasn't beneath him; it was intriguing.
He wasn't afraid of the world seeing through him.
When he noticed the world's instincts changing, Kai began siphoning its nutrients.
While not outright deception, he could still obscure the truth.
Seeing through him logically required higher spirituality.
If that time came, Kai would have new plans.
The topic had strayed.
The fourth factor was new systems, which gradually drew the world's attention, fundamentally increasing reputation.
Soul Society's Shinigami exemplified this, with Aizen previously gaining reputation there.
The soul population's size and strength surpassed expectations, demonstrating the new system's impact on reputation.
Magic pattern users in this world followed a similar pattern.
(End of this chapter)