The panel's text appeared, solemn and imposing.
[A large enterprise, how can it be nameless?]
[A resounding enterprise name determines outsiders' first impression of the enterprise and is an important symbol of its image. It is recommended that your employees, if possible, act under the enterprise's name. This way, you can gain more Enterprise Reputation. Operating anonymously will significantly reduce the acquisition of Enterprise Reputation.]
[Please give your enterprise a resounding name. Once confirmed, modifying it again will consume a large amount of Enterprise Reputation, so please treat it with caution…] Vincent raised his eyebrows, his gaze fixed on the sudden prompt. Naming the enterprise? For a system that had only ever offered him a single, discreet objective, this felt like an immense undertaking. The words pulsed on the screen, emphasizing the gravity of the decision and its link to Enterprise Reputation. He only had fifty initial reputation points left after recruiting Thalia, and his earnings were stagnant. He hadn't even had a full day as a Boss Professional, yet the system was pushing him to establish a legacy. This was a critical moment, the first step in his new life. He stroked his chin, a hundred possibilities and a dozen movie names from his past life flashing through his mind.
"Brother?" Thalia's voice brought him back.
Vincent's gaze returned to his panel. His mind had run through a dozen cool names from his past life, but they all felt like a clumsy imitation. Then a thought struck him: they were in Rabbit Paradise right now. Why not just use that? "Paradise," he thought. It was simple, easy to remember, and upon closer thought, had a deeper meaning. As the Boss, his employees would be nothing less than Epic Professionals. For them, a place where they could grow into their full potential and escape the dangers of the outside world, calling it a Paradise wouldn't be wrong at all.
The more he considered it, the more he liked it. He nodded with satisfaction.
[Enterprise name 'Paradise' confirmed!]
The name was set, and with it, a new course. Paradise would now be his and his employees' exclusive name. The system's warning about the high cost of a name change made sense; changing an enterprise's name was no small matter. This meant he had officially established an organization, much earlier than he'd planned. His initial goal was to level up and recruit a few more employees first. Now, the plan was forced to accelerate, but he accepted it.
Some of Vincent's previous ideas still needed to be implemented. This world was dangerous; a layer of anonymity was essential. He needed to be cautious, so the organization's members should use code names to appear more mysterious.
"Thalia," he said, "think of a code name for yourself."
"Code name?" Thalia looked puzzled. "Why do we need those?"
"My profession requires me to have an enterprise name. From now on, we're the Paradise organization. I'll be the leader, and you'll be the first member. We need aliases to do certain things sometimes."
Thalia's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, yes! So what's your code name, Brother?"
Vincent stroked his chin. "I'll be called 'Boss'."
"Boss?" Thalia was momentarily stunned. "Using your profession as a nickname? That works! Then I'll be called… 'Shadow'?"
"Change it," Vincent said. "It's too specific and easily associated with assassins."
"Oh… then… 'Secretary'? Don't bosses have secretaries?"
"Change it again."
Thalia's mind raced, a dozen ideas quickly discarded. Finally, a determined look crossed her face. "Then… Hill!" The single-character nickname felt cool, powerful, and mysterious.
"Okay," Vincent said, "then let's fill it in. We'll keep all other information confidential."
The siblings operated their panels.
[Team name 'Paradise', hidden name, profession, level, and other basic information, using code names 'Boss' and 'Hill' for speedrun records and announcements. Are you sure?]
They chose to confirm without hesitation.
[Record complete!]
[Speedrun rewards issued: 1000 experience points, 1000 gold coins, one Tier 0 equipment blind box (fine quality).]
[You have leveled up!]
Their eyes lit up, and they began to check their panels.
At the same time, outside Rabbit Paradise, a sudden flash of white light dazzled everyone in the bustling town. They looked up, their eyes widening as a line of text appeared above the entrance.
[Rabbit Paradise · Hard Difficulty Speedrun Record Refreshed: Latest record, 12 minutes 17 seconds 37.]
[Clearance Team… currently being entered.]
An uproar erupted among the crowd of Professionals.
"The Hard Instance speedrun record has been broken?"
"That record's been held for months! Who did it?"
A few human Professionals glanced toward a nearby group of Centaurs. Their powerful, equine bodies were draped in intricate leather armor, and their muscular arms were crossed as they stared up at the text. After a moment of silence, one of them, a broad-shouldered Centaur with a long mane, let out a booming laugh.
"It must be Kamulu and Prier. I didn't expect them to actually do it," he said, seemingly talking to no one in particular.
"You need an excellent team to break a Hard record. I guess they teamed up."
"Those guys... they told me they were going to 'Undead Mountain' today, and then they sneak in and break the record?" another Centaur said with a laugh. "They just love doing things like this to surprise people."
They chatted as if they did not doubt who the record-holders were.
The surrounding human Professionals heard the casual boasting, and their expressions soured. They clearly disliked the Centaurs' arrogance but had no way to refute them. Excellent-level Professionals were rare among humans, but common among the alien races. And the most awkward thing was that nearly all of Veridian's instance records were held by alien races—in the Rabbit Instance, all three cleared difficulty records were held by the Centaur Clan, a constant, awkward reminder of the talent gap. They couldn't help but sigh at the difference in talent.
Just then, a male Centaur named Quita glanced at the nearby humans and said with a condescending smile, "Hey, don't speak too soon. The names are still being entered. What if it's not our guys but a few human names? Won't we be embarrassed then?"
His companions understood his joke and burst into laughter.
"Humans? Hahaha, Quita, are you joking? Just humans?" one of them said, barely able to speak through his laughter. "Ask these humans if they even believe it themselves."
Their casual mockery stung, and the human Professionals' faces grew visibly ugly. Quita shook his head, a feigned expression of disappointment on his face. "I don't agree with your thinking," he said, turning his attention to the crowd. "Humans can also have strong people... right, my human friends?" He flashed a condescending grin as he stared at the ashen faces around him.