Starting Out [in Zenchou]

Establishing Yourself

It is where every character begins. Some of you may have pre-established associations with different factions or families due to creation choice or being chosen as eligible to guide something along. That alone puts a foot in the door, but for most --- you don't have that option. Everyone is an anomaly or a stranger here in Zenchou City. And being unknown is dangerous when your neighbors are all superpowered threats. So present yourself. Establish who you are and why you came to this city, but leave it at that. Barring the exceptions that are foreigners, people in this city always suggest to 'let people know you without knowing you'.

You all start in Zenchou with everyone else. Due to powers/abilities being common in this city, revealing one's affinity or qualities is not much of a risk in itself. You cannot necessarily 'sense' someone's race either even at the highest grade of sensory, and when it comes to known expressions of racial abilities, recognition is normally close to zero. As people go on in recognizing common qualities & attributes of those among them though, specific things such as sub-tools, kido etc. become more evident indicators. By this point, though, these races will have appropriate influence to be safe in doing that due to backing from their fellows.

Until then. . .

Affiliations

As odd as the culture in Zenchou is, this reflects itself positively when it comes to affiliations - that being families & factions.
-- Among the many that exist, the only ones actively in Zenchou are the ones in this section of the forum. Even the outliers in the form of families & factions derived from the Adepts & Soulborn are centered outside of the city, leaving you with just their lower affiliates save for some notorious figures. Adepts in particular tend to be in different parts of Japan, with large sums of their forces outside of it entirely in different bases according to where they are born. Most that you will see are half-Japanese half-their-derived-nationality, with their leaders seldom actually being in Japan at all. Soulborn are self-explanatory, with their leaders only showing up in the case of threats equal to their level (which are commonly B-Rank+ or around that power level).

By that mark, that leaves us with factions nestled deep into the culture of Zenchou. Withdrawn & scheming whether nefarious or benign, these are the types that will observe you but seldom act if you are not encroaching their territory to an extent that threatens their well-being or financial growth, or pissing them off with disrespect. If they like someone, they'll tend to show them that, be it through a contract, an exclusive task to prove themselves, a partnership (in the case of entrepreneurs ), or even a job. You can view in-depth how that works here.

They are mostly enablers that get people to do their lesser work for them (with affiliates doing heavier-handed, riskier business), though, and seldom let people in their ranks -- but hey, you get paid to still be independent. There are also the less privacy-requiring, simpler tasks that anyone can go after or partner up on that are generally advertised through a third-party company. Death is just that if you're not taking down a notorious figure among them (there will be evident indicators to this).

Players

For players in particular, no one is a direct, singular descendant of these figures. Even heirs & heiresses among their outsiders are at best among a 'flock' of potential candidates and are trying to prove themselves to their family in the same manner that you try to prove your worth to an affiliation or the city itself.

If you can get away with it, crime is free real estate.
If you're good at something, you can do it without people breathing down your neck... unless you're doing something that encroaches the above (don't copy the 'paper' that makes others their paper).

As your character becomes notorious in whatever walks of life they pursue, you'll get an inclination as to who likes or dislikes you, usually through announces and rumors. If your favorability is low enough you can have someone sent after you (typically near your level), but this is normally only when you are an actual established character (C-Rank or above) and you're making real money (1'000+ Salary.) in fields too close to their own. It is entirely possible to flow under the radar and grow in relevancy 'underground' or without influence.