The Astelvern Town Guild was lively as ever.

In the sprawling open-plan tavern section occupying the right wing of the massive hall, hundreds of Adventurers were celebrating another day of survival.

The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat and ale.

Humans in battered iron armor sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Beastkin of various races... broad-shouldered bear-kin slamming tankards, and nimble fox-kin counting their copper coins.

Even a few elegant Elves, draped in their signature woven cloaks, were tucked into the quieter corner booths, drinking down some high-proof liquor or dining on genuinely good food.

Behind the main counters of the biggest Adventuring Town of the Empire, there were countless receptionists in place behind their designated stations.

Some attended directly to the long lines of exhausted Adventurers looking to cash in their daily hunts, while some were free furiously stamping documents and organizing quest parchments.

However, the brass bell above the main door chimed brightly as someone entered. No, it wasn’t a someone, but rather three people.

Leading the way was Ren, who strolled into the bustling guildhall with both hands casually tucked into the pockets of his dark trousers.

His posture was completely relaxed and his expression looked unbothered, carrying an effortless swagger despite the dungeon grime clinging to his boots.

Directly behind him walked Eternia, her twin curved blades resting securely on her back, and Mandy, whose butler uniform was smeared with dried monster blood and swamp muck.

As they walked past the crowded tables, a few eagle-eyed adventurers paused their drinking, pointing their calloused fingers at the trio.

"Hey, aren’t those the brats from two days ago?" a scarred archer whispered loudly to his table.

"Yeah, those are the people that said they were going to go from E-Rank to C-rank in one go," a spearman replied, letting out a mocking scoff. "Look at the butler, he looks like he’s about to pass out. I bet they realized how harsh it actually is down there."

"Probably hid in the Safe Zone the whole time..." another chimed in with a sneer.

Ren ignored the insults entirely. He stepped right up to an open station at the polished mahogany counter.

The young woman behind the desk immediately stood up, offering a bright professional smile as she welcomed them.

"Welcome back to the Astelvern Adventurer Guild!" the receptionist greeted cheerfully. "Oh, Sir Ren, and his companions too. You three looked like you worked really hard in the World Dungeon."

Ren offered a lazy, charming smile. "Yeah, we managed to make it to the second floor too."

Immediately, the surrounding Guild Adventurers within earshot erupted into booming laughter.

A particularly massive, buff guy sitting at the closest table slammed his fist down in hysterics, laughing so hard he completely lost his balance.

He fell over backward, his wooden chair cracking against the floorboards spilling his entire flagon of dark booze across the ground.

"My bad, my bad!" the buff adventurer wheezed, wiping genuine tears of amusement from his eyes as he apologized to the glaring barmaid.

He picked himself up, leaning against his table as he pointed a thick finger at Ren. "Only the Second Floor? You spent two whole days down there and barely touched Floor Two? All that mouthing off for nothing!"

Ren simply blinked, staring blankly at the laughing man. He was entirely uninterested in the provocation.

He just tilted his head.

’What the hell is he talking about?’

They had naturally gotten more than enough cores to at least get promoted to C-Rank, and they had done it at a record-breaking pace. Why did the specific floor number matter if the quota was met?

The receptionist frowned, shooting a harsh glare at the laughing adventurer before turning her attention back to Ren.

"Please don’t mind them," she said softly with an apologetic look on her face. "Would you like to sell some Dungeon cores? What are the estimated amount of the cores that you want to sell today?"

The receptionist had to admit, this Ren was an incredible looker.

His dark hair, striking features, and calm demeanor made her heart flutter slightly and there were certainly wild rumors circulating among the guild staff about him helping the legendary Twilight Guild out on Floor 55 just a few days ago by effortlessly one-shotting a Boss Monster.

But those were just rumors.

In reality, he was an E-Rank standing in front of her, and he had just openly admitted to only reaching Floor 2.

So, she expected him to pull out about twenty standard cores. Maybe thirty if they had gotten incredibly lucky with a goblin patrol.

Ren didn’t reach for his pockets. He simply turned his head slightly to Eternia.

"Eternia, give her the full details," Ren instructed smoothly.

Eternia nodded sharply, stepping up to the counter beside her Master.

She spoke with clear, carrying pride, ensuring her voice echoed over the remaining chuckles in the hall.

"We have acquired exactly 311 E-Rank cores, 109 D-Rank cores, and 10 C-Rank cores," Eternia stated and the laughter died instantly.

The eyes of the people in the Guild widened to the size of dinner plates. The buff guy who had just mocked them dropped his wooden flagon again.

What the hell was she talking about?

It was mathematically impossible. There weren’t even that many respawning monsters actively roaming the main pathways of the lower floors of the World Dungeon within a two-day cycle! To acquire over four hundred cores, they would have had to wipe out entire ecological zones.

The receptionist gripped the edges of her desk with her professional smile faltering into sheer shock. "I— Um... Sir Ren, if I could verify this information?"

Eternia didn’t wait for him to answer.

She confidently raised her left hand, projecting a sliver of her dark mana into her storage ring to project a translucent inventory screen.

Ren chimed in casually, leaning closer to the desk.

"We actually entered a Hidden Floor."

That casual revelation made the entire Guild quiet down once again. You could hear a pin drop in the massive hall.

A Hidden Floor? Some of the veteran D-rank adventurers sitting in the tavern hadn’t been to a Hidden Floor in their entire lives.

And these three rookies just casually entered one on their first two days in the World Dungeon? What kind of terrifying, absurd luck did they possess?

The receptionist swallowed hard, realizing the magnitude of the transaction sitting in front of her.

"Sir Ren," the receptionist said, her voice trembling slightly. "Would you like to go upstairs? A much higher authority is needed for a transaction of this size."

"Sure," Ren said easily.

They followed her as she walked out from behind the counter and headed toward the grand, spiraling oak staircase at the back of the hall. Right before he ascended the first step, Ren paused.

He turned his head slightly, locking eyes with the buff adventurer who had spilled his drink. With a lazy entirely unapologetic smirk, Ren raised his hand and flicked the guy off just for fun.

The adventurer’s face flushed a deep violent crimson. He gritted his teeth harder with his knuckles popping as he gripped the edge of his table, completely humiliated.

They entered upstairs, which was an entirely different world from the rowdy, booze-soaked lower floors.

The air here was pristine and the architecture was refined, featuring thick soundproofed doors and plush crimson carpets.

"This is the floor strictly reserved for the Higher ranked Adventurers of the Astelvern Guild," the receptionist explained in a hushed tone as they walked down the corridor. "While there are no lounges or taverns here, it is still where High ranked Adventurers conduct their most lucrative transactions."

They arrived at a grand, circular room dominated by a single, massive stone table. There was only one person sitting down there.

It was a dwarf.

She was a stout, broad-shouldered woman with intricately braided fiery red hair, wearing a tailored merchant’s coat adorned with glowing gold runic embroidery and a pair of thick spectacles rested on the bridge of her nose.

The receptionist bowed deeply. "Vice Chairman, these Adventurers require a bulk appraisal."

The dwarf, introduced as the Vice Chairman of the Astelvern Guild, pushed her spectacles up her nose. Her sharp eyes swept over Ren, Eternia, and Mandy.

"People only come up here to my floor when the transaction is exceptionally big," the dwarf said as her voice came out in a deep gravelly baritone.

She reached under her desk and pulled a brass lever.

With a deep grinding sound of gears, a circular section of the stone floor in the center of the room opened up, revealing a wide, deep brass bowl inscribed with magical weighing runes.

"Dump the crystals," the Vice Chairman instructed.

That was exactly what Eternia did.

Right before they had officially entered the dungeon, her Master had temporarily given her his personal high-tier spatial ring.

That was the only reason she could physically store so much raw material. On a normal day, the minuscule storage capacity of her own personal ring would be nothing compared to that vast haul.

Eternia stepped up to the edge of the brass bowl, holding out her hand and channeling a steady stream of mana into the band.

CLATTER! CLINK! CRASH!

A literal waterfall of glowing, blood-stained gemstones poured from the ring. Hundreds upon hundreds of cores cascaded into the brass bowl, lighting up the dim room in a blinding array of green, blue, and deep crimson light.

The receptionist gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in pure surprise as the mountain of loot nearly overflowed the edges of the magical scale.

The Vice Chairman didn’t gasp, but her eyes lit up with the undeniable gleam of a seasoned merchant smelling immense profit.

She leaned forward over her desk, resting her chin on her steepled hands.

"By the forge’s fire," the dwarf muttered, staring at the glowing pile as she looked up at Ren. "Exactly how did you manage to get so much?"

"We entered a Hidden Floor," Ren replied casually, crossing his arms. "And wiped it completely clean."

The dwarf’s eyes narrowed in calculated interest. She immediately saw an opportunity.

"I want to strike a deal with you, Sir Ren," the Vice Chairman proposed. "A haul like this proves you have extraordinary potential. I want to turn your party into model Adventurers for our branch."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Model Adventurers?"

"Exactly," the dwarf continued, gesturing expansively. "I can offer you exclusive sponsorship from the Astelvern branch. That includes premium gear maintenance for free, prime real estate within the inner city walls, and a dedicated support staff. The only condition is that you swear a binding oath to remain loyal solely to the Astelvern Guild, and surrender a thirty percent cut of your future Hidden Floor discoveries to our vaults as well as stay in the Adventurer Town, of course we will provide you with immense luxury."

It was a lucrative, highly tempting offer designed to trap rising stars into corporate servitude. However, Ren waved her generous deal off without a second thought.

"I appreciate the offer, Vice Chairman, but no thank you," Ren said smoothly. "We are a traveling band... We won’t stick around this city for too long. We just need to cash out and get our ranks updated."

The Vice Chairman didn’t look offended. She simply threw her head back and laughed.

"Haha! Fair enough, lad. Can’t chain a dragon to a single mountain, I suppose. It’s completely okay," she said, pulling a glowing golden runic stamp from her coat pocket. "Bring me your Adventurer Cards."

Ren, Eternia, and Mandy stepped forward, placing their dull, copper E-Rank cards flat onto the stone table.

The Vice Chairman didn’t even bother calculating the points for D-Rank. She simply slammed the golden stamp onto the table as a wave of potent magic washed over the room.

"By the Authority vested in me as the Vice Chairman of the Astelvern General Guild," she announced formally, her voice echoing with magical resonance, "I hereby promote all three of you directly to B-Rank."

All of their eyes widened, including Ren’s.

The dull copper metal of their regular IDs rapidly changed.

The impurities burned away, replaced by pure shimmering silver IDs that shone beautifully in the dim light.

The intricate crest of the Guild was etched flawlessly into the metal.

"Here. You deserved it," the dwarf said, sliding the silver cards back to them with a respectful nod. "And since you are officially recognized as elites, I will pay you for these cores using your new B-Rank Adventurer discounts."

"Discounts?" Mandy asked, blinking in confusion as he picked up his shining new card.

The Vice Chairman pulled out a thick ledger picking up a quill.

"In the Empire, Adventurers are required to pay a processing fine upon depositing raw cores. This tax funds the Guild’s operations, pays for the Safe Zone barriers, and subsidizes rescue teams. For E, D, and C ranks, the fine is incredibly steep... often taking up to thirty percent of your total earnings, as lower ranks are considered high-risk liabilities."

She pointed the feathered end of her quill at Ren’s silver badge.

"But from Adventurers of B-Rank and upward, you are considered independent assets," the Vice Chairman explained. "Your taxes are reduced to a minuscule two percent. Furthermore, holding that silver card grants you the undeniable legal authority to move up to higher, vastly more dangerous floors easily without needing the Guild’s tedious intervention or mandatory party-size checks."

She turned her attention to the massive brass bowl, her quill scratching furiously against the parchment.

"Now, for the payout," she muttered, doing the math in her head. "Standard E-Rank goblin cores cost 50 copper a piece. D-Ranks cost exactly 1 silver each. But these C-Rank Orc Commander and Swamp Dragon cores? These are pristine. They cost a solid 10 silver apiece."

She finished the calculations, pulling a heavy leather pouch from a secure lockbox beneath her desk. She placed it onto the table.

It clinked with the undeniable, dense sound of pure gold.

"After your B-Rank tax deduction, your total payout is exactly three gold coins, sixty silver, and fifty copper," the Vice Chairman announced, sliding the heavy pouch across the stone. "Thank you for doing Business with the Astelvern Guild, Sir Ren. I genuinely hope we see more of you before you leave our town."

Ren smiled, securely grabbing the heavy pouch of gold and tossing it into his spatial ring. He reached out, firmly shaking the dwarf’s calloused hand.

"I hope so too," Ren said politely.

With the massive transaction finalized, the trio turned around and left the quiet wealthy atmosphere of the Vice Chairman’s office.

They descended the grand spiraling staircase. Upon seeing them come down, the rowdy Adventurers in the tavern immediately quieted down, all eyes fixed on the trio.

The young receptionist stepped forward to the edge of the balcony overlooking the hall as she cleared her throat, holding a magical amplification crystal to her mouth.

"Attention! The Guild officially announces that Ren, Eternia, and Mandy have successfully completed their appraisal and are now officially B-Rank!"

The announcement echoed like a thunderclap.

Most of the Adventurers practically fell over in their chairs as jaws hit the floorboards.

E-Rank to B-Rank in two days? It shattered every single known convention of the Adventuring world.

It meant the three people walking casually toward the exit were certified monsters in human skin.

As they walked to the heavy wooden doors, they passed the table of the specific buff adventurer who had purposely spilled his drink to mock them earlier.

He was currently frozen, staring in sheer horror at the gleaming silver ID clipped to Ren’s belt.

Eternia paused right next to his table.

She didn’t draw her weapons but instead she simply tilted her head with her glowing golden eyes locking onto his terrified face.

Eternia slowly lifted her pale hand to her throat, dragging her thumb across her windpipe, making a very deliberate, terrifying slitting sign with her fingers.

’I... will... kill... you...’ Eternia mouthed silently.

The massive man violently flinched, all the color draining from his face as he whimpered, desperately burying his face in his trembling hands to break eye contact.

Ren chuckled softly, pushing the heavy wooden doors open.

The moment they stepped outside the Guild, leaving the stench of booze and sweat behind for the crisp evening air of Astelvern... someone was already waiting for them.

Standing near the cobblestone street, wearing the pristine, highly recognizable uniform of the Twilight Guild, a young woman stepped forward.

She offered a polite, playful bow as she approached Ren.

"Mister Ren~" the woman greeted, her voice carrying a sing-song, professional cheerfulness. "I came to deliver a message directly from the Guildmaster. We’ll be going on the Floor 60 raid tomorrow morning at dawn. So please, make sure to rest up so you can show off for us again~"

Ren laughed easily, slipping his hands back into his pockets. He appreciated the punctuality.

"Thank you," Ren said warmly. "I’ll come to your Guild building in the morning then. Thank you for the reminder."

The woman nodded happily, turning on her heel and leaving, waving cheerfully as she went down the bustling street.

Eternia immediately stepped closer to Ren, her golden eyes narrowing as she watched the retreating Twilight Guild member.

Her head twitched with a sudden spike of agitation.

"Master," Eternia asked. "Who was that woman?"

Ren chuckled.

"It was just an appointment that I have for tomorrow, Eternia. Nothing more," Ren said smoothly, soothing her rising anxiety.

He stepped between his two subordinates.

With a casual, relaxed motion, he placed one arm securely around Eternia’s shoulder, pulling her close, and placed his other arm firmly around Mandy’s shoulder.

"Alright, let’s get to the inn," Ren declared with a tired deeply satisfied sigh. "I really need a shower."