[Mission Rank: S]
[Mission Type: Exploration]
[Mission Requirements: Confirm the strength and behavioral patterns of the special magical creature "Black Puffshroom," or subjugate it]
[Mission Reward: 100 gold coins/200 gold coins (subjugation), one Level-2 Exchange Voucher]
[Mission Description: The special magical creature "Black Puffshroom" operates within the fifth and sixth floors, with recorded battle achievements...]
Four days after the confirmed annihilation of Begon's party, under Mirabelle's countless "interruptions," Branch President Oberon finally issued an S-rank guild bounty as Mirabelle had demanded.
Mirabelle had no choice in the matter. Oberon might be getting transferred and didn't care, but she was still stationed here!
When the new branch president took office and saw that the guild had done nothing about such a major incident, resulting in a massive loss of adventurer support, everyone would be branded as negligent in their duties. They might even use this as an excuse for a major personnel overhaul, replacing everyone with the new president's own people.
She was still planning to rely on seniority to eventually transfer to headquarters for a comfortable retirement position!
So she could only keep bothering Oberon—if he didn't issue the bounty, she wouldn't let him drink in peace.
Fortunately, it was finally settled, though it took a bit more time than expected.
As for whether anyone would complete it afterward?
That was no longer Mirabelle's concern. Having gone through the guild's mission posting procedures, she had fulfilled her responsibilities.
The Adventurers' Guild had three types of missions.
The first type consisted of commissioned bounty missions from third parties. These tasks encompassed everything from escort duties to material collection, from rescue operations to hunting specific targets.
After preliminary evaluation by the guild, clients would pay a deposit and commission fee, after which the mission would be posted on the task board. This was the type of mission most adventurers undertook.
The second type involved long-term commissions issued by the guild itself, primarily focused on collecting various materials. Rather than missions per se, these were more akin to nearly unlimited procurement contracts.
The purchase prices generally matched market floor prices, and adventurers would only choose to sell to the guild when they had nowhere else to dispose of common materials.
The final type was special guild commission missions, abbreviated by adventurers as "guild bounties."
These were mobilization bounties issued only when the Adventurers' Guild deemed certain matters absolutely necessary to address.
The mission rank was at least A-grade or above.
Besides being urgent or difficult, these missions were also characterized by extremely generous rewards...
Before the magically illuminated rotating task board, quite a crowd of adventurers had already gathered, drawn by the news.
They weren't here to accept the mission—they simply came to witness this rare spectacle.
"So it really is S-rank!"
This didn't surprise anyone, considering an entire Gold-rank party had been completely annihilated. What else could it be but S-rank?
Some had even speculated it might be an S+ mission, though this theory didn't gain much traction.
The Amethyst Dungeon hadn't seen an S+ guild bounty in at least ten years. Even the last S-rank mission had been three years ago, when the ninth floor had somehow spawned a Flesh Overlord.
That creature wasn't particularly strong against Diamond-rank adventurers, but its flesh covering the entire ninth floor was nearly impossible to kill. Most critically, it had sealed off all passages, forcing the guild to issue an S-rank large-scale extermination mission.
They had enlisted nine Diamond-rank powerhouses to systematically segment and suppress it before finally destroying its core.
That "large-scale extermination mission" was completely different in nature from this "exploration" mission.
As for S+ missions?
Like legends, there were plenty of rumors but no reliable references. The truth could probably only be found in the guild's archives.
"The gold reward doesn't seem like much!"
Some adventurers seeing an S-rank guild bounty for the first time felt the reward was insufficient.
They had seen privately issued S-rank missions several times before. Setting aside the special case of rescuing the duke's daughter—which adventurers still talked about with relish—even more conventional ones, like the werewolf fang collection mission that appeared before the demon tide, offered 10 gold per fang, meaning at least 40 gold per werewolf.
Even the werewolves on the tenth floor weren't all level 50; most were around level 40+.
If Begon's party pushed themselves, they could have attempted to earn that money.
Compared to that, this bounty's gold reward truly wasn't much.
However, the person complaining about the low gold amount was quickly mocked mercilessly by those around him.
"What an idiot! You probably don't know what that Level-2 Exchange Voucher means, do you? All you can focus on is those few gold coins—how pathetic!"
"Then... then tell me, what can this exchange voucher get?" the man retorted indignantly.
"A Level-2 Exchange Voucher lets you go to the guild warehouse and freely select any B-rank equipment! Do you understand the value of 'freely select'?"
Hiss—
Everyone hearing this news for the first time couldn't help but gasp in shock.
B-rank equipment meant at least skill-based gear. Gold-rank adventurers who owned even one piece were already enviable.
The "freely select" aspect dramatically increased the reward's value.
After all, skill-based equipment was rare and precious. Finding a piece that perfectly matched one's abilities wasn't easy, but the guild warehouse could undoubtedly satisfy such needs.
"There must be other grades of exchange vouchers too!"
Seeing someone ask, the speaker thoroughly enjoyed the attention and generously shared this not-so-secret intelligence:
"Of course there are. Level-3 Exchange Vouchers can only get you attribute equipment or relatively impractical skill equipment.
Level-1 Exchange Vouchers are truly impressive—Fire Knight Kuns' Flame Dragon Slash, Azure Bow Vilander's Mutsuki Light—those are A-rank equipment you can get with Level-1 Exchange Vouchers!"
Someone else asked: "Are there S-rank equipment pieces?"
"S-rank? Officially, there's no such classification as S-rank equipment. If we had to say something qualified as S-rank equipment, it would probably be the legendary Hero's Sword.
But that sword disappeared along with the hero long ago—it's just a legend now."
The hall erupted into heated discussions about various skill-based equipment they knew of, as if they too could possess such items.
The guild hall's liveliness continued from day into night, yet the bounty remained posted, untouched...
It wasn't until deep into the night, after even the guild's poster girl Helena had gone home, that a man dressed as luxuriously as nobility stepped into the hall, walked straight to the task board, and took down the guild bounty.
When the bounty was handed to the counter, the young woman working the night shift recognized him.
"Mr. Edin?"
The man's handsome appearance made the girl blush slightly, but she still said conscientiously as required:
"Sir, your adventurer rank is sufficient, but this exploration mission is quite dangerous—it requires at least three people to accept."
Edin nodded lightly, indicating his understanding, then gestured toward the entrance. His teammates walked in.
"That works then." The girl took the three identity plates and quickly completed the registration. "Mr. Edin, the mission has an exclusive period of five days. If no settlement is submitted within five days, the mission may be reposted. You understand this, correct?"
These were all standard procedures that Edin naturally understood.
Taking back his identity plate and bidding farewell to the lovestruck receptionist behind him, Edin walked alone out of the guild hall.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small packet of blue mushrooms—one always needed to relax appropriately before work.
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