News of a nameless Bronze adventurer defeating an Amber rank quickly spread throughout the city. As word of mouth passed from person to person, the story was embellished, leading people to believe the Guild had been negligent in assessing Zofia's power.
The Guild had to promote Zofia to Silver rank to cool down the rumors. She had no complaints about this; ranking up in such a short time was a good opportunity. From now on, she could take monster-hunting jobs and get paid much better.
"Congratulations on reaching Silver rank. I told you, there's no way you're Bronze."
Zofia and Nathan clinked glasses, laughing happily in the tavern.
After thinking carefully, she decided to build a new image as an adventurer to preemptively bury the rumors about the "Hero slanderer's appearance" before they reached here. Not to mention, the story of Zofia killing goblins to save a nearby village was also spreading widely.
The next day, Zofia went to the Guild to accept a new quest befitting her rank. As soon as she entered, everyone started whispering.
"Look, that's the Bronze girl who beat Huk."
"I heard she was promoted to Silver after that brawl."
"How can someone rank up so easily? Should we start brawls to rank up too?"
"You'd be crazy to do that. Maybe she's a noble, that's why she gets special treatment."
"Or she's actually strong. That means the rumors are true, the Guild misjudged her rank from the start. Maybe we..."
Zofia chuckled inwardly hearing their gossip. For the first time, she was the center of attention in their stories, not a clown in the mouths of gossipmongers.
After browsing, she finally selected a suitable quest: investigating monster activity in the mines. Since the quest required three and at least one person must be at least Silver rank and others two can't be lower than Iron, Zofia asked Nathan to join her.
However, they were still short one person. Zofia had to stand in front of the adventurer's rest area at the Guild and loudly announce she was looking for a member. But when people heard her quest, they laughed, thinking the split reward wouldn't be worth the effort.
Zofia was worried; if she didn't find one more person, she wouldn't be allowed to take the quest. Last time, the Guild had warned her about bypassing rank restrictions. Luckily, the villagers had spoken up for her, so it wasn't recorded in her file.
"Hm... I heard you're looking for an adventurer for a quest?"
A girl with a petite frame approached Zofia. Zofia didn't know if she was tall or if the girl was just tiny; her height only reached Zofia's stomach.
She wore a simple robe typical of mages, a purple pointed hat on her head, and a small book strapped to her hip.
"Sure, but the lowest rank required is Iron. Are you qualified?"
"Don't worry... I'm Amber rank."
Hearing the words "Amber rank," Zofia stared at the girl in surprise.
"Why would an Amber rank want to join a quest with us?"
"Even though my rank is high, I'm just a support mage, so I can't do quests alone."
Zofia nodded, understanding immediately. Indeed, in the games she used to play, support mages didn't have offensive magic. They were very useful in groups but useless alone.
"Then let's hit the road. By the way, what's your name?"
"My name is Jiice."
The three of them received protective gear for the mine from the Guild and quickly set off. During the carriage ride to the mine, Jiice didn't say another word. Zofia wasn't used to starting conversations, so she kept silent too.
When they arrived, they discovered the tunnel entrance had been sealed by a landslide. Workers outside were trying to clear it with pickaxes because using explosives would endanger the people trapped inside.
Zofia approached and asked the man directing the work; he looked like the manager of the site.
"Um... excuse me, we're from the Guild, here for the monster investigation quest."
"You three are adventurers?"
The man rolled his eyes, scanning the three of them.
"Uh... are you three sure you can handle this quest?"
Zofia immediately realized he was looking down on them.
"We may look like this, but this girl here is Amber rank, and I'm Silver."
"But I'm only..." Before Jiice could finish, Zofia covered her mouth.
"Fine. However, the entrance is blocked. There's another entrance on the side, but monsters are nesting there, so it's impassable."
"We'll take that way. Please show us."
"Are you crazy? Inside is a nest of giant spiders. The Spider Queen alone requires at least two Amber ranks to deal with."
"So you want to let those miners suffocate in there?"
Nathan whispered into Zofia's ear. Upon hearing this, she became furious, approached the guy, and grabbed him by the collar.
"You scumbag. Turns out you just don't want to pay extra fees for monster killing, right? And if those miners die, the compensation for their families is still cheaper. What a despicable boss!"
Zofia punched him in the face.
Nathan had researched Guild laws carefully. Aside from the set objectives, if additional situations arose that could endanger adventurers' lives, the quest giver had to pay ten times the initial reward.
As soon as Zofia heard Nathan explain that, she understood the issue. The manager must have wanted them to pinpoint the monster nest so he could blast that side of the mountain. He hadn't expected an accident to trap miners inside, so now, even if he ordered an explosion, no one would obey.
If they went in now, cleared the monsters, and rescued the miners, reporting back to the Guild would cost him a fortune. He was just waiting for enough time to pass for the miners to die of suffocation so he would have a valid reason to use explosives.
Feeling one punch wasn't enough, Zofia punched him a few more times until his nose bled. She left him lying on the ground and found a miner to guide them.
The group was led to the side entrance. Even from the outside, they could see spider webs clinging to the tunnel walls, proving the spiders used this entrance frequently.
Zofia created a fireball in her hand, and the three entered. She kept the fire at a moderate level to avoid depleting the oxygen.
They fumbled around for a long time, fighting hundreds of soldier spiders before finding the Spider Queen's nest.
"System, check stats."
"Current Level: 5. Strength 2, Agility 4, Intelligence 14, Endurance 4. Available Potential Points: 40."
"Didn't I say to auto-distribute upon leveling up?"
"Answer. Since the potential points received are higher than usual, I dared not raise them arbitrarily."
"Fine. Since I have 40 points, put 10 into each."
"Command received!"
Zofia immediately felt different. Her maximum health and energy increased significantly.
"Report! 5 basic skills upgraded. From this moment, you may rename any skill."
"Now's not the time. That's enough."
The display screen turned off. Zofia opened her eyes, pretending she had just been taking a real break. The other two stood up, readying their weapons to face the boss.