“Well look at that. I told you the Golem would be more surprising.” The old man let out a hearty laugh and slapped the shoulder of the receptionist. This took her out of her daze, and she returned to her professional stance.

“646 INT is certainly surprising. That would make it on par with X rank adventurers, would it not?” X rank? If this man is S rank, I cannot imagine how powerful an X rank would be. At least I could beat them with my magic.

“Nope. Before the Golem could even cast a spell, the X Tier would have three daggers penetrating its Core.” Never mind. 

“I see. Have you seen one in action?”

“Many decades ago.” Interesting. I want to see one in action. “She was an otherworlder I was asked to train. She absorbed the knowledge I taught her so fast. I swear I blinked once, and suddenly she took down her first dragon. She rose to X rank from F in the time it took me to go from A to S.”

“Is she still adventuring?” I’d like to see her fight if she is, but more importantly, I’d like to see her status. Ooh… imagine the numbers.

“Nope, she has a kid and stays at home all the time.” Unfortunate.

“A shame.” The receptionist looked at me. “So, what do we do with it?”

“Simple, we utilise Plan H of the Guild Protocols when it comes to Potential X Threat Level monsters.”

“Plan H?” The receptionist grabbed out a thick book and put it on the counter. It landed with quite the thud, and she began flipping through the pages.

“Are you new?”

“I started 4 months ago. They taught me the basics but didn’t teach me anything for advanced Dungeons. X Threat Level monsters don’t come from beginner Dungeons,” she took a side glance at me, “typically.”

“Well Plan H is simple.” The receptionist took her eyes off the book and stared at the old adventurer. “We ignore it.”

She looked at him with a dumbfounded look. Ignore me? Really? I’m equally as dumbfounded. “Why?”

“The Golem is pretty peaceful. If we don’t bother it, it’ll probably do no damage. That and I’m hoping to make it part of my family, and I’d rather not have adventurers flock to my house. Especially the X rankers.”

“Ah, I see.” The receptionist closed the book with a convinced face and put the book away. Really? Just going to accept it? I looked around and saw the adventurers going back to doing normal activities, albeit with nervous expressions on their faces. “Now then, as it is per protocol, I must ask, what is your business in this Dungeon?” Oh, this might be my chance to learn why he’s here, despite this being a beginner Dungeon.

“I’m here to see the Dungeon Master.”

“Has he invited you?”

“No. I’m just here to teach them a lesson. An otherworlder told me a saying from their world. ‘There are two things certain in life: Death and taxes.’” Was it the same X tier adventurer? Probably.

“That’s… certainly ominous.”

“I know.”

“Uh… that’s good to know. I’m going to have to close up to send the Guild a message, so… goodbye!” She left in a hurry, walking right into the Dungeon wall. It must be a Skill of hers. Seems very useful.

“Well, that was strange. Quite the hurry. Anyways, off to the next boss room. We’ve spent enough time here.” Off we went.

Meanwhile, in the Dungeon Core room.

“Master, master! An adventurer is coming!” An elf, specifically the receptionist of this Dungeon, ran in, yelling as loud as her stoic disposition could allow. The Dungeon Core room she ran in was like the throne room of a castle. Large pillars were erected to the sides, somewhat hiding the rocky cave walls. At the end of the room was a throne, with a black-haired figure seated at it. He sat at the throne with a bored expression, his head rested on his hand. Black hair was a rarity in this world and indicated that he was either an Otherworlder or the descendant of one. 

To his sides were two female figures. Both stood tall, covered with armour and with weapons in their hands, one a scythe and the other a whip. The only difference between the two was that one had golden, luscious hair that fell down to her knees. Meanwhile, the other had fiery red hair that barely reached her shoulders and constantly covered her eyes with her arm, despite wearing sunglasses. On the man’s lap was a petite girl, happily munching away at an apple. With every bite, her fangs were visible, exposing her nature as that of a vampire.

“An adventurer? I face those all the time, Nottim.”

“B-but this time it’s an S rank! And he has a Mutant Meditating Bee and an X Threat Level Golem as allies!”

“Oh? A Friend of Monsters. Interesting. Nottim, are there any adventurers on Floor 2 or 3?”

“No. They’re all busy resting in the Rest Area.”

“Then good. I’m going to open a portal in Ashley’s boss room and have them come directly to us.” The man put the vampire on the ground, then stood up. “This is our first real challenge. Let’s test ourselves out. Girls, use your Unique Skills. Nottim, go wait at the front of the Dungeon. The princess is coming back soon.”

“What’s your plan?”

“I’ll have Honey take on the Mutant. It may be a Mutant, but it’s still a Meditating Bee, Honey has the experience advantage. Ashley and Mary will take on the Golem, it won’t be fast enough to hit them. As for the S-Rank adventurer, I should be able to take him on.”

“B-but he’s S rank!”

“And I’m an Otherworlder. This may seem prideful, but he should be cannon fodder. That’s how the first S-Rank encounter is, typically.” The man turned around and looked towards the girls. “This is our chance to truly grow. Our first real roadblock in this story of ours. We shall succeed, and afterwards, shall be rewarded. I’m certain you girls know what I mean.”

“““Yes!”””

“Good. I’ve set up the portal. Let them come.”

Jarkon

I've seen the poll results, so I've decided to just write the side stories whenever I think of them, but I will make sure to have the focus be on Bee or have her play a large part it in. Sorry to the person who voted no side stories, though. The poll is still open, so feel free to vote, I look at it every day, almost every hour. On an unrelated note, I now see why authors seem to just disappear, even when their stories are going well. Don't worry about me though, I'm insane, so I'll stick around. Although I will say, I have no idea what I'm doing.