"Look, I'm just here to sell these items. Can you do that much for me?"
Jisha hastily changed the subject. She pulled the level 5 Wooden Dagger and level 5 Wooden Slingshot from her inventory and showed it to the auctioneer.
"I apologize for my rudeness. Yes, it will be simple to sell these. Since you are the first Beyonder to sell at our auction, the Covan Auction House will charge you a 0% service fee on your items!" the woman said as she accepted the items.
Another perk of being the first "Beyonder" in Covan was brought up in the form of a waived service charge. The service charge was the way for all auction houses to make money whether they were run by players or NPCs. For example, with a 5% fee, If Jisha's item were to sell for 100 Copper, she would receive 95 and the house would receive 5. But of course, this time all the proceeds would go directly to Jisha.
"Thank you very much. Also, I'd like to remain anonymous if you don't mind. I hope you have wonderful items in store for today. I might be purchasing a lot."
"Of course, that will be no problem. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy the show!"
With that, Jisha left backstage and headed up the stairs towards her seat.
"I'm back. Anything interesting happen?" Jisha said as she approached the posse. "... Where's Dharr?"
"Uh... He left out of shame. He said he wouldn't be participating in the auction," Brookie said. "I don't even think he wants his money back."
"Haha... About that, I'm truly sorry about trying to betray you, Fae, but your plan didn't seem like a good one. It's reassuring to know you had hidden cards up your sleeve," Jiel apologized.
"Don't worry about it. You've just proven to me that you can use your brain. So everyone's settled?" Jisha said as she sat down in her saved spot.
"... Yeah. Looks like everyone's finding their seats so they can watch the show. I don't think everyone here will be participating considering the level of this auction is quite high," Jiel replied.
Jisha nodded as she sat down next to them.
It was like Jiel said. Most players here wouldn't be participating in the auction. The average NPC level looked to be around 8, so it was safe to say the auction would offer items around that level. The players, on the other hand, only looked to be around levels 1 and 2. There were a couple of level 3s, but they appeared quite rare. Those who had reached level 3 were most likely the leaders of the orgs who had completed the quests they had planned for ahead of time. Since the auction level was so much higher than the player level, it was natural that most orgs would have to gather the buying power of multiple people to be able to contest for a couple of items. Of course, it wasn't as if NPCs couldn't do the same, but in the lower levels, the game wasn't that rude to players.
Jisha opened up the group chat to confirm whether everyone was on the same page.
*>Fae Sol: Alright, here's how this'll work. If you see an item you want, place the bid in chat. If multiple of you want the same item, feel free to bid among yourselves. Of course, I reserve all final judgement to place the final bid. Is that clear?*
*>Dolphin Killer: Understood.*
*>Fae Sol: Try not to go overboard with the bidding. There isn't an unlimited amount of money in this pile.*
*>Hutian Crest: ... How much is there? You never told us.*
*>Fae Sol: That's a secret, but don't get too greedy! ^.^*
This secret was kept on purpose. When a rare item showed up, sometimes people would lose their sense of reason for a brief moment while chasing a high. The organization leaders/branch leaders were all aware of how much money they put in, but they didn't know how much money the others had put in. In effect, they didn't know the total amount in the pot. This could lead to greedy bids since they knew all of their money was in one place. Jisha was sure they didn't trust each other fully. This distrust would probably show during the auction.
*Their greed could lead to their downfall...*
Jisha smiled when she thought about this. It would be the nails in their coffins if they realized they could bid much more than they originally planned for...
*I haven't even told them the conditions of this alliance. Hopefully they're stupid enough to forget that.*
With an evil-looking smirk, Jisha sat back in her seat and waited for the auction to start.