Players fervently checked their system times in anticipation for the top of the hour.
"Time really goes slow when you're waiting for something, huh?"
"Right? It almost feels like we've been waiting twice as long!"
At 0100 natural hours, the lights dimmed slightly, prompting some audience members to make exclamatory noises.
The NPC Jisha just talked to strode up to the stage from behind the curtains, and a cheer erupted from the audience. Her appearance was stunning enough for some of the male players to comment on.
"Isn't she beautiful? Where am I?"
"It's a VR world, dude. It's not hard to be beautiful here."
"Yeah, of course..."
As the applause died down, the NPC took a bow and began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first auction of the Covan Hamlet... featuring Beyonders! I hope everyone enjoys their stay. There are many exciting items in today's queue. You won't be disappointed!"
The first thing that players noticed was that the auctioneer NPC wasn't holding any sort of device to amplify sound, yet every word she spoke could be heard crystal clear by everyone in the auditorium.
The next thing they noticed was a term unfamiliar to them: "Beyonders". This wasn't surprising as it wasn't a term that existed during the beta phase.
"Beyonders? What is that?"
"Is that some sort of rare item?"
"Is there something special about this auction?"
"Dunno, guess we'll have to find out..."
Though Jisha had heard this term countless times in her past life, the current players had no idea that they were basically alien beings to the NPCs, or the current residents of the world. This was another difference from most other games and Synergy; there was effectively some fourth-wall breaking happening here.
Even though Jisha was a super-experienced player, neither she nor anyone she knew truly understood where the name "Beyonder" came from. The most believable hypothesis was that players came from "beyond" the scope of the virtual world, making them some sort of superior existence. However, this hypothesis could neither be confirmed nor denied. No NPC would ever give a direct answer if you tried to ask them.
As the players and NPCs in the audience clapped, the auctioneer continued with her speech.
"I will now be introducing our first item. As a cheer to the Beyonders, our first item is being sold by one of them! Let's take a look."
The auctioneer clapped twice, and an old-styled wooden cart automatically rolled out from behind the stage causing more inexperienced players to gasp with awe.
*Haha, I forgot how easily newbies are impressed.*
Every little thing that was slightly infeasible in the real world seemed fantastical to someone who had never experienced the hyper-realistic VR experience that was Synergy.
*If they're impressed by things this insignificant, they won't find their time in this world boring any time soon.*
Jisha herself had been infatuated with many aspects of this virtual world for many years after its launch. Even over 11 natural years after the game's launch, she still found things that surprised her once in a while.
It was infeasible to try to process the logistical scope of the game - no, the world - called Synergy. They say hindsight was 20/20, but looking back, it was even more confusing as to how the developer was able to fit so many features in this old hardware. Jisha wasn't an expert, but even experts didn't have a clue. Any attempt to look into the game's source code was rendered useless, so nobody truly knew how the game functioned.
The item on the cart, which was now in the center of the stage, roused Jisha from her thoughts. It was the wooden dagger she wanted to sell earlier.
The auctioneer picked up the knife and gave another small speech.
"This is the Level 5 Small Wooden Dagger left to us by the Beyonder. There aren't any special stats on this Dagger, but the fact that it's the first item sold by a Beyonder will give it incredible value! The bid on this item starts at 50 Copper."
"60 Copper!"
"70 Copper!"
"100 Copper!"
...
When the auctioneer mentioned the fact that it was the first Beyonder's item, the NPCs went into a bidding frenzy over the mundane object.
Seeing this, Jisha smiled to herself. She had guessed something like this might happen.
"160 Copper!"
"180 Copper!"
...
*>Hutian Crest: Is there any value in this item? Should we bid on it?*
*>Simulator Child: It's a level 5 Common item and the NPCs are going crazy for it. We'd just be losing money if we went for this."
*>Censer: Yea, just let this one go.*
Jisha silently watched the org leaders discuss the matter in chat.
*Well... It wouldn't matter even if they wanted to bid on it. All of the money would come back to me, anyway. On top of that, I have all the money which means I'm the one doing the bidding. I don't want everyone here against me...*
If it were possible, she would have convinced one of her "allies" to bid on the item. But if she won the bid... there might be some negative consequences.
As she watched the chat, the seven organization leaders fortunately came to the decision of not wanting to bid. But that didn't stop the audience from bidding!
"470 Copper!"
"500 Copper!"
"... One thousand copper!"
When this bid was placed, the audience went silent. Even Jisha was stunned by this bid. Though NPCs bid fervently, only a player would raise the bid by such a ludicrous amount.
*I guess there's others out there with tons of money at this point, too, huh...*
The auctioneer turned her head towards the source of the voice.
"One thousand copper. Going once!"
She waited for any other bids to be placed, but naturally nothing came.
"Going twice!"
...
More silence.
"Sold to the Beyonder Lujen!"