Across the audience, Jisha spotted a very frustrated man.
*So that's the leader of Shock Collar, huh...*
She smiled when she imagined the anger he was feeling.
*I'm not a sadist, but...*
Jisha couldn't get enough of winning battles while watching her opponents' mental state break down. And this auction was a battle of its own kind.
The cart wheeled out the sixth item. Jisha looked over at Lujen who was completely focused on the item.
Before the auctioneer even said a word, the group chat exploded.
*>Censer: Is that what I think it is?*
*>Aphro Expo: Yeah. We definitely need that.*
*>Dolphin Killer: We need it more!*
*Hm...*
Jisha could see why the crowd was so hyped for this item...
"Here's the only omni-class item of the day! Boosting all attack potential by a significant percentage until level 10, please welcome our Rudimentary Strength Bracelets! The bid will start at 100 Copper!"
... but to her, it was pretty useless.
Items that boosted stats by a percentage were great, but they usually had a level cap. For example, these attack-enhancing bracelets would only be equip-able until level 10. After that, they'd be useless. And for Jisha, level 10 was something she was planning to hit tonight. In other words, it would become obsolete for her in a few hours!
*But my... er - "allies" - are already in a bidding frenzy...*
The audience, in the meantime, was just as lively as the group chat.
"500 Copper!"
"520 Copper!"
"570 Copper!"
"650 Copper!"
...
But as the price soared to new heights, some of fiery passion began to extinguish.
*>Simulator Child: If the bid exceeds 1000 Copper, we should probably give up on it, right? We need to save some money to buy other items. Especially the final one.*
*>Hutian Crest: Are you serious? Even if you don't want to bid on it, I will!*
*>Censer: Dude, we *must* claim the final item over Shock Collar. And all of our money is in the same pot. Or else what was the point of this alliance anyway?*
*>Hutian Crest: Right, right. My mistake...*
"900 Copper!"
...
With this bid from the audience, the shouting from earlier dissolved into murmurs. It seemed like nobody wanted to go any higher until...
"1000 Copper."
... Lujen's clear voice pierced the air.
Some people in the audience gasped. After all, Shock Collar had already spent 1,000 Copper in this event and wanted to spend another thousand! Just how rich were they?
*>Censer: Alright, we're not bidding. Save the money!*
*>Aphro Expo: I guess it hurts, but we have to see Shock Collar take this item...*
*>Simulator Child: Fae Sol. How much money do we have left to bid?*
Jisha, who was reading the chat as well as paying attention to the audience, was surprised that this question had come up again so late.
*Looks like they're finally starting to think a bit?*
But whether they wanted to use their brains or not wouldn't affect the outcome! When they agreed to this plan, their fates were already sealed.
*>Fae Sol: That's a secret. Just know that there is enough!*
*>Censer: What? We agreed that this was an alliance. We should all be standing together against Shock Collar! What do you have to gain by hiding the amount from us?*
Jisha suppressed laughter when she saw this message. Of course, she didn't respond.
*If only they knew...*
*>Censer: ... If you're not going to respond, we'll just have to share our net worth with each other here. Collecting all the money from our group, we'd gathered 438 Copper. What about the rest of you guys?*
*>Simulator Child: What the hell? You guys are clearly filthy rich! Our group only managed to scrape together 307 Copper.*
*>Hutian Crest: Yet you spent 400! You owe all of us a little bit, don't you think? Besides, why should I tell you how much money we had?*
*>Censer: ...*
*>Simulator Child: ...*
*>Dolphin Killer: I'm not willing to share that information, either. If Fae Sol says there is enough, why don't we just bid freely?*
*>Aphro Expo: I'm only willing to share if everyone else is.*
*>Censer: Are you guys dumb? How can you possibly believe that all of our net worth combined is greater than Shock Collar's? You know how many quests we missed out on and how many mobs nearby were monopolized by them. Please be rational. Let us know how much money we have left to bid with! And Fae, I'm begging you, please understand what I'm saying!*
*>Fae Sol: I perfectly understand what you are saying!*
*>Simulator Child: Then...?*
*>Hutian Crest: Bid 1100 Copper!*
*>Censer: WHAT?*
*>Simulator Child: You f*cking hypocrite... You're saying I'm the one that bid too much?*
*Hahaha!*
Jisha was thoroughly amused when she saw these messages.
*>Fae Sol: I'll raise you one better.*
"... going twice..."
"11 Bronzium!"
Just as the item was about to be sold, Jisha's voice reached everyone's ears!
Luden was still angry. But more so... he was confused.
Confused on who this player was.
Confused as to how this player had so much money.
Confused as to why he hadn't heard of her before today.
And confused as to why no one could record her!
*>Lujen: You're seriously saying that no matter who you talk to, none of them have recordings or recollections of this player?*
*>Axis Jack: Again, yes. All attempts to record this player become corrupted, and we have not seen this player before 35 minutes preceding the auction.*
Luden attempted to confirm something that he had already heard the answer to a hundred times at this point. And no matter how many times he heard it, his brain refused to process the meaning of it.
How could no one have heard of someone with this much influence?
Luden thought of his business rivals in the real world.
*Maybe Arkline has something to do with this?*
It was the only possibility he could think of. After all, only someone who had more money than him could be a fair competitor.
And they had to run out of money soon. There was no way they had enough to outbid him on every single item! To secure the thousands of Copper for Shock Collar's auction funds, Luden not only had to basically monopolize every quest that dispensed a monetary reward in Covan, but he also had to secure hunting grounds in a wide radius of the hamlet using the entire manpower of his organization.
Not only that, they had to kill players in the wild to take their coins which meant some of their players had begun to lean towards evil alignment.
"... sold to the anonymous Beyonder for 11 Bronzium!"
Yet not only did this player have massive amounts of Copper, but Bronzium too!
Luden hoped his rival would inevitably run out of cash... but he had no idea that this hope would be shattered.
When the audience heard the number 11 Bronzium, they began to become disillusioned. It wasn't even surprising anymore. It was similar to hearing about big numbers... Then about bigger numbers... Until everything became impossible to comprehend. What was 1000 Copper? What was 2000 Copper? 10, 20, 30 Bronzuim? The meaning of these words began to blur in the ears of the audience.
Even if this player began to pull out real money in the game, they probably still wouldn't be surprised!
However, there was one emotion they were unanimously feeling.
"Take that, Lujen!"
"Idiots at Shock Collar! How dare you try to ruin the game for new players!"
"Die, Shock Collar! Die, Axis Jack!"
It was the relief of a weight being lifted from their shoulders. For two grueling hours, the new players of Covan were oppressed beyond belief.
Oppressed... wasn't that a bit of an exaggeration? But to players who logged in and wanted to explore a new world? For players that wanted to relax and play a game after a hard day at work? For players who wanted to escape their current reality and have fun? They were definitely feeling oppressed!
And when some underdog came out of nowhere and stood up against the oppressor...
"Down with Shock Collar!"
"Down with Shock Collar!"
"Down with Shock Collar!"
... the response from the underclass was radical!