The Magic Milk Bottle. Under level 10, it was possibly the best healing item in the game. It was also relatively cheap to produce. However, it had one flaw. It spoiled quickly! Many years ago, Jisha recalled when her best friend pulled a prank on her.
Two players in the middle of a forest were running for their lives.
*>Fae Sol: Syny, I'm almost dead! Why is there a wild boss here???*
*>Synycal: Aaaaaah! Run away! Don't worry, Jishy, I've got us covered! Take this!*
*>+1 Magic Milk Bottle*
In a supposedly peaceful area, the two girls had stumbled upon some powerful mob by bad luck!
*>Fae Sol: Is it a potion?*
*>Synycal: Yeah. Just drink it!*
Jisha immediately drank it, but she wasn't healed like she had been promised.
*>Fae Sol: What? Syny, what is this?*
*>Synycal: Hahahahahaha!*
*>Fae Sol: Ugh, my head feels kind of weird... What did you give me???*
*>Synycal: It's the best potion ever! Eep!*
*>Party member Synycal has died!*
In a whimsical manner, Syny tripped and fell. In her immobile state, the wild boss easily finished her off!
*>Fae Sol: Ah... Come on...*
Feeling the effects of the spoiled milk, Jisha stumbled to the ground. She could only watch as the large monster swung a club at her, eliminating the last of her HP.
*Those were the days...*
Jisha reminisced about when the game was still a game and wished she didn't have to take life so seriously this time around. Though she wanted to get stronger, Jisha still wanted to have fun. Synergy was still fully an innocent game before level 10. Only after this significant level threshold would people begin to realize it was more of a second reality instead.
She looked at Luden who was most likely frantically messaging people and ruefully smiled.
*Though if the battles are too easy, they're not super fun...*
Jisha did enjoy seeing people's face twist in despair, but simple battles were too boring!
She sighed as the cart wheeled out the second-to-last item of the auction.
"This is a brand-new set of gauntlets brought to us by Covan's very own Quex Chet! It's the perfect item for a fledgling Fracasier! The bid on this Epic item will start at 500 Copper!"
"500 Copper!"
"550 Copper!"
"600 Copper!"
...
Once again, Jisha wasn't too enthralled by this item, but her group chat thought otherwise.
*>Jiel: We need this one. I don't know how much money we have left, but can you bid 1 Bronzium on our behalf?*
*>Aphro Expo: Nah, we'll take it. 1 Bronzium, 75 Copper.*
*>Hutian Crest: I think Fae Sol's just made out of Coins. Why don't we just bid 1 Silverium?*
Something ridiculous was just said in the group chat. Nobody could take Hutian Crest seriously anymore.
*>Fae Sol: Why would you bid 1 Silverium for a level 5 item...*
*>Hutian Crest: I dunno. It's not my money!*
*>Censer: Hutian. F*ck you.*
Meanwhile, the audience's bids kept rising.
"1 Bronzium!"
"1 Bronzium, 25!"
"1 Bronzium, 35!"
When the bids reached this amount, Jisha tossed in Aphro Expo's bid.
"1 Bronzium, 75!"
And once the audience heard this, they began to grumble again... But this didn't stop Luden from bidding!
"1 Bronzium, 80!"
*>Jiel: ... 1 Bronzium, 100."
"1 Bronzium, 100!"
"1 Bronzium, 105!"
...
Members of the audience began to look at each other. Some of them were a bit tired of this charade. What was the point of them even being there?
"1 Bronzium, 110..."
Some of them tried to keep up with the towering amounts, but...
*>Aphro Expo: 1 Bronzium, 115.*
"1 Bronzium, 115!"
Nobody, not even Luden, could keep up with these ridiculous amounts!
"Sold to the anonymous Beyonder for 1 Bronzium, 115 Copper!"
Luden shook his head when this bid was placed. He was definitely firing some people today!
*>Luden: What do I pay you guys for if you can't even find information about the competition...*
*>Axis Jack: ...*
Even though it sounded like it, Luden wasn't worried. He looked at his coin pouch, and he was sure he'd win the final item.
*>Luden: We're going all in on the finale.*
That's right - he wouldn't hold back! Straight out of the gate, he was willing to empty his pockets for this item. That's how valuable it was to him.
The cart wheeled the 10th and final item of the auction out onto the center of the stage.
Though this was the item most people had been waiting for, nobody was expecting to win it at this point. They expected another fierce back and forth between the two titans.
However, before Luden could place his bid...
Before the auctioneer even spoke a word...
"50 Bronzium."
A girl's clear, calm voice pierced through the audience.
Despite how quietly she said it, everyone in the audience heard it clearly.
The voice carried power and confidence, but when people heard it, they couldn't believe their ears.
"Huh?"
"Did I hear that amount right?"
But it was definitely real! After all, you couldn't bid more than you had at an auction.
"How is that possible?"
50 Bronzium, or over 5000 Copper, was casually thrown out. The voice did not carry excess ego, nor did it carry any hint of boasting. The voice was above them. This was a simple fact!
The hall was silent.
There was no competition. The one they assumed to be the underdog was a dark horse all along.
"Sold to the anonymous Beyonder for 50 Bronzium!"
And just like that, the auction was over.