[Translator: Dawn]
[Proofreader: Karane]
I never even thought about logging out of the game except when I had to go take bathroom breaks.
That was because I could not keep the bitterness that Khea presented to me as Lee KiHo.
I didn't want to break the immersion I felt in the game. That was why I decided to sleep in-game as Mose.
I felt the cold night air and looked at the dawn sky through the huge window,
I imagined the misfortunes Khea, who was born with a strange fate in virtual reality, had gone through.
Being assimilated into the emotions of an NPC, Khea really came to me with a different feeling.
Closing my eyes with my head jumbled from all that, I immediately felt a sense of haze coming in.
I woke up to the scorching sunlight on my face the next day. I busily moved following Khea, who had already woken up and was quietly preparing for work.
The time had come to solve the mission assigned to me.
Khea and I took off our expensive armor and dress, which we were using quite well, and put on luxurious leather clothes that stuck to our bodies.
"I say this again, but make sure to keep in mind that we have 25 Ormachon tokens, which is worth 7000 gold."
She handed over the leather bag that contained the Ormachon tokens to me as she told me.
"We'd be lucky if we manage to win the bidding with 25 tokens, but our final goal is to find who wanted to purchase the Eulicine's Rhapsody and wipe them out. So we have to forcefully bid high so others won't be able to compete."
"So you're saying that we should secure the target from the start?"
Khea slightly smiled as she heard my words and said,
"That's right. I am within your care, Maxim."
I felt the strength draining from my shoulders as I checked her playful face.
"Yes, milady…"
We decided that I should be the one holding onto all our luggage and headed outside the inn. There was a huge wagon waiting in front of us.
And a middle-aged man with a long beard bowed his head to greet us.
"Lady Arianne Marie. This wagon came from the social gathering. Would you like to go to the auction house right now?"
"Yes, please."
The man grabbed the rein, and I sat right beside him.
"You must be the Knight of Flowers that everyone's been talking about. It's an honor to meet you. I've heard that the skill of your swordsmanship is on par with that of a Sworders'…"
" Ah… yes. It's a result of my hard work and training."
The man pulled on the rein after finishing the awkward small talk with me.
The animal, which looked like a horse, with abundant veins all over its body, moved the wagon attached to it with its feet fluttering very gracefully as if it were running on a highway.
"His name is 'Horace'. He's an animal that is known to be friendly with the wind. It tends to run on wind rather than running on the ground, and that's why it was captured and domesticated by people for its stillness and quietness when it runs."
He said, with a wide smile on his face, at me, who was holding the side handle because I couldn't handle the speed of the wagon. Soon the wagon reached the wall of the floor and began to climb the spiral uphill.
If the floating ship platform was an airport, this spiral uphill gave the impression of being a highway road. Because every floor was like a different city.
After tens of minutes of running up the spiral road and looking at the scenery of the various floors, the wagon stopped when it reached the 100th floor.
"We have arrived. This is the auction house of Bing Caravan, 'Eden'."
With only one building in the entire floor, this place gave a distinctly different impression from the other floors.
The black-walled building that stands between the gardens lined with brightly colored trees gave the impression that the building was a solid flower bud growing in the garden.
The place was full of people wearing armor, robes, and precious clothes that one could recognize as a noble at a glance.
The scenery reminded me of the scenery I saw at the social gathering.
Marie and I caught the attention of the people around us when we got off the carriage. Many people knew Marie and me, probably because of our appearance at the social gathering.
We walked into the auction house with difficulty as we received passionate interest from people of our opposite genders.
"So, this is the auction house of Bing Caravan."
Marie exclaimed as she looked around. I too slowly looked around the scenery with my eyes wide open.
Numerous seats were placed in a circle around the stage with the spotlight, and one could figure that all the people sitting at the seats were of high class at first sight.
Marie and I carefully headed towards our assigned seats, as we listened to the gentle murmurs from people crowded around the giant stage.
Soon after we sat down, an elvish girl with huge ears approached us.
"Welcome to 'Eden', the auction house of Bing Caravan."
She welcomed us as she handed three placards to Marie. The placards were studded with shiny beads on the rim, and a picture was drawn in its center.
One was a hand with only its index finger out, the other was a hand clenched into a fist, and the last hand was completely open.
"The sign with the hand holding its index finger out means that you would like to add one token to its bidding price. The sign with a fist is used to add ten tokens, and the open hand is used to make a proposal."
The girl looked at us with a fresh smile as she finished her explanation.
"I hope you will have a great time here."
The girl disappeared into the back fluttering her blonde hair, and all the lights in the auction house were turned off soon after. And after a moment, a fast drumming sound reverberated through my body.
All the lights were focused onto the stage with a loud trumpet sound.
Thunderous shouts and applause erupted from the crowd. I could feel my heart beating to the beat of the crowds clapping.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and the other distinguished guests who are not included as such! I would like to ask for your attention please!"
A good-looking tall man with a handsome mutton beard appeared onto the stage as he revealed his shiny teeth with a smile on his face.
"Today! We have gathered the treasures collected from all over the world to this place!
Relics that hold the secrets of the world, treasures that will excite and overwhelm you, and even treasures that will elevate your elegance!
Now then. I shall announce the beginning of this historical moment!"
Many people responded to his loud and passionate voice. His voice was so loud that it was as if he was speaking into a microphone.
"The glorious first product to be presented in Eden isss!"
As soon as the host finished talking, two large men carefully moved the objects piled up in black cloth to the center of the stage.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The drum sound began to play, and the gong sound followed right after.
"It is the index fingernail of the last princess of the fallen country, Esrandel!"
Cheers burst out from people here and there right as he finished speaking. After stroking his gorgeous sideburns once, the host carefully removed the black cloth, and a gleaming glass tube popped out of it.
There was something small and sparkling inside the tube.
The host detached a crystal ball from his chest and threw it upwards, and the crystal stayed up in the air as it floated and showed the enlarged picture of the glass tube.
Just like a beam projector in real life. However, this one was much more clear than the other.
Inside the giant glass tube, there was a very small fingernail placed inside it. The jewels carved on the nails were in the shape of a stem.
There was also a jewel embedded in the flower bud above the stem. A window popped up in front of my eyes as I stared at that fingernail.
[ Esrandel Rona's fingernail ]
Rank: Unique
Chain quest: 'Tragedy of the Esrandel royal family' is activated upon possession.
History: The Esran Mountains, where all the jewels of the world bloom from only one vein, regardless of the environment, the wealth of the Esrandel Empire that conquered those mountains was unworldly. But now, when you see that parts of the corpses of those royal families are bought and sold as jewels and ornaments among people, one can only imagine how bitter and futile their demise was.
The rank of that tiny little fingernail was unique, and a quest is activated if you just possess the item!
Somebody already held their sign up while I was watching such an item in awe for the first time in my life.
"Alright, we are starting to see some people trying to bid even though I haven't even said the minimum bidding price! We are starting at three Ormachon tokens!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sign came up one after another, and the host did not stop talking as if rapping loudly and sharply.
"4…5…6…7…17! Ormachon tokens! Going once! Going twice! This is one of the few jewels left from Esrandel which is called the home of all jewels!"
I was insensitive to game money most of the time when I made a huge amount of money in this game over a short amount of time, but this felt different.
The price of that single fingernail was a whooping 170 million won.
Chills went down my spine when I realized that the scale of this auction house was beyond my common sense.
After a moment, the man standing on the stage clenched his fist and shouted loudly.
"Seventeen thousand! 17000 Gold! The bid winning price of this item is 17 Ormachon tokens! Congratulations!"
Countless people applauded the person who won the bidding.
The person who won the bid shook his sign in the air with an award-winning facial expression.
"Now then~ I would like to introduce you to the next item which will elevate your elegance!"
The large men once again carefully moved a product covered in black cloth onto the stage. The auction host, who soon made a purposeful expression, deliberately lowered the tone of his voice and continued speaking.
"A genius, yet insane musician, who disappeared after dominating the world with musical notes! His name will go down in history as the best and the worst genius musician! I bring you Eulicine's Rhapsody!"
Cheers burst out from people right as he finished speaking. However, the noise could not reach Marie and me.
That was our objective.
Although we did not expect it to come out so early!
The men removed the black cloth, and like before, there was a glass tube and an old parchment displayed inside it.
Then a new window popped in front of my eyes as I took a look at the parchment with the crystal.
[ Eulicine's Rhapsody No.7 to No.14 ]
Rank: Unique
History: The final work of the mad musician Eulicine, who believed that heavenly music would be completed only when played with a stringed instrument made with human hair, a wind instrument made of bones from monsters, and a percussion instrument made of dried elf skin. The No.7 to No.14 of 'Eulicine's Rhapsody' is evaluated as surpassing human sanity, and is notorious for being capable of destroying one's mind by just looking at the notes arranged with chaos and madness. The one who plays this sheet music to the end shall provide inspiration to those who are dead.
The border of this item was burning with black flames, unlike the typical unique item window where it's usually red flames.
Also, even though the item had no effect and only had a history, I was overwhelmed by it.
"Now then, the starting bidding price is set as 4 Ormachon tokens!"
As soon as he finished speaking, people's signs began to rise one after the other.
"5…6…7…8…9! 9 Ormachon tokens! Any higher price?!"
Marie raised the sign with a determined expression on her face. The sign had a picture of an open hand.
"It seems that we have someone who would like to propose a price, everyone!"
The host shouted with an excited voice and the entire venue focused their attention on Marie.
I noticed her lips were slightly shaking as if she was a little nervous.
Then Marie shouted loudly.
"25000 Gold, 25 Ormachon tokens!"
Cheers burst from the people around.
Then, the sound of small applause quietly echoed through the space.
"Alright, 25000 gold! Which are 25 Ormachon tokens! Any higher price?"
Then a voice from a man came from behind.
" 50000 gold, which is 50 tokens."
The host stared at the man behind us with a bewildered expression. I too tried to turn my head to the back to take a look at who it was, but Marie grabbed my hand.
"Don't look now, focus!"
I stared at the stage at her resolute words.
Then she held up the sign one more time. The number of tokens we had was 25, and yet the picture of the hand drawn on the sign she held up was wide open.
"75000 gold. 75 in tokens!"
Soon there was a burst of shouts in astonishment from all around. The host's face trembled.
"Yahaha!!! We've got 75 tokens right now!!!!"
I carefully stared at Marie as the host shouted to the point his voice cracked.
"Better safe than sorry. If the man wants that then I am sure he will…"
And as soon as she finished speaking,
"100000 gold. 100 Tokens."
The man said with an indifferent attitude and tone.
The crowd was completely overwhelmed and stayed silent. Only the host standing on the stage was screaming.
"We got!!! 100 thousand gold! The auction just started and we've got such a tremendous price already!"
Marie let go of my hand in the midst of the chaos, let a cold sweat run down her chin, and smiled.
"It's him!"
Our eyes met, and we both nodded at each other.
And looked at our back.
Towards where the voice came from.
And chased his voice.
The man who I finally found,
It was definitely not the first time I had seen him.
At that moment in my eyes,
Scenes from the past began to flash by.
The scenes that passed in a flashback stopped only when it reached the small seaside town of Linduroak. And I remembered the face of a person I met there.
"Th-that person is…"
He was the man who was hosting a draw gambling. He was the person who sold me the rare necklace! That man was here and now!
This reminded me of the Sworder with baggy eyes who was killed by Robin, Kia. Right, he was chasing after that old man. The name was…
"I remember."
I muttered to myself without realizing it. Marie looked at me weird for this. Still, the name was all I had in my mind.
Gambler Lairo. That was his name.
I looked up at Lairo. His face, clearly visible through the crevice of his helmet, was looking straight at me and smiling.
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