"I am the plus one of Fredrick Graham." Before the bodyguard could ask, Betty answered. The bodyguard looked at her for a few seconds and also gave her a yellow wristband.
The same one as Emma.
Emma could be said to be foaming at the mouth as she had never been so lucky before ever in her life.
She never even won a single bet in her life due to her bad luck but now it looked like the world was finally paying her back for all the mistreatments she had endured.
She wanted to burst out a toothy grin but stopped herself as she didn't want to alarm the old woman.
She needed to approach Betty as naturally as possible. She took a few deep breaths to calm down her bubbling emotions and stood at the end of the line.
To her delight, Betty came up to her and smiled. Emma instantly put a mask on her inner feelings and smiled politely in return.
"Can I stand here? We have the same wristband so I feel more comfortable with you," Betty asked in a soft voice.
Hearing the woman older than her ask for her permission before standing beside her made Emma embarrassed. Betty was almost as old as her mother so she felt a bit ashamed receiving such respect.
She hastily replied, "Yes, sure."
"I'm Betty Graham," Betty introduced herself as she looked at Emma. She was a social woman so she wasn't used to standing alone. Hence, it led her to make small talk with Emma.
"I'm Emma Woods," Emma shook hands with her and gave her a simple smile.
"I'm not used to standing like this so I took the liberty to introduce myself. I feel a little embarrassed at my behavior." Betty mistook Emma's smile as a forced one and explained.
"Oh, no. That's completely fine." Emma was never good at comforting others so she denied Betty's statement half-heartedly or so it seemed like that.
Seeing Betty lower her head made Emma realize that her empty words didn't look sincere so she added. "I'm also nervous because it's my first time attending an event like this and I was the only one without another person to accompany me so your presence has helped me calm my nerves also."
Emma wanted to make a good first impression as old people valued a person's character. She didn't want to appear fickle and simple-minded.
Betty smiled at Emma's words. It looked like she had misunderstood the intentions of the young child and she laughed at Emma's cuteness as she tried to explain herself.
"It's okay. You don't need to stress yourself too much." Betty said and turned her gaze to the guard.
Emma also went silent. The last thing she wanted to do was to appear as overbearing and chatty. The night was long, she would have plenty of time to chat with Betty and gain her favor.
She was also in no rush to get to know Betty as she still needed to make sure she had the right person.
She was lost in her deep ruminations when her attention got disrupted by the loud voice of the blonde bunny girl.
"Hello, Hello! Once again, we meet! You must be excited to participate in the bidding process but let me break down the meaning of your wristbands first."
Emma knew this was coming the moment they gave them different colored wristbands. Emma thought they might have separated them into different groups to ease the tense environment.
"Let's begin! There are 4 colors, yellow, purple, green, and orange. Each of them corresponds to the sequence in which you are allowed to bid on the objects. And each of the four groups will have a specific time during which only they are allowed to bid."
The entire room became almost noiseless at her words. The participants had not expected to be allocated time and sequence during which they are allowed to bid.
This type of lineup entailed that the group that got the time slot nearest to the concluding time limit would be able to win huge prizes without having to fight for anything as they only needed to keep the people in their group in check which greatly reduced the competition.
Whereas, those who got a time slot, in the beginning, were bound to fail as their names and bids wouldn't be the last and in turn, they might not get anything at all.
This was a messed-up plan. Emma felt a lot of loopholes in such an arrangement and thought that it was way more sinister and evil this way and observed the situation cautiously.
The classification of people in groups foreshadowed the upcoming tension and hurdles.
Emma didn't make any move to intervene and ask the meaning behind Ms. Bunny's words.
From what she could decipher, if one got a time slot in the ending limit, they would win big but they would also be the most vulnerable prey for those who didn't get anything at all.
Maybe that's why Asher told her that Greed is a Curse here and she had to be attentive to her surroundings.
"Now, let me explain the time slots and colors of your wristbands." Ms. Bunny calmly said as she sat on the sofa. "The auction time for valid bidding is from 11 pm and lasts until 7 am."
"The attendees with "yellow" bands have time slots from 11 pm- 7 am. Those with "Purple" have 12 am- 7 am. "Green" and "Orange" will share the slots from 1 am- 7 am."
Emma washed down the information provided and tried to read between the lines to understand what the organizer wanted to achieve by doing this.
This meant that the yellow ones were the biggest benefactors as they were given full-time to ensure their bid on the items.
However, there was a downside to this. Since they were given a lot of time, they would get tired of protecting their desired items and fighting among themselves and with others for the items they bid on which could open doors for other individuals to easily overpower them.
But not everyone thought so deeply. They became infuriated as they heard that people with Yellow wristbands would have the most time bidding.
"You can't do something like this. Nothing like this was mentioned on the website. You are scamming us! You are playing favorites here. Don't expect us to believe this bullsh*t." A man with an orange wristband yelled from the back.
"Yes, that's right. You can't cheat us like that! How can we know that it is not a scheme of yours to not give us a chance to bid and help your chosen people win the big bucket? We have seen through this method of yours when we came up! If you want to make it fair, give us all an equal chance and time to bid." A middle-aged woman wearing a purple wrist tag screeched in a high-pitched voice.
Since they had raised their voices, others also gained enough confidence and began voicing their dissent against this organization.
Hence, many people expressed dissatisfaction with these rules by yelling and refusing to accept the terms as they hadn't been told about such arrangements beforehand.
Some of them even tore off their bands and threw them to the floor. All the while, the blondie remained calm and collected.
She didn't show any discomfort on her face and smiled at the curses hurled her way.
After the mass rage had calmed down a little, she rose the mic up to her lips and said, "You came here knowing that you were bound to follow the rules and regulations of the auction house, so you don't have the right to argue with us regarding the rules. Since you have breached the agreement you just signed, we have the authority to revoke your partner's tickets and not allow you to participate."
"I am sorry to inform you that all of you who have thrown away your wristbands are no longer allowed to remain here or participate in this auction. We bid you guys a good night!" Blondie said in a hoarse voice, motioning the bodyguards to throw the people outside.
Albeit all the enraged voices of disagreement from these people, the burly guards escorted them out of the room.
Emma observed the situation and remained motionless. After a little while, the room became quiet again.
"Now, where were we?" Ms. Bunny asked as if nothing had happened. She still smiled and her enthusiasm didn't diminish at all.
"Let me remind you once again. You are allowed to use any means to ensure that your name is the last one on the list of bidders with a price you are willing to pay for that object in your designated time. The winner is the person whose name is the last one under that object. No other restrictions."
"Those whose time starts after midnight are free to go back to their rooms and relax. They will be allowed to enter 5 minutes before their allotted time begins. I wish you all to have a fantastic night and win a lot of prizes tonight!"
"Now, if the people with yellow bands please follow me. I will guide you to the place where these artifacts are placed."