Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
-So this is Macau.-
I had arrived at Macau International Airport two hours later. It felt a little weird, as I was just in Cairo a few hours before.
As I left the airport, I noticed that the airport and surrounding area were pretty well kept. The people shuffling in and out of the buildings were all dressed in expensive clothes. I could tell most of them were upper class.
Before I left Cairo, I had cleaned out my suitcase of all my old, musty clothes and replaced them with the new, expensive clothes the Myth Guild had provided me. I still had the Duck Duck shirt and a few clothes tucked away in my room at the Myth Guild’s base. The suit I had on right now was a high-quality suit tailored just for me.
I hailed a cab.
“Take me to the Hive auction house.”
“Were you invited?”
“Yes.”
“I…I see. I’ll get you there safely, sir.” The driver’s face stiffened at my answer.
About twenty minutes later, the cab stopped in front of a ritzy-looking building.
“This is it. The building on the left is the auction house, and the building we’re in front of is the hotel.”
“I see. Thank you.” I paid the driver and stepped out. There were quite a few guards around, patrolling the hotel’s grounds. I walked past them and entered the lobby.
“Welcome. This hotel is for Hive auction participants only. Do you have an invitation?”
“Yes, right here.” I took out the invitation and handed it to the receptionist.
“Ah, I see you are VVIP guest. I am the hotel’s manager.” The hotel manager bowed so low that I was afraid his head would hit the floor.
“Please, follow me, Mr. Lee. I’ll take you to the penthouse suite.”
I followed him all the way up to the penthouse suite.
“The auction begins tomorrow at 8 PM. There is a banquet before the auction at 6. You can attend if you like, or rest if you’re tired.” The manager explained more about room service and other amenities before bowing deeply and leaving.
“That’s some hospitality.” It honestly felt a little uncomfortable. I had never received such treatment before. “Well, I get to sleep at such a ritzy hotel and eat good food. Do I need to thank Toh and Wanhu for all this?”
One entire wall of the suite was filled with drinks, liquor, and snacks. There was 24-hour room service as well. The best part of it all was that it was all free!
“Well, since I’m here…I should take advantage of it all, right?” I picked up the room phone and ordered one of every single item on the menu.
Meanwhile, at a large villa overlooking the Hive auction house…
“Lee Jiwon has just arrived at the hotel.”
“He’s finally here.”
“I thought he disappeared on us when he entered the dungeon after receiving the invitation, but it seems he timed his arrival perfectly.”
“What should we do now?” Toh asked Wanhu.
“What else can we do? Just do the same we’ve always done.” Wanhu replied as she picked up her tea. “Once the auction is over, we invite him to talk, and turn him into a buddy, then.”
“Very well, let’s do that. Then the prize for the 22nd auction is Lee Jiwon, who defeated the Blood Prince, one on one?”
“I suppose so.”
“I expect the 22nd auction will be buzzing with excitement, eh?”
I slept in until late morning the next day. I ordered more room service and lazed around some. It was a reward to myself for working so hard lately.
“Damn it, it’s already six?” I lazily got up to shower, put my suit on and headed for the lobby. There, I followed the hotel’s employees’ directions to the banquet hall.
As soon as I entered the hall, I saw that there was already quite a crowd gathered. There were some in normal clothes, but there were also others that had their equips set to visible. I also recognized a few famous faces from my past life.
-That’s the guild master of Cheng Long Guild, the number 1 guild in China.-
I didn’t remember the exact number, but I knew that the guild had over a million members. The guild definitely had the numbers, but also had powerful members to go with it. I remembered seeing the guild master on TV and in the papers many times.
It was then that a man came up to me. He was in his early thirties, and wasn’t of European or East Asian descent.
“Are you Lee Jiwon?”
“I am.”
“Whoa! I wasn’t sure if it was you, but you really are him! It’s so good to meet you. I had no idea I would meet someone so famous here.”
“Uh…thanks.”
“Your battle against the Blood Prince was amazing!”
“Um…who are you?”
“Ohmigosh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Akashwi Aman, of India’s Labi Guild. My father is the guild master, and I’m the captain of our Second Assault team.”
“I see. It’s nice to meet you, too.” I knew just about all the strong guilds from my past life, but had never heard of the Labi Guild. It was probably just a normal guild.
-Wait a second…Labi Guild? Akashwi Aman?-
I suddenly remembered someone I had heard about from India. Lagus Aman, a Liberation soldier, known also as the Demon King!
“Ah! The Labi Guild. I have heard about it a few times.” I pretended I knew about the guild in case this person really was connected to Lagus Aman.
Lagus Aman was a bit of a celebrity to me back then. He would battle large guilds to liberate the controlled dungeons so that weaker devas like me could use them without having to pay outrageous fees. He was that strong.
“Have you really heard of us?”
“Yes, only in passing though.”
“It’s an honor!”
“I also heard that you have siblings?”
“You heard that too?”
“It came up briefly in a conversation…I grew up alone and was always envious of those with siblings.”
“I see. I have an older brother named Lagus, and a younger sister named Soneera.”
“!!!”
-I always thought that Lagus was born with a wooden spoon…I guess not.-
Very few rumors about Lagus circulated, and not much was known about him.
-Still, there should have been something about the Lavi Guild if the guild master was his father…Lagus did have a lot of enemies. Maybe the Lavi Guild disappeared.-
Akashwi and a few other devas were staring at me in interest. I smiled back, but I could tell they were all wealthy and powerful since before the Otadolon stage.
“It’s so pathetic seeing all those other devas try to get stand at our level.”
“I know, right?”
“It’s hilarious to watch them hunt monsters with just a few Rank 1-3 items. I laugh all the time.”
“It never ceases to amaze me how they think they can catch up to us with just effort alone.”
“Too right. Don’t you think so too, Mr. Lee?”
“Yeah, sure.” I definitely did not think so, but there was no point in raising their ire. I was no hero for the weak, I just needed to answer ‘Yes’ and wait for it all to be over.
The banquet ended exactly at 8 and everyone moved as one towards the auction house. Just then, Akashwi came up from behind me.
“It would have been better if we all started at the same time.”
“Excuse me?”
“They laugh at other devas’ hard work, while they were the ones who capitalized on Don Gates way before the Otadolon stage was in full swing.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew exactly what he was getting at.
“I knew from the look on your face that you were different from them. Lagus, my older brother, always told me this:’Never try to have more than others. It’ll only slow you down.'” Akashwi left me with that and moved out in front of me.
I quickly followed him into the auction house.
I was one of the few VVIP in here, it seemed. I could see the entire auction from my assigned seat. Next to me was the guild master of Cheng Long Guild and a woman I had never seen before.
Soon, the stage’s curtain rose, revealing a single man.
“Welcome, all, to the 21st Hive auction. My name is Jinra, and I’ll be the auction master today.” No one applauded at his self-introduction. “Let’s get this auction started.”
Prepared to spend the ‘bait’, I leaned back in the comfortable chair and waited to see what items would be on display. I picked up a piece of chocolate from the bowl in front of me and peeled the wrapper.
“This item is Rank 6…”
“This item is Rank 5…”
“This item is Rank 7…”
Rank 7 was the highest rank so far.
“This next item is a Rank 7 cuirass. I believe it to be the best equip for fighter classes. Once you all see it, you’ll understand why we didn’t sell it at Store and brought it here instead.”
I leaned in when he said that it was a cuirass. My chest armor was still only Rank 2.
“I present the Fire Dragon Cuirass.”
[Fire Dragon Cuirass (Rank 7)
A cuirass forged from ore found in a volcano where the Fire Dragon once resided. The armor is of high quality, even though it was forged by a journeyman smith. The armor is imbued with the fire of the Fire Dragon. Had a master smith forged the armor, the quality would truly be second to none.
Increase STR by 200
Increase VIT by 100
Increase WIL by 50
Increase Penetration Resistance by 42
Increase Fire resistance by 20%
Decrease incoming Fire Damage by 30%
Decrease incoming Critical damage by 85%
Durability: 575,000/575,000
DEF 1500, MDEF 1550]
“As you can see, it is the perfect armor for fighter classes. It boasts high DEF and MDEF.”
My standards were high now that I had Rank 10 boots, and a Rank 8 weapon and bracelet, but that armor was pretty damn appealing.
“We’ll begin the bid at 50,000,000 golden rings.”
“51 million!”
“52!”
It was the perfect armor against fire mages and fire-based monsters, especially since there were a lot of fire mages.
-I kind of want it…-
Soon, the bid had gone up to sixty-five million. If I tried to buy it now, I wouldn’t be able to bid for the item that I did want.
“83 million.”
“We have 83 million. Do we have 84?” No one spoke out. “Sold at 83 million!”
I watched the cuirass go with longing eyes.
“This next item has quite a lot of effects. I present to you… the Necklace of Fallen Royalty!”
[Necklace of Fallen Royalty (Rank 7)
A powerful royal family could not withstand the tides of time. Powerful kingdoms will always rise and fall and their thousand-year old history will never truly save them from the dangers ahead. This necklace holds the wish of a royal family that it will one day return to its former glory.
Increase Movement Speed by 5%
Increase ATT Speed by 5%
Increase all stats by 100 points each
Increase CRIT chance by 2.4%, increase CRIT damage by 80%
Increase EXP gained from monsters by 5%
Increase golden rings gained from monsters by 5%
Restore HP by 100 for each monster slain
DEF 400, MDEF 400]
“We’ll begin the bid at 50,000,000 golden rings.”
“51.”
“52.”
“54.”
“100.” If this necklace wasn’t already on the pamphlet, I would have bid on the cuirass instead. This necklace was more than worth the free 100,000,000 golden rings I got for coming to this place. I really should thank Toh and Wanhu later.
“100,000,000 golden rings! The man in back bids 100,000,000 golden rings!”
I was leaning back in my chair with my legs crossed and held a calm expression, but I was freaking out on the inside. I prayed that no one else would bid.
“It seems like a nice item to have,” the guild master beside me quietly said. “However, it would be very rude to steal it away from an up-and-comer such as yourself, wouldn’t it?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome,” the guild master nodded.
“Sold at 100,000,000 golden rings!”
I sighed in relief. An employee carefully brought the necklace over and I handed her all of my Gold Coins. I put it on as soon as it was in my hands.
After that, they brought out ten random chests, and each sold for at least 10,000,000 golden rings.
-They’re all scams though…-
I knew they were all fakes, but kept quiet. I didn’t want to get kicked out or anything quite yet. Besides, the people who bought them could more than afford to. If I could screw all of them over, I would. That is, except for Akashwi.
“Now then, we have saved the best for last! Master Toh will personally begin the bid on this final item.” At that moment, Toh walked onto the stage, followed by an expressionless man. He was a host.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Toh.”
I stared at Toh and our eyes soon met. I smiled slightly. The bait he cast was pretty damn tasty.
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