Auction (3)
Auction (3)
The auction proceeded smoothly.
In a perfectly ordinary fashion: the host would step onto the stage, introduce each auction item, shout out the starting price, and participants would press their given buttons to bid.
"Nothing's happening, is it?"
"You're right. There doesn't seem to be any sign of trouble brewing, either."
"Well, if it passes without any incidents, that's good for us."
"That's true, too. Ah, I need to buy that one."
From outside the glass window of the VIP room, specially prepared above the general seating, the stage where the auction was taking place could be clearly seen below.
The host standing on the stage cleared away the item that had just been sold and introduced a new one.
[This item is the 'Wind Orb', discovered in the S-rank Gate 'King of the Sky' that appeared in southern Italy. The starting price is 500 million! Let the auction begin!]
The item for this auction was a green-tinted orb about the size of a head.
I had no intention of buying it, but since the auction started, all sorts of items imbued with unique powers or magic were appearing, making it quite entertaining to watch.
"Why that? There's no use for it."
"It's an item that a villain, later called the 'Walking Storm', carries around. It possesses the ability to amplify wind attributes and store magic power."
"Is that so? Then is that guy here, too?"
"No. Originally, a capitalist in Europe buys it as a gift for their son, but later, it gets stolen by the villain and ends up in their hands."
Furthermore, for some items, Shin Su-ah would explain the reason for purchasing them along with the stories tangled up with the items, so the auction wasn't boring.
Perhaps because the guy who would be called the 'Walking Storm' in the future was quite a nuisance, Shin Su-ah pressed the button to re-bid without a moment's hesitation whenever someone made a higher bid.
One might wonder if her capital is okay if she just blindly makes higher bids without even looking at the price like that, but Shin Su-ah's financial power is even more incredible than one would think.
The Gates full of all sorts of miraculous encounters she had been running through without rest had made her one of the richest people in Korea.
Normally, she might have had trouble disposing of the treasures brought out from inside the Gates, or might not have received their proper value, but she handled everything at fair value with the help of Baek Yeon.
"Even if I earn money, could it compare to Nidhogg-nim?"
"That's because I inherited the legacy."
Do not underestimate the legacy of the Dragon King who lived for over thousands of years.
Even excluding the portion to be passed down to Haeryeong and what is still stacked in the warehouse without being cashed out, the Dragon King's legacy is a fortune that could easily crush Su-ah.
While continuing the conversation, Shin Su-ah, who kept pressing the higher bid button, finally succeeded in winning the bid for the Wind Orb.
And for a whopping 18.5 billion.
Anyone could see that this item was an overpay.
However, Shin Su-ah rather seemed relieved as she swept her hair back and mocked the opponent who had followed until the end.
"They keep following and bothering me when they can't even win. It's not like my money is going to run out because of that."
"Isn't it because you win the bid for everything that looks somewhat useful whenever it comes out?"
"Hmph. Then should I let all those things fall into the hands of villains? I can't let them take items they can't even keep safe."
Snorting, Shin Su-ah, who claimed it was the fault of other customers who couldn't protect their items, not her own fault, continued to win the bid for everything that looked useful, saying this is like this and that is like that.
Rather than an auction, it was truly Shin Su-ah's solo stage.
Although other customers sitting in the general seats who participated in the auction glared this way with resentful eyes every time they had their items snatched away, they couldn't overcome Shin Su-ah, who had come out prepared to dump her entire fortune.
Several hours had passed since the auction began, and it was around the time it was slowly entering the latter half.
Now that high-priced artworks and such were coming out, I wasn't paying much attention and was just enjoying the refreshments prepared in the VIP room when a quite interesting item came up for auction.
All the items with magic power that had appeared in the auction so far had taken the form of weapons, armor, or accessories.
They were all in the form of tools that humans could use.
However, the item that came out this time was in a form that was a bit hard to call a tool, even though it possessed magic power.
'A painting?'
A painting that looked to be at least 2 meters in width and height.
I was watching with interest to see what kind of painting it was that it possessed magic power, and the host explained the item.
[This painting is a work found by an exploration team in the Permafrost of northern Russia, a place that can no longer be visited, after they defeated monsters released by a Gate Break in a ruined city. The identity of the artist who painted it could not be confirmed, but considering the expert appraisal results, the fact that it came from an impassable area, and the seller's request, we will start the auction at 1.3 billion!]
As soon as the auction started, people here and there bid, and the price soared.
The price, which started at 1.3 billion, exceeded 2 billion in less than a minute.
While everyone was bidding as if possessed, Shin Su-ah and I just sat still and watched it.
A painting depicting a snowy city landscape.
Although a unique magic power could be felt, it wasn't a painting I wanted to possess.
"Are you not participating this time?"
"It's not a painting I particularly want."
"Judging by the magic power felt, it might have a special function, right?"
"I know, but looking at that Painting of Ruins makes me think of before the regression for no reason, so I don't like it."
Shin Su-ah shuddered while looking at the painting.
Thinking of before the regression.
I knew the city she lived in before the regression was falling apart, but was it that miserable?
"That's because Nidhogg-nim froze everything and sprayed deadly poison into the air."
"You survived well."
"I think it's a miracle, too."
"You have no idea how many times I almost died," Shin Su-ah said, glaring with eyes burning with rage.
She is speaking playfully now thanks to the regression, but there was a slight trace of fear in Shin Su-ah's eyes as she recalled that time.
Just as I was about to make a joke to ease even that slight tension.
Something was caught on the magic detection I had been maintaining without a second's rest since arriving, not knowing when an incident might occur.
I thought an incident had finally occurred, but the strange things caught on the magic detection gradually increased one by one.
The speed at which they were increasing was so fast that even Shin Su-ah, who hadn't noticed when something first appeared, quickly realized something was wrong, stood up from her seat, and donned her armor.
"Nidhogg-nim."
"Yes. It seems an incident has occurred this time, too."
"The number is too high. Just what I've detected is already over thirty."
"In my detection, it's already over a hundred."
"We must evacuate the people quickly..."
When Shin Su-ah said that much, Monochrome, which was conducting the auction, also seemed to realize the occurrence of the incident and reacted quickly.
[Dear guests. As some of you may already know, there has been a slight commotion outside. Please wait here until the situation calms down.]
They say an incident occurs every time it opens, and their response is fast.
The host communicated with the higher-ups via an in-ear device in their ear and announced that the auction would resume shortly once the commotion subsided.
The guests inside the auction house also seemed used to the incidents that broke out every time; those who came with escorts had them step forward to protect their masters, and guests who trusted in their own strength waited while chatting leisurely.
However, there was something no one in this place expected.
Thump, thump-
One person stepped forward as if ignoring the host's request to wait in their seats.
A white man with a sturdy physique climbed onto the stage for everyone to see.
[Guest. Please wait in your seat...]
"Shut up."
The man grabbed the face of the host who was blocking him from coming onto the stage and threw them to the side.
The host, who seemed to be a high-ranking Awakened, couldn't even resist the sudden attack from the guest and flew off, hitting the wall, and barely stood up while spitting out blood, perhaps because their insides were hurt.
The man left alone on the stage picked up the microphone the host had dropped, looked around at the audience, and said.
"Attention."
......
"As of this moment, this place is taken over by Severniye Teni. Resistance means death, so everyone stay in your seats and do not move."
When the man's words ended, silence flowed through the audience.
It wasn't because they were scared.
It was simply because they were dumbfounded.
The people gathered here were all people who had proven their qualifications to be invited to Monochrome, which means they were all people who were capable in terms of wealth or martial power.
I don't know what kind of place Severniye Teni is, but there were plenty of people in this auction house who possessed power similar to that man standing on the stage.
Therefore, after a brief silence, one person stood up from their seat as if to object to his words.
"Are you the culprit behind this situation? Then if I take care of you, I might get some crumbs from Monochrome..."
"For your information, I really hate repeating the same thing."
Crunch!!
As the man threw a punch into the air, the head of the person who had stood up exploded like a watermelon.
"Kyaaaaah-!!"
"Y-you crazy bastard! He really killed him!"
"F-fuck. I didn't even see it!"
Screams and fear from the audience filled the inside of the auction house.
If one were to ask if the person who jumped up from their seat was weak, that wasn't the case.
The person who jumped up definitely possessed power on a similar scale to the man on the stage.
However, even such a person had their head exploded with just one punch.
Sensing something strange about that, I enhanced my vision with magic power and examined him closely.
"Look at this?"
"Nidhogg-nim. Do you know something?"
"That guy over there. He has a 'line' connected to him."
"A line? What kind of line? I don't see anything."
"That's obvious. Since they hid it so tightly, there's no way you could see it."
I don't know what method they used, but it wasn't enough to deceive the eyes of a dragon looking with sincerity, so it was visible to me.
The last item of the suspended auction.
The painting depicting ruins.
The line of magic power connecting that painting and the man on the stage.