The Bounty Auction (6)
The next item up for bid is a jacket crafted seven years ago through the collaboration of the sorcerer McIntosh, the designer Schwein, and the Arad Workshop. It’s the famous Agrippa Jacket. Those in the know will recognize it immediately—the Agrippa jacket allowed its wearer to eliminate all political rivals single-handedly. And the key to that success was this very piece…
Taeyang, who had been lounging back in a massive chair with a relaxed posture, suddenly lit up.
“That looks pretty good.”
“The Agrippa Jacket! You’ve got an eye for quality!”
“McIntosh’s sorcery has never failed before.”
“Damn it, if I’d known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have killed him. Now the price has skyrocketed for no reason.”
Antigone Plot’s half-hearted grumbling turned the auction hall into a sea of laughter. The story of McIntosh losing his life after hitting on her was a well-known anecdote in Amerigo.
Taeyang joined in the laughter along with everyone else.
Unlike Messiah.
The situation was humiliating enough for Messiah. Yet he maintained his composure. He had planned to cause chaos, but he still intended to participate in the auction. The auction hosted by Angel featured items that could instantly boost even top-tier players like Messiah or Taeyang.
“Five hundred thousand points.”
“Five hundred thousand! We have five hundred thousand points!”
The auctioneer’s voice was filled with both admiration for the high price and surprise that the item was going for so little. Whoever he was, he had a natural talent for running auctions.
Starting with Messiah, hands began to rise.
“Seven hundred fifty thousand.”
“Eight hundred thousand.”
“Nine hundred thousand.”
“Nine hundred thousand! Nine hundred thousand!”
The price climbed rapidly. Messiah raised his hand again.
“One point five million.”
In an instant, every gaze in the hall turned to Messiah. One and a half million wasn’t an impossible sum for the attendees, but it was still a significant amount.
At that moment, Taeyang raised his hand.
“Two million.”
“Two million! We have two million points!”
Messiah raised his hand once more.
“Two point two million.”
Taeyang immediately countered.
“Two point five million.”
“Ahem.”
Messiah studied Taeyang’s expression. He could have raised the bid further, but two players openly competing like this wasn’t ideal.
“Two point five million. Any more bids? …If no one else bids during the next three calls, it will be sold as is.”
The guests showed no interest in speaking up. Whether it was because the overall atmosphere favored Taeyang or because they were saving money for the upcoming V-Heroin auction was unclear.
“Two point five million. Two point five million. Two point five million! Sold!”
“Can I pay now?”
“Ah, you can pay after the auction ends. When you receive the item then…”
Thud.
Before the auctioneer could finish, Taeyang tossed over a gem. It was worth ten million points.
“No appraisal certificate, but you won’t need one. It’s something you’ll recognize.”
Taeyang grinned. The gem had also come from Angel’s warehouse. Even the appraisal certificate was still sitting there untouched.
“Keep the change. Consider the rest as advance payment for future auctions. With this, I can take the item right away, right?”
Grind.
Only Angel, seated in the back, ground his teeth while everyone else nodded in agreement. Taeyang received the jacket and put it on immediately.
“Hah, nice.”
One advantage of the ‘Bounty’ stage was that the items here were clothing styles very familiar to modern people—users. Because this stage was technologically more advanced than most previous ones, the comfort was excellent and the performance didn’t fall short either.
“This next item is sure to stimulate the purchasing desires of our discerning customers! Blood Tear Stone! A vampire sheds tears only once in their lifetime. This particular Blood Tear Stone was extracted seven years ago…”
The auction participants listening to the explanation began to snicker.
“A Blood Tear Stone? Looks like we’re getting another one today.”
“Right. Better keep an eye on the back. They might be secretly plotting something.”
“The sight of making a Blood Tear Stone would be rarer than the stone itself. A live show, even.”
“Kekeke, that sounds fun. I’d pay three times the stone’s value for that.”
Finally, Angel couldn’t hold back and slammed the table.
BOOM!
“Your insults have gone too far.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were listening. You were so quiet I thought you’d gone to the bathroom.”
“Whoops, gotta be careful.”
Apologies that weren’t really apologies, still dripping with mockery. Having held the position of a powerhouse in Amerigo for so long, the crowd wasn’t about to let Angel off easily.
‘These hyena bastards.’
Even so, he couldn’t end the auction here. The current situation was already humiliating enough, but if he let his anger ruin things, they would mock him with this incident not just today, but forever.
‘Yoon Taeyang. I will definitely kill you.’
While Angel renewed his hatred for Taeyang, the auction continued.
“Three hundred thousand. Three hundred thousand. Three hundred thousand! Blood Tear Stone, sold!”
The winner of the Blood Tear Stone was Messiah.
“Even if not for this stage, there are plenty of uses for it later.”
“What?”
“Ah, nothing. Is that Blood Tear Stone actually useful?”
The six-million-point criminal, Bimal Straight, answered.
“At the very least, it has plenty of value as a gem. It’s a vampire’s tear, after all. The tears of Amerigo’s highest echelon.”
“Not the artistic value. It’s from a vampire. Isn’t there some magical or… practical use?”
“Ahh. It has value in that regard too. Vampires are inherently supernatural beings. They’re highly valuable as magical reagents, and for sorcery—though I don’t know much about it—their value as offerings is astronomical. And there’s something even more important.”
Bimal Straight lowered his voice.
“They say you can become a vampire with a Blood Tear Stone.”
“You can become a vampire?”
At that moment, the six-million-point criminal Antigone Plot cut in.
“It’s not confirmed. Just a rumor. A rumor.”
“Speak properly. It’s not a rumor, it’s a record.”
“A record from decades ago? I don’t believe anything I haven’t seen with my own eyes. Has anyone here actually witnessed someone become a vampire using a Blood Tear Stone? Not a single person, right?”
Bimal Straight frowned.
“Don’t butt in and ruin the mood.”
“Sorry. Can’t help my personality.”
“Tch. Even after all this time, you’re still unpleasant.”
The two began growling at each other. Taeyang shrugged. In conclusion, it was true that one could become a vampire using a Blood Tear Stone. However, one condition was required: the original V-Heroin crafting sorcery. That grimoire, lost even among vampires. It contained the method to become a vampire without being bitten by another. In other words, V-Heroin was actually a failed byproduct of researching the secret art of vampirization. Yet that failure had its own merits—it granted vampire traits for a limited time and provided extreme pleasure, giving it commercial value.
More precisely, players from the fifteenth floor and above. A copy of the V-Heroin crafting sorcery original had once circulated in the shelter.
“Who knows.”
Like Taeyang, Messiah paid on the spot and received his item. The auction continued, running much longer than originally planned. Because Angel had lost the V-Heroin, he had stuffed in extra items to fill the gaps. This worked in Taeyang’s favor. People were saving their money in anticipation of the V-Heroin, so auction items tended to sell for relatively low prices. Taeyang purchased quite a few items through the auction. More precisely, he bought anything whose performance was comparable to what he was currently wearing.
‘Hard greaves, rough fabric. I’m sick of this. Can’t get used to it.’
Beyond appearance, comfort and familiarity were factors that could directly improve one’s skill. Ah, of course, he also bought a few things for Ran. Whether she would like them was another matter.
Finally, the last prepared item appeared. People began glancing furtively at Taeyang. It was silent pressure to bring out the V-Heroin. Taeyang pulled the V-Heroin from his inner pocket.
“Ooh!”
“That’s quite a lot?”
“How many doses is that?”
“At least a month’s worth if you ration it.”
The atmosphere shifted. Not everyone here had used V-Heroin, but most had. Some even felt the urge to attack Taeyang right then and there. Yet they refrained, first because they had witnessed his abilities, and second because they possessed enough self-control to overcome their physical cravings. Taeyang tossed the bag of V-Heroin to the auctioneer.
“That precious thing!”
“Aaaagh!”
For a moment, the club fell silent. Fortunately, the auctioneer managed to catch the bag. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow and forced a smooth smile.
“Ha, haha. You’re more… no, far more bold than I expected.”
The surrounding people glared at Taeyang. Of course, Taeyang paid them no mind whatsoever. Leaning back into his chair, he muttered.
“Hyeonhye, shall we get started?”
* * *
Messiah was deep in thought. According to the original plan, he should have already signaled his allies to raid Club Pantheon. But a variable had appeared. A massive variable named Yoon Taeyang. It wasn’t that he was shrinking back just to avoid offending Taeyang. The problem was his combat power. A terrifying level of strength capable of wiping out Angel’s subordinates in an instant. In the worst case, if Taeyang decided to intervene, Messiah could end up captured without achieving anything. A powerful group could be dismantled through strategy and tactics, but such methods didn’t work against a powerful individual.
“Damn it.”
At that moment, Messiah’s chat window began scrolling rapidly.
Messiah’s pupils dilated. Streamer Dal-nim? Why was she here?
[‘Dal-nim’ has donated 100,000 won!]
Proceed as planned. Now. Go go go go go go
Messiah’s face twisted into something bizarre.
“As planned?”
[‘Dal-nim’ has donated 100,000 won!]
You were planning to raid the auction house around now, weren’t you? I watched the whole broadcast. lol
Hyeonhye muttered while watching the monitor.
“He said he didn’t want to move together, but there’s no reason not to use him like this.”
It was efficient to use every available card. Neither Hyeonhye nor Taeyang were the type to let emotions cloud their judgment and miss out on gains. Especially not in Dantalion, where lives were on the line.
“Hah!”
Messiah let out a savage laugh. The situation was more humiliating than he had imagined. But he, too, was not someone who would lose sight of practical gains because of his emotions.
“Being used… I can gladly accept it. As long as I can climb higher.”
Messiah gave the signal.
And then—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
One entire wall of Club Pantheon was blown away.