Chapter 133: GG

"EEEEEEEK!"

Diana, unable to contain her fury, stomped the floor over and over.

KUUU-BOOM! KWAAAH-BOOM!

Her mana churned in wild disarray, throwing the entire area into chaos. The hall lay in ruin, as though some violent storm had torn clean through it.

She tamped her anger back down and exhaled a trembling breath. "To think that I... that I, of all people, was made to cower...?"

It had been the moment the second ticket's auction neared its end. To shake her opponent loose, she had driven the price up in a single leap.

She had been certain — at this figure, the win was obviously hers. It came to a full three times what the first ticket had fetched. This was no piece of equipment with lasting use, nor an elixir that permanently raised one's stats.

'Hmm...' Even she felt a faint sting at the thought of the money. But then, hurling yourself at possibility was surely a mage's most noble resolve, was it not? 'You never know. Something fascinating might be hiding in there.'

She was still rationalizing away as she waited for the hammer to fall—

The man had slammed down another 500 million gold. A bidding leap no one could have seen coming. 'Huh...?' For an instant her mind went blank, her body shivering faintly. Five hundred million gold? Someone seriously meant to pay that much for this?

Confronted with something beyond all common sense, her hand would not move. Was chasing that bid truly the right call? Could the man simply be laboring under some grand delusion? Countless thoughts swept through her head all at once, and before even one of them could finish—

The ticket had been sold before her thinking was even done. "That insolent little...!"

More than the loss of the ticket itself, she burned at the plain fact that she had lost to him. In all her life since reaching this realm, she had never once been beaten, never once been afraid. And this 'Anonymous10' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had gone and handed her humiliation for the first time in an age.

She fired the messages off in pure irritation, but he read every last one and left her on read.

"Ughghghghghk!" The veins stood out across her forehead. A searing rage surged up from the mana in her body like a geyser in reverse — and still she crushed it down with superhuman endurance and carried her reasoning forward.

"I'm certain of it... at this point, something must be hidden in these tickets." Which meant the Magic Tower — the wellspring of all magic — was absolutely right to seize those tickets and study them.

And right on cue, another ticket went up on the block. "This ticket — I will have it, no matter what!" Diana checked her account balance, ablaze with resolve.

For now, I ignored Diana's private messages. Something told me that replying would only end in a sight I had no wish to see. 'So there truly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is no such thing as a sane mage.'

Diana wears many an epithet. The strongest mage alive, and master of the Magic Tower's headquarters in Britain. A pillar of the nation's Golden Generation, and a World Ranker. Any single one of those titles would be an achievement to define an entire life — she carries them all at once. Which is to say, tangling with her right now would be nothing but exhausting. Thank goodness I had entered the auction hall anonymously.

"So this is the last ticket."

In the early stages I kept my hands off entirely and simply watched the price climb — because, whether rumors had begun to spread or not, a fierce ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bidding war had broken out despite the already steep figure.

The ticket's value shot upward in single bounds.

Once it reached 3.5 billion gold, the pace gradually slackened. Which likely meant people found it hard to spend more than this on an item of unknown nature.

I smirked coldly on the inside and keyed in my bid.

Four billion. Cheaper than the second ticket, and even at this, there would be no one following. They would choke down their curiosity and turn their attention to the next lot instead.

'And Diana...' She appeared not to have bid yet. Had two straight defeats broken her spirit? Or had she strategically cut the tickets loose? Even the Magic Tower's money wasn't infinite, after all. 'Either way, none of my business.' I rolled my neck loose and waited for the hammer.

And a short while later—

Ping! An alarm sounded.

"Oh, for crying out loud." So the ones who'd been sitting at the top all along really did act worse. To think she'd send such petty messages over losing two auctions. I made to brush past it and be done with her—

In that instant, the numbers on the bid board began climbing without a moment's rest.

SHWAAAAAAAAH!

The digits churned and flipped over one another — and the figure they reached—

"Ei-eight billion...?!" Exactly twice the amount I had bid.

The messages chimed in a dizzying deluge — for the most part jeers, interspersed with smug little emoticons, a wallpaper of nothing but provocation. 'Wow...' Never in my life had I seen anything this juvenile. Even Ah Seo-ah wouldn't go that far.

"...Wouldn't she?"

"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

In any case, I had no intention of handing over the ticket like this. 'Believe me, I meant to keep from engaging at all costs — but left alone, she would clearly keep messaging forever.' So, with a heart full of reverence, I raised my hand.

"......."

"Ha... hahaha...!" What was I even supposed to call this? It felt like having my soul dropped into a cauldron and boiled over a rolling flame. Never once in my life had anyone picked a fight with me over being short on money. 'This stings more than I expected.' I bit my lip hard. Composure. Hold the composure. A provocation this pathetic would not move me.

All I had to do was my job. Yes — my job. And my job was—

A money nuke.

Messages with a markedly different flavor from before.

My lips spread into a slow, placid grin.

For all her confidence, the bid price stayed exactly where it was. 'Even for Diana...' Matching 15 billion gold here would be no small ask. If she pulled from the Magic Tower's treasury, she might yet raise it — but then she would absolutely have to turn this ticket into meaningful results. It was hardly a pittance, after all; it was 15 billion gold. 'Would she have that kind of certainty?' Diana. Was the hidden depth of a World Ranker truly only this much?

After that resolve-laden message came through—

The bid had been refreshed. A mere 100 million gold more — and yet for Diana, it meant upwards of 7 billion gold already spent.

Unable to bear the silence, she had started in with the mockery yet again. By the look of it, she already believed the win was hers.

The auction was over.

Ending in my victory.

What a riot. This, from someone who hadn't yielded so much as an inch herself.

It feels awkward to say about myself, but I'm quite rich. The Gate Recorder and Dungeon Streaming equipment we had perfected through Gong Gi-hyun back then were selling briskly all over the world — enough to make what I'd spent today feel like pocket change. 'And even setting that aside...' For her to dare challenge me — challenge Cheonseong — to a duel of money? A remarkably foolish choice, for the strongest mage alive.

"UEEEEIIIAAARGH!"

That day, an emergency evacuation order was issued across the British Magic Tower. Diana, rampaging as she poured out a fury without precedent, was herself a calamity of the highest order.

"Activate the facility restoration protocol!"

"The data! Protect the data!"

"If the research disappears, we're as good as dead anyway! I'll hold the laboratory right here!"

RRRRUUMMMBLE! Diana raked her silver hair into disarray as she vented her wrath.

"To dare inflict such humiliation upon ME!"

Worse still, at the very end, he had vanished without granting her even a reply.

The very picture of a man who had won with room to spare. That sight alone was more than enough to send her pride up in flames. In a word: tilted.

"Anonymous10...! I will find you, and I will return every last drop of this feeling!"

Diana carved the disgrace deep into her heart. So that she might one day take her revenge upon Anonymous10, the man she was bound to meet again.

She checked the auction hall on the off chance, but the fourth ticket never went up.

"...Eeeeeeek!"

And at the sight of her own wretched self, tears came spilling out before she knew it.