Chapter 81: The Masked Auction (3) |
“Are there no bidders?”
The bidding had started over from the beginning.
I just stood there in front of the stage, staring out at the crowd. Especially the ones who’d bid a moment ago.
This time, nobody raised a hand or spoke up.
“I will count to ten, after which the item will be declared unsold.”
When no bidder came forward, the auctioneer began counting down ten seconds, just as before.
In the silence, only the sound of the auctioneer’s counting echoed through the hall.
Threatening people’s lives like this didn’t sit well with me either…
But whatever else it was, it worked.
“The first auction item has gone unsold. We shall now proceed to the next item.”
The skill stone on the dais vanished.
The second item appeared.
[Item: Dalpara’s Golden Mirror]
A ritual implement used by Dalpara, priestess of the Dyakaropine Tribe, in ceremonies to her tribal god. When used, it forms a reflective barrier in front of the user, capable of reflecting an opponent’s attacks. Attacks whose power exceeds the mirror’s durability cannot be reflected. If the mirror’s durability is fully depleted, the ability cannot be used. Durability recovers by 1% per hour.
Durability: 100/100
The description appeared in front of me.
An attack-reflection ability.
It looked good, but of course it was just out of reach.
“The starting price for the second item is 1,500 lives. Those wishing to bid, please raise your hand and call out your price.”
Again, there were no bidders.
The auctioneer counted ten seconds, and the second item, too, went unsold.
The auction moved quickly on to the next item.
[Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stone]
When used, it can enhance one Rare+ grade skill.
[Item: Sippi’s Broom]
The broom of the mischievous witch Sippi. When used, it allows the user to fly. The broom sometimes acts on its own. Consumes 30 Willpower per second.
[Skill: Ice Armor (Rare+)]
Compresses cold into armor and wraps it around the entire body. Increases the caster’s defense, and any opponent that touches the armor receives a freeze effect. Requires 1 minute of Mental Concentration to cast.
Category: Magic Type
Willpower Cost: 20 per second
Cooldown: 3 minutes
.
.
.
Skill stones, enhancement stones, items.
All sorts of things came up as auction items.
The skill stones and enhancement stones were all Rare+ grade, and the items boasted effects of that grade or better.
If the price hadn’t been human lives, I would have wanted to sweep up every last one of them.
Every single one went unsold.
“Are there no bidders?” “The item has gone unsold.” “We shall now proceed to the next item.” Those phrases just kept echoing through the hall.
While no one else opened their mouth, the auctioneer ran the auction by himself like clockwork.
Many items passed by like that, and then…
“…This is the final item of this Masked Auction.”
The word “final” came from the auctioneer’s mouth.
A skill stone appeared on the dais.
It wasn’t green this time. It was purple.
[Skill: Lion’s Roar (Epic)]
Unleashes a roar that incapacitates enemies within a minimum 30-meter radius. Opponents significantly weaker in caliber than the caster may die. The closer the opponent, the stronger the effect. The more Willpower consumed, the greater the skill’s range and effect. After use, all mental category debuffs applied to the caster are dispelled, and physical stats are increased by 20% for 5 minutes.
Category: Physical Type
Willpower Cost: 300 to 900
Cooldown: 10 minutes
An Epic grade skill.
A few people started murmuring.
“…Epic grade?”
“Is that the grade above Rare…?”
The grade above Rare had not yet been disclosed to the public.
It wasn’t information people needed to know, and I’d never specifically revealed it.
I read the skill description and thought to myself.
‘Fucking nice…’
A wide-area stun with a minimum range of 30 meters, plus dispelling mental debuffs and a physical stat boost on top.
A truly outstanding effect, fitting for Epic grade.
“The starting price is 10,000 lives.”
The starting price, too, was far higher than the other items.
It doesn’t matter. It’ll go unsold anyway.
The atmosphere shifted slightly, but of course no one raised their hand.
This insane auction was going to end with this.
“Are there no bidders?”
The auctioneer looked around at the crowd as he spoke.
That was when someone stood up and spoke.
“L, look, even so… shouldn’t you take this one, Person123?”
…What?
Number 99, the man, was looking at me, speaking carefully.
“You are the only person who can save this world. Compared to all the lives you will save going forward, ten thousand is… honestly speaking, an incredibly cheap price, isn’t it? Your gaining strength is the very way this world survives.”
“…”
“So please, at least take this one. I’m begging you to.”
At his words, people one by one started nodding or voicing their agreement.
I didn’t answer.
I just sighed and shook my head.
“It, it’s an Epic grade skill. A skill higher than Rare grade…!”
Number 99 almost pleaded.
I know. I know he’s not wrong.
Of course I wanted that skill too.
But no still meant no.
“If there are no bidders, I will count to ten and declare the final item unsold.”
The auctioneer counted down.
Ten seconds passed.
“…The final item has gone unsold.”
And so even the final item went unsold.
“With this, the Masked Auction is concluded.”
The declaration of the auction’s end.
The auctioneer clapped his hands once.
And suddenly the space transformed.
A wide hall, with countless tables.
Atop the tables, a feast was laid out in abundance.
It was a space like a banquet hall.
“For those who participated in the auction, a small closing banquet has been prepared. Please enjoy the food and drinks at your leisure, and when the time comes, you will return to where you came from.”
[Time Remaining: 59 minutes 41 seconds]
With those final words, the auctioneer disappeared.
What the hell is this now…
Just send us back already, what’s with the banquet?
Everyone, myself included, was just standing around awkwardly.
I could feel glances drifting toward me, and…
When I looked around, people flinched and either lowered or averted their eyes.
…Given what had just happened, it was unavoidably damn awkward. I’d killed someone, too.
I considered turning invisible, but decided against it.
It seemed I had to stay here for an hour anyway, so I couldn’t just stay hidden the whole time.
I went to a table in the corner and sat down.
Once I sat down first, people gradually dispersed and started taking their seats one by one.
‘Hah…’
I looked over the food on the table.
Meat dishes, salads, slices of cake, all sorts of things. Of course, I had no appetite.
I was just going to sit quietly by myself until the time came to leave. But then.
“Excuse me…”
Some people were approaching my table.
Section Chief Shin Su-jin, and… Justin. The two who had spoken up for me earlier.
Justin gave me a sheepish smile as he spoke.
“Would it be all right if we joined you?”
…So they wanted to talk.
I nodded.
I was wearing a mask anyway. No need to refuse them outright.
Justin took the seat across from me, and Section Chief Shin Su-jin gave me a small nod of greeting before sitting down beside him.
Justin glanced at me a few times before he spoke.
“It is truly an honor. If it isn’t too much to ask, would you allow me a single handshake…?”
“…Sure.”
I shook hands with Justin, and then with Section Chief Shin Su-jin as well.
Justin wore an expression mixing amazement and emotion before he spoke again.
“Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Justin, the deputy commander of the Floor 5 Security Corps. The reason I came over was that I wanted to thank you in person at least once. Do you remember my face by any chance? I was there during the Wang Kai incident as well…”
“I think I remember.”
“Oh, you remember! Truly, thank you so much for that day. Myself, Chief Alex, and all the other corps members, every one of us had our lives saved by you. We are all genuinely grateful.”
Justin kept thanking me before changing the subject to the auction.
“Anyway, thankfully the auction ended without any major incident. I’m sorry. We weren’t able to be of any help.”
I gave a slightly wry smile and shook my head.
“It’s fine. More importantly, I’m sorry for being so rough. I didn’t mean it that way.”
I didn’t mean it that way… was that even right to say?
Well, I would have killed anyone who bid, so it was a bit of a strange thing to say.
Justin waved his hands.
“How can you say that? Your response was absolutely flawless. If you hadn’t killed that bastard, number 41, who knows how horrifically things might have turned out…”
Section Chief Shin Su-jin, who had been listening quietly, spoke up softly.
“All one hundred million people really could have died. Please don’t trouble yourself over it in the slightest.”
Justin asked.
“By the way, Su-jin… do you actually know Person123? Earlier, you said that person really was Person123, didn’t you?”
Section Chief Shin Su-jin immediately denied it.
“How could I? I just said that because you took my side.”
“Ah, right? When I saw you step forward, I just backed you up without thinking. I had no idea this would actually turn out to be Person123. Haha.”
It seemed Section Chief Shin Su-jin had no intention of acknowledging that she knew me.
Well, if other people found out we were acquainted, it could be awkward for her. She’s a public figure, after all.
I exchanged some more small talk with the two of them.
It was clear they were deliberately avoiding asking about me or bringing up uncomfortable topics, so the conversation was easy enough.
The time was almost up…
Seeing me chatting with the two of them, the others must have decided it was safe to approach.
I noticed people timidly making their way over to my table.
“I’d like to greet you… a, a handshake, if you wouldn’t mind?”
One person had even taken off his mask, and asked for a handshake in a trembling voice.
A Western man with a striking beard.
When I stood up and accepted the handshake, he spoke with a face on the verge of tears.
“…My mother is a Nightmare climber. Thanks to your choosing the Penalty on Floor 4, my mother was able to survive. I really wanted to thank you in person like this.”
Hm, so that was his story.
After shaking his hand, others started lining up to ask for handshakes too.
Literally an endless stream of handshake requests.
“Thank you for protecting the world! I’m always cheering for you.”
“Savior, please continue to save humanity from now on.”
“I, I really got to shake hands with Person123… whoa…”
I shook hands with almost all hundred of them.
Only the handful who had bid earlier hesitated to approach, presumably out of guilt.
Receiving so much gratitude from so many people… it didn’t actually feel bad.
And just like that, the time was up.
“I wish we could have talked longer. It’s a shame. I really hope we’ll have the chance to meet again…”
The moment Justin spoke those genuinely regretful words.
[Time Remaining: 1 second]
Everyone vanished all at once.
“…?”
Huh?
I looked around.
What.
Why am I the only one left?
While I was momentarily bewildered, the auctioneer suddenly appeared in the middle of the banquet hall.
“Pardon me. Could you spare a little more of your time?”
“…What?”
“My master would like to make a special offer to you, Person123.”
What’s this now.
I asked.
“Who’s your master? The Tower?”
Well, obviously it would be the Tower.
The auctioneer repeated mechanically.
“Could you spare your time?”
I thought for a moment, then answered.
“No thanks. Just send me back.”
“My master…”
“I said no.”
I had no idea what kind of offer they were going to make, but it was bound to be some kind of trick.
The auctioneer fell silent, then nodded.
“Understood. I shall return you to your original location.”
“…Wait, hold on.”
I changed my answer again.
Fuck…
Maybe I should at least hear it out.
“What’s the offer? Spit it out.”
The auctioneer clapped his hands.
A table and a box appeared in front of me.
The auctioneer slowly opened the box on the table.
What was inside the box was…
“…!”
An orange-colored skill stone.
I couldn’t help but be startled at the sight.
It was a skill stone in a color I’d never seen before.
Which meant it was a skill stone of a grade higher than Epic.
[Legendary Grade Skill Stone]
When used, you can acquire one Legendary grade skill.
The skill stone’s information appeared.
…Legendary grade.
I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the skill stone, then looked back at the auctioneer.
“My master wishes to give this skill stone to you, Person123, as a special gift. Of course, you will have to pay a minimal price.”
“…What price? Don’t tell me, more human lives?”
“That is correct.”
I didn’t need to hear any more.
I scoffed and started to raise my middle finger, when…
“One person.”
The auctioneer spoke again.
“You need only use one of the one million units of currency that were granted to you. That is the price of this skill stone.”
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