Seeing the bidder nod affirmatively, Peter eagerly raised his gavel, poised to strike, when ann slowly lifted in a different er. How long had it been sihis happened? Stunned for a moment, Peter shouted with eveer excitement, “Number seven bids eleven thousand! Anyone higher? Any higher bids?”
A ripple of otion stirred the sparse crowd. petitive bidding like this had all but vanished sihe game pany annouhe removal of supernatural elements from Real Illusion. Not just Peter, but everyone in the room was caught off guard, turning curiously to size up the two bidders.
Number eighteen sat in the back-left er—a man in his early forties, wearing gold-rimmed gsses and a crisp suit, his demeanor meticulous, like some high-ranking corporate executive, unremarkable otherwise. Number seven, in the right er, looked uhirty, dressed casually with an easygoing air. He seemed handsome, though wide sungsses obscured half his face, making it hard to tell for sure.
“Number eighteen bids twelve thousand!” Peter barely finished before raising his voice again. “Number seven bids thirteeeen bids fourteen! Seven bids fifteen…”
The two traded bids relentlessly, driving the price to over four huhousand in moments. Then, the sungss-wearing man, growing impatient, raised his sign and called out, “One million!”
The room erupted. Even for a top-tier on in Real Illusion, few would pay that muless it was before the pany’s annou. Eyes turo number eighteen, who was sweating profusely, repeatedly removing his gsses to wipe them, then pulling out his phoo make a call, anxiously awaiting an answer. Following protocol, Peter called the price three times. Seeieen still preoccupied with his call and not raising further, Peter awarded Bde of Darko number seven. Via puter, he deducted the million from seven’s pre-submitted deposit and handed over the on’s password card. Cheg the transa, Peter was stuo see number seven’s deposit was ten million—enough to buy everything on offer today! This guy came prepared, determio win. But who would splurge on soon-to-be-worthless virtual gear now?
“Boss, someone’s sniping bids! They jacked Bde of Darkness up to a million!” Number eighteen’s call finally ected, and he whispered urgently into the phone, hand cupped over the mouthpiece. A shocked excmation burst from the other end: “What? A million? Buy it! Get it no matter the cost!”
“But you only gave me a million in deposit!” Gold-rimmed gsses cautioned. A curse exploded in response, “Damn it! I’m wiring ten million to your card right now. Hand it to the au house as colteral. I want those six items—spare no expense!”
“But… but Bde of Darkness already went to someone else.”
“You idiot!” The voice roared, spiking in volume. “Offer double—make him sell it to you now!”
“Yes, yes!” Gold-rimmed gsses murmured, when a sharp crack souhrough the earpiece, and the call cut off. He waited, but only a busy tone remained. Pocketing his phone, he looked up to find that, in the brief time he’d been on the call, aem had slipped cheaply into his rival’s hands.
“Idiot! Moron!” Oher end, a slender, pale hand hurled the phone in fury, smashing it against the wall with a shattering crash. A maid scurried to pick up the broken device, then slipped out, quietly closing the door behind her.
This acious office, windows shut tight, heavy curtains drawn, casting the room in dimness. Yet this made the TV wall on the left stand out vividly. Its s showed a t blue building, the Federal TV logo ing its peak, with a dozen spider-like figures sg its gss walls. The fastest, a woman in bck, had passed the midpoint. This was clearly the live broadcast of the Extreme Olympics’ rock climbi.
“Who’d pete with me for those virtual items?” The hand’s owner had calmed down, the once-raging limb now resting quietly on the chair’s armrest. A rge pink diam on the ring finger glinted dazzlingly in the gloom.
“No idea,” came a detached, frigid reply from a er, like a winter river ced with ice, chilling to the bone.
The hand’s owner didn’t press further, instead brushing the ring lightly with the other hand before swiveling the chair toward the TV wall. Several climbers he Federal TV Tower’s roof, the cat-like woman in bck still leading, a good twenty meters ahead of sed pce.
“Who’ll reach the top first?” The hand poi the s. “I say Flying Cat. No ohreatening her lead.”
“hree,” the er voice replied, still ft aionless.
“hree? You mean the biggest dark horse this time?” The hand’s owner sounded surprised but quickly nodded. “Makes sense. Jasina’s at her limit, burni reserves, while three’s just pig up speed. Climbis strength and enduranen ’t match men there.”
As if ohe red-umber three accelerated on-s, closing in on Jasina and overtaking her with ease. The onimble Jasina, who’d bounded upward like a cat, slowed drastically, helplessly watg another surpass her.
“You’re always right,” the hand’s hed as hree reached the roof, waving to the helicopter camera. “But with the women’s bonus points in this event, Jasina might still e out on top.”
He abruptly spun the chair halfeering at the shadowy figure in the er. “The fi’s your specialty—‘Ultimate Hunt.’ Who’ll win that, and who’ll be the new All-Around King of Riders?”
Silence gripped the room for several minutes. When the shadow finally spoke, a rare hesitatio in: “hree wins ‘Ultimate Hunt,’ but the overall winner… hard to say…”
The desk ph sharply. The hand picked it up, and a dejected voice came through: “Boss, they wouldn’t sell Bde of Darkness. They even swo more items. I only got Cloak of Invisibility, Sky Eye, a-Seizing Charm.”
“What? Ten million, and you only got three things?”
“They’ve got deeper pockets. Our sky-high bids drew media attention, so I backed off.”
The owner paused, then snarled, “Fine. Get your ass to Antarctica for a vacation—don’t e back for three years!”
Hanging up, he switched oer and barked, “Find out who bought my stuff! Get it for me, whatever it takes!”
Shutting off the device, he stared numbly at hree waving triumphantly on the s, muttering to himself, “Who’s fighting me for this soon-to-be-junk virtual gear?”
