Chapter 99 - Auction Begins

Jack thinks over in his mind, "Jaunice..." he mutters.

They take some seats not too far away; they are speaking loudly about something which catches Jack's attention as he shuts his eyes to listen in the surroundings.

"Did you hear that there's a new legacy player found in Russia somewhere?"

"Legacy?"

"It means they acquired the legacy of some sort of civilization or historic figure. Didn't you guys remember this from online?"

"Nah."

One of them quickly says while many others laugh and agree, the person speaking originally has an exasperated expression on their face as they attempt to explain what's going on yet they all go quiet suddenly forcing Jack to open his eyes.

Jack turns his head and not too shortly after he hears, "So this is where you went, Jaunice" as his eyes go over this group. Two familiar figures have appeared near this group that Jack recognises.

"Hey you two, I told you that these guys were coming too. I thought you have would have received top treatment from this place, but I guess even you don't have sway with them. Your buddy is here too." Jaunice smiles and points towards Jack. The two men look at the VIP roped-off section, they spot Jack looking towards them.

They wave at each other, Jan heads over to Jack while Teun remains where he is.

"We'll be keeping an eye on things" Teun says to them and walks over to Jan.

Jack looks up at them, "Yo."

"You got VIP yet not level 2? I smell something odd."

Jack shrugs, "They have their reasons. It's fine plus it's not like I'll lose out in the end" Jack lets off a smile as the attendant comes back with plates full of food and lays them out on Jack's table.

The surrounding people watch as the other two tables are filled with goods, their expressions filled with envy and hunger as they look at the spread of various meats, cheeses and wines. Each one of them looks fancier than the rest with the final fish, a whole bird looking creature that seems to pulse with energy as it sits on the table.

"Sir, here is your food and beverages. If you need anything else, then please just ask."

"If I need to quickly get some items appraised, I was told that I could talk to your pill appraiser out on the floor. Can you handle that?"

"Oh, I'll have to confirm with the manager, but I am sure it'll be no problem if you discussed it previously."

"Alright, uhh you guys wanna join me as I don't think I'll be able to eat this all?" Jack asks the two dutch men that he has run into several times. Jan and Teun immediately cross the rope without waiting for a signal. They sit down beside Jack allowing their bodies also sink into the chair but they don't wait as they get stuck into the food.

The attendant frowns at this but doesn't speak anything as he bows, "If there is nothing else."

"No thanks" Jack gives the attendant a large tip of gold coins. The attendant smiles and walks off taking the following tables orders for food and drinks. These people are all privileged as the tables in the surroundings fill with people.

Jack glances by the players from earlier, they're staring in his direction and whispering between themselves. Jack looks at the two black hooded robe figures, they're the same people that were from the lunch so something is going on there yet their voices are too quiet to make over the surroundings.

He weighs up internally whether to spread out his divine sense, but thinking about where it is and the strange powers that he has already felt, he decides against this course of action as someone at the table speaks up.

"What items do you think are on offer?" Jan glimpses at Jack briefly before returning to his food.

Jack shrugs, "Not sure. There'll definitely be a few flashy things to lure in the players. This is the first big auction they're going to see, and there are lots of players already. There's also the people trying to make some money from this auction..."

"Oh? Do you have any items on sale at the auction?"

Jack smiles, "Perhaps, but they wouldn't tell me if they'd sell the items today... but I do wonder what the first item will be."

"I hope it's interesting, they have given us a lot of funds to spend."

"Jan, the total amount is still sufficient for the upcoming operations, right?"

"Teun, do not worry. Why would the Russians want to attack our national icons at the moment? You should be more concerned about our requirements to assist with backup."

"You never know, people have a stupid amount of money now. Even I'm tempted to cash out and enjoy a simple life."

"We cannot do that plus you know all of the other information?"

Jack sits there listening to their conversation. He hasn't been outside of the real world for quite some time, and it seems like there's lots of stuff brewing over in Europe. His own situation is somewhat precarious, but he can trust Tom. Their conversation continues about something before they discuss things they've been doing in the game where Jack can finally speak up about some combat experience and earning opportunities.

"So quests can give over 100,000 gold at a time? Wow, even the easiest quest seems to be paying out at over 5,000 gold and it's repeatable daily?"

"Yes, the player guild has the quests there. They're listed as limited but no one has run into a limit yet, there is a limit of 10 times a day but that's nothing. There's over 100 of them available at a time and you can take all of them."

"Wow, that's... ridiculous. It has to be limited in someway plus won't all the later players get pissed off? Aren't we still beta testers?"

"No one is sure what's going on but many more people have access...."

Jack speaks to them about the rewards some more, they're eating the food and enjoying the drinks when the doors burst open and hundreds of people file in. They're forced into a different section, but many people look over in this direction, their gazes filled with envy or perhaps greed. Many powerful people are in the crowd as Jack's eyes silently scan them, no one is acting up as they take their seats. The attendants don't walk around, but many of them walk in with their own food and drinks.

This lasts for a few more minutes as everyone is seated, a loud voice comes from the stage that everyone is before.

"Welcome everyone, welcome residents and a special welcome to the players. The newest entrants to the world, or should I say, The Secret World who might be feeling confused about this auction house. Well what we do here is simple, we are the oldest auction pavilion in this region and we are backed by the ancient sect. We have the prestige to handle many goods no matter the quality or appearance..."

A young woman is on the stage, her cute uniform makes her look like an idol character from an anime more than a serious business place, but the crowd is cheering as she takes a sip of water. Her hair is in a short pink cut giving her a unique appearance while her face has a wide smile as she turns around and walks towards the back of the stage.

"Do you want to hear me continue to talk about our auction house or do you want to see the first auction item?" the girl on stage says.

"We'd rather hear more about you!" one person jeers.

Many people clap but it stops quickly, the girl blushes on the stage as she kicks her feet about.

"Really? I'm no one special but I guess you all can call me Megan, I'm 22 and single, but I'm married to my job so don't go getting some naughty ideas in your head, ok?" Megan winks and turns around.

The crowd erupts into further applause as they shout various things to towards her.

Jack sits back in the chair and sips watching the crowd get whipped up into a frenzy, Jan and Teun are paying close attention to everything going on while Jack just glances back at the people sitting behind him. They're still looking over in his direction, but most of them are also caught up in the girl's frenzy on stage.

"We can all get to know each other as we go through the auction today... but I certainly don't want to disappoint you all!"