01 19 - Is This Where it All Started?

"95?! holy, aren't there only a few people that high leveled?"

I asked as Less just nodded.

"I've been playing since the start, and I grind for the money you know, so of course I'm in the 20% that are high leveled."

He looked like the most devious and laziest man to me so it really caught me off guard.

"Wow."

well I can't stay being all surprised, truth be told, this was pretty good new for me considering it'll probably easier for me to get a higher level this way.

"anyways, how exactly are you going to sell these things?"

I asked while pointing towards the items we took from the dragon yesterday morning, I've seen people sell by making stands then selling equipment or potions they made.

"It's not like these are useful, they're just gold antiques."

I grabbed one of the things and waved it around by its handle, Leaf swinging with it playfully on my shoulder until he grabbed the item and held far from me.

"you might break it don't do that-anyways come with me I'll explain it on the way to the auction house."

Auction house? I didn't know there was one here, though I guess I should have known since it would be easier to find the rare items. The long haired male led the way, walking out of the house then into the southern gate. I looked around the see it was really different from the northern gate, the buildings looked fancier.

"This may be a game, but it's meant to replicate the life back in the old days with some fantasy aspects, so how there's random npcs, there's a full on country in this game."

I continued to look around while we walked on the side walks, there were many fancy looking people with knights following them, it felt like I was in a novel.

The more we walked, the more visible it was to see exactly where we were going. It was a huge building at the end of the road, it was more appealing since it was right in the middle and the roads split to go to the sides of it. The whole place gave of a Paris vibe really.

We walked in, clearly looking plainer than the others who came to join into the auctions. Leaf stayed in my pocket hidden, these people might end up wanting them if they see that it's a wyvern. Less led us to the back side of the auction house, there were many people and many other player's were also wanting to showcase their findings.

"Are we going to put all the ones we saw into the auctions?"

I asked while waiting in line with him.

"No, we'll only leave one of the items, if there's more than one and they look the same, the price will drop significantly, I'll sell the rest to the adventure guild or something, those npcs can't sell them. "

Wow, he sounded like a true sales man, kind of scary if you think about how manipulative those words were. I just nodded though, if it'l get me money, then I'll be okay with it, unless it's illegal of course-

I decided to just sit to the side while Less handled all the stuff that was needed to be done before they could showcase the item and have it auctioned, he said he'll name it the "hidden treasures of the Non Vitae's dragon" to get more attention, what a scammer, though it's necessarily false.

While sitting to the side, I noticed a man in a hood, the black coat really fitted in with the shadows so it was hard to notice him, but he just went off to the back where I couldn't see him anymore, It was suspicious, but there's no need for me to bother with it anymore.

"Okay I'm done, lets go."

I nodded and stood up, grabbing some meat again since I just wanted to eat something, I should probably head out for a little bit before continuing to play, but I'll wait or a little more.

When we went out of the large back area, I looked towards the auction room door, I would be lying if I wasn't curious.

"They start in 20 minutes, wanna stay and watch?"

Like he was reading my mind, I nodded and waited to the side with him.

"Actually I might go get some food first, stay here I'll be back before the auction starts."

I spoke before pushing Leaf onto him, giving Leaf the leftover meat I was eating, then logged out. I quickly got out of the machine then headed downstairs to get whatever I could eat.

"left over mac and cheese, nice."

I microwaved it, and then just ate in the kitchen, waving to some of the other's who lived here and just wanted to get food too, some of them I've never seen before. After eating, I drank some water then headed back into my room, taking a deep breath then I went back into the Silver Mind.

The game began to load then I was back at the auction house.

"5 minutes left, good job."

Less spoke beside me looking quiet annoyed, then I looked down to see it was because Leaf wouldn't stop chewing the other male's finger.

"perfect."

I replied to the good job Less praised me by.

after those 5 minutes, the doors to the auction room were now open, people began to go in and the place was large, yet dark, the only place with lights was the stage up front, the main focus really was for the stage and the items to be auctioned.

The large room was had an upper level of seats, there were even private seating areas at the sides of the wall, it was really meant for rich people. Most players sat up front closer to the stage, while the npc's that were the "nobles" sat up on the higher seating areas and even in the private seats as well.

After a minute, the auction began, there were rare swords and items, most were equipment or items to use in crafting. those items going up for 10K gold coins even!

"Less are you sure someone will buy that antique?"

I asked while we stood by the door to the side, I had a view of everything from the stage to the audience.

"You know how we can have houses in this game right? There's many rich players in this game, and most of them are collectors, so even in game, if they see something that could be called a collectible, they'll buy it. People like to look at pretty things after all."

Even in game there were rich people like that? Well, I guess it's for their own happiness. The showcases kept going, there were a lot and I was getting pretty bored so my eyes began to drift around the area, until I saw a familiar figure in the back, the one I saw in the back room.

They walked forward, walking to a player who was seated at the side, everyone else was so focused on the auction that no one even cared when the figure walked by. It was hard to see, but after a small moment of whispering, the hooded man gave them a potion of some sort, in a way as if they were trying to keep it a secret. Then the hooded man, or woman, walked away and left through one of the back doors.

That just screamed suspicious, but it's not like I was a police or anything so I can't just go there suddenly accusing them. What would that even do? This is a game, even if it was an overpowered potion, it's not as if it's illegal within the game.

Yet it still gave a bad taste in the back of my mouth, then I remembered the detective, would it be useful to them if I said I saw what looked like a illegal trade? Would it even be related to the death of that girl from the caves? My head was confused before I was nudged by the male beside me.

"Ey it's the item that we got, let's see how much it can go for."

The npc showcasing our item began to talk about the fierce dragon and that while everything else was burnt, the on stage was the only one left from everything else. To my perspective, it was a gold vase that had some gems, wasn't useful to say the least, I thought it would only sell for around 1k gold.

The auction was over, and we walked out with 12K gold coins. It was actually 15K but the auction house took some gold for show casing it, but still, this was big money!

"Okay, I know I said 50/50 but since I'll be leveling you up too, you get.. 4K gold."

I blinked confused then felt like I was going to be mad, but at the same time this seems understandable, if I wanted to give my mother her surgery and earn more money, leveling up the fastest is the best, and it sucks that it had to be a sales man who would be my partner, I thought as I looked at him with a glare, but he's a strong person so, it better be worth it.

"Fine, no complain for me, but after leveling up well, it better be back to 50/50."

Less just laughed before giving me my share, then began to push me.

"Now, if you're not busy, it's time to level you up, form a party with me."

I nodded and sent him a party request.

"good good, now I think being in a open space would be best for you, and we need higher level, so lets go to Sparth plains."

He looked at me then down at my armor.

"we'll move quickly."

I looked at him with furrowed eyes before letting out a sigh and just going with it, Leaf just minding it's own business and flying about, while I still was stuck in my thoughts about the hooded man, I guess I'll tell the detective, I don't want to know something that'll turn bad in the future, it's better to say something is up.

We began to walk to the northern gate, I occasionally would stop to buy food for me and Leaf while Less was getting mad, but for the rest of the night, it was just me and him fighting the monsters that came at us, my levels slowly rising.

To be continued.