Chapter - 10 - Dark Auction [1]

[Dark Auction] was an organization which was usually seen as a lower version of [The Black Market] but in truth, it had the potential to rival it. Unlike The Black Market which only had its branches in <B> grade or higher cities, one could find multiple Dark Auctions in any city higher than <E> grade. The main reason for that was because they used their branches as a bidding place while the main goods were kept in a safe in higher grade cities.

The Dark Auction had a system similar to how servers worked in a game.

First of all, once you were escorted to exchange place by the employee that greeted you, you had to change your money to the <Umbra Checks>, the currency used in Dark Auctions. For your information, a single check amounted up to 10 gold coins.

It may not sound like a lot when said like that but think about it like this, that 10 gold coins amounted to 1,000 silver coins or 100,000 bronze coins. Considering that a single bread was about 2 bronze coins, you could easily feed a family of four for 25,000 days with nothing but bread with that money at minimum.

After walking down the narrow and dark corridor for what felt like hours, Joshua finally saw the exchange counter which looked like a dark coloured confessional. The girl who escorted him until now bowed her head as she went back the way they came from almost instantenously. Left with no choice, Joshua entered the confessional. Just like how it looked from afar, its interior was completely dark. When he entered his side and sat down, the person on the other side spoke up.

"Do you or the person you serve have a membership?"

"No but I'd love to create one for myself. Is that possible?"

The voice that was coming from the other side was completely monotone as if it was a robot but when Joshua activated his [Observation skill], even though he couldn't see much other than his outlines, Joshua could see a slight blue colour envelop him, meaning he was also a human. The moment Joshua looked at the guy, he felt like their eyes interlocked, causing his heart to skip a beat. He quickly lowered his eyes as he deactivated his skill.

"Sure. Here, take a look at it."

It seemed like the man didn't care about neither what just happened nor Joshua's age as he handed over a catalogue. Looking over it, Joshua could spot 5 different cards. Starting from the colour white were golden, blue, red and pitch black. As their colour got darker, so did its rank.

Joshua decided to go with the white one because just looking at the golden one's cost was enough to bring him to tears.

[White Membership Card <100UC>]

[Golden Membership Card<1,000UC>]

And with this, Joshua was once again reminded of how much he underestimated the wealth of people. Even though he stole most of the things in Medea's treasury and a little bit from the main treasury, it wasn't even %5 of the Marquis' savings at all. So expecting to have enough money to compete with adults was just him being delusional.

With tears in his eyes, Joshua took out his black bag and put around %85 of his wealth to it. After making sure none of the books or such were left in the bag, he handed it to the man.

"A white membership card. Please deposit the rest of the money to it if there's any left."

Joshua didn't know a single thing about the jewelry and the rest's cost but he didn't want to risk making it obvious to the other person. He knew that the organization wouldn't do such a thing but he couldn't help but be cautious.

After scanning the bag's contents with a device to make sure they were real, the man spoke up.

"The name on the card?"

Joshua thought about whatever to use his own name or not for a second before deciding against so. He didn't want someone to track him down for a small grudge like taking the item they wanted later on.

"Cain Slora."

"All right... Here you go, its done."

Not a few seconds after, the man handed over an envelope to him.

Joshua looked at the curtain that stood between them confusedly.

"The card is in the envelope. You currently have 229 UC in it."

When Joshua heard the words from the man, he had to do his foremost to keep himself from puking blood.

'...229? You mean those jewelries costed 2290 gold coins?! Oh my gosh--'

"...You can leave from the right side. An attendant will escort you to your bidding room."

While Joshua was still in his stupor, the man continued on with his same robotic tone. When Joshua heard sounds of footsteps coming from outside, he understood that another visitor was here. Realizing that he kept the man busy for too long. Thanking him hurriedly, he left in a daze.

This time, the attendant that greeted him as soon as he left seemed to be a man. He wore a gray mask unlike the black mask the girl had. Greeting Joshua, who was fixing his cloak, with a bow, he escorted him to a room not so far away from there. Unfortunately, just like the other girl, this guy also seemed to be disinterested in talking as he left Joshua in the room with another bow.

In the white room was a table filled with various food and a bed. And on the bed stood a black headset.

After you were done with step one, secondly, when you arrived in your respective bidding room, you had to plug your card in the headset and enter one of the servers available to you. When you choose the auction you want to participate in, you will be teleported to the place in VR while your body takes a good night's sleep.

Looking at the 8 servers in front of him, Joshua thought to himself.

'Should I enter an item auction or a slave auction first?'

In the end, he shook his head helplessly. He needed both of them so instead of wasting time, it would be the best to enter one as soon as possible. After checking the goods list of the first two, he decided on entering the second which seemed to have a surprise item at the end. When he did, he blacked out for a second before the scenery in front of him changed completely.

[Entering the selected auction...]

[Checking card details...]

[Loading complete! Welcome to Auction#0579 - Rutherglen, WC#Cain Slora. Your seat number is #DF88]

[03:29 minutes left until the auction begins. Click on the bell button on your right if you ever need anything, our attendants will arrive shortly.]

Just as the blur that separated him and the place he was in lifted, Joshua looked around. In that enormous hall, both the seats and the curtain on the stage were red while the rest were covered in dark colours. The whole hall was covered with people's bickering and blabbering.

Joshua was sitting on a seat that was far away from the front but for some reason, he could see the stage clearly without any problems. Once he looked closely, he noticed that everyone had a mask on their faces. He immediately touched his face and apparently, he also had one.

'Well, to think that they are this thoughtful.'

While Joshua kept on looking at the people around him as he held his cloak dearly, just like how he looked at other people, there were some who noticed him but they chose to mind their own business without bothering him.

Thanks to him sitting down and wearing a cloak, he judged that the people around him didn't think of him as a kid but rather a short person. He let out a sigh of relief at that.

[0:10]

[The auction will begin now, please take your seats!]

With the notification, everybody started to disperse and take their seats. It was only then did Joshua notice that there were also some kids around his age but... those kids looked a bit weirder than Joshua.

Their clothes looked fine but if one looked closely, they could notice the bruises that covered their body. Seeing that, one of Joshua's brows knitted slightly. He didn't need someone to explain to him that they were some novices and lackeys sent to buy some items or gather some information.

[00:00]

--𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨!

The moment the timer hit zero, a loud 'ding' echoed across the enormous hall as some confetti fell from the ceiling.

"Fufufu~ Good evening, ladies and gentleman! Thank you for participating in Auction#0579! I, this humble servant, am Ronald Williams. "

Joshua, who was completely absorbed by the confetti that fell on his cloak, turned his face to the stage where the source of the voice stood. It was an old man with gray hair and brown eyes. He wore a suit similar to the attendants'.

After giving a short speech explanation about the bidding system filled with jokes, he started the auction before people had the chance to get bored.

"Oh my, would you look at the time? Shall we begin with the first item now?"

"Very well then! The first item on the list! The <The Amulet Of Samarkand>! It is a very special item that grants the wearer immunity to magical attacks for a short amount of time!"

While explaining about the amulet's functions, the man kept on drawing circles around it. The amulet was gold in colour with a greenish gem in the middle of it. There were some nice carvings on the golden part, making it look medieval.

"The opening price will be 500UC! You can raise the price by 10UC!"

The moment the man said so, noises of bidding could be heard.

"510UC!"

"550UC!"

"600UC!"

In no time at all, the price broke through 1,000UC but it still kept going as if the people knew of no end. Joshua was left in sweats. Even though he would like to have the amulet for himself, there was simply no way for him to compete with this bunch of madmen!

After a while, the bidding turned into a duel between seat #DA47 and #DP29. At least that was what Joshua thought as #DA47 kept on increasing the price while #DP29 seemed to be on the verge of jumping on the said man.

"3,560UC from #DA47! Going once, going twice, sold! Congratulations to #DA47 for winning this beautiful item!"

In the end, the item was sold to #DA47, a thin, delicate man who was very near to the stage. With the first item being sold at such a high price, Joshua was dispirited but thankfully, such an occurrence didn't happen in the next items. Most of the low-ranked items were sold for only about 10-20 UC while the most expensive one -other than the amulet- was sold for 159UC.

Joshua made sure he bidded on some of the items even though he didn't want them to avoid suspicion. After a while, an item that attracted his attention appeared. More truthfully, it was a manual.

"As you can see, it is a dark dagger manual that was recently found in the [Leurbost Ruins]!"

Since Joshua already knew the old man kept the important information to himself after watching for an hour , he activated his [Observation] skill as he lowered his hood further.

====================

●⮞ Dark Dagger Arts <mid-rank>

➢ Possible Level Of Progression: Intermediate - %99

Being a weapon designed for close-proximity combat or self-defense that has associations with assassination and murders; it is the representive of betrayal, loss and danger. This sword art carries heavy bloodlust in its movements which could drive its user crazy if they aren't mentally strong enough.

====================

"-which is why, there are a lot of rumors about how this sword art is cursed but... I don't think my dear bidders need to worry about a mere intermediate-ranked sword art, no?"

The man seemed to have cracked a joke as he laughed wholeheartedly. Some of the people around the hall also seemed to have found it funny as they accompanied him, leaving Joshua confused.

No matter how good they looked, the people who were enjoying themselves didn't look that strong but it didn't take him long to understand what was happening when he saw the group of people that surrounded them. They looked like bodyguards as they made sure they didn't bother the weak ones.

Rather than trusting in their own abilities, those people seemed to believe in the power of their people and money. It was such a sad sight.

The moment Joshua felt a man turning his way, he quickly looked back at the stage. He still remembered Mikael's warning of not provoking anyone and had no idea of going against that. While he was trying to play it cool, the man on the stage opened his mouth.

"Even though it saddens me to see the disinterest in my dear bidders' eyes, I am nothing but a humble servant so I shall keep this one low. The opening price is 15UC! You can raise the price by 1UC."

When he said so, a silence descended over the audience for a second before a woman and a boy a little bit older than Joshua started to bid.

"16UC!"

"18UC!"

"20UC!"

When the woman raised the money to 20UC, the boy seemed to be in dire as he bit his lower lip anxiously. He kept on alternating his gaze between the stage and his phone as if he was reporting this to someone. Unfortunately, he didn't have the money to continue.

The old man on the stage didn't want to continue this bit either as he started to count just a few seconds after.

"20UC from #DM10! Going once... going twice..!"

"21UC!"

Before the man could sold the item to the woman, Joshua intervened. Even though he was concerned about the 'mental power' part, he felt like he had to risk it. After all, from the start, there were only two choices; either his mental health was too strong to the point it was unbreakable or it was as fragile as a glass that could break at any time.

Even if it was the latter, if he used this dagger art, he could strengthen it as long as he made sure to do it moderately, not giving the dagger art a chance to swallow him.

In the worst case scenario, he could depend on the system again.

He knew spoiling himself with the system wasn't the healthiest decision so he wanted to train himself until he was strong enough to not rely on it longer.

"22UC!"

"25UC!"

"29UC!"

As both Joshua and the woman kept on bidding, the price went past 30UC in a single minute. Silently lamenting in his heart, Joshua kept on bidding.

"31UC!"

"32UC!"

And finally, it looked like the woman also ran out off UCs as she turned silent.

"33UC!"

"33UC from #DF88! Going once... going twice... gone! I don't know if I should congratulate you or curse you for buying this manual but... I hope you make the best of it #DF88!"

Hearing the man's sarcastic tone, Joshua kept a calm face as an attendant came and handed a black card to him. The moment his hand touched the card, a notification screen appeared.

[Information is being transferred to WC#Cain Slora...]

[Successful.]

From what the man said before, these cards were an information chip which would transfer inside their membership cards, as soon as Joshua was out of this VR, he would be able to get his item from the attendants.

After the dagger art Joshua bought, there didn't seem to be anything interesting. Even the last item they called a 'surprise' was nothing more than a medieval hair clip that could boost one's charm.

Even though Joshua had a relatively long hair -that is what he thinks- that came down to his shoulders, it wasn't long enough for him to wear such thing to begin with.

Finished with the auction, Joshua logged out of the VR and got out off the bed. Since he spent nearly 4 hours in such a state, his movements were a bit sluggish as he arrived before the table full of foods. From how they looked fresh, it seemed like someone changed the prior ones. He wasn't sure since he didn't check it carefully but he felt like the ones on the table now looked better than the ones before.

It could just be his imagination, though.

-𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘭

Instead of dwelling on his thoughts, he went to feed his hungry stomach as he tried basically every dish on the table. However, in the end, he stuck with the beverages as he liked the drinks more than the food itself.

While he was enjoying himself, an attendant came and delivered his purchase. When Joshua got it, he thanked the attendant and held him back from leaving.

"Wait. Can I visit the market, too?"

The man seemed to have taken aback as he looked at Joshua up and down but he nodded his head slowly in the end. Just like the attendants from before, he was also not talking. To tell the truth, even their masks were so thick that Joshua wouldn't be able to tell the guy was looking at him if it wasn't for his head movements.

Not so long after, following the attendant, Joshua went through another dark corridor but what laid at the end was the complete opposite of the confessional from before. It was a street full of decorations and lights that brightened up the dark place. It looked like a japanese night market with paper lanterns floating above the lively atmosphere, mesmerizing the otaku Joshua completely.

While Joshua was looking at the paper lanterns on the 'sky', the attendant behind him check his phone. After he read what looked like a message, a frown appeared on the guy's face which no one had a way of seeing. Before Joshua could see him, he put the phone back to his pocket as he escorted Joshua from the back.

Joshua was completely entranced by the scenery that he completely forgot that none of the attendants ever followed him on his stay here unlike this attendant as they both walked through the busy streets.

<[A/N: I'm sorry for always leaving my chapters unedited and edit them a day later but I swear I'll try to fix my habits as soon as possible. ;-;]>