--- Start of Auction

7:55 A.M. December 15

The Auction Hall of the Merchant's Association main headquarters is teeming with high-level players and powerful NPCs as the auction will be starting soon. There are also some players present who were only there to live stream the event. The items auctioned by NPCs are insanely valuable after all.

The main headquarters of the association was built atop a huge plateau with a radius of about a hundred kilometers, surrounded by all 12 major human empires in Gaia, which included the Moon Empire. It was like a city on its own, with so many shops that sell high-end items.

There were three ways to reach it. One is by going on foot, but the problem was that there were so many high-level monsters along the way, and the other is the climbing part. The second was through flying, but rarely anyone does that as there are some ferocious flying creatures up above. The third one is the most common one, which is teleportation. You have to pay a high price though, as the portal is inside each of the branches throughout the continent.

Obviously, Chris chose the third option. And since he has a super VIP card that was given to him by the branch manager from Halfmoon City, he doesn't have to pay at all. Heck, he can even bring up to 100 people with him free of charge. He was also given lots of benefits that will be very useful at the headquarters.

Chris and his friends were in a sizable VIP room at the time. One benefit of holding a VIP card. There are currently thirteen individuals inside, including him and his brothers. The Gomez triplets, Amanda, Akira, the Grantz sisters, the Alvarez brothers, and a plump blonde female that Darryl brought.

All of them are already members of the LazyDragons chat group and will soon join his future guild. With so many participants, the chat room has become more vibrant. Right now, they are getting to know one another better.

Their enthusiasm was at an all-time high, as this was their first time attending the auction. Although this happens once every two months, the price of getting here is too much for a casual player.

"I-it's nice to finally see you in person, Mr.Despair! M-my name is Julia Marek."

The chubby blonde girl greeted him with a tiny stutter. She was nervous to meet a legendary player in person. She used to think he was crazy for going up against millions of gamers on a battlefield.

But now, she's worshiping him like a diety. Not to mention, she couldn't believe how attractive he was. She had assumed that because they were "brothers", he would look similar to Darryl, but it turned out that they weren't related by blood.

"Miss Julia, It was nice meeting you as well. Just call me Chris."

"A-alright, C-chris. Then, please just call me Julia."

"Okay, Julia."

After their greetings, Chris looked at her intently, which made her nervous; he then looked at Darryl in a similar way, then looked back at her and asked her a question.

"By the way Julia, are you sure about this guy?"

"Huh?"

"..."

"I-I... It's not like that! W-were just friends..."

His question made her confused, until Chris looked at Darryl. She got the meaning of his question and blushed. She started to defend herself with a stutter.

"Hoh? Really now? For a friend, you two seem awfully close. I guess time changed huh?"

"..."

Chris didn't believe her, as he remembered them holding hands before. The rest of the people in the room were focused on their conversation. He and Peter had smirks on their faces while looking at Darryl. Peter then spoke.

"Seriously, Julia, you can tell us, his brothers, if he did something against your will, and we'll beat this fatty up."

"No, it-"

"Oi, oi! Third bro, how come you think of me like that? Do you think I'm a pervert or something?"

"""You aren't?"""

"..."

"""Pffft! Hahahaha!"""

Most of the people in the room asked Darryl back just after he asked his question. They knew how perverted this fatty is after all. It made him speechless, and he couldn't refute back. Everyone laughed at him, making him slightly embarrassed.

"I see... welcome to the family then. Just tell us if he bullies you, and we'll beat him up so badly that he will forget his name. Okay?"

"Ehhhhh!?"

Chris welcomed her with a very serious face, leaving Julia dumbfounded and blushing. Darryl's mouth was agape, and he didn't know what to say anymore. The shameless fatty was nowhere to be found right now.

*Pak!* *Pak!*

"Fuhahaha! Way to go fatty!" said Shiela while patting Darryl's back, which embarrassed him even more.

The others were just looking at these scenes with their mouths twitching. They felt like Chris was the father who just gave his blessing to his future daughter-in-law.

"By the way, Julia, here! This will help you with grinding and future dungeon diving."

After the introductions, Chris fished out equipment, skillbooks and coins from his inventory and gave them to Julia.

"T-this. F-for me?"

"Uh huh!"

"T-this is too much! I can't take it."

Seeing so many items, which were all legendaries, as well as the gold and platinum coins, dumbfounded her. She's been playing for half a year and has never seen this much in her life. Heck, she barely makes 1 gold per day, and yet, there is so much in front of her right now.

Just the gold alone, if exchanged for gil, can buy a mansion in real life. Yet, the person in front of her just casually gave it to her. Is he okay?

"What? Well, this ain't that much. Just treat it as some kind of starter gift."

"..."

'Ain't much, he said... And when did you become the village chief?' Thought Julia with a twitching mouth.

"Hehe... just accept it, Julia. First bro is a very nice guy. He's actually the true village chief."

"""Pffft! Hahahaha!"""

Darrly chimed in to convince her. Everyone laughed including her due to his last sentence. Chris was even proud of it.

"But... haaaaah... alright, I will accept. Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

She had no choice but to accept, as the guy doesn't seem to bulge at all. She also looked around, and they all nodded at her. They probably received the same from him. Her life will definitely change for the better.

"But you know, Chris."

"Huh?"

"You're too generous, even from someone that you just met like me. Who knows; I might be a bad person."

"""..."""

What Julia said was true. Chris was a very trusting and generous person, almost to a fault. Someday, it might come back and stab him where he least expects it.

"Hmmm... we brothers lived in the slums of the poorest city of our country."

"""!!!"""

The six girls in the room who weren't from Glaze City were shocked at what he said. Chris then continued.

"For the past 8 years, we've been living in the slums, filled with criminals, thugs, crazy people, ex-convicts, and many more. We even bathe on the same river together and sometimes share food with them."

"In my early eight years, I've met a lot of powerful people. Emperors, Kings, Princesses, and many more from high society—I can confidently say that I've already seen all the people from different walks of life."

"So I, WE, can tell if a person is trustworthy enough or not, so you shouldn't worry about such things."

"In your view, my reason might not make any sense, but that's how I feel, and that's more than enough."

"""..."""

Chris just kept on speaking while the rest just listened, especially the six girls. Now, with the exception of his brothers and Sherryl, the rest were wondering who he really is.

'Actually, it's not that I easily trust people just based on instinct alone; since my attributes have increased so much, especially the special ones, I can even faintly see the person's soul. With that, I can tell if they are good or bad. It's probably the perception attribute. It's weird, but very advantageous for me.'

"Besides, I have so much now. It won't hurt to share, especially with my friends, right? Hehehe..."

"""..."""

Chris muttered while the others just nodded. Their hearts felt warmth. Once more, they vowed in their hearts that they wouldn't let him down in the future and would never abuse the faith he placed in them.

*Tok!* *Tok!* *Creak!*

Their attention was diverted to the door knocking. Then three beautiful girls in maid costumes appeared, bringing food and drinks towards them. The one in charge gave a pamphlet to Chris.

"Esteemed Sir, this is the food and drinks; please help yourselves, and this is the list of items to be auctioned off."

"Hoh? I can know which items will be auctioned off?"

"Yes, sir, it's part of the VIP privileges. If Sir wants to bid, just please press the button on top of the left handrest of your chair, and then just say your bid."

"I see."

"If Sir needs anything, please just ask these two. Have a nice day."

"Okay, Thank you!"

The lead maid bowed to him politely, then started to leave the room, leaving the other two, who stayed on both sides of the door, ready to take orders.

*Gulp!*

"Damn! Look at that ass; it must be nice to have a sexy maid like tha-. Ouch, ouch, not my ears, Julia. Ahhh!!!"

"""Hahahaha!!!"""

Darryl murmured while looking at the lower back of the head maid with a slight lust in his eyes. Upon hearing his murmurs, Julia just twisted his ears unconsciously, making everyone in the room laugh. His two brothers just sneered at him. After all, they're used to his stupid antics.

Upon looking at the contents of the pamphlet, Chris' eyes lit up upon seeing the items to be auctioned. Along with his 375 books, there are 300 items overall to be auctioned.

Most of the epic books that he listed have a lot of similar skills, so there are 7–10 books for a specific class bundled together as just one item. So overall, he got 100 entries.

His eyes lit up upon seeing four specific items that was to be auctioned. Especially, the very last one.

<#65: Skillbook - Flight(B)

#200: Guild Creation License(Ultimate)

#277: Blessed Liquid Jade(SS)

#300: Dragon God's Essence(SSS)>

He had a fervent look in his eyes when he looked at the very last entry. It's as if he had just seen the most beautiful woman in the world, and he was already on the verge of losing control.

'How lucky I am to actually find it here.'

His War Pet egg, which already has an SSS rank aptitude, can still be increased to the maximum with the use of that item on the last entry.

'This doesn't seem to be a coincidence at all. If my guess is right, those materials from #201 up to #300 are supposed to be used to increase the rank of mounts, pets, and warpets.'

His guess was on point. The developers added aptitude-increasing materials for eggs to be auctioned. It's up to the players to figure out the use of that material, though.

'I have to get at least those three, no matter what. As for the jade, little Eri should have enough to bid on that. No, maybe I should bid on every single material, as it might be helpful in the future. I hope my coins are enough though.'

"Is there something wrong, Chris~?"

Sherryl and the rest looked at him weirdly. His expression keeps on changing after all.

"Ah, no. There's nothing wrong. Here, guys, have a look at the pamphlet."

They took the pamphlet and looked at the items to be auctioned. Most are items ranked B-A, so it didn't excite them too much. Their "village chief" already gave them even better things after all. Their point of view has definitely changed. But when they saw the 200th, they froze.

"""!!!"""

"Holy shit! That's a guild license! Bro, we are going to bid on that, right?"

"Yep."

"Yeah! We can finally start our own guild! Hehehe..."

"""YEAH!"""

Everyone's eyes were twinkling. They were so excited that they could finally build their own guild. And it won't be just a guild but an Ultimate-class one. If they were to know that Chris has an Empire-class land deed, they would definitely lose it. Everything is already set for them.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our association's bimonthly auction!!!"

"""Ooooohhhhh!"""

An extremely alluring woman appeared in the middle of the stage, greeting all the people who attended the auction. All the men, whether players or NPCs, young or old, couldn't help but swallow their saliva upon seeing such a beauty.

"Today, we have a lot of special items up for grab. So without further ado, let's get started!"

As a professional, she's used to those hungry stares. Despite Gaia being just a game, everything felt so real. She didn't beat around the bush; she immediately started.

The auction has begun.