Novel Bin
Chapter 46
Chapter 46
[2,000 points are required to enter this chat room.]
[Do you wish to enter?]
One of the chat rooms had an entrance fee with a cost equivalent to two level-ups' worth of Community points.
[Selling an artifact that reduces resource consumption. Auction (18/20)]
After reading the room’s title, Jae-Hyeok made his decision. There are only two seats left before the chat room fills up. I can’t miss this opportunity by hesitating...
He selected Yes on the message prompt and felt a slight dizziness.
The Community was a space for one’s consciousness, not one’s body.
Although the form of someone’s consciousness was inherently the same as their real body, the rules governing it differed. It was akin to a spirit body.
Jae-Hyeok’s consciousness soared through the ceiling and quickly gained altitude.
The dormitory building shrank away as he reached a height so high in the sky that the whole school could be seen.
Flash!
An explosion of light blinded Jae-Hyeok’s vision.
“......”
When he opened his eyes next, he found himself in an unfamiliar space.
He was in the living room of an old mansion. Twenty chairs were neatly arranged in a circle.
“Based on how you’re just standing there, are you a newbie?”
“Oh my god, a newbie spent 2,000 points to go to an auction.”
“Indeed, but why does he look so dazed? Haha! He’ll drop out early.” A burly man noticed Jae-Hyeok glancing around and casually hurled insults at him.
Like Jae-Hyeok, he was also wearing a mask. Hm. This is the downside of anonymity...
So long as a player chose to keep their information private, the Community guaranteed their anonymity. With that assurance, it wasn’t an environment where good manners or common sense could be expected.
Jae-Hyeok grasped the mood of the room, found an empty seat, and sat down.
The masks worn by the people present varied widely.
Most of them were masks that personified animals or everyday objects, but the colors, designs, and accessories were all very different.
For example, he spotted two people wearing rabbit masks, but one wore an eyepatch, while the other had a folded ear.
It seemed everyone had distinct masks so people could be recognized and remembered inside the Community without exposing their identities.
The person next to Jae-Hyeok asked, “Aren’t you very frugal? How many points does it cost to decorate the mask? Why stick with the basic model?”
Jae-Hyeok’s plain mask was intriguing.
Hm. So the mask isn’t determined in advance like a fingerprint. It’s customizable like an avatar, Jae-Hyeok thought.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable? If you go to an ordinary chat room with no entrance fee, you would be treated like a newbie and ostracized.”
The person next to Jae-Hyeok was wearing a basic mask with only a feather attached to it.
“It’s the same for you,” Jae-Hyeok replied indifferently. His modulated voice sounded like a wild beast.
The feather-masked man’s eyes widened slightly.
At this moment, a System message notified them that the twentieth person had joined the chat room.
Some people had been searching the room, hoping to discern the owner’s identity, but they gave up and sat down then.
Among them, a woman in a tiger mask and an elderly gentleman in a fedora made Jae-Hyeok’s heart thump.
Do the top-tier players even have their real-life stats reflected in their avatars?
The pressure they exuded was enormous. Although Jae-Hyeok completely believed in his own strength, it was enough to make even him nervous.
The feather-masked man clicked his tongue. “You seem to be bothered by them as well. If they want to demonstrate their power, they should show their faces. Instead, they’re cowards like us, hiding behind a mask. What’s the point of spending 10,000 points for a Projection elixir?”
Projection elixir? From the man’s words, it seemed to be an item that applied real-life stats to the avatar.
Jae-Hyeok agreed with the feather-masked man. Only their consciousness was here, so combat was impossible in the Community. What was the meaning of spending 10,000 points to show off their strength?
After everyone was seated, the room manager appeared, wearing a red dress with a low back and a fox mask.
“Thank you to everyone for participating in the auction. I’m sure you are all busy, so I will proceed with the auction without any delay.”
She took out a beautiful white bracelet.
“As I wrote in the title, this artifact reduces resource consumption. Specifically, it’s a twenty percent reduction.”
“Twenty percent?”
“Crazy.”
Fighting energy, blood energy, divinity, demonic energy—depending on the Profession or Skill, there were people who used resources other than mana.
Because of their global effect, items that reduced resource consumption were significantly more valuable than items that reduced specific resources like mana.
In addition, the reduction was a huge twenty percent?
The reaction of the people present was bound to be intense.
A number of people began worrying about the bidding price.
“I’m afraid I don’t have enough money... ”
Jae-Hyeok frowned as well.
He thought, Is there something wrong with the item?
Based on just this, the bracelet was worth a lot. If the room owner had mentioned the bracelet’s properties in the title, she would’ve attracted the attention of top-tier players, who had many points to spend.
She could’ve set the entrance fee much higher, too...
“It must be a defective product.” The feather-masked man expressed the same opinion as Jae-Hyeok.
The room owner shared the item’s information with them.
[White Snake's Bracelet]
[Rating: Legendary
Reduces the consumption of all resources by 20% when worn.
However, the wearer will receive the Curse of the Dead Snake when the effect is activated.]
[Curse of the Dead Snake]
[Poisoning, blindness, paralysis, or partial necrosis might occur.]
“This is shit!”
“Charging an entrance fee for selling a cursed item?”
People checked the information of the bracelet and cursed. Some people even threw their chairs.
The feather-masked man chuckled. “A scammer caught us.”
Who knows? Jae-Hyeok didn’t think so.
Thinking of his Noble Chivalry Skill, he felt that the bracelet’s condition wasn’t a big problem.
[A knight’s mental strength is firmly trained, so you can resist most status conditions and endure pain well.]
How easy was it to find another person like him?
It isn’t common enough that there will be more than one person among these twenty people.
Perhaps a handful of players on the planet had resistances like Jae-Hyeok’s. If such people were common, then the room owner would have known about them. She would’ve openly promoted and sold the bracelet instead of hiding the information.
I’m the most advantaged person in this auction.
The room owner spoke regretfully while watching the reactions of the auction participants, “The bidding will start at 40,000 points.”
That she had to sell this legendary-rated item at a low price made her depressed. Clearing that S-grade quest had been painstaking. Of all things, why is a legendary item a trash item like this?
The System activated.
[The auction of the White Snake's Bracelet has begun. The minimum bid is 40,000 points.]
“She is completely crazy. Her greed has gone to her head.”
“Who would buy a cursed item for 40,000 points?”
“What are you doing? Let’s leave quickly.”
Several people jumped to their feet. If no one bid, everyone would be refunded the entrance fee.
Jae-Hyeok sat still while thinking about it. It isn’t the Curse of the White Snake. It’s the Curse of the ‘Dead’ Snake...
Since it had the ‘dead’ prefix, the power of the curse would be weakened, making it easier to bear.
It would be okay even if he couldn’t handle it. Things would change once the level of his Noble Chivalry Skill increased...
Jae-Hyeok was about to place a bid when the feather-masked man preemptively made a move.
“I will bid for 40,000.”
He had called the room owner a scammer, but he was the first to raise his hand. Jae-Hyeok stared at him, and the man said meaningfully, “What if there are people who don’t care about curses? I’ll make a big profit if I can buy it at a bargain price and sell it to such people.”
“......”
“Haha, I’m kidding. No matter how big the world is, there can’t be such a reckless person.”
The feather-masked man’s voice changed from solemn to cheerful again.
“Poisoning, blindness, or necrosis can be solved with antidotes and potions. It will be a hassle, but I think it is worth wearing when using a resource-heavy ultimate move. Of course, you will cry tears of blood and regret it if you are unlucky enough to be paralyzed.”
The atmosphere became tense.
A few people raised their hands.
“45,000.”
“41,500.”
“42,000.”
A woman in a tiger mask and a man in an old gentleman’s mask also entered the competition.
Based on the way they didn’t raise the price too much, it seemed they were still doubting the value of the item.
Having to take an antidote or potion every time the bracelet was used was a huge cost burden. It also isn’t easy to take a potion in the middle of a tense battle.
But above all, the paralysis was the problem. If they were paralyzed, they couldn’t take a potion even if they wanted to.
“45,000.”
The feather-masked man raised the price at once.
Most of the people groaned and stopped bidding.
“45,500.” However, the tiger-masked woman kept following.
“If only there weren't paralysis.” The man in the old gentleman mask clicked his tongue and gave up bidding.
“50,000.” The feather-masked man opened his mouth once more, and the tiger-masked woman fell silent. He murmured, “It looks like I will be the one to win the bid... ”
Jae-Hyeok called out, “51,000.”
“...55,000.”
“60,000.”
The feather-masked man looked at Jae-Hyeok in surprise. “I thought you were quite frugal, but you’re different from how you look? 65,000.”
Jae-Hyeok shrugged. “Aren’t you the same? 70,000.”
Jae-Hyeok’s voice was reminiscent of a beast of prey. His snarling voice echoed through the room, causing the woman in the tiger mask and the man in the old gentleman mask to shudder.
With a modulated voice like that, don’t tell me...?
Why is such a bigshot in a place like this?
Was this bracelet worth more than they thought? They wondered if they should participate in the auction again. However, the bidding price for the bracelet was skyrocketing to the point where it was too much for even them to bear.
“73,000.”
“80,000.”
That amount of money could be used to purchase ordinary legendary-rated items.
“Groan.” The feather-masked man was discouraged once 80,000 came out. “You must’ve saved up all the money you could’ve spent on your mask to become rich. Ah, I’ll give up.”
He raised his white flag in an exaggerated manner before whispering in Jae-Hyeok’s ear, “It seems today I’ve met someone who doesn’t fear curses.”
“......”
“The next time I find an artifact like this, I will come find you. I’m sure I can be of great help.”
[A Conscientious Merchant sends you a friend invitation.]
[In order to accept the invitation, please set a Community name.]
“The reason I conceded this time is to build a valuable relationship. Please accept the favor.”
The feather-masked man shared the information on the number of Community points he held.
The man had seemed well-versed in the Community, but on seeing the long string of zeros, Jae-Hyeok realized he was dealing with an experienced old-timer.
In addition, he must have a lot of information as a merchant.
There was nothing wrong with forming a relationship.
But first, I have to decide on my Community name.
Jae-Hyeok tried to define himself. Who was he?
An aristocrat.
A knight.
One who would punish his father’s enemies and raise up their fallen family.
The standard: a beacon to some, a terror to others.
...Yaksha.
[The Community name has been set to Yaksha.]
[You have accepted the friend invitation of A Conscientious Merchant.]
“Yaksha? A nostalgic name. In truth, that was the last name I expected to see.” The feather-masked man’s eyes were wide.
His surprise seemed genuine. Apparently, he had mistaken Jae-Hyeok for someone else.
“Still, this is good, too. It’s a big world.”
The man grinned, and his body slowly vanished in a cluster of light.
Soon, only two people remained in the room: Jae-Hyeok and the room manager.
This meant that Jae-Hyeok was the winning bidder.
The room manager’s eyes were strange as she looked at him.
What do you think?
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