35 Mid-grade Chaos Stones

"Hohoho! Aren't youngsters nowadays feisty? Are you trying to say this old man can't compete with a little rat like you in terms of wealth? Ahaha! You sure like to kid! If you want to play, this Old man will accompany you!"

Sekhit grits his teeth. It seemed as if ninching this masterpiece would be harder than he thought…

"18 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!" Sekhit throws out.

Immediately, the deep voice replies. "19!"

"21 Mid-grade Chaos St-"

"22!"

"Old man!!! I swear I'll make you regret this if you continue!" Sekhit threatens.

"Hoho! Threatening an old man, huh? Aren't youngsters nowadays unreasonable. Why? This old man can't rightfully bid on this masterpiece? Was this masterpiece reserved for you or something?" The deep voice calls out once again.

Sekhit grinds his teeth together in anger. However, he couldn't think of a suitable counter to that statement. What this damn old man said was true. This masterpiece wasn't reserved for him. However, any who got in his way would be stepped on by him! Sekhit had already lost once today, he didn't wish to lose again. That's why… He chose to continue bidding. He would win this sketch at any price!!!

"30 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!" Sekhit shouts.

The deep voice goes silent for a moment.

"Ha! Old man, your lifetime funds aren't even enough to compete with a 'youngster' like me huh? What did you do with your life?" Sekhit goads.

"31." The deep voice finally calls.

"Cheh. 35!" Sekhit counters.

After moments of complete silence, Mike began counting down again.

"35 Mid-grade Chaos Stones going once!"

"35 Mid-grade Chaos Stones going twice!"

"35 Mid-grade Chaos Stones, SOLD!!!"

As the final 'SOLD' reverberated throughout the room, the crowd roars. That artwork had managed to be sold for 35 Mid-grade Chaos Stones!!! What wealth!!

"Congratulations to the honored guest in VIP Room #2 for winning this masterpiece!" Mike shouts out.

Sekhit stands at the glass wall, staring down at the stage. At this point, he should be feeling smug, he should be feeling satisfaction for having beaten that old man… However, he couldn't help but feel something was wrong...

"Hoho! Congratulations congratulations! Well done, you managed to win this masterpiece of an artwork!" The deep voice says once again.

"And this voice threw Sekhit over the edge. Sekhit realized he had been duped. The Old man had no intention of actually buying this artwork…. Wait no. The Old man probably did, just not as much as he had… The Old man intentionally raised the price of it and even that pause was just to goad him further. Sekhit had fallen straight into his trap.

In that moment of hot-headedness, Sekhit had spent almost all the money he had brought with him today.

However, there was nothing he could do about it… and it pissed him off a lot.

Meanwhile, in VIP Room #1, as Lin Ke was listening to the two of them compete for his artwork, he couldn't help but feel a little bad for the man in VIP Room #2… He had been ripped off hard! Mr. Wraht had told him that at market value, this sketch would probably fetch 10 Mid-grade Chaos Stones at most.

However, this person bought it for 35 Mid-grade Chaos Stones.

In his heart, Lin Ke was laughing hard. He was rich now! Even after subtracting the 9 Mid-grade Chaos Stones he spent earlier on, he had around 50 Mid-grade Chaos Stones now…

Lin Ke chuckled, clearly pretty happy with what had happened. As he was celebrating, Lia began to stir.

"Mmmm." She stretched her arms, wrapping them around Lin Ke's right arm.

Lin Ke froze, his mind going blank. He had no idea what he should do. Lia's skin was so soft, and when she made contact with his arm, Lin Ke felt an electrifying shock down his arm.

Lia yawned, her mouth forming a small o. Slowly, Lia opened her eyes. Blinking her large eyes slowly, Lia came back to her senses.

Groggily, she thought. 'Hm… I must've fallen asleep… Oh no, did the auction start already? How rude of me! What's Lin Ke going to think… Speaking of which, where is Lin Ke… Who is this I'm holding onto… So warm….'

Lia tilts her head, looking at what she was holding onto…. Before quickly springing back in shock. Lia scrambled to the other side of the couch, her face completely red.

"Wawuwuwah?" Lia fumbled unintelligibly. "L-l-l-l-Lin Kwe?"

"I- I'm so sorry for falling asleep on you!" Lia squeeks.

"Ah… It's alright… It's no big deal." Seeing Lia so embarrassed also made Lin Ke slightly self-conscious. Trying to change the subject, Lin Ke says. "Errr…. The auction is ending soon. There weren't a lot of interesting things though."

"Oh no! I slept through the entire thing? You should've just woken me up…" Lia says half-heartedly. She turns to face the stage, her body perfectly straight like a rigid metal wall, if only her face wasn't still flaming red.

'I would have woken you up… but you looked so damn adorable whilst sleeping I couldn't bear it.' Lin Ke thought to himself. Of course, he would never say that out loud.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen!!! There are 2 more items left for today's auction, but never fear, these two items will definitely be on par with your expectations!!!" Mike shouted.

"Next up is a mysterious rune… One that was unearthed deep underground... The true uses of this rune is unknown, however, it was found in one of the Sacred Lands." Mike announces.