Crushing Covan's Auction (8)

The group chat was silent as Jisha inspected the item she had just purchased.

*>Name: Magical Oaken Dagger*

*>...*

*Yeah. This is for her.*

When Jisha was contacted by her best friend in this life, Jisha had already resolved herself to give her a gift when they met up.

When she found the ordinary level 5 dagger, Jisha considered giving it to her. However, Jisha quickly realized that she could easily find something better, thus deciding to sell it off at this auction. But she didn't expect to find something great so soon.

Syny Cytem, also known as Synycal in the game, would, alongside Fae Sol, become a very well-known player in the future. In her past life, Syny had become one of the greatest dagger wielders in the game... And this was only after Syny was indecisive about her class for so long. If Jisha could nurture Syny's talent at an early stage, how much better would she become?

Jisha believed Syny could be at the level of a top player in a few weeks!

And though professionals didn't exist yet, Jisha was certain that Syny would stand above all future pros if she was trained properly.

Jisha couldn't wait to test this theory.

Skill level was an odd thing.

When one begins learning a skill, whether it be a game, craft, hobby, or something else, they would struggle. In the very beginning, one is obviously worse than average.

But if one were to train properly, they could easily exceed average.

This was because a vast majority of people, regardless of what they were practicing, were not practicing optimally. If one received guidance on *how* to and how *not* to practice, they would avoid practicing improper things thus putting their fundamentals at a higher level than most people. Without proper fundamentals, it was impossible to reach a high skill level. But with proper fundamentals, one was unshakeable.

So, in Synergy, when nobody had a clue about any optimizations, those who would rise above were either lucky to have found an optimal path or had exceptional talent in some area. If Jisha, someone who knew about all optimal routes and was talented in many areas, taught a protégé with these methods, the results would be astounding.

Of course, Jisha wasn't going to write any guides. At least not ones that were available for the public. The information she knew about the future was worth an unfathomable amount of money. It was suicide to simply give it away. She was going to use this information to grow herself and those around her.

This dagger Jisha had purchased was one of the many "optimizations" she could think of for a fledgling dagger wielder. Not only was it a superior weapon until level 10, but it was also upgradeable. Usually, new weapons and equipment would have to be purchased or found after certain level thresholds. However, if an item was upgradeable, one could use it for much longer than ordinary weapons.

*>Fae Sol: Everyone, meet outside.*

*>Censer: ... Yes.*

The auction had concluded and many of the NPCs had already left, but many of the players still lingered around wanting to catch a glimpse of the dark horse that took out an organization. As Jisha, Brookie, Jiel, and the seven leaders walked outside, much of the crowd attempted to follow behind.

*Now, it's time.*

Using the Nightwalker's ability "Item Cloak", Jisha cloaked seven items she was keeping in her inventory. Outside the door, she fairly distributed the items that they had purchased in the auction.

"Congratulations! Here's your item!"

"Thank you!"

And every time she did, she gave them a celebratory pat on the back or a hug. None of the men objected to getting a hug from a pretty girl even if the gender of the user behind the avatar was ambiguous.

But once all the items were distributed and everyone was feeling chipper, Jisha dropped a bombshell statement.

"Now, gentlemen. Do you want to know the catch?"

"... Huh?"

Though some of the keener org leaders had remembered there would be a catch at the end, most had clearly forgotten.

"... What can you even do? We already got our items," said Simulator Child.

"I wonder. Do you remember how much money you spent?" Jisha asked.

"We spent 100 Copper," said Censer.

*Huh. I guess I was really underestimating them.*

Though it wasn't anything special, Jisha was mildly impressed that one of the org leaders actually kept track of how much money they bid.

*It's the bare minimum effort they could've put in, but still.*

"Honestly, I didn't expect any of you to actually know how much you spent. And surprisingly, Censer, you stayed within your budget! Congratulations!" Jisha praised sarcastically. "Here's your 338 Copper back!"

"... Thanks?"

"And I'd also like to give an honorable mention to Jiel, who spent 0 Copper and also stayed within his budget. Let's give him a round of applause, shall we?"

"..."

The organization leaders awkwardly looked at each other. No one clapped.

"Tch, tough crowd huh? Well, that makes sense. Because the rest of you..." Jisha said ominously as she turned to the rest of the group. "Why don't we start with... the least debt? Dolphin Killer, amazing job. You spent 200 Copper and are only 2 Copper in debt. Fantastic!"

"What? Is that even right?" Dolphin Killer asked.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't keep track of how much *I* spent? It was all my money, you know."

"... What do you mean? It's our money. We pooled it together to take out Shock Collar. That's what we agreed on," Aphro Expo said.

*They're so naive.*

Jisha couldn't help but *almost* feel bad for these guys... but they had to learn the ways of the world sooner or later.

"Is there a contract anywhere saying we agreed on it?" Jisha asked.

"I-"

The org leaders were baffled once this play started going off-script.

"And Aphro Expo... How sad! You spent 2 Bronzium, 165 Copper and are 46 Copper in debt!"

"..."

One by one, Jisha listed the sum of every leader's total bids in addition to the "debt" they were in. At first, the leaders didn't understand how she was getting this "debt" number.

But they quickly realized that it was the difference between the total amount they bid and the original amount they put in! This meant that Fae Sol had not only remembered how much they spent, but also remembered how much they each individually put in as well as how much more they spent, and calculated the debt value... for all 7 members.

When they realized this, the organization leaders got chills. It wasn't that this math was hard, but it seemed tedious for no reason! Why was she going out of her way to torture them with this meticulous information? She was ruthless!

Finally, Jisha approached the end of the list.

"Hutian Crest... I am so incredibly sorry for you! You've spent the most, and even though you were the richest in the beginning... You're the most in debt. You spent a whopping 11 Bronzium, and your debt is 6 Bronzium!"

"... so?"

"Hutian Crest, do you understand what's happening right now?"

"We totally beat up Shock Collar?"

"Haha, of course. That is true, but what's happened to you right now?"

"..."

"You're deep in the red, Hutian Crest," Jisha said as she lowered her voice. "Not only you, but all of you except Censer and Jiel! All of you are indebted to me and are to pay me back this value by this day next week!"