--- End of Auction and the power of Spirit Coins

"Sold for 13,800,000 Platinum Coins!"

"""Oooooh!"""

***Sigh...***

"Haaaaah... these NPCs are crazy!"

"No shit, man!"

"We couldn't even snag any of those awesome items..."

"Tch! Friggin' platinum coins... Even if I exchange all the gold that my guild has, it won't even reach a million!"

"They don't have an infinite supply of platinum coins, right?"

"Ughhh... So unfair!"

Nearly an hour has passed, and the 199th entry has just ended. And as usual, the players didn't manage to win any of the legendary skillbooks that Chris auctioned off. They started to cry "unfair!" again, guessing that these NPCs must have an infinite amount of platinum.

Chris, who was in the VIP room, just sneered at them. Most of the bidders are NPC royalty and nobles, and each one of these has at least one platinum mine in their territories, so anyone should be able to tell that they have large reserves of platinum coins. Thanks to Chris, they actually lost a huge chunk of those reserves.

"Bro, with this, the license is as good as ours. Hehehe!"

"I don't know about that. Although it has no use to NPCs, they will still try to buy these kinds of items for collection purposes..."

"U-ughhh..."

His friends were so happy that he has a very high chance of winning the license, but he broke their enthusiasm by saying that the NPCs might fight for the license. They now became very nervous and hoped that they could win it.

Another maid walked up to the stage carrying something wrapped in cloth. The players were dismayed once again because the previous entry must have been the last legendary spellbook. Although they knew that they'd never get a chance, they were still hopeful.

The hostess removed the cloth, and a glass box appeared. There was a roll of expensive-looking paper inside that was glowing brightly. The hostess started to introduce the item.

"And now for the 200th item! Let me introduce you! A guild creation license with ultimate foundation!"

"""..."""

"""Ohhhhhhh!"""

"S-seriously?"

"Holy shit!"

"She said "Ultimate" right?"

"Oh my god! The guilds with the highest foundation should be "Advanced" only. And yet, there is a license here with three ranks higher, the highest!"

"Everyone, please let me borrow your platinum! My guild will definitely welcome all those who cooperate."

"Hmph! Your guild? Screw your guild!"

"Yeah, to hell with your guild!"

"Haaaaa!? What did you say, bastards!?"

...

...

The players have gotten rowdy once again and started to create factions and pool their coins once more. No matter what, they cannot let these greedy NPCs take this one. Although, in their hearts, they knew that it was futile, they will still try.

"The starting bid is 400,000 platinum coins with an increment of 100,000 platinum coins and above per bid!"

Upon hearing the starting bid, the players started to sweat heavily. Most of them thought that it was too much, but some, including Chris, think that it is reasonable. A guild with an incredible bonus will be absolutely worth it in the long run.

"Since everyone knows what this is used for, especially our dear adventurers, let us start the bidding!"

The NPCs were actually aware of the players, and they called them "adventurers." Most people only think of it as a good AI, while some think that it is probably a different world altogether and was just copied to make a game. It was one of the mysteries of this game that people of Gilona couldn't explain even now.

"50 Million Platinum Coins~!"

Just as everyone is ready to bid, a melodious voice resounds from the VIP rooms. After hearing it, almost all of the players lost the color in their faces—not because of the voice but because of what it contains. But just after that, another one followed that destroyed their spirits.

"100 Million Platinum Coins!"

Silence. The players couldn't speak or whine anymore. They realized that they were just meant to be observers here and nothing more. This is not their battlefield. It was futile to begin with.

"150 Million Platinum Coins~!"

Inside the VIP room #7...

'Hoh? So you want to play, huh?'

Everyone was looking at Chris who was just holding his glass of wine leisurely. It was that terrifyingly beautiful voice again. Even though the room was quite cold, sweats were pouring like crazy. They were nervous. He then bids again...

"300 Million Platinum Coins!"

But it was suddenly followed.

"500 Million Platinum Coins~"

"Tsk!"

"1 Billion Platinum Coins!"

"2 Billion Platinum Coins~"

***Gasp!***

'W-what the hell!? Just who is this woman?'

Chris stood up and was now frowning at this.

"Unbelievable! Just what the hell is wrong with this NPC?"

"She's not messing around, right~?"

"Probably..."

Everyone in Chris' room had darkened faces. Their backs were already drenched in sweat. With that much platinum, if you convert it to gil, won't you be set for life? Heck, even the next tens or even hundreds of generations after you will never have problems with money again. Yet, it was just being thrown around here like candy.

Chris then suddenly looked behind him, in the direction of the maids, and started to ask a question.

"Miss Maids, how much do I bid if I use spirit coins?"

The maids were clearly surprised by the question, as no one had ever used spirit coins for bidding for a long time, but one of them still answered professionally.

"Since Esteemed Sir wants to use a higher currency, Sir has to bid 1,000 Spirit Coins to start."

"Eh? I mean, there are already 2 billion platinum coins out there."

"It doesn't matter, sir, as spirit coins are more valuable. It has to start all over again..."

He was gobsmacked by her answer but kept his composure. Inside his mind, he was already grinning like an idiot, thinking of using the spirit coins instead of platinum coins for bidding.

"I see. Thank you! Well then..."

"1,000 Spirit Coins!"

Chris shouted. Every player was confused, but the NPCs were surprised. Someone just used a very valuable currency. Although Spirit Coins can be sold for a minimum value of 100,000 platinum coins, none of them will actually sell that. It's just that valuable and super rare.

Inside VIP room #12, an extremely beautiful woman with a seductive body can be seen. Her flowing blue hair reached her waist, and she exuded an aura of majesty that radiated around her. The players gave her the title of "the most beautiful woman" in Gaia, a true goddess. She was currently pouting after hearing Chris' bid.

"Hmph! What a detestable man!"

The other women behind her were just smiling wryly at their empress's action. She's the empress of the Moon Empire and is currently participating in these bid wars. After hearing the bid, she stopped bidding altogether. Although she has some spirit coins, there's no way in hell she's using them.

"U-ummm... 1,000 Spirit Coins, going once!"

"1,000 Spirit Coins, going twice!"

"Sold for 1,000 Spirit Coins!"

"""..."""

"Hey, what the hell is going on? That was only equivalent to at least a hundred million or so platinum coins, you know?"

"Yeah, maybe these NPCs have suddenly encountered an error?"

"Anyone here has Spirit Coins?"

"Nah! That's super rare dude."

"I remember that Despair guy got some from World Achievement..."

"As you guys know, an old lady NPC told me not to sell the spirit coins no matter what. She said that even emperors don't have much of that coin. Even if someone were to offer a billion platinum coins per piece, they'll never sell it."

"The hell? Seriously?"

"That Despair guy also has some kind of divine-ranked item that seems to produce spirit coins."

"Tch! Lucky bastard."

"He's not that guy from the VIP room, right?"

"This..."

.....

.....

They seem to be intrigued by spirit coins; they never thought that it has such a high purchasing power that it could even devalue platinum coins. They suddenly thought of a certain person who has the item related to spirit coins. But they don't want to offend the guy; everyone saw how he slaughtered millions of elite players instantly within a few seconds.

Inside Chris' room...

"Man, to think that I will win with only 1,000 Spirit coins..."

"Y-yeah bro. There must be something wrong with these NPCs."

"Hehehe... Anyway, we got the license, and that's all that matters."

***Clap!***

"""YEAH!"""

After their initial shock, their happiness suddenly shot through the roof. They can finally make their own guild now.

*******

More than an hour later, the auction finally ended. It was supposed to last longer as the next items after the 200th were S-ranked and above.

Although they are just "some materials" for crafting or so, the rank was pretty high to pass up, but Chris just snagged them all using spirit coins. He didn't have any competition at all. It just turned into a one-man show.

There was a player who tried to mess around by bidding higher than him. Chris didn't counter-bid at all and just sneered. And just before the hammer fell and declared that player a winner, he shouted that he actually got no spirit coins. He was banned permanently from buying or selling from any shop owned by the association afterwards and lost a lot of levels as a penalty.

The players were terrified and didn't try to do any stupid things anymore. In the end, Chris got all the items from #201 to #300 for only 1,000 spirit coins each.

He then mailed the blessed liquid jade to a certain sad pinkhead, who suddenly jumped around from happiness after seeing what was inside the mail. She thanked him nonstop afterwards.

Hannah and the rest were curious as to why she was so happy despite not getting the item she needs; they thought that she finally lost it but were shocked upon learning the reason. They received so much shock from the same person today that they just logged out to calm their nerves.

*******

"I will log out now to rest for a bit. We'll create the guild once I return."

"""Okay!"""

Chris gave his friends two potions each just after paying for the items he won in the auction. He was extremely delighted that his markup and discount actually worked, even in the auction.

The sales of his items, which should have totaled 1.1 billion platinum coins, reached nearly 2 billion. And he only paid a quarter of the coins for all the items he won in the auction.

His friends were so shocked by such a bonus that they didn't know what to say anymore. You won the game already; why are you still here? is what's on their minds.

Aside from the potions, he gave them a million platinums each as their "allowance". In the end, they accepted it, albeit "reluctantly". It was a million plats! Of course, anyone will "have no choice" but to accept it if someone gives it to them for free, especially if it's their friend, no?

Before they parted ways, he also reminded his brothers about their meeting with the mayor and told them to log out early.

Their meeting with the mayor was tonight, and he was quite anxious as to what that old man wanted from him. Although he wasn't afraid of him, he doesn't want to antagonize the old man for no good reason.