I slowly conveyed the conclusion I had reached.
— I have no idea what you’ve been babbling about since earlier. If you’re going to keep spouting bullshit, don’t talk to me.
Whether it’s real or not, I must not react.
After that, I immediately severed the Line of the Golden Rule.
When you speak too long with someone who holds the informational high ground, you only end up exposing your bottom.
Besides, wasn’t this the first time I’d ever spoken through the “Line of the Golden Rule”?
Here, it was right to take a step back.
When I cut the Line of the Golden Rule, Number 1 shrugged his shoulders.
‘A dangerous man.’
I couldn’t read him.
One thing was certain––nothing good would come from getting involved with him.
So, I cut him off completely.
Right now, I needed to focus on the auction.
“The next auction item is a mythic-grade product! A treasure personally submitted by the esteemed Guest Number 3, Lady Dersian herself! The item, ‘Heavenly Jade Porcelain’! Its beauty is so breathtaking that merely looking at it could blind you! The starting bid is 10 billion gold!”
Number 3, Lady Dersian, had brought out something special.
But the price was absurd.
Ten billion gold.
Of course, there was no one who could possibly bid.
And Lady Dersian was intentionally aiming for that.
A display.
Setting a price no one could possibly bid on, and thus “displaying” her prestige.
Behold. The Dersian family possesses such an item!
“Hoh.”
“So that’s the famous Heavenly Jade Porcelain?”
“To think the Dersian family owned that.”
“It’s beautiful, just like its name.”
The Empire’s nobles expressed genuine admiration.
At the same time, Lady Dersian’s nose was rising high enough to pierce the heavens.
Naturally, no one placed a bid.
“If there are no bidders, we shall move on to the next item. Now, the next item is far more beautiful than this! You may look forward to it!”
“More beautiful than Heavenly Jade Porcelain?”
“Does such a thing even exist in this world?”
Heavenly Jade Porcelain was known to reveal a thousand different beauties depending on how the light hit its surface.
Could something even more beautiful than the world’s most gorgeous porcelain truly exist?
Soon, the auctioneer spoke with a smile.
“The next auction item is, unbelievably, a unique-grade item! I couldn’t believe my eyes even as I saw it myself. Please open your eyes wide and watch closely! This is the ‘Throne of Light,’ registered today by the esteemed Guest Number 2!! Starting bid, 100 billion gold! Ah… at this price, there’s likely only one person in this world who could possibly afford it.”
“—?”
“!!!”
Everyone participating in the auction turned in utter shock.
Moments later, a throne formed of pure light revealed its majestic presence.
“······ Unique-grade?”
Of course, Number 1 was among those staring.
Right now was the time to focus solely on the auction.
You’d better focus too.
***
The amount of money that could be used for bidding was only what had been verified beforehand.
No one would have registered even 10 billion gold, much less 100 billion, so naturally there was no one capable of bidding.
No—there was no place besides the Imperial Family that could even possess that much liquid wealth.
A product only an Emperor could afford.
“That is…”
“It’s unbelievably beautiful.”
Everyone stared blankly at the Throne of Light, completely entranced.
I had set the starting bid absurdly high on purpose.
To show them.
That I possessed something the Empire itself could not obtain.
“To think such a thing exists…”
“Skills aren’t working either…”
Meanwhile, the appraisers were at a loss.
A unique-grade item could not have its details identified unless by its owner.
“How can we be sure that throne is truly unique-grade?”
“Esteemed guests, please be at ease. We managed to verify it just moments ago. We can at least guarantee the grade.”
They had verified it.
Only the grade.
At the auctioneer’s statement, greed flashed in everyone’s eyes.
But that was all.
No one could bid on something starting at 100 billion gold.
Instead, everyone’s gaze turned toward me and Hudson.
Number 3, Lady Dersian, had her eyes wide open, trembling, staring back and forth between the throne and us.
A brief silence.
“As there are no bidders, we will proceed to the next item.”
If an item failed to receive any bids, it simply returned to its owner.
And it was up to the owner to register it again with a new price if they wished.
But by doing this, I had effectively performed a mass provocation.
Not just throughout Darkan Territory, but across the entire Empire.
‘If I want to find the Baal Armor, this is the fastest way.’
If I wanted to find the Baal Armor somewhere within the Empire, no method was faster than this.
Since the possibility had arisen that the Fourth Evil, Baal, might cross over to Earth, I had to locate it as quickly as possible.
“Wait.”
“······ G–Guest Number 1?”
Just as we were about to move on,
Number 1 raised his hand, and the auctioneer reacted as if struck by lightning.
It was the first time he had expressed intent in this auction.
The reaction of the auctioneer.
The behavior of the Empire’s nobles.
They treated him like someone nearly untouchable.
They avoided his gaze, lowered their heads, reaffirmed their own place.
But this was Darkan Territory.
A prestigious family of swordsmanship, and a power that led the hierarchy of many nobles.
For someone to act freely here, at the “Special Grade” auction, even the Darkan Lord yielding second place to him…
‘The Imperial Family.’
No matter how I thought about it, only the Imperial Family fit.
But if he were from the Imperial Family, something didn’t quite make sense.
Players could never belong to the Imperial Family.
Their pathological isolationism.
It was impossible to live inside their system while hiding one’s true identity.
Number 1. The man who casually raised his hand spoke quietly.
“Auctioneer. Must the bidding only use the funds registered beforehand?”
“Yes, that is the rule of the auction, esteemed Guest Number 1.”
The assets verified before the auction.
Only those assets could be used for bids.
Number 1 stroked his chin silently.
He clearly hadn’t registered 100 billion gold.
But his casual demeanor bothered me.
‘Someone who can mobilize 100 billion gold.’
Even in the Imperial Family, there were very few who could freely access such an amount.
As the auctioneer said, unless he was the Emperor himself, it wouldn’t be easy.
If he were a member of the Imperial Family, he could also forcefully change the rules.
Or, in the worst-case scenario, he might have been planning to accuse Hudson and me of being “Players” and seize the item by force.
Of course, that would risk making an enemy of the White King, but the Throne of Light was worth that gamble.
If he had realized the throne’s true value, it wouldn’t be strange for him to make a reckless attempt.
“If it’s a rule, then it cannot be helped. Rules exist to be respected.”
······ I let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly.
I hadn’t expected that some lunatic would actually try to bid after I had set the starting price at 100 billion gold.
100 billion gold could buy a kingdom.
Even the Emperor would hesitate to casually spend that amount.
‘I was naïve.’
I would have to raise my evaluation of the Empire.
Since they had yet to reclaim all the land of the Old Empire, I assumed 100 billion gold would be beyond them.
Naïve. But I wouldn’t make such a mistake twice.
More importantly, Number 1 had said he respected “rules.”
He said that not to the auctioneer, but to me.
He could have forced the bid, but he chose not to.
······ What sort of man is he?
A man who called himself Mintchocoisdelicious while also clearly being tied to the Imperial Family.
Two identities that should never coexist, yet they did.
There was another reason I couldn’t figure him out.
【Lv. ??】
His level was unreadable.
Only twice before had I seen a level appear as question marks.
‘The supreme dragon Riley and the Fourth Evil Baal.’
Only those two.
Both were colossal beings whose levels were difficult to determine.
But this man was human.
Or… was he?
At this point, I wasn’t sure.
He was definitely above level 10.
‘There must be a condition that causes the level to show as question marks.’
I simply didn’t know that condition yet.
What did the three have in common?
The supreme dragon Riley, the Fourth Evil Baal, and Guest Number 1.
Were all three simply too strong?
I shook my head inwardly.
‘I could see the White King’s level. Strength isn’t the 기준.’
Using the Great Sage’s perception.
Even the monstrous level 15 White King could be identified.
The supreme dragon alone wasn’t stronger than the White King.
If it were after Riley merged with the Sword of Stars Riley, that might be different, but as the dragon alone, it wasn’t.
Not strength—another criterion.
Something that could circumvent the Great Sage’s observation.
‘Only a hidden trait can block another hidden trait.’
Hidden traits weren’t absolute.
For example, “Giant’s Magic Resistance” could be pierced by Mana Penetration.
But nothing could perfectly nullify a hidden trait—there was no such thing as 100% penetration.
Likewise, the Great Sage’s observation could only be partially obstructed.
To turn the display into complete question marks, only another hidden trait could manage that.
‘Probably… the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch. Or the Great Sage.’
The supreme dragon Riley and the Fourth Evil Baal likely possessed hidden traits as well.
Riley was covered in countless talents as the Sword of Stars, plus the qualities of a supreme dragon.
As for Baal?
A monster who had sealed away that much proficiency and experience points, raising the very “tier” of everything it possessed. It would be strange not to have hidden traits.
Maybe they didn’t have as many as my 14, but some overlap was possible.
Likely the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch or the Great Sage.
Even though the Iron-Blooded Monarch had evolved into the Eternal Monarch, the Great Sage trait remained.
Likewise, Number 1 must have had one or both of those traits. If he really was Mintchocoisdelicious, that was entirely plausible.
The Imperial Family would also know of hidden traits, so that possibility couldn’t be dismissed.
‘Who are you?’
I had never met a human who caused me this much confusion.
I wanted nothing to do with him—yet now I was curious.
Curious about the face beneath that mask.
About his true identity.
***
“How was today’s auction?”
A spacious room.
Inside a special chamber prepared within the lord’s castle, the Lord of Darkan spoke.
Then, the masked Number 1, seated by the window, shrugged lightly.
“It was entertaining.”
Truly entertaining.
He had not felt such amusement in a very long time.
“The ‘Throne of Light’ must have caught your eye?”
“Yes. It is indeed a fine item.”
“…My apologies. Even with the combined efforts of all our observers, we could only verify that it was unique-grade. We were unable to discern any details.”
“It’s fine. I couldn’t either.”
Number 1 nodded casually.
A unique-grade item could only be fully understood by its owner.
But with his ability, he could at least grasp the basics.
“However… from what I gleaned, it was once the throne upon which the god who bore the sun sat. Naturally, it belongs to me, don’t you think?”
Just one line.
He had been able to read only that single line.
But that alone was enough.
The Lord of Darkan widened his eyes.
“You managed to see that far… as expected…!”
“Shh.”
Number 1 lifted a finger to his lips.
Silence.
The Lord of Darkan trembled.
“A–ah…”
“Speak nothing about me. Such is the rule of the Empire.”
“M–my deepest apologies, Number 1.”
The Lord of Darkan bowed deeply.
Number 1. A being even the Lord of Darkan could not touch.
If he wished, he could erase Darkan Territory without leaving a single ant behind.
Watching the terrified lord, he smirked.
“Rules exist to be followed. The same applies to auctions.”
“Is there truly any need for an auction? You could simply approach him for a direct trade.”
“No, he came here for the auction. Therefore, it must be settled through the auction.”
“But… Hudson should be reasonable. Though he came from the labyrinth, he is human. The Throne of Light must also have come from the labyrinth.”
Hudson was the representative of the labyrinth.
He had already sold relics of the Old Empire to the Golden City, Arcana.
Treasures from the labyrinth.
The Throne of Light was likely discovered there as well.
Naturally, enough gold would persuade him.
“Hudson? Ah, I wasn’t referring to him.”
Not Hudson?
Wasn’t Hudson the one running the auction on behalf of the labyrinth?
“Then do you mean the barbarian behind him?”
“Yes. He is the one who left a lasting impression and brought me genuine amusement.”
His smile deepened.
The Throne of Light was wonderful, but even more wonderful was the man wearing the golden goat mask.
Hudson was merely his puppet.
The Lord of Darkan was stunned.
For him to show such interest in another person, for him to speak of “impressions and amusement,” was extraordinary.
He was the one who knew everything.
Thus, whenever he evaluated someone, he always responded with boredom or apathy.
‘I cannot see him. He possesses a hidden trait.’
Intriguing.
Someone even his hidden trait could not perceive.
Surely that man possessed a hidden trait of “observation interference” like himself.
So he probed him, thinking he might be a Player.
Yet the man gave no reaction.
Even when he mentioned Number 68, even when he spoke a nickname any Player would recognize, the man showed not the slightest response.
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