"Hmm... it’s very rare to see your room this clean." The landlady and owner of the building, Madam Jenn, said as she scanned Lars’s room with her eyes.
"I was just a little bored today." Lars forced a smile. Madam Jenn was well known in this area. She owned many buildings along this road, thanks to her husband’s successful business.
"Anyway, give it to me." She suddenly extended her hand toward Lars.
"Give what, Madam?"
"Don’t be ridiculous. The rent for this month, the previous month, and the one before that. The total is 1,000 Zents."
"Errr... can I pay it next month? I don’t actually have any money right now. The last one, Mr. Chan already took it."
"Sigh... that’s why I’ve told you many times not to deal with that man. I will give you one week to settle your rent. If not, don’t be surprised if you see all your belongings thrown out onto the ground below. There are many people fighting to get this room right now. Now, I’m going to see the next girl."
She then put on a face mask and walked away from the room before entering Celine’s room.
"Sigh..."
Lars let out a long sigh. Right now, it felt like pressure was coming from all sides, left, right, and even above him. He needed to quickly sell this Class Book to ease his burden, even if only a little.
He hurried to take a shower, then looked at himself in the mirror. Dark eye bags had formed under his eyes from not sleeping the night before, but he didn’t have the luxury to rest. To get the best price for what he wanted to sell, there was no better place than the Auction House.
100 years ago, the landscape of the world changed with the arrival of a mysterious tower that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of World War II.
Its arrival came together with the emergence of millions of dungeon portals all over the world, sparking the birth of a new era.
The Era of Dungeons.
At first, people were terrified. Numerous Dungeon Breaks occurred, and countless lives were lost. But humans are among the most adaptive creatures. They began entering the dungeons and using the resources within to fight back and conquer them. Thus, the pioneers of dungeon hunters were born.
Since then, the world has undergone rapid technological advancement, fueled by the resources obtained from the dungeons. Now, everyone wants a share of what the dungeons can offer.
And Class Books were the most important drops and the most sought-after items in the world right now. With a single book, a person’s life could change tremendously. Most S-Rank hunters owed their rise to one of the top-tier Class Books.
In one of the rooms in the Auction House, a woman was biting her nails as she stared at the screen in front of her. She had green hair, and a well-developed figure that made her stand out whenever she walked.
(Hey, Zane! Did you get that Class Book already? It’s been 30 minutes since the bidding started. We will be at a loss if we miss it again.)
A voice came from her phone as she put it on speaker.
"Quiet, Aleph! I’m focusing right now! Just handle your side."
They were members of a small dungeon company named Mazeltov, and Zane was its founder and CEO. Right now, she was focused on bidding for an Unique Rank Class Book. She planned to give it to the hunter under her company.
On her screen, a bidder stood in a black suit, hosting the auction. At the moment, nearly ten thousand people were watching live. Some were present in the bidding hall, but almost ninety percent were joining from elsewhere.
"Alright! We’re now at 900,000 Zents, led by Mr. Gijon! Will we see it reach 1 million Zents? Come on, everyone! For those who just joined the channel, we are currently bidding on an Unique Rank class, Sun Sage, which obliterates enemies using the power of the sun. This is a very rare drop from a Rank 11 dungeon, the Sun Maze!"
The bidder hyped up the crowd.
From one of the auction rooms, Lars was also watching the auction.
"A Unique Rank Class Book is already nearing 1 million Zents? The price of Class Books these days is insane. Hmm... if only I could create a Unique rank class right now, all my debts and problems would disappear instantly. Well, I should just focus on what I can do right now."
Lars tapped the screen inside the room. Immediately, a box slid out from the wall, and he placed the Blazing Archmage Class Book inside it. The box scanned the item. This method was used to prevent sellers from scamming by submitting fake products. After that, he was prompted to set a price.
"Hmm... how much should I ask? If I set it too high, people won’t be interested. But if it’s too low, I won’t make much profit."
After a few minutes of consideration, Lars set the starting bid at 5,000 Zents and placed a lock price at 40,000 Zents. The lock price was a method where the first bidder to offer that amount would instantly win the auction. There were both pros and cons to this approach.
The advantage was that it saved time, as auctions usually lasted up to 24 hours. However, the downside was that the final price might end up lower, since the bidding could have potentially gone higher than the lock price.
After he completed all the processes, it became a waiting game.
On the other side of the auction hall in one of the private auction room, Zane was frustrated. She had lost the Class Book bid. The final price reached 1.2 million Zents, far beyond what she had expected. She only had about 950,000 Zents prepared for this deal.
(Arghh! We lost again. How are we going to beat that dungeon now?)
(Quiet, Oscar! Do you think we’ve been doing nothing?) Aleph snapped back.
(But this is the fifth time we’ve lost a bidding war. And I’m the only one with a Rare class in our group. When will I get something more powerful?)
(Don’t give up, everyone. If we don’t give up, we will surely succeed.)
(Enough with your positivity, Sarah. Being too optimistic isn’t good either.) Oscar shot back.
"Oscar..." Zane finally spoke.
All the chatter fell silent.
"I’m sorry. For now, just take any Fire Mage class on the market. I will give you 100,000 Zents for it." Zane said calmly.
(Errr... okay, boss.)
Zane then closed her phone and lay back on the sofa, covering her face with her arms. She was too frustrated. Day by day, her company was being pushed further behind by the bigger corporations. Her members were all talented hunters, but without proper investment, it was destined to collapse.
However, she did not know that what would happen today would spark a change in her life.