Amber Court

『I’m Isaac, your auctioneer for today.』

On the stage illuminated by spotlights, a figure stepped out and bowed courteously to the audience.

『A selection of goods handpicked from all across the continent has been prepared for you today. Ancient relics, magical tools, and even objects imbued with mysterious powers! These are one-of-a-kind items prepared exclusively for those who have come here today!』

'At last, it's starting.'

Amber Court, the auction house challenge.

Players who participate here can enter the auction using their own money.

The items on offer vary widely, from ordinary items of little value to items of up to the highest Transcendent grade.

'At least it isn't dangerous, so that's a relief.'

One of the few [Challenge Quests] without any danger.

Once the twenty auctions have ended, players can claim the items they won and return to the worlds they originally came from.

The major drawback, however, is that if you don't have any money, all you can do is sit on your hands.

'The auction house is difficult whether you're in the early or late stages of the Selection Process.'

It's somewhat easier to win bids in the middle and later stages than in the early stages, when you have to spend money to survive,

but even then, it's no simple matter, since the bidding prices and the premium prices attached to items vary depending on which shelter the auction house appears in.

'Well, that's only natural.'

Just as item performance improves as you advance to the next Trial, the same system applies to Challenge Quests.

In other words, the value of the items put up for auction increases, and the amount of money required rises accordingly.

'In that sense, only a handful of people have ever profited from the auction house.'

Unless you're the Golden Castle Lord, you can't even hope to win a bid.

It's not simply a matter of money. If it were, the other lords could solve it somehow or another.

『Now, compose yourselves and prepare to welcome the night of Amber Court.』

At the auctioneer's signal, an item slowly rose from the floor of the stage. The shelf and the object resting on it were covered with luxurious silk, so it was still impossible to tell what lay beneath.

『Let me introduce the first item.』

Only after the auctioneer removed the red cloth could I see what it was.

『This is an ancient sword discovered in a forbidden tomb. Its blade is badly worn, but a mysterious power resides within it. The starting bid is 200 points. Now, who will place the first bid?』

I picked up one of the objects placed on the table beside me.

Opera glasses.

The distance between here and the stage was considerable. That was why the auction house provided binoculars that let you view distant items as though they were right in front of you.

I used them to examine the item onstage.

'Just as the auctioneer said, the blade is badly worn… It's an incredibly old sword.'

They said it contained some kind of special power, but I couldn't tell what it was.

'Even my Mythic ability, [Exhibition Eye], can't identify it.'

The item was inside a special glass tube, and no matter how intensely I concentrated, no relevant information surfaced. It seemed to block the power of [Exhibition Eye].

'This is why it's so difficult to profit from the auction house Challenge Quest.'

Players had to judge the item's value using nothing but their eyes.

But it was impossible to make an easy judgment based solely on appearances.

Just like the ancient lantern [Flame of Vigil] I'd recently given the Saintess, some items looked shabby yet were so valuable that their worth couldn't be measured in money.

'You can't learn an item's true nature until you've won it and taken it into your hands.'

『400 points!』

『450 points!』

『500! 550! 600 points!』

I turned my head and looked around.

None of my companions were anywhere in the audience.

'That aside, I wonder if everyone else is doing well.'

This was a kind of private dungeon. Every player entered through a different channel and conducted the auction separately. In other words, we couldn't meet or join forces until the auction was over.

'That makes winning a bid even harder.'

You couldn't pool your money during the auction, and even if you could, who would trust someone else enough to hand over a large sum?

That was why this Challenge Quest was one that nobody but a tiny handful of true millionaires could complete.

'Well, it might be possible if luck is on your side.'

『Does anyone have 750? Now, this is your last chance. If you let this opportunity pass, this item will go to someone else.』

I pressed the button on the armrest of my seat. The auctioneer immediately raised his voice, and the number on the electronic display above his head ticked upward.

『800 points!』

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

At another auction house, Shin Seoyeon was watching the auction and thinking hard.

'Let's see. So when I press this button, the bid goes up by 50 points?'

After studying cautious bidding methods and observing the atmosphere and flow of the auction for five items, she reached a conclusion.

'I only have 1,600 points on hand, so I'd better focus on one item.'

The Crimson Flame Witch instinctively realized that buying one worthwhile item would be more advantageous than buying several small ones.

"Then the question is what to focus on…."

Normally, she would have gone all-in on the shiniest item, since such things were statistically more likely to be good, but then a plausible idea suddenly occurred to her.

'Wouldn't those guys who've participated in more auctions than I have know the value of the items better than I do?'

In short, her strategy was to follow their lead and go all-in after seeing them raise the bids.

It couldn't be something too expensive, but as long as it stayed within 1,600 points, she should be able to win it somehow.

'Surely then I'll earn more than I invested!'

『1,300 points! Does anyone have more? Now, this is your last chance.』

Shin Seoyeon raised the bid without hesitation.

"All right, let's go!"

While Shin Seoyeon was putting her strategy into practice, Song Hana was intently watching the auction. After thinking deeply for a moment, she made her decision.

"Hmm! I don't like gambling. I don't know enough to make a choice, so I'll just sit this one out."

For someone as indecisive as her, making a choice on her own was difficult. In the end, she simply watched the auction until the very end.

"I have no money. But this is tasty."

Lee Sera also had no money, so she wandered around watching and snatched up snacks that had been served to the other customers.

'I pride myself on having a decent eye for these things, but the items I brought from the treasure vault often turned out to be beyond my expectations.'

Han Sohi thought back over her experiences and agonized over the decision, but eventually gave up on winning anything at the auction.

She only won the cheapest item, priced at 350 points, because she wondered whether failing to win even a single item might prevent her from returning to her original world.

However, one person was making moves entirely different from theirs.

『9,050 points! Does anyone have more?』

The auction hall where Kang Minjun sat was already buzzing with feverish excitement.

***

'The bids are climbing quite a lot from the very first item.'

I looked down at the ancient sword and the competitors rushing to bid on it with a cool, composed gaze.

'Of the twenty auction items, only one is the real deal.'

The rest were nearly all duds.

That was why even wealthy lords found it difficult to profit from this auction.

A five-percent chance of winning.

'Everything else is a dud. Trash that isn't even usable.'

However, even those trash-tier items became the subject of fierce bidding among the countless extras here, making it impossible for a player to tell whether an item was genuine.

So a clueless novice would go all-in when an item they needed appeared, while someone with a little more cunning would join the bidding after seeing the people around them raise the price, thinking it might be a good item.

Of course, neither was a good choice. Foolish choices. Then what was the right choice?

『Does anyone have more than 9,050 points? One, two, three. Sold!』

『The ancient sword goes to Kang Minjun in Seat B on the third floor! Congratulations! The next item is…』

Press. Press. Press.

『The unidentified stone goes to Kang Minjun in Seat B on the third floor! Congratulations!』

『The magitech shoes go to Kang Minjun in Seat B on the third floor! Congratulations!』

I raised the bid on every item and won them all. I had money to burn, after all.

The funds I'd received from the women—more than 50 percent of their money,

the funds I'd earned by selling duffel bags on my own,

and the funds I'd gathered by selling off the 990 pieces of equipment I'd brought with me in my inventory.

By investing all of it, I was somehow able to win all twenty items.

'Throwing money around was the best method. This way, whether the odds are five percent or one percent, the prize is guaranteed to fall into my hands.'

Of course, there was one dangerous stretch along the way.

『51,400 points!』

『51,450 points!』

『51,500!』

『51,550!』

A single item drained more than half the money I possessed.

Watching that, I considered burning the extra who was competing with me for the bid to a crisp with [Primordial Fire], but I held myself back. Causing trouble here would be a bad idea.

『The ancient ring goes to Kang Minjun in Seat B on the third floor! Congratulations!』

After that, the auction proceeded toward its conclusion without any major hurdles.

[Remaining Points : 4,129]

'That was close.'

Who could have imagined I'd spend all that money?

In some ways, I even felt that the money had gone to waste. With that kind of money, I could do so many things.

'But obtaining one proper item is more conducive to survival than carrying around a large amount of money.'

In particular, [Challenge Quests] were practically the only route that could theoretically provide an item of Transcendent grade.

The odds were atrocious, but it was worth taking the gamble.

'Well, even a Mythic-grade item would be enough.'

The Saintess's [Lumina's Holy Vestment] alone increased every stat by 10. In other words, it raised a total of 40 stat points.

That could put me four levels ahead of the Trial, and considering that Mythic-grade items usually came with three options each, it was more than worth taking the gamble.

『This concludes the ■■■th Amber Court auction.』

With the final item, the auctioneer offered a regretful farewell.

『Once again, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who shared this valuable time with us. The items you won will be delivered to you personally, and…』

As though fading out, the lights on the stage gradually dimmed, while the lights that had been off in the audience came on one by one.

A tranquil silence settled over the place.

The only slightly creepy thing was that the lights in my room alone had come on.

The stage and the area where the people had been sitting were still shrouded in deep darkness.

It was as though only the place where I stood had been isolated, and the light here couldn't escape into the space beyond the enclosure.

As I quietly stared into that darkness where nothing at all was visible….

Knock, knock.

I heard someone knocking on the door.

I rose from my seat, approached the door at the back, and opened it. The auctioneer I'd seen earlier was standing outside.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Isaac."

A middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a distinguished salt-and-pepper beard bowed courteously.

He entered the room with a luxurious cart carrying the items I'd won and regarded me with wonder.

"Impressive. What you did earlier left quite an impression. To win every item put up for auction…. It's been a very long time since we've had a guest like you."

[<Auctioneer Isaac> is impressed by your wealth.]

Then notifications appeared one after another before my eyes.

[Achievement unlocked!]

[Amber Court VIP (Common) : You can receive 10% of your auction spending back.]

[Received 9,165 points as cashback.]

The benefits didn't end there.

He rummaged around beneath the cart and took something out.

"This is a small token of our appreciation for the guest who helped make history at our auction."

[Obtained <Costume Random Box>.]

Costumes.

They were exclusive outfits that could be worn around the shelter, and each one contained special benefits.

They generally had features that were extremely useful for preparing for the next Trial. They were also rare special items, difficult to obtain even if you wanted one.

'An item obtainable only through a Challenge Quest. I don't know what will come out, but it's worth at least 10 million points.'

The box the auctioneer handed me transformed into an outfit the moment I touched it. I stored it in my inventory.

"Then I'll be taking my leave. Whenever you're ready to leave, just use this door to return. I hope you enjoyed the Amber Court auction."

The auctioneer bowed deeply and withdrew from the room. The entrance he had disappeared through vanished as well, replaced by a bluish portal.

I turned my gaze away from it and looked down at the items I'd won.

There had to be one genuine item mixed in among them.

'This is it.'