Chapter 39

“I’ll go alone from here.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes, thank you for bringing me this far.”

“It’s only natural as a hero! Good luck with the auction!”

After arriving at the hall following Phantom Luna, I bid her farewell.

As Phantom Luna walked away…

“…What’s going on here, Glitch?”

I immediately contacted Narin through the small communicator.

‘Didn’t they say the auction would start in an hour?’

“Uh… sorry, Older Brother… but I’m not sure either. They suddenly started it early without any notice…”

Starting the auction early, huh…

“Could it be because they found out villains are targeting the auction items?”

“Probably not.”

Glitch responded firmly to my words.

Well, if they knew the villain organization was targeting the auction items, they wouldn’t have started it early but delayed or canceled it instead.

‘Then why did they start it early?’

As I pondered this, I shook my head and contacted everyone through the communicator.

“I’ll head into the auction hall now. Is everyone ready?”

“Of course! The system is entirely under my control.”

“Ready to go anytime.”

“Re…ready…”

Honestly, why they started early isn’t that important. We’ve been ready for a while now.

“Then I’ll head in.”

I walked leisurely toward the auction hall.

***

Inside the VIP seats of the auction hall.

A man with a toad-like face and a beautiful woman were seated.

“Hoho, Chairman Yoo. Is the food to your liking?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

The woman took a moment to savor the aroma of the wine before taking a sip.

Gulp… gulp…

“I feel bad for freeloading like this.”

“Yes, yes…?”

The man, who had been staring blankly at her neck, snapped out of it and laughed nonchalantly.

“Ah, haha! No need to feel bad! It’s an honor just to have Chairman Yoo at my party!”

“My, my~ You flatter me. For such a famous Representative Lee to personally invite me to dine and even open the auction early, it’s truly an honor.”

“Hoho! If Chairman Yoo wants to see it sooner, we must open it early!!”

“Wow~ How impressive.”

‘It’s exhausting to play along with this toad.’

Chairman Yoo inwardly sneered at Representative Lee, who was laughing heartily.

She endured the gazes directed at her body and continued to flatter him.

‘His disgusting face is so hard to look at…’

Who would want to feel that way toward someone young enough to be their daughter?

She wanted to get away immediately, but she had something to gain from him, so she had no choice but to endure.

‘I brought plenty of money, but just in case…’

If the situation called for it, she might have to flip the table, so for now, she decided to play along.

‘That thing coming up next is something I absolutely need.’

“Hoho! Hohoho!”

“Hehe…”

Chairman Yoo took another sip of wine.

***

“Ahem…”

‘Ah, it seems like it’s about to start.’

How long had I been seated in the auction hall?

A middle-aged man with a toad-like appearance stepped up, seemingly ready to start the auction.

“Welcome, everyone. I am Ido-geop, the host of this party.”

‘Hmm. So that’s Ido-geop.’

Ido-geop.

A congressman who rose to prominence after marrying the daughter of a wealthy family.

Outwardly, he was known for his charity work and being a devoted family man, but in reality, he was quite different.

“Today, I will be auctioning off some of my prized collectibles. All proceeds will be donated to society immediately after the auction…”

What a load of nonsense.

From my perspective, having read the original, it was utterly ridiculous.

‘All sorts of corruption, prostitution, verbal and physical abuse toward his subordinates, and more.’

He was the epitome of a dirty high-ranking official.

That was the Ido-geop I knew.

And yet, he talks about donations and such. It’s laughable.

‘There’s one more thing, but… well, I’ll save that for later.’

For now, the auction is what matters.

Clap clap clap clap clap!!!

“Now that our host, Congressman Ido-geop, has finished his speech, let’s not waste any more time! We’ll start the auction right away!!”

The auctioneer began the auction following Ido-geop’s speech.

‘Just luxury items, huh.’

At first, it was just luxury items.

A diamond ring crafted by a renowned jeweler, a gold bracelet made by a master artisan, a pearl necklace, and so on.

Nothing I was particularly interested in.

‘Guess it was too much to expect artifacts or traces to show up.’

Traces left by ancient mystics or artifacts crafted from them.

They’re so rare and valuable that people would hold onto them unless absolutely necessary.

‘Guess I’ll just have to aim for the target item.’

With that thought, I watched as several more auctions passed.

And then.

Clunk. Clunk.

A glass case, heavily guarded, was brought in.

Though the contents weren’t visible, there was a palpable aura of purity emanating from it.

“Ooh!”

“Is that…?”

Even non-ability users could feel the pure energy.

‘Finally, it’s our turn.’

“Everyone, standby. It’s time to move.”

I signaled through the communicator and got up to change my position.

“Ladies and gentlemen! The moment you’ve all been waiting for!! The hidden item of this auction!!”

The auctioneer grinned.

He took a moment to catch his breath before announcing loudly.

“It’s the Mystic Trace!!”

“Oooh!!”

The crowd buzzed with excitement.

“To think they’d actually auction a trace at an event like this…”

“Just the aura alone is so beautiful…!”

“It feels like my mind is clearing.”

“Honey, let’s buy that. Okay?”

Though the actual item inside wasn’t visible, the aura it emitted was anything but ordinary.

‘Definitely a genuine Mystic Trace. No wonder people are going crazy over it.’

If they saw what was inside the case, they’d probably demand a refund immediately.

“The starting bid is 30 million won!!”

“40 million!!”

“50 million!!”

I’ll wait a bit longer.

“Older Brother, I’m on standby.”

While waiting for the auction to end, Polia’s voice came through.

It seemed like a good time to reassign roles, so I spoke through the communicator.

“Alright, Polia. Come in first, contact the Training Room, and then teleport to my location when I give the signal.”

“Okay.”

“Glitch, cut all the power when I give the signal.”

“Got it!”

“M-Maker… what about me…?”

“Training Room, just close your eyes and get used to the darkness in case something happens. Then come with Polia.”

“O-okay…!”

After assigning roles, I silently watched the auction.

“230 million!! Is this the end? Any more bids?”

The Mystic Trace had already surpassed 200 million.

“300 million.”

“Ah! 300 million!! We have 300 million!!”

The trace didn’t stop at 200 million and broke through to 300 million.

“300 million…?”

“Even so, spending 300 million on something like this is a bit…”

“…Well, we don’t even know what’s inside. Anything beyond this is just wasteful.”

At that point, the bidders started hesitating.

The woman who had bid 300 million smiled faintly as she watched them.

“3… 340 million!!”

Even in that situation, one man desperately raised the bid.

“400 million.”

With that, the last of the competitors disappeared.

‘Impressive.’

Is this what they call money talks?

It was fascinating to see something I’d only read about in comics happen in real life.

‘But what can you do? We’re about to steal it anyway.’

I felt a bit sorry for the woman sitting alone in the expensive seat, but it was time.

“Glitch.”

“Let’s go~”

Thud-

“What, what’s going on?”

“Why did the lights suddenly go out?”

The lights went out in an instant.

People began to panic, and the murmuring grew louder.

“Polia.”

Swish-

“Got you, Older Brother.”

Polia appeared instantly with the Training Room and reached out to me.

Whoosh- Thud.

In an instant, Polia, the Training Room, and I arrived at the stage where the item was.

“Who, who’s there?!”

‘Oh, someone with good night vision, huh.’

“Training Room, take them out.”

At my words, the Training Room opened his eyes and headed toward the guards.

Thud! Slash! Thump!

“Ugh!”

“Ahh!!”

After a brief scuffle and the guards’ cries, the Training Room turned to me.

“Glitch, can you open this?”

“Sure, Older Brother! But it’s a bit tricky. Can you wait five minutes?”

“That’s easy enough.”

‘Going smoothly.’

Everything happened in an instant.

All that’s left is to escape.

The only problem is the five minutes needed to separate the glass case from the floor…

“Turn the stage lights back on.”

Might as well draw some attention while we wait.

I cleared my throat as I listened to the murmurs.

Tap-

“Hello, everyone.”

“Y-you!!”

After the lights came back on.

I grinned at them, and the crowd panicked.

“I’m Maker, an A-class villain from Eclipse.”

Here comes the ultimate troublemaker.

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