"Here is a mask for you, dear customer. As long as you have this mask on, your safety will be guaranteed."
Andrew looked down at the mask the auction house's representative had given him. The sleek black surface reflected his face back at him.
Once round 2 had been finished, Andrew started looking at auction sites that were still willing to trade. Fortunately, humanity was a greedy race and there were a lot of underground deals being made.
For the purpose of his end goal of earning money, he wanted to find one that was moderately popular with the people and was known for its authenticity, and that was how he found himself standing in front of the auction hall.
The auction was going to take place in a high-profile skyscraper with a lot of security to make sure no one caused any trouble and only those who 'qualified' (had enough money to throw around) made their way in.
Andrew had paid a hefty amount of money to get his way in and was led to one of the best seats in the auction hall, which gave him a clear view of the auction hall. But he was not the only one sitting in the V.V.I.P section.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to this special auction. Now, without further waiting, I will begin today's auction. Here is our first item—a potion that was brought here by the system. It has the property to heal wounds."
The auction master pulled up a bottle to show to the public and the hall went quiet before people began to raise their prices.
Andrew felt excited as well before he used his mind.
'Would an item as precious as a potion really appear without a shop? And even if it did, the currency to buy it has not opened yet. I should…not take my chances on it.'
Even if the potion did turn out to be real, it was not something worth risking his money over.
A few more items were brought out, and the auction house claimed that they were 'special' items. After this happened for the fifth time, it was clear to him and the others that this was a scam, and the interest of the buyers fell quickly.
Seeing this, the auction master quickly changed his strategy and brought out something Andrew would actually be interested in.
"For our next item, it is not something that is usually seen. Today we have a historic artefact in our midst. This is Cleopatra's necklace, the one that was said to ward off all the evil in the world."
Finally, that was something Andrew had been waiting for—something with enough historic and cultural significance.
"Cleopatra? Wasn't she the queen of Egypt?"
"Ehe, who cares about something like this? This will not help us when our lives are in danger."
People were disregarding this precious item, but Andrew was ready. It was time to create the 'value' that would get him a lot of system points.
"Shall we start the auction? Who would like to go first?"
The lukewarm response from the audience made the auction master sweat. He had not expected people to criticize the piece of jewelry this much. But this was his job, so he plastered a smile on his face to show that he was not bothered.
And just as he felt like he was about to suffer a big loss, someone spoke up from the crowd.
"1 million dollars. I would like to pay that much for this artefact. You said that this was a magical artefact from ancient times, right? Who knows…? It might turn out to be true. I would like to take my chances on that being true."
Andrew's voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. Even those who were not interested in the necklace until now suddenly paid attention to it.
"Hey, do you think—"
"I want to bid as well now—"
People gossiped and, seeing the interest, the auction master immediately acted.
"1 million bid. Going once, going twi—"
"2 million dollars."
Another loud voice joined the first bid.
"3 million dollars."
"3.5 million—"
"4 million—"
The bid was slowly going up until it reached 10 million. No one seemed daring enough to go above that and that was the perfect opportunity for Andrew to sweep his prize.
"10 million bid. Going once—"
"20 million dollars."
Andrew's smooth voice cut through the tension in the air like a knife through butter. Everyone looked at him with a shocked face, but all they saw was a sleek mask on a confident face, hiding Andrew's true identity.
"2–20 million? Of course. Does anyone want to bid any higher? If not…then…"
The auction master asked, but no one reacted. Twenty million was a lot of money to spend for something that would not even guarantee their lives.
"Sold."
Finally, the necklace was sold to Andrew.
"What a moron."
"Heh, at least that's one less competition to get something actually useful."
Andrew heard the people around him calling him a fool, but their voices were filled with jealousy. Little did they know that the one who had been played was them.
There was no point in paying attention to the auction after that…and neither was there a point in continuing to listen to their gossip about him.
After all, these people would soon become irrelevant.
The auction ended on a not-so-memorable note and Andrew was quickly called to the backrooms to get his prize.
He was welcomed by the auction master and the man presented him with the necklace, but did not let him hold it until he gave the man the money he had requested.
Andrew cut a cheque for the amount of money he needed to pay and handed it to the other man. But the auction master did not hand over the necklace immediately.
"Please give me some time to check the authenticity of this cheque you have issued... but if it is not too much, may I ask you why you decided to spend so much money on this necklace? Does it actually have any powers?"