Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 60

Episode 60

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

"200 Coins! 200 Coins, anyone else? Ah, 300 Coins over there!"

The auction proceeded quickly.

"300 Coins, anyone else? Guest 121, the wolf-kin slave sold for 300 Coins!"

Sometimes slaves came onto the stage, other times weapons or just old stolen goods.

I rested my chin on my hand and watched the stage with a bored expression.

The reason I had pawned off the task users were supposed to do onto Elaine and participated in the auction wasn't to leisurely buy things.

"The next item is something that any man who's held a sword should definitely keep an eye on!"

Unlike the insignificant stolen goods presented early on, rare items began to appear one after another as time went on.

"An S-Grade armor made from the shell of an ancient sea turtle monster!"

I, who had been slumped over with boredom, suddenly sparkled.

On the stage, a thin armor made of silver thread was prepared.

'Oh, that's a good one.'

It's a rare item obtainable from the later 'Wipe Out the Black Syndicate' quest, but it goes to Adam by order of the Male Lead.

Of course, Adam always stands at the forefront in all subjugation battles, so it's a fitting disposition...

'There was a huge uproar back then, with users complaining about why they had to forcibly hand over a reward they worked hard for.'

Recalling the flood of complaint chats from users, I decided to watch the stage with considerably more interest than before.

If the starting bid was one million, maybe I could compete...

"As it's a valuable item, its value is recognized! We'll start at five million! Five million! As expected, five million came right out! 5.5 million! Six million! 6.2 million!"

'Damn it.'

It was definitely S-Grade; the price soared sky-high right from the starting bid.

The five million coins I'd scammed from the slave trader were nowhere near enough.

Of course, I had over 18 million coins, but I wasn't desperate enough for armor to dip into my personal funds.

Besides, the very reason the Black Syndicate bastards were vile enough to warrant being wiped out was right here.

If a noble with ambiguous status or power bought a rare item, they would later secretly assassinate them and retrieve it.

Buy one wrong item, and you lose your money and your life.

'No need to create unnecessary trouble before the cleanup.'

The people visiting my sweet home were already enough with the Dover Village residents and Adam's knights.

Therefore, I cleanly gave up on buying the rare item.

Since I was participating in the auction, there was something I absolutely had to buy.

"10 million."

It was then.

Someone muttered lowly and plopped down in the seat next to me.

It seemed the seat that had been empty even after the auction started finally had its owner.

A brief silence fell over the hall at the suddenly jumped price.

But only for a moment.

"...10 million has been bid! 10 million! Anyone else?"

The auctioneer shouted loudly, cheering.

At the same time, I heard a dull thud from beside me.

It was the sound of the man who sat next to me carelessly knocking over the '12' nameplate in front of him.

"Guest 144! The S-Grade armor made from an ancient sea turtle sold!"

Number 144, the man sitting in seat 12, nodded his head toward the person carrying the packaged armor box, indicating it was for him.

Then, he slowly turned his gaze toward me.

The pitch-black mask covering his entire face had only two eyeholes.

Through that gap, pupils burned like blood-red flames.

Meeting them, I gasped silently.

[Lord of Nightmares]

'...Crazy.'

The person sitting next to me was none other than the Male Lead.

'Why is this bastard here?!'

I barely swallowed the scream that threatened to erupt.

The developers had clearly said.

Adam and Kassel were scheduled to arrive in the capital in one week.

Then how on earth was this bastard here?

Unlike my utter panic, Kassel indifferently turned his gaze away from me.

'Right. I'm not wearing my robe right now.'

I finally realized there was no way he would recognize me.

When I was just a mere apothecary, I had never once shown myself without my robe in front of Kassel.

Even if I were wearing the same robe now, the probability of him recognizing me was extremely low.

As Elaine had said, it was common attire for back-alley vagrants.

I tried hard to calm down, but my legs trembled from the unwarranted guilty conscience.

'But wait, was Kassel participating in the auction part of the original black market story?'

I desperately racked my brain.

I had never heard anything about Kassel participating in the black market auction.

But after the Hero selection tournament, when the final boss subjugation party was formed.

Unlike the other main characters whose favorability users raised by fetching them weapons through quests, Kassel was already fully geared.

From weapons to armor, down to a single accessory, everything he had was a rare item.

I thought it was natural since he was the Crown Prince, but considering he was a disgraced duckling who had barely been reinstated, it wouldn't have been easy for him to freely use Imperial Palace artifacts.

'...He might have obtained his weapons this way.'

In fact, among the weapons he frequently used, almost none were related to the Imperial Palace.

I roughly accepted the situation of Kassel participating in the black market auction.

And the reason why users had never encountered him in the black market was also clear.

Because users should have been doing the task I had dumped on Elaine right about now.

Not participating in the auction like me.

'If I'd known beforehand, I would have swapped roles with that bastard Elaine...!'

I glanced sideways at Kassel, who was silently watching the auction, and sighed secretly.

Even thinking that, the role swap with Elaine wouldn't have happened even if I could go back.

Because I intended to clear not only the main quest, 'Slave Liberation,' but also the sub-quest of subjugating the rampaging monster.

There was no way Elaine, who couldn't even take care of himself, could defeat a rampaging monster.

"Guest 144! S-Grade Flaming Timed Bomb sold!"

"Guest 144! Ancient Holy Relic, S-Grade Goddess's Mirror sold!"

"Guest 144! High-Grade Dagger made from Titan's bone, sold!"

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The sound of the gavel signaling a sale rang out ceaselessly.

Just as my cobbled-together hypothesis suggested, Kassel bought up rare items like crazy.

Naturally, it was mostly weapons and armor.

I couldn't figure out where the bastard, who had been locked up in a miserable state in a remote count's estate until recently, got the money for this.

'...But wait, why is he sitting in seat 12 instead of his own?'

I glanced sideways at the packaged boxes piling up beside him and suddenly wondered.

The perfectly fine '12' nameplate was now rolling wretchedly on the floor.

But among the servants bustling around, no one paid it any mind.

'Was the seating arrangement wrong? Or did he switch because his back seat didn't have a good view?'

I tilted my head, thinking such thoughts.

"Guest 144! S-Grade Wide-Area Sniper Crossbow, sold for five million coins!"

In the meantime, Kassel bought another weapon.

I immediately looked with envious eyes at the crossbow box being delivered to him.

'I really want that one. Should I have just competed since it was five million coins?'

Although its killing power was low, it was an excellent weapon for attacking dozens of monsters at once.

Plus, it consumed almost no stamina when used.

It was one of the exclusive weapons the Crown Prince bestowed upon Elaine after the Black Syndicate subjugation quest, which Kassel would lead later.

Elaine often used that crossbow from the rear to provide solid cover for the rest of his comrades.

'So this is when he got it...'

He must have obtained it around this time.

As I was watching with sheer envy, Kassel suddenly turned his head toward me, perhaps sensing my gaze.

I hurriedly looked toward the stage, struggling to act nonchalant.

"The next item is... a monster-hunting snare, favored by the ancients during hunts!"

I snapped my head up.

Thankfully, I didn't have to force myself to ignore Kassel.

My attention was entirely focused on the new item being prepared on stage.

'Finally.'

On the stage's platform lay an old, shabby rope, tied into a snare shape.

[Old Monster Hunting Snare]

Just as the name suggested, it didn't look like it was in good condition.

As an ancient artifact, it didn't have a specific level, but in terms of grade, it was about low-grade.

But I had participated in this boring auction solely for that one item.

"Of course, these days, monster tranquilizer guns make capturing them easy, but possessing an artifact like this is the pride of a great hunter, wouldn't you agree, hahaha!"

It didn't seem worth much, but the auctioneer, who tried hard to package the item plausibly, immediately started the auction.

"Then let's begin the bidding right away! For an old item, it's in quite good condition, so the starting bid is 500,000 Coins!"

'Those scamming bastards!'

It looked like no one would buy it.

I was furious at the Black Syndicate's behavior, asking 500,000 for something that didn't even look worth 100,000 Coins.

But I couldn't exactly argue about the price, so I obediently raised my tag.

"Oh! A proud and great hunter has appeared right away! 500,000 Coins, anyone else?"

Of course, there wasn't.

No matter how much money someone had, who would pay 500,000 Coins for such a rotten rope?

'Maybe it's fortunate they set the starting bid higher than it looks.'

If it had started at a lower price, some greedy rich bastards might have jumped in.

"500,000! 500,000, anyone else?"

The auctioneer shouted several times, but the hall remained silent.

"If not, then to Guest 38, the monster hunting snare...!"

Just as the first successful bid was about to smoothly roll into my hands.

"One million."

Suddenly, someone not far away muttered lowly and raised their tag.

'Which son of a bitch...!'

I whipped my head around.

And immediately froze solid.

The son of a bitch who had doubled the bid and raised their tag was none other than.

[Lord of Nightmares]

The Male Lead.