"When is that guy coming?"
Opening the window of the limousine, Emma irritably asked.
It was currently 8:10 P.M and the auction would begin in thirty minutes. Given that it would take about the same time to arrive at the venue where the auction was going to be held, it looked as though they were going to run late.
"He's said he's coming"
Kevin responded whilst checking his phone.
He just got off the phone with Ren, from what he heard, he was about to come down.
"Just what in the world is taking him so long?"
Emma asked as she massaged her forehead.
"I dunno, he's probably changing?"
"That long?"
All Ren had to do was wear a suit.
He didn't need to put on any makeup.
Emma couldn't understand why it was taking him so long to change.
"Beats me"
Kevin shrugged his shoulders.
He asked himself the same question. It only took him a couple of minutes for him to change, how could Ren take so long?
Fortunately, the wait did not last for long.
"He's here"
Sitting by the window, Amanda spoke up. From the window, she could see Ren exiting the Leviathan building.
"Finally"
Melissa spoke up as she closed her small portable mirror.
She was starting to get really irritated. No, she was already irritated.
"Uhg, what is he doing?"
Emma let out a groan as she looked at Ren's figure in the distance.
Lazily yawning, Ren looked around before spotting the limousine where everyone was.
With his hands in his pockets, he leisurely walked up to the limousine.
"Hurry up!"
Rolling down the front side window, Emma shouted.
"Coming, coming"
Though Ren said that, he kept the same pace throughout the whole time.
It was as though he didn't hear her at all.
"This bastard..."
Emma ground her teeth as a result.
'I really am trying to be nicer to him, but it gets really difficult when he does stuff like this'
Ever since Emma realized how immature she was, she tried to be nicer to Ren.
Or at least tried.
But it was stuff like this that made it hard for her to follow through with it.
—Clank!
"Eyo, thanks for waiting for me"
Opening the door, Ren smiled and greeted everyone. Lowering his head, he sat next to Kevin.
"Haa...alright, let's go"
Taking a drink, Ren put his mouth on the straw and started drinking.
"Hm? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Raising his brow, Ren stopped drinking.
'What's going on?'
At the moment, everyone was looking at him weirdly. It felt really uncomfortable.
"Haaa...Ren, did you really spend all of that time changing?"
Sitting next to him, Kevin let out a long sigh as he covered his face with his hand.
"Yeah, why?"
Nodding his head, Ren's confusion grew.
"Your button"
Interjecting, Amanda pointed at Ren's top button.
"What about my buttons?"
Ren tilted his head in confusion.
"It's one button too high"
"Oh, you're right. Good spot"
Looking down, Ren realized that he had indeed buttoned wrongly. He had buttoned one button higher than he was supposed to.
Scratching his head in embarrassment, he turned around and undid his buttons.
'Crap, I was too busy making preparations for tonight that I messed up my buttons'
The real reason why it took so long for Ren to come down wasn't because he was changing but it was because he was busy making preparations for the upcoming event tonight.
In reality, he only spent two minutes changing.
"My God, we had to wait for you this long yet you still couldn't button yourself?"
Looking at Ren, Melissa groaned.
Was this the same guy that she presented with back in the Demon hunter guild?
She couldn't believe it. He was just too clumsy.
"Larry, let's just go. We can't be late or we'll miss the beginning of the auction"
Knocking on the tinted window at the front of the Limousine, Melissa ordered.
"As you wish young miss"
Nodding his head, the driver put his foot on the accelerator and the car sped into the distance.
...
The Ashton-city grand auction was held inside of a large hotel, King's Crown. One of the most luxurious hotels in Ashton city.
The reason why the venue was so famous was because of its owner.
Ranked 58 in the hero ranking, <S> ranked hero Amber Rose. An especially fearsome Hero famous for her plant-based powers.
With a simple stretch of her hand, she could call countless vines and trap her opponents with it.
Many villains and heroes alike feared her because of her power. Especially since the vines she could call were extremely sturdy and hard to break.
As such she was nicknamed the 'Vine queen'
And so, with her being the owner of the building, no one had the balls to crash that place.
If they did, they would end up facing her ire. Something that most people wouldn't want to do.
"We're here"
Stopping in front of the hotel, the first thing I saw was a large sign with the words 'King's Crown' engraved at the front.
"Let's go"
The first one to get out of the Limousine was Melissa who was wearing a beautiful red gown that perfectly complimented her beauty.
"Huup, let's go"
After her, Emma alongside Melissa exited the limousine. Kevin and I followed suit.
"Are you going to buy anything?"
Stepping out of the limousine, Kevin Straightened his blazer.
"Yup"
I nodded my head in response.
"You have enough money?"
"Should have"
I had a little over one hundred million U in my bank account.
Though this wasn't enough to buy the item that I wanted, I was planning on putting a few items for auction so there shouldn't really be a problem.
"Mhm, if you don't have enough I can lend you some. Well, that is if you're not buying something ridiculously expensive. I'm not as rich as the others"
"Sure"
Smiling, I nodded my head.
If things progressed as they did in the novel, he wouldn't actually have enough money to lend me.
I knew that hence why I didn't really take his words to heart. Though I did appreciate his gesture.
"Let's go"
"mhm"
Making my way into the building I sort of felt out of place.
Not because of how luxurious the place was, but because of who I was walking next to.
Kevin and the others...
Characters who I designed to be incredibly good-looking.
'I look way too plain compared to them don't I?'
I thought as I bitterly shook my head.
Not that I was ugly or anything, in fact, I was quite handsome if I had to say myself. At least in old earthly standards.
Unfortunately, compared to Kevin and the others I was just too plain.
'I really need to increase my charm', I muttered as I followed Kevin and the rest into the hotel.
Arriving at the entrance, we were soon greeted by multiple attendants.
"Hello, welcome to the Ashton-city grand auction. Can you please show us your tickets?"
"Here"
Nodding her head, Melissa flashed a card to the attendants. Looking at the ticket, the attendants opened their eyes widely.
[Melissa Hall, VVIP]
"Please follow me this way"
Looking at the card, the attendants immediatly became more courteous. They all had brilliant smiles on their faces as they looked at us.
'Tsk, this is the difference between the rich and the poor'
Inwardly clicking my tongue I followed the others towards the VVIP section of the auction.
Had it been just me with my regular ticket, though I wouldn't be scorned I also wouldn't have been greeted with such enthusiasm.
"Here we are"
After walking for a bit, we were soon led to a large luxurious room.
"Oh, wow"
Entering the room, I was impressed.
'It isn't VVIP for nothing'
Illuminated by a large golden chandelier, the room looked exquisite.
Covering the floor was a slick red carpet the felt soft to the touch, and at the side of the room were multiple paintings that perfectly complemented the beige walls.
Most intriguing was the large window at the front of the room that overlooked a large hall which I presumed to be where the auction would be held.
On the right side of the room stood a minibar filled with drinks and food.
"Someone else will soon come to service you during the auction. If you have any questions or you would like to make a bid, please feel free to ask them and they will answer all of your inquiries. Please rest comfortably in the meantime."
"Sure"
Nonechantaly nodding her head at the attendant, Melissa sat on a large red sofa. Following her, Amanda and Emma also sat down.
"Hua, what a nice sofa!"
Slumping on the sofa, Emma lazily put her arms around it. Next to her, Amanda quietly sat down and looked at the window that overlooked the auction hall.
"Ren, what are you doing?"
Just as Kevin was about to follow their example, his feet abruptly halted. Turning around, his mouth twitched.
"Hm? Can't you see?"
Holding a plate filled to the brim with food, I looked at Kevin strangely.
Wasn't my intention obvious?
I was obviously taste-testing the food.
"Kevin, remind me again why you asked me to bring him?"
Turning her head, Melissa alternated her head between Kevin and I.
"Haaa, I'm also starting to regret my decision"
Shaking his head, Kevin let out a long sigh.
"Hey, you know I'm here"
"Pig"
Muttered Emma with a disgusted look as she looked at the plate in my hand that was filled with food.
She was suddenly reminded of the past. Back when she lost the bet.
"Who you calling a pig huh?"
Munching on an eclair I rebutted.
"Who else but you would I be calling you a pig? Just like last time, you're stuffing yourself with food"
"What? It's free"
The food was clearly there for the taking. Why was everyone else complaining? It's not like the food was here for decoration.
"Melissa is paying for it"
Emma rebutted as she pointed at Melissa.
"Oh, I see..."
'That's what makes this even tastier', I softly muttered as I took a bite of a green macaron and proceeded to ignore the others.
"Mhhh, so good!"
Closing my eyes I savored the food to the fullest. It was so good.
—Clank!
Right as I was in the middle enjoying my food, the door to the room opened.
Entering the room was an old man with a kind smile on his face. Politely bowing, he introduced himself.
"Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Jeremiah and I will be your attendant for today. If you have any questions regarding the auction you may ask me. Whenever you successfully bid on an item I will personally bring the item to you guys"
"Mhm, nice to meet you"
Turning her head around, Melissa nodded her head at Jeremiah.
Smirk.
'So you're finally here...'
Looking at Jeremiah who had just entered the room I put my half-finished macaron down as the edges of my lips twisted upwards.
'Jeremiah, you say?'
Though the others were fooled, I wasn't.
The man before me was not who was on the surface.
No.
He was tonight's main star and the man I was waiting for.
Ivan Ranvick, the man with a thousand faces.
