Lynch's jaw dropped, 'H-How does he have so much… Who is he?!'
His butler gulped and whispered, "Y-Young master… I-It is time to stop."
"No!" Lynch didn't take that suggestion lightly, "How much money we have left?! I will fucking destroy that masked bastard!"
"N-None, we have none!" The butler's face had varied shades ever since the bidding war began. Initially, he appeared calm. After a million, it became slightly reddish, and now it was pale white.
"What did you say?!" Lynch screamed, shaking his uvula and clattering his teeth.
"W-W-We wouldn't have been able to even afford the 1.8 million!" The butler revealed with a high-pitched tone. Lynch's money was under his care from the start.
That was the job handed over by Guild Master of Monarch, and in the end, if he'd managed to save the rest of Lynch's money, it would be a success.
However, Lynch didn't take it lightly and screamed, "Inform father, now! He needs to lend me only 500k!"
The butler shook his head and said, "Your father told you to return home, now."
"No!" Lynch rejected immediately.
Then, the auctioneer smiled, "Current bid, 2 million!"
"Going once… Going twice…"
"No, wait, stop!" Lynch stood up, trying to stop the auctioneer, "W-We have the money. Just wait!"
The auctioneer turned to look at him and smirked, "And… SOLD!"
Lynch's eyes shook, and cheers of nearby players echoed throughout the hall.
The eyes of players turned toward the masked man. The looks varied from shock to admiration, and some were worried. They thought that he had signed his death warrant.
Isaac left the seating area. There was an air of lingering gazes as the players peered through the mask's end, trying to peer between the two sides of his face.
However, the mask was tightly hugging his face, making it impossible to see anything. Isaac stepped out of the stands and approached the exit of the hall by walking up the stairs.
A middle-aged man with silver hair reached into a pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. When he opened the package, he shook it, and almost immediately, one of the cigarettes fell out.
He caught it between his two fingers, then he placed the cigarette in his mouth and lit it up by brushing his finger across the cigarette. Almost immediately, the cigarette was engulfed in flames.
"Whew…" A puff of smoke left his mouth as he watched Isaac walking past him, "Good one, young fella."
"Hmm?" Isaac caught sight of the silver-haired man's mouth moving, but now those lips were tightly shut like he had never spoken a word.
'Weird…' He shook his head and left the hall.
The silver-haired man smiled mysteriously and let out another puff of smoke.
…
In the Auction House backstage.
"Sir, this is the Oil of Dreams. Congratulations." The beautiful woman offered him the bottle with the liquid inside.
Taking it in his hands, Isaac shook the bottle. A pleasant scent greeted him as he shook it.
His smile spread across his face as he nodded his head in satisfaction and added the bottle to his inventory.
Instantly, a notification rang.
[Oil of Dreams Acquired!]
[3/5]
'2 more…'
Then, Isaac paid the total amount. It was rather heartbreaking to say goodbye to his 2 million, but it had to be done.
The beautiful woman accepted it gracefully and gave Isaac the Auction House's VIP Card.
"What is a VIP Card?" Isaac wondered. As soon as the Auction House was expanded for a larger audience, the beautiful woman explained, he would be able to have his own VIP room.
Currently, the Auction House is still under construction, and it is not completely ready. Upon its completion, they would hold a mega-auction.
Isaac accepted the card. The card might prove helpful one day. Finally, he finally left backstage and, while doing so, looked around to see what was happening.
He hoped to catch a glance of his grandparents but couldn't see them anywhere.
Then, as he came closer to the exit of the auction house, the speed at which he walked slowed down. From outside, he observed Lynch standing around with a group of his now-conscious bodyguards, who were still suffering from swelling and blurred vision as a result of the trauma.
'Hmph...' Isaac looked around, and he was currently standing a little bit further away from the group of players who were exiting the auction house.
The door that led straight to the backstage was behind him, and he was standing right in front of it.
No one had caught a glimpse of him yet.
Isaac took out the mask, tossed it inside his inventory, and said, "Snow-white."
A beautiful snow-white color appeared all over Isaac's black camouflage outfit.
As he walked out of the auction house, he joined the crowd of players. Lynch scanned every player but could not find the person he was looking for.
However, then, his eyes caught the white-haired man, and his eyes widened in shock, 'Wraith… Why was he here? No, I don't have time to think about that— where is that masked bastard?!'
Unbeknownst to him, the masked bastard had already left the auction house and was returning to his home.
…
Isaac woke up from his dormant state. A headset was clinging to the high-tech visor on his face, and a skinsuit was taking in the exhaustion from his body.
When Isaac put the headset in a box and placed it in the wardrobe, he left his room, and his legs carried him up to the attic.
As Isaac opened the wooden hatch, the odor of oak filled his nostrils as he peered into the dusty attic. As he entered the attic, he flicked the switch to turn the lights on.
As he did so, the dim light that surrounded the attic slowly started to fill it. There was just one light bulb hanging from the wooden ceiling, providing just enough light to dispel the dimness.
Isaac walked past the cracked open boxes, over the wooden crisps, and arrived in front of a square-shaped wooden box with a tight-fitting lid.
"The owl seemed very curious about this box, so let's see what is inside." Isaac grabbed the lid with bare hands and tried to remove it. Unfortunately, he was unable to remove it.
After trying till his vessels protruded, and veins popped, he gave up after seeing that it was impossible.
It took him a moment or two to realize that he had discovered a crowbar lying beneath some wrinkly old blankets.
"What is this doing here?" He took the crowbar and considered using it as an alternative. Then, he walked back to the box in order to insert a crowbar between the lid and the box.
Crack!
As the crowbar was pushed down, the lid cracked, and a shimmer of light left the box as it gradually opened.
Thud!
Suddenly, the lid of the box fell to the ground, revealing the contents of the box.
