CHAPTER 299: FATE IS A MEAN LITTLE BITCH

Inside the private booth, Damon’s eyes widened. The big shots were finally starting to make a move. Until now, even though the items were good, it was not enough to bring out the real players of the game, but now the first one had revealed himself.

Gigarion. Damon knew about him very well. In fact, everyone from his last life knew him very well. The Battle Crusaders were one of the top guilds in the game. If the super guilds did not exist, then they might have even been the best guild in the game.

And the guild master of such a guild had personally come over to make a bid for the legendary item!

To be honest, Damon had a high opinion of the guy and genuinely did not want him to fall into the trap he had laid. Thankfully, almost immediately, subsequent bids started pouring out.

The moment Gigarion’s voice echoed through the hall, it was as if a switch had been flipped. Dozens of players, guild representatives, and hidden powerhouses who had stayed silent until now suddenly sprang to life.

The number on the bid display started climbing in rapid bursts, each increase more aggressive than the last.

"1.1 million!"

"1.3 million!"

"1.5 million!"

The crowd erupted in murmurs as the number passed the psychological threshold. Many players who had mocked the potion earlier now looked shaken, some even biting their nails as they realized what they’d dismissed might have just become the most valuable item of the year.

Damon saw many familiar figures making aggressive bids. Azure Serpents guild, Black Onyx guild, Blood Wraith and his sister Phoenix, Bertram and even Daddy Brutal.

Daddy Brutal confidently bid for 2 million which made Damon very surprised. It looked like the guy had a lot to give. In the future if they meet again, he needed to make sure to thoroughly plunder all of that wealth.

Finally, another big shot raised the bid further high.

Titans of the New World, a top-tier guild made a bid for 5 million. The guild leader was none other than Thalor, the infamous strategist known across the server for bankrupting two rival guilds in a single night using nothing but auction mind games.

When his calm, almost lazy voice echoed from one of the highest private booths, "Five million", a fresh wave of tension rippled through the auction house like a blade cutting through silk.

Even Damon, watching through narrowed eyes, couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. So the Titans are joining the fray too, huh? Now this is getting interesting.

The audience was stunned into silence. Five million was a number that most couldn’t even fathom in a game, even with real-money cross-transaction systems in place.

But what shocked Damon even more was that Thalor wasn’t bidding for show. The man genuinely seemed to want the vial.

And considering his guild’s deep pockets and thirst for monopolizing game-breaking assets, they probably intended to dissect it, reverse-engineer it, and monetize it.

Damon’s fingers drummed against the armrest. Too bad they don’t know the truth. There’s no formula. No hidden alchemy recipe. No divine blueprint to uncover. He grinned. It’s just spit, boys. Really, really toxic spit.

And yet, here they were, elites, strategists, and legendary players, fighting tooth and nail over a glorified loogie.

Damon chuckled silently enjoying the show. These were the figures he had once revered. He used to be a big fan boy for many of them in his last life, admiring how cool they looked and how much strength and power they possessed. But now, everything had changed.

The bids continued to rise steadily and soon reached 10 million gold coins, mainly thanks to Blood Wraith and Phoenix and also Daddy Brutal. At this point many had backed away as 10 million gold coins were a staggering amount.

While a toxic elixir capable of one-shotting even level 150 bosses was a big thing, there were still many drawbacks.

The boss could potentially have its own methods to fight back. Someone actually had to land a hit or break the skin for the attack to work. There could be magic barriers which completely blocked it. The uncertainty was a bit too high.

Besides, there was still the main item that was yet to come out. The legendary item!

No one wanted to deplete their funds before the big ticket item. Blood Wraith still held the title for the wealthiest player on the leaderboards which discouraged many from fighting with him.

Of course, not all received the memo.

Daddy Brutal seemed to be bidding extremely aggressively, making Phoenix’s beautiful face frown in clear annoyance. Every time she raised her paddle, he immediately countered with an obnoxiously large jump in value.

"11 million!" Phoenix gritted her teeth and refused to back down.

"12.5!" Daddy Brutal shouted right after, practically standing on his chair. "I’ll go bankrupt before letting you take this, sweetheart!"

Phoenix’s face remained indifferent but if one paid more attention to her eyes, they could clearly see that she was burning with rage. Daddy Brutal on the other hand seemed to be completely enjoying the show.

"Wow, I did not know Golden Dragons were so powerful."

"Daddy Brutal seems to be a real hidden dragon in the game."

Many started to sing praised of the guy and his guild and he was only more and more spurred on by it all. In the blink of an eye the bid reached 13 million gold coins!

Daddy Brutal was about to open his mouth again when suddenly a voice rang out, smooth and sharp.

"Fifteen million."

Everyone turned. It wasn’t Blood Wraith or Phoenix. It wasn’t Daddy Brutal. It was someone else entirely. A shadowed figure stood at the edge of the second-tier booth, cloaked in soft black robes embroidered with golden thread.

Damon only needed a moment to recognize the guy and the familiar figure standing next to him. Magicaa! The people who had targeted him were finally here!

A sharp gleam flickered in Damon’s eyes as soon as he saw them. So they had shown up after all. Unlike the flashy top guilds in the VIP booth, this group had silently remained in the second-tier booth, completely low-profile.

If one did not know them personally like Damon did, then they would easily mistake these guys for nobodies, probably second-tier guilds who had pooled their money to make the bid. However, Damon knew better.

The sacred marksman was missing but these two had personally come to the auction. Coincidentally there were three more figures standing along with them.

To his surprise, Damon did not recognize them at all. But the way there were standing and their posture made it clear that they were all part of the same group. Moreover, one of them was a demon race player!

Damon racked his brain but to his knowledge, the Canadian super guild was only a human super guild. There were four dark faction guilds among the super ten and one elven guild but the Canadian one was definitely a human guild as far as he knew. So why was there a demon standing beside them like it was nothing?

Damon narrowed his eyes, his expression unreadable. This wasn’t just unexpected, it was unprecedented. The Northern Frontier guild, the Canadian super guild, had always been rigid about race alignment.

Their doctrine revolved around maintaining a "pure-blood" human faction. They were vocal advocates for human supremacy in Earth Online, and that belief had given them both allies and enemies in equal measure. But this?

Were they collaborating with someone else or did all the super ten guilds have branches out players in all the races? It was probably the later.

The demon player wasn’t hiding either. His avatar stood tall and proud, with curling obsidian horns, and a dark cloak etched in crimson runes. He wasn’t just any demon. He was high-ranking. Possibly even one of the rare Abyssborn classes.

It looked like the mutated wyrm was not the only big card they had in their pockets. Damon carefully observed the group as the entire place became somewhat quiet.

Back on the stage, Davina hesitated as the bidding stalled once again. The silence was thick, everyone waiting to see what would happen next.

Phoenix had stopped bidding. Daddy Brutal looked caught between pride and frustration. Even Blood Wraith hadn’t responded to the fifteen million bid.

After a few minutes of silence, Davina called the number three times and finally the auction of the item came to an end.

"Sold—for fifteen million gold coins!"

The finality of Davina’s voice echoed through the grand auction hall, and just like that, the room exhaled all at once. Murmurs rose like a wave as players whispered among themselves.

Inside his booth, Damon leaned back with a relaxed smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Enjoy the spit," he muttered under his breath. He did not plan for this exactly to happen but it looked like fate was a mean little bitch.

Damon naturally was never planning to hand over something so valuable even if it was traded for money. He had always planned for a special surprise for whoever wins the bid for his spit. It was just poetic justice that these guys had taken the bait.

"Well then," Damon murmured as he watched the potion being handed over with great ceremony, "looks like the real game has finally started."

The commotion and chaos quickly died down and all the eyes quickly darted back to the stage and the beautiful woman standing on top of it. The miraculous poison elixir was also quickly forgotten as the main event started.

Davina cleared her throat and announced the final item for the auction, the legendary item!