SWNOVELS Chapter 22.1: Illusory Disguise
Chapter 22.1: Illusory Disguise
"Does our previous agreement still stand?" the fifth grinder asked. "Each of you will give me 200 copper coins if you bid and win the Orb of Deception at a low price."
"Of course, as long as the three of us can win the coins at 300 copper coins and win the orbs, all the extra coins will be yours," said the first boss with a forced smile.
"Alright, I'll be awaiting the good news from you guys," the fifth grinder chuckled, beckoning to his friends, and the group of them went further away and squatted down.
The two rich big shots stared at him for a while, then turned to observe Give Me Medicine who hadn't budged from his spot.
Give Me Medicine's hollow black eye sockets were also fixed on the two of them.
Although skeletons couldn't show expressions, all three of them knew that each of them was silently cursing…
No one could be certain whether the guy who verbally promised not to participate in the auction actually intended to abstain from the bidding or if he was intentionally pretending and planning to secretly bid 301 copper coins during the blind bid!
And even if that guy was genuinely willing to take 600 copper coins and walk away, there was still Jia Luo squatting nearby, who also had bidding rights!
Jia Luo didn't sell her bidding rights, but she still hadn't left and continued to remain in the area, which at least meant that this female player, regardless of how much money she had on her, could definitely come up with the starting bid of 300 copper coins!
In other words… Regardless of whether the fifth grinder was putting an act or not, the three who were willing to go all out for the orbs couldn't continue to abide by the "harmonious" agreement.
This sort of verbal agreement could easily be broken as long as the agreed-upon conditions were not met. Jia Luo also had no reason to be a part of the agreement and would definitely make a secret bid.
A blind bid was not the same as an outright auction. If the bids were open and a player who promised to give up their bidding rights suddenly raised their hand and made an increased bid, the others could still raise the price. But in a blind bid, everyone only had one chance!
If they continued to agree to only bid 300 copper coins, the other two players with bidding rights could bid 301 and walk away with the orbs, not even having to give up any coins as consolation…
Give Me Medicine sighed inwardly. It was evident that saving some money was impossible.
The two rich big shots also fell silent, a sign that they, too, understood the harmonious agreement was useless in a blind bid.
But… there was still a chance.
After the staredown between the two big shots and Give Me Medicine, both sides returned to their original spots and sat down.
There were three orbs, and the three of them didn't have a direct competitive relationship—they just needed to bid higher than Jia Luo and the fifth player!
Give Me Medicine nervously pondered over what was the safest price to bid…
At that moment, Blossoming Strokes, who had been silent all this time, reached out and poked Give Me Medicine.
Give Me Medicine glanced down and saw Blossoming Strokes hiding her hands behind her back and making a discreet gesture with her fingers indicating the number nine.
Give Me Medicine tilted his head, slightly confused.
Blossoming Strokes used her head and gestured in the direction of the fifth grinder.
Give Me Medicine silently turned his head over. The fifth grinder and his three companions were sitting together, occasionally whispering to each other, seemingly in discussion.
Blossoming Strokes poked Give Me Medicine with her finger once more and leaned closer to whisper, "I've seen that player's friends a few times. They're a small team of five players who only managed to gather some copper coins in the early stages and have been grinding on their own since then. I did some calculations just now, and the number of copper coins they can pool together should be around 800… Also, considering that this group only carries money in their pouches and not a backpack, I think they quickly conceded when they saw the three of you carrying backpacks. I think the likelihood of this possibility is over 80% certain."
Give Me Medicine believed in his teammate's judgment and immediately nodded. "Alright."
While the source of his copper coins was thanks to Vanilla Pudding's help, he needed to fork out his own money for every single one of those coins, so saving as much as he could was naturally better.
After a few minutes' wait, the Ranger Instructor Tuttle Joe entered his tent and brought out five pieces of wrinkled paper. He also picked up five small charcoal pieces from the remains of a fire and distributed them to the five eligible players.
All the players felt their eyes twitching as they watched this absurd means of a blind bid.
The fifth grinder was somewhat stunned when he received the paper. He never imagined the blind bidding would actually require writing by hand instead of entering numbers through a pop-up window in the game system…
And then… this player didn't bother to hide his intentions anymore. He calmly faced the scrutinizing gazes of the other four players and swiftly wrote a number on the paper.
He didn't hesitate much for his bid. After all, there were three wallet warriors with backpacks full of money present, and his chances were already slim. He just wrote down the amount of copper coins he could gather and called it a day.
Give Me Medicine and the other two, who had originally planned to outbid this player, cursed in silence. They just knew that this guy had ill intentions!
Jia Luo, who also received a piece of paper, sighed and dutifully wrote down her max assets… She had been staying there all this time, hoping to take advantage of the situation.
Tuttle couldn't be bothered with these undead players and their scheming. Once they were done, he collected the five pieces of paper and, in ascending order, pasted the bids on the notice board. With a deadpan expression on his face, he announced, "The top three winning bids have been determined. Undead friends who placed bids, please come forward immediately with the copper coins for the transaction."
There was no need for him to shout. Players in the vicinity, regardless of whether they were participating in the bidding or just spectating, had already crowded around. contemporary romance
The top pieces of paper notes at the top had the exact same bid: 1001 copper coins, obviously from the two rich big shots.
In third place, with a bid of 901 copper coins, was Give Me Medicine.
Fourth place was the fifth grinder with the ID "Win By Grinding" whose bid was 801 copper coins.
Realizing that his bid was only 100 copper coins less than the third place, Win By Grinding clenched his fist and cursed in frustration.
"Never mind, Jiang Wei. It's just not meant to be." Win By Grinding's friend patted his shoulder and sighed. Scraping together 800 copper coins had already been the best their group of five could do.
Win By Grinding had a final side-glance at Give Me Medicine, who managed to secure the Orb of Deception with just 100 more copper coins, then without saying anything, left with his friends.
The fifth place bid was 342 copper coins, by Jia Luo, who didn't even come close. She eyed the three winners and muttered with some disappointment, "You rich folks are so unfair, others don't even stand a chance."
"Hahaha, sorry about that," Give Me Medicine chuckled in delight. As soon as the two above two winners completed their transactions and left with their orbs, he immediately approached Tuttle, poured out the coins from his backpack, and placed them in front of him.
Once he obtained the gem, Give Me Medicine immediately wore it around his neck and activated the skill on the accessory.
Amid the amazed exclamations of the spectators and other grinders who gave up their bidding rights, Give Me Medicine transformed from a peculiar skeleton in a cotton T-shirt and shorts, with a waist bag around his waist and carrying a backpack, into a muscular, golden-haired man in a rider outfit.
"Ahahaha, am I handsome or what, Blossom? Am I handsome?" Give Me Medicine lowered his head and looked at his well-developed chest muscles, thrilled with joy.
"Handsome, totally handsome! You could be the lead in an American action blockbuster!" Blossoming Strokes exclaimed, giving a thumbs-up.
"Whoa, Brother, how does your chest feel so real? Wasn't your original form supposed to be a skinny skeleton?" One player couldn't help but touch Give Me Medicine's chest.
"Is it real? Wasn't it just supposed to be an illusion layer… What the heck! It's real chest muscles!" Another player followed suit with the touching.
"Hey, hey, don't just touch me like that!" Give Me Medicine quickly waved his arms to fend off these fellas who were being impolite.
"Damn, this feels really good!"
"Where the hell are you touching?!"
done.co