The Innkeeper



Perhaps if Lex hadn't begun the system's upgrade in a rush, he would have watched the auction go through. Since the auction itself was not a part of the core services provided, it was carried out like one of Lex's self made services.

Still, for the items auctioned before the elixir, Lex asked for a 1% as commission for having the item auctioned. He was only keeping in with the rate set by the guild room, but he did not anticipate the value of the items being auctioned.

Although the people sitting there couldn't be considered the top 1% of their respective realms, they were exceptionally strong nonetheless - especially Jotun and Rocketfellow. Of course, these two showed no interest in any of the prior items, and were solely focussed on the elixir.

A total of 13 items were auctioned before the main items, and through his 1% Lex ended up earning a total of 314 billion MP! The items auctioned were mainly unusual treasure that had no mundane version with which they could be explained. There was, for example, a vial made not of glass but flowing lava. The lava flowed within a set pattern, forming a vial. God only knew what it could be used for, but it was hotly contested for.

Another example was a ball of light, but it could be physically touched. But if a mundane person tried to touch it they would die, and the ball would erupt into an explosion that could rival several nuclear bombs.

That one, oddly enough, went without a single offer, mostly because the person auctioning it had very strict requirements for the payment they wanted.

The item which had, up until that point, received the highest bid was a sword. After a very heated auction, the bid was finally won by a human named Lovis. Lovis was a leader of the paladins, who had long since started using the Midnight Inn as one of their secret bases. Only a very few members of the paladins even knew of the Inn at all. Of the ones that knew about it, most assumed that the Small village they had rented was the entirety of their presence at the Inn. Perhaps only a handful knew that, in fact, the Inn was being used to store and hide some incredibly important artifacts for a very special purpose. After all, since the paladins came from a galaxy perpetually at war, the need to keep secrets was obvious.

But once the preliminary auction was over, it was finally time for the elixir. For a majority of those who were present, their time to participate was over, and now it was time to watch. It wasn't that they didn't want the items, but that they couldn't afford them.

The Inn naturally assured every participant's identity was a secret, so no one would be hunting them down later if they managed to get their hands on the elixir. But getting their hands on it in the first place was the real issue.

They were rich but items containing laws… just being rich was not enough to afford them.

With childlike excitement and a grin as wide as her face, Marilyn clapped her hands as the first round came to a close.

"Now, it is finally time for what you have all been waiting for, the Cosmic Erosion Elixir."

Gerard, looking ever handsome, walked in from behind a hidden curtain, a single vial of black glass placed on a velvet pillow.

Dozens of spirit senses immediately scanned the glass vial, but they were not able to sense its contents regardless of who it was. Naturally it was not so simple to peek, considering the vial was provided by the actual owner of the emporium.

But Marilyn knew how to satisfy the guests. Though she was technically not supposed to, for a brief moment she opened the cap, allowing the elixir's aura to leak.

The auditorium remained silent, for everyone was in their private rooms, but almost every guest gasped as they sensed the aura. A connoisseur such as Rocketfellow was immediately able to tell the elixir wasn't fresh, but it was still vibrant enough.

"As before, the auction price for these will be a minimum of 100 billion MP per drop, accompanied by a barter item. A list of items which will have preferential treatment has been provided to each of you, but in general any item containing laws can be used to auction. We will now begin the auction…"

What happened next surprised everyone. All the drops of elixir were won by the same person, and because identities were kept secret, no one knew who it was. But both Jotun and Rocketfellow were left bewildered, as each and every time they were left unable to contest. It wasn't about wealth, rather, the person was bidding using exactly the items which were given preferential treatment.

In the end, everyone was bewildered by the outcome, though most of the participants enjoyed the process. No one knew that the Inn itself was the one auctioning the elixir, and everyone assumed that the elixir had been a special commission by someone else so no one even tried to request more elixir, though even if they did they wouldn't get any.

In the private room, the ultimate winner of the auction sat without any expression on his face. His name was Gaborone, and he was a noble lord of the Fiery Mammoth clan. His subordinate, a sloth named Golden Hair, had long requested the presence of the clan so that they may investigate the place known as Midnight Inn. It was only recently that Gaborone got around to reaching Nibiru.

Upon coming to the Inn, Gaborone was extremely intrigued. But when he discovered the presence of the Jotun empire, he was filled with a righteous fury! Merely a thousand years ago, a human from a noble family of the Jotun empire eloped with his daughter!

The scandal had brought great shame to him personally, but he had endured. The humans had reacted just as strongly as he had yet Gaborone was not satisfied. He demanded retribution.

Unlike the humans, who required the support of a single powerhouse to maintain their race's prestige, the Fiery Mammoth had many experts. As such, the young couple should have eloped to the strong and fierce Fiery Mammoths, not the weak and puny humans! What kind of weak, third-galaxy state would his grandchildren grow up in? He could not accept it.

With this elixir as a gift, he would finally have enough sway to unite all the mammoths against the humans. Conflict was on the horizon!

*****

While the rhinocentaur with the system was taken away and never returned, the other two were locked up together. It did not matter even if they were together, for they were kept weak and restrained. A special kind of vine was used to tie their hands and legs, constantly absorbing spirit energy from within their bodies to ensure they would never recover.

This was the same method that had been used inside the Inn for a long time to hold their prisoners.

But there was an oversight that the security team made, though it could not be blamed on them. After all, not only had they never been trained on how to counter someone with a chatroom, the concept was completely alien to them. All it could be said was that the universe was extremely vast, and contained a multitude of things one could never imagine.

Both the rhinocentaurs kept their eyes closed, but they were secretly communicating in a private channel in the chat room.

"Do you think there's a chance we'll survive?" one asked.

"Not a chance," replied the other. "But if there were ever a way, it would be through the chatroom."

"It's too dangerous, no one will challenge the Inn for two measly systems."

"No, there is a chance. If we can get in contact with one of the main members of the chatroom, one of the members who has accumulated dozens of systems, they might be able to save us."

"That way we won't be able to make any money from selling information."

"The money doesn't matter. We need to be alive to enjoy it in the first place,"

"The last issue is… how will we get them to find a golden key?"

"If I had all the answers, I wouldn't be here!" said the rhinocentaur in exasperation. In the end, they had no choice but to sell the information online and hope they'd live long enough to get rescued.

Far away in the Origin realm, on a planet ruled by reptilian beasts sat a king. While perusing the chatroom today, he encountered an interesting request and could not help but accept it.

Moments later, he heard a very familiar notification sound in his mind. The king checked, but was not too surprised by what he saw. After all, it was a quest, and he only ever got the same kind of quests.

Step Up: Dance off system quest: Have a dance off with the Innkeeper for the fate of your allies.

Just as he thought, another dance battle.