Chapter 5: Antique Night Auction Group

"What did she tell you? Knowing her personality, I doubt she explained things clearly."

While Ye Qing stood there in a daze, a soft voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Looking back, he noticed that the door to the bathing chambers was open, but he didn't spot the source of the voice, Maid Ya.

Ye Qing assumed that Maid Ya took shelter behind the open door while talking, and he felt amused by the notion. As for Maid Ya, she continued, "South Side isn't a specific location, it's a network of organized crime that thrives in the shadows of major corporations…"

Maid Ya allowed the new information to sink in before she took a breath, continuing, "Madam has invested in a small business and she's trying to expand, and she happened to choose a location within the jurisdiction of South Side. However, she wasn't worried because the Young Master was an involved member of South Side and he was always looking after the business from the shadows.

"Sadly, the Young Master had to leave the country, and no one would step up to manage his crew in South Side after he left, leaving the Madam's business in a vulnerable spot— she can't thwart her opponents from both the light and the dark simultaneously, and this is where you fit into the picture.

"Madam wants you to take over the Young Master's Kaiser Troupe. You will become the new Kaiser and protect the Madam from the shadows; that's the least you could do to repay her kindness."

The sound of Maid Ya's rushed footsteps quickly marked the end of the conversation. As for Ye Qing, his expression was that of sudden realization as he brought a handful of water to his face, washing up the confusion.

Ye Qing quickly got himself together, thinking. "If things are like this, then I don't have to regularly kill people… Killing might be a last resort, when nothing else works, or when I'm engaged in self-defense."

With this new mindset, Ye Qing left the bathing chambers and gave his new bedroom a 'good look'. A massive flat screen on the wall across from the king-sized bed, a gaming station in the far corner with three high screens with a high-end AMD setup. Ye Qing didn't know the exact specs, but he loved the neon lights and mechanical keyboard nonetheless.

If it weren't for the sudden release of Clash of Titans Online, this setup might have taken Ye Qing's breath away. Now, however, he was merely impressed by its grandeur.

Ye Qing sat on the gaming chair and started the PC and luckily it had no password. The hard drives were clean, same with the browsing history, with only one site saved in the general bookmarks.

"Antiques Night Auction Group? Is this the official site of Madam Ye's business, an auction?" Ye Qing entered the site.

"A weekly auction every Sunday night? That's tomorrow, isn't it? There aren't many items on auction, but they sure are expensive… You can even join the auction online by booking a real-time bidding room, but it's quite expensive as well."

A lot of exotic items were on display, but most of them were herbs of a few hundred years old, a rare few that had reached a thousand years old; these were the highlighted items with estimated prices ranging in the tens of millions.

"No wonder she's rich! However, most if not all the auctioned items are provided from the stock, and when these items run out, the business will go bankrupt…"

Ye Qing felt a little concerned. If Madam Ye personally bought the items from an external source to re-auction them, who can say she wouldn't suffer a loss? Even using his knees, Ye Qing figured that some groups were suppressing Madam Ye's business by blocking the flow of resources.

If she doesn't auction something new anytime soon…

Ye Qing shook his head, perhaps he could help her somehow. As Ye Qing contemplated, his line of sight fell on the gaming cabinet.

Player auctions maybe?

Ye Qing's eyes lit up.

What if he connected Madam Ye's online auction to the in-game auction? His vocation was a Talisman Master!

If he could draw and inscribe talismans and sell them in-game through the online auction, this would generate a lot of traffic for Madam Ye!

With that thought in mind, Ye Qing immediately turned off the PC and rushed into the gaming cabinet, stripped down to his boxers and folded the clothes to the side, then he entered the immersive capsule to log into the game.

After a quick 2FA, Ye Qing called out. "Claudia!"

[Welcome back, Sir.]

"Yeah, hi." Ye Qing greeted back casually, then he proceeded to open the internet through the Main Network and entered the official website for the auction.

"Claudia," Ye Qing said, "Can I auction my in-game items on this site? They have a section for digital content."

Ye Qing was a little nervous since the game has an official auction on the official forums, and he wasn't sure if this presumptuous request would be fulfilled. A moment of silence, and Ye Qing felt even more unnerved.

Usually, Claudia would reply on the spot, all the more reason for Ye Qing to feel unsettled. Finally, after who knew how long, Claudia replied.

[If you would authorize me to create, access, and co-manage the account, Sir. I'll allow it.]

Ye Qing agreed without any hesitation, finally relaxing his taut nerves. In a few moments, a new member joined the official auction website, and was the only member who was online. Of course, the username on display was Mortal.

Ye Qing then checked his character sheet.

< Name: Mortal >

< Level: 1 >

< XP: 110/128 >

< Talent: Exorcist >

< Vocation: Talisman Apprentice >

< Mastery: Rudimentary >

…

Ye Qing also had a starter kit of items unique to his vocation, just like how a swordsman would find a sword and armor in his storage system, Ye Qing had a specific set of talismans.

Ye Qing also had 10 gold coins in his account that were provided with the most expensive starter pack; thanks to the original owner of the immersive capsule.

After browsing his stash, he decided to put 2x out of his 5x lesser binding contract talismans, but he didn't auction the offensive and defensive spells.

If Ye Qing knew that each of these talismans was worth 2 gold coins, he might have reconsidered putting them for auction at the moment.

[Do you wish to spend 1 gold coin for a regional announcement, Sir? Mind you, you can also spend 10 gold coins for a worldwide announcement.]

Just as Ye Qing was about to leave the internet and start playing the game, Claudia reminded him. After giving the matter some thought, Ye Qing reluctantly agreed to the worldwide announcement.

Just as Ye Qing logged into the game, a post highlighted by an administrator surfaced on the forum's homepage, and details regarding the pending auction site were attached to the notice.

One minute later, the post was removed from the home page. However, the forums were already experiencing an upheaval.

…

Madam Ye sat alone in a dimly lit office in the Antique Night Auction Group building. A moment ago, she received a message from Maid Ya that a new member joined the official website and submitted an item under the digital content page.

It was already past the date for submitting items as the company couldn't possibly advertise the product with the auction being one day away. Therefore, the house charges an additional 10% fee, rounding up the total tax to 20%.

"Lesser binding contract talisman? A talisman that harnesses faith energy to establish an equality contract between two parties…" Madam Ye read the information with a bit of interest.

This was the first externally submitted item for a while, but she couldn't get a read on the person behind it. The information was secured behind a complex firewall leaving only the username; Mortal.

Just like Ye Qing, Madam Ye didn't have high hopes for an item submitted at the last minute. She was merely somewhat satisfied that her auction house garnered a bit of traffic, even if it was online.

…

"Phew!"

Ye Qing opened his eyes in the familiar study room, and he immediately shelved the three books from the desk. With that done, he decided to take a spin around the safe house to grasp a clear picture of his small house.

One study room, one bedroom connected to a small bathing chamber, and one living room connected to a small kitchen. All in all, it wasn't that bad.

Since he decided to auction talismans on the Antique Night Auction Group website, the first thing Ye Qing needed was resources to practice drawing and inscribing.

He checked the world map interface and filtered out the parameters based on towns within the region, immediately pinpointing his current location as he exited the house.

The bustling streets of Rosewood Town graced Ye Qing with a warm ambiance, frolicking children, chatting elderly, and the working, economic class of the pedestrians scurrying through the busy streets.

Ye Qing squinted, adjusting his eyes to the glaring sunlight, adjusting his ears to the outburst of noise, and adjusting his body to the feel and touch of everything this environment had to offer…

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