The Devil’s Cage

Wu could clearly hear the conversation going on in the corridor while crying.

“I’m here! I want the strongest whiskey there is!”

“Don’t even think about it. I’m buying you the cheapest only.”

“Why are you like this? I am selling your equipment for the highest price!”

“That is why I am only buying you a drink, the cheapest one.”

“You bloody, stingy ghost.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

…

As the conversation moved further away, Wu’s crying got louder. Even after Rachel walked in, she didn’t stop.

“Don’t be too concerned about those bastards. They never know a woman’s heart. All they care is themselves and do reckless things.”

Rachel was comforting Wu as though she was feeling the same but Wu didn’t even hear what she said. She was already drowning in her own memories. She saw a scene in her mind.

Inside a dark room, a figure darker than the night was tidying his many pieces of equipment, and even when Wu, who was also inside the room, dissuaded him, the black figure still spoke in a voluble way.

‘I’m used to fighting alone!”

‘What? Having someone backing you up is the best!’

‘That is why you don’t understand my romance!’

Wu chose to compromise with the figure because of love.

Love blinds people.

Love blinded Wu to the point that she neglected some basic key points.

Then, she received the cruelest outcome.

Now, the choice was presented to her again.

How could she make the wrong choice again with a mistake in the past?

She wanted to correct her wrongs!

She wanted to correct his fate!

“Romance? To hell with your romance! I was wrong once, why should I be wrong again?”

Wu was screaming loudly while wiping her tears.

Her persistent and resolute eyes shook Rachel’s heart for a bit. She knew what her good friend was going to do and out of instinct, she wanted to stop her good friend.

However, before Rachel could speak, Wu spoke first.

“Help me. Don’t try to stop me! I missed him once, I won’t allow myself to make the same mistake twice! I’ve lost him once, I can’t endure the pain of losing him again! And there… is only one place that I know of that could help 2567. Only in that place can I get what I am looking for!” said Wu.

A deep breath later, she turned to her bag, which only she could see.

[The Wisher (Main Scroll)]!

[The Wisher (Sub Scroll x 4)]!

…

The auction began as promised.

[Ghastly Woods Short Knife] as a starter item perfectly finished its mission.

10,000 Points and 3 Skill Points were quite the price for a Magic rank item with limitations, but it was also because of that that the short knife wouldn’t be dragging down its wielder’s movement.

The latter was quite favourable among lone wolf players, and ultimately, it was bought by a lone wolf player standing in the shadows.

Lawless raised his cup at the player with a smile.

The cup that he raised, of course, was the drink that Kieran bought him—the cheapest and most affordable honey wine. 1 Point could buy three glasses and sometimes an extra or two based on Rachel’s mood.

However, Lawless didn’t mine at all.

He sipped it little by little as though he were enjoying the nectar of heavens. After all, it was the drink that Kieran bought him.

While Lawless was carefully sipping his “nectar”, the auction for [Cunning Viper Sword] started.

When the auctioning began, the calling price swiftly broke through the base price of 100K Points that Lawless set, and since there were many solo players around, the price swiftly entered 300K points.

Coll, sitting at the side, was rendered speechless by the price.

“Expensive.”

“An equipment that’s normal attack reaches Powerful and is able to go up to Extreme attack through a certain condition will never slip past a player’s eye as long as the requirements are met. For those players that have been lingering around Advance Ranks and are still unable to fully ascend, this equipment might be the key for their true ascension,” Hanses whispered to Coll while sitting beside her.

“Advance Ranks…I failed last time.”

When Advance Ranks were mentioned, Coll’s voice turned gloomy.

“You will get through it next time! Clutch the beginner’s mind! And I swear on both my fists that you will get through it!” Hanses said seriously.

“Mm.” Coll took a glance at Hanses and nodded hard.

They were very close to each other, as they were whispering, but whenever others would look at them, they would sit straight and act like nothing happened.

They thought they had covered it up flawlessly, but in the eyes of the familiar acquaintances, it was like they had stolen a bell while covering up their ears.

Raven the Loner caressed the cat in his arms and held his pet tighter.

Ramonet curled his lips into a grin and reached both of his hands out for his swords.

Rhino, on the other hand, breathed heavily. He then grabbed a wine barrel beside him and took big gulps into his body.

Kieran was leaning on the bar counter, watching it all with a smile.

He did not dislike what he was seeing. Instead, he gave them his blessing.

He raised the honey lemon water and performed a toast for Hanses and Coll.

To love.

After a gulp, Kieran raised his cup in the air again.

To freedom.

The honey lemon water swiftly reached the bottom after some toasting.

While the stingy Kieran tightened his wallet and rejected Rachel’s suggestion for another drink, the auction for [Cunning Viper Sword] came to an end.

The final big price was 450K Points, greatly surpassing the range a solo player could afford.

However, Kieran was quite surprised at the lone wolf who bought the said sword.

The lone wolf player wasn’t a stranger to Kieran. Kieran had seen him before.

A while ago, the said player used 30,000 Points and 5 Skill Points to buy Kieran’s [Fighter’s Bandage], [Interrogator Knife], [Dark Venom Dagger] and [Nimble Boots]. All the mentioned items were decent Magic rank items.

Now, the player had bought [Cunning Viper Sword] with 450K points.

One needed to know, the last time Kieran met this player, the player was supposed to a newbie.

“A risk player?” Kieran muttered to himself.

Only a player who ignored the three month’s window of dungeon entry and entered a dungeon once the cooldown was reset could earn that kind of value. In addition, each dungeon run had to be a harvest.

Sighing, Kieran shook his head.

Everyone had their own opportunity.

He would not be jealous, he would only seize his own opportunity.

After the auction for [Cunning Viper Sword] ended, a lot of lone wolf players scattered away.

Other than those that habitually lingered in Harvest Inn, only the player who bought the sword and one of his comrades were left in the inn.

Then, the said duo walked towards Kieran.

“Mr. 2567, can we have a talk? I have some news for you, the unfavourable kind that will put you in a disadvantage. And I think you should know this,” the player said.

He had added more after the request to have a talk with Kieran as if he were afraid Kieran would reject him.

Disadvantage?

All the remaining attention in the inn was instantly captivated.