The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
Chapter 77: Gathering of Giants (4)

Item after item went by, and Otto continued to bid for, and win, quite a few of them.

It was to the point where some guests started feeling shunted and displeased after they couldn't, or more often, didn't want to pay such a high price for the items they wanted.

Actually, Otto's 'must win below x price' was much higher than others, as he didn't look at the objective value of the item, but at its performance and value to him versus the amount he was willing to afford.

Still, he never spent so much that the objective value of the item was thrown by the wayside.

It was just that….his coffers were unreasonably large. Most of the other guests didn't have much of a chance.

The auction hit its final stretch as high value, powerful items were thrown out to be sold one after another.

Fierce bidding followed Otto's item: [Cormac Fruit], and Otto found himself a full 6,550 Brocks richer.

Otto won every single item on his first list, and almost every item on his second list as well.

He even won quite a few items on his third list, the ones that he discovered were valuable after he uncovered a few hidden item effects with [Analyze].

Perhaps his [Analyze] couldn't perfectly see through the disguises of men, but it was unparalleled when used on items.

Items, even if they were sealed, couldn't obscure his inspection, after all.

Otto also obtained a full 8 new spell formulas from the auction.

Some savvy guests praised his wit even as they cursed the size of his wallet.

They thought he was buying spells of many elements to obscure the truth about the element, or elements, he actually used.

A few of those folks secretly snickered.

His element would probably be uncovered in the next phase of the gathering.

What they didn't know was that Otto was literally just buying every spell he found.

Most of the spells sold here were rare and powerful, spells that Otto might normally have to win from the [Tower] via his class if he wanted to learn them.

Time passed as Otto won item after item.

Finally, the highlight of the auction, the most expensive item sold on the final block, arrived.

It was an item that Otto had actually placed on his 'not interested in' list.

Not because it wasn't valuable.

Otto simply already had one.

A [VIP Entrant Token] for the [Constant Competition].

The crowd worked themselves into a restrained frenzy as the item was displayed.

Whispers sounded throughout the auditorium.

One woman was surprised,

"A VIP token? But weren't there only ten thousand of these across the entire area? Who is willing to give it up?"

"Perhaps they already had one." Another man remarked snidely. He continued,

"I still don't understand why these are always such a big deal."

The woman shot him a quizzical look.

"Do you even know what it does?"

"Isn't it just skipping the preliminaries? So what?"

"Uh, no. You know that the competition gives attributes and other rewards based on your performance, right?"

The man rolled his eyes,

"Duh. Isn't that basically the whole point of it?"

"With the token, those attributes are converted into AP! Which means you have control of where you place them."

The man's eyes widened. He was about to respond before the woman whispered,

"Hush, she's giving the introduction."

"Here we have this month's most valuable item, a token rarely sold even in our Golden Club. Only 10,000 VIP tokens are distributed every year!"

"VIP tokens are among the most coveted items before every decade's [Constant Competition]."

"They provide the following benefits to entrants."

A list appeared in front of each attendee.

1. Additional time in between fights for mental relaxation.

2. VIP Suite with Food and Drink over the course of the competition.

3. Entrant can skip the preliminaries and enter the qualifiers.

4. Attributes awarded are all converted to AP with 100% efficiency.

5. Entrant can limit their abilities to gain additional rewards.

6. Entrant can 'support' up to 50 other entrants.

7. Entrant receives a portion of the broadcast fees to their own fights.

8. Entrant receives a gift package upon entrance to the competition.

9. One hidden benefit for entrants.

The slim auctioneer smiled as she said,

"If it were us in the Golden Club running this competition, we would be sure not to sell more than 100 of these VIP tokens, but the [Tower] provides all these rewards to 10,000 strong, lucky individuals."

"Bidding for this token will be in cash only. Bidding starts at 150 G4 Coins. Bidding increment should be no lower than 10 G4 coins."

Otto's brows rose uncontrollably.

He read the list of benefits through carefully once more.

What could be worth this many G4 coins?

In his mind, other than MAYBE getting additional AP, none of these rewards were worth that much.

Was this small token really worth the same price as a [Level 10 Security Restriction] sold by the [Tower] itself?

But the auction attendees seemed to disagree.

Right off the bat, before any other bids were called, a man called in a low voice,

"3,000 G4 Coins."

A hush fell across the room.

Every eye turned to the man who had just spoken.

A bid of 3,000 G4 Coins was like calling a bid of $300 billion back on Earth.

In other words, it represented that this man was a tycoon amongst tycoons.

Even still, he was not uncontested.

"3,500"

The man glared at the woman who dared interrupt, but she merely smirked lightly at him.

She knew the true value of this item.

It practically couldn't be bought with money.

Six more people also entered the fray.

As witness to the fierce competition among the super tycoons, Otto was once again taken aback.

Something was definitely amiss.

Why in the world was this such a good item?

His brain whirred with possibilities, but nothing immediately came to mind. The things he knew weren't enough.

Otto decided to use [Analyze] on the token to see if he could uncover something special about it.

[VIP Entrant Token]

Unknown Grade

Provides the following benefits upon entrance to the [Constant Competition]

Benefits: [expand/collapse]

Gather three tokens and win the competition to open a hidden floor.

Otto's expression remained composed on the outside, but if one looked closely they could see a pronounced twitch of his eye.

Inwardly, he was screaming.

Since when was there a hidden floor in the [Tower]!!!???

How many hidden floors were there?

Why did they open with this token?

He increasingly believed that what he had seen in his past life only scratched the surface of the [Tower's] true face.

Otto cursed himself inwardly for not painstakingly analyzing every single reward he got.

In his hubris, he believed that with his experience he already knew their functions backwards and forwards.

He continuously reminded himself to be more careful in the future.

What if he had missed this function?

He may never have known about some of the [Tower's] hidden features.

But then, Otto smirked.

Didn't he already have a token of his own?

If he bought this one, he'd only need one more token.

Meanwhile, the bidding continued.

Now, eight major tycoons were involved and the price increases showed no signs of abating, though five of the tycoons were already beginning to sweat.

"10,000 G4 Coins."

"10,500"

"11,000"

"…"

"11,500"

By the time the price reached a full 14,000 G4 Coins, there were only three tycoons left.

Then, Otto dropped a bombshell with barely a change in his expression.

"25,000"

Two of the competitors narrowed their eyes at Otto threateningly, while one man paled and dropped out.

"26,000"

"26,500"

Otto didn't let up.

"32,000"

This time, only one person was left. It was the woman who had fought the first man's initial bid.

Otto smirked. Instead of continuing to bid, he spoke to her.

His tone was calm and words slow, as if to be sure that she understood, but his voice reverberated throughout the small auditorium.

"Let's stop with this farce. I'll give you half an hour to gather your money if you need, to make one final bid. I will personally guarantee that no matter how high your final price is, I can beat it."

The woman looked at him calmly, then looked at the auctioneer.

"How can you prove that you will be able to beat my following bid? Despite my admittedly enormous wealth, I am not in the habit of overpaying for things, you see."

Otto stroked his chin for a second, before he sighed.

Continue with this auction? It would probably go on for many hours, looking at the woman's calm expression as if even this level of fortune was not too much to her.

Or reveal some of his true wealth?

Otto decided to pull out a few more stops.

What could he say? He lived dangerously.

He withdrew 100 B1 Coins from his account.

100 B1 Coins were equivalent to 100 million G4 coins.

He casually held them in his hand.

When the woman saw them, her pupils constricted violently for barely a split second before she regained her composure.

She calmly stepped back.

Even her wealth was only on the order of ~900,000 G4 coins.

Far from the level required to handle one hundred of those coins.

"I…concede."

A murmur swept through the audience.

Naturally, as part of the topmost echelon of Area 1, they were also aware of what kind of coins Otto had just pulled out.

Most were probably also aware of what the token represented.

They looked at him with new eyes.

Otto received glances of admiration and respect that was mixed with fear, and anxiety.

For in Area 1, one's wealth was equivalent to one's power.

And having a lot of power meant one could do a lot of things.

The auctioneer, meanwhile, only felt a little annoyed. The Golden Club would not be afraid of such wealth- their organization spanned more than just Area 1.

But if the two of them had continued to bid, the auction would have made a lot more money off him!

The woman hadn't even announced her final bid!

Still, rules were rules. If one person conceded, she would have to follow the final bid.

"Congratulations to the winner of the VIP Entrant Token."

Otto smirked. His expression revealed a hint of excitement.

A hidden floor, huh?