[Time until Auction: 20 Minutes.]
I sat in the VIP suite of the Gilded Rose.
It smelled like lavender and corruption.
I wasn't watching the door. I was staring at the holographic interface burning in my retina.
[The Fusion Furnace]
It was a swirling vortex of grey gears and screaming faces.
Most people unlock this feature at Level 50. It requires a Class Advancement quest involving killing a Lich.
I had it at Level 15.
Why?
Because I stole the [Developer Access Key] from a dying GM in the previous timeline.
I didn't just break the rules. I was the glitch.
"System," I muttered, popping a grape into my mouth. "Open the hood."
[Fusion Furnace: Active.]
[Slot A: Skill 'Fireball' (E-Rank - Magic)]
[Slot B: Skill 'Heavy Slash' (C-Rank - Physical)]
Incompatible.
Magic requires Intelligence. Slash requires Strength.
Trying to use both usually results in "Mana Backlash" (aka: your brain melting out of your ears).
"Fuse them," I commanded.
[Warning: Success Rate 10%.]
[Failure Result: Skill Deletion.]
I laughed.
"I have [100% Drop Rate]. That applies to Luck rolls too, you stupid calculator."
[Overriding...]
[Fusion Initiated.]
CRACK.
My body seized.
It felt like someone was knitting my muscles together with hot wire.
My right arm (Sword) and my mana circuits (Magic) were being forcibly welded.
I gritted my teeth. I didn't scream.
Screaming is for victims.
[Fusion Complete.]
[New Skill Acquired:
[Description: Coats your weapon in condensed, volatile mana. On impact, the mana detonates, dealing 200% Physical Damage + 100% Fire Damage.]
[Cost: High.]
I looked at my hand.
I summoned the Void Fang Dagger.
Whoosh.
The blade didn't just glow. It ignited.
Purple fire wreathed the black metal. It wasn't hot; it was cold, entropy-fire.
"Beautiful," I whispered.
I had a magic nuke attached to a knife.
Knock. Knock.
The door opened. Mr. Vix walked in. He looked pale. He was wiping sweat from his green forehead with a silk handkerchief.
"My Lord," Vix stammered. "They... they are here."
"Who?"
"Everyone."
Vix gestured to the one-way glass overlooking the auction floor.
I stood up and looked down.
The main hall was packed.
But the front row? The "Whale" seats?
[Target: Guild Master Iron-Jaw]
[Leader of 'Iron Blood'. Tank Class. Net Worth: 5 Billion.]
[Target: Lady Vesper]
[Leader of 'Nightshade'. Assassin Class. Net Worth: Unknown.]
And there, sitting in the center, looking like he owned the place.
[Target: Lord Azure]
[Father of Julian. Leader of 'Azure Dragon'. The Richest Man in Oaklan.]
He was angry. I could see the vein throbbing in his forehead.
His son, Julian; still wearing borrowed pants was whispering in his ear, pointing at the stage.
"They want blood," Vix said nervously. "Lord Azure threatened to burn the building down if we didn't hand over the 'thief'."
"Let them wait," I said. "Did they bring the Crystals?"
"Yes. They liquidated their vaults. The scarcity panic you caused... it's working. Mana Crystal prices have tripled in the last hour."
"Good."
I checked my inventory.
I had the Void Core.
I also had a pile of trash loot I picked up from the Spider's minions.
"Start the show, Vix. And remember..."
I grabbed Vix's collar. I pulled him down to my level.
"If you sell for less than a million, I feed you to the ring."
Vix gulped. "U-Understood."
——————————————————————————————————————————
[The Auction Floor]
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Scum and Villainy!"
Vix stood on the stage, the spotlight hitting his sweaty bald head.
"Tonight, we have a surprise lot! An item that defines the future of humanity!"
The crowd murmured.
"But first! An appetizer!"
Vix unveiled a tray.
On it lay the [Void Spider's Venom Sacs].
"Potent neurotoxin! Apply to weapons for paralysis! Bidding starts at 500 Gold!"
"One thousand!" shouted a mercenary.
"Two thousand!" yelled a merchant.
I watched from the balcony, sipping wine.
Peanuts, I thought. Pocket change.
I looked at the Azure Dragon table. Lord Azure didn't move. He was saving his money.
Smart. But not smart enough.
The auction went on. I sold the armor. I sold the skill books.
My gold count ticked up.
[Wallet: 150,000 Gold.]
Enough to buy a mansion. But I didn't want a mansion. I wanted an empire.
"And now!" Vix's voice reached a fever pitch. "The Main Event!"
The lights dimmed.
A magical barrier raised around the stage.
Vix pulled the cloth off the pedestal.
The Void Core sat there.
It pulsed. Thump. Thump.
Purple light washed over the audience. The mana density was so high, people in the front row started coughing.
"The Heart of a Void Boss!" Vix screamed. "Contains pure, concentrated Evolution Energy! And..."
He held up the fake map.
"The location of the First Hidden Dungeon!"
Pandemonium.
Chairs flipped over. People stood up.
"It's real!"
"I can feel the mana!"
Lord Azure stood up.
"Fifty thousand Mana Crystals!" he roared.
The room went silent.
Fifty thousand. That was the entire monthly output of a mine.
"Sixty thousand!" Lady Vesper countered, her voice like silk and poison.
"Seventy!" Iron-Jaw bellowed.
"One hundred thousand!" Azure slammed his fist on the table. "I am the Azure Dragon! Do not test me!"
I smiled.
Dance, puppets. Dance.
Julian was tugging on his father's sleeve. "Father! That's too much! We need those crystals for the Guild Hall upgrade!"
"Shut up, boy!" Azure backhanded his son. "If we get the First Clear on a Dungeon, we own the government! This is an investment!"
[Bid: 150,000 Crystals.]
[Bid: 200,000 Crystals.]
They were draining their liquidity. They were emptying their war chests.
They thought they were buying power.
They were buying a paperweight.
The Void Core was useful, sure. It could power a city block.
But without the [Voidwalker] class (which only I could unlock), it was just a fancy battery.
And the Map?
It led to a dungeon filled with Ghosts. Physical attacks were useless there.
Iron-Jaw (Tank) and Azure (Swordsman) would walk in there and get slaughtered.
I was selling them their own graves.
"Three hundred thousand!" Lord Azure screamed. His face was purple. "Final offer!"
Silence.
No one could top that.
"Going once!" Vix yelled. "Going twice!"
BAM.
"Sold to the Azure Dragon Guild!"
The room exploded in applause. Lord Azure raised his hands in victory, looking smug.
I checked my balance.
[Transaction Complete.]
[Fee deducted (10%).]
[Received: 270,000 Mana Crystals.]
[Wealth Ranking Updated.]
[You are now the richest individual in the Kingdom.]
[Dopamine Spike: Economic Victory.]
I stood up.
"Pleasure doing business," I said to the empty room.
I walked to the private elevator.
I had the crystals. Now I needed to leave before they realized the map was written in Ancient Draconic (which none of them could read).
Ding.
The elevator opened at the ground floor... rear exit.
I stepped out into the alleyway.
Cool night air. The smell of garbage and rain.
I pulled up my hood.
"Going somewhere?"
I stopped.
I didn't turn around.
"System," I thought. "Scan."
[Alert: Hostiles Detected.]
[Count: 20.]
[Grade: Elite.]
Shadows detached themselves from the walls.
Assassins.
And in front of me blocking the alley exit?
Lady Vesper. The Guild Master of Nightshade.
She wore tight leather armor that left little to the imagination and held two green daggers.
"You sell to Azure," Vesper purred, walking closer. "But you didn't give us a chance to negotiate privately."
She licked her lips.
"We know who you are, Cain Cross. The Porter."
"Julian talks too much," I sighed.
"Hand over the money," Vesper said, her eyes narrowing. "And the Ring. And maybe I'll only cut off one hand."
I looked at the 20 assassins surrounding me.
I looked at Vesper. Level 40. A real threat.
But I checked my inventory.
I looked at the 270,000 Mana Crystals.
Mana Crystals weren't just currency.
They were Fuel.
"You made a mistake, Vesper," I said softly.
"Oh? And what's that?"
I raised my right hand. The [Fusion Furnace] hummed in my soul.
I grabbed a handful of crystals from my inventory about 1,000 of them.
I crushed them.
Pure mana exploded into the air.
"You assume I need to save my ammo."
I activated my new skill.
[Skill: Infernal Guillotine.]
But I didn't cast it on my dagger.
I cast it on the Mana Cloud.
"I am the Economy," I whispered.
"And the market just crashed."
I snapped my fingers.
BOOM.
The alleyway turned into a blast furnace.
Purple fire, fueled by 1,000 crystals worth of mana, expanded instantly.
It wasn't a spell. It was a financial statement.
The assassins didn't even have time to stealth. They were incinerated.
Vesper screamed, diving backward, her aura flaring to protect her.
The explosion blew the windows out of the Auction House. It shook the city block.
I walked through the flames.
My Void Ring absorbed the excess fire, feeding on the destruction.
[Ring Satiated.]
[Growth: 10%.]
I stepped over a charred corpse.
I looked at Vesper. She was coughing, burned, terrified.
"Tell the others," I said, my voice distorted by the heat.
"The tutorial is over."
I turned and walked into the smoke.
——————————————————————————————————————————
As I disappeared into the night, a System Message flashed in my vision.
It wasn't a Level Up.
It was a Global Announcement.
[World Event: The First Wave.]
[The 'Monster Horde' has spawned early.]
[Target Location: Oaklan Capital.]
[Time until Impact: 5 Minutes.]
I paused.
5 minutes?
It was supposed to be 5 days.
"Butterfly effect," I muttered. "I killed the Hero, so the difficulty scaled up."
I looked at the city lights.
Millions of people.
And the only one who could stop it... was the guy who just blew up an alleyway for fun.
I grinned.
"More loot for me."