A regrettable incident occurred during the auction.
Fortunately, it was resolved very well with the appearance of Serinu, who was in charge of the banquet.
I gladly accepted his words that he would take responsibility and compensate me.
If you think about it, it was a rigged game by the Merchant Guild, but I didn’t really suffer any damage, so I just decided to receive a small compensation.
And what I requested as compensation was.
“… Do you really have to take everything?”
Serinu asked with a trembling voice, but it was impossible.
I demanded all the items scheduled to be auctioned.
This included two priests and an elf.
Of course, it was natural to demand all the items that Arch Lich and Azmo had bid on previously.
“That’s right.”
I answered his question indifferently.
I deliberately lowered my voice to make myself look a bit more dignified.
“……”
My answer made Serinu’s expression stiffen in real-time.
However, wasn’t the Merchant Guild the one who acted wrongly from the beginning?
I had the right to demand this much as compensation for the damage.
“I intend to maintain a good relationship with the Merchant Guild going forward.”
I replied curtly, hiding my emotions as much as possible.
Looking around the banquet hall, it seemed like there was a lot for the Merchant Guild to provide in the future.
I am only demanding this much because I do not want to antagonize the Merchant Guild, which lays golden eggs.
And with that sentiment, I expressed my desire to maintain a good relationship in the future.
If you think about it, this much is not a significant expense for the Merchant Guild, is it?
Even I myself spend 5000 each on gacha pulls that only yield 1-star monsters.
Moreover, the Underworld Merchant Guild is not an individual but a collective. And a huge collective at that.
In that case, my demands are nothing, aren’t they?
Serinu hesitated for a moment and then eventually agreed to my demand.
“…Understood. I will do as you say.”
“I would like the items in my inventory, please.”
Since I was taking them, I even requested an inventory artifact.
“……”
Since there was no particular response, I guess he agreed?
Although it felt like he grudgingly agreed, it was none of my business.
Thanks to that, we were able to conclude the transaction with smiles.
Ah, was Serinu’s expression stiff?
It should be fine since the situation was resolved favorably.
Serinu instructed one of his subordinates to bring the items and then turned his head towards me.
“By the way, since this is also destiny, I will introduce myself formally. I am Serinu, a member of the Merchant Guild’s steering committee.”
The other party seemed to have resigned himself to something and extended his hand again.
Since he introduced himself, I had no choice but to introduce myself as well.
However, a problem arose here.
‘What should I call myself?’
If this were an ordinary meeting between person and person, it wouldn’t have mattered.
But Serinu was a monster.
Even though he had a human-like appearance and wore a suit, his sharp teeth protruding from his mouth and his blackened hands were not something that could be mistaken for a human.
‘Introducing myself by my real name here seems dangerous…’
The only monster who knew my real name was Celia, but she was my subordinate, so it didn’t matter.
But this was different.
My name, Kanghyeon Lee, was a name that looked out of place on the El Dorado Continent to anyone.
With the Merchant Guild’s capabilities, they might infer information just from this name.
Hmm.
I thought for a moment and then recalled something.
When the game was first installed on my smartphone, and when I named the dungeon, the game arbitrarily changed the name.
‘Evil God’s Nest.’
The name itself is grand.
However, I was confident that no one would believe it at face value.
They would probably take it as a prank.
“Others call me the Evil God.”
It wasn’t a lie.
The game called my dungeon the Evil God’s Nest.
“……”
Serinu fell silent for a moment after hearing my answer.
His hand, which was shaking mine, even trembled slightly.
‘What is it?’
Did he lose his speech due to the absurdity of my answer?
However, Serinu quickly regained his composure.
“Haha… Is that so.”
Seeing Serinu’s reaction, I was able to feel relieved.
It seemed like he was hiding my identity and also took my answer as the Evil God as a joke.
‘As expected, it’s best to be brazen.’
Just as I thought that, a window appeared before my eyes.
– You have successfully completed the auction.
‘Is it because I don’t have my smartphone?’
My smartphone was currently at my home on Earth, not on the El Dorado Continent.
Perhaps that’s why the alarm that would normally ring on my smartphone appeared before my eyes.
– As a reward, you can choose two items from those bid on in the auction.
– You can take the selected items to Earth.
Oh!
My eyes widened at the unexpected reward.
* * *
Serinu’s expression was not good at the moment.
‘To think there’s someone who introduces himself as the Evil God…’
The black mask in front of him introduced himself as the Evil God.
He had seen people who claimed to be servants of the Evil God before, but this was the first time he had seen someone introduce himself as the Evil God.
Evil God.
A god who is said to have existed in the very distant past.
However, it was a story from so long ago that there were virtually no recorded traditions of it.
This was a different situation from the Goddess worshipped by the White Church.
There were occasional worshippers of the Evil God, but this was the first time he had encountered someone who introduced himself as the Evil God.
‘This is absurd.’
It would make more sense to consider him a pretender of the Evil God.
Perhaps he was playing a prank.
‘Surely he wouldn’t dare to prank the Merchant Guild.’
Serinu wanted to scold him if he could.
However, the other party’s aura was too strong.
There was nothing he could do but nod his head.
“Haha… Is that so.”
It was all he could do to play along with the other party’s words.
‘Sigh….’
Setting aside the other party’s words, there were several troublesome matters at hand.
First of all, the items that were up for auction had fallen into the hands of this black mask.
And for free!
Although it couldn’t be helped since it was Serinu’s own doing, the loss was greater than expected.
In fact, the auction items were not a huge loss for the Merchant Guild, but the interruption of the auction was significant.
Since it was practically halted, the expressions of those who participated in the auction were not good.
The reputation of the banquet hosted by the Merchant Guild would likely suffer.
‘I need to provide appropriate compensation.’
Serinu immediately ordered his subordinates to compensate the others.
This was another additional loss for the Merchant Guild.
However, without even this compensation, the Merchant Guild’s reputation would fall further, and in the long run, the losses would be even greater.
As Serinu ordered the compensation, the black mask in front of him nudged the Arch Lich beside him.
Then the Arch Lich’s mouth opened.
“Clank.”
(We want compensation too.)
The Arch Lich demanded compensation for the others.
“…?”
Serinu felt his insides burning, but he didn’t outwardly show it.
“…Understood.”
He just accepted it.
To be so uninhibited when dealing with the Merchant Guild…
He didn’t know if they were fearless or confident in their power, but he decided to let it slide for now.
Serinu then asked cautiously.
“By the way, what is the relationship between you two?”
It was the Arch Lich who answered that question.
“Clank-!”
The answer he received was that they were servants who served the Great One.
“Clank-clank-clank-clank!”
And the Arch Lich said that they should be honored to receive him, as he was great and they couldn’t meet him often.
Serinu felt his head spinning.
He was glad to know that they didn’t live in the same dungeon, at least.
‘Since they don’t live in the same dungeon, the dungeon must be different. I need to investigate this black mask separately.’
As he had thought, the Arch Lich was indeed the owner of the dungeon. It would be more accurate to consider him part of the forces of that black mask.
‘I need to find out which other dungeons are included in his forces besides the Arch Lich.’
There was a lot to do.
Serinu gestured to his subordinate and gave an order.
Then, he immediately smiled and looked at the black mask.
“I will explain briefly. First, the items will be delivered to the dungeon as soon as the banquet ends.”
However, the black mask raised his hand and stopped Serinu’s words.
“No, the Arch Lich here will take them immediately. Please prepare them.”
By then, even an Incubus had approached the Arch Lich.
“……”
He was slightly taken aback by the request for immediate preparation, but in a way, it was an opportunity.
It might be more comfortable to proceed with the banquet after sending them away.
“Haha… Is that so. In that case, the slaves will be transported by the Merchant Guild’s carriage. We will lend you a carriage specifically. The items will also be placed in your inventory separately.”
Since it had come to this, Serinu hurried his subordinates to get them out quickly.
Fortunately, the Arch Lich’s dungeon was located in the mountain range that bordered the Demonic Realm.
Since the distance was close, transporting the slaves was not a big problem.
“Then, I will briefly explain the items.”
Serinu began to explain the items that were supposed to be auctioned.
“First, this item is armor made from salamander skin.”
It was an armor made of red leather.
“Although it looks crude, it has a fire attribute. It has some resistance to fire attacks and is also strong against the cold, which are its main characteristics.”
“This sword is made from the fangs of a young Wyvern. Its hardness is incomparable to anything else.”
Among Serinu’s explanations, there were items that seemed useful.
“This is an air freshener made from the venom sac of a Basilisk. When you open the lid of the air freshener, it grants a pleasant death.”
Conversely, there were also items that made you wonder why they existed.
“This is a heated mat that operates on mana. If you install it in your dungeon, you can roast intruders.”
Among them were traps that could be installed in dungeons.
As descriptions of various items passed by, the introduction of the last item remained.
The item was a cloak, black and white in color, embroidered with an unknown pattern.
An unusual power was felt from the cloak.
However, it was of a different nature than mana or Holy Power.
“This is the Reaper’s Cloak. This cloak is not mere armor. It is more accurate to consider it a living creature. If you kill an opponent while wearing this cloak, the cloak will automatically devour the opponent’s corpse. Of course, it can also regurgitate the corpse intact.”
It was an item with only fancy words.
In reality, it had no characteristics as armor, and it merely stored the corpses of those killed.
Well, it could be a good item if your purpose was to research necromancy and needed corpses, or if you aimed to consume fresh corpses.
But if that was truly the purpose, you could just get the corpses yourself.
This cloak was merely a decorative item for the dungeon, with no value beyond that.
Of course, Serinu was not foolish enough to reveal that.
After all, there would be much more useful equipment and items besides this, so it wouldn’t be a complete loss for the other party.
However, this was Serinu’s misunderstanding.
‘This is a jackpot!’
Since his face was covered by the black mask, Serinu did not know what expression he was making.
* * *
The auction was completely over.
My purpose for coming to the El Dorado Continent was the auction, so my work here was done.
I told the Arch Lich to move the slaves and items properly and returned to Earth.
As the auction ended and the next banquet event began, I naturally returned to Earth.
– As a reward, you can choose two items from those bid on in the auction.
– You can take the selected items to Earth.
And now it was time to choose the reward.
I already had an item in mind, so I was able to decide quickly.
‘Reaper’s Cloak.’
– You have chosen the Reaper’s Cloak as your reward.
At the same time, the cloak appeared on my smartphone.
A cloak that could store corpses when worn while killing an opponent.
‘I’ll have Maru wear this.’
Maru is currently a 5-star monster.
If I have him wear this cloak and go for auto-hunting, it would be like receiving sacrifices on a silver platter.
‘And next…’
It was the Elf, no doubt about it.
The maximum level of monster I could transfer from my dungeon to Earth was 1-star.
Moreover, the Elf obtained from this auction was not affiliated with my dungeon in the first place.
It seemed like this was the only way to bring such an Elf to Earth.
So, I chose the Elf as a reward without hesitation.
However, since the Elf was a living being, I was worried if I could choose it as a reward.
– You have chosen the Elf ‘Ciel’ as your reward.
Fortunately, I was able to choose it as a reward.
‘Her name is Ciel?’
As soon as I chose the Elf, a woman in chains appeared in the room.
Pointed ears and incredible beauty.
It was indeed the Elf I saw at the auction.
At the same time, a change occurred.
[Monster Summon] – (3/5)
– Maru (★★★★★)
– Ciel (★★★★)
– Skeleton Soldier (★)
Siel’s name was added to the monster summon window, along with Maru and Coco.
She was an Elf of 4-star rank.
“This is it!”
Even if that Elf was affiliated with my dungeon, I couldn’t have brought her to Earth.
I immediately got up to approach the Elf named Ciel.
However, new alarms appeared one after another.
– Unique Monster ‘Half Goblin’ has been born.
“Half Goblin?”
It was the first time I had seen this type of alarm.
