Starting from Zero

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"Boss! I\'m in the teleport station. Where are you? And what\'s going on anyway?" Wayne started to annoy my ears the moment we entered the game.

"Get to the auction site in the city center!"

"Ah okay." Wayne went on his way, a bit unwillingly.

I logged off near the center so it will take some time for Wayne to get here. I began to search for Hawk in the crowd while giving him a call.

"Hawk, I\'m here!"

"Finally!!"

"Sorry sorry. I slept over! Where are you all?"

"We\'re inside. Wait we\'ll go pick you up. We reserved a box with a nice view!"

This guy sure knows how to enjoy himself.

I cut the chat and saw Big Pot running towards me. "Hey Ziri!"

"Hello again."

"Let\'s go my friend!"

I looked around. Big Pot followed my head and looked around too. "Looking for something?"

"I have a friend on his way here, let\'s wait a bit."

Wayne came in several minutes. He must had a rough way from all that panting.

"Boss...huff...what on earth happened? Someone asked if my pants is on fire."

"Let\'s get in. You\'ll see." We then followed Big Pot.

We traveled through a stair to the second floor, then a long arch hallway. I can\'t see the end of it, it must lead towards inside the auction hall.

We walked to the door labeled "2179". All the doors are making me dizzy! Countless of them are stacked close to each other along the hallway, I\'d say each two doors are no farther than a meter away. The rooms behind these door must be small as hell.

But I was shocked when I saw the interior. The room is a large, standalone lobby. I poked my head in and out of the door to check if I\'m seeing things right.

Hawk called out: "Come here. The room is like those private houses, you know, virtual spaces."

Bleh. I forgot that.

The people in the room are all familiar faces. Apart from Hawk and Elfy, Yuri, Razor, Golden Coin are here, and...Violet! So including me, Wayne and Big Pot, that\'s nine people in total.

"You\'re too late. It\'s starting!"

There\'s a balcony-like structure overseeing the hall below us. The hall isn\'t really big from where we\'re looking, but again, it may have been adjusted to improve visual. The seats are mostly taken. The event hasn\'t officially started yet so people are chit-chatting among themselves which makes the area really noisy. But it\'s a lot better inside the box.

The personnels are carrying all sorts of stuff onto the stage. Must be the auction lots.

"Hey Hawk, do you know how many items they\'re selling today?"

"I don\'t. I\'d guess a lot, from the looks of it."

"When is our target?"

"Will be late." Elfy said while looking at the workers. "They always reveal good stuff at last to keep the audiences. I\'m sure a Nation Treasure stays far behind, if not the last one. Look, they\'re starting!"

A middle-aged gentleman walked to the center of the stage. According to Hawk, he\'s a real-life auctioneer who specifically joined the game today to hold the event.

"Thanks for your patience everyone, the auction shall start right now! Please look at our first item today."

He snapped his finger. A pair of pretty guiding girls carried a three-meter-long combat lance to the stage.

"Now pay good attention if you will! Lot one--the [Cloud Piercer]. This is a Knight Lance, Golden rank, Attack 203-271, with amplified damage bonus. A rare weapon at the current stage. We start off at 10 thousand crystals, increment no less than a thousand each time and must be the multiples of a thousand. Begin!"

(Equipment below Golden rank cannot enter auctions)

"11 thousand!"

"15 thousand!"

"20!"

"25 thousand!"

The people competed in chaos until the bid reached 80 thousand!

"It\'s just a common lance! They all lost their mind?"

"Hah. Of course you wouldn\'t know. Rare equipment is just like companions eggs. 9 out of 10 level 300 players are still wearing stuff below level 200. Not everyone is as lucky as you!" Violet answered while calculating something with her head lowered.

"Okay then. You guys watch, I need to catch some more sleep. Wake me up when the treasure comes up."

I called up the in-game sleep assistant program. This is the first time I ever use it.

When they called me it\'s already six in the evening.

"It\'s here?" I asked Big Pot who just shook me awake.

"Almost. They\'re bidding on the second item from last. Clear your head!"

Then Big Pot gave me a strange look. "Hawk told me this but I want to ask again..."

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you\'re a guy?"

"Shoryuken!!" I sent him into the ceiling. "That\'s my answer."

I humphed and walked to the balcony. The hall is quiet, only people from the boxes are bidding now. Looks like all the rich guys stayed behind.

"500 thousand!" The sudden voice from the nearby box made me jump. What the fuc are they trying to buy?

"510!"

Shit. They\'re adding by the tens!

"510 thousand crystals. Any more bids?" The auctioneer\'s throat must be sore now.

"510 thousand once! Anyone? 510 thousand twice! 510 thousand last. Deal!"

Finally. That leaves the last item.

He personally took a box from the stand, while a guiding lady took out the robe and displayed it to everyone.

"This is one part of the Nation Treasure outfit which will be used to activate the nation defense system in nation wars, [Robe of the Primordial Lord]. Defense 700, doubles the power of all Taoist skills, 50% element resistance, +25% MP regeneration. It comes with a passive, [Heaven Barrier]. It automatically triggers your defense and reduces incoming damage by 20%. Starting bid is 400 thousand crystals. Bidding rules are the same. Now begin!"

"500 thousand!" Hawk shouted first. This is our plan, we raise the price quickly at first to scare off the weaker competitors.

"700!"

A voice from a nearby window made us all jump into the air.

"Uh Hawk? How much fund do we have?" I started to think about new plans. There\'s someone even crazier!

"Your companions, and the money we collected, that\'s 1.6 million in total. This should be enough, I guess."

I gave them a grave look. "I don\'t do much business but I heard a lot about them from my parents. That man is obviously not considering about the price, he must be the agent those Japanese players sent here. Their goal is to break up the treasure set no matter what the cost is, and they will not care how much money the piece actually worth. They WILL raise the bid like there\'s no tomorrow! We need to do something!"

"But what can we do??" Everyone panicked.

Another voice came from another box across from us. "1.5 million!"

Thud! Violet crashed from her seat.

"This is madness!!" She crawled up and yelled.

"1.5 million first call!" The auctioneer is settling up!

I gave Hawk a knock on the back. He\'s already petrified!

"Uhhh 1.6 million!"

"1.6 MILLION SOMEONE CALLED 1.6 MILLION IS THERE ANYONE HIGHER?!"

Apparently the auctioneer isn\'t expecting such high prices either. He\'s waving the hammer like a cheerleader.

"2 million!" That\'s from the room near us.

Crash! Bunk!

Everyone fell or sat on the ground this time, and nobody in the whole auction center besides these three rooms are responding anymore.

Hawk helped Elfy stand up. "I, I need some air! My heart can\'t take it! I\'m not gonna risk my life like those bastards! Elfy, let\'s go."

Before he exit the door he turned back to me. "Do we do it?"

I just nod.

"Get prepared then!"

Looks like we\'ll have to do it the hard way.

"More bids anyone? 2 million, last call!"

The room across gave a price before the auctioneer can drop the hammer.

"2.3 million!"

The room shook. People fell again.

I\'m sweating hard. Who the fuc are those guys??

"2.5 million!" The adjacent room lit it up.

I see groups of people running towards the exits while holding their chests. The auction is giving out a lot of heart attacks tonight.

The opposite room didn\'t give up. "2.6 million!"

The price race is slowing down, which means the result will come any second now.

I contacted Hawk. "Hawk, speak to that Arch Necromancer guy, we need to know who bought the piece as fast as we can!"

"I know. I\'m right beside him. He\'s losing it too! The price must hit him too hard. We\'ll know the name the moment the auction ends!"

"2.7 million!" Came from the room nearby.

A third voice came up. "3 million!"

Someone else showed up! Now this gonna be fun.

I talked to Hawk again. "Stay put, we got new situation. The price will keep rising. Watch over the guy don\'t let him faint!"

"He already did!" Hawk sounds depressed. "I\'ll try to wake him. You watch over the auction!"

"Will do!"

"3.1 million!" The room nearby is raising the bid again.

Where did they come from?? 3.1 million crystals. That\'s like, 4.5 million solid US dollars!

"4 million!" It\'s the new voice.

I spit the tea I just drank. The auctioneer dropped his glasses and the guiding lady holding the robe almost tripped on her feet.

Big Pot pinched his own face. "For real? 4 million?? They\'re just, insane! Did someone from the central bank decide to play the game??"

All the participants in the hall are restless now.

"5 million!" The nearby window dropped another bomb. More people are now heading outside while carrying those who can\'t walk anymore.

"That\'s money I say! Real money! And this is just a freaking game!!"

"5.5 million!" It\'s the new voice. This is getting beyond out of hand. No one expected this to happen.

"6 million!" The voice nearby began to sound uneasy. They won\'t last long now.

"6.2 million!" The new comer is clenching teeth. Both sides are at their limit.

"6.5 million!" The first voice sounds broken.

The hall stayed silent for a while. The new voice never came again.

The auctioneer spaced out for a minute before he remembered his job.

"6.5 million, first time. Anyone? 6.5 million second time. 6.5 million last call! Alright, de--"

"7 million!!" A female voice appeared.

The auctioneer tried to stop his hammer which caused him to stumble off the stage.

But the room nearby didn\'t even hesitate.

"10 million!!"

"Argh!!" My legs gave out. No one is sitting on their seat anymore. 15 million dollars!! What kind of lunatic--

"Hawk! Get ready it\'s almost over! Is he awake?? Someone bid 10 million crystals, I don\'t think anyone will keep up!"

"He\'s here! The name is--[Smoker]! Do it!!"

"I GOT THIS!!"

I used my Star Gaze. The target has already moved to another city. He must be prepared.

Too bad your enemy is me!

"I found him. At the Far Land!"

"What do you mean far land?"

"It\'s a city! The city is called the Far Land. He got teleport scrolls. Come now!"

"We did!"

"Huh??"

"We were waiting at the teleport station. Now waiting for you!"

"Understood!"

I told the location to the rest of the people and teleported. I saw Hawk, Elfy, Golden Coin and Razor standing outside the station.

"There!" I pointed to one direction and moved, while keep checking my ring.

After some distance, we saw an Assassin running ahead, that\'s the target!

"What\'s the plan?" Hawk asked with a worried voice.

"You guys leave the city and find an open space, tell me the coordinates. I\'ll teleport that guy over there!"

"On it!"

Hawk led the others away, while I kept following. He\'s running fast. Someone must be waiting for him to deliver the goods.

So this man must be the traitor! I was hoping someone else can help preserve the treasure. But now it looks like the Japanese won the upper hand.

I know that\'s an enemy because an ordinary Chinese player doesn\'t need to run like this while trying to send the item to someone else.

Hawk pinged me soon. "Ziri! Here! The location!"

"Got it!"

I lunged at the Assassin and successfully grabbed his waist. I activated my teleport ring and appeared...inside a crowd?

I entered the wrong numbers in the chaos and teleported to another city!

The Assassin jumped and tried to get away. I reached for him, planning to teleport again.

I have good attributes but the Assassin is still a bit faster. More importantly his level is higher!

"Night Shade!" I know how to catch you!

Now I think about it, why am I always rampaging inside cities on a horse these days??

I lost target after several turns. Damn it.

I used my Star Gaze again. Wait, our coordinates are exactly the same?

I raised my head and saw him hanging on a rope above me.

He quickly dropped down when he realized it.

"You aren\'t getting away!" I took out my lance. "[Heart Piercer]!"

The tip exploded into several pieces while hurting some of the bystanders. But that\'s not my concern now.

Two of the pieces caught the Assassin. I pulled on the lance and dragged him down on the ground.

Night Shade charged and stomped at him. The attack only broke the stone floor, the Assassin dodged away with a side roll.

"Phantom Knights! Catch him!"

"Chaaaarge my honored steed!!" The knight leader is super excited for some reason.

The group of knights moved in unite but the Assassin jumped into a hotel nearby. That\'s not going to stop these violent mayhem makers though. They crouched on their horses and simply rode into the building!

Sigh. Guess I\'ll have to follow.

Hawk sent me a message. "What happened?"

"I reached the wrong place! Still after him!"

"Where? Do you need us?" Elfy sounds worried too.

"Not yet! I got enough helpers! Give me a moment!"

The Phantom Knights chased the Assassin to the second floor. Their horses can climb stairs! Again, I should worry about that later.

We didn\'t see anyone on the second floor.

"There!" One of the knight pointed to the rooftop across the street.

"Hee-Haw!" The knight leader controlled his horse and leaped over to the roof. And every member followed his lead!

I looked at Night Shade. "Well?"

"Piece of carrot."

Night Shade hopped across the broad street like it\'s nothing. The rooftop is not flat but all the war horses galloped after the Assassin without slowing down in one bit.

"Stop right there!!"

I used my crossbow on my right hand. I may not hit him but it will affect his speed.

We\'re getting closer. He realized that the terrain won\'t stop us so he just jumped back to the ground again.

I summoned Rosa and Phantom. "Phantom, control. Rosa, rope him up!"

Phantom floated ahead but quickly went back to me again. "Master, he has something that would resist me. I can\'t get in."

"Huh? Nevermind then. Just merge with me and give me some speed."

The Assassin is shifting through all kinds of small alleys and dense crowds which makes it really hard to catch him.

When he turned his head to check on us again, several tentacles flew towards him. He avoided them with a backflip.

Rosa kept following. A broken trail appeared on the stone floor and began to move, while causing the stone blocks to scatter everywhere. A big gap is now left behind where Rosa marched. We followed behind.

"Phantom Knights, lances ready!" The leader finally gave the order.

A series of lances completely blocked the entrance to an alleyway where the Assassin just planned to go in. He quickly turned to another direction. I summoned Dart and asked him to block his only exit.

Now I got you!

"GO!!"

Ten knights circled him up.

"Hand over the item and I\'ll let you go, son. Why are you helping the Japanese?"

He didn\'t answer. I can see he\'s trying to log off, but I hit him before and he can\'t do it in battle status.

I charged and grabbed him again. This time I successfully teleported us to Hawk\'s location.

Coin is already prepared. She spammed her [Steal] before the Assassin can figure out what\'s going on. And she\'s a pro! I thought we\'d have some trouble taking the loot but Coin lifted the target within 10 sec.

"Is this it?" Coin displayed the robe to us on her hand. "Looks nice!"

"That\'s it. Yours now." I told her. "It\'s from the same series as your boots. Don\'t lose it. And don\'t you dare sell it! If you can help us with our plans in Japan, I can try to collect the whole set for you."

"You meant it? Deal!"

She seems a bit worried though. She saw the auction. That thing\'s 15 million bucks!

"I don\'t really like them either. And since you gave me this...I\'m all in!"

Hawk went over to us. "Aha! That was too easy."

Coin: "It\'s just luck. I can\'t choose which item I take you know. Wait, you\'re not thinking that I can steal stuff on free will right? If I can I\'d definitely \'clean up\' Ziri first! His armor looks so good! Haha-- Uh, I was joking!"

While we\'re celebrating over the treasure, the Assassin began to cry.

"Help me please!!"

"..What the fuc?" I moved back. I don\'t want to bump into another Assassin who can steal my equipment.

"My boss will kill me for this!!"

Yup, I see tears. He\'s crying for real.

"Your boss? A Japanese man I guess?" Elfy is smart as ever.

"I\'m [Smoker] but you knew it. The money I used is from the boss, he exchanged those crystals with his own real money! And yes he\'s Japanese. When he saw the Chinese-only thing he asked me to buy the item for him. And you took it away! He will kill me for sure!"

"Hey chill. This is China, not Iraq. It\'s not like anyone can try to kill you when they want. Worst scenario, you get fired. I can give you a better job if that\'s the case."

"That\'s not all!!" He cried harder. "They sent my wife and my mother to Japan yesterday to prevent me from escaping with the money! The boss only said he wanted to thank me for my work so he can give my family a vacation. Now I know they are taking them as hostages!! Help me!! Waaaaah--!"

"Bastards." Elfy stomped the ground. "Ziri?"

"...Tell me your address and phone, and their names. I\'ll help you get them back."

"Really??" His face is totally ruined by all the crying.

"Yeah, I got this."

I told him to log off and keep the situation from his boss for now.

"Tell him that you\'re being tracked by Chinese players so you logged to avoid them. Just delay. I\'ll do the work, and I\'ll tell you when I saved them."

I quickly logged off and contacted my father. This is human lives we\'re talking about, I don\'t want to cause real accidents.

Father came up with an idea soon when he heard the story. Dragon Fate doesn\'t have much influence in Japan but saving a pair of common civilians should be no problem. He told me to leave the matter to him and concentrate on the infiltration plan.

He also gave me a mouthful for wasting too much asset on the Iron Unit last time before I hang up. I just gave him silly laughs. I already brought them, he can\'t take them back now.

Everyone has left when I logged back again. They really need some sleep, that\'s about 30 hours without proper rest.

The only people in the online list are...Wayne and Coin. I called Wayne to level together but he said he need to hang out with Coin.

Heh, traitor.

It\'s myself then. I asked around the Far Land city and was told that the city is built between the sea line and a desert. This is the east most part of the Chinese game region, and that\'s how it\'s named.

The sea huh? I wonder if I can swim in there.

Forget it. I decided to go to the desert first. Unknown means dangerous. The sea won\'t run away. I\'ll check it out later.

The immediate outside of the city is covered in grass. I can see the desert from here, but there\'s still a distance.

When I reached the desert I saw a lot of camels, and groups and active players.

A low leveled Warrior is being chased by a wild camel. I may as well ask him for information.

I locked the camel up with a fire ring and killed it with several lightning skills. It\'s not a strong monster, only level 300 or so.

"You alright?" I helped the Warrior up from the sand.

"I\'m fine-- Woah!" He froze up upon seeing my face. And I know the reason. Sigh.

"Hey, hey! Anyone there?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes to call his soul back.

"Ah! Sorry!"

"Oh it\'s fine. I\'m male by the way. Keep staring if you want. Can you tell me what are all these players doing?"

"They\'re trying to catch camels." His sight isn\'t moving away from my face, which means he didn\'t believe me.

"What for?"

"To ride them of course." He explained. "They act as mounts. They\'re weaker than horses buy they move faster in the desert. Ordinary horses will sink into the sands."

"I see, thanks."

I began to march into the desert. The Warrior yelled from behind to ask if I want to team up. Well of course not. I kinda know what he wanted.

I pretended that I didn\'t hear him, summoned Night Shade and ran as fast as we can.