---
-Wow, wtf lolololololol.
-This is insane lololololololol.
-Is this for real??? lololol.
-This is nuts, totally insane lolololololol.
-Who was it that said the first item was trash?
-Ban them, ban them!
-Get rid of them!
-Wow! It's the Symbiotic Necklace!
-This is epic, seriously lololololololol.
-So the items coming up next are going to be even better?
To think the very first auction item is the Symbiotic Necklace.
The chat exploded and the people went wild.
On top of that, thanks to the highlight-level fun right from the start, the number of real-time viewers also began to skyrocket at an incredible pace.
Bae Hyunwoo stroked his chin as he watched the rising viewer count and let out a short laugh.
“The impact is seriously no joke.”
“That’s the item that was Hot Pick #1, right?”
“Still, even so. That’s Warlord for you. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind game.”
As expected of Warlord, known as the greatest game in gaming history, the sheer magnetism it had was unlike any other game.
Levan, too, felt his palms get clammy as he watched the viewer count soar.
‘Fifty thousand viewers, are you kidding me…!’
A whopping fifty thousand.
It was way too many for a streamer who’d only just started on Wartube.
Of course, in Warlord, there were plenty of monster Wartubers who drew even more viewers.
But someone who pulled off numbers like this in such a short time? You could count them on one hand.
Levan spoke.
“Alright, then let’s begin the auction. Oh, by the way, while the auction is ongoing, I won’t be accepting any donations except for bids. No matter your intentions, if you donate anything other than a bid, you’ll get banned. Now, the starting bid for the Symbiotic Necklace is…”
1 billion gold.
An item worth the equivalent of 100 million won in cash.
After a brief consideration, Levan announced the starting price.
“Nine hundred million gold.”
---
-Wow! lolololololol.
-That’s cheap! lololololol.
-Selling it for 900 million when it went for a billion? What a steal!
-This is “that world” level, seriously lololol.
-Damn, if only I hadn’t bought chicken yesterday, I could’ve bought it.
-You too? Me too!
-I’ll send you the price of the chicken right now, so buy it and prove it.
-No thanks~
Levan set the starting price at 900 million gold.
He considered just going all-out and starting at 1 billion, but lowering it by 100 million was his way of showing consideration.
‘It’s going to pass 1 billion anyway.’
A meaningless gesture.
A half-hearted pretense.
But no one complained.
This was an auction, a kind of show.
“Anyway, the starting bid is 900 million gold, and the minimum bid increment is 10 million gold. And since the amount is so large, the minimum bid donation is 10,000 won. If I made it as low as 1,000 won, too many people would just play around. Alright, let’s get the auction started!”
---
-Wow, you have to pay 10,000 won just to bid lolololololol.
-That’s insane lololol.
-Now this is a real aristocrat’s auction.
-Ah, so this is what ‘the divine realm’ looks like.
-Wow, seeing these numbers makes my wallet hurt, seriously.
-lolololol, this is so fun.
-Who’s going to win it?
-One thing’s for sure, it won’t be you.
-If only I hadn’t bought chicken yesterday––
The auction began.
Just as promised, the first item was Amthoslyn’s Symbiotic Necklace.
As soon as the Symbiotic Necklace was chosen as the auction item, the manager adjusted the system window, displaying the necklace’s photo and current bid on the stream.
It was then.
---
-‘LightbulbMan’ has donated 10,000 won!
[910,000,000.]
-‘WithMeWithMe’ has donated 10,000 won!
[10 million.]
-‘BigActor’ has donated 10,000 won!
[910,000,000 won.]
---
Three donations hit in a row as soon as the auction started.
All three wrote bids for 10 million.
Seeing that, Levan couldn’t help but curl his lips in amusement.
‘Already 30,000 won from duplicate bids!’
It was just the first bid, but three people had already placed overlapping bids.
With the three bidders, the displayed bid on the broadcast was adjusted to 910 million gold, and their usernames appeared together.
---
-Wow, three people right at the start?
-And even duplicate bids lololol.
-Easiest money ever, for real.
-So jealous… Why can’t I do stuff like that…
The chat window exploded again.
Levan’s cheeks twitched from trying not to smile; if this was his reaction, imagine the viewers'.
But the duplicate bids didn’t stop there.
---
-‘NeruNeruMe’ has donated 10,000 won!
[910,000,000.]
-‘WhereDoIPlugThisIn’ has donated 10,000 won!
[910,000,000.]
-‘KimChulsooChulsoo’ has donated 10,000 won!
[920,000,000.]
---
Duplicate bids continued to pour in.
But when the sixth bidder raised it by another 10 million, the names of the previous five with duplicate bids disappeared from the screen, leaving only ‘KimChulsooChulsoo’ and the new bid of 920 million.
Seeing the new bid, Levan came to his senses and resumed the commentary.
“Ah, five people bid 10 million each, but in the meantime, the bid’s risen by another 10 million. Anyone else...?”
Ding!
---
-‘WithMeWithMe’ has donated 10,000 won!
[930,000,000.]
-‘BigActor’ has donated 10,000 won!
[930,000,000.]
-‘NeruNeruMe’ has donated 10,000 won!
[930,000,000.]
---
Levan hadn’t even finished his sentence.
Bidders who’d put down 10 million each started aggressively bidding so they wouldn’t lose the Symbiotic Necklace.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
The alert kept going off with no break.
Every single one was a donation message.
The bid graph shot straight up, and the manager kept updating the numbers.
---
-Wow, this is insane.
-How much money do these people have?
-Seriously, these are the real whales.
-My hands are big too… Mom, why’d you only give me big hands and nothing else.
-My hands are huge, too lol, I can palm a basketball.
-I really am the only poor one here, huh.
-The so-called economic recession is total BS.
-They’ve already blown past the normal market price in an instant lololol.
---
Thankfully, no one was trolling with donations.
If the bids were smaller, some people might try to inflate the price just for fun, but with the amount on the line, no one dared mess around.
So all they could do was watch this war of gods in a daze, admiring the spectacle.
For the subscribers, that alone made for the best show.
‘Already at 1.04 billion.’
The bid had hit 1.04 billion gold.
But a few seconds later, even that was left behind.
In the blink of an eye, it rose by another 20 million, making the necklace worth 1.06 billion.
‘Damn! I’m getting high just watching this!’
Would this price even be possible if he’d just listed it at the online auction house?
Levan would’ve answered, definitely not.
‘Because nobody would be watching.’
Some people might really need the Symbiotic Necklace.
But some were using the auction as an excuse to show off their wealth or elevate their group’s prestige.
The desire to show off is something everyone has, whether in a game or in real life.
Levan couldn’t hide his smile as the bid kept rising.
It was then.
---
-‘KimChulsooChulsoo’ has donated 10,000 won!
[1.08 billion.]
-‘NaraRiroRi’ has donated 10,000 won!
[1.1 billion.]
---
-Wow!
-They finally broke through 1.1 billion!
-We’re in the 11th floor! Everyone, fasten your belts!
-Let’s go! Let’s go!
-Wow, 1.1 billion… The only 11 in my life was on Pepero Day…
-I’ve never even gotten Pepero!
A user named ‘NaraRiroRi’ suddenly upped the bid by 30 million to make it 1.1 billion.
As soon as the bid hit 1.1 billion, the fierce competition abruptly stopped.
‘What’s going on?’
With the bidding war at a standstill, Levan swallowed dryly and watched the situation closely.
---
-lolololol, he’s nervous now.
-What are you doing getting nervous?
-Get it together! What are you doing!
-lol, it’s understandable. That 1.1 billion is going straight to him.
---
The chat scrolled at lightning speed.
Seeing the chat, Levan finally snapped out of it.
“Ahem, sorry. Honestly, I was shocked, too. I kind of blanked out for a second.”
---
-True, true, I’d have blanked out too.
-But what’s the point of getting the money?
-If it’s not too much to ask, buy me an ice cream.
-(Insert meme asking for ice cream)
-I want ‘Mom’s an Alien.’
-Hey! The rich kid ice cream is Häagen-Dazs!
-That’s right! That stuff is crazy expensive!
---
Though he was flustered by the 1.1 billion number, Levan quickly recovered thanks to the viewers’ chats.
He immediately picked up the commentary.
“Is 1.1 billion the final bid? If this is the final bidder, I’ll sell it to them, but if it’s a fake bid and they don’t buy it, they’ll get a permanent ban. So…”
---
-‘WithMeWithMe’ has donated 10,000 won!
[1.11 billion. Don’t talk nonsense, the bidding isn’t over.]
-‘KimChulsooChulsoo’ has donated 10,000 won!
[1.11 billion. Who said it was the final bid?]
---
As the donation alerts quieted, Levan checked with everyone whether 1.1 billion was really the final bid.
But the bidders who’d paused quickly started increasing their bids again.
‘Thank goodness.’
The bidding war reignited.
Levan breathed a sigh of relief as the price soared.
‘If it’d stopped here, I would’ve been disappointed.’
1.1 billion was already a massive amount.
It was 100 million gold above the market price.
But not getting as much as he could when it was possible? That was a different story.
That’s why he’d gotten nervous.
Not long after, the price for the Symbiotic Necklace jumped all the way to 1.78 billion.
The donation alerts finally fell silent again.
But the chat was still going wild.
---
-Wow, damn, since when is 1.78 billion someone’s dog’s name?
-Isn’t that 178 million won in real money?
-Dude, why are you buying a necklace with that money? You know how many hot pork soup bowls you could get with that?
-With nearly 200 million, you could open a pork soup restaurant chain.
-Forget the chain, you could probably hire master chef Park Jeomnye, too.
---
Levan saw the donation alerts go quiet for about three seconds, watched a bit longer, then continued his commentary.
“1.78 billion. No one else? If not, I’ll assume KimChulsooChulsoo wins. I’ll start counting down from ten. Ten!”
With no new bidders, Levan started the final countdown.
“Nine!”
He counted slowly.
Just in case someone else decided to jump in.
“Eight!”
Levan nervously kept counting.
This wasn’t a ten seconds, but a slow ten count.
But nobody complained about the slow pace.
If anything, everyone was so tense they were sweating.
All eyes were glued to Levan’s countdown.
The chat was flooded with people urging others to hurry and place bids.
“Three!”
The countdown entered the final three seconds.
And finally!
“Bang, bang, bang! Since there are no more higher bids, the Symbiotic Necklace will be sold to KimChulsooChulsoo! KimChulsooChulsoo, I’ll be contacting you right now, so please answer immediately!”
The winning bidder was decided.
As the final winner was set, people cheered wildly, and the manager reached out to KimChulsooChulsoo, the final bidder.
He responded quickly.
It turned out KimChulsooChulsoo was right in front of the Spire, the meeting spot, so Levan invited him up for some extra broadcast content.
But right at that moment—
BOOM!! BOOMBOOMBOOM!!
A massive explosion went off in the sky, filling the surroundings with blinding white flames.
---
(Serial) The Mage Doesn’t Hide His Power
Chapter 83: 1.78 Billion Gold
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