…
"Ladies and gentlemen… City 8's monthly special individuals auction …Has officially begun!" The host's voice echoed throughout the room in an exaggerated fashion as the spotlights turned to face him. The spotlights themselves were rustic and clockwork, like the rest of the brazen, antique—archaic yet opulent—room.
Seoyeon himself reached out his hand, extending them and laying them on the desk in front of him, a desk made of smooth wood resembling mahogany, with intricate designs and ornate with gold patterns.
He scoffed, "All of this pleasantry for such a shitty occasion." As Khairix who sat beside him suppressed his laughter, letting out a smile instead.
"Firstly, everyone! May I have your attention, we have the first special individual up for sale! A man with an incredible sense of swordsmanship, Veiz Khaugras!" Then, a shackled man traipsed onto the wooden floorboards of the stage—every step creating a loud thud—as the man's languid face caught the attention of the host.
"Look lively now!" The host yelled out, as Veiz's eyes darted around the room in desperation.
The faint smell of presumptuous money lingered through the air as the VIP guests in the balconies above laughed with smoking cigars.
Seoyeon concentrated,
[
[Veiz Khaugras]
[Level ?]
[Skills: Absolute Swordsmanship LVL ?, Destructive Nature LVL ?, Ancient Emperor's Aura LVL ?]
"It isn't fair! I'm not some tool!" Veiz shouted with contempt, as Seoyeon furrowed his eyebrows,
"This is making me uncomfortable." He muttered, Khairix nodded.
Before long, Veiz's futile resistance was quelled by guards who went up on the stage to escort him out, as the host presented himself with open arms to the audience.
"Well, everyone? The starting bid is at 5,000,000 Credits!" He shouted.
"I'll bid 5,000,000 Credits!" A patron exclaimed, she held up her hand.
"We have 5,000,000 Credits, do we have any more?" Another man raised his hand firmly and with a determined look, "I'll bid 6,500,000 Credits!"
Then, a man with slicked back, gray hair, and a 5'o clock shadow raised his hand, his voice rang across the room, "10,000,000 Credits!" As the room slowly filled up with a cacophony of voices, all murmuring to each other.
"10,000,000 Credits! Do we have a higher bid? No? Then Veiz Khaugras goes to that man over there!" The host cheered out enthusiastically, his eyes gleaming with greed, as the man who had bid 10,000,000 Credits smirked—he raised his participant number, "Participant 282" written in black ink.
The crowd roared in excitement—clapping their hands—but the host motioned for them to quiet down.
…
"Moving on," The host coughed so as to clear up his throat, before putting the microphone to his mouth once more as his voice bounced across the room, "Next up…"
"We have a studious, intelligent, young woman, her endless intellect—seemingly divine genius—and her reserved tactics all make her the perfect strategist! Her understanding of reality will drive you crazy! If her cold attitude hadn't already… She's an amnesiac who doesn't have a name, only going by…"
"Everest!" He shouted.
A young woman with medium-length white hair and golden irises walked out, she wore a gray turtleneck sweater and black pants, her face was monotone—seemingly devoid of emotion—as her strides were precise and calculated, her eyes looked around the room in one quick motion, ignoring any inefficiencies.
"She's beautiful." Khairix said with a plain voice, "What's wrong? Butterflies in your stomach?" Seoyeon teased him.
"Hm? As if, I'm too busy with avenging my sister and protecting you, Master Seoyeon." Khairix replied wittingly with a stern voice as Seoyeon chuckled.
Seoyeon leaned in,
[
His eyes widened as his mouth slowly opened, Khairix took notice of this and glanced over,
Seoyeon could hardly believe it,
[Everest]
[Level ?]
[Skills: Metaphysical Instability LVL ?, Matter of Ontology LVL ?, Enigmatic Existence LVL ?, Matter of Discrepancy LVL ?, Predictive Intuition LVL ?]
"These skills, I'd only ever heard of them from Withering Moon, after the "Metaphysical Array" questline which rewarded me with lore books…"
Then, Everest glanced over to Seoyeon, as she locked eyes with him, her gaze piercing deep as he felt a sharp pain in his head. Her golden gaze fell upon him.
He quickly turned to look at Khairix, nudging him and tapping on his shoulder frantically, "Do you see that mechanism on the ceiling?" Seoyeon asked, as he pointed towards a floating orb of geometrical patterns and fractals above them.
Khairix nodded, "I need you to destroy that right now, it's stopping us from using our skills." Seoyeon said.
Khairix—without wasting a single second—grabbed his sword from its sheathe, and threw it as fast as he could as it ripped through the air at breakneck speeds.
*Boom* A massive explosion rippled through the air as everyone was taken aback, the crowd's mouths were ajar with shock, as the host collapsed on stage.
The guards—quick to react—immediately readied their weapons in unison, coughing, as their eyes glanced around, looking through the debris and dust.
[
*Clang* *Shing* Chains of an unknown material—glowing with an orange aura, originating from strange, fractured rifts on the floor immobilized the guards.
*Slice* Seoyeon's dagger tore right through a guard's body as blood splattered all across the floor and on his clothes.
[
The ripples of wind all throughout the building pressed against Seoyeon's face, grazing his body as he struggled to stand.
Multiple singularities tore through the air, creating extremely loud shockwaves which deafened everyone within the vicinity, the entire building was being torn to shreds by the singularities and the powerful beams of plasma which came out of them.
Everest looked on without a worry in the world, still with her monotonous face and cold stare, she watched as Seoyeon's silhouette emerged from the smoke.
He breathed a sigh of relief,
Before Seoyeon could even voice out his thoughts, Everest already nodded, "I'll join you, Master Seoyeon."
"What?" Seoyeon tilted his head with a face of confusion.
Then, a powerful aura originating from Everest seeped through the air, as her golden eyes glowed with beaming radiance, "I knew you'd save me, Han Seoyeon."
Seoyeon snickered, "Is it because of your skill,
Everest—still with a blank expression—nodded, the glow in her eyes disappearing, and the presence she was emanating now gone, "Predictive Intuition doesn't tell the future, in fact, I don't know when it activates, it only gives me clues every now and again, such as earlier when it told me to look at Han Seoyeon—the man with long black hair on the second row of seats.
Seoyeon smiled as he approached her, and then swiped his right arm up, as a singularity appeared, tearing the shackles binding Everest's hands together to shreds.
Then, Seoyeon and Everest glanced at the smoke as an unbidden applause could be heard from within the veil of the mist, "Truly a spectacular performance, I must say so myself."
Out from the smoke emerged a man clad in a luxurious tuxedo and slacks, with a golden ring, slicked back hair, and a 5'o clock shadow, the same man who had bid 10,000,000 Credits earlier.
"...Although, didn't your parents ever teach you that interrupting such a wonderful event with such explosive theatrics is rude and disrespectful?" He asked with a stern face and a maniacal smile.
Then, *Clang* a powerful, resonating sound echoed throughout as the man—in the blink of an eye—pulled out a golden-hilted, intricately designed knife to parry Khairix's sword.
"I commend your impressive swordsmanship, but that's as far as compliments from me will go." Khairix said in an intimidating tone, eyeing down the man.
"Master, I'll catch up with you later—" Before Khairix could finish his words, Everest interjected.
"There is no need." She said as she raised her arm up and faced her palm to the rich man.
[Everest is activating
She reached her hand out, as her eyes closed. Everest could hear distinct—yet unintelligible—noises around her, as visions flashed throughout her mind. An unimaginably large expanse of potential outcomes revealed themselves to her, as she swallowed down her doubts.
For a moment, Seoyeon and Everest's system interface synchronized as Seoyeon's Eye of Criticality reacted harshly,
[
[Warning! System integrity—]
…
Sparks and glitches filled Seoyeon's view as his system windows suddenly flickered.
…
[
The mutually-beneficial gaze of the eye shared its thoughts to Seoyeon as he saw a steadfast perspective on a playing field level with the Outer Realm Deities, all the while the omniscient eye's gaze fell upon the world as if it had breathed a long sigh of relief.
...
Seoyeon smiled nervously,
"This is bad..."
...
Everest opened her eyes, still half-closed—and still with a dull, lifeless face—she thought to herself,
"I've forgotten who I am, but it seems this universe hasn't forgotten me." As she struggled to remember her past, "If this universe won't let me remember, then I'll force myself to by discovering and studying more about myself and the world around me…"
Fragments of her lost memories circled around—as if to tease and mock her—as she looked on, not reaching out and attempting to grab them, for she knows just how futile her actions would be. Rather, she thought rationally, and focused on the present.
Everest spoke up, "Master Seoyeon," as Seoyeon raised his eyebrow, wary of the situation.
…
"Do not doubt my calculations."
…
Then, a flurry of system messages appeared before Everest, as a single system window stood out the most, a swirl of calculations within her peripheral vision led her to only one outcome.
[ Your calculations were successful,
Suddenly, a fracture through reality—a literal fracture as reality itself shattered, the space distorting, and shards of vision, time, and space, flew across the air, a powerful pressure shot itself at instantaneous speeds at the rich man.
*Boom* A torrent of unstable reality fragments knocked the man back considerably as he crashed into a wall and spat out blood, struggling to get up, but able to move his head as he looked up to face Seoyeon, Khairix, and Everest.
Seoyeon calmed down, his heartbeat returning back to its usual pace, although he had felt something new festering within him, staring at his new system window in momentary curiosity.
Khairix jumped down to join Seoyeon and Everest as she turned around, facing Seoyeon,
"We need to go, Master Seoyeon." She said, as the man she had knocked back slowly regained his composure.
"Let's make a break for it." Seoyeon commanded as they began running.
…
Meanwhile, in a dark room, sat a man with a black hole for his head, donning a torn suit with red designs and accents.
The man looked at the system screen in front of him, broadcasting a live video call of a game administrator.
The game administrator spoke,
"Lord Aracles, it is nearly time for the first major event."
The man, Aracles, nodded;
"Indeed."
...
"Let's start preparing."