"I'm sorry, I was wrong... Please don't auction off my stuff, okay? Wuwuwu~~"
The message from Naoko popped up on Orson's screen.
"Pay up, or forget it," Orson replied coldly. This woman liked playing with fire, so let her burn herself.
Just as Orson finished typing his message, a notification appeared on the interface. It was a communication from outside the cabin. A strange number appeared.
"Please... you..." A soft, syrupy voice came through, the tone somewhat familiar but definitely stiff.
Orson froze. "Is that you, Naoko?"
"Hi!"
Orson was confused and asked again, and this time, the voice switched to US English. "Yes... yes it is!"
"Who gave you my number?" Orson asked, already suspecting what was going on.
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Naoko hesitated. "I... I'll come find you tomorrow morning, Orson-kun!"
That soft, sweet voice—who could resist that?
Orson felt his mind spiral into chaos. The moment she mentioned coming to see him, he started panicking.
Was this some kind of in-person meet-up?
Orson stayed silent for a moment. Ruby, Dancing Giant Boobs, and Bradley were all just in the next game room. If they found out Naoko was coming to see him...
No doubt—there would be absolute chaos.
Especially Madman, that pervert. As soon as he saw a girl, he would stick to her like glue, begging for introductions. If Ruby saw this, oh boy! It'd turn into a full-blown hair-pulling contest.
"Don't get too hasty, I'll meet you tomorrow after the auction," Orson said in a deep voice.
On the other end, Naoko's voice erupted in gleeful laughter. "A date!"
"I'll give you a 'date' with a hammer!" Orson cursed under his breath and ended the call.
The Monster Siege event had ended, and the Godslayer guild members were busy blocking the monster spawn points near the spring, grinding monsters. Their levels shot up by 6 to 12 levels on average.
Even players with relatively low base levels had surged to the top tier of the region, thanks to the Hellfire Burn Forbidden curse that obliterated the monsters in the creature nests. Meanwhile, Bradley, Madman, and Nightshade practically monopolized the top 20 spots on the leaderboard.
Madman: "682 pieces of epic gear, 81 pieces of legendary gear, 2 Forbidden Magic items, 400+ B to C skill books, 29 A-level skill books..."
Nightshade: "71.2 million gold coins, 300+ chests and keys from Black Iron to Platinum... as for monster materials... I can't count them all yet."
Bradley: "Ha, no way to count it all!"
This was the real profit of spawn camping. Almost half of the region's loot was all collected in one go—money rolling in!
"Nice job, quickly deal with the equipment and skill books you won't use," Orson said with a nod. After the Monster Siege, the equipment for levels 30-40 would inevitably lose some value, that was unavoidable. The low-level Forbidden Magic gear they'd gotten would probably be sold to the right guild members.
After all, the monsters they faced in this event numbered in the millions, and the sheer volume of gear drops was bound to shake up the prices in the empire's auction house. On some smaller servers, prices could even crash during this stage.
It wouldn't be until players reached level 50 that gear prices would stabilize.
Orson had also picked up some rare items from Usher and other players, plus some good gear from killing players in Abyssal Rift—another nice little profit.
Conservatively, this would net him around 10 million gold coins.
While that seemed like a lot, after sharing the loot with his guild members, he'd only pocket about 4 to 5 million gold coins. That wasn't a huge amount—it was more like what a major guild would have in their funds.
Orson glanced at the valuable items in his inventory, the real big earners. If Usher was willing to pay hundreds of thousands of gold for just one [Titan's Blessing], it'd be a shame not to extort a bit more.
"After the auction tomorrow, we'll celebrate," Orson said with a smile.
Bradley suddenly spoke up, "We can't just let Pondenorlin City's NPCs off the hook for attacking us. I suggest we make a statement with the Godslayer banner!"
Everyone's eyes burned with anger. Now that Lord Cain had been exiled, and Pondenorlin City's two major NPC guilds had attacked the Celestial Fortress, the debt could not just be forgotten.
"I was just thinking the same thing," Orson said, his gaze cold. He'd been betrayed by Light God's Envoy twice and had lost his Forbidden Magic accessory to the Golden Dragon King. If things continued this way, he'd surely clash with the Light Dragon Empire soon.
Besides, with his Conqueror Baron title, he could easily flatten Pondenorlin City and set himself up as king!
"Tomorrow, we'll light up Infinite Dimensions with the brightest fireworks, so that any potential enemies will know we exist," Orson said calmly.
Everyone cracked their knuckles, itching for the chance to storm out right away.
Afterward, Orson teleported out of the city and headed to the 55-level monster spawn area, taking advantage of the double experience buff to grind some more.
"You killed a Magic Claw Lizard, experience +8000 (Double XP)"
"You killed a Magic Claw Badger, experience +9700 (Double XP)"
...
He led monsters in a frenzy, but the monster density was much lower here compared to the Abyssal Rift, making the grind feel sluggish. Six hours later, even with the double XP bonus, he only gained three levels, barely reaching level 44.
With the experience efficiency dropping, he decided to call it a day and log out to rest.
After leaving the game pod, Orson woke up Madman and Bradley to get them started on organizing the auction. He sent Madman the list of players who would be attending, instructing him to book hotels for them.
Once everything was arranged, Orson went back to his room and immediately collapsed into bed, sleeping until the phone rang at noon.
"I'm ready."
"Mm?"
Orson was still groggy, clearly confused. When he looked at the caller ID, he groaned inwardly. It was Naoko, again.
"What are you in such a rush for? I told you, the meeting is tonight, after the auction! Do you get it?" Orson sighed, exasperated.
Naoko: "My US English isn't very good, hehehe."
"You... are you an idiot?" Orson gritted his teeth.
Naoko: "Hehe, I'm silly!"
Orson was about to snap but held his tongue. It felt like she was pretending to be dumb on purpose.
"Is it inconvenient? I can come to you, you know."
"No, please don't! I'm coming right now!"
Naoko hung up before Orson could say another word. He sighed, realizing there was no avoiding this.
He jumped out of bed, quickly got dressed, and rushed out of his villa. He was determined to find out what she was up to.
When he arrived at Naoko's apartment building, he saw her standing near the entrance, calling out to him in Japanese.
This woman had almost ruined everything for him, and she was still taking his divine item shards. She definitely had it coming.
"Why do you keep bothering me?" Orson muttered, walking up to her, his voice slightly faltering as he took in her appearance.
She had a delicate nose, smooth skin, and a tall, slender figure. She wasn't as tall as Blank, but she was fairer. She wore a white skirt, and her long legs were wrapped in black thigh-high stockings, making her figure even more striking.
Her hair was styled with a fringe, and her almond-shaped eyes were mesmerizing. Every smile and frown seemed to pull at his soul.
Naoko eagerly ran up to him and wrapped her arm around his.
"Orson-kun~~"
Her voice was so sweet and innocent it made his skin crawl. The moment her voice hit his ears, he felt something stir inside him.
A damn fairy!
This woman was definitely a disaster in disguise!
People walking by stared at them, drawn in by Naoko's beauty and laughter. Their gazes lingered on Orson, as if asking, "What's going on? Does this guy have money? What's his deal?"