Seeing her walk off BlueShadow stammered “Miss please wait.”

“No.” Robin said over her shoulder, not stopping. The group of spectators parted and made room for Robin to walk through.

"We-we'll pay double!" BlueShadow yelled

"What! We can't afford that!" BrightEyes shouted, stepping in front of BlueShadow.

"We can once we dock the pay of all the players who died. And yours of course." BlueShadow countered.

At this Robin stopped. She turned towards BlueShadow and looked him up and down. Then let out a sigh. "Make the deal. Double the price and make sure to use a year of BrightEyes salary as part of the payment."

"You mother fuc-" BrightEyes started but BlueShadow cut him off.

"Deal." BlueShadow then walked towards Robin and exchanged contact info.

Robin didn’t want to stay anymore so she dashed towards town. Little did the players of the golden company know, Robin was on her last leg. She only had 1 more health potion left, after that she would have chosen to escape.

"That was a close call. Even with the Fanged Daggers, I'm not invincible. Had I gone to the goblins to fight hundreds of them at once, then I might have died. I need a lifesaver. Something like absorption, that would keep my HP up during long fights. I also need better armor and definitely a fucking helmet. My neck is stiff because of how much I had to move it"

When Robin walked into town she could feel the stares from the other players. Like she was some kind of exhibit in a zoo. (Don’t you idiots have better things to do) Robin thought as she did her best to ignore the players. She could however pick up bits and pieces of their conversations.

“That's her. She’s the one that took on one hundred players by herself.”

“No I heard it was two hundred players and they were all from the same guild.”

–

“Look at the video. Her weapons aren’t the regular weapons you can get from the shops.”

“It might be from the auction. I heard rich people can buy a bunch of good early game items from there.”

–

“Why do you think she didn’t put more effort into her looks?”

“Yeah, I mean her face is nice but her butt and breast leave something to be desired.”

“It’s a shame really.”

“Yeah, a shame.”

Robin made a face and walked faster towards her destination. The auction house. But before that she went to various stores to dump off all the materials she got from the 100+ fanged Rodents and 100 tri-horned boars. She also sold the items she got from the 60 players. Except for Caesars Might of course. After selling everything, she made a nice 8 silver. This was a really good amount for the first day but she already made 15 gold so the 8 silver was ignored.

She left the shop area and walked to the zone for players looking to spend their money in other ways. The starting town isn’t amazing but it does have sections for players to…Unwind. A very controversial section that almost ruined the game’s reputation. A lot of religious groups, concerned parents, and government officials that weren't in the loop protested the game's release because of the adult themes and that any player regardless of the age could walk through the section. Even if most shops refused the young, they welcomed everyone else with open arms.

Want to passionately hug a lady of the night? Sure. Want to WORK as a lady or man of the night? Apply in person. What to gamble away your hard-won coin? Come on down. Want to eat herbs that'll make you taste colors and see God? Here, try this… for a price.

Those righteous groups demanded they remove this content but their cries fell on death's ears. This was not a video game that can be altered at will. This was another realm whose laws give two shits about what the lowly humans of earth thought.

In this section of sin is Robin's destination. The auction house is also the tallest building in the starting town. Not much for the sprawling cities back on earth but 5 stories high go a long way when all the other buildings are 2-3 stories tall. The building was scarcely decorated. It did have red carpet throughout and tall vases with colorful plants in a few corners but it looked nothing like the high-class auction houses scene on TV.

The décor meant nothing to Robin as she strolled through the open double doors. As she walked through the auction house, Her past memories overlapped with the present. The first time she came was when she first joined the game two months before the end of the world. Back then, there were thousands of players trying to buy any item they could to boost their survival. Thanks to this, the prices become inflated, and even with all her savings put onto the game, Robin couldn’t buy anything. It was a mass frenzy. Fights broke out often and some people tried to storm the auction house vaults. They failed miserably of course but this only made people crazier.

Now however, the halls of the auction house were nearly empty. There were only small groups of 3-4 exquisitely dressed people loitering about. Upon entering the hall, which was more like a school auditorium, Robin felt that some of the groups of people stopped their conversations and looked at her. Some were in shock but most in curiosity, as though looking at a rare animal. Robin frowned and ignored the low whispers and sat down away from everyone else.

Once she sat down a screen much like the status menu popped up in front of Robin.

[Welcome to the Threadbare Auction House

-Buy

-Sell

-Transaction History]

Robin pushed the buy button and a new screen appeared. This screen had a bunch of different tabs, buttons, columns, and a scrolling text box at the bottom which showed items which auction will end soon. Robin saw that it was a rare cape and the current bid was 60 gold coins. She sucked in a breath when she saw it. Robin only has 14 gold to spend. 60 gold was out of the question. She had hoped that with so few players, the prices would be more reasonable. While they were much lower than back then, most were still too much of her.

Robin searched the auction page for more items, hoping that the ludacris price for the cape was just an outlier because it was a rare item. This in fact was the case, in both a good and bad way. Good, because the Uncommon items were in the 10s of gold coins, which was affordable to Robin. Bad, because the cape was the cheapest rare item she saw. The average price for rare items was in the hundreds.

Robin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. (There's no need to be envious. The items here can only be used until level 10. These rich idiots are just buying future hand-me-down goods. Yeah. That's it.) After her pep talk, Robin refocused on the items could actually buy. Unfortunately for every uncommon item she clicked on, the auction house saw fit to remind her that there was a Rare version for that item. This did not help her envy problem.

Robin spent 20 mins looking through the catalog of Uncommon items. There were some pretty good items in there. Most of which Robin wouldn't mind having, even until level 10. The problem was that of all of the items she wanted to get, the bid price surpassed 14 gold. Robin wanted to cry in frustration. Even though she had an amazing start, she could never beat the rich in terms of funds. She was, after all, just a 'currently' 19 year old with no financial backing. Hell, she had to use loan sharks just to buy the game pod.

Robin stared at the auction screen for a few more minutes before getting up and heading toward the exit. There were some items she could buy but they weren't worth it. So she could only leave in defeat. Robin did think about selling a Fanged Dagger. She was sure that it could make her super rich and would be a highly sought-after weapon, but then she would have to find another one. Most importantly she wouldn't feel unique anymore. Right now she was sure that she was the only player that could deal 1600 damage from a critical hit. That's something Robin wanted to keep to herself for now. If they can buy expensive items early on then she would find solace in the fact that she can one-shot any player.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Robin smiled at that thought. She was nearly out of the auction house when a sultry voice entered her ears.

"You seem to be happy Miss Crazy Daggers."

Robin whipped her head around to find a familiar figure. FlowingPhoenix stood there with her alluring figure and glowing red hair. She swapped out the long red dress for a bright white low-cut dress. Showing off her deep cleavage. The dress also had a high slit on the side which showed a long beautiful toned leg.

"Fufufu, up here miss." FlowingPhoenix said. Robin's eyes snapped up and her smile vanished.

(What the hell is wrong with me!) Robin screamed in her head. Although she was a bit worried about why her thinking would turn down that route when she saw someone good-looking, she still smoothed over her expression to look more natural.

“What do you mean by Crazy Daggers?” Robin asked

“That’s the name the internet gave you. I’m not sure if it’s fitting though.” FlowingPhoenix replied tilting her head. Robin just shrugged. She didn’t care what the internet was calling her. They weren’t important to the grand scheme of things.

Seeing Robin not caring about her nickname, FlowingPhoenix smiled and asked "Were you just about to leave?"

Robin looked around. They were literally standing near the exit door. She just replied normally, "Yes, my business is finished here." Robin didn’t want to tell Phoenix that she was too poor to afford anything.

"Are you sure? The rare items are going to change in a few minutes. They normally change every other hour. If you aren't here then you'll miss out on the best new items."

Robin wanted to yell (I'm fucking poor!) But held it in. "I don't want to fight over early-level items. I don't have a team to nurture." Robin said truthfully. That was the real reason these guilds would spend so much on early-game items. They were investments for rising stars. When a new prodigy enters the game, they can give them good equipment to speed them along to higher-level areas. Robin however is alone 'besides Mia'. If she buys an item from the auction then it'll basically be a consumable. She won't get anything out of stocking up on early gear.

FlowingPhoenix smiled at Robin's reply. "Lone wolves do have it hard right now. Though I guess that doesn't apply to you."

Robin shrugged, not knowing how else to respond. "Well, I should get back to grinding. I want to reach level ten before sundown."

"Before you go can you accompany me to the VIP booth?" FlowingPhoenix said. "There is something I would like to discuss with you."

Robin's mind played a scene of what topic she wanted to discuss with FlowingPhoenix. She mentally punched herself in the head. This made her eyes twitch and she frowned.

FlowingPhoenix thought Robin was annoyed with her request and quickly explained "It won't take long I promise. If you wish, I can give you a consultation fee for your time."

Robin shook her head to get rid of any lingering thoughts. With a sigh, she said "Sure let's go."

They two then walked down a section of the auction house meant for only the most rich patrons. They were also followed by FlowingPhoenix's entourage of beautiful people. There was a mix of races ranging from a normal human to a tall rock-like humanoid. Like a statue carved from granite. Of course their looks didn't come close to FlowingPhoenix. At least that's what Robin begrudgingly thought.

Robin and company walked up two flights of stairs and into a booth that overlooked the auction stage. The booth was very sizable and could easily fit three of Robin's bedroom back home.

Robin followed FlowingPhoenix to a pair of large chairs that were close to the balcony. Once they sat down FlowingPhoenix wasted no more time and jumped into business.

"We of the Myriad Dreams Guild wish to employ your services."

"Services? What services?" Robin said, confused.

FlowingPhoenix still with a business smile on her face said "After analyzing the footage from your war against the Golden Eagle Company, most of the large guild have determined that you have an ability to steal items from players. We would like to hire you for this ability."

Robin had a shocked expression but changed to dangerous but after a second turned somber. The upper elites researching her was not a good thing. Back in the day, she heard of non rich players making a name for themselves, only for a guild to stomp them into the dirt if they didn't follow them. It was all over the news. There was some push back of course. Rebel groups were made, upper class and lower class players would clash. Entire cities would be pulled into the battle. But back then, Robin only watched from the sidelines. It was something that was only in the game and didn’t have any real-world ramifications. Now she knew that those battles affected the real world in a terrible way.

The reason why Robin died was that she wanted to enter the community of the rich and elites. They had used a massive amount of money to build walls around their community, blocking out all the monsters that invaded earth. The wall also blocked out other humans. People that couldn’t afford their price tag were left out of the protection the wall provided. The rich were scared that the lowly peasants would overthrow them if they let them in. Their fear of what happened in the ‘game’ transferred to reality and they didn’t trust anyone that was already a part of their clan, guild, or company.

Now Robin was stared at by those who blocked her from finding shelter. Those that would try any underhanded means to force her to bend to their whims. And worst of all, there wasn’t anything Robin could do about it. She knew for a fact that she couldn’t do anything alone. Sure she could give them a headache and kill anyone that they brought over to deal with her but that was it. Before she became the undisputed god of earth, she would always have to watch her back.

Robin stared at FlowingPhoenix with a complicated expression and said “Let here the details first.” She wanted to decline but she knew that FlowingPhoenix was just the first person to find her. Other elites would soon come and if she didn’t play ball then they all might gang up on her. The least she could do was pick and choose who to help. If she could buy enough time to link up with Mia and out level all the other players, she could have some form of backbone to refuse to help the rich assholes. Robin did however reign in her random lust for FlowingPhoenix. Nothing is more of a bone killer than a memory of being ripped apart by monsters.

FlowingPhoenix smiled and said "There is a player by the name of RedDiamond. She has an item called Solomon's Dream. We want you to get it from her."

Robin gave FlowingPhoenix a blank stare and asked "Who's guild is she in?"

"The Millennium Star Guild." FlowingPhoenix said as if stating an insignificant fact. To Robin that fact was like an atom bomb.

The Millennium Star Guild was a very famous guild in the past. So famous that people like Robin who didn’t play the game heard about them. They broke a lot of records in the future and most players wanted to join them. They had 6 of the strongest players in the game and was one of only 3 guilds that took over an entire late-game city. During the time when the game came into reality, the guild somehow transferred that city to the real world.

(A superpower juggernaut is how other people described them… and FlowingPhoenix wants me to become their enemy? Fuck that!)

"I'll decline." Robin said quickly.

FlowingPhoenix was a bit shocked that she declined so fast. She hurriedly replied "Wait, don't decline so fast. We The Myriad Dreams Guild is willing to pay you 10 platinum coins to retrieve Solomon's Dream."

"Although 10 platinum is a very generous offer, I'm not willing to become enemies with the Millennium Star Guild." Robin plainly stated. She might have looked calm on the outside but on the inside, she was battling her greed demon. 10 platinum coins was 1 billion dollars. That was enough to buy almost anything in the real world. But the weight of pissing off the world's number 1 guild grounded her greed.

FlowingPhoenix frowned for the first time. "Miss, please state your terms. The Myriad Dreams Guild is willing to pay a high price for that item."

Robin just shook her head and got up from her chair. "I will not mess with that guild and I advise you to do the same. I don't know who RedDiamond is but the guild leader SwordGodAsura isn't someone I want to fight. Now if you excuse me, I have levels to gain."

Robin Was about to leave but surprisingly FlowingPhoenix grabbed her wrist. Robin almost instinctively attacked but stopped her hand. Instead, she said in a hard tone. "Let me go."

"I-Im sorry." FlowingPhoenix said flustered. She let Robin go and asked "D-do you have information about the MillenniumStar Guild?"

"You were trying to fight a guild you don't know about?" Robin asked back, confused.

(Wasn't it rule number one to know thy enemy? Unless they were just using me as a scapegoat.) Robin thought and couldn't help but sigh again.

"There is not much information about them." FlowingPhoenix said "We only know that they have a strong financial backing but not many members. This is the first time I've actually heard their guild leader's name."

(Were they not an established superpower before? Did they gain so much power in 1-2 years? That's even crazier!)

Then Robin thought of a crazy idea. One that might give her some leverage and possibly gain her some much needed money.

"Make a deal." Robin said with a small smile creeping up her face. "It just so happens that I have good information about the leaders of the Millennium Star Guild. How about you buy me an item from the auction and I'll tell you what I know."

"It depends on the item." FlowingPhoenix said, composing herself. "I won't authorize anything above 3 platinum coins."

Robin was about to agree when a notification chimed in the ears of every player in the game.

[World Notification: Congratulations to SwordGodAsura for becoming the first player to reach level 10. Rewards: A-Tier Skill Scroll, 1 Epic Treasure Chests, 1 platinum coin, and 1000 Reputation Points.]

[World Notification: 1/5 reward slots have been filled. After all slots are filled, no other players will be rewarded for reaching level 10.]

[World Notification: Congratulations to SwordGodAsura for becoming the first player to acquire a title. Rewards: A-Tier Skill Scroll, 1 Epic Treasure Chests, 50 gold coins, and 3000 Reputation Points.]

[World Notification: 1/3 of reward slots for acquiring a title have been filled. After all, slots are filled, no other players will be rewarded for acquiring a title.]

[World Notification: The E-tier dungeon "City Crypt" is now open in all starting cities.]

"Well, speak of the devil." Robin said with a chuckle

"I'll authorize any one item for your information." FlowingPhoenix said quickly.

Robin couldn’t help but laugh at how convenient that world prompt was. Of course, she agreed and sat back down. She was planning to milk the Myriad Dreams Guild as much as possible.