Kieran alerted Max of his intention to access the credit line available to his membership status, but it wasn’t something he had to do.

He made the respectful gesture to keep Max from becoming too shocked.

Based on what he had seen thus far, Max was the type of person that grew surprised by some of the smallest things. Perhaps this was because of Kieran’s innate wow factor that he was somewhat oblivious to.

Nevertheless, the moment Kieran over-exhausted his remaining funds, the option to access the honorary benefit would automatically appear without him having to request the service from the Merchant Association.

Similarly, once this happened, paperwork of his access would be fabricated.

Such a feat begged a vital question. How mighty was Zenith Online’s presence in Xenith for it to be capable of this?

Mere moments after making his statement, the bids on the Elementress Job Change Scroll skyrocketed to almost 500,000 Gold.

If players were to learn that Kieran was trying to secure a scroll for over half a million Gold, they’d likely look at him as if he were insane.

There was no way such a scroll was worth this much. But that’s where they’d be wrong. What people eyed was not the class itself but the supposed secret realm it was connected to.

From the name, one could easily gather it was a class that focused on the natural elements. This similarly meant the related secret realm involved the same natural elements.

According to some extremely powerful existences, enough time in environments rich in Mana of certain elements could promote immense progress to one’s Constitution and potentially help one elevate their Mana Affinity.

“550,000 Gold,” Kieran called out, his tone adamant unlike before. .

Thanks to that tone, the others understood that different from the items before this, he meant business as he was genuinely interested.

However, not long after he spoke, another voice sounded not too far away from him.

“600,000 Gold.” And judging from the pitch of it, it belonged to a woman.

‘Another Honorary Member is interested in this item? Damn… she must be a mage of some sort then,’ Kieran mused, narrowing his eyes to attempt to pierce through the formations in place.

But as he tried to do so, Kieran found his Eyes of Profound Discerning was too immature.

Like his Mystic Gate, his eyes also needed to be trained, but they were only as powerful as the current state of his Mystic Gate.

Since he couldn’t glean any information about his competition, Kieran could only proceed cautiously and test the depth of this unknown woman’s desire for the scroll.

“625,000 Gold,” Kieran countered.

Unfortunately, it was one-upped immediately.

“700,000 Gold.”

‘She’s not playing at all. She means business, and it’s evident by her large bids. I wonder….’

“800,000 Gold,” Kieran called out, a hint of playfulness seeping into his tone.

Because he knew a thing or two about Honorary Members thanks to Max’s kind input, he knew their liquid funds weren’t that great. In fact, a large portion of it was likely sacrificed to the Merchant Association to enjoy their lofty status.

So, while they seemed rich on the surface, it wasn’t uncommon for VIP members to hemorrhage cash between large deals.

For this reason, most of their deals were usually struck using borrowed money.

If this was also true for this unknown lady, then Kieran had a cunning play to sink her deeper into the pits of hell known as owing the Merchant Association.

There was no escaping those mighty jaws once one fell in too deep.

“900,000 Gold,” the mysterious lady counter.

Unable to contain her glee, Ameena smiled at the announcer’s podium. “Ladies and gents… we have our first bid war! Who will emerge victorious?”

“I don’t know. The male VIP seems quite whimsical. He’s liable to pull some crazy scheme. I’ll opt for him.”

“Hm, that female VIP seems reserved and knows what she’s doing. I’ll pick her.”

Opinions were quickly flung around the auction space as Kieran and the unknown woman continued to trade bids.

As a result, the price of the slip ballooned to 1.5 million. At this point, Kieran had already utilized 10% of the available credit line.

However, to feign that he was struggling to continue bidding on the item, Kieran slowed down the frequency of his bids and lowered the amount of them.

Surprisingly, the woman who had remained steadfast in her bidding tendencies… responded in kind, revealing a tinge of hesitation in her voice during her last bid.

“…1,525,000 Gold,” the lady called out.ραпdαs `n?ν?| сom

After her last bid, it all grew quiet for quite some time—at least five seconds. This led to Ameena starting the final three-second countdown, where the bid would become absolute.

But during the last moments, Kieran used a begrudged voice to act as if he lamented this decision.

“1,530,000 Gold.”

“You damned pesky fool! Why can’t you just let me have my item? What is all this back and forth for?” The woman exploded, unable to hold back her resentment towards the way Kieran bid.

“No need to become so angry. Don’t use your words—use your wallet. Unless your wallet can no longer manage? Then I suppose the item is mine,” Kieran said, goading the woman into potentially making a foolish move.

Due to his tone, many of the attendees commented on Kieran’s attitude.

“Told you so. This guy seemed too damn whimsical. Now the woman is being played like putty in his hand.”

“Y-you…” the woman seethed. But before she could continue, Ameena’s voice cut through the tense and riled atmosphere.

“There is still an ongoing bid, folks. Respected VIP, if you don’t have a counter bid, I’m afraid I’ll have to deem the other VIP our winner.”

Listening to Ameena’s words, the lady could only frustratedly bite her nail while shaking her leg. ‘If I bid too much… my current contract with the association will be modified, and the interest rate will become unmanageable. Oh my god, this guy is so annoying! No… but if I win the item… I may become a 4th-circle fairly soon.’

Convinced by her beliefs, the woman reluctantly called out what seemed to be close to her final bid.

“1.6 million Gold.”

But… that was instantly countered. “1.61 million Gold.”

Silence… that’s what followed Kieran’s infuriating bid.

After the silence, a bid with a volume akin to a scream sounded. “2 million GOLD!”

“Mm. Mmm! Very nice,” Kieran said. “But… 2.01 million Gold.”

“I give up. I can’t take this. I’m going insane—actually mad. Who raised a person like this? It is unthinkable.”

“Well… due to the withdrawal of competition… it would seem we have a winner. Congratulations to the respected Sir VIP for the remarkable bid! Next… we move on to the entry ticket to the Secret Realm—the Lost Tower. We have paired this with knowledge available in many old texts. This tower is apparently a place one goes when searching for ways to enhance what they already know!”

‘Hm? From her description, it seems like a Secret Realm centered around a Secret Trial. The trial being the tower itself. Interesting. I’ve experienced a realm like that before. If it’s anything like that, then it’s not a place where EXP is gained. It’s where skills, techniques, and arts are created or honed. Perfect…!”

Before anyone could call out a bid, once Ameena called out the minimum bid of 500,000 Gold, Kieran offered five times that!

“2.5 million Gold,” Kieran confidently called out.

The other VIPs considered offering something greater, but after revisiting the vague description of the item, they decided against it.

It sounded like it involved a lot of combat; candidly speaking, combat was not the strong suit of many here. They were looking for the easy way out, not one that required grueling effort.

As a result, Kieran’s bid immediately eclipsed what they were comfortable spending.

And, because no other offers came in, Kieran secured the realm pass. But because he was not interested in the remaining items. He retired to his seat and exhaled, momentarily closing his eyes.

“Oh my goodness. You’re in a massive hole now! How will you get out of it?” Max exclaimed in fright.

“Ah, no worries, Max. This is nothing to despair over. I made this decision because I’m confident in resolving it quickly,” Kieran answered.

Though he wanted to believe him, it would take him would 1,000 years to amass 4 million Gold naturally, so Max failed to fathom how Kieran could earn that in less than a month to repay the open account.

…

Roughly two hours later,

Kieran stood before the auction clerk with a calm smile as they compiled all of his successful bids. In total, he had spent close to 5 million Gold, so the clerk treated him with the utmost respect.

“To be an Honorary Member truly is a wonderful thing,” the clerk muttered, slowly shifting the items to Kieran.

“It’s alright,” Kieran shrugged, accepting the items. ‘The funds that I borrowed can be directly claimed by Dillon, so it’s still a massive win in his favor. This should definitely help Aeredale’s popularity and image in the eyes of the association.’

Following this thought, Kieran bid his farewell and headed toward the Godhand Bazaar. ‘But I still have my role to play.’

Since the Godhand Bazaar was on a prime lot near the association’s building, it didn’t take long for Kieran to arrive there. However, before he entered the building, he examined his surrounding.

Though the building would be opening within a few hours, he would rather the surprise not be spoiled. This is also why he sometimes used a Phantasmal Flicker to have his presence missed.

Once inside the shop, Kieran inhaled deeply and sighed. ‘What a great show we have in store.’