"Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen! I am your host for tonight and have brought you four here because I intend to buy this place, but at the same time to play a little game with you!"
His words startled the four of them, as he directly stated his intentions without even introducing himself, in fact even a fake introduction would be better than no introduction at all.
Furthermore, his words weren't an invite but more like an order that they could not refuse. He left them no other option.
But while the other three were feeling like this, the stingy owner had a much bigger worry than them, as he looked towards the masked Eric and said in a polite way,
"Esteemed Master, your men didn't allow me to say it the previous time, but I must tell you that I had started the renovations before getting your offer, and had already spent around 5000$ already!
I hope that you include that in the price, as that money was spent for this place!"
Even in such a situation, he was thinking only about money. Without caring in the least about what Eric had to say, or what he had to do.
The other three were used to his stinginess, and only money thought approach, but still, they expected him to be a bit more attentive to the situation.
Even Eric was a bit surprised by this guy, but he didn't mind it much, he just looked towards him with a calm and indifferent look, as he said,
"Don't worry Owner, money is not a problem! You can include anything you want in the deal later! Now I guess no one opposes my little game?"
Seeing that Eric was being so generous the owner immediately continued,
"Oh, I forgot to add, that I have also paid for new tables, and chairs, amounting to 2000$!"
He had seen a perfect chance to make some money, so there was no way he would lose this chance. It was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle for him.
Eric was a bit dissatisfied with this, but he decided to tolerate it a bit, as he said,
"Like I said Owner, everything you have paid and done for this place would be returned to you double!
Now if you don't have any objections, can we start the game?"
To the owner though, there was nothing more important than money, so how could he care about a little stupid game.
Seeing that Eric had accepted to pay all his expenses double he was fuming with happiness, as he once again started to say,
"You should know that I have also paid for new…"
But he wasn't able to continue because Daisuke had already stuffed a bundle of yen cash on his mouth to shut it.
There was no other way to make that man shout! The owner escaped Daisukes hook with difficulty, and then taking the cash out of his mouth he screamed,
"Careful with these, otherwise you will waste it!"
With that said, he took the money and put it in his pocket, perfectly normal, like nothing had ever happened, even though his breath was still rough.
Eric was stunned with this man, as he was getting more and more ideas on how to play with this. Satisfied with what he had just seen, he once again said,
"Then let us begin our game now, and have lots of fun!"
But he was once again interrupted, as this time was from his 'brother' Katsuto Daichi, who at least had enough brain to understand what was going on, as he said,
"What if we don't want to play the game, Esteemed Master!?"
Since nobody knew who was behind the mask, or what his position was, they tried to be the most careful and respectful as they could.
Hearing those words, Daisuke stepped forward and said in a threatening voice,
"You would dare to reject Master's kind intentions!?"
But he didn't continue longer, since Eric made a sign for him to stop, and step back, as he already expected something like this.
He just looked at the person in front of him with a clear and indifferent look, as he said,
"Well you might of course leave and not play, but we are playing for 2 million dollars here! You sure you want to miss this opportunity?"
The moment his words sounded, the eyes of the four at the table all sparkled and turned to star-shaped eyes.
Who would ever wish to miss such an opportunity!? 2 million dollars? Hell, they would do it even for 200k$, especially the stingy owner, who had his eyes in heart shapes.
But while the others were clearly bewildered, and seduced by the thought, Katsuto Daichi seemed to be clearer, as he said,
"2 million dollars!? That's a crazy sum, but surely you aren't just giving it to one of us, right? What's the catch in here!?"
Nobody could see the satisfied smile on Eric's face right now, as far as he knew this guy, he knew that he had already bit the bait.
In fact, he was also thinking that he would be the one running with the money at the end of the day, but he clearly had his doubts.
Of course, Eric wouldn't make this look easy otherwise his doubts would raise even more, and then he wouldn't agree with his will to participate in his game, so he said,
"Well of course not! There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Furthermore, we are playing this game for my satisfaction, so of course, there will be some difficulties to make the game interesting.
But the game in and of itself is really simple and easy. Your goal will be to find my identity with the clues I give you!
You have one free clue and one free try. After that, for any extra wrong guess, you will be given a light punishment individually, and for any extra clue you will get a group punishment!"
The game and the conditions clearly surprised the four of them, but there was one problem they all caught up to, as Katsuto Daichi voiced their opinions,
"What are the punishments we receive?"
Eric had already been prepared for this question, as he said with a calm and natural voice,
"Well I still haven't truly thought about them, as I want them to be spontaneous, but I can say that I will do nothing to endanger your life!"
The four people in front of him were looking at him with weird and complex looks, as they didn't truly know what to make of his words.
Could they believe him, or his words? What kind of guarantee did they have? Besides the stingy owner, none of them wanted to risk their lives for that money, even though it was a considerable sum.
Looking at their still dubious faces, Eric said in a calm voice,
"To guarantee the fairness of the game I will transfer 2 million $ into each of your accounts, and if you feel that you can no longer play the game, then you can leave, and send my money back later!
What do you say!? You surely don't think that I would lose 8 million $ just to kill you 4, would you? Even though it hurts to accept it, you are not that worthy!"
His words clearly surprised the 4 once again, as it seemed like Eric truly wanted just to play a game with them. He seemed like some bored Young Master who wanted to have some fun.
With these conditions and the situation as it was, they had no other choice but to accept, as they all nodded their heads in acceptance.
Satisfied with their acceptance, Eric looked at all of them once again one by one, as his eyes rested longer on the tyrannical bitch who was being too quiet unexpectedly.
The faces of the four people in front of him still carried some traces of doubt, and unwillingness, but he didn't really care.
He just nodded his head a little a bit towards Daisuke, and immediately after their cell phones all rang at the same time.
The message was the same for all four of them, someone had transferred 2 million dollars into their account!
Even though Eric had just said it, it was still really difficult for them to believe his words, but now seeing it with their own eyes, the number of zeroes behind 2 left them shocked.
Now the only hurdle was to solve Eric's identity and keep this money. Even though surely things wouldn't be that easy.
Even though they were excited at the sight of that money, and all the dreams they were building upon that money, they all had the feeling that they were selling their souls to the devil for those.
It was just that the dreams, and thoughts about that money made them forget all their worries, each and any one of them was building castles of sand by the shore.
None of them seemed to be aware of this though, as they decided to forget all about their reservations and doubts, and start thinking about the game at hand.
While Eric had been talking to them all this time, his voice had kept changing according to his wishes, as he had bought a voice changing skill from the system for 150 SP points.
He felt like it was a rip-off, but he needed it for the game he was about to play, as he started speaking,
"Well since you don't seem to have any other objections it's time to start our little game! Now hear me clearly because this is the first clue of the game!"
All of them, forgot about all of their thoughts and dreams at that moment as they all opened their ears to hear better, as Tianlong Yun said slowly,
"I am a male!"