Chapter 41

‘North America (NA) Server’.

Hiro had made his decision after seeing the contents of the [1000] file from Anonymous.

In the description of the LSO game, the virtual server clock was the same as the real-world clock.

Meanwhile, Hiro had been playing the game with a different time difference of exactly 13 hours slower than Tokyo Time.

The reason was that the server hours in the CBT version of LSO did not match the Tokyo Time, but the location detected by the IP address in his VR, Washington, DC

[You are choosing to buy regular plot area number W2801 in North America (NA) server]

[10,000 LSC will be consumed, proceed anyway?]

“Yes.”

[Transaction in progress, please wait]

Ding!

[Congratulations! You are now an owner of regular plot W2801 in the NA server]

Ding!

[You have obtained W2801 (NA) regular plot certificate]

Ding!

[You have received a new title ‘Sir’]

[Fame increased]

[Balance 4,570LSC]

Hiro’s regular plot purchase process had been successful and it did not require a long process.

He still couldn’t believe that now he was the owner of the land that can be used to get passive income starting tomorrow after the game’s release.

Although the land that Hiro managed to buy was only limited to being in the virtual world. But still, he felt proud of his achievement.

Hiro couldn’t wait to tell Liberty and show the girl his land title. If only she had woken up soon.

He came back out of the [Marketplace] after shopping.

The people gathered in the square were getting crowded. And everyone seemed very excited to watch the auction LIVE.

Hiro wanted to hurry back to Liberty’s house to see if Liberty had woken up from her long sleep or not.

However, the loud sound from inside the giant screen startled him and his reflex made him stop instantly.

[City number 77 sold to Jaguar for 35 million LSC]

’35 million USD? For a city inside the virtual world?’

Hiro really couldn’t believe the price that he just heard. The people around him started clapping after the bidder with the codename Jaguar managed to get the city.

‘Are the rich people in the world that crazy to spend money?’

Hiro decided to watch the auction a little longer than he had planned.

Although he did not have the money to participate in activities that only global elites could participate in, it turned out that watching an auction was not boring at all.

No wonder more and more people were interested in watching the auction in the square area.

What surprised Hiro was that the bidders continued to increase their bidding prices at an insane rate without first considering how the features offered in the city area were being offered for auction.

Hiro believed that none of them were professional gamers, but whatever Ninecent has to offer, it made sure the global elites invest in their city. So they came in hard to fight for a total of 200 available cities.

That was right, a total of 200 cities with 20 cities each on 10 existing servers. While the number of bidders who joined was up to thousands.

Even so, Hiro applauded the rules that Ninecent made in the auction.

Each bidder was only allowed to buy a maximum of 2 minor cities on the condition that the city couldn’t be on the same server. So that way, even though there are only 200 minor cities available, the ownership was spread out and not monopolized by one or two people.

Whoever proposed the rule, Hiro was sure that he or she was a genius who thought about maintaining the stability of the LSO game.

Hiro decided to stay there, watching the auction until it was over.

The auction took place very quickly because the bidders seemed very eager to make bid increments with a twofold increase so that even the highest price could be obtained in one minute.

The auction process was carried out by a sophisticated technology system.

And every time the system offered a city, bidders were invited to bid incrementally within 20 seconds before the top 3 bidders with the highest bidding value were shown.

The next 20 seconds was the opportunity for the top 3 bidders to do bidding wars before the lot won by the highest bid.

[Lot: Minor City (EU) Number 129]

[1st bidder: Sabertooth 45,000,000 LSC]

[2nd bidder: Koala 30,000,000 LSC]

[3rd bidder: Anaconda 27,000,000 LSC]

[Bidding wars for the 20s]

[Koala increased the bid to 47,000,000 LSC]

[Sabertooth increased the bid to 48,000,000 LSC]

[Koala increased the bid to 49,000,000 LSC]

…

[5s remaining]

[Anaconda increased the bid to 55,000,000 LSC]

[City number 12 sold to Anaconda for 55 million LSC]

Again, those who were being carried away by the tense spectacle applauded loudly.

Hiro was still amazed by the seriousness of the bidders who dared to release 55 million USD for just a city in a virtual world. He felt that he should learn how to invest in games now, even though he only had enough LSC balance to buy ordinary vacant lots.

Due to the speed of the auction procession, the auction was finally finished after 2.5 hours.

However, when the auction process was no longer displayed, a countdown starting from the number 10 suddenly appeared on the giant screen at the Beginner Town square.

[10]

[9]

Instantly the people who had planned to leave the square were stunned and staring back at the screen.

Hiro did the same, he wondered what the screen would display next.

“What happened?”

“Is there an important announcement today?”

“What’s the countdown for?”

“Are there any other auctions?”

“I don’t know.”

Hiro heard people whispering nearby. But all of them have no clue, just like him.

Everyone was wondering.

So…

What really happened?

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Get Ready!]

Hiro could feel his heart suddenly beating very fast. No one spoke again in the square, the atmosphere turned to silence.

Ding!

[Congratulations! 1 month trial in the CBT version of Last Shelter Online has been finished]

Hiro’s guess was correct, they had been playing for a long time, up to one month. No wonder when he joined the CBT last week, the other players already had high levels.

However, with his expertise in playing VRMMORPG, Hiro was able to catch up quickly.

Ding!

[Here is the Top 100 player rank based on the current Battle rating]

[Top 3. Noah. Mage. BR 11,401]

[Top 2. Natalie. Rogue. BR 12,890]

[Top 1. NightFall. Barbarian. BR 14,130]

“Eh—?”

Ding!

[You have received a new title ‘CBT King’]

Hiro felt nauseous when suddenly all eyes in the square were on him because above his head had appeared a new title in the form of a golden king’s crown with the words ‘CBT King’ written on the side.

“He’s Nightfall!!”

“14,130 Battle Rating? How could that be?”

“I’m sure he’s cheating!”

“His body looks average!”

“He looks so weak!”

“I believe I’m stronger than him.”

Hiro was uncomfortable with the whispers that sounded clear in his ears as if those people were deliberately turning up the volume.

But suddenly—

Someone shouted from afar.

“Look!!!”

The person pointed at the screen and all eyes immediately returned to the giant screen, ignoring Hiro.

[Glitching]

[Glitching]

[Glitching]

“What is happening?”

“Is it broken?”

[Glitching]

Hiro knew something was wrong with the screen. He recognized a glitch that occurred on the screen, the glitch indicated a system error.

It could be due to a hack or intruder.

Right at the last glitch,

The top rank display shifted the name of NightFall to second place.

Meanwhile, the first top rank 1 has been replaced with another username.

But—

[Top 1. WynterRain. Archmage. BR 901,459]