MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 108: The Black Horse Strikes

"75,200,000 gold coins, HandsomeDevil."

"75,200,000 gold coins. Going once. Is there any further bid?"

"75,300,000 gold coins, InfernoRider001."

"75,300,000 gold coins. Going once. Is there any further bid?"

"75,300,000 gold coins. Going twice. Is there any further bid?"

The auction price for the Guild Creation Token had finally stopped exploding upward and slowed to a crawl, creeping forward in increments of only one hundred thousand gold coins at a time. Each new bid was followed by a heavy, suffocating silence, as if the entire arena was holding its breath. It was clear that the major Guilds were no longer just calculating value, they were feeling the pressure, the strain of pushing their finances to the absolute edge.

Even though they had prepared extensively and never underestimated the importance of the Guild Creation Token or the brutality of the competition, the Guild Masters had still been arrogant. They had believed no outsider could possibly raise this much gold in such a short time. Seventy million gold coins was supposed to be the unbreakable ceiling, the final wall no one could cross. Yet now, not only were the established Guilds locked in a desperate struggle, but a terrifying dark horse named Blaze Phoenix had stormed into the auction without warning.

"75,400,000 gold coins, Demonic Dragon."

The price continued to rise, slow but relentless. No matter how painful the cost became, none of the major Guilds were willing to back down. They would not let the Token slip into someone else’s hands unless they were forced out at the very last second, drained down to their final gold coin.

"75,400,000 gold coins. Going once. Is there any further bid?"

"80,000,000 gold coins, Blaze Phoenix."

"Whoa!"

The arena erupted instantly. Players shouted in disbelief, their voices overlapping in pure shock. Blaze Phoenix was completely insane. In a single bid, he had smashed through the fragile balance and thrown down eighty million gold coins, detonating the auction price all over again.

"Who the hell is Blaze Phoenix?"

Even the players seated in the VIP Section could not hold back their curses this time. Members of the Inferno Clan and the Black Dragon Guild were especially furious, their expressions darkening as they scanned the crowd, desperately trying to locate this sudden upstart. Whether he won the auction or not, they silently swore that he would pay for this later. Unfortunately for them, Blaze Phoenix was concealed behind a Concealment Mask, his identity completely hidden.

Eighty million gold coins, equivalent to eight million dollars.

Marcus felt his mind go blank for a moment. He could not believe the Guild Creation Token had reached such an absurd price, nor could he believe that Blaze Phoenix actually possessed that much gold, let alone the nerve to spend it all in one auction.

There was only one reason Marcus could accept this as reality. The system enforced a strict auction rule, a player’s bid could never exceed the amount of gold currently in their inventory. The moment a bid was placed, that gold was immediately locked by the system, unable to be spent or transferred elsewhere. It could only increase, never decrease. If the player won the auction, the system would automatically deliver the item to the winner and transfer the locked gold to the auction house, eliminating any possibility of fake bids or refusal to pay.

Without this rule, Marcus would have dismissed Blaze Phoenix’s bid as impossible.

To be absolutely certain, he opened the Wealth Leaderboard once again.

1. Blaze Phoenix – 83,820,000 Gold

2. Demonic Dragon – 82,460,000 Gold

3. InfernoRider001 – 81,220,000 Gold

4. HandsomeDevil – 80,110,000 Gold

5. Hexium – 76,720,000 Gold

6. SoulfireBlade – 74,010,000 Gold

7. ThreeleafAxe69 – 72,780,000 Gold

8. Slayer#Apex – 71,810,000 Gold

9. CryptoWarlord – 64,010,000 Gold

10. GoldDiggerIRL – 59,420,000 Gold

As expected, the leaderboard had shifted once again. The top four players had all crossed the eighty million gold coin threshold, standing in a realm far beyond ordinary players. The mysterious Blaze Phoenix still held first place, and it was obvious that he had converted nearly all available resources into liquid gold just for this moment.

Any Guild whose reserves fell below eighty million was now completely out of the race. It was already too late to inject more gold into the system. Their chance had passed.

Would the Guild Creation Token truly fall into Blaze Phoenix’s hands today?

That question echoed silently through the minds of countless players, all of them dazed by this absurd, surreal auction that felt more like a legend unfolding in real time than something actually happening before their eyes.

Yet inside the VIP Section of the Arena, one man watched the chaos with a broad, uncontrollable grin stretched across his face. He made no effort to hide his satisfaction as the numbers climbed higher and higher.

This man was GoldDiggerIRL, the owner of the Gold Coin Auction House.

GoldDiggerIRL’s eyes narrowed into a pleased squint, his round face and chubby frame giving him the harmless, friendly look of a cheerful merchant. Yet as his gaze drifted toward the calm, composed figure of CryptoWarlord, the satisfaction in his heart only grew stronger.

’CryptoWarlord, what are you really thinking right now?’ GoldDiggerIRL mused inwardly. ’You look steady and confident on the surface, but inside you must be seething. Eighty million gold coins... that can’t feel good. Feeling miserable yet?’

The Guild Creation Token had already broken the eighty million gold coin mark. To people like CryptoWarlord and GoldDiggerIRL, that amount of money was not truly shocking. But what mattered was not the gold itself, it was what this auction represented. The Old Vine Auction House had just pulled off a monumental success.

An auction price this high would burn itself into every player’s memory. From now on, whenever someone wanted to sell a high-value item, the first place that would come to mind would be the Old Vine Auction House. Its name would become synonymous with premium goods and record-breaking deals.

Both GoldDiggerIRL and CryptoWarlord were obsessed with the growth of their respective auction houses. Monopolizing the Dominion market and claiming the title of number one auction house was more than a business goal, it was a matter of pride and proof of their abilities.

There was no denying CryptoWarlord’s talent. He was shrewd, adaptable, and patient, and for a long time, he had been close to achieving that goal. But the sudden rise of the Old Vine Auction House, combined with this explosive auction, had shattered his momentum. His carefully laid development plans were now in disarray. He could no longer afford to focus all his attention on suppressing the Gold Coin Auction House alone.

Naturally, GoldDiggerIRL felt nothing but joy.

Watching CryptoWarlord forced onto the defensive was deeply satisfying.

Before the Old Vine Auction House emerged, CryptoWarlord had repeatedly targeted GoldDiggerIRL’s business, applying pressure from every angle and nearly driving him into a corner. But now, the situation had completely changed. With the Old Vine Auction House firmly established, a three-way balance of power had formed between the Old Vine Auction House, the Merchant Alliance Auction House, and the Gold Coin Auction House. None of them could move freely anymore. Each restrained the others.

"80,000,000 gold coins. Going once. Is there any further bid?"

"80,000,000 gold coins. Going twice. Is there any further bid?"

"80,500,000 gold coins, InfernoRider001."

"You damn Blaze Phoenix. Don’t let me ever see you in person."

InfernoRider001 cursed through clenched teeth. If he were not afraid of humiliating himself in front of the entire arena, he would have shouted it aloud. As the leader of the Inferno Clan, someone desperate to establish the very first Guild, the sight of the top three on the Wealth Leaderboard filled him with crushing frustration.

Once again, he had fallen behind.

If only he had converted more gold earlier.

"81,000,000 gold coins, Demonic Dragon."

Demonic Dragon had already transferred every last bit of gold he could gather into his account, yet even that was not enough to suppress that lunatic Blaze Phoenix. Hatred churned violently in his chest. If he ever uncovered Blaze Phoenix’s real identity, he swore he would hunt him down in the real world, no matter who he was or where he came from.

He wanted Blaze Phoenix to understand one thing clearly. No one crossed the Black Dragon Guild and walked away unscathed.

"81,100,000 gold coins, Blaze Phoenix."

"81,200,000 gold coins, InfernoRider001."

"81,300,000 gold coins, Blaze Phoenix."

"81,500,000 gold coins, Demonic Dragon."

Hidden within the shadows of the arena, Blaze Phoenix quietly watched the numbers climb higher and higher, his heart filled with a strange sense of admiration. The United States truly lived up to its reputation as the strongest region in the world. The wealth, the nerve, the sheer scale of these bidders was astounding.

"Heh heh..."

A crooked, malicious smile slowly spread across Blaze Phoenix’s face.

His true objective had never been the Guild Creation Token alone. What he wanted was to cripple the development of the US major Guilds, to disrupt their momentum and throw their plans into chaos. Forcing them to burn through this much gold would severely weaken their ability to establish and expand their Guilds afterward.

And that was not all.

This shameless price inflation would ripple through the entire regional economy, driving up costs and destabilizing the market across the Western Region.

Of course, this was only the beginning.

In the days to come, Blaze Phoenix planned to unleash even more ruthless schemes, actions far more despicable than this, until the Western Region was plunged into complete confusion.