MMORPG: Birth of the World's Luckiest Player-Chapter 98: A Million Eyes on Gold

Leaving the Appraiser’s shop, Marcus double-checked the gear in his inventory, making sure everything was in place before heading toward the Old Vine Auction House. The auction was scheduled for eight that evening, and he wanted to see how the preparations were coming along. He still had a few high-end items in his bag he was hoping to consign before the deadline.

When he turned the corner, he stopped cold.

’Whoa. What the hell is going on?’

The entrance to the Old Vine Auction House was absolutely packed, a noisy, shifting wall of players that choked the street. A line snaked from the doors, so long he couldn’t even see the end of it. It looked bigger than the queue he’d waited in to buy his VR headset before the game launched.

’What happened?’ he wondered, running a hand through his hair. Yesterday the place had been quiet, almost empty. Now it looked like the whole server had decided to show up.

He edged closer to a cluster of players buzzing with excitement. "Hey, what’s with the line?"

A Mage turned, his eyes lit up. "They’re letting people view the Guild Creation Token and the two Gold-tier pieces before the auction tonight."

A burly Warrior beside him let out a low whistle. "Man, those items are insane. I swear, if I had that Gold gear, I could give the top ten on the Leaderboards a run for their money."

"Really? They’re that good?" a third player asked, sounding skeptical.

The Mage stared at him. "You haven’t seen them? They’re Gold tier. Actual Gold gear. How have you not checked them out?"

The Warrior shook his head in mock disappointment. "No wonder you’re clueless. Don’t be a noob, man. Go look before you say another word."

The third player laughed, holding up his hands. "Alright, alright, my bad. I’m going, I’m going."

"Better hurry," the Mage warned. "Viewing cuts off four hours before the auction. Starts at eight. Miss it, and you’re out of luck."

Further down, another player emerged from the viewing area, a huge grin on his face. "Holy crap. They’re the real deal. The stats are absolutely broken. Best few gold I’ve ever spent."

"Wait, you have to pay just to see the stats?" Marcus asked, a mix of pride and disbelief washing over him. He knew exactly which items they were talking about; they were his, after all, but he hadn’t expected Old Vine to charge an admission fee.

"Of course you pay," the player said, as if it were obvious. "You think they let you peek at Gold gear for free? It’s four gold per Gold item, eight for the Token."

’Jesus,’ Marcus thought. Old Vine was literally minting money. Four gold was the price of a couple of medium health potions. Sixteen gold to see all three? Chump change for most serious players.

But with a crowd this size, the math got scary fast. Sixteen gold from ten thousand players was 160,000. From a hundred thousand, it was 1.6 million. From a million players? Sixteen million gold.

Old Vine was a damn business genius. He had to give him that.

Marcus tried to push his way inside, but the lobby was a solid wall of bodies. He couldn’t get anywhere. Giving up, he sent a private message.

"Old Vine. It’s Stone. You in there?"

"Stone! Perfect timing. I was about to reach out. Use the back entrance."

Marcus circled to the rear of the building and slipped inside. Old Vine was waiting and immediately ushered him into a quiet side room. The old man’s grin was practically splitting his face, his eyes bright with triumph.

"Stone, my boy, this is all because of your Token and those two Gold pieces," Old Vine said, his voice thick with glee.

"Made a killing, did you?" Marcus asked.

Old Vine held up two fingers.

"Two million?" Marcus guessed.

"No," Old Vine said, shaking his head slowly.

Marcus’s eyes widened. ’No way.’

"We’re pushing twenty million."

"You’re kidding me." Marcus nearly coughed. Twenty million? Just for letting people look?

Old Vine chuckled, a rich, satisfied sound. "Stone, the moment I posted the announcement yesterday, the floodgates opened. Everyone wanted to see the attributes. Once the crowd hit critical mass, the idea just... clicked. A small viewing fee. Sixteen gold for all three is nothing, but with these numbers? It exploded. Over a million players have paid so far."

Marcus could only shake his head. Players were nuts. Making money in Dominion could be disgustingly easy sometimes.

"Honestly," Old Vine sighed, a hint of theatrical regret in his tone, "I’m kicking myself for scheduling the auction tonight. If I’d pushed it to tomorrow or the next day, we could have squeezed another full day of this."

"I’ve got a few more high-stat pieces," Marcus mused, the wheels turning. If it was this easy, he was an idiot for not setting up his own shop sooner. He still had the Divine Artifact, the Adamant Shield, not to mention the two Mythics... Maybe he could put them on display, too.

But Old Vine was already waving a dismissive hand. "No, the moment’s passed. This frenzy is because of your Guild Creation Token. That’s the main attraction. Your Gold pieces have perfect stats, so they’re the icing. People rushed here for a first look, a sneak peek at history. Now that they’ve seen Gold gear up close, the dazzle is gone. Try to charge them again, and they’ll riot."

Marcus sighed. So much for that river of gold.

"What about a Divine Artifact? Or a Mythic? That would cause a panic, right?"

"You have a Divine Artifact?" Old Vine’s eyebrows shot up.

"Heh, well, I have a low-level one. The stats aren’t great," Marcus admitted, already imagining the gold he could make if he put it on display.

"A Divine Artifact would draw a ton of attention," Old Vine admitted, "but if you only show it and don’t auction it, your reputation will tank. And after today, players won’t be so gullible. The number one trending topic on the forum right now is the post showing pictures of your Guild Creation Token and the Golden items. If you display a Divine Artifact today, half the players will just wait for someone else to leak the pictures. The visitor count will drop, and the gold won’t come close to what we made."

Marcus couldn’t argue. The old man’s logic was cold, clear, and utterly mercantile. He was a pro.

"That’s why this worked," Old Vine continued, leaning forward. "Perfect timing. First-of-its-kind novelty. Zero competition. Replicating it will be next to impossible."

"Old Vine, you’re too good at this. You a businessman in real life?" Marcus asked.

The old man gave a modest, rumbling laugh. "Let’s just say I’ve brokered a deal or two. Anyway, all this viewing gold came from your three items. You should take the lion’s share. I did the work, so I’ll take a cut. I’m thinking seventy-thirty. Seventy for you, thirty for me. Fair?"

"Seventy is too much. Let’s go fifty-fifty. The whole scheme was yours. I’d have never thought of it," Marcus said, meaning it. Half still felt like a steal.

"Stone, you might regret that generosity when you hear about tonight’s auction." Old Vine gave him a peculiar, almost pitying look.

Marcus frowned. "Why? What’s up with the auction?"

"I was out grinding levels yesterday. Missed the whole thing here."

Old Vine leaned back in his chair, clearly savoring the moment. "Tonight’s auction isn’t in the Auction House. We’ve moved it. It’s being held in the Arena at Dragon’s Peak Citadel. We have three seating tiers. The VIP section is dead center; only a hundred seats. Each one goes for one hundred thousand gold. The first three rings around the Arena have fifty thousand seats total, at one hundred gold apiece. The remaining five hundred thousand seats in the outer stands are thirty gold each."