"I deliberately gave him advice but he still came back? He's a much more foolish fellow than I thought." Vidus tutted after he found Ark fearlessly snooping around the auction again. "Well, no need to concern myself about it. Since he took a beating once, he won't follow me. If he does, I'll just give him another bitter experience."

Just as Vidus predicted, Ark didn't follow him around. Actually, he didn't even participate in the auction for a few days. He just went around the auction looking at the items with hungry eyes. Ark finally participated in the auction after three days of nosing around. He bought cheap items worth a few Silver and checked them, but 80% were failures. He suffered a loss of nearly 20 Gold in no time, but Ark didn't give up.

'There's definitely something to it.' Ark steadily bought cheap auction goods after that.

Two days later, he began to see a change, his success rate went up from 20% to 30%, and in once it started to rise, it didn't take very long to rise to 40%.

'I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. It's simpler than I thought.' After losing another 50 Gold or so; Ark felt certain of his perception.

Ark had experienced countless part-time jobs over the last 5 years. He tried things from basic newspaper and milk delivery, to sales and business. Among them, he especially remembered the job he'd obtained from Gwon Hwa-rang's introduction, working at an antiques store.

Ark came in contact with items from all around the world in that job. There weren't many items considered as hard as antiques to value. Things that looked extremely expensive turned out to be worthless, and sometimes the opposite is true. Therefore, losses or gains of thousands of Won hung with the Identifier's judgement.

He never formally learned it, however, as he worked there the ability to guesstimate the value of antiques by eye and ear developed. There are many deciding factors like luster, shape, use, utility, and scarcity but they all result into one value.

The amount of heart and soul the maker poured into the item was critical. When an outstanding craftsman makes an item with their heart and soul, even if it looked shabby at first glance, something was 'unique' about it. One couldn't put a finger on it, but it definitely felt different.

They say practice makes perfect.

'Ah, that one's no good. Something's not right about it.' Most of the items he thought of in that way were fakes.

'Hm? That one's better than it looks?' Those were the valued antiques worth hundreds of thousands of Won.

'This place is virtual reality; item details are the same as in real life.' In order to confirm this, Ark spent a few days going around inspecting the auction goods. It wasn't a shocker, but New World also followed the same rules as the real world. This meant it was possible to know the value even if he didn't get it appraised and check the info.

After reaching a certain degree of conviction, he started buying items. By getting the items identified, he checked the differences from the actual feeling and steadily corrected his mistakes. It required an enormous amount of perseverance and concentration.

After spending several days like that, he stopped encountering losses.

But that wasn't all. As he checked countless auction goods, he sometimes encountered a totally unexpected bonus.

Old Coin (Ancient Relic)

This is an old coin used hundreds of years ago. The living conditions in those days can be glimpsed by the design carved into the coin's surface. The coin is a relic of the past, but it is popular among collectors, so it can be sold for a high price.

Value: 10 gold

Bonus from acquiring information about the ancient relic, Old Coin:

Knowledge of Ancient Relics +1, Intelligence +1, Fame +5.

There were items relevant to Ancient Relics mixed in with the Unidentified items. If he had such an item identified, and held it, he received a bonus to his Knowledge of Ancient Relics stat.

'Now that I think about it, the Mysterious Stone Fragment that was in Gallic's stomach required 50 Knowledge of Ancient Relics to check the info. I was worried about how to raise the stat, but there's a method like this.'

Currently, the stat was at 36. Although it only rose by 1, there were still many auction goods. It wouldn't be too hard to get to 50 if he steadily appraised them. Moreover, the Intelligence that rose along with the Knowledge of Ancient Relics was critically necessary for Ark, who summoned Familiars.

'I found yet another reason to stay in the auction house. Okay, I'm getting more and more motivated.'

Once Ark made up his mind, it was scary how persistent he was. Besides a few hours of sleep, Ark just about lived in the auction house. Slowly, he grasped how much to bid for each item. As his success rate steadily increased, his money also started to pile up, if only a little.

Once he made some surplus capital, he dragged Sid to the auction.

"Sid-nim, from now on I will point out some items, so please bid on them at the auction closing time. Of course, give up on it if it exceeds the max sum I tell you and aim for another item."

"What? But I was just about to leave for a trade..."

"Please do this as a favor. Didn't we cross Grey Ridge together?" Ark held Sid's shoulders and stressed Gray Ridge.

'This isn't receiving help, but holding them by the scruff of their neck.'

In the end, even Sid became a zombie wandering the auction house.

Completely caught by Ark, Sid heaved sighs; however, it was profitable for him as well. Ark stockpiled the items from the auction and sold them through Sid. Thanks to this, Ark made a profit and Sid's EXP rose steadily. Of course, no matter how trustworthy Sid was, the Trade Contract was indispensable!

Thanks to Sid, Ark gained some free time and immediately started another job. He re-auctioned items he'd bought cheaply when there were few people.

'This one is can be sold for 13 gold at most. Since it has Intermediate Protect, once I spend 10 Gold on identification, there'll only be 3 Gold left.' He re-auctioned such an item with a starting bid of 3 Gold. However, Ark wasn't as naive as to just wait for the item to sell itself.

The auctioneer can't place a bid on their own items. But an NPC can.

Ark used that fact to summon Dedric and made him participate in the auction. Ark had to pay if Dedric won the bid, but since Dedric wasn't the one who submitted the item, it wasn't a violation of the rules. The small fee he had to pay to put the item up for auction wasn't much of a loss, either.

He had hit upon the auction's blind spot.

Ark had Dedric and Sid raise the prices on his items. The price was rapidly increasing, so of course it seemed like a good item to clueless people. After doing that for a few hours, they hooked 1-2 blind fish. At that point, the two who had been raising the price for a while immediately backed off.

Even without seeing it, he knew what the expression of the players who took the item they won to the identification shop would be.

"A-Ark-nim. This is a scam."

"Of course not. Not knowing is a sin, that's the world of auction."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is," Ark concluded, with a completely remorseless expression. What he said wasn't wrong. After all, Ark had learned it from Vidus.

Ark spent ten days like this. Except for when he appraised and sold auction goods, he lived attached to the auction house.

Money kept coming and going so crazily that he couldn't tell how much he made or lost. One thing was for certain: he was making money! No, it was only inevitable he would make money.

'By now, I've probably recovered more than the 400 Gold I wasted in the beginning.'

It was what Ark was thinking of as he headed to the auction house again when a message box appeared with a cheerful sound effect.

You have learned a new skill.

Discerning Eye (Special, Passive, Beginner): You have seriously identified countless items for a long time. As a result, you have gained an outstanding eye for sorting out items.

Mana Cost: 20

* You are now able to clear Low-level Protect of unidentified items.

* You can now immediately determine the value of items whose market prices have been checked before.

'W-what's this?' Ark's mouth fell wide open.

The Identification skill could only be learned by production classes with over 300 Wisdom or Magicians with more than 500 Intelligence.

The only exception was to use a Rare skill book. However, Ark, a Dark Walker, was able to learn a skill of the same effect without spending a single penny. In addition, he also gained the ability to immediately determine the value of an item, which was only possible at the identification shop.

It wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't sharpened his eye at the antiques store.

"That's right, in this game, if one fully concentrates on one thing then a related skill will form. However, to think I was able to learn an Appraisal skill when my class isn't Production or Magician-related."

There was a benefit to spending over 10 days in the auction house. The new skill further increased Ark's earnings. It was only low-grade, but 10 identifications was 50 Gold. In another five days, even after selling 300 Gold to pay the hospital fees, he still has 900 Gold piled up in his bag.

In the end though, there was a limit to the amount of money he could make at the auction house.

"I don't see any more useful items now." Ark looked around the auction with regretful eyes.

It has been half a month since he started his auction house life. Now, Ark had a success rate of almost over 70%. Since he'd bought all the useful items like crazy, there were only lousy-looking goods left.

It was an auction that only dealt with items users put up, so there was no way the auction goods would be submitted infinitely.

'Is it about time to leave this place?'

Ark was torn. Although there wasn't a single worthwhile item left, one thing bugged him- the auction item currently in front of him.

It was a sooty sword blade without a handle. On the surface it looked to be trash; but, if inspected closely, there was a peculiar aura emanating from the blade. The problem was, the feeling he sensed from it didn't feel like it would make money.

'No matter how you look at it, this doesn't seem like it's going to make big bucks; although it feels like there's something there.'

Normally, he probably would have just bought it; but, the circumstances was a bit different this time.

'Just who is this guy named Danil?"

The item's starting bid was just 10 Gold. Even so, nobody bidded on the item for the next few hours. It just showed how shabby the item looked. That was why Ark thought he could get it easily and bid 10 Gold and 1 Copper. But the moment he took his eyes off, a player named Danil raised the bid to 15 Gold.

Because of him, Ark's competitive spirit was aroused and he kept raising the price. Before he knew it, the price had rose to a whopping 40 Gold.

'What the hell? Why is this Danil guy so obsessed with this item? I haven't seen his name in the auction before...'

Seeing the price higher than he imagined, Ark placed a bid for 40 Gold and 1 Copper as a test. Perhaps because Danil's competitive spirit was flaring up, he bid a whole 100 gold. One could only think he was crazy.

'If that guy isn't crazy, there's something about this. This is too extreme to be fishing.'

After Ark used the method of inflating prices in the auction house, there were players who used similar methods. Such a method, which he called fishing, was used with discretion to the situation. If he raised the bid to 100 Gold in one go, what kind of madman would get hooked?

This was the reason why Ark was concerned. It looked like he was fishing too obviously. It made him think he wasn't actually fishing. In addition, Danil was a name Ark hadn't seen in the auction house. 100 Gold wasn't an amount that an auction noob would recklessly put out without any certainty.

'But to spend as much as 100 Gold... It's too ridiculous.' It was rare for even a flashy-looking sword or armor to go up by 50 Gold.

'What to do? Should I think of it as my last go, close my eyes tight, and bet on it?'

Even after recovering his loss, he had still earned 250 Gold. Including the Gold he sold to pay for hospital bills, that was a total of 550 Gold! However, for Ark, 100 Gold was not small change.

To invest the money he had earned, running around the auction house like crazy for half a month, it was not a decision he could make lightly.

'Fine then, since I've learned the Discerning Eye skill you can't even get with money here, I've made a huge gain anyways. I've earned all I can from the auction house. Now, as a commemoration of finishing up my life in the auction house, let's trust my eye! Whether it's a success or a failure, I'll part with the auction with this!'

Just when Ark made a big decision and stretched out his hand to the bidding memo, another hand approached at the same time and flinched as it stopped. It was unthinkable for there to be another player who was going to bid higher than 100 Gold on an item like this.

With a surprised expression, Ark stared at a Merchant player he'd never seen before. The player looked at Ark and frowned slightly.

"Are you perhaps Ark-nim?"

"Then you're Danil?"

The Merchant nodded and said, "I don't know why you're trying to win this item, but I absolutely need this item. Won't you please yield?"

'This guy must be a beginner.'

Ark's eyes flashed for an instant. The auction is a battlefield. A battlefield where victory is won with wits and timing rather than swords and shields!

For Danil to show his feelings like this, in such a place...

After Ark saw Danil's response, he perceived that the sum Danil had bid wasn't just fishing. With his fidgety appearance, it was clear there was some reason he had to win this auction no matter what. In other words, this was an item that was guaranteed to have a profit worth the amount he had bid!

'I'd be an idiot to lose such an item in the auction.'

Without saying a word, Ark raised the bid to 110 Gold.

Danil flew into a rage and bid 120 Gold. However, without even batting an eye, Ark raised the price several times. Danil's face soon paled. When the price finally exceeded 200 Gold, Danil complained with an exasperated expression.

"You're too much."

"It wasn't too much. The auction house has always been such a place. If there's something you want, you don't ask your enemy to yield- you do whatever it takes to crush your opponent. Don't you know asking him to yield was your mistake from the start? If you don't have enough money to bid, get out of the way."

At that moment, another person approached and said what Ark had wanted to say. The person was none other than Vidus, who had been in the auction house for the longest time.

Vidus glared at Danil with disparaging eyes. Danil made an enraged expression, but he walked away as if he had nothing to say.

Then, Vidus' gaze settled on Ark.

"Are you also set on this?"

"There isn't any other worthwhile item."

"Hmm, you seemed to be buying up quite a lot of items. It only takes a rough calculation; you must've made a few hundred Gold."

"I wasn't following you, Vidus-nim."

"I know that much. I saw you buying even items I gave up on early." Vidus studied Ark with fresh eyes. "But this is truly amazing, just how did you learn how to judge items properly in a few days? I may have given you a hint, but it shouldn't have been easy. What's more, looking at the bids you've made, your eye for judging an item's maximum price seems more precise than mine. To be able to judge an item not by Silver but down to the Coppers... Is there some sort of method I'm unaware of?"

It was the result of his tenacity to save even a single Copper.

"I didn't know it then, but my eyes are somewhat high quality." As Ark answered while grinning, Vidus nodded.

"So your high quality eyes have set their sights on this item? Then, I too can't just yield it to you. Since my income isn't the same as before because of your unruly meddling, I'll make up for it with this chance."

"Are you saying you want a bidding war?"

"That's right."

Vidus laughed as if amused by the bellicose Ark. "However, since that fellow has dropped out thanks to you, there's no need to raise the price too much, right? It's ridiculous for professionals like you and I to senselessly raise the price like crazy. It's not good to shed each other's blood. Therefore, I'll make a proposal."

"Please continue."

"There isn't much time left before the auction closes, so there is no need to drag this on. We'll write down the max we are willing to go. And the one who writes the higher amount gets the item. How's that?"

"Sounds good." Ark answered without hesitation.

After all, if they had a price war there was no way Ark would win. Vidus, who had been earning money at the auction for a long time, would have many times more capital than Ark.

In fact, Ark was certain Vidus was the player who had bought the Epic item, wandering around the auction house. There was no way he could win with money against such a well-endowed player. Even if he did win, he couldn't hope to recover his losses after raising the price even more in a battle of pride.

'Alright, how much should I write down? How much will Vidus call?'

Now that the match had started, he found it quite difficult. Ark agonized for a moment, thought of something, and quickly wrote down a price.

"Now, at the count of three, we'll both reveal them."

At the same time, they both showed their prices.

Vidus had written 220 Gold. After checking the price, a triumphant smile spread on Ark's face.

"It's my victory."

"...Dammit, how did you know how much I was going write?"

"I remembered the time I spent following you. Vidus-nim, you have a habit of betting exactly 10% higher when you are bidding decisively."

Vidus winced, then let out a sigh and shook his head.

"I lost. I completely lost."

"Then I will take this item."

Ark wrote 220 Gold and 1 Copper on the item's memo. As soon as Ark wrote it down, the sound ending the auction rang and the NPC managing the auction came to collect the item. Once he went to the management office and paid the price, it'd be his farewell with the blind auction.

"I'm leaving this place today. So don't worry and keep making lots of money."

"Look who's talking- you cleaned out all the profitable ones in just half a month, you scary bastard." Watching Ark run off with his backpack jingling, Vidus stuck his tongue out.

Raising the price by 10% at a time was a habit he'd picked up while managing auctions in real life. But who would have thought a rookie would pick up on the habit he himself had forgotten all about.

"With an eye of that level, it'd be fine to leave him the entire auction house. Should I have asked where he lived? Seeing how fast he picked it up, he's probably working in the field already. Shame."

Just as Vidus was turning while smacking his lips, someone ran in helter-skelter and rejoiced when they saw the item had disappeared.

"The auction finally ended!"