Shane hated spending the extra money on tailoring, but it was unavoidable.

  He still remembered the last time he’d tried to buy a suit off the rack. The jacket that fit his waist wouldn’t go over his shoulders, and the one that did fit his shoulders had a waist so wide it was comical.

  Two guards stood by a slim table with a small sign that read “Private Sale.”

  Obviously, with astronomical amounts of cash changing hands, the security of the place was high.

  Even if it didn’t look like it, the building had skills stacked around it that prevented the use of B-rank skills and under.

  The building owner probably would’ve wanted to at least block A-rank skills, but that was either too costly to sustain or there wasn’t anyone strong enough who was willing to cast such a skill for them.

  Well, if an S-rank truly decided to go rampant, a non-awakened rich dude was not going to be able to stop them, anyway.

  Not wanting to be kicked out for suspicious behavior before even joining the auction, Shane just shut his mouth and let the men inspect him. He would go mad if his [Behavior Lock] messed things up now.

  The guard on the left extended a gloved hand without a word so Shane unlocked his phone and displayed the digital invitation.

  These guys were even more stoic than Shane’s [Behavior Lock].

  ...Or was he just as bad? Hopefully not.

  The man scanned the QR code with a tablet, his eyes darting between the screen and Shane’s face.

  “And your ID?” the guard requested.

  Shane handed over his hunter license. While the first guard ran the background check, the second guard gestured vaguely toward Shane’s midsection.

  “Sir, I’m going to perform a standard inventory scan,” the second guard said, his tone apologetic but firm.

  That was why Shane had sold all the loot he had before coming here. No raw monster parts or weapons were allowed inside the building.

  Of course, Shane couldn’t really leave behind the Broken Oath at his studio where it could easily be stolen. But, without objection, Shane stood still.

  The guard stared at Shane for a brief moment, eyes slightly unfocused as he cast [Minor Appraisal].

  Since the skill rank wasn’t high, he could feel an invisible invasion, like a phantom hand was rummaging through pockets in his mind.

  After also checking over Shane’s physical body, the guard blinked, refocusing his eyes.

  “My apologies for the intrusion.”

  “You’re all set,” the first guard said, handing back Shane’s ID. “Registration is on the third floor. The elevators are to your left.”

  Since [Minor Appraisal] only read category labels, not item specifics, it could flag weapons without exposing anything else. The Broken Oath, when unactivated, was just a broken relic, so it passed the scan. Just as he planned.

  Everything had gone so perfectly that Shane forgot the leash around his neck for a second, and while reaching for the card, let his guard down and tried to say, “Thanks.”

  But [Behavior Lock] clamped down hard this time. He snatched the ID from the guard’s hand without making eye contact.

  “Finally,” he muttered, his voice bored.

  Shit.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  His own voice sounded like a stranger’s in his ears. Feeling a hot prickle on the back of his neck, he decided to just leave the spot quickly.

  But even his embarrassment triggered the [Behavior Lock] and made him brush past the guards toward the elevator, adjusting his cuffs like he was someone far above their pay grade.

  The elevator opened onto a bright hall.

  A velvet rope marked the doors to the auction room, and the thick carpet muffled Shane’s already quiet footsteps. He noted the pair of guards in dark suits and earpieces.

  A small reception desk sat beside the doors with neat stacks of catalogs and a dish of numbered paddles.

  A staff member approached with a trained smile.

  “Welcome. Are you bidding this evening?”

  “Someone’s joining me,” he said. “We’ll register together.”

  He didn’t have a payment method on file yet, and he wasn’t about to use his own.

  “Of course. You are welcome to wait in the foyer.”

  He took a catalog and stepped into the anteroom. It was a small space with two glass cases displaying a few items under bright white lights.

  There were fewer people here. Just what he wanted.

  Ryan had sent a message earlier saying he was tied up but was sending someone in his place.

  A nice surprise, honestly.

  Walking in with a celebrity B-ranker like Ryan Rowland was a great way to draw a spotlight, and there was one person in particular here tonight he’d rather not have notice him.

  The longer he could go unseen, the better.

  He had been ready to handle that unwanted attention by deciding to come with Ryan, but it would have been… inconvenient, to say the least. But he couldn’t tell his wallet to stay home.

  He chose a spot near a column where he could see the elevators and the entrance at the same time. He skimmed the catalog, but kept one eye on the reflection in the glass case.

  When the stand-in still hadn’t arrived ten minutes past the agreed time, Shane checked his phone to see if Ryan messaged him. Nothing.

  His thumb hovered over the screen, and the “Trending Now” tab at the top of the hunter community app caught his eye.

  The number one hashtag was eye-catching: #TroyWinterRampage.

  He frowned and tapped it. A news article from The Awakened Daily popped up, timestamps showing it had broken late last night.

  [BREAKING] Rivalry Explodes: Troy Winter Ambushes Top-Ranked Aiden Daniels

  NEW YORK — Just moments after the successful conquest of the S-rank dungeon, witnesses report that Troy Winter, the nation’s second-ranked rookie and Vice Guildmaster of the Wynn Guild, launched an unprovoked assault on the raid leader, Aiden Daniels.

  System footage shows Winter attacking the Golden Rookie from behind without warning, seemingly furious at the dungeon raid contribution score. The Hunter Association has condemned the violence, but the Wynn Guild has yet to issue a formal statement regarding the incident.

  Below the headline was a clip from a System recorded video.

  The camera angle swept dynamically from a wide shot to a tight close-up to Troy Winter. The Vice Guildmaster was grinning like a maniac, monster blood still painting his S-rank leather jacket red, as he conjured three man-sized ice spears.

  With a flick of his wrist, he launched them straight at Aiden’s unprotected back, and the clip ended there.

  Typical.

  With his skills, no doubt Aiden was unharmed, but the media purposefully focused more on the assault part, making it sound vague whether Aiden had been injured or not to make the video go viral.

  Shane scrolled down, ignoring the comments. The media was already spinning a complex narrative, calling it a “mental breakdown due to performance anxiety” or a “calculated feud” for the number one spot.

  But Shane knew better. The truth was far stupider.

  Troy didn’t give a damn about guild reputation or rankings. He was just a pure adrenaline junkie.

  The guy simply wanted to fight strong hunters, and his current obsession was Aiden Daniels.

  In the original scenario, that obsession usually moved onto the player character, since he was technically one of the rival NPCs. He had turned every joint raid into a headache since you had to watch your back for friendly attacks.

  But that wasn’t going to happen in this reality.

  Not when Shane was officially registered as a pathetic F-rank.

  Shane let out a quiet breath. That was a huge relief. He sympathized with poor Aiden Daniels, but for once, he was happy to not have to constantly fight off that madman.

  A new elevator arrived with a soft chime.

  Three people stepped out. Shane didn’t turn his head, but instead, just watched the reflection. They all went straight to register and entered the auction room.

  Thirty minutes later, a staff member placed a small sign near the rope that read “Seating Soon.”

  The stand-in was nowhere to be seen.

  Shane thought that wasn’t like Ryan, sending someone who couldn’t even show up on—

  “Shane Ashwell?” A voice came from directly behind him.

  How the hell...?

  Shane had been watching both the entrance and the elevator this whole time.

  The building was layered with enchantments blocking high-tier skills.

  For someone to breach through it, they’d have to be a very high-ranked hunter, someone whose skills could resist the enchantments. But that would immediately alert the guards in the building.

  ...Or there was another case. If a person’s stats were so high that their movements looked like teleportation.

  And the man behind Shane was definitely capable of that.

  [Behavior Lock] clamped down on his surprise, keeping his face a blank mask as he turned.