「The second item is the Comprehension Pill. Thieves, please place your bids.」 Medicine Master Wen immediately said, “I bid 25 points.” Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei’s expressions instantly turned sour. They couldn’t tell whether Medicine Master Wen genuinely wanted to bid, or if she simply intended to drain their points. Medicine Master Wen currently had 80 points. If she won the item at 25 points, she would still have 55 left and gain the priority to bid on the next item. Because each round required a minimum increase of 5 points, even Yan Qing with 59 Thief Points wouldn’t be able to compete with her. This way, Medicine Master Wen could secure two rewards. But if they raised the bid to 30 points for the Comprehension Pill, Medicine Master Wen would likely drop out. The person who won the Comprehension Pill would then be disqualified from the next round of bidding, and Medicine Master Wen would still likely claim two rewards. “25 points going once, 25 points going twice, 25 points going three times.” “Black Wolf wins the Comprehension Pill.” Even as the Thieves' House declared the result three times, Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei didn’t raise their bids. They watched as Medicine Master Wen secured seven Comprehension Pills at an unbelievably low price. Meeting everyone’s gaze, she said casually, “I managed to achieve three job changes so quickly thanks to the Comprehension Pill I won last time. Thank you all for letting me have this one.” Although that’s what she said, not everyone believed her. Her bid alone made it clear—Medicine Master Wen wasn’t just some hot-headed brute. She also had a calculating side. Her emotional instability hadn’t become an obstacle—on the contrary, she flared up when it was time to flare up and calmed down when necessary, showing no signs of inner turmoil. Among the four, she might actually be the most mentally sound. Medicine Master Wen was very satisfied. She wasn’t lying—it was thanks to the Comprehension Pills that she had grasped a new secret technique at an astonishing speed and completed her third job change before the second mission. But on the eighth day after taking the pills, she had woken up in the morning feeling like she was sick. The entire world seemed unfamiliar, everything felt strangely off, and it was hard to concentrate—she felt... stupid. It took her hours to accept the harsh truth: she wasn’t sick, just back to her former self. She made up her mind that from now on, she would bid on every bottle of Comprehension Pills. No way was she going to let them realize how amazing it felt to be smart. 「The third item is the Red Furnace Fire Essence. Thieves, please place your bids.」 “I bid 50 points!” Medicine Master Wen shouted again. She took full advantage of her priority bid and offered a price that made both Snake and Dog visibly uncomfortable. Both of them were eligible to bid—and could win with that bid—but the cost would nearly drain their Thief Points. It was obvious she wasn’t bidding to win. She was trying to exhaust their Thief Points! Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei couldn’t help but glance at Medicine Master Wen. She didn’t avoid their gaze and met their eyes directly—when cooperating, they could be united, but when it came to dividing the spoils, every inch had to be contested. Medicine Master Wen bore no moral burden and had no intention of being polite—she was raised with that mentality. The Zhou Kingdom was founded by a military meritocracy. Essentially, a pack of jackals feasting under a wolf king—backing down wouldn't earn goodwill, but would only make others think you’re meat. Besides, among the three, the Thieves’ House recognized Medicine Master Wen as the one who contributed most. Therefore, she deserved to dominate the auction. A true leader bore the greatest burden and took the lion’s share—that was what made one worthy of being followed! Yan Qing considered for a moment, and just as the Thieves’ House was about to finalize the bid with three strikes, he finally spoke: “I—” But before he could act, Shang Xinlei cut him off with her own bid: “I bid 55 points.” “55 points going once, 55 points going twice, 55 points going three times.” “Red Snake wins the Red Furnace Fire Essence.” Not winning the Red Furnace Fire Essence left Yan Qing a little disappointed, but it also steeled his resolve. That meant the next item—the Random Secret Technique Book—was something he had to win. The problem was, did Medicine Master Wen want it too, or was she aiming for the Life-Saving Pill? If Medicine Master Wen also wanted the Secret Technique Book, Yan Qing would need to bid at least 51 points to stop her. But then, Medicine Master Wen could obtain the Life-Saving Pill for a dirt-cheap price and still have over 40 Thief Points left. Damn it—winning two rewards and still saving that many points, practically guaranteeing the Legendary Token in the next mission. Yan Qing felt like they were all just working for Medicine Master Wen—the Thieves’ House wouldn’t tolerate someone that overpowered! If she made the first move, Yan Qing had to follow up with a bigger one. He couldn’t let her take all the advantage—at the very least, she needed to bleed for it. 「The fourth item is the Random Secret Technique Book. Thieves, please place your bids.」 As soon as the Thieves’ House finished speaking, Yan Qing immediately called out, “I bid 29 points!” Medicine Master Wen slightly frowned. This bid was ambiguous—it seemed sincere, yet could also be bait to lure her into raising the price. Based on her assessment, Yan Qing probably hadn’t reached his third job change yet (he hadn’t even done his second, in fact). The Secret Technique Book should be a must-have for him. However, the final item—the Life-Saving Pill—was no less valuable than the Secret Technique Book, perhaps even more so. After all, Secret Technique Books could be found through other means, but she had never even heard of a Life-Saving Pill. It likely only appeared in fourth-stage Secret Realms or higher. To Medicine Master Wen, the Life-Saving Pill was undoubtedly more important. There was no need to jeopardize it just to bleed Yan Qing dry. “29 points going once, 29 points going twice, 29 points going three times.” “Yellow Dog wins the Random Secret Technique Book.” Yan Qing finally secured the Secret Technique Book and felt relieved. The Advanced Footwork Manual was already en route. If he could also get an Advanced Dual Blade Manual, he could use the Random Secret Technique Book and the Left Curve, Right Sweep manual to achieve a third job change at record speed. Before reaching Foundation level, his path was smooth. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥 「The fifth item is the Life-Saving Pill. Thieves, please place your bids.」 Yan Qing immediately wagered all his remaining points: “I bid 30 points.” Obviously, this was revenge for Medicine Master Wen’s earlier bid. But she wasn’t upset. She calmly responded, “I bid 35 points.” Everyone watched the Life-Saving Pill go to Medicine Master Wen. Not to mention the others—even Yan Qing felt a twinge of envy. Being able to survive a guaranteed fatal blow was priceless. In this real-mode setting, death meant true death. Had the Life-Saving Pill been auctioned first, there’s no way Medicine Master Wen could’ve won it at such a low cost. Even after taking a hit from Yan Qing, Medicine Master Wen still came out the biggest winner. She secured two bottles of pills and had 20 Thief Points left—second highest in the group. Yan Qing had 30 points, placing first overall. Ying Ru Shi had 1 point left, and Shang Xinlei had 0—both essentially starting from scratch. “Did you all notice something?” Ying Ru Shi suddenly spoke up after the division of loot. “This time, the starting bid wasn’t 5 points, but 10.” “Maybe the rewards were better, so the starting price was raised too?” Shang Xinlei speculated. “If the starting bid increases every time, we might eventually face a situation where we have no points left to bid,” Medicine Master Wen said. Yan Qing thought to himself—it’s not that complicated. It’s just a way to drain your Thief Points. From the very start, Yan Qing had realized something about the Thieves’ House: randomly matched players might end up becoming friends. Not that it was a problem—《The Messenger》 was an MMORPG, and social interaction was its core. Letting players bond through instances and play for their friends was the ultimate goal of the game’s design. But if players in the Thieves’ House became too close, they could just agree among themselves to bid the minimum and not raise prices—rendering Thief Points meaningless. Raising the starting bid was a way to encourage players to actively steal, or else the points earned in a single mission wouldn’t even cover the minimum bid.