Inside the small case, a glimring amulet rested. Its blue and silver hues caught the moonlight.
The Collector's face remained obscured in shadow as he turned. His eyes glinted in approval. "Well done," he murmured.
He looked at the amulet with mild interest before his gaze shifted to Fox.
"Fox," he called with a soft yet commanding tone.
She approached him silently with asured steps. Even with the mask on, her focus and readiness were clear. She stopped a few steps before him, bowing slightly as a show of respect.
"Yes, sir?" she replied with a respectful tone.
The Collector gestured to the glistening city below. "Have you heard the recent news?" he voiced in curiosity.
Fox tilted her head. "I've heard snippets. The police chatter has been louder than usual, but that's not unusual given our activities."
The Collector shook his head slightly. "No, not about our recent exploits. There's a na surfacing in certain… circles. The na Aleman."
The other mbers of her group shifted, listening closely as the conversation turned to sothing unexpected. Fox's eyes sharpened behind the mask. "Aleman?"
The Collector nodded, returning his gaze to the cityscape as he spoke with a tone of intrigue. "Reports say this individual managed to sell an in-ga item that wasn't of Legendary grade. A Bronze-grade item."
Fox's eyes narrowed. "Impossible. Only Legendary items can be extracted out of Enders Light."
"That's the rule," the Collector agreed with a thoughtful tone. "But sohow, he did it. The sale went through, and the item was verified as authentic. Bronze grade."
One of the other n in the group scoffed quietly, crossing his arms. "There must be a catch. Perhaps he found so loophole, so glitch?"
The Collector shook his head slowly with a resolute tone. "No. This isn't a common glitch. It's either a unique property of the item itself… or sothing about this Aleman."
Fox crossed her arms, considering his words carefully. "What if it's the latter? If he's capable of extracting items at any grade…"
The Collector's voice dropped to a whisper, laden with anticipation. "Then we may have stumbled upon soone with a power far beyond our current understanding. It is too much to comprehend. And if that's true, then he could be the key to acquiring things we've only dread of."
The idea seed to catch like wildfire among the others in the room. Their faces shifted from skepticism to interest.
They all turned their eyes to Fox as she spoke up.
"What would you have do, sir?" she questioned, awaiting orders.
The Collector's gaze hardened. "Find him. Find this Aleman. Gather any information you can on him. I want to know who he is, how he does it, and how we can use him to our advantage."
Fox nodded in understanding. "Consider it done."
The Collector took a step closer, lowering his voice to almost a hiss. "And, Fox… be cautious. If this Aleman really can extract any item, he may be more powerful than we think."
A faint, humorless smile tugged at the corner of Fox's lips beneath the mask. Her confidence remained unwavering. "If he proves dangerous, I'll handle it."
The Collector let out a low chuckle of approval. "I trust you will."
With a slight bow, Fox turned and gestured to her team, motioning for them to exit the chamber. As they moved toward the door, she could hear the whispers of her colleagues behind her, murmuring about this new player on their radar.
As they left, Fox's mind was already working through her next steps, calculating her approach. This Aleman had piqued her curiosity, and while her orders were clear, she couldn't deny a thrill of excitent at the prospect of tracking him down.
After all, anything rarely ever escaped her watchful eyes once they had her attention.
...
...
It had been four days since August had posted his items for sale, and the response had been nothing short of overwhelming.
His inbox overflowed with ssages, each one a new inquiry from people all over the internet. So were eager to buy, willing to pay top dollar without hesitation, while others were more skeptical, questioning the authenticity of his items and how he had managed to extract weapons and tools below Legendary grade out of Enders Light.
In gaming communities, forums buzzed with debates, theories, and speculations about Aleman.
So claid he was a genius hacker who had sohow bypassed the ga's rigid extraction laws; others theorized he had found a rare item with special properties that allowed him to break the usual rules.
A few bold voices even suggested Aleman might have connections within the ga's mysterious developnt team, giving him insider access to abilities unavailable to the general player base.
For August, however, all this talk was nothing but background noise. His focus was straightforward: clear his debts and maintain a low profile in real life. He didn't need fa or attention from the online community—just the right buyers and enough sales to reach his target so he could finally move on to the next phase... Starting a business.
In the anti, he had been steadily progressing in Enders Light, grinding his way up to level 23.
His combat skills were sharper, his magical abilities more refined, and he'd even made a handful of connections with players in real life, one of whom had recently purchased the Basic Dagger.
The buyer, ecstatic to get his hands on a genuine weapon from the ga, had even exchanged in-ga nas with August, promising to stay in touch and possibly grind together soti.
August smirked as he thought back on it. "The more connections, the better," he mused to himself.
Even though he had no intention of becoming a social figure in the gaming world, building a network in Enders Light couldn't hurt. It would definitely help his business.
His next appointnts were lined up over the coming days: tomorrow, he would be eting a buyer for the Toxic Daggers, a sale he'd carefully vetted.
The demand for the daggers was intense, and sifting through the thousands of interested buyers had taken ti, but he felt confident he had found the right person.
As for the Runic Sword, he had secured an appointnt with a wealthy client who had expressed serious interest. The agreent was clear—any deviation, and he'd sell it to soone else.
Satisfied with his progress, August settled into his daily routine at the factory.
However, as he went about his tasks, he couldn't help but notice the absence of Derrick. This was the second day his friend hadn't shown up for his shift. A sense of worry tugged at him.
Derrick was reliable, and for him to miss two days in a row without notice was out of character.
"Where the hell are you, Derrick?" August muttered under his breath as he hoisted a heavy crate onto a conveyor belt.
August resolved to call Derrick after work.
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