The Devil's Cage

“You know about “I”?”

The question escaped Kieran’s mouth as he looked at the female owner in front of him.

“Of course! You wouldn’t think that among so many players, you are the only one who reached “I”? Or… do you think what you’ve seen is everything?”

Although her face was blurred out by the system, Kieran clearly felt that the female owner was smiling when she said those words.

It wasn’t malicious sneering or mocking but a ridiculing one, but it didn’t bother Kieran.

“Above the veterans?” Kieran stared at Rachel as he asked the question.

“Mm. You can say that. We have a fixed date for gatherings, I’ll bring you to meet them next time. Not all of them but several of whom I have quite the relationship with.”

Rachel nodded and casually picked up a high glass for wiping.

“Then… Lawless?” Kieran asked hesitantly.

“He should have entered this circle long ago but because of the flaw in his character, he robbed himself of the qualifications. The longer he drags on, the farther he is from this advance circle!”

Kieran clearly picked up the sigh from the female owner.

Obviously, Rachel felt pity for Lawless as well as Kieran’s heartfelt sense of.

He was not willing to lose a decent friend because of the gap of strength as his heart was recalling what Rachel said before.

The slightly relaxed state that Kieran had because of his Spirit having reached I vanished instantly, the urgency for him to increase his strength floated in his heart again.

Not only to cure Lawless of his flawed character but also because the circle that Rachel spoke off.

The circle was formed entirely of advanced players, then it suddenly led Kieran into a new thought.

“What about the Witch? Is the Witch also from this circle?” Kieran asked.

The moment Kieran uttered the question, he noticed Rachel’s hand tremble a little and despite her quickly recovering from his, Kieran still caught a glimpse.

“What is it?” Kieran asked.

“The Witch… Either to us or the common veterans and newbies, she is the existence that no one can surpass. You didn’t go through the era where she was still here and will never feel the despair that she brings to you. Her power that grew stronger with each second that passed was really all of our shared nightmare back then.”

“Go check on the stuff you are selling, those guys are getting anxious.”

Rachel made it obvious that she didn’t want to linger on the topic regarding the Witch and soon shifted the topic.

Kieran’s heart muttered once more when he saw Rachel went back to the kitchen, “The Witch?… The Witch!”

Once again, Kieran realized how terrifying the name and title were.

Just as he thought he was nearing the Witch’s level, Rachel told him without any hesitation that he was still very far away.

But the more he knew how far he was, the more impulsive he felt.

He wanted to reach the level of the Witch and even surpass her!

The thoughts that gathered in Kieran’s heart made him clench his fist.

He breathed in multiple times and regulated his emotions swiftly.

It wasn’t necessary to brag about it but when he did, the world will know.

Before that though, work harder, harder, and harder!

Selling items was also one of the things that required hard work.

After all, the basics of one’s strength were Points and Skill Points.

When the players saw Kieran walk over, they split in half and made a path for Kieran to cross, then it was a bunch of contending.

All the players who ended up as lone wolves didn’t happen to be financially strong but were still far better than common partying newbies and this obviously provided a satisfying result for Kieran.

[Fighter Bandage], [Interrogator Knife], [Dark Venom Dagger], and [Nimble Boots] which were all decent Magic rank equipment were sold for 30,000 Points and 5 Skill Points, with [Interrogator Knife] selling at the highest price and [Fighter Bandage], the lowest.

Though, it was a newbie player who bought both them.

Kieran naturally paid extra attention to the guy who was wearing a vest with overalls and a brown pair of boots.

After noticing Kieran’s inspection, the newbie player nodded back in a friendly manner and then went back to the crowd.

There wasn’t any hostility from the nod but only the delight of getting more loot. The newbie player wasn’t a person worth paying attention to in Kieran’s point of view.

One needed to know when Kieran was a newbie, he was much more exaggerating than him.

After all the four Magic rank items were sold, only [Calga’s Crush] was left and it was very sought after amongst the veterans, which was out of Kieran’s expectations.

Ramont and another familiar veteran whose name Kieran couldn’t quite remember were contending for the Rare equipment belongs.

“What are you doing Ramont? You are a dual sword wielder, why are you contending with me?” the familiar veteran growled loudly.

“Rhino, I don’t mind increasing the stock in my arsenal!”

Ramont who obviously had a better relationship with the man called out his name plainly.

“You insatiable greedy bastard! I am determined to get this! The moment I laid eyes on this, I knew, it would be mine! Mine only!” The buff man named Rhino was growling even louder, then he turned to Kieran.

“I don’t care how much this guy offers, I’ll top him!” Rhino said.

Then, he placed his backpack on the table right away.

The meaning of the action was obvious, Rhino went all in and his action made Ramont laugh bitterly.

“Fine! I give up!” Ramont raised his hand and shrugged helplessly.

Surprisingly, the player Rhino traded 20,000 Points and 10 Skill Points to Kieran right away and even after that, he didn’t take the backpack on the table back. He carried [Calga’s Crush] and left Harvest Inn happily.

Kieran was at stunned when he saw the backpack on the table. He never saw a buyer like Rhino before.

“Keep it, don’t feel bad about it, it’s what you deserve. Don’t try to return it back to Rhino, if you do, he will think you’re insulting him,” Ramont explained.

In the end, Kieran took the backpack and counted what he had gained after the sale on the spot.

After getting another 20,000 Points later, Kieran then stood up, ready to leave Harvest Inn.

Despite Lawless repeatedly begging Kieran to stay, when Rachel appeared behind Lawless, Kieran made his choice quickly.

“Come back to visit me sometimes! The boss here is very scary! Eeh? Rachel, when did you sneak up behind me? Hey hey hey! That’s a knife there, a knife! Put it down! Let’s talk over it!!!”

…

Kieran couldn’t help but smirk when he heard the cries behind him.

Though the good mood that followed him to the station ended there because a player was waiting for him at the station.

The player had his hands in his pockets and was wearing a huge and bloated coat and pants with headphones over his head.

“You are 2567? My competitor?” the player asked without the least bit of courtesy.