The moment Zich saw it was Jayden standing there, he could not help but sigh tiredly while keeping one hand on the door.

"How did you even find this place?" he asked while narrowing his eyes slightly.

Did his room number start circulating around the shelter tonight without him knowing?

Jayden ignored the question completely. His gaze moved past Zich briefly, taking in the small room behind him before returning to his face again. Unlike Helen, he did not look relaxed standing there. His posture remained straight, and the coldness in his eyes had not softened even slightly.

"Have you seen Rael anywhere along the mountain?" he asked plainly.

"No," Zich replied calmly with a slightly annoyed expression. "I have not seen him."

His tone was steady, his face relaxed, and even his breathing remained even while answering. If he had not personally crushed Rael’s skull into the forest ground, he probably would have believed himself too.

Jayden kept staring at him, as if attempting to see through his skin.

Several quiet seconds passed between them, and although Zich looked perfectly normal standing there bare-chested with one hand resting lazily against the door, Jayden’s instincts continued bothering him.

He did not trust this kid.

Objectively speaking, Zich still looked harmless compared to most players wandering around the shelter. He was young, handsome, and calm enough that most people would lower their guard after speaking with him for a few minutes.

However, Jayden knew better.

Underneath that face was someone capable of killing without hesitation, and worse, someone capable of doing it while remaining perfectly calm afterward.

"You are sure?" Jayden asked while narrowing his eyes slightly.

Zich looked visibly more irritated now.

"Are you done?"

Jayden opened his mouth slightly as if preparing to continue questioning him, but before another word could leave his throat, Zich moved first.

BANG!!!

The door slammed directly in front of Jayden’s face, the impact making Jayden’s hair shift slightly.

The loud noise echoed through the corridor hard enough to attract several nearby glances from other players moving through the shelter halls. One older player walking past slowed briefly before quickly pretending not to notice anything.

Jayden stood there silently. His fist clenched tightly at his side, and for a brief second the veins near his wrist bulged visibly under the skin. The blatant disrespect irritated him far more than the actual conversation itself, especially because Zich had done it so casually.

Inside the room, Zich locked the door immediately.

Helen finding his room was troublesome enough, but Jayden was much worse. Helen at least showed goodwill openly, even if he remained suspicious of her intentions, while Jayden clearly disliked him already and looked like the type who would calmly watch him die if given a convenient reason.

’I need to move rooms soon.’

The shelter itself was no longer feeling private.

If people could casually locate him after only a short time here, eventually others would start appearing too, and the last thing he wanted was random visitors interrupting his graveyard sessions or learning more than necessary about his habits.

Or better yet, strike him when he was vulnerable.

Zich looked around the cramped room again.

The place had already become too small for him anyway. Between the growing pile of monster materials, soul stones, weapons, potions, and dungeon loot, the space was becoming cluttered enough to irritate his eyes every time he looked at it.

His gaze shifted toward the backpack resting on the bed.

A better room in the privileged district would cost more, but it would also provide stronger protection, better privacy, and less interaction with random players wandering through the halls. More importantly, people like Jayden would not casually stand outside his door every few hours.

’Money solves most irritation,’ he thought. Although he did not know about others, money could buy Zich’s happiness any day.

He crouched near the bed and began reorganizing the contents of his backpack again. The repetitive movement helped calm his thoughts slightly.

Just as he finished arranging the soul stones into a straight line beside the bed, a familiar sound rang through the room.

Ding!

A blue system panel appeared directly in front of him.

[Ding! Summon Auction begins in 10 minutes.]

Zich froze.

For two full seconds he simply stared at the message blankly before slowly raising one hand toward his face.

Smack.

His palm covered his eyes.

He had totally forgotten about the auction!

Between the dungeon trip, the fight against the failures, Helen showing up unexpectedly, and Jayden appearing right after her, the marketplace had completely slipped from his mind.

Now it was starting in less than ten minutes.

Zich let out a long breath while dragging his hand down his face slowly. The timing was terrible because he still wanted to enter the graveyard tonight, check his status, and make preparations to create his next summon. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Instead, he now had to deal with players fighting over his undead ape like merchants at a livestock market.

The thought was absurd enough to make him stare at the system panel quietly for a moment.

’At least absurd things usually make money here.’

His expression relaxed after thinking about the soul stones involved. The earlier rental had already proven how valuable the Silverback Grunt was to desperate players, and if several groups started bidding seriously tonight, the profit might be enough to completely change his short-term plans.

One of those short-term goals was acquiring the skill Blink.

The skill was currently worth twenty soul stones, and he already had fifteen.

If the auction went well...

Zich slowly lowered his hand from his face, and despite the exhaustion still sitting heavily in his body, a faint grin appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Alright," he said quietly while sitting back down on the bed. "Let’s see how much I can milk from these fools."

...

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