Zich opened the marketplace interface again, and the moment the auction page fully loaded before him, even he paused slightly at the amount of activity flooding across the screen.

The entire marketplace was buzzing.

Messages moved so fast that several lines overlapped each other before disappearing upward, and new users continued pouring into the auction lobby every second as if the entire Layer One had suddenly remembered there was an undead ape for sale.

"Master Shroud finally opened the auction!"

"I have been waiting here for twenty minutes already."

"If I lose this bid because of poor connection, I am going to kill somebody."

"Can the Silverback really revive infinitely?"

"Crimson Chain already confirmed it, stop asking the same thing."

Zich leaned back slightly while reading the endless stream of comments.

Countless players were openly expressing interest in the Silverback Grunt now, and compared to the skepticism from earlier, the atmosphere had completely changed. Most people were no longer questioning whether the summon was real.

Now they simply wanted it for themselves.

The racial tags beside several usernames also made the chat significantly more chaotic.

Velhari players had begun appearing in larger numbers after the auction notice spread upward through the layers, and since humans were already territorial enough without outside races joining the competition, arguments broke out constantly between both sides.

"A bunch of Layer One humans fighting over scraps."

"At least we reached Layer One without scales and tails."

"Funny coming from the race currently renting undead monkeys."

"Keep talking while we outbid you."

"One of you lizards tried to buy healing mushrooms from me yesterday and offered three broken daggers."

"Human intelligence remains disappointing."

Zich watched the argument escalate calmly.

Insults flew constantly between both races, and several players had already started threatening each other openly despite being separated by entire settlements. The marketplace moderators occasionally deleted extreme comments, but most of the chaos remained untouched because outrage kept the auction active.

More activity meant more visibility.

More visibility meant more desperate buyers.

His eyes shifted toward the attendance count.

[Current Auction Viewers: 537]

The number was still climbing.

Zich stared at the screen for several quiet seconds, and slowly, a dangerous thought entered his head.

Five hundred people.

Even if only a fraction of them spent money...

’What a waste if I only auction one summon.’

The idea settled into his mind almost instantly.

Zich’s fingers tapped lightly against the edge of the bed while his expression slowly became thoughtful in the worst possible way. The Silverback Grunt was already attracting everyone here, which meant the audience itself had value now.

And if the audience had value...

Why not profit from them before the auction even started?

A faint grin appeared on his face.

Without hesitation, he opened the announcement panel and typed a new message directly into the auction lobby.

[Before the auction begins, all listed treasures under Master Shroud’s marketplace page must be purchased first. Auction starts after complete sellout.]

Silence lasted for almost two seconds.

Then the entire marketplace exploded.

"What kind of shameless scam is this?!"

"You cannot be serious."

"Master Shroud changed into Master Shady."

"He is forcing people to buy trash before bidding?"

"I knew this bastard was greedy."

"One rusty saw costs fifty gold coins now?!"

"You listed broken monster teeth for money!"

"THIS IS EXTORTION."

Zich calmly watched the outrage unfold before him while resting his chin against one hand.

His marketplace page currently contained dozens of random items he had collected during the dungeon trip, including cracked monster claws, damaged armor pieces, useless tools, old potions, broken weapons, and even a rusted saw he had looted earlier because throwing things away irritated him mentally.

Now every single one had a price attached.

Was it shameless?

Absolutely.

Zich never claimed otherwise.

He held what they wanted. That alone mattered.

Players could curse him all they wanted, but in the end desperation adjusted morals very quickly, especially inside the Ascension Mountain where strength and survival already distorted common sense beyond recognition.

He was not some generous benefactor handing opportunities out for free.

His goal was simple.

Make as much money as possible before stronger people started copying his methods.

’If there ever will be,’ he thought with a smile.

Several minutes passed. The chat remained chaotic at first, but slowly the insults began mixing with purchase notifications.

[Ding! Rusted Saw sold.]

[Ding! Broken Wolf Fang sold.]

[Ding! Cracked Mana Potion sold.]

[Ding! Damaged Cave Shield sold.]

Zich’s grin widened slightly.

One buyer clearly became impatient because several useless items vanished in batches, and shortly after that others began purchasing the remaining treasures aggressively so they would not miss the auction opening.

Even the worthless-looking junk disappeared eventually.

Not because the buyers truly wanted them, but because nobody wanted to be the person blamed for delaying access to the Silverback Grunt auction.

The marketplace truly rewarded greed sometimes, making Zich wonder whether to laugh or feel concerned about the intelligence level of the current population.

Some people were still insulting him while buying the items at the same time.

"Master Shady, I hope you choke on these gold coins."

[Ding! Broken Iron Knife sold.]

"I cannot believe I just paid for rotten monster leather."

[Ding! Rotten Monster Leather sold.]

"Open the damn auction already!"

Eventually, the final item vanished from his listing page.

[Ding! All listed treasures sold.]

Zich immediately opened the auction panel again.

A shameless smile sat clearly on his handsome face now, and although nobody in the marketplace could physically see him, several users somehow felt irritated anyway the moment his next announcement appeared.

[Sellout complete.]

[Silverback Grunt Auction officially begins now.]

....

Meanwhile, inside the privileged district of the shelter, Helen sat quietly near the edge of her bed while the auction interface floated before her.

Unlike Zich’s cramped room, this place was larger, cleaner, and noticeably quieter, but her full attention remained locked onto the Silverback Grunt listing. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The summon moved exactly like the one she remembered from the undead dragon fight.

Its build, the way it swung its club, even the strange relentless behavior after taking damage... everything matched too closely.

"The only way to confirm whether Master Shroud and Zich are the same person," Helen whispered softly, "is to get the summon for myself."