Chapter 335: Hit And Miss! [Part 1]
Alex and Aeris casually bid on some items the auction introduced.
These items were useful, though nothing they’d fight tooth and nail for.
They simply bid for the sake of bidding and stopped when they deemed that it had gone beyond their budget for that particular item.
As the bidding continued, the two chatted amiably in between breaks. After a bit of prying, Alex discovered that the academy’s other Club Presidents were also present in the auction house.
"Usually, we’re informed three days beforehand whenever El Hazzard sponsors an auction," Aeris explained. "I’m sure they are here somewhere, so if you bump into them, make sure not to cause a scene."
"Lady Aeris, do I look like a troublemaker to you?" Alex asked while batting his eyelashes innocently.
"Yes. Very much so."
"Tsk!"
The corner of the young lady’s lips curved slightly, but it was not enough for Alex to notice that she was actually smiling.
His gaze was focused on the beautiful host of the auction, Anya, and the item she was about to reveal.
"And now, it’s your favorite time once more!" Anya shouted, hyping everyone up. "It’s the ’Hit and Miss!’ portion of the auction. If you’re already a regular at the Velvet Vault, you already know what to expect!"
Luckily for the uninitiated, Anya soon explained what this portion was like.
"The next item up for auction is an item even our staff cannot appraise! Meaning, no one knows if it’s actually useful or not. It can turn out to be something rather ordinary or something incredibly rare!
"However, it might also be a cursed item. If that is the case, do remember that the Auction will not be responsible for it! As the name of this portion suggests, this tests your luck! Bid at your own risk! So, let’s no longer delay the show and prepare your pockets!"
The beautiful lady giggled as she accepted the red card given to her by the staff, listing the description of the item brought onto the stage, covered by a red cloth.
"... What the f*ck is this?" Anya muttered, completely forgetting that her microphone was near her mouth.
The audience gasped. This was their first time hearing Anya say profane words.
However, their surprise didn’t last long. After all, the young lady was a professional and managed to snap out of it in just a few seconds.
"I’m sorry for going out of line!" Anya chuckled. "It’s just that the next item looks very interesting! If I were not the host of today’s auction, I would have definitely joined everyone in bidding for this item!"
Anya had seen many bogus items in her auctioning career and managed to sell them all at a high price.
So, even though she was momentarily taken aback and wished she could slap whoever allowed this item to be added to the auction, she still smiled sweetly as if it were a priceless item!
"Well then, the item for our Hit and Miss! is a set of Underwea—errr, Lingerie!" Anya declared as the covered item beside her was uncovered.
Inside a glass case was a set of purple lingerie, which immediately stole the attention of the entire auction hall.
Both items were crafted from a silky violet fabric that shimmered faintly under the glow of the enchanted lights above. It was as if fine threads of moonlight had been woven into its lace.
Elegant black embroidery traced along the edges, curling into motifs of roses and crescent moons that lent an aura of mystery.
Alex’s eyes widened in shock. Although this was the first time he was seeing this item, he already knew what it was.
Since the Auctions of El Hazzard were quite popular in the game, the players had made a list of items that were included in the ’Hit and Miss!’ portion.
And the item currently on display was actually a Legendary Item. It was a set known as the "Lucky Rose".
So what kind of item was it?
It was an item that doubled a person’s luck.
In ELO, luck was a very hard stat to raise.
It wasn’t possible to add Stat Points to it, and only a few items could make this stat parameter go up.
Upon encountering the Lucky Rose, Alex immediately knew the perfect candidate who could use it to its fullest potential—who else but Astrea?
She had the highest Luck Stat in the game, with the symbol of "eternity" appearing on her Luck Parameter.
Simply put, she was the most OP character when it came to luck.
For example, when going to a dungeon, you would have a chance of encountering a treasure chest.
These treasure chests also come in different grades.
A common chest which would give you Common and Uncommon Items.
A Bronze Chest which would always have a rare item.
A Silver Chest which would give you a Super Rare Item.
And a Gold Chest which would give you a Unique or a Legendary Item.
Astrea affected the drop rates of these chests. In short, if the Boss dropped a bronze chest, it would automatically become a Silver Chest instead.
If it was silver, then it would become Gold.
Whenever she got randomly lost, she’d often stumble upon treasures as she tried to find her way, making her one of the most preferred permanent characters in a party.
However, if she was equipped with the Lucky Rose, her already high Luck would get the [EX] Rating.
What did this mean?
It meant that if she opened a Bronze Chest, she would get a Super Rare item instead of a Rare Item.
If she opened a silver chest, she would also be more likely to gain a Unique Item instead of a Super Rare Item.
If she opened a Gold Chest, it would be a guaranteed Legendary Item!
But that wasn’t all! Opening a Gold Chest would also give her a twenty percent chance of acquiring a Divine Item!
Alex almost stood up after seeing the Lucky Rose, but he managed to hold himself back and assess the situation.
Just like what Anya had stated earlier, no one really knew what the lingerie set could do. Of course, the members of El Hazzard had asked for it to be properly appraised. One of its people had even worn the Lucky Rose to test its effects.
However, nothing had happened.
In itself, it was simply a set of lingerie that had no special characteristics.
Why? Because its true power would only manifest once worn by someone who had a Luck Stat of 999 or above!
That sole condition was very hard to meet.
In fact, only Astrea could wear such an item and activate its true powers!
Clearly, Alex must get it no matter what. However, Aeris was with him inside his VIP Room.
If he were to bid on such an item, wouldn’t Aeris think of him as some kind of pervert?
Deep inside, he regretted his decision to allow her to be in the same room with him.
Had he been alone, he could have bid for this item without worry. But now, he had to take into consideration what she would think of him if he were to really try to bid for a set of lingerie!
"Since this set of lingerie cannot be appraised, we don’t really know what kind of item it is," Anya stated. "However, since this came from a golden chest inside a Dungeon, we believe it has some value. So, just like always, there will be no starting bid for this item!
"All subsequent bids must increase in increments of one hundred gold coins. Let the bidding start!"
Alex took a deep breath and lightly tapped Dim Dim’s head with his finger.
In order to save himself the embarrassment, he planned to let Dim Dim bid for the item, so Aeris wouldn’t think that he was some kind of degenerate!