01-20 · 003

Chapter 3: The Notifications Won't Stop

The next morning.

I woke up not to the chirping of birds, but to the growling of my empty stomach.

Checking the clock, it was past 10:00 AM. About twelve hours had passed since I listed the sword.

"...I'm too scared to look."

I glared at my smartphone on the pillow.

What if the number of bids was still zero? Or worse, what if I'd received a flood of violation reports?

But reality wouldn't wait. I steeled myself and tapped the screen. The display lit up, showing the D-Market app.

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[Item Name]
[Authentic] Holy Sword Excalibur (Repaired, Seal Release Rate 15%)

[Current Price]
500 yen

[Number of Bids]
3
====================

"...Five hundred yen."

I fell to my knees.

Well, it was better than zero yen. But still...!

"I spent 648 yen on rust remover and steel wool! That's a loss!"

A 1.5 billion yen holy sword, worth less than a five-hundred-yen lunch. This was reality. Nobody believed it was actually Excalibur. When I opened the comments section, it was predictably full of mockery.

'What is this lol Holy sword (lol)' 'People who put [Authentic] in the item name are always scammers.' 'The worn-out tatami background is artistically impressive.' 'For 500 yen, it might make a decent souvenir for a kid. I'll put a bid in.' '↑ Don't bother, it's probably just a plastic replica.'

My chest ached. More than physical attacks, this kind of verbal violence got to me. The fact that I couldn't argue against the "worn-out tatami" comment was especially painful.

"That's enough. I'll take it down."

I was about to give up. If I was going to be publicly humiliated like this, I'd rather just use it myself. Even if I was weak, maybe I could get by as an explorer. I reached my finger toward the cancel listing button.

That's when it happened.

Pling! ♪

A cheerful notification sound went off. It seemed a new comment had been posted.

'ID: Weapon_Maniac (Rating: 12500) 'Hey, try enlarging the image. Those runes on the blade—this isn't just simple engraving.'

...Huh? Who's this guy? A veteran user with over 10,000 ratings?

'ID: Weapon_Maniac 'Besides, even though it's taken with a regular camera, it's unusual for the noise pattern to be this distinct. And this blue gem... could it be orichalcum?'

That comment was the turning point. The tide began to shift.

'If Maniac-shi is reacting, could it be the real deal?' 'No way, it's just a doctored image.' 'But for a doctored image, the reflections look too realistic, don't they?' 'I appraised it too. It showed up as "Details Unknown." If it were just iron, it would say "Iron."'

The comment section started buzzing with activity.

While I was watching dumbfounded, another notification sounded. This time it wasn't a comment.

It was a bid notice.

Buzz.

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[Current Price]
1,000 yen
====================

Buzz.

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[Current Price]
5,000 yen
====================

"W-Whoa?"

Buzz buzz.

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[Current Price]
10,000 yen
====================

The bid amount changed digits. My phone started vibrating in my hand. The vibrations that had come every few minutes at first became every few seconds, and then—

Buzzbuzzbuzzbuzzbuzzbuzzbuzz!!!

It turned into a continuous, unbroken vibration. As if the phone was overheating, the numbers on the screen began to spin wildly.

'Current Price: 50,000 yen' 'Current Price: 120,000 yen' 'Current Price: 350,000 yen'

"Wha— Eeeeeeh!?"

I dropped my phone. It writhed on the tatami like a living creature.

The comment section was scrolling at a speed I couldn't even read.

'Here comes the party!' 'Confirmed authentic! I showed my phone to a guild appraiser and they said "unmeasurable"!' 'Who is the seller!?' 'I'll pay 1 million! Sell it to me! Stop bidding, you guys!'

A storm of notifications. A frenzy almost frightening in its intensity.

As I watched in a daze, an especially large notification window covered the screen.

《A high bidder has appeared.》

====================
[Current Price]
5,000,000 yen

Bidder: Gold_Rush (Major Buyback Store)
====================

"Fi... five million...?"

That was roughly 16 years' worth of my rent. In just a few minutes.

My throat went dry. My heart felt like it might burst. If this is a dream, let me wake up. No, please don't let me wake up!

But the festival wasn't over yet. The true "big players," who would scoff at 5 million yen, had started to move.

Buzz— Piiing!

A flashy special notification sound, different from before, rang out. What appeared on the screen was a bidder's name framed in gold, unlike regular users.

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[Current Price]
100,000,000 yen

Bidder: ■■■■ (Anonymous due to S-Rank Explorer privileges)
====================

"O-One hundred million!?"

My mind went blank. In my run-down six-tatami room, I screamed. I heard the neighbor pounding on the wall, but to me right now, it sounded like nothing but celebratory drums.