The Devil's Cage

After Kieran got off the train, he saw the Harvest Inn right across the stop sign.

It was an inn with red bricks and white luting, the squarish window with the blurry glass outside allowing the passersby to see the people inside the merry inn. Above the arched door handle there was a one and a half meter long metal railing sticking out. The Harvest Inn sign was hanging from there.

The oval sign was made of wood, and the words on it were written in a goldish-yellow paint on one side. There was a picture of a beer cup on the other side.

The words were written in some kind of flowery font that Kieran was not familiar with.

The beer picture on the other side of the sign was magnificent. Even Kieran, who knew nothing about art, could tell that it had been done by a talented artist. A couple of simple strokes had made the beer and foam look three-dimensional. It was so amazingly vivid that it felt liked the beer was spilling out.

After taking another glance at the amazing picture, Kieran knocked on the door.

[The owner has granted you permission to enter!]

[Do you wish to keep hiding your face?]

Kieran was surprised. He had thought that the place was something similar to the Broker’s secret bazaar, but it was actually the game lobby of some other player.

He accepted the option, even though he had been caught off guard.

"Yes."

Although the place belonged to one of Lawless’ friends, judging by the sign at the front, it was not a simple gathering place.

Kieran naturally wanted to hide his face from strangers in such a strange environment.

He pushed the door open with his left hand while holding his [MI-02] with his right hand.

The door opened with a screech as the wooden pivot and frame brushed against each other.

A strong aroma of grape wine accompanied by merry laughter welcomed Kieran inside.

"2567! Here!"

Before Kieran could even inspect his surroundings, he heard Lawless’ loud, clear voice.

The room instantly went silent as dozens of surprised, cold, observant gazes landed on Kieran.

Even though the gazes held no ill intentions, he could feel their observation very clearly with his C- Intuition.

It was very unsettling for Kieran. He felt like a piece of goods waiting to be picked off a rack.

Frowning a little, he quickly went over to Lawless, who was waving at him with his cigar from the bar.

"Is this some kind of welcome party?"

Kieran sat down on a round cocktail chair in front of the bar as he looked at Lawless with a sigh.

He knew that Lawless had purposely shouted his name out loud to capture the attention of everyone in the room.

Judging by Kieran’s understanding of Lawless and Blacksmith’s description of him, Lawless had meant no harm, neither had he expected any benefit from that action. It had just been a prank. A very lousy prank.

Before meeting Lawless in person, Kieran would not have been able to imagine that a big, strong fellow with a rough face and sideburns, who fit all the criteria of a tough guy, could be such a boasting clown that liked to play pranks from time to time.

"There is a vital balance between his rough face and that childish heart of his."

That was how Blacksmith had described Lawless, and Kieran had truly experienced that first hand.

"Of course not! Rachel, this is 2567, a new friend of mine!"

"2567, this is Rachel, the owner of the Harvest Inn! One of the few inn owners with a Grand Master Brewing Wine and Cooking Level!"

Lawless shook his head with a big smile as he pointed at the bartender behind the bar.

"Nice to meet you," Kieran greeted the woman politely as he inspected the place.

The woman was wearing purple dungarees and a white shirt, presenting herself like a bartender. Her face was similar to everyone else’s. Even though it was blurred off, one could easily tell that she was a female player.

"How do you do, lucky boy? To show my appreciation for the business you’ll bring, this round is on me!"

Rachel’s voice had a mature tone to it, and her actions and movements seemed even more experienced.

Before Kieran could react, a glass of wine had been placed before him.

[Name: Margarita]

[Type: Alcohol]

[Rarity: Fresh]

[Attributes: Recovers 50 HP within 5 seconds, Increases recovery rate of Stamina by 50%]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Remarks: This is one of Rachel’s special cocktails. It only tastes so-so, but it has some special effects!]

...

As the notifications popped up in his vision, Kieran looked at Rachel suspiciously.

The [Margarita] was the first item he had come across ever since leaving the newbie dungeon that could recover HP and Stamina.

Wine Brewing and Cooking Grand Master Level, huh?

Kieran remembered Lawless’ earlier introduction as he turned his attention back to the topic at hand.

"Appreciation for the business I will bring?" he asked.

"With this guy here promoting you like hot cakes, it’d be hard for my business not to go up! Nine out of ten people who are here today came because of your weapons and equipment. But don’t worry, this is only some of them. The most suspicious ones are looking from afar."

Rachel threw a glance at Lawless, who was smirking. Her tone sounded ridiculing, but Lawless did not seem to mind at all. Instead, he requested in a bold tone, "So you’ll treat me to another round?"

"If you pay off your old tab, maybe I’ll consider it!" Rachel told Lawless softly.

Lawless instantly shut up. As Rachel gave him a cold look, Kieran could clearly see that Lawless was uneasy and somewhat scared.

Obviously, the old tab Rachel was referring to was not just some points or money.

After two seconds of silence, Lawless seemed like he’d remembered something

"Hey, 2567! The weather seems nice today! You’re here to sell your equipment, right? Rachel has her own rules. No dealing allowed near the bar. Come on, let’s head over there!" he said as he dragged Kieran off to a side table near the bar.

"Pussy!"

They both had clearly heard Rachel’s cold, mocking words.

Kieran naturally looked at Lawless, but surprisingly, Lawless pretended he had not heard anything. He just kept dragging him off with an awkward smile.

"Bring out the screenshots of your weapons and price them according to market prices!"

Lawless messaged Kieran with a list of prices as he talked to him.

Kieran gave him a tacit gaze after accepting his suggestion.

Then he set the screenshots of the four [Cobra-I] rocket launchers, the two [BK-20] light machine guns, the [MG-08[ heavy machine gun, the [Alloy Blade], the four pieces of cracked [Soul Shard]s, and his own [Viper-M1] to visible.

The price was tagged on each of the items.

[Cobra-I], 10,000 Points, 4 Skill Points each.

[BK-20] light machine gun, 4,000 Points, 2 Skill Points each.

[MG-08] heavy machine gun, 10,000 Points, 5 Skill Points.

[Alloy Blade] 1,000 Points.

[Soul Shard] bundle of four, 27,500 Points, 6 Skill Points.

[Viper-M1] sniper rifle, 8,000 Points, 4 Skill Points.

The price listings were a little higher than Kieran had expected.

Even the four-piece bundle of [Soul Shards]s had reached the auction price.

Even though the [MG-08] and [Viper-M1] had each two attributes, their price had still exceeded Kieran’s expectations by a mile.

Kieran still believed Lawless and his judgement as a veteran player, and he had been proven right the next moment.

After a mere ten seconds of inspection, the players around them started to place bids.