SPEND OR DIE: THE GOURMET WEALTH SYSTEM

Chapter 7: The Auction.

Killan Quinn was right, a glitch had happened!

He was setting up his phone to connect with the rest of the world when a knock sounded at his door. He was quite reluctant as the last time he had a visitation, it was his damn divorce papers. He finally decided to check it out now, just as presumed, it was a delivery guy.

The lanky guy handed a thin envelope to him and Killan signed where necessary. He checked the envelope immediately, there was a solid printed invite and a small note with handwritten letters,

“A special gift from me to you loser, a regular ticket to Storybroke auction, from H.C”

Killan laughed hysterically, it felt good to know that his presence at Longrich hotel had rocked Henry Calvary’s ego up. He wondered desperately how he got his apartment location but Killan didn’t dwell too long on that, he read through the invite. It was a top tier auction at one of the ancient Emperor's buildings which ended up as a high class museum.

Killan was never an art enthusiast, he knew Henry’s aim was to really test out the rumor about his wealth and heavy spendings but he had other things to do, like spending off the ten million dollars allocated to him in the fifteen minutes he had left. He flung the invite aside, surprisingly, it got stuck in mid-air. Killan was perplexed, before he could make sense of the situation, the system appeared right in the middle of the stuck card.

[Welcome Back Killan Quinn]

[New Mission Alert]

“Are you kidding me? I haven’t completed the mission of spending 10million dollars yet and…..” Killan rambled on but stopped when the system’s new words surfaced.

[That was a slight glitch, my attempt at numerical reasoning upgrading failed]

[New Mission: Spend 10 million dollars at Storybroke Auction in five hours]

Just like that, no apology given, Killan pouted angrily but sank back into his neutral stance when the system posted the reward for the mission, two highly rated food recipes that are only known to descendants of a particular big class family tree.

[Dress your best Killan Quinn, this is a chance for vengeance]

Killan rolled his eyes inwardly, the system was about to fade off when Killan quickly questioned.

“What about a ticket to the auction? I am definitely not using Henry’s regular ticket, he is set to humiliate me.”

[VIPs don’t need tickets and your name is already in the shortlisted ticket]

“What? How is that possible, I haven’t…..”

[Goodluck spending Killan Quinn]

After that, the system disappeared, the auction invite fell through and landed on the bedside table . It all sounded so ridiculous but Killan knew he just had to trust his gut. He started unpacking the suits he bought and testing them on till he ended up settling for the grey one that hugs his abs making him appear extra sophisticated.

He accessorized it and checked himself out in the mirror. He looked good to himself but the system decided to spill its thoughts.

[Appearance grading:65%, swap the polka dot tie for a grey one, wear a rectangular shaped sunglasses and a beard trim]

Killan had no choice, he changed his tie, wore the sunglasses but ignored beard trim, he turned around to face the system again.

[Appearance grading: 92%, a beard trimming would do a 100%]

“No, 92% is enough as a pass grade, thank you.”

The conversation ended abruptly and Killan made his way out of the house, his rented cab was already waiting in the driveway. He got in, and exchanged pleasantries with the cab man. They then made it for the auction house.

Unlike at Longrich, he had learnt a valuable lesson. He made the cab man park a far distance away and made for the entrance of the skyscraper building where the auction was to take place. He adjusted his posture just as he had seen too many times in men of higher status. At the main entrance, he wasn’t downgraded, he was admired.

He could tell that some of the ladies were drooling over his abs, he carried himself with more grace as he waited in the crowd of people soaring in to attend the auction. One of the men whose girlfriend had been staring at Killan suddenly shouted,

“Aren’t you the plagiarist chef?”

Killan ignored him but that prompted him to shout louder.

“I am right, he is the recipe thief! What are you here for today, to steal the ladies' hearts?”

“Stop it Blake.” His girlfriend warned.

Killan ignored them but his accusation had done its harm, whispers had surrounded him already but he tried to ignore it all until a dominant voice called out.

“Even wearing a limited version of Giorgio Armani wasn’t enough to hide your…. Identity.”

Killan didn’t need to turn around, he knew it was Henry.

“You actually got my invite, I wasn’t certain you would be shameless enough to attend, well it wasn’t difficult getting the ticket for you anyways but paupers like you can’t understand.”

Ignoring Henry was difficult when all he felt was punching the idiot on his face but he had to hold back his desire. The doors finally opened and the ticket identification followed, Henry gave him a mockery smile and whispered to him.

“Enjoy your watch in the regular section that you belong to, leave the spendings to the big boys like us.”

Henry walked away to the second section, the system was right, the VIPs didn't need to show any card, they had been shortlisted already. He watched Henry pass the short screening and allowed in.

Killan’s heartbeat raced,

Should he trust the system that his name was in and risk being embarrassed or just turn around to leave?

After long consideration, he decided to risk it, and made towards the screening process, he hadn’t even asked when one of the screeners pointed towards a biometric scanner, Killan placed his right fingers into it and suddenly he heard a screenshot sound from the scanner.

“You are welcome Mr Killan Quinn to the VIP room, your sitting number is 139KSJ. Please have the keyhole to your shelf.”

Wow! If Killan could hug the system, he would have, Infact, he imagined it in his head.

“Thank you.” Killan said, collected the key and made towards the narrow way he saw Henry pass through earlier. When he got to the room, it was actually the locker room, he searched for his number, when he opened the locker, he almost screamed.

It contained every possible comfort needed from food, snacks, duvet covers and others. He only picked the snack and turned the doorknob at the other end and walked into the room.

His jaw dropped!

The auction room had about six accessible doors and over a hundred VIP sitting booths. Each individual guest had the capacity to seat, relax or sleep during the auction. He didn’t have to look further, he found his seat number soon enough right adjacent to Henry’s. As he settled on the golden chair. He felt the sleekness of the unique cushion. He looked at the other end of the glass structure, there they were, standing in groups, the ones with regular tickets watching the auction room from several large screens surrounding them.

Now he knew what Henry’s arrogance from earlier meant, it was incomparable.

The loud speaker in the room came alive and everyone adjusted to their seats.

“Welcome to the sixty-ninth edition of the Storybroke auction show, my VIPs, other attendees, you are all appreciated, entertainment always precedes any event, I leave the floor for the story tellers, tell us the wonderful story of Emperor Dillion, our beloved ancestor,hero and food enthusiast who gave food the honor that it holds till today.”

Killan couldn’t believe his ears, the story sounded exactly like his instructor told him while making the seafood recipe the previous day, only that there were few altercations lost in history but the system instructor filled in all the blanks, that got Killian more curious than ever.

The commentator took to the glittering podium in a weird dashing all red outfit, he made jokes about the story, laughter and applause filled the air.

“…..now is the time for serious business, the bidding for the Emperor’s cherished treasure, the cook book that contains his raw thoughts, humor and creativity, a craft only known to a few, lost in history recently purchased at a high cost from across the European ocean.”

Killan along with the hundreds of eyes in the rooms stared intently at it. The book looked so rusty despite the gleaming white glass it was housed in. Something occurred to Killan,

What if the system was related to this particular ancient emperor?

“….the bid starts now!!!!” Killan heard,

He looked up only to see price tags raised up in the air from different booths.

“….going! going!! $100…$250…$600...$2000.”

Killan adjusted on his chair, he had almost forgotten he was on a time limit, he looked at the stop watch, he had less than two hours left, he looked over at Henry’s booth, unlike earlier, he wasn’t resting his back anymore, he had his price tag up in the air.

“….and a higher bidder $4000, going! going!…if there is no counter bidding then the cookbook is……”

Why would Henry pay so much for the cookbook?

Killan laughed wickedly, wrote down on and raised his price tag up in the air.

The commentator gasped and tension grew in the air.

“Oh my goodness! We have a counter bidder…..”