As soon as Max dived into the game, he immediately checked his inbox. The CEO, as expected, has replied, and he didn't like what he read.
He creased his eyebrows and recalled his past life.
Right. Aethernova became interested in contracting players, like a gaming organization. But then again, they aren't that different from others.
Max could recall rankers in his past life, who was constantly interviewed, promoting brands, and even streaming to their gaming organization.
Max wanted to reject immediately, but he instantly recalled the benefits of becoming Aethernova's contracted player.
Their players were the first to receive a limited edition of their new version of gaming pod. If Max wanted to avail the highest quality gaming pod before the apocalypse descends, then he must become their contracted player at all cost.
However, Max didn't want to do it early, he wanted to invest his time in becoming stronger in the game at all cost.
After a lot of consideration on what to reply, he finally wrote in response.
"Greetings, Aethernova, as for your offer, can we discuss it soon once I'm free? I want to invest most of my time in growing stronger inside the game. If I reach the bottleneck, I'll contact you. Don't worry, there's no more enticing offer than the one that you have. For now, I have my own priority and becoming a contracted player has not been on my current list. I hope you understand.
Also, can you close the bid now? I want to receive the money by today. Thank you."
Max knew that there was no point in prolonging the bid. It would not only affect his reputation, but the Aethernova as well. The longer the bid, the lower the value it would become.
Furthermore, Max wanted to buy the NovaPro Immersion Pod already. To prevent the accident, where Jaden almost stole his quest, from happening again.
After Max pressed the send, he returned his focus into the Controlled Mana Circle Room to increase the proficient level of his active skills beside the Arcane Bolt.
However, five minutes after he began practicing, his inbox notified him that he received a message.
Max halted his practice and discovered it was a reply from the Aethernova's CEO.
"We understand and deeply respect your decision, Max. We are profoundly thankful for your assurance. Regarding your previous offer, we would be comfortable with 5%, as it helps cover our initial efforts. We look forward to a continuous, productive partnership for your future auctions.
As for your request, the bidding has been finalized. The two batches of silver coins were bought by Rhayne Sterling. She's also in your village. She requested to see you inside the game. As for the mage equipment, it has been bought by Lewis Irving, he didn't have a request aside from wanting to receive the equipment as soon as possible. Both of them have already paid, we'll immediately send the money once you've given the items through trading.
Sincerely, Aethernova."
At first, Max's eyes sparkled in excitement. He chuckled and thought. So, they are really sincere, huh? How appreciative.
When he read the second paragraph, he frowned. Rhayne Sterling… She wants to meet me?
Max, for some reason, felt she was deeply familiar. He closed her eyes and frowned, as he tried to recall the name in his past life.
Once he finally recalled, the tension in his eyebrows loosened.
He thought. A Ranker in my past life… She was an A-Rank Archer. However, what differed her from the rest was her legacy-class. In other words, unlike A-Rank Archer who were forced to choose the Horizon Hunter Class available from the empire for the archer path, her class was different—it seems to have something to do with constellations.
However, what is she? Is she no more different than other players?
Max, despite being completely wary of her, was, at the same time, curious.
It would not be surprising if she bought the two batches of silver coins just to get his attention.
Wait, did I just assume that a girl likes me?
Max slapped his face. He just thought of something unthinkable to happen.
Rhayne was simply capable of spending thousands of dollars in one go. She might not be the only offspring that the owner of the Sterling Mining Organization had, but she was the most spoiled one.
For her to spend thousands of dollars just to meet him to satisfy her curiosity wouldn't be surprising at all.
Nevertheless, Max was quite interested in her .
From what he recalled in his past life, Rhayne was a carefree individual. Despite choosing the archer as her main class, she was into the medicine profession, which surprised him.
She was also affiliated with guilds that have good professions. She even became an instructor when she reached B-Rank just to teach the newbies.
She didn't seem to be a bad person as Max thought—perhaps, he was simply biased for women.
Nevertheless, since Rhayne was interested in meeting her, Max would give her a chance.
He was about to reply to the Aethernova to become their liaison when he suddenly felt shy. After all, Aethernova even went as far as the CEO communicating with him, even cutting the commission fee for 5%.
He still has some conscience.
Wait, perhaps, she added me to her friend list.
Max checked his inbox, where countless players add friends to him, and had to search for Rhayne Sterlin's name just to see her in the vast list of players.
As expected, Rhayne already added him. Max paused for a while to contemplate.
He suddenly shrugged. Whatever, I'll just unfriend her if I don't like her.
Max accepted her friend request and almost immediately, Rhayne slid on his inbox.
She sent a sticker that waved its hand.
Afterwards, a message followed after a while.
"Hello, Max, you've finally noticed me. I know that you are very busy inside the game, so I won't request taking your time to meet personally.
I'll go straight to the point. Earlier, you visited the Ranger Post, you are looking for party members in the local dungeon, right?
Can I join? Mwehe."