I look at my mobile phone and realize that I don't have much time left. After thinking for five seconds, I decide to go for it. Fortunately, I won't need to put in the effort required for a 1,000-meter sprint like in a physical fitness test. I manage to rush inside the train of Line 9 just as the lights on the door start to flash, indicating that the train is about to start. It seems that the time has been calculated very precisely on this route map, factoring in the time each transport tool stops at stations, as well as the limits of my athletic ability... I don't understand how it can be accurate to the second! After a bumpy ride, I finally exit the subway station. I then walk a certain distance and arrive at the street where Countless Springs is located. The time is 7:29. I didn't manage to arrive at the exact time predicted by the route map, but I tried my best. In front of me is a queue just as long as a queue for an anime convention. It extends all the way around the corner and back again. Although I'm only ten meters away from the entrance of Countless Springs, it'll be a long time before I can get inside. The longest distance in the world isn't the distance between the edge of the sky and the rim of the sea, nor being on different servers in the same game, but the distance between a person at the front and the back of a queue because you might already be outside by the time I finally get in. As I ruefully lament about the length of the line, my mobile phone starts vibrating, and a message notification pops up. [Unknown Number](Text message) Look towards your eleven o'clock direction after fifteen minutes. I look up but don't see anyone familiar around me, so I follow the instructions in the text message and stay where I am. While waiting patiently for the time to pass, I look through the photos of the pool party shared by the members of Asaha High School in CatChat... After fifteen minutes, my mobile phone vibrates again, but there is only one punctuation mark this time. [Unknown Number](Text message) ! I look up knowingly and see Noah waving to me with a mobile phone in her hand. A familiar figure, one of the "statues" in Kutsuji's office that day, is standing next to her. After seeing me, the "statue" runs over and hands me a bag he was holding while pushing me into the place where he was standing. Only then do I realize that he was lining up for me. I open the bag in my hand and find a piping hot breakfast. Noah purses her lips as she taps her mobile phone quickly for a moment. My mobile phone starts vibrating immediately after that. [Unknown Number](Text message) Eat this food while you can. You won't get to eat anything after you enter at 8:00. So she's the one who has been sending me text messages! Why is she telling me that I won't get to eat anything after I enter? Just as I raise my head and prepare to ask her about it, I see a sign at the door that says: "No food is allowed inside during the auction." I find myself beginning to believe what Kutsuji told me. Noah doesn't like to talk, but she excels at everything else. It would be perfect if she can talk to me instead of texting me when we are face to face... There's only fifteen minutes left until it's eight o'clock. I manage to take two bites during this time before Noah takes the rest of the breakfast from me and hands it to the statue-like man waiting outside the line. I pat my stomach and feel happy that I have a little something to eat so I won't get too hungry. Noah pats my arm, then takes out two tickets and gives me one of them. Seeing that she is about to write me another text message on her mobile phone, I quickly stop her and nod my head. [player]I can see that these are tickets you prepared in advance. She nods at me blankly and leads me to the ticket office at the entrance. It looks like it's more difficult to get along with this child than I thought. After our tickets are checked, we follow the stream of people through the entrance of Countless Springs. Those who will take part in the auction will be separated from the other visitors at the first fork and go to a special venue for the auction. After walking through a labyrinth of winding corridors, we finally arrive at a hall filled with flowers. Some vine-like flowers have climbed all over the vermilion-colored pillars here, infusing the venue with a spring aura. However, the flowers used for decoration are all common varieties. According to information that Noah, who is like a walking encyclopedia, sends to me via text messages, the cut flowers that will be sold in the auction are extremely rare varieties that Countless Springs has grown with meticulous care. For example, the flowers that will be auctioned in the auction we'll take part in are flowing gold camellia, coral red skimmia, and snow tower peony. When I pick up the auction guide on the seat and browse through it, I learn that the auction format adopted by Countless Springs is unlike the format used by other common auctions. It is a "sellers' call auction," which is also known more simply as a Dutch auction. In this type of auction, the auctioneer starts by quoting the highest price, and then buyers start bidding. If there are no bids, the auctioneer will lower the price until someone buys the item or the item isn't sold because it falls below the minimum price set by the client in advance. If two or more buyers place bids during this time, the auctioneer will state a new price in increasing order, and the auction becomes the more common ascending auction, in which the price keeps increasing until no one increases the price further. We sit in our designated seats and wait for the auction to start. Since Noah is still sending text messages to me next to me, my mobile phone keeps vibrating, which makes the people around me look at my pocket with strange eyes. I sigh, then I take out my phone and continue to read the messages she has sent to me. [Unknown Number](Text message) Although many people come every time, most of them are hoping to get lucky and take this opportunity to have afternoon tea with Kurone Toujou. [Unknown Number](Text message) According to the intelligence, Kurone Toujou hasn't performed any dances or shamisen music for many years now, but she is one of the Four Greats after all, and her admirers will try to see her in person no matter what. [Unknown Number](Text message) So you need to get the timing right after the auction starts. This information makes me uneasy. [player](Text message) Is there enough money in this black card? Is it possible that I won't have enough money to pay after I make a bid? Noah looks up and glances at me. The look of surprise and contempt makes me very certain that I'm worrying about nothing as Kutsuji should be very rich. [Unknown Number](Text message) You'll be able to spend up to 10 million Coppers with this card, which is an estimate of the cost based on the final price paid for the cut flowers in previous auctions. There are no records of any cut flowers being sold for more than this amount. As I expected, I was worrying about nothing. I just know that Kutsuji is much better at making money than me because I would at least blush when I'm not in the right. When did I start sending text messages too instead of talking in person? I can only say that social anxiety disorder is a transmittable phenomenon. [Unknown Number](Text message) Of course, I can't guarantee that no accidents will happen today, so please be vigilant. At the same time Noah sends me that text message reminder, she also hands me a number plate with the number 17 on it. [Unknown Number]This is your auction number. Hold onto it and raise it when you need to make a bid later. [player](Text message) Okay. [player](Text message) I have a question to ask you. [Unknown Number](Text message) What is it? The auction is starting soon. [player](Text message) Why do you end every sentence in your text messages with a punctuation mark? You're making me check whether I have a punctuation mark at the end of my messages too before I send them. [Unknown Number](Text message) That has nothing to do with you. [player](Text message) Oh System notification: PLAYER recalled a message. [player](Text message) Oh. The seats around me start to fill up, and the sound of a gong announces the start of the auction. I look at where the sound is coming from and see a golden gong on one side of the auction stand. The whole auction hall falls silent immediately after the gong is sounded, kind of like how high school students in self-study class fall silent when they see their head teacher's face in the window of the back door. The auctioneer of Countless Springs, a woman with a charming figure and a pipe hanging from her waist, sways gently as she walks slowly onto the stage. Judging from the respectful attitude of the people around her, she should be the one in charge here. After taking to the stage, she claps her hands, summoning three flower-bearing girls to the front of the stage. [Auctioneer]This time, we will be auctioning three arrangements of cut flowers, namely flowing gold camellia, coral red skimmia, and snow tower peony. Countless Springs carefully cultivated these varieties, and you can admire their beauty first. As she speaks, the three flower-bearing girls walk past us slowly one by one from the stand in the middle. Their pace is measured, giving us just enough time to see the cut flowers in their hands clearly. The first arrangement is the flowing gold camellia, which features several globe-shaped golden camellia flowers the size of a baby's fist surrounded by silver-white baby's breath flowers that are like stars around the moon. When the girl takes the flowers to the window, I see flowing light passing by after the sun shines on the petals, I instantly understand why it is named flowing gold camellia. The second arrangement is the coral red skimmia. Skimmia isn't an easy plant to cultivate, and this arrangement is like a precious gem that is even more translucent than ordinary skimmia flowers. Instead of being decorated with unnecessary flowers, this arrangement features a large number of monstera deliciosa leaves laid out on all sides with snow-colored dusty miller flowers in the middle. On top of the dusty miller flowers, coral red skimmia blossoms that look like bright red corals are scattered everywhere like red agate on the snow. The third arrangement features two huge snowy peonies, which seem to be grown as a pair. According to my rough estimate, these two flowers have a diameter of about 17 centimeters and a height of nearly 10 centimeters, making them true kings among flowers. Their petals are silvery-white like snow, and you can see bright yellow stamens at the bottom of the slightly pale pink petals in the middle. Set with eucalyptus leaves as their backdrop, this arrangement has an unworldly air of elegance. After showing everyone the cut flowers, the three girls return to the stage and stand next to each other. [Auctioneer]We will now start, and you will have fifteen minutes of thinking time. After that, we'll start the auction for the flowing gold camellia. [Unknown Number](Text message) I want to remind you that although everyone can bid on all three cut flower arrangements, each person can only win the bid for one of them. [player](Text message) Does this mean that it's pointless for me to bid on the two other arrangements if I manage to win the auction for the first arrangement? [Unknown Number](Text message) Yes. [Unknown Number](Text message) By the way, why is my number still appearing as an unknown number on your phone? [player](Text message) ? [Unknown Number](Text message) I can see your screen... I pause for a moment. Under her silent gaze, I add her contact and input her name. [player](Text message) I have an idea. Why don't we each bid on one arrangement to increase our chances of success? [Noah](Text message) No. It isn't easy to become eligible to participate in the auction, and we only managed to get the number plate you're holding after putting in a lot of effort over a long time. [player](Text message) Give me a hint then. For example, can you tell me which flower arrangement to bid on? [Noah](Text message) Didn't the boss tell you yesterday? It's a mystery draw, and there are no observable rules. Just do what you usually do when you bet your chance on an Ura Dora. In that case, I'll choose...
