Tok! Tok! Tok!
The door slowly creaked open. Zen appeared, looking disheveled, with a silk ribbon still tangled in his hand. He stared at Viona and Mala, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
"What is it? Do I know you?" Zen asked with an indifferent tone. However, his gaze didn't linger on Mala for long; it quickly shifted to the woman standing behind her—the one whose aura screamed that she was the boss.
Before Mala could get a single word out, Zen did the unexpected.
SLAM!
He shut the door right in their faces.
Mala's hand was frozen in the air, her mouth agape. She hadn't expected Zen to shut the door so abruptly. She turned slowly to look at Viona, who was now gritting her teeth.
"Miss..." Mala whispered, fearing her boss was about to explode in rage.
Viona was just as stunned. She suddenly realized that the "unemployed" youth she had nearly hit earlier was the mysterious supplier she had been searching for. She took a deep breath, forcing her ego down for the sake of professional business. She stepped forward and stood right in front of the door.
"Are you the owner of the BlackMagicReal site? If so, open the door. We have business to discuss!" Viona shouted with a commanding tone.
Inside the room, Zen stopped wrapping his final item. His heart pounded a little faster. 'Damn it… she found my real location through the site?' he muttered anxiously.
He realized that because he used a cheap cloud server, his security system was fragile. He would have to migrate his data immediately. But for now, there was a more pressing matter at hand.
Zen moved quickly to tidy up his cramped living space. He prepared three premium gift boxes containing the mana-infused items. He also took a moment to swap his grubby t-shirt for a crisp, slim-fit long-sleeved shirt and neat trousers.
Five minutes later, the door opened again.
Zen appeared with a friendly smile, a stark contrast to his previous coldness. Viona and Mala were momentarily taken aback. The youth who had looked like a vagrant just minutes ago now appeared far more refreshed. Zen's body, now more muscular due to his increased STR attribute, stood out prominently beneath his tight shirt.
"Sorry to keep you ladies waiting. Yes, I am the owner of BlackMagicReal. Please, come in," Zen said politely.
Viona and Mala entered hesitantly. They were forced to sit on a clean mat Zen had rolled out. Though they looked reluctant to let their expensive clothes touch the boarding house floor, they held back for the sake of the transaction.
"Very well, Mr. Zen. We apologize for arriving without a prior appointment," Mala began, trying to soften the atmosphere. She briefly explained who they were and how they had tracked his location.
Zen only offered a warm smile. Aside from his negligence regarding the server, he didn't feel wronged. In fact, he was at an advantage because his buyers had come to him.
"It's no big deal. I've prepared three magical items here," Zen said, cutting straight to the chase. He presented three premium boxes tied with beautiful silk ribbons.
Viona stared at the three boxes skeptically. She didn't even bother to touch them. So far, she had only observed in silence, letting her assistant handle the communication.
Zen, having increased his attributes, could clearly sense the wave of distrust radiating from Viona's aura.
"Mr. Zen, pardon me, but this packaging... feels a bit strange for antiques," Mala said hesitantly. In all her time handling rare item transactions, she had never seen magical artifacts wrapped like birthday presents.
Zen scratched his head. "Well... this was the only packaging available at the moment," he answered with a sheepish chuckle.
Mala slowly opened the lid of the first box, revealing its contents: a Dallah, a small silver knife, and a fish statue.
Viona raised an eyebrow. As a manager who inspected antique transactions every day, she felt something was off. She looked at Zen with a condescending gaze.
"Is this it? Are you joking?" Viona said, her voice laced with mockery.
Initially, she had anticipated that Zen might actually possess genuine artifacts. But after seeing items that looked like polished flea market junk, she was convinced the youth in front of her was nothing but a master con artist.
Mala nodded in agreement. In her eyes, the three items were just ordinary secondhand goods that had been washed clean.
Zen wasn't angry. Instead, he offered a thin smile and shook his head. "Hahaha... Ladies, if you cannot afford to buy them, you should watch your tongues," Zen said as he began to close the boxes, as if intending to cancel the deal.
Viona took offense. "What do you mean? This trash has no value! But since I've come all this way, I'll pay one million for each item," Viona said, glancing at Mala.
"But Miss, these are just junk. They aren't even worth a hundred thousand!" Mala protested, feeling her boss was being far too charitable.
Viona raised her hand, silencing Mala. "Enough. This poor youth has dared to look down on us!" Viona stared at Zen sharply, as if she were handing out alms.
Zen looked at them both, then let out a small, mocking laugh. "One million? Hahaha... and you dare to come here in the name of a major company?"
Zen closed the second box with a calm but firm motion. "It seems you truly have no idea what you're looking at."