The design inspiration for "Auction King" came from the blind box auction mechanics of shipping containers and the treasure-hunting style of "Search, Loot, and Evacuate" gameplay.
With such a simple concept, paired with the cheap AI-generated art and UI available at the time, it somehow managed to pull in a staggering 20,000 concurrent players during the testing phase alone.
This just goes to show the potential of this type of gameplay.
When Lu Ze included "Auction King" inside "Operation Immortal Abyss," his goal wasn't just to borrow the popularity of the latter. He also had another purpose in mind.
That was to drain the spirit stones from the players' warehouses.
In Lu Ze's previous life, the infuriating game directors kept adjusting prices round after round just to burn through the players' Huf Coins, leaving ordinary players miserable.
Now, with "Auction King" added as a casual mode supplement, the players' spirit stones clearly had a new place to go.
The transfer between the two modes was one-way.
Cultivators could only exchange spirit stones earned from the treasure-hunting mode for those used in the auction mode when they went bankrupt.
The reverse, however, was not allowed.
Otherwise, it would negatively affect their demonic path income.
That's because, in theory, as long as a cultivator played it safe enough, they could always turn a profit in the beginner auction maps.
Take Zhong Yi at this very moment, for example.
After grinding through two beginner-level maps, "Blind Box Pile" and "Air Freight Crate," for half an hour, Zhong Yi's assets had grown steadily and were about to break the million mark.
His strategy was simple: rely on Mai Xiaowen's abilities to gather information, assess the value of items, and never take reckless risks.
As long as he secured the cargo hold, he would rarely see red numbers.
And even if he occasionally overestimated the value, his losses wouldn't be too severe.
This time, the shipping container was especially packed, and a red item appeared—a rare sight.
By now, the livestream chat was more anxious than Zhong Yi himself.
[Only offering 500,000? Are you stingy or what?]
[Smart Little Zhou across the hall made a million in one round. Can you show a little ambition, Zhong?]
[One red, four gold, and you won't even gamble? Where's your nerve?]
[Raise the bid, raise it, raise it!]
[You've already used your items, so why not commit to this cargo?]
...
At the start of the round, the public information showed that the container held three gold-tier items.
Using Mai Xiaowen, Zhong Yi detected a red-tier item in the first turn.
In the second turn, he didn't hesitate to use a green-tier item, the Four Symbols Peek, and by sheer luck, he caught a glimpse of the red item's outline—it was a two-slot horizontal piece.
From there, Zhong Yi roughly estimated the total value of the container.
Despite the chat making fun of him, Zhong Yi stuck to his guns and calmly keyed in a bid of 500,000.
"Don't rush, fellow cultivators. Allow me to explain," he began.
"The value of red items in auction mode is generally lower than in treasure-hunting mode, so don't lose your heads just because you see red. Most red items are only worth about 100,000."
"There are only four types of horizontal two-slot red items. The cheapest is worth 100,000, and the most expensive is 500,000. There's no need for us to gamble on that slim chance of the 500,000 one. If it fails, we'd lose everything, right?"
"I'm estimating this as 200,000 for the red, 150,000 for the three gold ones, 50,000 for items below purple, and 10,000 left over for a possible red..."
"Crunching the numbers like this, 500,000 is the rough value of this cargo. Any higher, and even winning the bid wouldn't yield a profit."
Just as he finished, the countdown ended.
The other three players placed bids of 380,000, 420,000, and 800,000.
The cargo was snapped up by the player who bid 800,000.
"800,000? Even if that two-slot red turns out to be a High Sacred Vibration Dagger, it'd still be a guaranteed loss!" Zhong Yi sneered.
As the bidding ended, the game entered the settlement screen—the most intense part of the whole match.
Items from the container popped up one by one, just like in treasure-hunting mode when you scan with divine sense.
As cheap blue and green junk filled the warehouse, Zhong Yi grew smugger by the second.
Especially when that two-slot red item spun out to be a Wild Large Yellow Croaker worth 120,000, he couldn't contain the smirk on his face.
"I told you, any bid over 500,000 for this cargo wouldn't be profitable," he boasted.
"If he actually makes money on that 800,000 bid, I'll livestream myself eating Illusory Tower!"
No sooner had he spoken than
a four-slot item at the bottom of the container spun for a long time before settling on a red one: Yongle Encyclopedia: Incomplete Edition Volume Two.
The total value of the cargo instantly jumped by 1.55 million!
Net profit: a million!
Zhong Yi's face dropped, looking worse than if he had just eaten something foul.
The chat immediately burst into laughter.
[Haha, you just had to say it]
[As soon as I saw him open his mouth, I knew he'd have to eat something]
[Still in denial?]
[What flavor of Illusory Tower do you want?]
[It's just the price of a ticket, no big loss, right? Why the long face?]
...
Lu Ze, lurking in the livestream, couldn't suppress the grin spreading across his face.
In theory, as long as a player was steady enough, they could keep winning indefinitely.
But that was only on paper.
Because the most brilliant thing about this game was—
Seeing someone else make money hurt even more than losing your own!
So, as long as a player kept playing, they would inevitably turn into a gambling addict.
"How can you play it that way?!" Zhong Yi was now deep in self-doubt.
He had deliberated and calculated for so long, only to earn less than 800,000.
Someone else gambled on a red item and made a million in one go!
"I get it now! This illusion demands... what was it?"
Zhong Yi struggled for a moment before recalling that new term from the bidding screen: All In.
"Yes! I need to go all in!"
Zhong Yi gritted his teeth.
Just as Lu Ze had designed, seeing someone else make a million felt worse than going bankrupt himself!
That could have been his life!
Zhong Yi decided to abandon caution and start playing aggressively and recklessly.
He started another match.
"Haha, red on the first reveal again! I'm all in this time!"
[Auction Result: -234,213 Spirit Stones]
...
"Dammit, I didn't see a red item after four rounds, but I feel like it's hiding in there..."
[Auction Result: -81,227 Spirit Stones]
...
"Holy crap! I'm unbeatable! I see a red worth 1.5 million right away... What do you mean I don't have enough spirit stones???"
"..."
"Ah!!! Not having enough spirit stones to bid is worse than watching others make money!!!"
...
"Fine, one more round. I'll definitely turn things around..."
[Entry Fee: 100,000 Spirit Stones]
[You cannot enter at this time.]
"?????"
Zhong Yi stared in disbelief at his now-empty warehouse.
"Wait... Where did all my spirit stones go???"
[I've been in a bad state lately, unable to shake off the shadows, losing sleep night after night. I'm just keeping up writing for you whenever my emotions settle a bit. I'll try my best not to miss updates, but if I really break down and can't write one day, please wait for me to come back.]
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
