Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!
Chapter 333: Back Then, I Was Too Young

Chapter 333: Chapter 333: Back Then, I Was Too Young

If one were to ask Yang Yu if he wanted to attend the auction, truth be told, he had no desire to show up; he had long since despaired of his luck.

He wasn’t the kind of person who could casually stumble upon rare treasures at auctions. Most of the time, attending auctions was like not having gone at all.

He was usually the one bringing items to the auction house to sell; he hardly ever purchased anything from there.

This time, the only reason Yang Yu had agreed to attend the auction at the request of the manager was to continue pretending to be an idle wealthy heir and not to raise any suspicions, allowing the manager to focus on thoroughly investigating the matter.

His attire also followed the manager’s advice that "even if you’re dressing down to hide your identity, please dress neatly when the auction officially begins; otherwise, you’ll stand out and draw even more attention."

As a homebody who often stayed in playing video games, Yang Yu didn’t usually pay much attention to his appearance. In the world of gaming, practicality dictated his outfit choices.

Yet, this time, he took particular care.

On the one hand, he needed to project a subtle air of superiority, while on the other, he aimed to highlight his slightly unique sense of style. Ideally, he would wear a piece of clothing no one had ever seen before, solidifying the manager’s unwavering belief in his identity.

After much deliberation, Yang Yu eventually settled on a suit he had recently drawn from the System, complemented by a flashy bow tie.

Even though this made him stand out, the level of attention he received was still within Yang Yu’s comfort zone.

His presence at the auction was just to look around; at most, others would think, "Who does this guy think he is with that peculiar taste?"

Bringing Iyas with him, however, would lead others to think, "That woman is stunning; let’s get acquainted. But who’s that guy with her? I should investigate his background."

In essence, selling the same "leeks" but with a different focal point depending on the situation—like when buying a car, if there are no models, you’re genuinely looking at cars, but when models are present, well, who knows where you might be looking.

As Yang Yu had predicted, the manager’s face stiffened for a moment upon seeing his outfit but then smiled as he approached. Observing the fine craftsmanship of Yang Yu’s suit, the manager was full of praises and told him there would be many great items up for bid today. If he found anything he liked, he should feel free to buy it.

After speaking, the manager discreetly handed Yang Yu a booklet.

Listed in the booklet were exactly the things Yang Yu was looking for: information on all the Slave Auction Houses that had auctioned elves or had elf slaves in stock over the past year. Each auction record was meticulously detailed, including the auction session, date, starting bid, and final price.

The booklet was originally intended to be given to Yang Yu after the auction ended, but the manager, considering that Yang Yu might want to understand the pricing in advance and that knowing the prices could set his expectations and potentially encourage him to actively participate in the auction, decided to give it to him earlier.

However, the esteemed VIP card would still have to wait until after the auction to be given to Yang Yu.

To engage Yang Yu in the grand auction event, the manager also revealed to him in advance that the starting bid for the Revive Elixir would be twenty million.

For the average person, this number would cause dizziness, shock, and a gaping mouth, yet Yang Yu merely smiled indifferently. He appeared quite pleased and followed the manager into the auction house, quietly waiting for the auction to start.

During this time, Yang Yu also took the booklet handed over by the manager and began selecting his targets, further narrowing down his search range.

Without a look, it didn’t seem to matter, but once he did, he was startled.

The market price of elves was much higher than Yang Yu had imagined, and there was even an elf auctioned for the astronomical sum of twelve million.

Assuming Iyas’s brother had not yet been auctioned off, it certainly wouldn’t have reached the sky-high price of twelve million, but the price of male elves was generally over one million, beyond what the average person could afford.

To be fully prepared, he would need to set aside more funds.

Fortunately, if the Revive Elixir could be successfully auctioned off, he wouldn’t lack funds for a good while.

As time passed, more and more people gathered at the auction house, and the VIP seats in the front row filled up with all sorts of important figures.

Yang Yu did not accept the manager’s kindness to take a seat in the front row VIP area, but instead chose a spot towards the back, eagerly looking forward to witnessing the "battles" among the big shots later.

The only thing that slightly concerned Yang Yu was that near his seat, a large area had been cleared, leaving only two chairs, one large and one small, creating an effect even more VIP than the VIP seats.

However, until the auction officially started, no one sat in those chairs.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I am honored to represent the auction house in welcoming you all and to preside over this auction. I believe the various items up for auction tonight will not leave anyone disappointed. Sincerely, I wish everyone can find their desired treasures in this session."

The person who emerged was an extremely handsome man, the auctioneer for this event, and standing not far from him was a beautiful woman in an off-shoulder gown, his assistant, specifically responsible for showcasing the auction items.

After some pleasantries, the auctioneer asked his assistant to bring out the first item for auction, thus kicking off the proceedings.

At the auction, Yang Yu took an interest in several good pieces of Equipment, but did not bid on any. The attributes of the Equipment displayed on stage were only slightly higher than those he had purchased from the All Things Library, but their prices were sky-high in comparison, a whopping three times more.

The auctioneer feverishly hyped up the Equipment beside him, touting how incredibly powerful it was and using the fact that "it was a drop from the Underground Maze" as a gimmick for the auction.

A good auctioneer needs to fully engage the atmosphere on-site, stirring up the curiosity of the audience, and utilize their competitive nature, or even their animosity towards each other, to pump up the price of the auctioned items, eventually selling them at an outrageous price, all the while making sure the buyers feel like they are getting their money’s worth.

This is essential for the reputation of the auction house, which facilitates "shearing the sheep" next time.

Yang Yu was all too familiar with the marketing tactics used by the auctioneer; in fact, he even thought that if he kicked the auctioneer off the stage and took over, he could incite more people to bid, pushing the prices even higher.

Yang Yu’s familiarity with marketing techniques was not because he had studied economics or sales, but rather because he had learned it from his experience with gaming.

Most high-difficulty games were single-player, so Yang Yu spent most of his time hunting solo, but that didn’t mean he never touched online games; on the contrary, he had played quite a few.

In his younger days, he had his moments of using skills to freely assist ladies in the game.

As for the fact that one of those girls turned out to be a feet-picking big guy using a voice changer, and a sweet young girl’s voice belonged to a fifty-eight-year-old auntie, that’s a story for another time.