Will withhold judgment till I come across a CN where the so called "junk" the protag buys at an auction remains trash till the end.
To be fair the auction arcs don't always have that trope. But I hate the fact that a lot of them have people trying to murder the person who wins with the "you're weak, therefore I own your stuff" excuse. That one annoys me waaaay more. I dunno, I like arcs where the MC tries to sell their creations in the auction more. Audience getting wowed by that is so cheesy, but I feel like it's better than being amazed at how rich/stupid the MC is like how it would be in a normal auction arc. Edit: Oh, forgot my recommendation haha. Warlock Apprentice was pretty good (it's dead now though). Nowadays I don't read enough CNs with that trope...I think ISSTH and The Amber Sword had auctions?
the silly alchemist. it isn't you're usual auction house arc but the MC likes to visit auction houses. the premise is the MC is a transmigrator who lived a poor life and was born as the 13th young master of a rich family. since he was poor and homeless his entire life all he wants to do is be a prodigal son so he visits auction houses with that mindset.
The one in Book 4 of Reverend Insanity / Master of Gu. I think there's an earlier one in that, but the one in Book 4 stood out as being.. actually really good. I distinctly recall thinking "Holy crap, this a legitimately good auction arc. It can be done!" Some reasons why (avoiding spoilers): > This is a series where the MC doesn't always get what he wants, so there's actual tension. > The MC is both buying and selling, as are a few other key bidders. This means some of the rival bidders are also potential buyers and vice-versa. > The other characters involved get to have functioning brains, something common in RI but rare for the genre. > The most valuable items are worth more than mere stones, making the bids for them more like competing trade deals. Everyone involved is somewhat specialized, so having what the seller needs is more important than just being the wealthiest. This also means the MC has some difficult choices to make when it comes to accepting bids. > The set up of the auction includes rooms you can anonymously bid/sell from, methods of private communication, and a few other more spoilerish plot elements that allow for more complex scheming over the course of the bids. >> All of this combined results in each round having its own twists and schemes. There are some single-round characters, but also a few more important ones that switch between roles (working with / competing against / buying from the MC) over the course of the auction. Ah, I forgot one more element - the potential gains from the auction are large, and the MC knows this. He is not there for fun, it's important.
I love the auction in I shall seal the heavens he basically steals the item runs away a steal everything from the people chasing him and becomes best friends with his parrot that told him to steal it