Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

But that’s not always the case.

Whether or not a person has money, most of the time, depends on how close their position is to “active money.”

The distance from active money determines the difficulty of obtaining money, while the height of the position determines the amount of money that can be obtained.

If you’re far away from money, you often can’t touch it at all. Even if you have a high position, cashing in can earn you a fortune, but if you can’t cash in, it’s meaningless.

That’s why position is essential.

As the deputy director of the Capital Museum, Solomon’s administrative level and social status are undoubtedly high.

However, this position is too far from active money.

Don’t assume that priceless treasures go through his hands every day. Just a single piece could be worth billions or even tens of billions if it slipped out. But the problem is – can these things flow out?

Of course not!

Things like secretly swapping, selling the real thing, and accidentally smashing the fake item to cover up the crime…

They are all false and absolutely impossible.

So in this place, experienced old professors earn only tens of thousands a month.

Now, someone suddenly comes in saying they will donate 500 million!

Then in just a few seconds, it doubles to 10 billion—Solomon is understandably shocked.

—The highest ever personal donation to the Capital Museum was just over 3 million! Even institutional donations only reached 30 million!

Usually, donations involve cultural relics, and there aren’t many who donate money.

Upon hearing Lincoln’s reminder, Solomon sobered up and hurriedly put down the teapot, handing the teacup to Lincoln.

But halfway through, his hand suddenly stopped and withdrew.

“Wait a minute, this has been brewed several times, and it has long lost its flavor.” Solomon said while pouring out the tea, cleaning the teaware, and preparing fresh tea.

“I have some special supply Pu’er tea left here from Old friends. It’s hard to find outside. Let’s drink and chat.”

“…Huh?” Lincoln looked at Solomon skillfully preparing the new tea, somewhat confused.

…

Twenty minutes later, Lincoln left Solomon’s office, and the negotiations had basically been a success.

The execution details would be handled by the staff.

Solomon didn’t really want Lincoln to donate 10 billion, not even the initial 5 billion. Solomon lowed his voice, advising him not to donate that much at once.

His exact words were, “If you genuinely want to contribute to the preservation of cultural relics and museum development, rather than seeking publicity, you can make five separate donations – 1 billion a year. This would be much better than donating 5 billion at once.”

Lincoln didn’t bother asking why and agreed. As long as his purpose was fulfilled, it didn’t matter.

However, as usual, there were processes to go through, and he had to wait.

But Solomon assured him the wait wouldn’t be long, promising to persuade the director, arrange the specifics, and personally train Lincoln.

Lincoln entered the exhibition hall and found Camille Victoria strolling around. They left together.

“How did it go? Was it successful?” The Little Princess asked nervously.

“Yeah, it went smoothly. I even got to drink some special Pu’er tea.”

The Little Princess didn’t know what happened and didn’t catch Lincoln’s subtle sarcasm. “Do you like tea? We have many nice teas at home too. My dad collects a lot. I’ll give you a couple of jars when we get back.”

Lincoln blinked and declined subconsciously, “I don’t particularly like it… ”

“No worries, he has plenty.” The Little Princess was very generous.

Lincoln decided not to refuse any further and shared the good news with her: “Are you interested in cultural relics?”

“Yes, very much. Why?”

“Do you want to join me in training and touch all these treasures?”

Of course, “touching all” is an exaggeration. With millions of exhibits in the Capital Museum, it would be exhausting. They will make a list of the things they need and are interested in, and include the items Camille Victoria likes.

“Really? Can I?” Princess Camille Victoria, even when she studied in the past, hadn’t had hands-on experience with many top-tier treasures.

Many cherished pieces of artwork weren’t even opened unless it was a particular time and couldn’t be seen up close. One could only examine image records.

“Of course, we’ve already talked about it.”

“Ah! Thank you! You’re so amazing, Lincoln!” The Little Princess couldn’t help but grab Lincoln’s arm and jump with joy.

Lincoln wasn’t sure if it was because of the cultural relic or the surprise he had prepared for Camille Victoria.

After Camille Victoria finished excitedly and shyly retracted her hand, Lincoln continued to propose: “There’s still time, let’s go to the horse farm to practice horse riding, and then have a meal together?”

“Alright!” The Little Princess agreed immediately.

*

Five minutes before six in the evening, a large number of players stopped what they were doing and started waiting for the “My World” update.

The three-day countdown was finally coming to an end.

Yi and Yelang were no exception. After a nearly full day of difficult battles, they finally returned to the surface with their spoils, passing through the teleportation gate.

Unfortunately, the rewards they successfully brought back were only a quarter, or even less, of their actual loot.

A large amount of loot had been dropped and lost due to sudden deaths during the exploration, timed out and refreshed, and a small amount had been picked up by monsters from the Nether…

At first, the two of them cherished their brotherhood and fought side by side against monsters. If one of them died, the other would desperately take revenge.

But after being wiped out by Wither Skeleton Groups, Zombie Pigmen, and Ghasts, and losing all their supplies, the two finally learned their lesson.

After one of them died, the other would immediately run away if the situation was unfavorable.

Once they were safe, they would come back to pick up the dropped items, minimizing losses and eventually bringing back more than ten Blaze Rods and other miscellaneous items. They stored them in a chest on the surface.

Just as they finished with this, the system announcement came—

‘”My World” Creative Mode—Unlocked’

[Unlimited blocks, unlimited freedom! Invincibility, flying… Remove all restrictions of Survival Mode and follow your heart to create your world!]

‘Public World Selection feature—Unlocked’

[From this moment on, all numbered worlds are open to you!

What do these worlds look like? How will they develop? It all depends on you, on each of you!

Go on, choose the world you want and then decide according to your heart: adapt to it? Or change it!

It’s all up to you!]

…

“Invincibility?”

“Flying?”

“Unlimited blocks?!”

Yi and Yelang looked at each other in disbelief.

As they looked into each other’s eyes, they saw the same idea in their minds, and then almost simultaneously said: “Go to Creative Mode to look for clues?”

They were in perfect agreement!

Without hesitation, they exited the Public World and went to experience Creative Mode.

It wasn’t just their idea; countless players had the same thought after reading the announcement.

Especially those who had explored the Nether and had suffered greatly as a result.

Even the most advanced players who had found the End Portal and figured out they needed 12 Eye of Enders temporarily put aside their tasks, switched to Creative Mode, and wanted to see what was on the other side of the portal.

After all, the advantages bestowed by the official mode can’t be considered cheating!

Although Lincoln had revised the Creative Mode—whether it was blocks or items, players had to discover something first for it to be unlocked in the pictorial book and available for unlimited use.

In other words, if a player had never encountered a certain item, it wouldn’t appear in the pictorial book.

—Of course, this part of the pictorial book would track all of a player’s gaming experiences, whether in Personal Worlds or Public Worlds, and whether it was obtained by themselves or given by others, as long as it passed through their hands, it would be unlocked.

This prevented many players who hadn’t even been to the Nether from getting Ender Pearls in Creative Mode, easily surpassing countless players who had put in great effort.

That would just be too childish.

Lincoln had even gone so far as to prevent the Ender Dragon from landing in Creative Mode unless someone had killed it once in Survival Mode.

Only when the game truly welcomed its first completion would all players benefit and easily defeat the Ender Dragon in Creative Mode, clearing the game.

Under this mechanism, the players or teams who defeated the Ender Dragon first, without a doubt, would have their names remembered by all the players!

Combining this with the highly challenging Ender Dragon BOSS battle, it would undoubtedly hold back many people.

So, in Lincoln’s vision, the final battle would become a true “First Completion Battle”!

All players—regardless of nationality, age, status, or team—would compete fairly and openly for this one and only honor, watched by tens of millions of players!