July 26th, Thursday.

At Tenda’s Gaming Department, Min Jingchao had already arranged most of the details for this Lucky Koi event.

Today they would officially send out the notification, informing GOG players worldwide about the specific contents of the activity.

Mr. Pei’s requirement was to quickly notify operators of all other global servers, release announcements early to build anticipation, launch the activity, and ensure that everything was completed before the end of the month.

Looking at the new round of money-burning plans, Hu Xianbin couldn’t help but sigh: “I feel like the competition between GOG and IOI is getting more and more intense. Mr. Pei seems quite aggressive.”

Hu Xianbin hadn’t been doing much lately.

The development of “Mission and Choice” had been completed, and the next phase target was to develop “Eternal Cycle,” but according to Mr. Pei’s requirements, the project would officially start next month. Now they were in the so-called “inspiration accumulation stage.”

So, with nothing much to do, he would often pay attention to what was happening with GOG.

Although GOG had frequently conducted money-burning activities before and fought fiercely with IOI, recently the frequency had clearly increased significantly.

The 515 Gaming Festival in May, the Summer Promotion in June, and now the Lucky Koi activity in July—these events were coming one after another.

Players had just finished enjoying last month’s benefits, and immediately they were in for another treat.

Strictly speaking, such frequent promotional activities were somewhat unreasonable.

Because they depleted the normal game rhythm.

Although promotional activities with discounts could significantly boost popularity in the short term, they would also deplete players’ future desire to spend.

It was like sales at shopping malls—business was indeed good during discounts, but after the discounts ended and products returned to their original prices, people were unwilling to buy.

For a game, it was best to organize activities in an orderly manner, with longer intervals between them, so that players would maintain a sense of anticipation without feeling fatigued.

GOG had burned money three times in the past three months, which clearly didn’t follow this rule.

But everyone knew that Mr. Pei always had his reasons for doing things.

This was obviously because the arms race with IOI had reached a white-hot stage!

It was like having two shopping malls—if neither offered discounts, both would make money at the original price; if one offered discounts and the other didn’t, the business of the one without discounts would plummet, with all customers being snatched away by the competitor.

So, both sides could only offer discounts together, competing on who could offer more discounts and burn more money.

Once such an arms race started, it couldn’t be stopped, because stopping would mean that all previous efforts would be in vain.

It was like two supreme masters dueling with swords, necessarily getting faster and faster, and the faster the duel, the closer they were to determining a winner.

Now Hu Xianbin felt that Mr. Pei was that supreme master striking faster and faster, leaving people dazzled and overwhelmed.

Min Jingchao said: “Indeed quite aggressive, but IOI seems to have reached a state where they don’t care anymore, like a dead pig not fearing boiling water.”

During the last Summer Promotion, Finger Company hadn’t made any response to Tenda’s promotional activities and had simply proceeded with their originally planned 40% discount throughout the entire Summer Promotion.

Although they received some criticism, it didn’t seem to have much impact on Finger Company.

For Tenda, continuously burning money could indeed attract players, but they also needed to consider efficiency.

Frequent activities would obviously greatly reduce efficiency, which was detrimental to revenue.

After all, after such a long period of money burning, those players who kept wavering had mostly been poached by GOG, leaving only some loyal IOI players.

These players, even if they found IOI’s activities slightly inferior to GOG’s, would at most complain a bit but wouldn’t actually switch games.

Therefore, the further GOG went with money burning, the worse the effect would inevitably be—this was what concerned Min Jingchao.

After a moment of silence, Hu Xianbin said: “Don’t worry, Mr. Pei has definitely thought about these issues.”

“Mr. Pei surely knows that the efficiency decreases as more money is burned. Arranging things this way now definitely involves some special considerations.”

Min Jingchao nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the time was right, Min Jingchao told his subordinates to put the announcement online, revealing the details of this “Lucky Koi Activity.”

They couldn’t delay any longer; they had to move quickly.

Today was already Thursday, and from now until Friday evening, this one-day period would allow players to add more friends in a hurry. The official lottery would take place over the weekend, followed by announcing the winners, giving money to the Lucky Koi winners, and then spreading out to distribute coupons to tier-one, tier-two, and tier-three lucky players.

The timeline was tight, but this was actually good for players, saving them from waiting anxiously for a month like with some activities that dragged on for the sake of maintaining buzz.

Just then, Hu Xianbin suddenly said: “Hey! Take a look at this!”

“It seems IOI just updated a minor version today too!”

Min Jingchao was stunned: “Huh?”

Generally speaking, for MOBA games, minor version updates were very frequent, sometimes just fixing bugs or adjusting values, which would all count as minor version update content.

Min Jingchao had been keeping an eye on IOI’s situation and knew they didn’t seem to have any major version update plans recently. The only things coming were a new hero and a set of new skins, which seemed to be launching soon.

This wouldn’t count as a major update.

But judging by Hu Xianbin’s slightly shocked expression, things clearly weren’t that simple.

Min Jingchao quickly scanned through IOI’s new version update announcement, and his eyes widened slightly: “This…”

“Doesn’t this mean they’ve run right into Mr. Pei’s line of fire?”

Hu Xianbin nodded: “That’s why I’m so surprised. Mr. Pei’s prediction is simply godlike!”

“By normal thinking, after having consecutive activities in May and June, there probably wouldn’t be another activity in July.”

“Without a comparison to GOG, IOI’s version update wouldn’t trigger too much opposition.”

“But now, it forms a stark contrast with our activity!”

If GOG didn’t do any activities this month, then IOI’s activities would at most face some criticism without much harm.

After all, although some of IOI’s activities were cash grabs, there was also some new content that could be obtained through grinding daily tasks. The approach might seem a bit unsightly, but it wouldn’t cause widespread resentment among players.

But now, when compared with GOG’s activities, it was a completely different matter!

It could be said that if GOG and IOI’s two activities hadn’t collided, neither would have had too much impact.

But colliding with each other, the impact became enormous!

Hu Xianbin expressed his admiration: “Looking at it this way, Mr. Pei seems to understand Finger Company and Dayark Group inside out. Just through some clues, he completely knew their next move!”

“So he specifically arranged this Lucky Koi activity to intercept them midway and deliver a heavy blow to IOI?”

“What are we waiting for? Release the announcement immediately!”

“This activity will definitely be better the more lively it gets!”

The two of them instantly understood why Mr. Pei wanted to organize activities so frequently in such a short period.

Obviously, Mr. Pei had already spotted the opponent’s weakness, believing that the critical moment to determine victory had arrived, so he was accelerating his moves, preparing to achieve complete victory in one go!

Could this be Mr. Pei’s terrifying insight?

…

At this moment, Pei Qian was in his office, checking the commission effects of this month’s promotional plan.

As expected, the promotional effect in the first half of the month was very poor, meeting the set target; while in the second half of the month it skyrocketed, with no additional commission at all.

“Ah, this is the best we can do.”

“I tried my best.”

Pei Qian sighed quietly. He did want to help Meng Chang earn more commission, but the difficulty was too high.

Being able to suppress the popularity of Doubt VR glasses for two weeks was already quite an achievement.

The later explosion in popularity of the VR glasses was both unexpected and within reason. Pei Qian had anticipated the possibility of these glasses becoming popular to some extent, but never imagined they could become this popular.

Fortunately, Doubt VR glasses didn’t affect the settlement of this cycle.

Based on the current situation, the settlement for this cycle should be relatively stable, with a conversion of a few hundred thousand yuan not being a problem.

The specific amount would depend on the revenue situation of various games next Monday, as well as the specific amount of fixed assets at the time of settlement.

For Pei Qian, these were no longer issues that could be changed by human effort; it was up to fate.

“I just wonder what Meng Chang thinks about this promotional plan…”

This was Pei Qian’s only concern.

After all his efforts, he had only managed to get the base commission.

Would Meng Chang think he got the commission through underhanded means?

Would he think that if even Mr. Pei could only get the base commission, he himself had no chance?

If Meng Chang decided not to honor their agreement, how should he deal with him?

Just as he was thinking, there was a knock on the office door.

It was Meng Chang.

“Have a seat. Take a look at the detailed promotional effect for this month.”

Pei Qian spoke as he handed the laptop to Meng Chang, while observing his expression.

Next Tuesday would be the 31st, so strictly speaking, the final result of the promotional plan would only be settled then.

But given the current situation, it was unlikely that Doubt VR would suddenly experience any negative news in the coming days. The promotional result was already determined, and the commission could not change anymore.

Moreover, the 31st was also the settlement date, and Pei Qian didn’t want the two events to coincide, so he called Meng Chang in advance to reconcile the promotional effect commission for this month.

Meng Chang took the laptop and quickly browsed through it.

Clearly, this result was also completely in line with his expectations.

“Mr. Pei, I have no issues.”

Meng Chang said, handing the laptop back.

Pei Qian was silent for a moment, then asked: “So do you still want to leave Tenda?”

Meng Chang shook his head: “I was irrational before. I’ve now decided that in the future, I will continue to serve as the head of the advertising and marketing department, learn your promotional techniques well, Mr. Pei, and never disappoint your expectations!”

Pei Qian was skeptical: “Really?”

Meng Chang nodded, very firmly: “Really!”

Pei Qian thoughtfully looked at Meng Chang, trying to judge the authenticity of his words.

Logically, Meng Chang’s statement should perfectly match Pei Qian’s previous expectations and should make him very satisfied.

Meng Chang continuing to stay as the head of the advertising and marketing department, learning promotional techniques well, working hard on reverse promotion, reducing product popularity, earning more commission, while also helping Pei Qian lose more money—this seemed like a win-win situation from every angle.

However…

Pei Qian instinctively felt that something was slightly off.

It seemed this transformation was a bit too abrupt?

A month ago, Meng Chang was crying and desperate to leave, but a month later, he was now very determined to continue working at Tenda to earn commission?

Although he had gone through Mr. Pei’s demonstration during this period, Mr. Pei had only helped him get the base commission!

Just one base commission turned him from desperately wanting to leave to being completely devoted?

This reason didn’t seem sufficient.

But after thinking it through, Pei Qian couldn’t see any other possibilities.

Meng Chang deciding to stay must be for the commission.

Since it was for the commission, he would definitely try to create negative publicity to lower product popularity.

However he thought about it, it would benefit himself.

So after considering, Pei Qian felt that although there was a small flaw, overall it was good, and there shouldn’t be any major issues.

With that in mind, Pei Qian nodded: “Hmm, it’s good that you’ve thought it through.”

“Take a good rest these few days. Next month, we’ll start new promotional plans.”

Meng Chang nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei.”

…

After seeing Meng Chang off, Pei Qian stretched in his boss chair.

This cycle, everything that needed to be done had been done. How much money could be lost depended on fate now.

“Oh, the Lucky Koi activity announcement has been released?”

“I’ll sign up too.”

Pei Qian happily signed up himself.

After all, if he could be drawn as a Lucky Koi, the top prize was 100,000 yuan!

Of course, the probability itself was very low. The total number of global players participating in this lottery was estimated to be around 40-50 million, and there was only one Lucky Koi with the top prize of 100,000 yuan.

With a probability of one in tens of millions, if by chance Pei Qian happened to be drawn, that would be quite fantastical.

People would probably not believe it wasn’t rigged.

Pei Qian wasn’t expecting to win; he was just participating for fun. What’s the harm in being part of the denominator?

If he did win, that would be wonderful.

He would spend 100,000 yuan out of pocket, get a 10 million yuan unlimited spending quota from the system, and then win back 100,000 yuan.

Wouldn’t that create a perpetual motion, effectively getting 10 million yuan of system funds for free?

Of course, this was just wishful thinking.

Although Pei Qian was confident in his luck, he found that his luck seemed to always work in areas that weren’t very useful. When it came to matters of personal property, his luck didn’t work at all.

After signing up, Pei Qian took a look at players’ comments on the activity.

“Everyone hurry up and add each other as friends! It would be awkward if you were drawn as a Lucky Koi but couldn’t distribute all the coupons!”

“Add me, add me!”

“This activity is too exciting! Three months in a row, each month with activities, so enjoyable!”

“Let me lower the winning rate!”

“Actually, getting a tier-two reward would be quite good, several free skins.”

“Being a GOG player is really blissful! Look at the activities next door, it’s laughable!”

“IOI players are already envious with their eyes gleaming.”

“Several die-hard IOI players I know couldn’t resist this time and picked up their previously created GOG accounts.”

“Can’t help it, IOI’s activities this time already looked a bit greedy, and when compared with GOG, they look even worse!”

The earlier comments were quite normal, basically just asking to add friends.

The number of people signing up wouldn’t change much, and the winning rate of becoming a Lucky Koi wouldn’t change either. But for a Lucky Koi to distribute coupons to tier-one lucky players, they must have established friend relationships before the draw.

If they won the 100,000 yuan prize and could distribute coupons to 100 tier-one lucky players, wouldn’t it be awkward if their total number of friends was less than 100?

So, adding more friends in a rush on this day was convenient for both others and oneself, increasing the probability of getting coupons.

But the later comments took a different turn.

Pei Qian was puzzled, why did they start talking about IOI?

What did “IOI’s activities this time looked a bit greedy” mean? Wasn’t Eric not even in the country? Where did these new activities come from?

With confusion, Pei Qian opened IOI’s official website to check the new version update content.

A few minutes later, Pei Qian’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he was speechless.

“What the hell is this?!”

“Not only do they not burn money with me, but they’re doing money-grabbing activities?”

“…”

“Even if they’re doing money-grabbing activities, don’t do it now!”

Pei Qian was completely speechless. This was too coincidental!

Had Finger Company lost their minds? Did they have to pull this stunt right before his settlement?

What a coincidence!

Pei Qian had thought IOI would just continue playing dead, so he wanted to quickly use up all his stockpiled ammunition to avoid affecting the settlement. But he never expected IOI to voluntarily position themselves as targets!

Eric! How unfortunate you are!

Hurting a good brother made Pei Qian feel a bit uncomfortable.

But he had no choice; it was impossible to stop now because they were at a critical moment before settlement.

Even if he wanted to ease up a bit, he was powerless!

He could only continue to strike hard, with tears in his eyes…