In his office, Pei Qian opened the backend to check the data for several games.

“These people, they only report problems but never successes, they’re all so unreliable!”

“In the end, I still have to do it myself.”

Pei Qian was full of resentment.

Other people’s employees report successes but not problems, yet his employees did the exact opposite—whenever there was good news, he, the boss, was always the last to know.

Pei Qian had reflected on this issue before. It might be because from the very beginning, Tenda had been a relatively flat company without strict hierarchical relationships. Moreover, both Huang Sibo and Bao Xu were the type of people who worked quietly without putting on airs.

When problems arose, employees tried to solve them on their own without bothering Boss Pei. Even when they succeeded, they felt it was all part of Pei Qian’s plan all along, without making a fuss or trying to claim credit.

This made Pei Qian very uncomfortable. Every time signs of profit appeared, he was always the last to know, severely delaying his response.

The key was that he couldn’t show that he was completely unaware, as that would be inconsistent with his image, making situations very awkward!

Pei Qian felt he couldn’t stumble twice in the same place.

With only a few days left until settlement, he had to constantly monitor the data of each profit-generating project and prevent any mishaps!

This was why Pei Qian made a special trip to the company today.

Opening the backend, he quickly browsed through the data of several games.

The revenue for these games was increasing, which was normal since they had just updated their DLCs, and the official platform had given them prominent recommendations on the homepage. It would be impossible for revenue not to increase.

Looking at the rows of growth numbers, Pei Qian felt a bit nervous, but after careful examination, he found that the revenue growth for most games was still within an acceptable range.

However, there was one game with abnormal revenue growth.

Sea Fortress!

Pei Qian noticed that this game’s revenue data was much higher than he had anticipated!

Even considering factors like official recommendations, adjusted revenue splits, and increased popularity after the DLC release, the revenue data was still too high!

Pei Qian was instantly vigilant and somewhat displeased.

Such a serious situation, and no one had reported it to him!

What were Lü Mingliang and Bao Xu doing? Seeing this but not rushing to tell him—what were they waiting for?

Fortunately, he came to the company today to take a look, or he would have been caught off guard again!

Amid his anger, Pei Qian also felt some relief.

Good thing he discovered it early; perhaps he could still find a way to remedy the situation somewhat!

The key issue now was to figure out exactly why this game was experiencing revenue growth.

If it was due to some temporary factor, causing a short-term increase in revenue, then he wouldn’t need to worry too much—at worst, he could just spend more money.

If it were due to some long-term factor, and this revenue would continue indefinitely, or even experience explosive growth in the future, then Pei Qian would need to be immediately alert and even take decisive measures.

Pei Qian clicked into Sea Fortress’s player forum and carefully searched recent discussions.

“I never thought that even Li Zhengwei, with his honest face, would betray the revolution! Sigh! Could it be that ‘Counter-Terrorism Plan’ is truly being abandoned by the times?”

“You’re overthinking it. Li is just doing his regular sponsored content.”

“Li said in the fan group that it’s not sponsored. Mainly because the documentary made by Fei Huang Studio was really good this time. Li is using his influence to help promote their game, which is a way of returning the favor.”

“I think there’s nothing wrong with this. ‘Sea Fortress’ is a conscientious domestic game, so recommending it is a good thing.”

“I got into the game because of Li, and I must say, this game is indeed not bad.”

“In terms of competitiveness and feel, ‘Counter-Terrorism Plan’ is better, but it’s an old game after all, inconvenient for online play, and the gameplay isn’t rich enough. After switching to ‘Sea Fortress,’ I find it quite enjoyable for casual entertainment. Thanks to Li for the recommendation!”

…

Pei Qian held his forehead in his hand, speechless.

This was impossible to guard against!

The documentary “Breaking Out of the Cocoon” by Fei Huang Studio hadn’t yet recovered its costs, and they really couldn’t find good monetization methods. Even Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaocai had given up and were preparing for their next film.

So Pei Qian hadn’t considered the documentary’s impact anymore.

But he never expected that this documentary would affect Sea Fortress!

Even Fei Huang Studio hadn’t anticipated this influence.

Currently, FPS games were a hot category in the esports field, and Li Zhengwei, known as “China’s Number One FPS Player,” had considerable influence among fans. His professional career had been quite winding, providing plenty of material to film.

That’s why Fei Huang Studio decided to make a documentary about him.

After the documentary was completed, Li Zhengwei was very grateful to Fei Huang Studio. After all, the documentary was purely for public benefit, helping to boost Li Zhengwei’s fame while also pushing the esports industry toward a more standardized direction.

During filming, Li Zhengwei learned through casual conversation with Huang Sibo that Huang was the lead designer of the domestic FPS game Sea Fortress.

So after the documentary was finished, Li Zhengwei repeatedly promoted Sea Fortress!

And since Pei Qian didn’t follow the FPS player community, he was unaware of all this.

Li Zhengwei had extensive influence among Counter-Terrorism Plan players. His enthusiastic promotion naturally attracted a large batch of players to join Sea Fortress!

Consequently, many Counter-Terrorism Plan players defected in batches, gradually creating a chain reaction…

Since the official platform had given a recommendation spot, and the new guns in Sea Fortress were selling well, Pei Qian hadn’t immediately noticed any issues with the data.

He only belatedly realized it today.

Pei Qian held his forehead: “…damn it.”

He had identified the problem, but was powerless.

Because… it was too late!

Although Li Zhengwei had some influence among FPS game players, his promotion of Sea Fortress could sustain heat for at most a few days.

Now, several days had already passed, the heat was gradually dissipating, and players who were going to enter the game had already done so. What more could be done?

“I’ve spread myself too thin, it’s like pressing down the gourd only to have the ladle pop up…”

“Stay calm.”

“Looking at it from another angle, it’s not so bad.”

“This was just an unexpected event, and Li Zhengwei’s influence will soon fade.”

“As long as it doesn’t have a lasting impact on Sea Fortress’s data afterward, everything should be fine.”

“Phew… so, I’ve defused a dud bomb. Although it might not matter much, I should be able to relax for now.”

In just half an hour, Pei Qian’s mood had fluctuated intensely, but fortunately, there was a scare but no real danger.

According to Pei Qian’s estimate, this wave of player influx might only last two or three days, adding a bit of sudden spending burden, but it shouldn’t affect the settlement.

After repeatedly confirming that there were no issues with other games, and only Sea Fortress’s data growth was somewhat abnormal, Pei Qian slightly relaxed and prepared to leave.

In the office area, Lü Mingliang and Bao Xu quickly exchanged glances.

“Boss Pei is coming out. Do we still need to report?”

“I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“…Let’s still report it.”

Although Bao Xu thought it unnecessary to mention, Lü Mingliang felt they should at least briefly mention it, so he stood up from his seat.

“Boss Pei, there’s something I need to report to you. Sea Fortress has seen a significant upward trend in active users and recharges recently, and also…”

Pei Qian nodded with a smile: “I already know.”

“Oh, alright, Boss Pei.”

Lü Mingliang quietly withdrew, feeling that he had indeed been redundant.

How could Boss Pei not notice such simple data issues? That was impossible.

Indeed, he had overthought it.

Before leaving, Pei Qian glanced at Lü Mingliang and nodded slightly.

Good!

Promoting you to lead designer was indeed the right decision—more reliable than Huang Sibo and Bao Xu!

Although the information he provided this time was already outdated, such behavior deserved praise. Your position as lead designer is secure!