Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

“Sea Fortress” differed so much from his estimated data; something must have gone wrong somewhere.

Even if a batch of new players had poured in, there was no reason they would buy Fire Kirin so frantically. There must be some critical incentive!

Pei Qian carefully observed all the game’s data and found that not only had the recharge data increased, but the number of active players had also grown significantly, and the average daily gaming time of players had lengthened!

In other words, “Sea Fortress” had become more addictive.

This was very strange.

Logically, this DLC hadn’t updated any features that required grinding. The story mode could be completed leisurely in a few days, the battle mode remained the same, and there weren’t any online duration gift packages or other activities to extend online time.

But players’ average gaming time had still increased!

Had players suddenly become happier during this period and wanted to spend more time playing games?

Impossible.

The data behind the game does not lie. Pei Qian vaguely felt that the key to the surge in income lay here!

Pei Qian again turned to Thousand Degrees search engine, looking for the fundamental reason behind the significant increase in “Sea Fortress” player activity.

Finally, Pei Qian found the answer in a post.

“I’ve heard of stock speculation and real estate speculation, but this is the first time I’ve heard of accounts being speculated on. I’m impressed!”

“When ‘Sea Fortress’ just updated its version, I was also complaining. Such a good-looking Barrett Destruction rifle, yet they only sell 500 of them. Has the official team gone crazy? Don’t they want to make money, or what?”

“But now it seems Tenda’s strategy is truly profound!”

“Yesterday, a friend who never plays FPS games came to ask me if I play ‘Sea Fortress’ and wanted to add me as a friend to play the biohazard mode together.”

“I was puzzled at the time. He never touches FPS games, so why the change of heart?”

“When I asked, I found out he was in it for the money!”

“The Barrett Destruction rifles on trading platforms have been hyped up to two or three thousand yuan, and there’s no stock! After all, with only 500 available each month, many who grabbed them planned to use them themselves, or were planning to hoard them to see if the price would rise further. Rich players who wanted to buy would have to pay a lot more!”

“Many scalpers were happy, buying at high prices and hoarding them. After all, next month there will still only be 500, so these things retain their value!”

“But then the official team released a patch. From now on, everyone can make reservation purchases according to their credit rating!”

“The higher your credit rating, the higher your chance of getting a reservation.”

“And ordinary people still have a chance. As long as you’re a real player, not a scalper account registered just to grab Barrett Destruction rifles, you have a chance in the lottery!”

“What’s more outrageous is that for every point your credit value increases, you get a tiny bit more chance to win!”

“Although this is quite unreliable, it’s all about that mystical belief!”

“So everyone is racking their brains to increase their credit value—grinding game time, playing story mode, competing for rankings. Some people discovered that account recharges can also significantly increase credit value. Many wealthy new players gritted their teeth and bought Fire Kirin directly!”

“After all, this gun looks good, you can show off in the game, and it also increases your chance of getting a Barrett Destruction rifle…”

“Someone in our player group got a Barrett Destruction rifle and sold it for over three thousand yuan the day before yesterday. There was also a big shot with a level three credit account who sold his account due to work reasons, and a rich player bought it for fifteen thousand yuan!”

“Now, level two and three accounts are worth more than Barrett Destruction rifles. After all, with more and more epic weapons in the future, these accounts can be seen as money trees!”

“I’ve already mobilized three people in our dormitory to play this game. I’ve asked them to play a couple of matches each day to maintain activity. If we can get a gun next month, we’ll strike it rich!”

…

After browsing through the post, Pei Qian fell into a daze.

Now he understood where the problem was.

“…I was too naive.”

“I thought that as long as there was a purchase limit, the game’s revenue wouldn’t increase anymore…”

Pei Qian understood that the problem lay in the limited 500 Barrett Destruction rifles!

Because this gun was so popular, the monthly 500 were immediately hyped to sky-high prices, to the extent that players who got one could immediately resell it for a profit of one or two thousand yuan!

If it was a level three account with Fire Kirin and Barrett Destruction, then the value of that account was even more incalculable…

This temptation was irresistible for many players.

Moreover, “Sea Fortress” was originally a free game with rich content. Many people had been hesitating about whether to join, and this news was the last straw that broke their resistance.

Originally, players’ enthusiasm wouldn’t have been so high because the original rush purchases were dominated by scalpers and studios. But Pei Qian, not fond of scalpers, created a credit system, giving every ordinary player a chance to buy Barrett Destruction!

As a result, player enthusiasm reached unprecedented heights. Considering also the official platform’s strong promotion, the extensive publicity from people like Li Zhengwei and Qiao Laoshi for “Sea Fortress”…

This week’s income had exploded!

And not just this week, for the next month or two, “Sea Fortress” would not earn less money.

Add to that Chen Lei coming to sing at Slackin’ Internet Café for a few days…

Pei Qian recognized an extremely painful fact.

It was impossible to make a loss this cycle.

Pei Qian slumped in his chair, instantly feeling like life had no meaning.

Thinking carefully, who was to blame this time?

It seemed like no one else…

The one who sent Chen Lei to Magic City was Pei Qian.

The one who limited Barrett Destruction to 500 was Pei Qian.

The one who let players purchase according to credit value was still Pei Qian!

The only problem was that Pei Qian hadn’t explained clearly to Lin Wan at the time what exactly the credit rating system standards were and how to specifically increase credit value.

Lin Wan directly passed this matter to Lü Mingliang, letting him figure it out.

So Lü Mingliang naturally included account consumption records in the credit value calculation.

This was a natural thought—it would be too unreasonable if a rich player who spent 888 yuan on a Fire Kirin didn’t get credit value for it.

Thus, the current problem emerged.

Many players who originally had no intention of buying Fire Kirin had spent money to purchase it to more easily get Barrett Destruction…

Now they had spent money and increased their credit rating. When Barrett Destruction goes on sale next month, their chances of buying would be greater.

So, many people had rushed to spend money in this final week, buying Fire Kirin, causing “Sea Fortress” weekly income to soar!

This was probably what they called “one misstep leads to eternal regret”…

What was even more frustrating was that this error could not be reversed.

If Pei Qian were to lift the 500-weapon limit now? Sorry, but players would buy them out in minutes.

And such an untrustworthy move couldn’t be done; it would be severely criticized by players, and Pei Qian and Tenda’s public image would completely collapse.

So, with “Sea Fortress,” they could only go all the way down this path.

No solution!

Mr. Pei felt terrible.

Mr. Pei wanted to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

“Forget it, let’s go to Slackin’ Internet Café for a couple of drinks.”

“After all… It’s already impossible to make a loss.”