Pei Qian used the “Hardcore Review” account to send a message to “Xiaohupingce” (Little Fox Reviews).

Two minutes later, Hu Xiao replied.

“Buddy, whatever you need, just say it!”

Pei Qian was a bit surprised—this guy was browsing AiLiDao intensely 24 hours a day.

Because Pei Qian had sent the message through AiLiDao’s private messaging system, not through a social media app.

This “Xiaohupingce” content creator was able to respond so quickly, which meant he was constantly monitoring private messages on AiLiDao.

Of course, it was also possible that he was simultaneously monitoring multiple websites with high intensity, including Weibo, forums, and AiLiDao.

All that could be said was that this was the attitude a professional content creator should have.

Pei Qian considered his wording for a moment.

The System didn’t allow buying water army (paid commenters), probably because, in the System’s view, whether using water army to post fake negative reviews or fake positive reviews, it constituted fraud and would affect ordinary consumers’ judgment of a product.

Since the System classified this behavior as fraud, it definitely couldn’t be funded with System money.

But…

If it wasn’t fraud, could System funds be used?

If I hired people to give normal evaluations of the game, similar to paid reviews, the System surely couldn’t prohibit that, right?

Mr. Pei was just such a person who excelled at finding loopholes in rules.

“Do you accept customized services?” Pei Qian asked.

Hu Xiao didn’t dare to be negligent and quickly replied: “Of course! Our brothers are all very capable, not only experienced but also adaptable. Just tell us what you need, and we’ll satisfy you!”

“Of course, price-wise, there might be slight fluctuations, after all, customization is a technical job…”

Since the last incident, Hu Xiao had been paying special attention to this “Hardcore Review” content creator.

This content creator wasn’t short on money, had very clever marketing tactics, and most likely had some complex, unspeakable connections with Fei Huang Studio.

Hu Xiao was eager to establish a good cooperative relationship with him, as there might be situations in the future where he could ask for help.

Of course, Hu Xiao also didn’t mind making a little extra money.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and typed: “Have your brothers play a game, then give some evaluations based on their first impressions.”

Hu Xiao was stunned: “Just that?”

Pei Qian: “That’s right. Give me a quote.”

Hu Xiao felt confused and quickly asked: “Buddy, let me confirm again, you just said, evaluate based on first impressions?”

“Just be clear, do you want our brothers to post positive reviews or negative reviews?”

“I’m afraid I’ve misunderstood your meaning.”

Hu Xiao was a bit dazed—it was the first time he’d seen someone hire a water army like this.

When you hire a water army to do a job, you should give them a clear objective, right?

Mindless praise, mindless criticism, false criticism, pretending to be neutral while being biased, praising one thing while criticizing another, diverting attention…

These were all things the water army brothers were good at.

But as the client, you need to be clear!

With so many operation methods, if you don’t specify which one to use, what if we get it wrong?

Pei Qian: “Just have the brothers experience the game, then give evaluations based on their first impressions. I’ve been very clear.”

“Whether it’s a positive or negative review doesn’t matter, as long as it’s based on first impressions.”

“And I must emphasize, I’m not buying a water army here. I’m just paying some brothers to experience the game and provide some feedback on it.”

Hu Xiao was momentarily speechless.

You’re making all these demands to a water army leader, then saying “I’m not buying water army”???

Brother, this is a private chat, I won’t expose our conversation records, you don’t need to be so nervous!

Hu Xiao was a bit confused, but adhering to the principle “the customer is always right,” he carefully read through what the other party had said from beginning to end, trying hard to understand it at the most basic level.

“So, you’re simply paying people to play the game and write some reviews.”

“And whether these reviews are positive or negative, there’s no specific requirement, just that they should be based on first impressions, is that right?”

Pei Qian: “That’s right.”

Hu Xiao: “Which platform?”

Pei Qian: “All places, including the official platform, AiLiDao, Weibo, forums, etc. You figure it out.”

“Just give me a price.”

Since he could use System funds, Mr. Pei instantly became wealthy and generous.

Hesitant when paying out of pocket, aggressive when the System covers it!

After waiting two minutes, the other side replied.

“So, we’ll use the price of premium comments as a base price, 20 yuan for 100 comments. Of course, if it’s on Weibo, we’ll carefully consider the content for some popular Weibos, and add certain comments and shares to make it look more authentic.”

“In other places, like game-related videos on AiLiDao, we’ll also try to post some highly-liked comments.”

“This involves some mixed charging issues, like how much a Weibo post with many likes, shares, and comments should cost, which needs detailed calculation. But rest assured, we’re professionals, and we’ll make everything seamless. We’ll also try to give you preferential pricing.”

“Here’s the quote…”

Just as Hu Xiao sent over the quote, the other party quickly replied.

“Don’t make it so complicated. I don’t want to calculate.”

“Let’s pay per person instead, 300 yuan per person. Get me about 300-400 people, and arrange enough workload for each person according to the package content.”

“It doesn’t matter if the evaluations are good or bad, just evaluate based on first impressions.”

“Any problems?”

Hu Xiao was a bit dazed.

Of course there were no problems—how could there be?

If you want to burn money, what reason do I have to object?

But why?

What are you getting out of spending this money?

Paying per person is xnot as cost-effective as directly buying several comments!

Hu Xiao calculated quickly and knew that at the rate of 300 yuan per person, with 300-400 people, that was 100,000 yuan being spent.

But the problem was how wasteful this 100,000 yuan was!

However, upon second thought, Hu Xiao realized that this “Hardcore Review” guy was so knowledgeable about marketing, would he throw money around for no reason?

There must be a deeper meaning.

So Hu Xiao didn’t ask further and directly nodded: “No problem, rest assured, we’ll handle it perfectly!”

“Let me inform the brothers, I’ll get back to you shortly.”

…

Having arranged the water army, Pei Qian felt much more at ease.

100,000 yuan was small money; being able to expense it through System funds, it was nothing to spend casually.

Pei Qian knew very well that no matter how many water armies he bought, it would be difficult to completely influence public opinion.

Even if several hundred water army members continuously changed accounts to post comments, compared to tens or hundreds of thousands of players, they would ultimately be a minority.

Moreover, with the System restricting him, Pei Qian couldn’t ask the water army to directly post positive or negative reviews; he could only use this roundabout method, letting them write evaluations based on their first impressions.

Of course, the reason Pei Qian was so confident was that he knew very clearly that the water army’s first impressions of “Return to Shore” would be very bad!

It was obvious that these water army weren’t technical players, and whether their computers could even run “Return to Shore” was questionable.

This group’s gaming experience would be poor. Making them evaluate “Return to Shore” based on first impressions—how could that be good?

Therefore, Pei Qian had perfectly circumvented the System’s restrictions, not only hiring a water army and creating a trend online, but also not spending his own money.

Simply perfect!

100,000 yuan wasn’t much. Pei Qian planned to throw in a little money first to see the effect.

If the effect was good, or if there was no effect, then he would continue to throw in more money.

If it backfired… then he would have to stop losses quickly.

Pei Qian didn’t dare to throw in too much money at once; if it turned out like last time, that would be a big problem.

Just as he was about to close the chat window, the other side sent another message.

“Buddy, we still need to purchase the game. How about the cost of buying the game…”

Pei Qian was speechless. Didn’t you just claim to be a professional water army?

Do I need to teach you about buying a game and then refunding it?

But on second thought, the other party probably rarely received such special customized service requests…

When others hired a water army, they just explained the general talking points, and the water army only needed to copy and paste or make slight modifications before starting work.

Pei Qian’s water army would have to experience the game themselves.

It seemed a bit demanding.

Pei Qian replied: “No problem, you can refund after playing for a bit. If you find it troublesome, I’ll add another 20,000 yuan as a hardship allowance for the brothers.”

Hu Xiao: “Then thank you, boss! But by the way, does this game have high system requirements? I’m worried our brothers’ computers might not be able to handle it.”

Pei Qian: “…”

You ask too many questions!

If their computers can’t handle it, then they can’t handle it! Just download it, play a bit, and if the computer lags, give the game a bad review, isn’t that fine?

Or even if you don’t download it, just do a cloud review and curse the game, I won’t pursue it!

You’re asking me like this now, how am I supposed to answer?

I can’t possibly be that specific with you.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and replied: “I’ll add another 20,000 for you to solve this problem yourself. If necessary, have everyone go to a better internet café nearby.”

Hu Xiao: “Ah, great! Brother, you’re generous!”

Indeed, money could solve all problems, especially when using System funds.

With everything settled, Pei Qian happily ended work for the day.

Just waiting for the game to go online tomorrow!

…

…

October 1st.

“Return to Shore” is officially released!

The moment the purchase button became available, countless players anxiously waiting pressed it without hesitation!

However, a small portion of players keenly noticed a small line of text on the game’s description page: “Unconditional refund within 5 hours.”

In other games on the official platform, this line usually reads “Unconditional refund within 3 hours.”

Of course, the very few players who noticed this small line of text merely thought it was another instance of Tenda’s consumer-friendly practices, completely unaware of the dangerous information hidden behind it.

…

Pengcheng.

Hu Xiao was at home, having just instructed the water army brothers about this new task.

Although this task seemed somewhat bizarre, the other party was indeed generous. Since the money was sufficient, there would be no other problems.

Hu Xiao had already arranged the personnel; they were just waiting for the game’s official release to begin work.

“Should I try playing it myself?”

Hu Xiao didn’t have much to do recently.

No manufacturers were looking for sponsored content, and he didn’t feel like making videos himself.

Of course, Hu Xiao disdained rolling up his sleeves to do water army work himself; he didn’t care for that small amount of money.

But judging from the official platform, this game seemed quite popular. Casually playing it as entertainment should be fine.

With this thought, Hu Xiao decided to download the game and play it a bit.

“The download installation package is 8GB?”

“Not bad, let’s download it.”

Although “Return to Shore” had relatively high computer system requirements and highly detailed art resources, because the game flow wasn’t very long and it was well-optimized, the installation package was kept to around 8 GB.

This wasn’t a very difficult number to accept.

Hu Xiao himself was also a bit curious. The other party said to evaluate based on first impressions.

What would everyone’s first impression of this game be?