“What’s going on? This doesn’t make any scientific sense!”

“I hid it so well, how could anyone find it?”

“Are there players with nothing better to do than run around activating Buddha statues? And then just happen to die six times near that old monk?”

“Damn it…”

Pei Qian felt a bit dizzy.

This was too much to handle!

He still couldn’t quite believe that a player had found “Salvation,” feeling there must be some hidden circumstances.

But the facts were right in front of him, and he couldn’t deny them.

In any case, the appearance of “Salvation” gave hope to those players with poor gaming skills who originally couldn’t progress. Many players who had been considering refunds now decided not to!

Even public opinion had undergone a significant reversal!

Previously, many paid commenters criticized the game mainly based on its difficulty.

The game was too difficult, playing it was self-torture, the high difficulty was deliberately designed to frustrate players—therefore the game was garbage, and everyone should hurry to get refunds.

But now, this viewpoint had collapsed on its own!

The design team hadn’t deliberately frustrated players—hadn’t they made a special weapon for players with poor skills?

As long as you obtained “Salvation,” the game’s difficulty wasn’t so high anymore, so naturally, players with poor skills had no reason to refund!

It even made the design team seem especially humane and compassionate!

Pei Qian felt dizzy. What could he do now?

This wasn’t just about the plummeting refund rate. Once the news spread that players with poor skills could progress…

Pei Qian knew clearly that even poor players could complete the Six Realms of Reincarnation ending with “Salvation,” after all, he had poor gaming skills.

“This won’t do, I need to think of a solution quickly…”

Pei Qian couldn’t just sit and wait for disaster. After some thought, he decided to seek help from paid commenters again!

Of course, the specific application this time definitely couldn’t be the same as the previous two times.

……

……

Pengcheng City.

Hu Xiao was happily killing small monsters with “Salvation.”

“Take that for killing me!”

“Let me ‘save’ each one of you!”

“So you’re the elite monster, huh? Lie down!”

Hu Xiao was having a great time.

After getting “Salvation,” the game finally had some gameplay experience!

Hu Xiao was a very easily satisfied person. He didn’t rush to fight the monsters ahead, just repeatedly killed the earlier monsters that had tormented him, accumulating a few more Three Souls and Seven Spirits to level up.

That a player with poor skills could find enjoyment in this game was completely unexpected.

After playing for a while, Hu Xiao contentedly closed the game and prepared to open the forum to see if there were any new discussions about “Turn Around to Reach the Shore.”

He found himself increasingly enjoying browsing the game’s forum because it was so interesting!

It wasn’t just the player arguments that were interesting; often, some players would dig out hidden content in the game, which was also fascinating.

Just like the hidden weapon “Salvation,” which was shared on the forum by some players.

While browsing, Hu Xiao received another message from “Hardcore Review.”

“Buy more paid commenters.”

Hu Xiao’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly replied: “Sure, no problem!”

This was the third wave of paid commenters this person had bought, very generous and prompt with payment.

Although Hu Xiao had spent over a hundred yuan out of his pocket to buy the game, that misunderstanding had been cleared up.

Hardcore Review: “This time, the requirements are different from the previous two times. I’ve noticed that recently, the discussion seems to be leaning one way. Think of something to make the topic more controversial, understand?”

Hu Xiao readily agreed: “Sure, no problem!”

……

Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the paid commenters were all very professional, focusing on the task without asking questions.

Recently, the discussion about “Turn Around to Reach the Shore” had indeed been leaning one way.

With the discovery of “Salvation,” complaints from players with poor skills had decreased, naturally reducing controversy.

Those paid commenters who had been criticizing the game lost their ammunition, and many had switched sides, joining the mindless praise to complete their tasks.

If this situation continued, public opinion would soon completely reverse…

So, the important thing was to keep everyone arguing. Those paid commenters criticizing the game absolutely couldn’t give up. If they gave up, Mr. Pei wouldn’t be far from giving up himself!

This time, Pei Qian once again flawlessly deceived the system.

If his request had been “have all paid commenters criticize ‘Turn Around to Reach the Shore’,” that definitely wouldn’t work—the system certainly wouldn’t approve the expense. But if it was “create more controversy around the game,” there was no problem.

After all, from the system’s perspective, this should count as paying for attention, right?

And now, those praising “Turn Around to Reach the Shore” clearly had the upper hand, so this approach was equivalent to supporting the critics.

All according to plan.

Go ahead and criticize it harshly! It would be best if everyone got refunds!

Pei Qian refreshed the forum and Weibo, silently waiting for the paid commenters to take action.

……

Meanwhile, although Hu Xiao had very readily accepted this job, when he assigned it to the group, he encountered some problems.

The boss was required to prevent the online public opinion about “Turn Around to Reach the Shore” from being so one-sided, and to create as much controversy as possible.

In the current situation, the critics were struggling to hold their ground. In other words, the boss wanted the paid commenters to help the critics drive the narrative, bringing the situation back to balance!

But how to do it?

Previously, criticizing the game mainly focused on its difficulty. But after “Salvation” appeared, this problem no longer existed. Continuing to force criticism on this point would be too obvious and ineffective.

Hu Xiao explained this requirement in the group, letting the professional paid commenters figure out a solution themselves.

As the saying goes, where there’s a substantial reward, there will be brave men. As long as the pay was good enough, they weren’t afraid of finding points to criticize.

Hearing there was money to be made, the paid commenters immediately became excited and started racking their brains for criticisms against the game.

“How about criticizing the game for misinterpreting traditional culture?”

“Or criticize the game for having a thin plot?”

“Criticize the game for hiring paid commenters!”

Everyone had their own opinions, but they couldn’t come up with a particularly good approach.

Because these points weren’t very meaningful to criticize, they could only force it!

Of course, forced criticism wasn’t completely impossible, but it would be difficult to generate enough controversy to meet the boss’s requirements.

In other words, it would be inefficient and possibly a waste of effort.

If the game itself had quality issues, there would be much more to work with—like shoddy workmanship, deceiving consumers, selling nationalistic sentiment, etc. These would all be good angles to attack from.

But the problem was, this game had no quality issues—it was very solid!

These criticisms would be too unconvincing and might even backfire, causing more people to support “Turn Around to Reach the Shore.”

Moreover, many of these paid commenters hadn’t deeply explored the game. They had played for a few minutes, found their computers couldn’t handle it, and immediately refunded. How could they find deeper points to criticize?

So, after much discussion, they still couldn’t find a good angle of attack.

Thus, the situation reached an impasse.

Finally, Hu Xiao had no choice but to type: “Brothers, no rush. Just post a few forced criticisms for now to maintain some level of controversy. The rest of you keep looking for deeper issues with this game.”

“We’re professionals, we must do everything possible to complete the boss’s task!”

“This is a long-term task. Everyone should keep an eye on the forum and other players’ posts. Once you find any loopholes, report them in the group immediately!”

……

……

October 6th.

Tenda Network Technology Co., Ltd.

Li Yada looked at the game’s sales data and player feedback on the forum and across the internet. The eyes behind her thick glasses curved into crescents as she smiled.

Indeed, everything was under Mr. Pei’s control!

The previous worry that “Turn Around to Reach the Shore” would be taken down was completely unnecessary.

During this period, officials had not issued any warnings, and they hadn’t even removed the recommendation spot on the homepage. Their attitude was very clear: full support for Tenda!

Moreover, everything was improving continuously, just as Mr. Pei had predicted.

Li Yada had known about the existence of “Salvation” earlier and had been worried that the weapon might be buried too deep, that players might not discover it even after several months.

But in less than a week after the game’s launch, players had already found it!

On one hand, this showed that the power of players was infinite; on the other hand, it also showed that Mr. Pei’s grasp of player psychology had reached an unparalleled level.

Why did Mr. Pei create a hidden weapon? It was clearly for players to find.

And the players didn’t disappoint Mr. Pei’s expectations—they found it quickly, showing that Mr. Pei and the players were in perfect harmony!

Moreover, once “Salvation” appeared, the game’s reputation turned around, the refund rate began to plummet, and everything started looking up!

Even more amazingly, players on the forum began to change their tune, and complaints about the game’s difficulty almost disappeared!

Li Yada knew very clearly that even with “Salvation,” the game was still very difficult for ordinary people and those with poor gaming skills compared to other games.

It had merely dropped from infernal difficulty to hard difficulty.

But players weren’t complaining anymore!

This reflected Mr. Pei’s precise grasp of player psychology.

First, present an extreme difficulty, let players suffer intensely, and then, just when players are about to give up, let them discover “Salvation” on their own, greatly reducing the game’s difficulty.

The sudden reduction in difficulty would bring players immense satisfaction. So, although the game remained difficult, players’ experience improved dramatically—even those with poor skills could play now!

The game still had a certain level of difficulty and challenge, but players weren’t as impatient anymore and weren’t clamoring for refunds. It was a perfect win-win solution!

Li Yada couldn’t help but wonder if this was how Lü Mingliang felt.

It was a complete and easy win!

With a boss like Mr. Pei, who commanded everything so masterfully, making small adjustments that had profound effects, being an employee was truly blissful.

Seeing that the game’s success was now a certainty, Li Yada was genuinely happy.

“Let’s keep up the good work and start planning for the new version update!” Pushing up her thick glasses, Li Yada threw herself back into work with abundant enthusiasm.