There were quite a few group admins who had the same experience as Chen Sha.

When Lin Wan found them and asked them to help test the game, most group admins’ first reaction was resistance.

No payment, but you want us to test the game?

Free labor?

But out of courtesy, many people still downloaded and played it.

Once they started playing, they couldn’t stop!

Sea Fortress simplified the operations. For newcomers, this helped enhance the experience, but for veterans—especially hardcore Counter-Strike players—this might instinctively cause discomfort and rejection.

However, Sea Fortress’s story mode solved this problem perfectly!

Most of these players were attracted by the story mode. During several hours of gameplay, they gradually adapted to this unique feel, making a perfect transition.

And after getting used to this feeling, many people felt obvious discomfort when they went back to Counter-Strike!

Why is switching weapons so slow?

Why is recoil control so difficult?

The response is so sluggish!

Suddenly, it became very uncomfortable to play!

Counter-Strike is an excellent competitive game that necessarily imposes restrictions on many mechanics.

For example, fast weapon switching might make expert players too powerful with quick sniping, destroying the game’s balance to some extent, so weapon switching was deliberately slowed down.

But Sea Fortress didn’t care about any of that—it just focused on giving players an exhilarating experience!

Balance?

I’ve already included a Fire Qilin weapon, and you’re still talking about balance?

These Counter-Strike veterans suddenly felt liberated. The gaming experience was incredibly smooth, and the game felt indescribably simple and relaxing!

When they went back to Counter-Strike, they couldn’t adapt anymore…

This is called “easier to go from frugal to luxurious.” After getting used to a game with simple operations, returning to a game with complex operations naturally feels difficult to adapt to!

Moreover, Sea Fortress didn’t just have story mode; it also had a rich variety of battle modes!

Compared to Bullet Mark and Counter-Strike, Sea Fortress’s Ghost Mode, Biohazard Mode, and others were completely new gameplay styles that gave most players a fresh feeling!

Of course, these new modes were created on a whim by Bao Xu and Huang Sibo while making the story mode. Their original intention was to make good use of leftover resources from the story mode, such as zombie models and other art assets. From a gameplay perspective, they weren’t particularly mature, had poor balance, and needed further improvement.

But the key was that there were no other games on the market offering these modes—there was no competition!

So, compared to the formal battle mode, many players preferred Ghost Mode and Biohazard Mode, which these unbalanced PVP modes. Although the balance was poor, everyone was just playing for fun anyway and nobody cared, making it extremely enjoyable!

Within just a few days, Sea Fortress spread like a virus through numerous FPS gaming groups!

…

…

Friday.

After finishing his last specialized course exam, Pei Qian finally had some free time.

He had decided to go to the company and face the painful reality of Sea Fortress’s failure!

In the days since Sea Fortress launched, Pei Qian had been seriously preparing for his specialized course exams, completely disappearing from public view.

Pei Qian was afraid that Huang Sibo would see the poor game data and urge him to promote the game, so he instructed Assistant Xin in advance that no matter who came looking for him, turn them all away and say he was busy!

He had resisted checking the backend data for a whole week.

Surely Sea Fortress must have completely flopped by now?

Pei Qian managed all the money in the company accounts. He had basically spent almost everything and had no intention of spending a single penny on promotional expenses.

Even if others wanted to promote Sea Fortress, they had no means to do so!

Previously, Ghost General had encountered Ruan Guangjian, which was just terrible luck for Pei Qian. How often could you encounter such a genius artist who happened to have good connections in the artist circle?

This time, Sea Fortress didn’t have such an artist!

Add to that the game’s feel that was completely different from Counter-Strike and the 888-yuan pay-to-win weapons…

With multiple safeguards in place, it had to fail!

Pei Qian deliberately waited this long before showing his face at the company again, mainly because he didn’t want to laugh uncontrollably while everyone was immersed in the atmosphere of failure.

By now, Sea Fortress’s failure should be a foregone conclusion. As the boss, Pei Qian needed to visit the company to comfort the employees, express deep regret over Sea Fortress’s failure, and tell them not to be discouraged or dejected, but to quickly pull themselves together and start preparing for the next phase.

The subsequent income from Ghost General was still enough to maintain the company’s operations for some time, and Pei Qian could happily receive his five hundred thousand yuan, then continue to spend the funds provided by the system for the next phase.

Perfect! Absolutely perfect!

Arriving at the lobby of Shenhua Luxury View.

Pei Qian rubbed his cheeks, making his involuntarily upturned corners of his mouth drop slightly, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, found an expression of profound sadness, and let this expression freeze on his face.

He took out his phone to check—yes, this acting skill was basically qualified.

Pei Qian stepped into the elevator and arrived at the company.

…

As soon as he walked into the company, Pei Qian keenly sensed that the atmosphere was indeed a bit off!

Huang Sibo stared at the computer screen, woodenly refreshing the page over and over, half-slumped in his chair.

Xiao Lü seemed somewhat restless, constantly shaking his leg and scratching his head, as if suffering from hyperactivity disorder.

Bao Xu wasn’t playing games, but was looking at the green plants by the window and the scenery outside, lost in thought.

Seeing this, Pei Qian suddenly felt guilty.

It seemed like he had let them down!

Although everyone was just a bunch of slackers who couldn’t make a decent game anyway, and they had spent this time dining and vacationing with little time for game development…

But everyone had invested some emotion in this game.

Now, seeing that no one cared about it and it had failed so miserably, it was emotionally difficult to accept, which was perfectly normal.

Huang Sibo probably saw the terrible data and found it hard to believe.

And Xiao Lü probably didn’t know what to do.

As for Bao Xu? He was probably questioning his life choices…

Pei Qian let out a light sigh.

At this moment, he needed to provide some psychological guidance to his employees as their boss, since he was responsible for about ninety percent of the game’s failure…

Pei Qian quickly calculated in his mind what he should say.

But just then, the twin girls at the front desk noticed Pei Qian.

“Mr. Pei is here!”

The two young girls suddenly took the lead in applauding!

The entire office instantly became lively, with applause and cheers suddenly erupting, startling Pei Qian!

What was going on?

Pei Qian noticed that everyone’s faces were beaming with smiles, not fake ones, but genuinely from the heart!

This instinctively made Pei Qian feel that something was amiss!

Huang Sibo stood up and quickly came to Pei Qian, bowing deeply.

“Mr. Pei, I’ve learned my lesson!”

“Previously, I didn’t understand why you didn’t arrange a promotion for Sea Fortress, and I doubted your actions.”

“But now I understand!”

“You were showing me through actions that good games don’t need promotion! All they need is players’ word-of-mouth and organic growth to stand out in the fierce market competition!”

“Mr. Pei, your confidence is admirable!”

Pei Qian’s heart sank halfway.

He almost cried, struggling to control his facial muscles to maintain a serious expression.

“Our game… is successful?” Pei Qian asked tentatively, feeling like he was falling into an abyss.

Huang Sibo nodded vigorously: “Yes, it’s a hit!”

“I’ve been refreshing the data backend, hardly believing my own eyes!”

“Without any publicity or promotion, our popularity, active player count, and profit have completely crushed Bullet Mark!!”