Chapter 180: Plug One Leak, Another Springs Open
Inside his office, Pei Qian opened the backend system to check the performance data of several games.
"These people! They only report bad news and hide the good ones—totally unreliable!"
"In the end, I still have to do everything myself."
Pei Qian grumbled, full of resentment.
Other companies had employees who always reported good news and kept the bad to themselves. But not his team—his employees were the complete opposite. If something went well, he'd always be the last to know.
He had reflected on this issue before. It was probably because, from the very beginning, Tengda had operated with a flat management structure—no strict hierarchies. People like Huang Sibo and Bao Xu were low-key, no-nonsense types with no airs about them.
So whenever issues came up, the employees would try to resolve them quietly on their own. Even when something went right, they'd just assume, "Well, this must be part of President Pei's master plan," and wouldn't even think to brag about it, let alone report it.
This made Pei Qian very unhappy.
Whenever profit started creeping in, he'd always be the last to hear about it—missing the chance to react in time.
Worse yet, he couldn't just go around showing he was completely in the dark—it would totally break the persona he had carefully crafted, making him look like a clueless boss. That'd be awkward as hell!
'I can't let the same mistake bite me twice.'
With only a few days left before the settlement, Pei Qian knew he had to closely monitor every potentially profitable project. There could be no room for surprises.
That was the reason he had come to the office in person today.
Opening the backend dashboard, he quickly scanned the numbers across several game titles.
The revenue numbers were trending upward across the board. That wasn't surprising—after all, new DLCs had just been released, and the platform had been giving them prominent front-page placements. Some growth was inevitable.
Still, looking at row after row of increasing figures made Pei Qian's heart thump with dread. Thankfully, after a closer look, most of the increases were still within acceptable limits.
But…
One game's revenue was way off.
Ocean Fortress!
Pei Qian immediately noticed that this game's revenue figures were significantly higher than expected—much higher, in fact.
Even after accounting for all the usual boosts—official platform promotions, changes in profit-sharing, renewed player interest after the DLC—the numbers were still off the charts.
Pei Qian's alarm bells went off.
'And no one bothered to tell me?!'
What were Lu Mingliang and Bao Xu even doing? How could they see something like this and not immediately report it?
'Good thing I came to check in person today,' Pei Qian thought, a mix of anger and relief washing over him.
He'd nearly been blindsided again.
Fortunately, he'd caught the problem early. There might still be time to salvage the situation.
Now, the key was figuring out why this game's revenue was spiking.
If it was a one-off, driven by a short-term fluke, then it wasn't worth worrying too much. He could just offset it by spending a bit more elsewhere.
But if it was the result of some longer-term factor, and the revenue was going to keep growing, or worse—explode in the future—then he'd need to act fast, and take serious measures.
Pei Qian clicked into the Ocean Fortress player forum and carefully searched through the recent discussions.
"Can't believe even Li Zhengwei, that thick-browed, upright guy, has betrayed the revolution. Sigh! Is Counter-Terrorism Plan really going to be abandoned by the times?"
"You're overthinking it—Brother Li is just doing some sponsored content, that's all."
"Brother Li already clarified in his fan group—it's not sponsored. The documentary shot by Feihuang Studio was genuinely good, and he's just returning the favor by helping promote their game with his influence."
"I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Ocean Fortress is a solid, conscientious domestic game. Totally worth recommending."
"I joined the game because of Brother Li. And honestly? It's actually really good."
"In terms of mechanics and gameplay feel, Counter-Terrorism Plan is still better, sure—but it's an old title now. The matchmaking is clunky and it lacks depth. After switching to Ocean Fortress, I find it relaxing and fun for casual matches. Thanks, Brother Li!"
Pei Qian rubbed his temples and sighed in silent despair.
Completely blindsided!
He hadn't thought twice about Breaking the Cocoon, the documentary shot by Feihuang Studio. It hadn't come close to recouping its costs, and even Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce had long moved on to prepping their next project.
So Pei Qian hadn't paid any more attention to it either, assuming its impact was over.
But to his shock—this film had indirectly boosted Ocean Fortress's success!
And clearly, not even Feihuang Studio had anticipated this outcome.
Right now, FPS games are one of the hottest genres in esports. And Li Zhengwei, often hailed as "China's number one FPS gamer," had massive influence in that community. His pro career was full of twists and setbacks, which made him a perfect subject for a documentary.
That's why Feihuang Studio had decided to focus on him.
Once filming wrapped, Li Zhengwei was genuinely grateful. After all, the documentary was purely non-commercial. It boosted his public profile and nudged the esports industry toward greater professionalism.
During filming, Li Zhengwei happened to chat with Huang Sibo—and was shocked to learn he was the lead executive designer of Ocean Fortress.
So after the documentary was released, Li Zhengwei began frequently promoting Ocean Fortress on his streams and social media!
Because Pei Qian had never been very active in the FPS community, he hadn't known any of this.
But Li Zhengwei held a serious sway over Counter-Terrorism Plan's player base. With his constant hype, tons of players had been swayed into switching games. It triggered a chain reaction.
Thanks to the platform featuring Ocean Fortress on its homepage and the strong sales of its new in-game weapons, Pei Qian hadn't immediately noticed the spike in revenue.
It wasn't until today that the full picture hit him.
Pei Qian rubbed his forehead.
"...Fuck me."
The problem was clear now—but he was powerless to stop it.
Because…
It was already too late.
Although Li Zhengwei had a decent amount of influence among FPS gamers, his public endorsement of Ocean Fortress would likely only sustain a few days of hype at best.
Now that several days had passed, the buzz was already fading. All the players who were going to join had probably already joined—so what was there to worry about?
'The operation's gotten too bloated. I plug one leak and another pops up…'
'Calm down.'
'Actually, looking at it from another angle—this isn't so bad.'
'This was just a fluke. Li Zhengwei's influence is already waning.'
'As long as Ocean Fortress doesn't see sustained growth in data going forward, everything's fine.'
'Whew~ In the end, I managed to defuse a silent landmine. It didn't really help much, but at least I can breathe easy for now.'
Within just half an hour, Pei Qian's mood had gone through a full rollercoaster, but in the end, things had turned out okay.
By his estimate, this wave of new players would last only another two or three days. Sure, it would put some short-term strain on his "emergency spending," but shouldn't affect the final settlement.
He triple-checked the other games—no abnormalities, only Ocean Fortress was acting up. Feeling a bit more at ease, Pei Qian got ready to leave.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Out in the office area, Lu Mingliang and Bao Xu exchanged a quick glance.
"President Pei's coming out. Should we report the data issue to him?"
"I don't think it's necessary."
"...Actually, maybe we should."
Although Bao Xu felt it wasn't worth bringing up, Lu Mingliang figured they should mention it just in case. He stood from his seat.
"President Pei, there's something I'd like to report—Ocean Fortress's recent activity and revenue have shown a significant upward trend, and—"
Pei Qian smiled and nodded calmly.
"I'm already aware."
"Oh. Got it, President Pei."
Lu Mingliang sat back down, feeling a bit silly.
'Of course President Pei already knew. There's no way he'd miss such a basic data anomaly.'
'Clearly, I was overthinking it.'
As Pei Qian was heading out, he glanced at Lu Mingliang and gave a subtle nod of approval.
'Not bad!'
'Promoting you to lead executive designer really was the right call. You're even more reliable than Huang Sibo and Bao Xu!'
'Sure, the information you gave me was already outdated, but that's not the point. What matters is the initiative!'
'Your position as the lead executive designer is solid as a rock.'
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