75 First Place Elimination System: Activated!

"Superb.

"I like such a bright system!"

After slowly getting to know the system, Pei Qian felt as if he was getting the hang of using it now.

Was this Special Task difficult?

Although there was a certain level of difficulty, it was still manageable!

Furthermore, even without the system announcing a Special Task, Pei Qian already had a similar idea long ago.

Pei Qian was very clear that in the next ten years, physical shop houses would increasingly perform badly! There were two reasons for this. First, rental hikes that would increase overhead costs for shop renters. Second, the advent of e-commerce and delivery services as more people prefer to stay at home and do their shopping.

Previously, if one opened any sort of shop near a university, it would be a very lucrative business. Even if it only sold snacks or offered photocopying services, all these shops were profitable. If one opened an internet cafe or a reputable restaurant, profit margins would be even higher.

However, more and more physical shops started to do badly; and they shuttered. The reason was… many functions they offered had been replaced by digital commerce platforms!

Previously, many university students would go to any digital malls or shops to purchase computers; they were ripped off badly. Subsequently, everyone went online to JD.com and stopped patronizing these digital malls.

As for daily necessities, while some would still go to supermarkets to purchase these items; some also started to choose home-delivery options.

As for having meals, more and more people called for deliveries; and they would at most go to an upscale restaurant during special occasions. They didn't patronize restaurants that often anymore.

All in all—regardless of what type of business a physical shop ran, business was falling for them all; and it had become a sunset industry.

This was exactly what Pei Qian liked!

However… what sort of physical store should he open? The system had not specified any industry or service, just that it had to be a physical store. The only restriction was it had to be in a bustling city district or near a school. Even if it was a snacks stall, a book shop, or a photocopying shop; everything was permitted.

Pei Qian started to think about this deeper and to analyze the rate of success for this matter. Although in the next ten years, physical shops would increasingly perform more and more badly; was it a done-deal that if he opened one now, he would definitely make a loss?

That was not a given.

It was the Year 2010 now. E-commerce and delivery services were still in its infancy; physical shops could still earn a profit! Bookshops, small marts, internet cafes near schools were all still doing quite well. Even openly a photocopying shop in some corner or out-of-place location could earn enough money.

As students needed to print their thesis, print worksheets, and photocopy documents; they still had to head to printing shops for these services. There was still an existing demand. However, ten years from now, physical shops would most likely no longer be profitable.

Nevertheless, in the short term, profits were still highly possible.

Furthermore, Pei Qian was very conflicted; how was he going to open this shop?

If he invested less, he would also lose less. If he was lucky, he might actually make a profit. If he invested more and the quality of his services was good; what would he do if the business roared?

This was a technical job; he had to think this through!

However, before opening this, Pei Qian decided to first implement his long-planned 'First Place Elimination System'. Initially, he just wanted to recruit a group of hooligans; however, everyone he hired actually turned out to have much potential; he was in a bind.

Especially Huang Sibo and Bao Xu; if he kept them around, troubles would abound! With them working for him, Tengda's gaming business would have a hard time incurring a loss!

As for Lin Wan… she could still be kept for further review. After all, she had managed to connect with those gamers only because she had coincidentally been doing such work when she had been working for Sun Strike Studios. This also meant that her connections would not be of much use anymore.

Hence, Pei Qian was considering how he could deal with Bao Xu and Huang Sibo. He definitely couldn't fire them immediately; he also couldn't demote them. Without any justification or evidence, or without even a valid reason, the system would not agree to this.

Pei Qian was deep in thought.

…

February 2nd, Monday…

Office…

"Brother Huang, quick, take a look. Many people online are hotly discussing our game; it seems like some are from the industry as well?" Xiao Lu was browsing the net and seemed to have found some big news.

Huang Sibo nodded and said, "I know; I have been keeping tabs." He then looked at Bao Xu and said, "Brother Bao, what do you think?"

Bao Xu's expression was composed and replied, "It doesn't concern us."

Huang Sibo thought for a while and agreed; it had nothing to do with them. Indeed, many people online were hotly debating Ocean Stronghold. This interest in the game had persisted for half a month ever since the game had gone online.

Originally, the players from Ocean Stronghold and Bullet Hole had been scolding each other. However, as they continued to bicker, this topic somehow attracted even more attention.

Initially, everyone had been debating which of the two games was better. Subsequently, Bullet Hole seemed to have disappeared from the discussions. Everyone then started to debate whether Ocean Stronghold was an industry cancer or industry-conscience?

Among those that participated in the discussions, not a few of them were from other gaming companies. Casually opening any note, and one would be able to see both factions bickering incessantly.

"Ocean Stronghold could possibly trigger the advent of 'The Age of Paywall' for locally produced games!"

"To sell a permanent weapon for eight-hundred-and-eighty-eight yuan; that is unprecedented! Furthermore, as an FPS game, it is actually selling character attributes? Does this company still have even a veneer of passion and principles for games?"

"When other games sell in-game merchandise for two or three hundred, you guys would scold them. Why is it when it costs eight-hundred over for a weapon now, you guys are lapping it up?"

"Also, this game's servers are bad. They will suddenly be full, and I will get stuck! This is trash!"

"How many influencers have this game bought? It obviously is a trashy game with a high paywall; it still dares to boast that it is the pride and glory of locally-produced FPS games?"

However, these opinions would swiftly be rebuked.

"A trashy game with a high paywall? Haha, it seems like you obviously haven't played this game!"

"That's right; I'm an influencer for Ocean Stronghold. So what?"

"I would like to emphasize why I said that this game is good? It only requires you to buy a weapon that costs 888 yuan; everything else in the game is free! You guys who make other in-game purchases in other games, the number of pages of items to buy is quite a lot, right? How can you make the same comparison?"

"This game's story mode models that of many big, blockbuster games; it had been splendidly done. To buy blockbuster games, that would cost you at least two thousand, right? If the cost is slashed by half or even only a hundred yuan or fifty yuan, that is reasonable."

"However, this company actually foolishly made everything free! Even the story mode could be experienced for free! If this isn't benign, what is?"

"The cost of the weapon is but the upfront cost that everyone has to pay for any game; just that now, this money has been placed in the hands of ballers. Furthermore, ballers that buy the weapons are also willing buyers and sellers; isn't that the best of both worlds?"

"As for the server crashing, I'm sorry, Ocean Stronghold is no longer crashing! They must have rented a new server and expanded!"

"Sigh, some people really just don't understand the relative importance or urgency of things. This company had developed this game and provided this service. They can't possibly do all of this out of love, right? They have managed to avoid making people pay for the game but had transferred this to ballers; why aren't you guys satisfied?"

…

Whether this game was an industry cancer or industry-conscience, there still wasn't a conclusion.

Regardless, as people continued bickering, this game gained more and more attention!

The crux was the 888-yuan Red Kilin was just too hot a topic; many people who had no interest in gaming whatsoever had heard that a weapon was being sold at such a price and started to notice Ocean Stronghold.

Hence, Ocean Stronghold statistics just kept on rising!

Huang Sibo was actually concerned at the start that this online fighting would affect the reputation of Ocean Stronghold. However, from the looks of it, not only had the game's reputation not been affected; but the dispute had also generated publicity for the game!

Huang Sibo was now relaxed; it seemed as if everything was going according to Boss Pei's plans!

At this time, Pei Qian walked out of his office. Wearing his new spectacles, Boss Pei looked much steadier and calmer; as if he had victory just within grasp. Huang Sibo was very impressed by him.

"Everyone, take a look at the internal chat; I had started a poll. This is an anonymous poll; I want everyone to evaluate who you guys think is the best employee."

Pei Qian smiled slightly and said, "I have a secret prize for that person."