Pei Qian was someone who had transmigrated from 10 years in the future after all and he knew that skipping these classes meant nothing to him.
At the end of the day, he wasn’t in a course like medicine or law where missing a single class could possibly lead to a failure. For a normal humanities major like his, even if he skipped classes completely, he could still cram his way to a pass at the last minute.
Besides, Pei Qian was in no mood to attend classes at all…
When he refreshed the back end of the game editor daily and saw the leaping figures, he would start to contemplate more about life.
After lying on his bed like a corpse for a full 30 minutes, Pei Qian found the courage to summon the system.
After Sunday’s settlement, the profits from the games platform should have been transferred to his company accounts early that morning.
By now, the System Funds should have been refreshed as well.
Dreaded, Pei Qian looked at the line of numbers on the screen of the system.
“Oh…”
He closed the interface of the system, feeling as though he was about to die!
He could truly take this no more!
In truth, Pei Qian had mentally prepared himself slightly before looking at the figures – after all, he could have a rough estimate of how much money the game made based on the number of downloads.
After Teacher Qiao’s episode was published, the game’s downloads was increasing daily.
Teacher Qiao’s video was shared widely by many marketing accounts and there were other content creators who hopped aboard the bandwagon hoping to get a piece of The Lonely Desert Road’s hype.
The moment it started getting viral and people were sharing it, it was almost impossible to stop the hype train.
Pei Qian could only watch helplessly as the game’s daily downloads went from dozens to hundreds to thousands.
The rapid surge in the downloads numbers caused the game to get a better recommendation spot under indie, driving simulator and racing games genres as well.
Each time Pei Qian turned on the system’s back end, he would receive notifications.
“Congratulations! Your game, The Lonely Desert Road, has been awarded with XXX recommendations. Please try not to update the game’s version within this week so as to prevent any unknown bugs from affecting the game experience…”
Pei Qian was already indifferent towards seeing the notification.
By now, he was dead inside!
There was another week to go and the System Funds has already broken through 50,000 yuan. That means to say that the money earned would be converted to his Personal Wealth under the 100:1 ratio come settlement.
1,000 yuan would be able to get him… 10 yuan?
Pei Qian looked at the figures shown and was utterly exasperated.
…
…
A week later.
Dormitory.
“… Ridiculous! How in the world did such a lame game get popular?”
“Get the hell out of my computer!”
“Someone on the rankings actually spent over 40 hours on this game… is he nuts?!”
Ma Yang was playing The Lonely Desert Road on the upper bunk bed. He quit in less than five minutes and he was bewildered as to how such a game got popular.
Pei Qian on the other hand was shivering on the lower bunk.
“Hey, Brother Qian! Have you played that extremely popular lame game? That something, something desert road?” Ma Yang poked his head down and asked.
“… No.” It was the truth – Pei Qian had truly not played the game.
It was because he knew all too well that the game was created to disgust people. How could he play it…
Ma Yang slapped his own thigh.” What a scam! I wonder which wicked as*hole created a game as such! What a rotten person!”
Pei Qian: “…”
I truly didn’t expect you guys to play! Can I be blamed that all of you insist on playing it?!
Pei Qian had not imagined that the game’s popularity would reach the school and even his own dormitory…
In the span of a single week, through the mass sharing of content creators and games media outlets, The Lonely Desert Road had turned so popular that Pei Qian was questioning life itself.
He was extremely relieved that streaming platforms were not as popular in 2009 just yet as it was still in a growing phase. At the moment, the only player that monopolized the market was Waiwai streaming platform that only had a mere hundreds of thousands of users.
If livestreaming was as popular as it was 10 years in the future…
Pei Qian could not imagine how things would have been like.
Chapter 9
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was Monday – profit distribution day of the games platform as well as the system’s settlement date.
For Pei Qian, it should have been a day he had been waiting for. Yet, it now meant nothing and he even felt like crying.
That 50,000 yuan that was initially meant to be his was now gone!
However, whatever will be, will be.
Pei Qian did not summon the system. However, the interface appeared before him automatically, probably because it was settlement date.
When he saw the two figures, Pei Qian fell back to his bed like a dead fish, lying as though he had lost all his dreams.
Within two weeks, the game had sold more than 200,000 copies!
This might have been a dreamlike start for other game creators – bragging rights for their entire life!
Yet, it was nothing short of a nightmare for Pei Qian…
New messages were still appearing on the screen.
When he saw those figures, Pei Qian lost all his hopes completely and was no different from a dead man.
Rubbing salt to his wounds!
Making things worse!
Pei Qian was already devastated enough when the 70,000 yuan became 700 yuan post settlement.
However, he consoled himself that he could invest the excess money he earned into the next round and he could then make even greater losses.
Yet, Pei Qian discovered that the System Funds seemed to have a fixed value after each settlement.
Any value lower than that would get topped up by the system!
The first time round, the lowest value for the System Funds was at 50,000. The second round was at 300,000. That means to say that if Pei Qian’s current System Funds was less than 300,000, be it whether it was 10,000 or 290,000, it would get topped up to 300,000!
Therefore, whether he made or lost money before the previous settlement, it wouldn’t affect his starting funds for the next phase unless he had earned more than 300,000 with that 50,000 of his.
Right now, Pei Qian could no longer calculate how much money he lost and was drowning in his heartaches.
“On the bright side, I’ve got an additional income of 700+. That ought to help my life slightly…”
Pei Qia
n was salivating at the sight of the System Funds’ 300,000.
It was a pity he couldn’t splurge that amount as he pleased.
Checking his bank balance online, Pei Qian discovered that there was an additional 754.6 yuan – it fit the figures displayed in the system perfectly.
However, there were no transaction records – it was as though his bank balance had changed automatically.
Pei Qian had a rough idea of how the system worked.
The power of the system was the ability to change the company and his personal account’s balances while not arousing any suspicion from any person or organizations.
The initial 50,000 yuan distributed by the system was saved in the accounts of Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd.. As the boss of the company, Pei Qian could make use of the money and invest it in any business.
However, once any violations occur, such as using the money for food and drinks or any personal expenses, the system would recover the money while stopping the current Wealth Conversion week or even terminate its relationship with Pei Qian!
While the system is the final judge of the violations, it follows normal societal rules.
For example, while similarly being spent on food and drinks, company gatherings or activities are permitted whereas Pei Qian treating his friends for a meal is prohibited.
After the game’s profits, the money earned from the games platform would be sent to the company’s accounts – that is the same as with any other game companies.
However, Pei Qian can’t splurge it as he wishes!
During the system’s settlement, the system would change Pei Qian’s bank balance in accordance to the conversion rate to his Personal Wealth based on the changes in the company’s balance.
That would be money that Pei Qian can use to spend freely without being restricted by the system!
“The next settlement is a month later.”
“No, this time round I’ve got to find a way to lose the 300,000 completely! Not a single cent less!”
Pei Qian flipped up from his bed and began searching on his computer on ‘How to make losses’.
The results were all content about ‘How not to make losses’.
“Rubbish Qiandu!”
Pei Qian looked up as anguish spread through his face.
“No classes in the afternoon! Come on, time for games!”
Someone yelled as people in the dormitory responded one after another.
Ma Yang poked his head down from the upper bunk once more. “Brother Qian, coming? It’s been a long time since you’ve played with us. The way you’re frowning… could you have met with some relationship problems?”
Bloody hell! What relationship problems!
This is way more important than any relationship problems! My 50,000 yuan’s flown away from me!
Pei Qian could not be bothered to reply nor could he explain anything.
The system had a rule such that Pei Qian must not reveal or hint at the existence of the system to anyone. In fact, he can’t even let anyone suspect that it might exist.
“Alright, I’ll play a round with you guys today.” Pei Qian turned on his computer launched Gods Rising.
He had already researched it previously. Gods Rising was similar to DOTA – even though he wasn’t brilliant at it, he wasn’t bad at it either.
With Pei Qian’s futuristic insights, he should be able to carry a round or two at the skill level amongst the dormitories.
Ma Yang was elated. “Brother Qian’s coming! We’ll definitely beat the next dormitory guys!”
Before long, the dormitory was filled with clicking sounds of the keyboard and mouse along with some sudden outbursts.
“NICE!”
“Amazing!”
“Show off! Someone’s showing off!”
“Ma Yang, where are you?”
“Old Ma, why are you not around for every team fight? Stop getting greedy for the creeps, f*ck!”
The intense battling had Pei Qian forget about his pain of losing 50,000 yuan momentarily as he immersed himself in the game.
Even though Pei Qian was unfamiliar to Gods Rising, thanks to his knowledge of similar games in his memories, he still produced quite a decent performance to carry them!
30 minutes later.
“Defeat!”
Pei Qian looked at his throne exploding on the screen then at his Kill Death Assist (KDA) ratio.
11-2-7.
“How the f*ck… did I lose with this…”
Pei Qian was almost about to barf. He had initially done well with an ultra kill and his game was going smoothly. However, he suddenly could not beat them in the mid game and come late game, they got rushed down the throne after losing a single team fight.
He swept his gaze across his four teammates and Ma Yang’s KDA of 2-2-2 was the most glaring.
It was a pity that Gods Rising had not developed the capability of tracking team fight presence yet. Otherwise, Ma Yang’s fighting percentage would definitely be really touching to see.
Pei Qian recalled the various team fights they had.
Indeed… they had been playing a 4v5 the entire time…
While the enemies were sticking together and got a pick off, Ma Yang was farming creeps.
While the enemies were securing a core objective, Ma Yang was happily killing their jungle creep in enjoyment.
When their teammate was caught, Ma Yang suddenly realized it and called for ‘Missing!’ in his lane before continuing to farm creeps.
Hmm…
Tiring!
Ma Yang commented regrettably, “Man, what a pity we lost.”
He then poked his head down and looked at Pei Qian. “Brother Qian, you can’t just focus on getting fat yourself. You’ve got to carry the game!”
Pei Qian nearly spat blood out.
Bloody hell, wasn’t I carrying hard enough?!
Are you only going to consider me a carry if I turn on a cheat such that I can blow up their throne with a single move?!
However, Pei Qian did not argue back because he knew full well that’s just the sort of person Ma Yang was…
It wasn’t that Ma Yang was making people sick intentionally, he was just a noob…
He belonged to the type of people whose capabilities were rather limited.
Pei Qian recalled that in year four, Ma Yang had joined all sorts of clubs enthusiastically while running errands for the teachers. When it came to classes, he was always attentive and didn’t miss any as well.
However, came graduation, not only did Ma Yang not get any good benefits, he couldn’t secure a good job either. In the end, he went home and started a job that his parents had found for him.
Of course, everyone had their own ambitions and that wasn’t exactly a bad choice Ma Yang made either.
But, it definitely wasn’t a good choice..
When it came to games, he was also the so-so type.
One can’t claim that he was good at the game. His game sense was slower than others and after all those years of playing, he had almost never carried a game singlehandedly.
Yet, he wasn’t exactly bad at the same time. His KDAs were mediocre but one can’t claim that he was the one that cost the game.
That was a skill level where he couldn’t improve nor could he drop.
That was the type of person he was.
In other words, a natural born slacker.
Pei Qian could not help but recall a famous phrase by otto1, “Silvers are late stage cancer patients.”
What was the point of arguing with people like that?
Hold on.
Pei Qian suddenly realized a problem.
He had suddenly realized that Ma Yang was a natural born slacker. Someone who could never make, but always mar. This was a special degenerate who could drag all his teammates down!
If so, wasn’t this just the sort of talent that he needed?!
Chapter 10
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
&n
bsp; Pei Qian suddenly felt that his future was brightening up!
Previously, he only had 50,000 yuan on hand. It would be slightly ridiculous if he wanted to look for an employee with that amount of money.
But now, Pei Qian had 300,000 in his System Funds!
It wouldn’t be ridiculous to hire an employee with this, right?
Reflecting on his painful experience, Pei Qian concluded from his failure that it was because of a few things.
Firstly, he was way too unlucky!
Who would have guessed that a trashy game he created casually would have been spotted by a slightly popular UP Master of a games section?
If not for that Teacher Qiao, wouldn’t he have made a loss successfully?
Also, Pei Qian was having doubts towards his own capabilities.
Could it be because I’m too smart that I’m going about losing money the wrong way?
There were some people who would always fail and lose money no matter how hard they try at earning money.
At the same time, there were people who could spend all their time thinking about losing money but yet fail to lose it!
Pei Qian felt that he belonged to the latter group.
Therefore, he felt that it was time to look for help.
To recruit people!
As long as he were to recruit a bunch of slackers to take charge of all these jobs, wouldn’t he be able to lose all that money with ease?
At that thought, Pei Qian was no longer pissed at Ma Yang any longer even despite being dissed by the latter earlier on.
“Ma Yang is a gift sent to me by the heavens!”
“Such a talented slacker! Isn’t he the perfect employee I’ve been waiting for?”
“Should I consider the other schoolmates too? What does one more matter? In fact, he could even lose more money by giving more wages!”
“N-No! The rest are way too reliable!”
Pei Qian had wanted to consider his other schoolmates but gave up on that thought before long.
Handong University was a key university after all and those who could enter it weren’t all that stupid, everything else aside.
A slacker like Ma Yang was an anomaly that one could only come across serendipitously.
If he were to look for more, they might just end up making the job a success. By then, Pei Qian would truly be grieving.
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 7