Come Try It Out!

I've really done something terrible.

Shen Miaomiao sat at the head of the conference table, looking utterly defeated, a bare flower stem still clutched in her hand.

Yes.

Before this, she'd been so anxious she resorted to plucking petals, an ancient and ridiculous method of divination, to predict if this investment would break even.

And the result only made her more anxious—

She plucked a five-petaled plum blossom, then said, "Break even."

Break even, not break even, break even, not break even, break even... Damn it!

Why does a plum blossom have five petals! What bad luck!

Superstition is not to be encouraged!

Shen Miaomiao comforted herself, adopting a pragmatic mindset that dismissed omens, like "a twitch in the left eye means good luck, while a twitch in the right eye is just eyelid tremors from visual fatigue."

Shen Miaomiao was panicking.

After all, she'd seen firsthand how popular Vampire Survivors had become recently.

Its explosive popularity and reputation among players even surpassed their previous two games combined.

Although!

Thanks to the time-compression card, the profit and loss calculation would be finalized within just one hour of the game's official release.

As long as Vampire Survivors' total sales didn't exceed 200,000 within that hour.

Then her investment would be deemed a loss, and she'd receive a tenfold rebate.

But!

Judging by the current hype, a rapid break-even within an hour didn't seem impossible.

Thinking of this, Shen Miaomiao couldn't help but pray:

"Oh heavens, oh earth, please let the Yiyou Platform's servers explode."

"If they just explode for an hour, I'll safely get a two million rebate."

"As for how much the game sells after that, it's none of my business."

"My dividend is only a tiny fraction anyway."

"Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, Great Father Wang Lama from the Shaolin Temple Liaison Office at Wudang Mountain, grant Shen Miaomiao some favor..."

Meanwhile, Shen Miaomiao was praying to gods and buddhas, wishing for the Yiyou servers to explode.

Little did she know, at that very moment!

At the Yiyou Platform's programming department, the place was packed, keyboards clacking incessantly, a scene of bustling activity!

Ma Shan, the newly appointed lead programmer, walked to the front of the office and clapped his hands:

"Alright everyone, listen up! Don't stop what you're doing!"

"This is the most crucial time for our Development Festival!"

"Server stability is vital for the successful conclusion of the event!"

"Regarding this, CEO Yan also specifically instructed,"

"Today, anyone else can make a mistake, but our programming department absolutely cannot!"

"Let me be clear from the start,"

"If, later, when the final results are announced and all games start selling, our servers lag,"

"If the lag exceeds ten seconds, everyone's bonus for this month is gone!"

Immediately after!

Ma Shan's tone shifted:

"But if we do a great job! Ensuring the servers run smoothly under immense pressure,"

"Overtime pay is on the company,"

"And I'll personally pay for you all to go get a foot massage!"

"Do you understand!"

No man could refuse a foot massage.

This statement sent the programmers, young and old, into a frenzy!

They all seemed energized as if they'd downed a gallon of coffee!

"Damn! Brother Shan is awesome!"

"Don't worry, Brother Shan, even if my cardiovascular system collapses today, these servers won't!"

"Hahahaha, man, don't say that, dude..."

"To wash my feet!"

"It's going to crash today, brothers, bring your heads to me!"

"It's almost eight o'clock, let's do this, brothers—!"

"Alright—!!!"

In the blink of an eye, the time approached eight o'clock.

Shen Miaomiao saw that the time was almost up, her spirits lifted, and she cheered herself on.

Cheer up, Shen Miaomiao!

It's only one hour!

If you can get through this hour, you'll get the first rebate from the system!

Although Vampire Survivors was incredibly popular right now.

It was common knowledge that sales growth takes time.

People might like the game and be willing to pay for it.

But it wasn't like everyone would be waiting by their computers right at the release time, ready to pay immediately, right?

After all!

Everyone had been playing this game for two weeks, and they had pretty much figured out all the strategies.

The enthusiasm for buying and stocking up wouldn't be particularly high.

Thinking this, Shen Miaomiao felt much more at ease.

Ring ring ring—!!!

As the clock's hands precisely pointed to eight o'clock, Shen Miaomiao's pre-set alarm rang on time.

The game was on sale!!!

Shen Miaomiao's spirits soared, and she quickly turned her head to look.

The others also turned their eyes to the projection screen at the front of the conference room!

On the big screen, the real-time updating curve graph flickered once.

Then, it began to climb upwards at a steady pace.

The price of Vampire Survivors was 15 yuan per copy.

With a total investment of 200,000 yuan, it needed to sell at least 13,334 copies in the first hour just to break even.

But theoretically, this was almost impossible.

Because since Yiyou Platform was founded, the highest daily sales for small games like Vampire Survivors had only been around 8,900 copies.

Note, that was daily sales.

What Gu Sheng and the others were challenging was hourly sales.

Tens of thousands of copies in one hour was practically an impossible mission.

Looking at the steadily growing curve graph.

Shen Miaomiao temporarily stabilized her mindset and breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Although Yan Sheng's betrayal had indeed had an effect, it was just as she had predicted.

Half a month of repetitive gameplay had indeed made players a bit tired, and the game's sales growth wasn't particularly exaggerated.

The current sales speed was about 100 copies per minute.

At this rate, it would sell at most about six thousand copies in the first hour.

While that was still astonishing, for Shen Miaomiao, it was within an acceptable range.

200,000 - 6,000 copies x 15 yuan.

A net loss of 110,000.

Multiplied by ten.

There would still be a full 1.1 million yuan entering her little treasury!

Completely acceptable!

Shen Miaomiao was very quick with her calculations, estimating the amount of this rebate almost instantly.

She couldn't help but grin with delight!

However!

Before her lips could even curve upwards!

Ding dong!

Shen Miaomiao heard her phone beep.

She picked it up and saw a Weibo notification:

["Gu ShengSam," whom you've specifically followed, has posted new content! Come check it out!]

Huh?

Shen Miaomiao looked up at Gu Sheng, a little surprised.

That little rascal! Slacking off right in front of me?!

No wonder Gu Sheng had kept his head down and ignored her when she'd snuck glances at him earlier.

He was scrolling through Weibo!

Good! Very promising!

Shen Miaomiao nodded with satisfaction.

She wished Gu Sheng would slack off even more, so the game's quality would suffer.

With that thought, Shen Miaomiao curiously opened Weibo, wanting to see what Gu Sheng had posted during his slacking time.

Upon entering Weibo, Gu Sheng's personal page popped up.

The pinned post was the content that had just been published:

[Gu ShengSam: I am very happy to announce that "Vampire Survivors v1.1" will be updated synchronously tonight at 8 PM. This update includes two new maps (with Easter Eggs), four unlockable characters, five new weapons, five new items, three Super Weapons, and the first-ever upgradeable Super Weapon! Come experience it!]