Pain! So Painful!

Shen Miaomiao: ? ? ? ? ?

I read it twice!

After confirming she wasn't seeing things, Shen Miaomiao looked up at Gu Sheng with bewildered eyes, her gaze filled with shock. She flipped her phone around:

"Director Gu... did you... arrange this?"

"Oh, right. The original plan was to release it just before the game went on sale, but I forgot. I only just sent it out, sorry about that, hehe,"

Gu Sheng said, scratching his head and chuckling sheepishly.

"When the project started, we held something back,"

"Because during the event, all games are free to play. Our game is small in scope, so if players replay it too much, their interest will inevitably drop."

"Therefore, that v1.0 version is actually incomplete."

"We split off a small portion of the game content specifically to be updated and released together with the full game launch."

"This way, players' enthusiasm will be sustained, and our sales will look even better."

Gu Sheng was an old fox.

After all, he had worked at two major international companies in his previous life.

While he hadn't been in charge of promotion and marketing, he had seen enough to know how it was done.

This kind of marketing tactic was standard practice in his past life.

It was one of the marketing methods that required no cost.

And it fit perfectly with the format of this development festival.

With that, Gu Sheng winked at Shen Miaomiao, giving her a look:

Surprise!

Aren't you surprised? Isn't it unexpected?

Hiring me as Game Director, you should just be happy!

Meanwhile!

Shen Miaomiao's heart stopped!

Gu Sheng... had actually updated the game version right as it was going on sale... and posted an announcement!

Shen Miaomiao looked at Weibo, then back at Gu Sheng's smug and triumphant smile, her emotions a complex mess.

Heh.

Gu Sheng, you— CRASH BANG CLANG DING CRASH!!!

This old Sun—is gonna @#%& you today!!!

Shen Miaomiao was practically going insane with anger.

While some people remained outwardly calm, internally, she had already performed an entire rapid-fire storytelling show of Journey to the West.

The next second!

She saw the originally smoothly rising curve suddenly jump upwards!

"Oh, looks like it wasn't too late after all. Our game announcement had an effect,"

Not noticing Little Nezha's ashen face, Gu Sheng looked at the rapidly growing sales curve and said to himself, "But then again, it's prime time for livestreams right now. Some streamer probably saw my Weibo post, so an information explosion is normal."

Gu Sheng had gained hundreds of thousands of followers on the very first day he opened his Weibo account.

Recently, with the voting incident gaining traction, his follower count had even surpassed one million.

Big names in the streaming circle like Liu Liu and Liu Peiqie, and UP hosts like Shaoye, Dongshizhang, and San Ren, basically all followed him.

With so many streamers, as long as one of them saw his game update announcement, they would definitely spread the word.

What's more, the game's update notification wasn't just posted on his Weibo.

The Yiyou Platform's game details page also had update notifications, even more detailed than his Weibo post.

Give the players a little time to react, and they'd be telling each other.

Sales would naturally skyrocket.

As an old hand in the gaming industry, Gu Sheng was accustomed to such things and wasn't overly surprised.

But for Little Nezha!

This was a fatal blow!

Damn it!!!

No!

Shen Miaomiao wished she could jump up and grab that rising curve!

Can't you just go up slowly?

Just like before!

Take your time!

You're jumping up like you're in overdrive, have you considered my heart!

However!

Shen Miaomiao's inner cries were unheard by the growth curve; it couldn't understand them.

It only knew to present the game's current sales data truthfully, based on backend figures.

Three hundred copies... five hundred copies... one thousand copies... five thousand copies...

It was selling like crazy!

In the conference room, Chu Qingzhou, Lu Bian, and Da Jiang watched with growing delight, excitement, and enthusiasm!

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! It's going up again!"

"Whoa... this growth rate is insane!"

"Hiss— at this speed, it might break the ten thousand mark in the first hour!"

"Ten thousand copies! Won't that set a new record for the Yiyou Platform!"

"And in the first hour, no less!"

"You guys are amazing!"

"Heh... Old Gu deserves most of the credit, of course, but my brilliant and wise self as the lead programmer also played a part!"

"Tch—"

"..."

In the room, only two people, seated on opposite sides of the conference table, weren't showing extreme excitement.

One was Gu Sheng.

He had been a senior game industry professional in his past life, having worked on many large projects.

While the sales of Vampire Survivors were indeed commendable, due to its low price point, the actual capital returned wasn't that substantial.

Therefore, he felt only a sense of relief, not overwhelming excitement.

As for Shen Miaomiao, on the other side...

Some people appear to be alive, but are actually dead inside.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Will I ever be able to lose money in this lifetime?

The three great questions of life swirled in her mind.

Immediately, Shen Miaomiao wanted to 'peacefully break up' with Gu Sheng.

Just leave, okay?

Stop tormenting me, please?

Shen Wanlin is merely my biological father.

Damn it, you're my real father!

No... you are... are you S?

Why do you keep tormenting me like this? Dad?

Shen Miaomiao instinctively wanted to distance herself from Gu Sheng.

This guy brings in money, but it feels like bad luck.

But then she reconsidered!

No.

She couldn't fire Gu Sheng yet!

Because the system was already bound to Gu Sheng as the manager. If she forcibly unbound him, the system would become void!

This meant!

Not only could she not get rid of Gu Sheng, this true harbinger of wealth, but she even had to cherish this great man, lest he get unhappy one day and jump ship!

Shen Miaomiao felt like crying without tears!

She watched helplessly as the sales curve skyrocketed, even surging further after breaking the ten thousand mark!

Finally!

Ding-a-ling—!!!

With another piercing alarm, a shout of joy erupted from Chu Qingzhou!

"The one-hour timer is up!"

"Everyone! I announce! The first hour sales results for Vampire Survivors are in—"

"In the first hour! We sold a total of 13,333 copies! With total sales of 199,995 yuan!"

"Let's give them a round of applause!!!"

Just as Shen Miaomiao had predicted!

It was indeed an impossible task for Vampire Survivors to break even within just one hour of sales.

This time, her unconventional strategy of personally getting involved hadn't been in vain.

With the time-reducing bug as a massive assist.

She had finally lost money.

However, Shen Miaomiao couldn't bring herself to be happy...

[Ding! Time's up! This round of investment settlement is complete!]

A crisp sound echoed in her mind, and the system settlement interface appeared—

[Ding! Project loss detected!]

[Project: Vampire Survivors]

[Project Investment Amount: 200,000 yuan]

[Project Loss Amount: 5 yuan]

[Project Rebate Amount: 50 yuan]

[Remaining Settlement Time: 0]

[Ding! Loss settlement complete, rebate has been issued to the host's personal bank account!]

Immediately after, Shen Miaomiao saw her phone screen light up with a text message—

[Your debit card account 1118, on April 23rd, received a mobile banking transfer deposit of 50 yuan. Current balance: 13,775.23 yuan]

Shen Miaomiao: ...

Woohoo! I finally lost money, hahaha...

What a huge rebate, hahaha...

Wuwuwuwu...

Damn it!!!

Shen Miaomiao almost stood up to smash her phone.

For a moment, she didn't even know what kind of expression to put on to deal with this 'massive' rebate!

Shen Miaomiao felt utterly miserable!

This was worse than not losing money at all!

Twenty0,000 yuan invested, and they only lost five yuan!

The rebate was multiplied by ten, totaling fifty yuan!

And she still had to take these people out for a celebration banquet, a damn seafood feast!

She had to act like a cuckolded victim, smiling and toasting with these guys at the celebration!

The thought alone sent a sharp pain through Shen Miaomiao's chest!

Pain!

So much pain!

As if that wasn't bad enough, Chu Qingzhou, brimming with excitement, looked at the ashen-faced Shen Miaomiao:

"CEO Shen! Say a few words to us!"

Say a few words?!

Shen Miaomiao was so angry her twin buns felt like they were about to fly off her head.

Say what, for crying out loud!

Lifting her hand weakly, Shen Miaomiao didn't even have the energy to smile:

"...Let's just eat well and have fun later."

That's how it is.

I'm tired.

Just end it all.

With that, she waved her hand, signaling them to head to the restaurant first and that she would join them later.

She couldn't help but press her forehead and sigh.

Sitting alone in the vast conference room, Shen Miaomiao stared at the 50 yuan rebate message, unmoving, like a statue waiting for her husband.

Was it a loss? Yes, it was.

But it didn't seem like a complete loss.

After a long while, Shen Miaomiao finally let out a sigh, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"Forget it, at least this money proves the rebate actually exists, doesn't it?"

"Besides, if I lose 5 yuan this time, maybe I'll lose more next time."

"I should adjust my mindset sooner and focus on the next game, striving to invest more next time and lose all the money I didn't lose on these three games."

"I should take out this fifty yuan later and frame it to put in my office as a lucky cat..."

As she spoke, Shen Miaomiao stood up.

But just as she was about to leave, she saw Gu Sheng returning, holding a steaming cup of hot water:

"I saw your complexion looked a bit off just now, want some hot water?"