Aside from Xie Yang and Tao Xue, no one at school knew about the private server.
Over the past few days, Chen Guiliang had gone to the internet café every noon and evening to browse forum posts for an hour.
He kept a close eye on public opinion. Whenever he spotted any potential issue, he immediately had Yang Yuhui lead the Internet Trolls to steer the discussion. If a topic proved too difficult to guide, he had Tao Chenggang update the "development log" and throw out the private server's production progress to divert attention.
Every time he went to the internet café, Xie Yang followed along eagerly and watched Chen Guiliang's every move.
It left Xie Yang completely dumbfounded!
In the blink of an eye, it was Friday, November 28.
At eight tonight, the Abyss Private Server would officially launch on schedule.
At noon, at the internet café.
As Xie Yang browsed the posts, he said to Chen Guiliang, "The netizens are so enthusiastic. Every single one of them is already itching to get in."
Chen Guiliang sent Tao Chenggang a QQ message. "What's the total number of game downloads across the major forums?"
"It went up at nine this morning, and only a little over two hundred people have downloaded it so far," Tao Chenggang said worriedly. "What if the players are all talk and don't actually enter the game?"
"They won't. The download peak hasn't arrived yet," Chen Guiliang said. "I'm more worried that the server capacity won't be enough. How many internet cafés are partnering with us now?"
Tao Chenggang replied, "Including the ones in Longdu City, there are fifty-two internet cafés in total. In a single internet café, a private server usually only has three to five people online at the same time. At most, there might be over ten. Even with optimistic estimates, fifty-two internet cafés would only bring in three to four hundred concurrent players."
After repeated discussions among Chen Guiliang, Tao Chenggang, Yang Yuhui, and Feng Tao, they planned to open five servers at once this time, each capable of holding one thousand players.
This approach actually did not fit the nature of a private server.
First, when a new-version private server launched, it usually only opened one or two servers.
Second, each server usually had a maximum capacity of only four or five hundred people. Some private servers could only hold two or three hundred.
But the netizens on the major gaming forums were far too enthusiastic, forcing Tao Chenggang to rent more servers and reserve space for a full five thousand concurrent players.
That was a terrifying figure.
After all, Fantasy Westward Journey had gone through a month of closed beta, followed by overwhelming promotion, and then more than half a month of official operation before its concurrent player count finally broke sixty thousand.
Now this was just a private server, yet they had directly reserved server capacity for five thousand people. Anyone who heard it would laugh at how wildly unrealistic it was.
At that moment, both Chen Guiliang and Tao Chenggang were worried.
Chen Guiliang worried that the servers would not be enough and would lag so badly that players could not play properly.
Tao Chenggang worried that the players would bail, leaving the server rental fees wasted.
"Let's go." Chen Guiliang went over to the attendant to log off.
Xie Yang hurriedly followed him. "I'm not going home this weekend. I'll help you operate the private server!"
"Sure. I'll bring you along then," Chen Guiliang agreed.
This week was the end of the month, so the senior class could have two days off to make it easier for students from villages and towns to go home for living expenses.
Once the second semester of senior year began, their schedule would become even tighter: half a day off on regular weekends and one day off at the end of the month.
Halfway back to school, Tao Xue called. "Big nephew, let's take a taxi together after school this afternoon. My brother said we can get the fare reimbursed from him."
"Then wait at the school gate. We'll call each other then," Chen Guiliang said.
Tao Xue laughed. "I'll wait for you. Haha, our last class on Friday is PE."
After chatting for a few more sentences, Chen Guiliang hung up.
A bus drove past, and he saw Bian Guanyue sitting by the window, smiling and waving at him.
He returned to school and entered the classroom.
Bian Guanyue was already studying, asking her deskmate Wu Meng about a math problem.
"Morning," Chen Guiliang said as he passed the first row.
Bian Guanyue looked up and asked Chen Guiliang, "Want some baby potatoes?"
Wu Meng looked up as well and gave him a shy smile before continuing to explain the problem.
Chen Guiliang speared a piece of potato with a toothpick, slipped it into his mouth without touching his teeth, then casually stuck the toothpick back in. "Tastes pretty good."
"I bought them at the school gate," Bian Guanyue said.
Xie Yang already regarded Bian Guanyue as his future sister-in-law, so she was no longer an outsider. He helped himself to a piece of potato too.
Back at his seat, Chen Guiliang immediately started doing problems.
His study progress was pretty good.
Although he spent two or three hours every day discussing how to run the private server, Chen Guiliang listened carefully in class and tried to do as many practice papers as possible after class.
Every morning, he memorized ten English words, then reviewed them again at night.
He had the memory of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old and the comprehension of a forty-year-old. Besides, he had learned all this material before, so a quick review was enough to bring it back to him.
Every day, he could master a few new knowledge points.
He was improving steadily!
Chen Guiliang soon immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge, but Xie Yang kept thinking about the private server's launch tonight.
It was as if his bench had nails in it. He simply could not sit still and ran over to Chen Guiliang. "You're still in the mood to do problems?"
Chen Guiliang flipped through his history textbook while writing answers on a practice paper and silently reviewing the key points tested by the essay question. "If you don't take senior year seriously, are you planning to repeat a year?"
"Shouldn't you be paying more attention to the private server? That's a man's career!" Xie Yang said anxiously.
Chen Guiliang asked back, "How am I supposed to pay attention to it now? Sit in the classroom and worry myself sick?"
Xie Yang suggested, "How about we skip class this afternoon and go to the internet café? We can keep watching those forums."
"No need. We can wait until school gets out," Chen Guiliang said, continuing his work.
Xie Yang sat beside Chen Guiliang for a few minutes, got bored, and looked toward their other roommates. He discovered that aside from himself, who had nothing to do, every guy from Room 302 was actually studying!
Even Xu Haibo, who had been obsessed with novels, rarely rented novels anymore after the teachers started intensive review lessons.
A sense of guilt suddenly rose in Xie Yang.
Everyone was studying, while he alone was still playing around.
Damn!
He hurried back to his seat, pulled out several practice papers, randomly picked one, and slowly began solving problems.
Xie Yang was actually very smart. He had ranked within the top two hundred in the city on the high school entrance exam and had been assigned to the best Experimental Class 1 in his first year. Because he became addicted to novels and games, he had been forced to choose the arts track in his second year.
At his craziest, Xie Yang had spent two straight weeks pulling all-nighters at the internet café, sleeping through all his daytime classes.
Because overnight sessions were cheap, five yuan could buy him a whole night of gaming, and sometimes he could even play for another hour or two for free.
Even though he barely listened in class and copied all his daily homework, Xie Yang could still reliably get into a Tier 2 University.
Meanwhile, Yang Hao, the hardest-working student in Room 302, had happened to underperform and only gotten into a Tier 3 University...
After patiently finishing one practice paper, Xie Yang ran over to Chen Guiliang again. "How about calling Boss Tao and asking what the situation is now?"
Chen Guiliang did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You're even more anxious than I am."
"I'm not anxious." Xie Yang gave an awkward smile.
He went back to doing problems again, occasionally turning to look at Chen Guiliang. His admiration grew stronger and stronger. Chen the Hero is the one who does great things. Even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, his expression wouldn't change. I need to cultivate that same calm bearing. I'm not anxious. I'm not anxious. Do problems!
At last, school was over.
Xie Yang jumped to his feet impatiently and shouted at Chen Guiliang, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Chen Guiliang slowly packed up his desk and stuffed several practice papers into his backpack before Xie Yang dragged him out of the classroom.
Zheng Feng, meanwhile, quickly ran over to Bian Guanyue.
When the seating arrangements had been changed, Zheng Feng had been the happiest one. He felt that his chance had come again—Chen Guiliang could no longer sit with Bian Guanyue, while he could continue walking her home after school.
Chen Guiliang actually admired the guy quite a bit.
Because whenever Zheng Feng waited for Bian Guanyue at the bus stop, he truly used that waiting time to squat by the roadside and do problems. He somehow managed to pursue a girl and study at the same time.
"Do you have something urgent?" Bian Guanyue asked.
Xie Yang dragged Chen Guiliang onward. "We're going to do something big!"
Taking the opportunity, Zheng Feng said to Bian Guanyue, "They must be going to the internet café to play games."
Bian Guanyue did not respond.
After quickly reaching the school gate, Chen Guiliang called Tao Xue. "Where are you? There are people everywhere. I can't see you."
Every Friday at the end of the month, at least four or five thousand students went home—the school had nearly six thousand students in total.
"Over here, over here!"
Tao Xue had long been swallowed by the sea of people. She stepped onto the roadside greenery, bouncing up and down as she waved and shouted.
Chen Guiliang and Xie Yang walked over to meet her.
Tao Xue said, "It'll be hard to get a taxi. Let's walk for a bit first."
There were simply too many students waiting for rides. Buses came one after another, quickly filling with students before struggling away.
They struggled because of the traffic jam.
There were private cars picking up children and illegally operated vans, all tangled together in a chaotic mess. Even turning around was extremely difficult.
The three headed toward the internet café street and soon came across a taxi driving toward the school.
"Driver, downtown!" Tao Xue said as she climbed into the front passenger seat.
The driver thought he had misheard and kindly reminded her, "From here to downtown, the meter will come to at least twenty-five yuan. Also, I'm not taking the county road."
"Drive, drive. Someone's reimbursing it," Tao Xue said righteously as she fleeced her own brother.
"Hold on tight!"
The driver started the meter, hit the gas, and sharply spun the wheel to turn around.
Back when Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue had taken the county road, it had taken them three hours to reach downtown. This driver took the provincial highway and sped the whole way, getting them there in just half an hour. It felt like he was driving on an expressway.
"Brother, we're here."
"Go wait at Lin San Stir-Fry. I booked two tables."
More than ten minutes later, Tao Chenggang arrived at the small restaurant in a rush with eight or nine people.
Yang Yuhui had always been loudmouthed. The moment he saw Chen Guiliang, he slapped him on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Damn, not bad! You turned into a handsome guy after just half a month!"
Tao Xue stood nearby and said, "When I saw him a few days ago, I thought I'd mistaken him for someone else."
As she spoke, she tilted her head and looked Chen Guiliang over twice more.
"Compared to Yang Ge, I'm still a little lacking in the looks department," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.
Yang Yuhui was deeply pleased to hear that and laughed heartily. "Not bad. You've got good taste. Your uncle, though, is hopeless. He always says I'm ugly."
Feng Tao said, "Handsome my ass."
Tao Chenggang smiled and shook Chen Guiliang's hand. "The various armies have finally joined forces. Tonight, we're going all out!"
"Brother Gang, this is my good brother Xie Yang. He's been helping with forum posts these past few days too," Chen Guiliang introduced.
Xie Yang quickly greeted him. "Hello, President Tao."
Tao Chenggang warmly shook his hand. "Guiliang's brother is my brother. Work hard, and I'll give you a red envelope later!"
Xie Yang was flattered. He was just a poor student and had not expected a boss to value him so highly.
Tao Chenggang introduced the others as well.
Two of them had been attendants at his first internet café and had followed Tao Chenggang for two or three years.
Another three were Internet Troll leaders selected by Yang Yuhui from the studio.
The remaining two had been Tao Chenggang's childhood friends and neighbors. They were currently coasting by at a state-owned enterprise that was on the verge of collapse.
The two dining tables were moved together. As soon as a cold dish was served, Tao Chenggang raised his cup and said, "No alcohol today. We'll use tea instead and toast to the brothers. May our private server be packed every day!"
"Cheers!"
Before Tao Chenggang could even take a sip of tea, the person staying behind called. "President Tao, the game downloads have surged. It's already broken eight hundred!"
"Good. Keep watching things. I'll bring back some fancy food for you," Tao Chenggang said, even more excited.
He hung up and said to Chen Guiliang, "The total downloads across the major private server forums have already broken eight hundred."
Chen Guiliang considered it. "This is when office workers are heading home. In big cities, commuting takes even longer, so the real download peak hasn't arrived yet. I'm worried that server capacity for five thousand people may not be enough."
"How's that possible?" Yang Yuhui said. "Some official games only have five or six thousand concurrent players. Anything that breaks ten thousand is already considered a popular game."
Tao Chenggang said, "It's too late to rent more servers at the last minute."
Chen Guiliang said, "Let's just hope it doesn't lag."
By this era, game queue systems already existed, but they were considered "cutting-edge" technology and were still very immature.
Naturally, Chen Guiliang's private server had no way to implement a queue.
If a huge wave of players flooded in all at once, the sight would be too horrific to imagine...
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