Cui Geng opened the platform with satisfaction after writing this opening. He then posted it on Zhongdian Chinese Network.
According to his plan, the entire story was roughly divided into four to five parts. The first part was just a catalyst. The next part would be the official opening.
In fact, Cui Geng could choose to immerse himself in his work. He could write more than a hundred thousand words and publish them all at once. However, he decided to follow his previous writing habits in real-time and post them as he pleased after some consideration.
On one hand, it was because the platform calculated based on the number of words published on Zhongdian Chinese Network. On the other hand, it was also because he wanted to see the readers’ reactions and adjust the details of the novel in time.
Of course, Cui Geng was already mentally prepared.
The story of ‘Successor’ happened in a foreign setting. The protagonist was a tall, rich, and handsome man. What’s more, he was extremely despicable. The entire novel was about a rich second-generation heir who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth and had used extremely poor means to get what he wanted. It was about how he successfully seized power through the loopholes in the superhero system and did all sorts of bad things.
This was basically incompatible with the current mainstream readers’ taste in online literature. Everything about the story was negative, be it the protagonist’s background, character, or the entire core of the story.
Cui Geng would never have dared to write on this theme if he were on the royalties contract. It would have been akin to suicide.
However, now that Boss Pei had given him a fixed-rate contract according to the word count, Cui Geng could relax and be bold with his work. He no longer restricted himself to the original rules and regulations. Instead, he could boldly let himself go.
While most of the time writers would fall badly when they let themselves loose, how could they write something different if they were stuck in the rules and did not dare to try something different?
The more Cui Geng thought about it, the more he felt that Boss Pei’s fixed-rate contracts were obviously hinting at the authors who had already figured out the rules of online literature: I’ll back you up, you can explore and write better works!
He still needed some time to vet it after uploading the first chapter.
Cui Geng quietly closed the website and went out for dinner.
Before this, he had been filled with inspiration and had been eager to write out everything in his head. That was why he had temporarily forgotten about his hunger. Now that the beginning of the story had been written, Cui Geng’s no-show attitude had relapsed. He suddenly felt hungry.
February 11th, Saturday…
Pei Qian slept till his fill again. He sat up and yawned.
He had been assigning tasks to several departments non-stop this week. He had been working for almost six hours a day, and the intensity of his work was rather high. Naturally, he had to rest well during the weekend.
After ordering Fish-Catching Take-Out, Pei Qian took out his cell phone and swiped aimlessly to see if there was any news recently.
“Eh? Cui Geng started a new book last night?”
“Some of the other authors of ‘Inspiration Class’ also have new books?”
“The ‘Inspiration Class’ has only been held for two days, and these people are already starting new books? Could it be that the ‘Inspiration Class’ really inspired them?”
“Don’t mess with me!”
Pei Qian immediately became nervous, as if he was facing a formidable enemy.
The authors of these “inspiration classes” had signed new fixed-rate contracts to write custom-made novels related to Tengda’s IP. Yet, they had already thought of the content in just two days?
Something was wrong!
Pei Qian hurriedly clicked on a few new books started by the authors of the ‘Inspiration Class’.
However, he immediately relaxed after reading the comments section.
The comments section was very fragmented!
The authors of this inspiration class had all sorts of new novels. Some wrote fanfictions of Tengda Games, some wrote about superheroes and comics, and some wrote about GOG’s hero background…
However, the readers were not convinced.
They were web novelists who were writing on Xianxia, Xuanhuan or Urban genres, none of them could jump out of the circle of online literature. The experience they had accumulated was all from writing online literature.
Now that they had suddenly started writing custom-made novels and their speed of updates had dropped drastically, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the original readers.
There were even many readers who felt that they were making lousy money. They felt that Zhongdian Chinese Network’s fixed-rate contract was ‘cutting themselves off from the people’. Long time readers were very disappointed and abandoned their books.
These new books could be said to have fallen steeply compared to the figures of the old books from various aspects of data.
Comparatively, Cui Geng’s new book, ‘Successor’, was the least criticized. The comments were split almost evenly. A portion of the readers said that it was a new theme and that it was eye-catching. They looked forward to the follow-up. Another portion of the readers expressed that they were not interested in the theme and hoped that Cui Geng would continue writing on urban themes.
None of these authors responded in the comments section. They probably had nothing to respond to either. They had started the books and written the beginning. They had to continue writing even if there were people who disliked it.
Pei Qian couldn’t help but to feel great.
“Didn’t I say that it would definitely be useful to get these web novel authors to write on a fixed-rate contract! Look at how sharp the eyes of the masses are!”
At the rate things were developing, no one would want to read the books written by the authors of these “inspiration classes”. They would not be able to generate traffic for Zhongdian Chinese Network. Pei Qian would be spending to get nothing.
Of course, these authors could only write two books on fixed-rate contract according to the regulations. If the response was not good, they would have to continue writing on royalties contract. However, that did not matter. Books from the fixed-rate contracts would not exceed 500,000 words. It would not affect the authors much even if they wrote two books with one million words and go back to royalties contract.
On the other hand, all the books that were on fixed-rate contracts were free for readers. The interests of the authors and readers would not be affected. Everyone would be very happy if Boss Pei paid more royalties and spent more money on ‘inspiration classes’.
Pei Qian was now more at ease with the inspiration class and Zhongdian Chinese Network. He put this matter aside for now.
He continued scrolling through the latest news on his cell phone.
“Eh? Eric is finally burning money!”
Pei Qian was overjoyed.
The official website of IOI, the local server, released the latest version of IOI’s updating and operations plan. The content involved many aspects, but it could be summarized in two words: burning coins!
According to the official website, all the heroes in IOI would be free on the domestic server, and the basic price of all skins would be reduced to 30% of the original price. The difference in skin calculation would be converted into substitute coins and would be returned according to the heroes that the old gamers had already purchased. At the same time, there would be various preferential policies for registration of new gamers for the return of old gamers!
Such magnitude of grace was unprecedented.
More importantly, the discount this time was not only limited to IOI’s local server. IOI’s world server had also been updated, and the price of skins had also plummeted.
Obviously, Eric had learned from his previous experience.
They had to fight to the end if they wanted to fight a price war. If they could not reduce the price level of IOI heroes and skins to the same level as GOG, they might as well not reduce. Not only would they not be able to gain players, but they would also reduce their income. They would not be able to please either side.
He had to take care of the interests of the old gamers after lowering the price. He had to compensate them enough or these veteran gamers would be lost faster.
Eric did not make the same mistake that Zhao Xuming had made before after he returned and took charge of IOI’s local server.
The effect of the price war could be seen immediately from the feedback of the IOI players on the internet.
“Finger Games’ intelligence is finally back to normal! They’re finally not doing anything that would make people lose their minds!”
“Indeed, this discount is more appropriate. The compensation for old gamers is also in place. What was wrong with the price reduction from before?”
“However, Finger Games’ income would probably plummet… if they were to reduce the prices both domestically and overseas!”
“Finger Games: Yes, yes, yes. You’ve earned it. We’re losing money and going bankrupt.”
“What are you thinking about? How can Finger Games lose money? They have Dayak Corporation behind them and are very rich. What’s more, burning money now is seizing market share. They can also attract players to buy more skins with minimal profits. They would definitely be profitable in the long run. Maintaining the original price would be a slow death!”
This time, all the players in IOI cheered. Many of them even felt that IOI’s time was about to arrive on the domestic server.
To be fair, IOI’s quality was not bad. The reason why it was so different from GOG was mainly because of the details of the gameplay, pricing strategy, and marketing.
It was indeed good news now that IOI had reached the same level as GOG through the price war.
While it was unlikely that old gamers of GOG would transfer to IOI because of this, there were still new gamers who would fall into the pit!
At the moment, the number of players in MOBA games was still expanding. There were still many players who had not come into contact with MOBA games. IOI was mainly targeting these people.
This sum of money would cause the long competition between IOI and GOG to be filled with suspense.
Pei Qian was elated. Eric was very cooperative!
Tengda would have a reason to burn money since Finger Games was burning money so hard!
Previously, Pei Qian had been kind to IOI. He had intentionally split half of his manpower from Shang Yang Games, which was in charge of GOG’s international server, to update Tengda’s old games. That was equivalent to using one hand to fight IOI, afraid that IOI would be killed if he was not careful.
Now, he could finally increase his strength!
However, after some careful consideration, Pei Qian decided that he could not be too excited. He had to control himself a little. He should still restraint himself.
Burnless money than IOI and do less publicity than IOI. That way, Eric would always see a chance to turn the situation around, and he could continue burning with Pei Qian happily.
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the happier he became. He could not help but hum a tune.
Everything would work out with Eric’s help!
At the same time, in a tourist city in America, it was nearing midnight.
Bao Xu, Ye Zhizhou, and the others had finished touring another scenic spot today. They had already returned to the hotel to rest.
This hotel had a sauna room, so everyone wrapped themselves in towels to steam the sauna and relieve their fatigue before going to sleep.
Bao Xu leaned against the wall, looking like he had nothing to live for in the steamy sauna.
Bao Xu’s mental fatigue was irreversible even though the sauna could relieve physical fatigue.
He was like a walking corpse now living only to complete his itinerary every day. He did not even want to say another word. He only wanted to return to Jingzhou and stay there for a few months.
Meanwhile, Ye Zhizhou and Min Jingchao were chatting.
Ye Zhizhou said, “I saw a piece of news on the way back. Finger Games is finally going to fight a price war with us. All the heroes are free, and the price of all the skins has been reduced to thirty percent of their original price…”
Min Jingchao nodded. “Yes, I noticed it too.”
One of them was in charge of GOG’s research and development, while the other was in charge of GOG’s overseas server operations. Thus, they paid special attention to similar information and immediately knew about Finger Games’ movements.
Ye Zhizhou was a little worried. “They’re not here with good intentions.”
“In the short term, Finger Games’ income would definitely fall. However, Finger Games, especially Dayak Corporation behind them, is huge. They have money to burn.”
“The challenges we face this time are much more serious than the previous ones.”
Min Jingchao nodded. “Yes, there are still smart people in Finger Games. Dayak Corporation is indeed a super-large multinational corporation. They have repeatedly exchanged blows with Boss Pei. They might have won all along but they can still resist so strongly. They are indeed impressive.”
They had witnessed many commercial wars ever since they joined Tengda.
Boss Pei was invincible in all fields. Anyone who dared to go against Boss Pei ended up suffering a crushing defeat.
The difference was that most companies were silent after their defeat. They no longer posed a threat to Tengda. Only Finger Games and Dayak Corporation had persisted until now.
From this point of view, they were indeed more difficult to deal with than the enemies he had encountered in the past.
Ye Zhizhou said, “Finger Games is starting a price war this time. It’s harder to deal with than before.”
“Previously, Boss Pei had won with his vision and layout, be it digging deeper into the gameplay or organizing the GPL league. However, Tengda would not have the advantage in terms of funds.”
“Indeed, the competition between the two sides is reaching its climax. We still have to compete on who has more wealth.”
Min Jingchao nodded. “Indeed, this should be the last step for Dayak Corporation and Finger Games. They have no better way but to fight a price war with us.”
“However…”
“I believe in Boss Pei. No matter what method Finger Games comes up with, Boss Pei will definitely have a countermeasure!”
Ye Zhizhou: “I wonder what kind of countermeasure it would be.”
Min Jingchao sighed. “How can we guess what Boss Pei is doing?”
“However, I believe the mystery will be revealed soon.”
“Our vacation is almost over. Pack up and get back to work immediately. Cooperate with Boss Pei and fight the last battle with Dayak Corporation!”
Ye Zhizhou nodded. “Yes, I think so too!”
“I can understand Brother Bao’s feelings now. We want to travel overseas for fun and relaxation after working for a long time. However, it would be quite tortuous if it was an extended holiday.”
“I’ve had enough fun during my vacation. I can’t wait to get back to work!”