Chapter 13: Sweeping and Cheats!

June 21st.

Monday.

Some things are like a virus. You never know when they will break out, but once they do, they spread with a sudden, frantic intensity.

Inside the various internet cafes of Yanjing.

A money-making game called Desert Bicycle suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

And as soon as it launched, it became an instant hit!

As long as you completed tasks in this game, you could earn money. The entry cost was only five yuan, but the rewards were staggeringly high!

The investment was cheap, just five yuan!

So far…

You could constantly hear about small prizes of a few yuan or dozens of yuan being won. Sometimes, the winners were even your own relatives or friends.

Many internet addicts who were normally obsessed with online games joined the ranks of those “making money” at the first opportunity.

Furthermore, once anyone touched this game, it was very hard to quit.

Many players were busy making phone calls, recruiting others to join their teams to earn points.

Some exchanged their points for cash to buy drinks, while others used them directly for revivals within the game…

The first revival cost ten points, the second twenty, the third forty…

The points required for revival doubled every single time!

Aside from that!

Even on the taxis driving through the streets and alleys…

You could see several advertisements for Desert Bicycle.

Major advertising companies were also frequently receiving orders for Desert Bicycle flyers!

The copy on those flyers was incredibly enticing.

“The first competitive game in history where you can earn money!”

“Universe Technology, Season 1¹!”

“Officially launched!”

“…”

Many people used these flyers to find their way to the Universe Technology official website.

On the website, there was actually only one game: Desert Bicycle.

However, the download count for this single game had already surpassed five thousand!

And that number was climbing at a frantic pace…

On the morning of June 21st, the Universe Technology platform’s official website published a leaderboard.

On the leaderboard…

There was a list of player usernames who had completed tasks and received rewards.

This list was constantly refreshing.

At first, the website ran reasonably well, but later on, it became increasingly laggy.

More and more people were flooding into the server at the same time…

By ten o’clock in the morning, the website was overwhelmed and finally crashed.

Of course, after the crash, the updates were quick.

Once the updates were finished…

Everyone was shocked to see that the website had announced another staggering prize!

“Congratulations to player, I Am Number One², for completing the first Hidden Quest of the fifth stage and winning the 5,000 yuan grand prize!”

After seeing the 5,000 yuan grand prize, many people immediately clicked on the player’s screenshots!

The player base went wild, filled with a mix of frustration and speechlessness!

In reality, the game had a specific mechanic!

Withdrawing money took time. If you spent time cashing out, you lost precious seconds on the game clock. Losing those seconds was extremely detrimental to completing the next task, because the subsequent mission would also have less time!

If you wanted to get the task rewards, you had to refrain from withdrawing. You had to hold back and focus entirely on controlling the bicycle into the next stage without making a single mistake!

“This game!”

“I get it now! If you really want to get that 30,000 yuan reward!”

“Eight hours without a single mistake! And you can’t withdraw any money. You have to complete the entire course. The tasks and the rhythm get harder with every stage. If you lose focus for even a second, you’ll fail. Even if you’re fully concentrated, if your rhythm is off, you’ll still fail!”

“If you want to get the 50,000 yuan reward, it’s even more exaggerated. You have to go eight hours without a single mistake, maintain a perfect rhythm, complete all tasks plus the Hidden Quest, and clear the game!”

“If you withdraw midway or make a mistake, even if you use points to revive, the grand prize will have nothing to do with you!”

“It’s fine to earn a little pocket money in this game, but if you want to make the big bucks, it’s like trying to climb to heaven!”

“Personal suggestion: once you complete the 500-Point task, just withdraw your money and break even. The tasks after that are too demanding. Unless you’re a pro god, normal people really can’t handle the pressure!”

“…”

On various online forums³.

Many guides on how to break even and make money in Desert Bicycle quickly appeared.

Of course, following these guides, various experts posted screenshots of their earnings to offer counterarguments!

Some had withdrawn two hundred, some dozens of yuan…

Naturally, there were even more impressive experts showing off over a thousand yuan!

There were even slogans…

“Take a gamble, turn a bicycle into a motorcycle⁴!”

“Why stop at breaking even? As long as you persevere and complete the tasks, isn’t earning enough for a drink a sweet deal?”

“If you fail, just make some calls!”

“Recruit ten people and start over!”

“…”

…………………………

Universe Technology.

Zhang Yang chewed on a piece of gum as he watched the official website.

The afternoon sun shone on Zhang Yang’s face.

He let out a soft sigh of relief.

This morning, the sudden influx of players had multiplied, causing both the game server and the website to crash.

Fortunately, he’d had the foresight to apply patches and perform various upgrades in advance, which managed to stabilize the situation.

In fact…

From the game’s release on the night of the 19th until now…

The download count had already surpassed eight thousand!

With eight thousand downloads, the total revenue was 40,000 yuan!

After deducting the various payouts from the Reward System, Zhang Yang saw that he had netted a solid 10,000 yuan profit in his account!

In truth…

Many people wanted to aim for that final 50,000 yuan grand prize!

Human nature was indeed greedy!

Once you started the game, it was impossible to be satisfied with earning just five or six yuan…

You only wanted to earn more.

Even if you earned a hundred yuan, since there was no top-up interface, many people didn’t think about withdrawing. Instead, they thought about converting it back into points to keep playing and chase the grand prize!

However, the 50,000 yuan grand prize was incredibly difficult to achieve.

It seemed like there were many rewards, but the highest prize actually given out so far was only 5,000 yuan!

Most of the others were just numerous small prizes…

Zhang Yang straightened his clothes and let out a long sigh of relief.

His phone started ringing.

It was a call from his landlord, Bao Qiang.

In fact, it was Monday, and Bao Qiang was likely calling to ask for the rent.

Zhang Yang did a quick mental calculation.

After weighing the pros and cons, he narrowed his eyes slightly and opened the stock market interface on his computer.

Then…

He broke into a smile.

“Hello, Brother Bao!”

“Rent?”

“Sorry about that, Brother Bao. My money is still tied up in stocks. You know how it is, the market crashed today. How about this: we won’t renew the lease. We’re moving out. You can start showing the place to other potential tenants.”

“…”

On the other end of the line.

Bao Qiang seemed completely stunned.

Not long after, Zhang Yang heard a knock at the door.

“Hello?”

“Brother Zhang, are we… are we really not renting this place anymore?”

“Yeah!”

“But our company just started making money. Why would we…”

“This place is too expensive; we can’t afford it. Besides, now that the game is on the right track, it doesn’t matter where we rent…”

“But if people come to check us out…”

“As long as our game keeps its Reward System, none of that matters. We’ve already built up enough momentum that these things are trivial now… Honestly, there are plenty of shell companies and scam outfits out there where you don’t even know their office location, yet they still manage to take people’s money, don’t they?”

“Oh… wait, we’re a game company, not a scam operation!”

“Cough, cough. Right, a game company. But the principle, well, the principle is different. Anyway, if you have time, go find a relatively cheaper place to use as an office…”

“Okay…”

Zhao Hang nodded with a face full of confusion, then nodded again.

After Zhao Hang departed, there was another knock on the door…

“Bro… Brother, in… in our game… someone is… using cheats… to clear levels… I…”

“…”

Zhong Chongwen walked over with a very grave expression and handed some data to Zhang Yang…

Wherever there are people, there is conflict!

It was impossible for everyone to play by the rules…

Just like many other games…

Their Desert Bicycle now had players using cheats to clear levels and farm rewards, disrupting the game’s balance.

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes