Chapter 113: The Top-Up Channel Must Be Cut

Garment Factory,
Office.

Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, fantasizing about how he would distribute the 8 million yuan after the system settlement.

Should he buy a house first, or a car?

Hmm!

Maybe… he could buy both at the same time.

Chen Mo smiled faintly at the thought.

Ring ring ring!

His phone started ringing.

Chen Mo glanced at the caller ID, froze for a moment, and quickly answered.

“Mom!”

“Xiao Mo, how’s work going? The National Day holiday is coming up—are you coming home?”

His mother’s voice came through the phone.

Hearing her voice, Chen Mo quickly opened the calendar to check the date, and only then realized that October 1st was just five days away.

The system settlement, however, was in three days—on Friday.

Thinking about how he hadn’t been home in a while, and how he’d be bringing 8 million yuan in personal funds after the settlement, he figured this would be the perfect time to go home and improve his parents’ living conditions.

With that thought, Chen Mo replied.

“Mom, I’ll come back for the National Day holiday.”

“Great! What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”

On the other end,
his mother’s voice suddenly sounded more cheerful.

Listening to the excitement in her tone, Chen Mo fell silent. Since growing up, he had neglected his parents a bit.

He used to call every week, but now it was once every month or two, if that.

At least this time, he could stay a few days longer during the holiday and spend some real time with them.

“Mom, just make whatever you like. I love everything you cook.”

“Okay, I’ll figure it out. I won’t keep you from work anymore.”

With that, his mother hung up the phone.

Chen Mo stared at the ended call tone for a moment before snapping out of it.

He turned to look at Shen Rou.

“Shen Rou, has the company finalized plans for the National Day break?”

“President Chen, I was just about to talk to you about that.”

“If we follow the official schedule, the holiday runs from this Saturday to next Friday. But the exact time off still needs your approval.”

Upon hearing her, Chen Mo looked back at the calendar.

This year, October 1st fell on a Monday. The statutory holiday lasted three days—Monday to Wednesday. With the weekends adjusted in, it would be from this Saturday to next Friday.

A seven-day mini-vacation.

If that were the case, then employees would have to return to work the following Saturday.

But who works on Saturdays?

Thinking this, Chen Mo picked up a pen and circled the dates from this Saturday to the next Sunday—nine days total.

Now that’s more like it.

“Let’s go with this schedule. Notify the workshop employees and Cangxue Games too.”

As he spoke, he pushed the marked calendar over to Shen Rou.

Shen Rou curiously picked it up, and then froze.

After a moment, she looked up at Chen Mo.

“President Chen, the National Day holiday, even with the adjusted schedule, is only seven days…”

“I know. But that’s for other companies. In my company, no one works weekends. Not even adjusted ones.”

Chen Mo didn’t even lift his head as he replied.

No matter what, giving employees two extra days off meant two fewer workdays. Two fewer workdays meant potentially less profit for him.

So the holiday had to be extended.

Shen Rou felt a wave of emotion.

Other company bosses were always trying to cut down holidays, and here was President Chen, generously adding two extra days.

The employees were going to be thrilled when they heard about this.

As she thought about it, she suddenly remembered the report just sent over by Cangxue Games and quickly printed out a copy to hand to Chen Mo.

“President Chen, this is the latest report from Cangxue Games. Please take a look.”

“Oh!”

Chen Mo reached out and took the report. After just one glance—

He froze.

1 million?

What the hell? Where did the extra 1 million in revenue come from?

He immediately called Fang Chang to get to the bottom of it.

A moment later,
Chen Mo slowly hung up the phone, looking stunned.

It was that 100,000-yuan item again. Another rich player.

So what if you’re doing group battles—why do you all keep fixating on that 100,000-yuan gear?

Chen Mo was beyond speechless. But he also realized something important: this couldn’t go on.

He had to take down all the equipment that cost money.

Otherwise, on the day of settlement, if some rich player just happened to buy two pieces, it could throw the whole system out of balance and cause the settlement to fail.

He might as well just shut down all in-game top-up options, so he wouldn’t have to worry about the game making money.

【Reminder: The game must include some monetization features.】

The system prompt suddenly popped up.

So it can’t be completely free, huh? Fine—he could create a few barely profitable monetization points.

In any case, the option to directly buy equipment with money had to be removed. Otherwise, with you all doing your three-day mini battles and five-day mega wars, sure, you’re having fun, but I’m the one getting screwed!

Especially with settlement just around the corner.

“Shen Rou, also let Brother Yang get the car ready. I’m heading to Cangxue Games.”
—

Cangxue Games,
Office.

“President Chen, is there something you need?”

Fang Chang looked at the unexpectedly arriving President Chen and cautiously asked.

Chen Mo glanced at him and said calmly:

“I’m here today to talk about some changes to Tianlong.”

“President Chen, the Tianlong reform project is ongoing—you don’t need to worry.”

Worry?

With the current state of Tianlong, how can I not worry?

Chen Mo looked at the cup of water he had just picked up, then put it back down.

“I’m talking about a different kind of reform. Since Tianlong is now taking the free-to-play route, we need to go all in. Shut down all top-up channels that affect game balance.”

“You mean…”

Fang Chang looked hesitantly at Chen Mo, unsure if he had guessed correctly.

Chen Mo didn’t wait—he explained the plan he had come up with on the ride over.

“Here’s the deal. I’ve realized that as long as the game still has paid equipment, it’ll always be unfair to regular players. So I’ve decided to remove all pay-to-win gear.”

“Of course, all the other miscellaneous top-up features should go too.”

“But President Chen, if we do that, there won’t be any way for the game to make money!”

Fang Chang quickly protested.

“I’m not done yet.”

Chen Mo calmly continued, seeing Fang Chang’s growing anxiety.

“As a game, it still needs some monetization. So we’ll offer monthly cards, weekly cards, and daily cards. Just buying these will provide small conveniences, but nothing that affects balance.”

“Monthly cards will be priced at 10 yuan per month, weekly cards at 2 yuan, and daily cards at 0.1 yuan. As for the specific perks, you can decide.”

With only these minimal monetization options, there’s no way the game can suddenly generate another million out of nowhere, right?

Chen Mo thought to himself.