Chapter 13: Overwhelming Force and the Secret Weapon!
Chapter 13: The Sweep and the Cheat!
June 21st.
Monday.
Some things are like viruses—you never know when they’ll suddenly erupt and then wildly spread in an instant.
Across the major internet cafes in Yanjing, a game called Desert Bicycle suddenly appeared.
And as soon as it launched, it exploded in popularity!
This game rewarded players with real money for completing tasks, with an entry cost of only five yuan and astonishingly high rewards!
Just five yuan to start!
So far...
Small rewards of just a few or tens of yuan were common stories—you might even hear about them from relatives or friends.
Many addicts of online games immediately jumped on the “making money” bandwagon.
Once hooked on this game, it was nearly impossible to quit.
Players were frantically calling others, recruiting them to earn points together.
Some exchanged points for cash or bought drinks, while others used them for in-game revivals...
The first revival cost ten points, the second twenty, the third forty...
Each revival cost doubled!
Beyond that!
You could even see advertisements for Desert Bicycle plastered on taxis throughout the streets.
Advertising companies frequently received promotional requests for Desert Bicycle!
The marketing copy on these flyers was incredibly enticing:
“The first competitive game in history that lets you earn real money!”
“Cosmic Technology, Season S1!”
“Now officially launched!”
...
Many people followed the flyers to visit the Cosmic Technology official website.
There was only one game there—Desert Bicycle.
Yet the download count had already surpassed five thousand!
And the number was rapidly climbing...
On the morning of June 21, Cosmic Technology’s official site published a leaderboard.
The list showed player usernames who had completed tasks and earned rewards.
This list kept updating continuously.
At first, the website was functional, but as more and more players flooded the servers, it became increasingly laggy.
By 10 a.m., the site was overwhelmed and finally crashed.
Of course, it was quickly patched and updated.
After the update...
Everyone was stunned to see an astonishing grand prize announced on the site!
“Congratulations to player ‘I Am The Best in the World’ for completing the first hidden task in the fifth stage and winning the 5,000 yuan ultimate grand prize!”
Seeing the 5,000 yuan grand prize, many immediately clicked on the player’s screenshots!
Players went wild, filled with frustration and disbelief!
In reality, the game had a particular mechanism:
Cash withdrawals took time. If you withdrew early, your game time would be reduced by several seconds, which was detrimental to completing the next task since each subsequent task also had a time limit.
To claim the task rewards, you had to resist withdrawing, control the bicycle carefully through each stage, and avoid mistakes!
“This game!”
“If you really want to earn the 30,000 yuan reward, now I get it!”
“Eight hours, no mistakes allowed, and no withdrawals—you must complete the entire course. Each stage’s tasks and rhythm become increasingly difficult. One slip-up, even a slight misstep in timing, and you fail!”
“To get the 50,000 yuan reward is even crazier—you have to finish all tasks, including hidden ones, without a single error within eight hours, and master the game’s rhythm perfectly!”
“If you withdraw midway or make mistakes, even reviving with points won’t get you any grand prize!”
“This game is good for small money, but earning big money is like climbing to the heavens!”
“My personal advice: complete the 500-point tasks and withdraw to break even. The following tasks are extremely demanding; only top players can endure them!”
...
On all the major online forums, countless guides on how to earn and break even with Desert Bicycle quickly appeared.
Of course, many top players posted photos and screenshots to refute these guides.
Some showed withdrawals of two hundred yuan, some a few dozen...
And there were even those bragging about over a thousand yuan withdrawn!
Some said:
“Take a chance, turn your bicycle into a motorcycle!”
“Breaking even isn’t enough? As long as you stick with it and complete tasks well, isn’t earning enough for a drink worth it?”
“At worst, just make some calls!”
“Recruit ten people and start over!”
...
At Cosmic Technology headquarters, Zhang Yang chewed gum and watched the official site.
The afternoon sunlight fell on his face.
He exhaled softly.
That morning, player numbers surged exponentially, causing the game servers and website to crash.
Fortunately, he had foresight and applied patches and upgrades early, stabilizing the situation somewhat.
In fact...
Since the game’s release on the night of the 19th, downloads had exceeded eight thousand!
Eight thousand downloads meant total revenue of forty thousand yuan!
After accounting for many reward systems, Zhang Yang saw that he had personally earned ten thousand yuan in his account!
In fact...
Many players were chasing the final 50,000 yuan grand prize!
Human nature was truly greedy!
Once you opened the game, you couldn’t be satisfied with just five or six yuan...
You wanted more.
Even if you earned a hundred yuan, since there was no recharge interface, most people didn’t think about withdrawing—they converted earnings into points and continued playing, chasing the big prize!
But the 50,000 yuan grand prize was extremely difficult.
Although there were many rewards, the largest grand prize given out so far was only 5,000 yuan.
Most were small prizes...
Zhang Yang adjusted his clothes and let out a long breath.
His phone rang.
It was the landlord, Bao Qiang.
Today was Monday, and Bao Qiang was probably calling about the rent.
Zhang Yang considered his options.
After calculating the pros and cons, he narrowed his eyes and opened his stock trading interface on the computer.
Then...
He smiled.
“Hello, Bao Ge!”
“Rent?”
“Sorry, Bao Ge, my money is stuck in stocks right now. You know how the market dropped today. How about this—we don’t renew the lease, we move out, and you can show the place to others.”
...
On the other end, landlord Bao Qiang was stunned.
Soon, Zhang Yang heard knocking on the door.
“Hey?”
“Zhang Ge, we... we’re not renewing?”
“Yeah!”
“But our company is making money right now, why—”
“This place is too expensive; we can’t afford it. Besides, with the game gaining traction, it doesn’t matter where we rent.”
“But if someone comes to look at the place—”
“As long as our game keeps its reward system, these things don’t matter much. We’ve already gained momentum. Nowadays, many scam companies don’t even have a real address, but they still manage to cheat people.”
“Oh... wait, we’re a game company, not a scam!”
“Ahem, yes, a game company, but the nature is a bit different. Anyway, if you have time, find a cheaper place to use as an office.”
“Okay...”
Zhao Hang nodded in confusion and agreed.
After Zhao Hang left, another knock came...
“Bro... bro, someone’s... someone’s using cheats to farm levels... I...”
...
Zhong Chongwen walked over with a very serious expression and handed Zhang Yang some data...
Wherever there are people, there’s always trouble.
Not everyone plays by the rules...
Like many other games...
Their Desert Bicycle had also attracted cheaters using hacks to farm levels and rewards, disrupting the balance.
(End of Chapter)