Chapter 183 - No Way! (1/2)

Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

Ocean Stronghold’s data was so different from his expectations. Something must have gone wrong somewhere. Even if a new group of players joined the game, there was no reason for them to buy Red Kilins at such an insane rate. There must have been some important pull-factor!

Pei Qian looked closely at the data for all the games. Not only had there been more top-ups, but there had been significantly more active players as well! What’s more, the average amount of time players spent on the game had increased, too!

One could say that people were grinding even more in Ocean Stronghold.

This was very strange.

Logically, the downloadable content Pei Qian added this time did not contain anything for which players had to grind. People could slowly play in story mode for a few days, and they would complete it. The PvP modes remained the same. Pei Qian did not add events that gave away packages to reward players for staying longer in the game.

Yet, the average time that players were spending in the game increased!

Were players suddenly deciding to play the game for a longer time because they felt like it?

Impossible.

The data behind the games would not lie. Pei Qian faintly felt like this was the reason for the sudden explosion of income!

Pei Qian searched Qiandu once again to find out why players of Ocean Stronghold were becoming so active.

Finally, he found his answer in a post.

“I’ve heard of trading in stocks and property. This is the first time I’m hearing of trading in accounts. You win!

“When Ocean Stronghold released its update, I was cursing as well. Why were they only selling five hundred of such good-looking Barrett Dooms? Were the officials insane? Why were they turning down the chance to earn more money?

“However, from the looks of the situation now, Tengda’s plan was very deep!

“Yesterday, a friend of mine—who never played FPS games-suddenly came up to me to ask if I played Ocean Stronghold. He wanted to add me as a friend so we could play biochemical mode.

“At the time, I was confused. He never played FPS games; why did he suddenly change his mind?

“I asked him and found out the answer. He was trying to earn money!”

“People selling Barrett Dooms on trading platforms were pricing them at two to three thousand yuan, and yet they still went out of stock! After all, there were only five hundred of those for sale each month. Many people wanted to buy them for their own use. Otherwise, they planned to keep them for longer and wait for the price to increase. If whales wanted to obtain them, they would increase the price significantly!

“Many scalpers were overjoyed. They spent a lot of money to buy them and then kept them. After all, there are only going to be five hundred more for sale next month. This thing holds its value!

“In the end, the officials released another patch. After that, people could snatch Barrett Dooms using their credit rating! The higher one’s credit rating, the higher their chances of pre-ordering a Barrett Doom.

“What’s more, it’s not like ordinary people would have no chance. As long as you are a real player and not a scalper who created an account just to obtain a Barrett Doom, you would have a chance to get the weapon!

“The higher one’s credit rating was, the more chances they would have to obtain the Barrett Doom!

“Although this sounds unreliable, it’s a type of metaphysics!

“Everyone began to think of ways to increase their own credit ratings. They kept grinding in the game; they played story mode and wanted to increase their ranking. People even discovered that topping up their accounts would increase their credit rating. Many rich players started to buy as many Red Kilins as possible!

“This weapon was good anyway, and they could look impressive in the game. It would even increase their chances of obtaining a Barrett Doom…

“People in our gaming circles really managed to obtain a Barrett Doom. The day before, they sold it for more than three thousand yuan. There are even bosses with third-grade credit ratings selling their accounts because they no longer have time to play. Now, whales are buying their accounts for over fifteen thousand yuan!

“Now, accounts with second- and third-grade credit ratings are becoming more valuable than Barrett Doom. After all, there will be more and more epic weapons in the future. These accounts can be seen as money trees!

“I’ve activated the three other people in my hostel to play the game now. I’ve asked them to play two games each day to keep the account alive. If we can get a Barrett Doom next month, we will be rich!”