An Expert Is actually By My Side - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Excellent Reviews Coming in like Tidal Waves

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
As of 10:30a.m., the number of downloads had exceeded the 95,000 mark.
Even if you looked into the history of the E-fun platform development, you wouldn’t be able to find any stand-alone game released by a newcomer that was able to achieve such stunning results.
Close to 100,000 sales in less than 24 hours!
There was no reputation built on top of previous works, nor was there any long-awaited PPT graphics!
Even for some of the major 3A game publishers, if they could get this kind of sales at the first public showing, the development team would open a few more champagne bottles at the press conference.
Of course, besides the unique gameplay and excellent quality of the game, the main reason for achieving such a result was the game’s price tag. Whether or not it was worth spending that money, very few people would ask for a refund.
After all, for a one yuan game, even if one didn’t like it after playing, most people would just use it to fill up their game library and would not bother to contact customer service to apply for a refund.
Coupled with Brother Xiang’s inverse jinxing, this irresistible mini-game was pushed straight up to the top of the sales chart of the stand-alone games section.
With the support from both the recommendations feed and sales chart ranking, although there were some elements of surprise in 2048 achieving such a result, it also made sense.
Sitting in front of the computer, Cloud Hao did not have to wait for a long time before the number on the computer screen rapidly broke through the 100,000 mark without any suspense. It then continued soaring towards a higher mark with no reduction in momentum.
He eagerly opened the system interface, and the notification about the task completion jumped out as expected.
[Congratulations to Host for completing the task!]
[Reward: One memory fragment]
[Achievement unlocked: Zhang Xiang (Main Talent: Game Anchor) Potential Stat Redemption: 2]
[Reward: +2 random attribute points]
The reward of one memory fragment was expected, but the “+2 random attribute points” that popped up afterward stunned Cloud Hao, who was sitting in front of the computer.
What the f*ck?
This is… Unlocked a “secondary plot” while completing the main plot task?
I f*cking won big time!
But what does it mean by potential stat redemption?
Seeing the random attribute points automatically turn into “+2 music attribute value”, Cloud Hao stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.
Based on the system description alone, the potential stat has nothing to do with the target’s current strength. It only represents the magnitude of their potential achievements…
Even a person with no musical talent can also become a respected master of the generation through relentless hard work or some chance opportunity.
In that case, does the so-called redemption mean that the potential future achievements of that person are realized in advance?
Or at least, in part.
Thinking about this, things became clearer in Cloud Hao’s mind. However, he couldn’t help but be troubled as well.
After all that, turns out that I’m fulfilling someone else’s destiny?
But I’m not that type of kind and charitable person…
How did this dumb system end up choosing me?
Cloud Hao thought resignedly. He shook his head and decided not to over-analyze the cause and effect for the time being. Instead, he had to focus his attention on more important things.
At the end of the day, he still managed to grasp a way to obtain attribute points.
If my speculation is correct, as long as I manage to help those pawns—erm no, the lucky ones, to fulfill their dream, the system will reward me with attribute points of the same value.
At the same time, the significance of the hidden potential stats to him should be the upper limit of attribute points that could be obtained from someone!
In addition, the rewards for simply completing the tasks were mainly memory fragments or other items.
As he gradually realized this, Cloud Hao’s eyes grew brighter.
He suddenly remembered that there was a music expert with a hidden potential stat of 8 in his dorm room!
If I groom him to become a superstar in the music industry, won’t I be able to get eight attribute points for free?!
There was also a programmer with a hidden potential stat of 7 and a class president with a hidden potential stat that remained a question mark…
When he saw the opportunity to become superman right in front of him, Cloud Hao’s heart thumped against his chest and his eyes turned red.
However, this excitement didn’t last for long, and he quickly calmed down again.
Although this sounded wonderful, the reality was not as optimistic as he imagined.
First of all, I am just an ordinary guy.
To make someone else a superstar in the music industry is probably harder than me dominating the entertainment industry by myself.
Moreover, Brother Ziyuan’s singing skills…
Nonetheless, there was still Zheng Xueqian. That guy could become a code farmer, and his 7-point potential was quite a lot.
“Problematic… Why is this guy’s talent not basketball but music?”
With a soft sigh, Cloud Hao closed the system interface and leaned back in his chair.
The key to solving the problem lies in the system’s task.
Even if I don’t manage to help anyone achieve their dream, I can at least get a guaranteed reward. As of now, the value of memory fragments is far more than attribute points.
I just don’t know what the next task will be…
Whatever it was, Cloud Hao hoped that it wouldn’t have anything to do with Zhu Kening.
Just like that, time passed.
It was quiet in the computer room, aside from the occasional mouse clicks and the ticking of the hands of the wall clock.
Ermmmm…
Hmm?
The atmosphere was slightly awkward.
Seeing no movement before his eyes, Cloud Hao was stunned.
Where’s the mission?
Why isn’t there any further development?
…
By the time Cloud Hao returned to his bedroom, the number of game downloads had exceeded 200,000.
According to the E-fun platform cash withdrawal rules, 50% of the game sales would be the pre-tax income of independent creators, which would be 100,000 yuan.
For a student, this was undoubtedly a massive sum of money!
Of course, it was impossible to withdraw all of it. The platform would withhold part of the funds as a deposit to process any of the players’ refund applications.
Besides that, the money made on the sales of that day could only be withdrawn the following day.
According to this calculation, Cloud Hao could withdraw about 20,000 yuan.
He could choose to either withdraw all of it or part of it. The E-fun platform only limited the number of withdrawals per month to three, not the amount.
As for taxes…
If the individual didn’t have a registered company, the platform would help independent developers to act as their tax agents in accordance with individual income tax standards. They would pay the taxes on their behalf based on the actual cash withdrawal amount.
If a company was registered, the corporate tax would be implemented and the company would be responsible for it.
According to Country Xia’s taxation law, there was no need to waste time with annual sales worth less than 1 million yuan. The few partners could just split the money among themselves. For production teams with sales of more than 1 million yuan, it would be more favorable for registered companies.
After all, in Country Xia, games and other cultural industries such as music, movies and television, and literature had the support of government policies. Especially in terms of taxation, the incentives for corporate tax were rather huge.
The matter of registering the company was of no hurry. Cloud Hao had already contacted an agency via the E-fun platform’s official website to do that on his behalf. They were already handling it.
The company’s name would be the same as the name of the game development team he had filled in previously- It would be called “Cloud Dream” for now.
As for why he gave this name, it was mainly because to him, the inspiration for “2048” was like he had dreamed of it.
Cloud Hao hadn’t thought about the next game of “Cloud Dream Group” or “Cloud Dream Corporation” yet.
At the moment, he was the only general in this company without any soldiers. It was still unknown whether it would be able to continue operating.
At least for now, there was only one thing he had planned: withdraw 20,000 yuan first to improve his own dire living conditions.
Simultaneously, he also needed to patch up the hole he had made when he was trying to complete the previous task…