Chapter 19 Something's Wrong Again

Hu Xianbin continued, his eyebrows dancing, "According to Jiang Yuan, Shen Renjie, who was previously responsible for the research direction, although mainly focused on conventional applications of artificial intelligence, also touched on some game AI research and has certain technical reserves. It's just that the focus of research wasn't on this side, so many research results are in a semi-shelved state."

"Who would have thought that results would suddenly come out this time? This is a pleasant surprise!"

"According to Jiang Yuan, the artificial intelligence AI algorithm developed by the Numa Laboratory is very advanced and can be directly used in *Mission and Choice*!"

"I've already spoken to them. There are still half a month before the official release of the game. As long as the new AI is updated, it will definitely make up for the final shortcomings and turn *Mission and Choice* into a truly perfect game!"

Hu Xianbin's eyes were no longer just excited, but turned into a sincere admiration!

Before this, he had only heard that President Pei had spent a lot of money to acquire a company researching artificial intelligence technology and established an artificial intelligence laboratory belonging to Otto Technologies, but he knew nothing about what this laboratory specifically did or what its research results were.

Now he realized that President Pei had already seen that the AI in the game *Mission and Choice* was not up to par, so he formed this artificial intelligence laboratory, ostensibly for Otto Technologies, but in fact for *Mission and Choice*!

I have to say, President Pei is really good at showing off. Others only show off their opponents, but President Pei is now not satisfied with just showing off his opponents, and has stunned his teammates!

Pei Qian blinked and temporarily fell into a daze.

What the hell?

Is it my fault again?

When he established the Numa Laboratory, Pei Qian specifically asked Shen Renjie to help remove a correct answer, thinking that if results were to come out, it would take several months.

However, he never expected that because of this damned system reward, results would come out in a week!

And it came out right at the six-month mark!

I've been had!

Pei Qian couldn't help but choke.

He took a deep breath, calmed down silently, and then stood up: "I'm leaving first."

Hu Xianbin quickly stood up as well: "Okay, President Pei! I will definitely cooperate with the Numa Laboratory to modify the AI before the game is released, make up for the last shortcoming, and have a good showdown with *Fantasy Battle Remake*!"

Pei Qian left Tengda Games without looking back, his back indescribably desolate.

Hu Xianbin looked at President Pei's departing figure and couldn't help but sigh secretly.

"Why does President Pei's back look a little lonely?"

"Could this be the legendary... loneliness of invincibility?"

Hu Xianbin regained his vitality and once again threw himself into his work with confidence.

Suddenly, he thought of a question.

"President Pei said that the game's release date has been changed to the 14th of next month, and he also said that this matter should be kept secret and not mentioned to anyone."

"Then... should I tell the advertising and marketing department?"

"However, so far all the publicity plans don't seem to involve the game's release date, so it seems they don't need to know this."

"And President Pei also told me to keep it secret, so I won't say it."

"President Pei must also be very clear about the game's publicity plan. If he feels it is necessary to tell the advertising and marketing department, he will definitely say it himself, and I don't need to be nosy."

"Well, I should just do my own job well."

Hu Xianbin didn't think too much about it. Anyway, with President Pei taking care of everything, there wouldn't be any problems.

So, he quickly forgot about this small episode and continued to busy himself with his work.

…

…

March 30th, Friday.

In the office, Pei Qian was looking at the work reports from various departments, his expression somewhat lifeless.

He had not fully recovered from yesterday's huge blow.

Who can he blame for this?

*Mission and Choice* was developed at his request, the Numa Artificial Intelligence Laboratory was established at his request, and this research direction, although he did not directly participate, was indeed related to him.

Blame the system for not making it clear?

That doesn't make much sense either… because strictly speaking, the system didn't use any misleading wording, and the time limit and the prompt after the technological breakthrough were very clear.

It seems that after thinking about it, the biggest blame lies with himself…

Who told him to misunderstand the system's meaning?

This is the most uncomfortable thing.

So Pei Qian was hit hard, and even the big TV at home was no longer appealing these past two days, and he was completely in no mood to play games.

He could only go to the office and flip through the work reports submitted by various departments, looking for good news that could make him happy, in order to barely maintain his life.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A knock came from outside the office.

Pei Qian looked up and saw that the person who came was a little unexpected: Meng Chang.

But Pei Qian immediately remembered that today was March 30th, Friday, the last working day of the month, and it was time to calculate Meng Chang's commission based on his performance this month.

Pei Qian opened his laptop, and the analysis report had indeed been sent over.

Because Pei Qian was not in a good mood these past two days, he had not opened it to look at it before. Judging from Meng Chang's expression, the result this time… seemed to be not bad?

He clicked open the analysis report and carefully checked it.

As he looked at it, Pei Qian's brows gradually relaxed.

The situation was indeed good!

This analysis report mainly determined the amount of commission based on the amount of funds and resources invested by the advertising and marketing department, as well as the actual publicity effect generated for the game *Mission and Choice*.

The better the publicity effect, the higher the amount of commission.

This time, Meng Chang had obviously done very well, and the commission was as high as 1,500 yuan.

The publicity effect for *Mission and Choice* was almost non-existent, but the problem was that the amount of money spent was too little, so the commission was relatively low.

The report did not write in detail how Meng Chang specifically operated, because the relevant personnel were only responsible for evaluating the input and effect of the publicity and determining a commission value. The content of the work did not include evaluating Meng Chang's publicity plan.

As long as Meng Chang's publicity plan did not violate the regulations, it was fine.

Pei Qian finally showed a gratified smile.

Fortunately, there was finally some good news to take a breather!

But at the same time, he also became curious about Meng Chang's specific publicity plan.

"Although the money spent wasn't much, the publicity effect was also very poor. Very good!"

"How did you do it?"

Pei Qian handed the laptop to Meng Chang and asked.

Meng Chang reached out and took the laptop. When he saw the commission of as much as 1,500 yuan written on it, a happy expression also appeared on his face.

It was just that he did not immediately answer Pei Qian's question, but remained silent for a moment: "President Pei, can I… not answer?"

Pei Qian thought about it: "You can."

In fact, Pei Qian could ask the staff who evaluated Meng Chang's publicity plan, or other employees of the advertising and marketing department, and he could immediately know what Meng Chang's specific publicity plan was.

But Pei Qian thought about it, since Meng Chang was unwilling to say it, then he wouldn't ask.

Because Pei Qian knew that he had an "observer effect," and many things would change as long as he observed them a little.

Taking this publicity plan as an example, maybe if he intervened, this publicity plan that could have lost a large sum of money would suddenly not work?

Moreover, after Pei Qian knew the detailed content of the publicity plan, he might be itching to give some pointers, and then maybe a good plan would be ruined by him again.

This kind of thing has happened more than once.

So, since Meng Chang was unwilling to say it, then he wouldn't ask. Anyway, Meng Chang had already received his commission, and the publicity funds had already been spent. Next month, it was just a matter of continuing this process and increasing the amount of money spent.

Pei Qian didn't care about the process, only the result. As long as Meng Chang could complete his requirements, that was enough.

As for what the specific plan was, did it matter?

And Meng Chang's mood at this time was both happy and suspicious.

He was happy because his plan was going smoothly!

Meng Chang's idea was to put the game *Mission and Choice* into a "collection of classic domestic games," and then advertise this collection like crazy.

The publicity funds were spent on the collection, which was naturally equivalent to being spent on *Mission and Choice*, but as long as it was hidden deep enough and discovered late enough, the publicity would not have any effect, so Meng Chang could happily receive his commission on a monthly basis.

This month, Meng Chang did not invest too much publicity funds, but just tried the waters with a small amount, mainly to test whether this routine was feasible and whether it would be exposed in advance.

If he invested a large sum of money at once, but it was exposed in advance, wouldn't that be a waste of all his previous efforts?

He made a small profit of 1,500 yuan this month, which finally changed the embarrassing history of zero commissions and confirmed that this routine was feasible. Then next month, he could work hard to ask President Pei for publicity funds, spend money hard, and directly get a full commission!

Meng Chang figured that since the game was released on May 1st, it wouldn't be too much to get a full commission in April, right?

And the reason why he was suspicious was because he was afraid that after telling President Pei about this plan, President Pei would secretly sabotage it and make his plan a failure.

President Pei, not only was he often sarcastic, but he was also secretly bad, so he had to be careful.

Of course, Meng Chang also knew that even if he didn't say it, President Pei had many other ways to find out, so he didn't use all of his publicity methods this month, but kept some in reserve.

If all of these methods were guessed by President Pei, then Meng Chang would accept his defeat; but if President Pei didn't guess it… then sorry, a commission of 100,000 yuan would be in his pocket!

The two had their own agendas, and no one could guess the other's exact thoughts.

But Pei Qian didn't think this was a big problem, as long as their goals were the same, then it was fine.

Meng Chang said: "President Pei, if there's nothing else, then I'll go back and continue to prepare the publicity plan for next month."

Pei Qian nodded: "Okay, keep it up!"

He said it very sincerely, but Meng Chang obviously didn't believe it.

Meng Chang left President Pei's office and secretly made up his mind.

"Hmph, you've tricked me several times, I don't believe you can win every time!"

"This time, I must get my revenge and get a full commission!"