Chapter 11: Grand's official website crashed!

What the hell is this again!

The game's been released, but it won't let people download?

Who do they think they are? Look at this screen, look at this gameplay description—it's just a small game!

They're making a small game out to be some international blockbuster—screw that, I'm not playing!

Chen Qiang was a bit angry, feeling like he'd been toyed with.

He angrily closed the webpage, then started clicking on the games he usually plays.

As he played, for some reason, that weird-looking zombie image popped into his mind.

The zombie's design isn't complicated, it's a bit stupid, and… kinda cute?

He couldn't help but show a disdainful expression.

A man's gotta be tough!

This kind of game is obviously for girls!

No planes, cannons, or tanks—at least there should be swords, spears, and guns, right?

Boring!

Chen Qiang kept playing the game, but…

His mind just wouldn't settle; the image of Plants vs. Zombies kept appearing in his head.

Maybe it's because you can't have it that it's… stirring up trouble?

After a game ended, Chen Qiang reopened the Grand official website.

Yeah!

This time he didn't go through the pop‑up to enter the Grand official website; he went straight to searching.

Then…

He saw the Plants vs. Zombies promotional page again.

But…

This time, Chen Qiang saw the trial button.

He hesitated a moment, then clicked trial.

As a seasoned gamer, Chen Qiang had his own take on games.

Isn't it just using sunlight to exchange for coins?

Isn't it just using coins to buy props?

Isn't it just using props to stop zombies from destroying your home?

The gameplay is so simple even an idiot could do it!

No high‑level strategies needed, no desire for complex operations.

What's fun about this game!

It's meaningless, a waste of time.

"What's going on?" Chen Qiang suddenly shouted.

At that moment, a pop‑up suddenly appeared on the page.

"Your trial time is up; the game will launch officially tomorrow—stay tuned!"

Chen Qiang stared at those words on the page, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

Yeah!

He froze.

Wasn't the trial supposed to be five minutes?

He… hadn't even started, how did it end already?

That slow‑moving, goofy‑looking zombie was about to get his peashooter blown up!

How could it! How could it just stop like that!

After a while, Chen Qiang finally calmed down, his face once again wearing a sneer.

"Tch! Using this kind of tactic for marketing—isn't it a bit childish?"

"No way—you don't really think I'll stupidly wait till tomorrow, do you?"

"Such a game with no technical depth, no brain needed—who'll remember it after tonight?"

"Grand? Is this all there is to China's gaming hope?"

Chen Qiang shook his head, then without hesitation closed the Grand official website page.

A game of this level simply isn't worth his lingering over!

Then…

He started up his old games again, but…

He found his mind full of zombies, full of sunlight.

He couldn't bring himself to play any other game—it was like he'd been brainwashed.

Not playing!

Chen Qiang got angry and just shut down his computer and left.

When Chen Qiang got home, the time had already reached ten p. m.

He grabbed something to eat, took a shower, then lay down on the bed.

He has a good habit of falling into deep sleep before eleven.

But today…

He found he couldn't sleep.

He... his mind is actually full of that stupid game.

Sunshine, pea shooters, zombies...

How could this happen!

This is clearly a type of game I don't like!

Chen Qiang didn't sleep all night, his eyes were already red and swollen.

He doesn't feel tired at all.

He hurried to the internet cafe, arrived at his familiar seat, and turned on the computer.

He opened Grand's official website.

He saw a countdown timer.

Two hours, twenty-seven minutes, thirty-six seconds.

This is the release time for Plants vs. Zombies.

Chen Qiang just kept Grand's official website open, doing nothing.

Yes!

He was waiting for the release of Plants vs. Zombies!

But Chen Qiang would never admit how fun this game is.

He would come here, download Plants vs. Zombies just to criticize it!

He wanted to expose Grand's conspiracy, and he prepared to write a comment on this game.

He wanted everyone to realize how terrible this game is.

He is exactly such a game-loving athlete.

He is willing to clear mines for all game fans!

Finally, the time arrived at ten o'clock in the morning.

Chen Qiang clicked the download button with his mouse, then...

The page crashed, popping up a 404!

Grass, a kind of plant!

What the hell is this!

Why did the page crash?

Chen Qiang refreshed the page, then...

The page lagged, couldn't load images, then...

System busy!

My god!

What the hell is this again!

Grand's broadband isn't supposed to be among the best in the country? What's going on now?

Chen Qiang flew into a rage!

His fingers turned into a machine gun, frantically clicking the refresh button.

At the same moment, Grand headquarters.

"General Manager Chen, something's wrong! Our official website has crashed!"

"The traffic hitting our official website at the same time exceeds our capacity!"

"Now... netizens can't access our official website."

Voices of urgency came from the technical department.

Chen Qiao was in the technical department at this moment, because Plants vs. Zombies was officially released today.

Here he can see sales data in real time.

But...

He didn't see the booming sales scene, but saw the official website's collapse.

"Increase bandwidth, execute immediately!" Chen Qiao issued the order.

Technical staff began to get busy.

Increasing bandwidth may be just a phrase, but there's a lot to do.

Need to apply for bandwidth from relevant departments, increase server capacity, or even directly replace it with a larger server.

However... Grand is after all Grand.

In less than half an hour, the official website finally returned to normal operation.

Chen Qiao couldn't help but sigh in relief, then...

"It crashed again! Director Chen, our official website crashed again!"

"The amount of durians trying to access our official website at the same time is just too huge!"

"We... we still need to increase bandwidth!"

The voices of the technical staff at this moment were all trembling.

Those who understand technology naturally know what this situation signifies.

Countless people are simultaneously paying attention to Grand's official website!

"You say, could there be over a hundred thousand people staring at our official website right now?"

It might exceed five hundred thousand, right?

Be bolder, I guess it's seven hundred thousand!

You know, our website just went down for half an hour, and after another half hour... our website went down again!

What does this mean? It can't be that these people, not working, are just staring at our website all the time, right?

So now the number of people following our website might have exceeded seven hundred thousand!