Reborn not to be a beast of burden, I set the rules.

The QQ group started to get lively, with people constantly asking "How do I get this talent?" and "How do I trigger that event?" Xu Wei and Lin Zhixia, who had been temporarily pulled in to help, typed rapidly.

Ruan Xing also joined, and she actively answered questions in the group using the ID "Starry Night" in a lively tone, quickly becoming one of the focal points of the group.

At 7:50, Li Yue shouted, "Diba! There are players commenting on our promotional post!"

Several people gathered around. It wasn't a promotional post from Chen Rui; it was from another, unfamiliar ID.

The main post contained only a screenshot and a sentence: "I was reborn as a sports student, but the training was so tiring that I skipped classes every day. In the end, the coach found out and sent me to help in the cafeteria... Is this life scientific? #IfLifeCouldBeRelived#"

In the screenshot, a pixelated figure is squatting in a corner of the cafeteria washing potatoes, with a speech bubble above its head: "Today's potatoes: 200. Regret value: 85."

Several replies have already appeared below: "Hahaha, the cafeteria king!"

"We're both in the same boat, but I was reborn as a top student, and all I did was read novels. Now I'm working as a bricklayer on a construction site..."

"At least the people upstairs are still doing manual labor, but I was reborn as a rich second-generation heir, and I became addicted to stock trading, squandered my family fortune, and now I'm begging under a bridge [Image]"

"Hahahaha!" Several boys in the computer lab burst out laughing. Even Xu Wei was looking at the screen, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Quick, share this in the group!" Ruan Xing exclaimed excitedly.

This post was like the first pebble thrown into a pond. Soon, more similar posts began to appear in different places.

"I was reborn as the head of the school radio station, but was voted out by the entire school for playing 'Seeking Buddha' every day, and ended up becoming a DJ at a temple... Is this game scientifically plausible?"

"Reborn as a cafeteria worker serving food, but her shaky hands couldn't be cured, leading to complaints from the entire school. In the end, she opened a 'Shake It' dessert shop... Would that count as a successful business venture?"

On Sina Weibo, absurd, funny, and slightly heartbreaking screenshots of "life" accompanied by the hashtags "#IfLifeCouldBeStartedAgain#" and "#Tragic#" have begun to circulate quietly.

"We've reached 800 online!" Zhang Yuan's voice remained steady, but his speech was a bit faster. "The growth rate of page views is increasing. The current peak is about 25 clicks per second."

"The total impressions for Google Ads have exceeded five thousand." Li Yue stared at the data. "The click-through rate... is about 1.5%."

With a 1.5% click-through rate, there are 15 clicks for every 1,000 impressions, and each click might only cost a few cents.

The money was small, but it was real, market-verified income.

"The QQ group is full with 500 members, I'll create a second group." Xu Wei quickly operated the system. "Lin Zhixia, second group number: xxxxxx, update it in the official website announcement and guide."

"it is good."

Around 8 p.m., the online user curve suddenly surged upwards again.

1200.

For a second or two, there was silence in the computer room as the numbers jumped.

1,200 real people online at the same time.

Ye Ming looked at the four-digit number, his heart pounded steadily and powerfully in his chest. It was a success.

At least, the start was successful.

The real peak traffic period is from 8 PM to 9 PM.

The number of online users continued to climb, easily surpassing 1500, and finally reached and stabilized at its peak of around 1850 at about 9:10.

Zhang Yuan stared intently at the monitor screen, the tense lines on his face gradually relaxing, even revealing a hint of disbelief.

Throughout the peak period, the green curve rises smoothly without any jitter.

He took a deep breath and reported in a clear and steady tone: "Peak, over 1800. Starting from 800 concurrent users, it has now reached 1,800. The CPU utilization peaked at 16%, and the load curve has been as smooth as a straight line throughout. Memory and database connection pool utilization are extremely low. The average response time has remained between 110 and 130 milliseconds throughout."

He paused, then turned to look at Ye Ming, his tone filled with suppressed excitement and certainty: "Ye Ming, it's done. Teacher Zhang's optimization plan is extremely effective. The system is now handling it with ease!"

A low, relieved sigh echoed through the computer room.

Ye Ming, who had been leaning slightly forward, leaned back in his chair.

The nerves that had been on edge preparing to deal with technical problems can finally be completely relaxed to move on to the next one.

He quickly glanced at another screen next to him; the QQ group chat window in front of Ruan Xing was flashing messages like crazy.

In addition to various problems, new voices have begun to emerge.

"There aren't enough events. After playing a few rounds, I feel like I've seen all the options before..."

"Can't we see how other people die? Make a leaderboard!"

When can I play "Borrow My Life"? I want to torture my friends!

"Is there an editor? I'd like to write my own events!"

Ruan Xing's fingers darted quickly between several groups, her brows furrowed as she discussed the matter with Xu Wei.

Xu Wei quickly brought up another data panel in the background, looked at it for a few seconds, and then turned to Ye Ming and whispered, "The average number of games played per player is too high, and the event recurrence rate... has been rising significantly since forty minutes ago. The content consumption rate is exceeding our expected model."

Ye Ming did not speak immediately after hearing this.

He glanced at the online curve on the monitor screen, which remained steadily around 1800, and then at the constant stream of "requests for new events" and "requests for self-made content" popping up in the QQ group.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll begin daily updates. We can't wait until players get bored before we make any changes."

He turned to Xu Wei, his tone decisive: "A new batch of cases will be launched at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. You're a great person, so please work on the schedule as soon as possible. Do what you can, but don't let it stop. Only you can keep an eye on this."

Xu Wei looked at him without any questioning, and simply nodded: "Okay. I'll do it now."

"Also," Ye Ming continued, his thoughts clear, "players want leaderboards and 'Borrow My Life.' These features are already in the game, just not fully enabled. Yuan-ge, Yue-jie, check the backend configuration and load. If everything's okay, we'll go live tomorrow or the day after. The announcement will be called 'Friends Feature Fully Launched.' And then, two days later, we'll launch the 'Win-Win Life' feature."

Zhang Yuan and Li Yue agreed at the same time.

"Finally," Ye Ming looked at Xu Wei, and also at Chen Mo, Ruan Xing and the others, "tomorrow we'll simultaneously launch the 'Creative Workshop' and put my demonstration MOD, 'Reborn as Tang Sanzang's Horse,' on it in a prominent position."

He then smiled and said to Xu Wei, "The review rules will follow what we set before. You're still in charge, Mr. Great. Good stuff will be accepted, we'll pay for the credits, and the GG fee will be settled before they're released; average stuff will be put in the MOD section for everyone to play with."

Xu Wei nodded again, her eyes sparkling: "When the GG fee is paid, don't forget to treat us all to a big meal. You still owe us a meal."

Ye Ming was taken aback, then remembered how Xu Wei had insisted he treat her outside the Humanities Building, and couldn't help but smile: "No problem!"

After 11 p.m., the number of online users gradually dropped from its peak, but still remained above 1200.

After a rough estimate, Li Yue gave a figure that cheered everyone up: "Tonight, in four hours, the total number of unique visitors is about 16,000."

Google impressions and clicks... Based on the current rates, the revenue share at the end of the month should be quite substantial, far exceeding our most optimistic expectations.

Xu Wei added her core observation: "Players have a very strong need for 'creation,' even more so than for simply experiencing the game. The MOD system must keep up immediately; this is key to alleviating content pressure and retaining core players."

Ye Ming listened and nodded.

He looked out at the dark night, then at the still-active data on the screen, and finally his gaze fell on the forgotten hundred-yuan bill on the table.

"Thank you all for your hard work today," he said. "Go back and get some rest; the real battle begins tomorrow."

One by one, everyone got up, encouraging each other as they left. Everyone looked tired, but there was a burning fire in their eyes.

Ye Ming's phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw it was a text message from Shen Zhiyi.

"I just finished one round of testing on my end. Yours should be going smoothly, right?"

Ye Ming stopped what he was doing, looked at the text message, and a faint smile appeared on his tired face.

He could almost see her in the empty laboratory, just as she turned off the equipment and remembered what had happened to him that day.

He replied, "Okay. The first step is done. You should get some rest too."