Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 291 Data Slaps in the Face

January 28, 1998, 7:00 AM.

Fiona pushed open the door to Lingyun's office, holding a freshly printed report in her hand; the paper was still warm from printing.

Ling Yun looked up from the computer screen.

"President Ling, the data is in." Fiona placed the report on the table, her finger pressing against the edge of the paper. "Complete data for the week."

Ling Yun picked up the report, and the first line of numbers caught his eye:

星语新功能上线第七天（3月20日-3月27日）累计付费金额：942,817美元。

He glanced at the report for three seconds and then put it down.

"Has it been confirmed?"

"We confirmed it three times," Fiona said. "The finance team was still checking the transaction logs at five in the morning. There were no anomalies, no duplicate payments, no unusual fluctuations in refunds, it was a solid 940,000."

Ling Yun picked up the phone, dialed David's number, and it was answered after one ring.

"Mr. Ling, have you seen the data?" David's voice was hoarse, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept all night.

"I saw it."

"Server logs show that the peak time for paid subscriptions was from 11 PM to midnight last night," David said. "Many users stayed up all night chatting, creating groups, and decorating their profiles after buying acceleration cards. Our user online count this morning is 41% higher than the same period last week."

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll give your team a bonus after the press conference." Ling Yun hung up the phone.

He stood up and walked to the window. Dawn was breaking outside, and Silicon Valley was slowly awakening in the morning mist.

Fiona stood behind him.

"The public relations department suggested releasing a data briefing at 10:00 AM today," she said. "No need for a press conference; just send a press release to the media. At the same time, package and send out the updated user data, paid user distribution map, and selected user comments."

"Send it," Ling Yun said.

"As for the media..." Fiona paused, "last week's reports were mostly negative. Now that the data is out, they might be in a very awkward position."

"That's their problem." Ling Yun turned around. "We just need to send out the real data."

The press release was issued at 9:00 AM.

The data page on Star Technology's official website is updated simultaneously, with all figures being publicly available and transparent, and freely quotable by any media. Emails were also sent to the technology editors of 47 media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, the San Jose Mercury News, as well as the newsrooms of CNN, CNBC, and the BBC.

At 9:15, the first call came into the public relations department.

She was a reporter from Wired magazine. Her tone was urgent, and she spoke twice as fast as usual: "Is the data confirmed? Nine hundred and forty thousand dollars? In one week?"

"Confirmed," the public relations specialist replied. "All transaction records are subject to third-party auditing, and you can contact PwC at any time to verify."

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed only by the sound of papers turning over.

"Our report last week..." the reporter lowered his voice, "saying it was a bubble, that users wouldn't pay for virtual skins..."

"That's your publication's viewpoint," the public relations specialist said calmly. "We respect the media's independent judgment."

The phone hangs up.

At 9:30, the second call came, then the third, then the fourth.

Michael Ross of The Wall Street Journal didn't call. He sent an email with only one sentence:

Please provide detailed data, including the age, region, and frequency of purchase of paying users.

There was no apology, no explanation, and no mention of his skeptical article from last week.

At 9:45 AM, the San Francisco Chronicle website homepage was updated. The headline for the technology section was:

One week after the launch of Xingyu's new feature: Virtual consumption generated nearly one million US dollars in revenue, far exceeding expectations.

The article begins: "The 'virtual costume payment model,' which was widely questioned by the industry last week, has actually silenced its critics with actual data. Starry Sky Technology announced today that in just seven days since the launch of the new Star Language feature, the cumulative recharge amount has reached $94.28, with a paid user conversion rate exceeding 5%, far higher than the industry average..."

The article, totaling 700 words, consists of two-thirds data retelling and one-third vague assessments from analysts. It makes no mention of its own newspaper's report last week that called virtual avatars a "flashy gimmick."

At 10:00 AM, CNBC.

The host connected with a guest, a senior analyst from Silicon Valley, who last week said on the same channel that Star Language's paid model "violates the spirit of the Internet".

"This is an interesting turn of events," the host said. "A week ago, almost no one was optimistic, but now the data is very impressive. What do you think?"

The analyst cleared his throat: "Uh, this data is indeed surprising. It proves that the consumption habits of young users are different from what we imagined. I think Xingyu has captured a real need—the need for expression through virtual identity, which is worth serious study by the industry."

"You didn't seem to think that way last week?"

"I believe research needs to be constantly updated," the analyst said. "New data brings new insights."

At 10:15, the San Jose Mercury News website was updated.

The title is "Starry Sky's Virtual Consumption Data is Stunning, ICQ Faces Pressure." The first paragraph states: "Amidst widespread skepticism in the industry, Starry Sky Technology responded with solid financial data. $940,000—this is the amount Starry Sky users paid for virtual levels, outfits, and privileges in a single week. This figure exceeds the total revenue from all value-added services of ICQ in the previous quarter."

At 10:30, the Wall Street Journal website was updated.

The article, authored by Michael Ross, is titled "StarTalk's paid model shows initial success, but its sustainability remains to be seen."

The article acknowledges the data, but its tone is restrained: "While the first week's performance was impressive, whether this can be sustained remains to be seen. The repeat purchase rate of virtual consumption, the duration of user novelty, and potential countermeasures from competitors... are all key variables that will determine the success of Xingyu's business model."

The article concludes with the statement: "The lawsuit filed by Xingchen Technology against this newspaper is still ongoing."

At 10:45 AM, Reuters issued a breaking news report. The headline stated only the facts, without commentary:

Starry Sky's weekly virtual goods sales reached $94, with a user payment rate of 5.2%.

At 10:50 AM, Bloomberg pushed a notification. Tech stock analysts began calculating: if this growth rate continued, Xingyu's annualized revenue could exceed $50 million. This instant messaging software, less than a year old, had no Google revenue yet, relying solely on user payments for virtual items.

There was another knock on the office door. This time it was Catherine.

"Michael Ross from The Wall Street Journal just called," she said. "Not for an interview, but... he wants to meet you for coffee privately."

"Did you say what it was about?"

"He didn't say. But he sounded very tired." Catherine paused. "He must have been under a lot of internal pressure regarding that article he wrote last week. Now that the data is out, his editor-in-chief must have spoken to him."

"I'm not going," Ling Yun said.

"Understood." Catherine nodded and left.