A week had passed since the release of 'Fate/stay night'.
By now, most of the players who dove in on day one had finished Artoria's route.
And the first thing they did after completing it?
Flood the 'Fate/Zero' drama groups and forums with glowing reviews of the game.
This kind of behavior was common—when a story gains good word-of-mouth, fans usually take on the role of evangelists.
But with 'Fate/stay night', that grassroots promotion was like a tidal wave.
Because the story really didn't disappoint them.
Artoria's ending.
Gilgamesh's showdown.
And Shirou Emiya's character? Maybe not "amazing," but after playing through it, few found real faults with him.
Granted, players who started with 'Fate/stay night' and only later watched 'Fate/Zero' might struggle with the idea of a protagonist obsessed with "becoming a hero of justice"—some might find the character over-idealized.
But most Great Zhou players had seen 'Fate/Zero' first. They knew how Kiritsugu Emiya became that "hero of justice" and had accepted that mindset.
So when they saw Shirou's so-called "naive" behavior in-game, they could sympathize. Even admire it.
The result?
'Fate/stay night's influence exploded within the 'Fate/Zero' drama fanbase.
Fan groups that had been dormant for months were suddenly buzzing again.
"Is it really that good?"
"It's not the gameplay. It's the story that's incredible!"
"So it didn't go off the rails? I heard there's a romance between Artoria and Shirou—that instantly killed my interest."
"What's wrong with a little romance?"
"It just feels weird for her character to fall in love."
"Play it, and you'll get it. I thought the same at first—but once you see the full story, it really works. It's natural. Her character never breaks."
"For real?"
"Dead serious. The only thing that threw me off was in the second route—Shirou flirts with another girl. As a loyalist, that stung. Felt like Artoria got cheated on."
"Then just don't play the other routes. You have to finish Artoria's route before unlocking Rin's, and then Sakura's. Jing Yu already clarified on social media—each route is a different parallel world version of Shirou. There's no cheating. If alternate versions of you didn't marry your current spouse in other universes, would you say they cheated? That's just unfair."
"Exactly. If it bothers you, just stick to Artoria's route. Personally, I accept Jing Yu's take. Once you do, you'll find Rin is actually pretty awesome. I didn't care for her in 'Fate/Zero', but in this game? Sharp tongue, soft heart."
"She's not as popular as Artoria, but honestly, she's great. The other routes don't feel much weaker than 'Fate/Zero' either."
"All I'm saying is—it's worth the money. If you liked the 'Fate/Zero' drama, you have to finish Artoria's route to see the story's true conclusion."
"You guys hyping it so much—I didn't care about the game before, but now I'm tempted."
"Trust me, you won't regret it. Maybe the gameplay's not your thing, but the story is worth every cent."
"Say no more. I'm buying it."
"Fine, I'll try it. If it sucks, I'm coming back here to flame you all."
"I've been lurking and yeah… reviews seem legit. Jing Yu doesn't seem to have plans to adapt 'Fate/stay night' into a drama, so whatever. I'll treat this as a sequel and just watch the story."
"Pro tip—if you spend a little, you can unlock alternate outfits for Artoria. Pretty cool feature if you ask me."
"???"
"What? You guys seriously okay seeing her in only knight armor all game? A little variety doesn't hurt."
No matter how much Jing Yu spent on marketing, nothing compared to the effect of fans spreading the word on their own.
By the end of the first week, 'Fate/stay night' had sold about 1.7 to 1.8 million copies.
But on day eight? Single-day sales jumped to 600,000.
Day nine? 570,000.
Day ten? 700,000.
By the end of day eleven, total sales hit 3.8 million.
That number hit the industry like a thunderclap.
Game companies across Great Zhou were stunned.
"What is this madness?!"
"I don't get it. I played it—it's nothing special!"
"Has the whole country lost it?!"
"Someone ran a market analysis—apparently, 30 to 40% of buyers had never bought a game before. So Jing Yu somehow got TV drama fans to buy a game?"
"Is that even possible?"
"It's never happened before! There've been plenty of blockbuster movies adapted into games—and they all flopped. Why? Because movie watchers and gamers usually don't overlap. No matter how popular your show is, if the fans don't game, how do you market to them?"
"Maybe that's the difference. Past adaptations focused on combat and gameplay mechanics. But TV drama fans care about story, music, and visuals. 'Fate/stay night' nailed all three—of course, drama fans liked it."
"Wait… seriously?"
"I played it. Honestly, only 30–40% of my time was spent fighting. The rest? Watching the story. I could go for hours and not feel exhausted."
"Is this the future of game design?"
"I don't get it. Jing Yu was an outsider, right? And yet his game is smashing sales records. When he dumped Millions into this, I thought he was crazy. But maybe he always knew his drama audience would embrace this kind of game."
"In Great Zhou, game companies focus on flashy visuals and combat. No one cared much about narrative."
"Someone in the TV industry told me—Jing Yu's scariest trait isn't his innovation. It's how insane his ideas sound before launch. He doesn't even run market tests—he just knows what the market will want. It's like he's predicting the future."
"Insane. It's like he knew this would blow up. No one would throw that much money at a new game model unless they were sure. That's not a gamble—it's precision."
"So this is what a genius's intuition looks like? I don't get it."
"Same. This flips everything I thought I knew about the gaming industry. And this kind of thing is selling millions?!"