He knelt.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Yamanaka knelt.
He had no choice but to kneel.
If he didn't, the company higher-ups would have no excuse to appease Tetsu Fuyukawa, and he'd be done for!
But by 7 p.m., nobody in the company cared about him anymore!
At 6 p.m., when the sales figures for Surrounded by Beauties came in, the entire boardroom went wild. Anyone could see the game's potential!
No debate needed—full speed ahead!
Double down, supercharged!
S-tier marketing weight was slapped on!
The finance department, which usually takes hours to process a single form, cleared all funding issues in two minutes flat!
Seeing "Tetsu Fuyukawa" on the approval forms, nobody dared drag their feet. With a flood of marketing cash pouring in, Surrounded by Beauties exploded!
Japan's one hour ahead of China, so when NTsoft cranked up the marketing, it was 7 p.m. in China—peak player hours!
Fueled by NTsoft's deep pockets, short video platforms and livestreams erupted with content. Streamers and viral clips flooded the internet, and as the marketing machine roared, sales and reviews on OTTO skyrocketed exponentially!
"Kimono sakura girl? And a hot spring scene?! I'm buying it all!"
"Chinese voice acting? Yes, yes, yes! Love a game company with guts!"
"How do you even play without nerfing Mama Hao?!"
"Damn it! Why's it only 15+? Are they looking down on me? Crowdfund an 18+ version already!"
"In real life, I spend 300 bucks to take a goddess out, and she calls me a simp. In this game, 90 bucks gets me six girlfriends. You think I don't know a good game when I see one?"
"Art the people love is good art."
"Bad review! Can't get it up!"
The praise was overwhelming!
In its previous life, Surrounded by Beauties was a controversial hit, loved and loathed. But now, hardly anyone's complaining.
Tetsu made major story tweaks, axing dumb mechanics like "unlock character A's affection to access character B's story." Plus, there's the "foreign monk chants better" effect.
Just like Starfield, Redfall, or Cyberpunk 2077 got trashed by Chinese players, the critics were mostly hardcore gamers. Their outrage didn't break into mainstream buzz.
That's the difference between cloud players and real players.
Cloud players have stronger immersion and engagement than hardcore gamers.
Yes, stronger.
Hardcore players play to enjoy the game. If it's good, they keep playing; if it's bad, they refund and move on. They don't go picking fights online. Cloud players, though? They're all about "taking a stand" for immersion—like, "I'm on the side of justice; domestic games must be art, or they're trash!"—and they get their engagement from "friendly debates."
Their goals differ. Foreign game companies can't give cloud players a "side" to stand on or that "I'm fighting for the future of domestic games" sense of purpose. Without that, or unless provoked, cloud players don't have much reason to rage.
Fewer bad reviews, plus Tetsu's improvements based on past-life feedback and his own gaming experience, and—most crucially—NTsoft's capital dwarfed the original Surrounded by Beauties team's budget!
Cash power, activate!
Relentless bombardment!
In just one day, Surrounded by Beauties smashed through 830,000 sales!
One day!
830,000 copies!
Not just NTsoft—the entire Japanese gaming industry was floored!
Don't think 830,000 is small!
Monsters like Grand Theft Auto with a billion sales are rare. Since the dawn of gaming, only Tetris and Minecraft outshine it!
Sekiro took three years to hit 10 million; Elden Ring, one year for 20 million; Red Dead Redemption 2, 40 million; Skyrim, 50 million!
Ten million is already elite-tier, and Surrounded by Beauties hit 830,000 in a single day, with momentum still surging!
As the game went viral, Tetsu Fuyukawa's name and the game's stats were splashed across media outlets!
"This year's biggest dark horse! $700,000 budget, three-month production cycle??? Projected 5 million sales??? Where did NTsoft find this freak?!"
"Who is Tetsu Fuyukawa?! The 21st century's youngest Japanese game producer to hit 5 million sales might emerge in two weeks!"
"Tap the Chinese market! It's a blue ocean! Send our girls to charm them!"
"No doubt about it—behind this game's success, the male economy is rising in China. Cater to them, and you'll eat well!"
"Tetsu Fuyukawa, this sharp, magical man, was the first to crack the crab! His market instincts are razor-sharp!"
"Heaven-sent stud! Absolute king!"
Praise poured in like a tidal wave, but this was just the start!
As New Year's hit, as Tokyo's first big snow blanketed the city, as marketing hype peaked, and as Surrounded by Beauties hit its sales zenith, everyone was stunned!
Jaws dropped!
This dark horse was too dark!
3.72 million copies!
It topped OTTO's Asia weekly sales chart!
But it wasn't over!
Like a spring thunderclap!
After exploding in China for a week, Japan's market woke up like a beast from slumber!
Tetsu was right!
Japan's gaming market has 34 million active users—way smaller than China's, but patriotism runs deep. Surrounded by Beauties, a Japanese game that blew up in China, roared into Japan's New Year's scene!
Skyrocketing!
Japanese gamers went nuts!
Patriotism, plus the lonely, cold vibe of a snowy New Year's night!
Japan's players lost it!
A week after launch, past the sales peak, Japan still hit 670,000 copies in a single day!
4.5 million total sales!
The Japanese gaming market went berserk!
Games with that kind of sales aren't rare, but it's all about cost-to-profit ratio!
Surrounded by Beauties was a 100-million-yen small fry, recouping costs at 50,000 sales. Tetsu sold nearly 5 million!
"If there's 10% profit, it's used everywhere; 20%, it gets lively; 50%, it takes risks; for 100%, it tramples all laws; for 300%, it dares any crime, even the gallows!"
Marx's words, and Tetsu's returns were 100 times!
No question—Tetsu Fuyukawa was the hottest name in Japan's gaming scene this New Year!
Headhunters swarmed, eager to poach this talent with no non-compete clause, but NTsoft wasn't letting go!
Are you kidding? Let a guy like this slip away?!
Promote him, stat!
But, to everyone's shock, after the sales explosion, Miyano Mitei didn't propose promoting Tetsu to "Deputy Director Fuyukawa" at the shareholder meeting. Instead, she pulled out… another proposal.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.