[Game] Chapter 479-480

Chapter 479: New Year Game Sales, and… Yukino’s Birthday?

With the arrival of the new year, Ichin had already gotten used to spending the first couple of days accompanying Utaha and her parents to visit their relatives.

On the evening of January 3rd, after a family dinner out, Ichin drove Utaha and her parents home.

Utaha’s father had drunk quite a bit, so after returning, her mother helped him back to their room to rest. Ichin and Utaha then returned to their own place.

He poured two glasses of water, turned on the TV, and the two of them sat together on the sofa, each holding a cat in their arms.

As for Haruno and Yukino, they had naturally returned home to Chiba for the holidays—the Yukinoshita family tended to have far more New Year’s visits to make.

Taking a sip of tea, Ichin said,

“It’s the third today, and the gathering’s scheduled for the sixth. So we’ve got two free days before that. Utaha, is there anywhere you’d like to go?”

“Somewhere to go?”

Utaha thought for a bit, then shook her head. “Nah, we’ve been out so much already these past few days. Let’s just stay home. We’ve been to all the usual spots anyway—movies, shopping, everything. And during New Year’s, it’s so crowded outside. Let’s skip the chaos.”

Clinging lazily to Ichin’s arm, she smiled softly.

“Going out is nice, but I still prefer staying home with you, Ichin.”

“I see. Then we’ll stay in and rest.”

And so, for the next two days, aside from occasional grocery runs, they spent all their time at home—playing with the cats, watching TV, gaming a little, and putting work aside for once.

Every night after dinner, Ichin would check on the sales numbers for their games.

With the new year’s arrival, all major titles had kicked off discount events. Among their catalog, Slay the Spire and Hollow Knight saw the biggest price drops, followed by BattleBlock Theater and The Binding of Isaac.

Their biggest title, Persona, was on a 30% discount, and Fall Guys had 20% off.

The newest release, Titanfall, wasn’t discounted at all.

Meanwhile, Dark Souls’s pre-orders had climbed slightly during the New Year sale period—still decent, though far behind the discounted titles, naturally. After all, its release was still three months away, and no media reviews had been published yet.

Just as Ichin was reviewing the sales data, the bedroom door opened behind him.

Utaha, freshly out of the bath and wearing her pajamas, stepped into the room.

Her long hair, still slightly damp from the dryer, carried a faint, sweet fragrance that reached him as soon as she got close.

As Ichin turned around, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, plunging his vision into darkness.

“It’s a new shower gel—rose scent. What do you think?”

Ichin chuckled, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply before replying,

“Smells great. You should keep using it—I like this one better than your old one.”

Seeing him nuzzle her lightly, Utaha couldn’t help but laugh.

She patted his head, then sat down on his lap, letting him hold her as she looked at the computer screen.

“So, how are the game sales doing these days?”

“Pretty well,” Ichin said. “The discounts helped a lot. Slay the Spire and Hollow Knight hit their lowest Steam prices ever. The Switch discounts weren’t as steep, but sales still climbed noticeably. And games like Isaac and BattleBlock—the ones that fit the Switch well—got a nice bump too.”

The company’s development strategy was now clearly defined: big single-player projects, online multiplayer titles for long-term support, and smaller, high-quality indie projects.

Once the upcoming release schedule was properly arranged—staggered to avoid overlap—they could keep steady momentum each year with a few new titles always in rotation.

Holding the soft, warm Utaha in his arms, Ichin thought aloud,

“For the next few years, I’d say we’ll maintain the long-term online titles, release one large single-player game every two years—or two in three years—and small-scale ones like BattleBlock and Isaac at a rate of one or two a year.”

He intended to try nearly every genre except sports—and was already doing so.

Leaning back against his chest, Utaha smiled. “With that pace, other developers are probably going to lose their minds.”

“Of course, that’s just the ideal pace,” Ichin laughed. “We’ll adjust according to reality.”

He gave her a quick kiss on her smooth cheek, then got up to go shower.

But before he left, Utaha said,

“By the way, Ichin, Haruno and Yukino will be back tomorrow afternoon. Since they left early, we didn’t get to celebrate Yukino’s birthday at all. Should we make it up to her tomorrow?”

“Oh, right—her birthday. I totally forgot.”

Ichin smacked his forehead and looked at her. “You already have something planned?”

“I sure do!” Utaha grinned proudly. “I ordered a limited-edition Mr. Pan body pillow. It’ll arrive tomorrow. I checked—Yukino doesn’t own that one, and it’s super rare.”

“Wait—why are you only telling me now?”

Ichin sighed in exasperation. “You’re really making it hard for me. How am I supposed to prepare something in just one night?”

Yukino’s favorite things, aside from cats, included “Mr. Pan,” a niche panda character with a perpetually grumpy face. No one quite understood her taste, but she adored it.

Now that Utaha had already bought a Mr. Pan item, it’d be awkward for him to get something similar.

“Ugh… what do I do?”

He sat cross-legged on the carpet, thinking hard, the idea of showering now completely forgotten.

Utaha watched him struggle, smiling, then sat down beside him.

“How about baking a birthday cake? Tomorrow’s the party anyway—let’s surprise her with a mini birthday celebration too. Her birthday’s on January 3rd, and we didn’t get to celebrate it properly. A cake would make up for that.”

“That’s a good idea,” Ichin nodded. “We’ve got all the ingredients at home. Should we let Kō and the others know?”

“No need. We don’t all have to bring gifts—just us is enough. The others can play along for atmosphere. But we should tell Aoba and the rest to come a bit early to help with setup.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

With the plan set for tomorrow, Ichin finally stood up and headed for his long-delayed shower.

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Chapter 480: Preparations Before the Party

January 6th — the day of the planned New Year gathering.

After breakfast, Ichin got straight to work preparing the birthday cake for Yukino.

Utaha had already contacted Haruno secretly in advance, letting her know they planned to make today’s get-together double as a belated birthday celebration for Yukino. After hearing that, Haruno told them what Yukino’s birthday had been like this year.

There hadn’t been any kind of formal party at home — it wasn’t her milestone eighteenth birthday, so the family just had a simple meal together to celebrate quietly.

This gave Ichin and the others the perfect chance to hold a more lively celebration, something cheerful yet comfortable since everyone attending was close to Yukino. Knowing that, Haruno was delighted to help. With her as an “inside agent,” everything could be arranged more smoothly — such as ensuring that she and Yukino arrived later than the others, giving Ichin’s group enough time to prepare.

After lunch, around one in the afternoon, Kō Yagami and the others who lived downstairs came up first. Soon after, Aoba and her team arrived one by one.

Munching on chips, Kō walked into the kitchen just as Ichin pulled a freshly baked cake out of the oven. She swallowed hard and said, “Smells amazing! And wow, that’s a big cake.”

“Well, we’ve got a lot of people — everyone needs a slice, right?” Ichin replied, setting the cake aside to cool. “Kō, Haruno and Yukino will be here around two. Make sure you all get ready before then!”

“Relax, no problem!” Kō grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. “Umiko just got here, and everyone’s asking about how her work’s been going in Shanghai. Once they’re done chatting, we’ll start setting up. With this many people, we’ll have it all ready in half an hour!”

“Alright, you said it — I’m counting on you,” Ichin said with a smile before shooing her out so he could focus.

He pulled out the decorating tools and began whipping the cream for the cake.

As time passed, while Ichin worked in the kitchen, Utaha and the others began setting up the decorations in the living room.

They hung up the colorful party streamers they’d bought that morning. When Kō caught Peppa the cat trying to paw at the ribbons, she immediately scooped it up and carried it away.

“Hey, don’t mess with those! Go play with your toys!”

Peppa looked up at her, then simply turned and wandered off toward Eriri.

Eriri hadn’t been assigned to decorate — she was instead on cat-duty, trying to manage the growing herd of cats in the house.

During the New Year break, Yukino hadn’t brought her four cats home since her family lived right next door, so she had asked Ichin and Utaha to take care of them. Now they’d all been brought over for the party.

Four from Yukino, one from Kō, one from Eriri, two belonging to Ichin and Utaha, and one from Hazuki — a total of nine cats. Poor Eriri was completely overwhelmed trying to keep track of them all.

When Peppa wobbled over, Eriri immediately called out,

“Peppa! Come take care of your kids, I can’t handle them all by myself!”

But of course, the cat didn’t understand a word. It pawed at a yarn ball, plopped down, and began playing on its own, paying no attention to the kittens running wild around the room.

There wasn’t much to be done about it — Peppa had only fathered them while they were very small. Once they were weaned, he’d mostly stayed at Ichin’s place, so he wasn’t that attached to them anymore.

Thankfully, Peppa wasn’t very territorial; otherwise, nine cats in one apartment would’ve been a recipe for disaster.

At least they were only noisy, not fighting — a small miracle in itself.

Seeing Eriri’s frazzled state, Hifumi quietly approached with a fully inflated balloon in hand.

“Hang in there, Eriri. We’re almost done with the setup,” she said gently.

“Really?” Eriri asked, glancing around the living room.

The letter balloons were all up, and the streamers and regular balloons were mostly in place.

She finally let out a sigh of relief. “Good, that’s—”

POP!!!

“AHHH!!!”

The sudden explosion of the balloon in Hifumi’s hands made Eriri shriek, which in turn sent all the cats scattering in panic.

As for Hifumi, she stood frozen, staring at the shredded remains of the balloon — which George, one of the cats, had just pounced on and clawed open.

After that small “incident,” everyone eventually got back on track. By 1:50 p.m., the living room was finally decorated.

Aoba stood with her hands on her hips, surveying their work.

“It was supposed to be a simple setup, but everyone just kept adding things here and there, and now look at it — it’s totally over the top!”

“Looks great, though,” Hazuki said with a smile, snapping a photo with her phone. “Yukino’s going to be so touched when she sees it.”

Next to her, Utaha glanced at her phone and said, “Haruno just texted me — they’re on their way, should be here in about five minutes.”

At that, everyone grabbed one of the small handheld confetti poppers, faces full of anticipation as they waited for Yukino’s arrival.

Five minutes later, the Yukinoshita family car pulled up in front of the apartment building.

Haruno and Yukino had brought no luggage, just small bags with their electronics and a few books.

After sending the driver off, Haruno turned to Yukino.

“Come on, let’s drop our things off, then head to Ichin’s place. The others should be there by now.”

“Alright,” Yukino said softly, looking up at the familiar building with a faint smile.

Home life had gotten much better over the years, but even so, she still preferred it here — her cats, her friends, and the warmth she’d come to love.

They rode the elevator up and first went to Yukino’s own apartment.

As soon as she stepped inside, Yukino noticed her cats weren’t there.

Haruno immediately said, “Eriri and Kō brought them over. I checked the security feed earlier — Ichin took Sesame and Mochi over this afternoon. Come on, once you put your stuff away, you can see them again.”

Yukino nodded, set her things down in her room, and followed her sister next door.

Just as she reached for the doorbell, Haruno said with feigned surprise,

“Huh? The door’s not closed properly? Well, they should be home. Let’s go in, Yukino.”

She pushed the door open and gestured for Yukino to go first.

Without thinking much of it, Yukino stepped inside.

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