[Game] Chapter 419-420

Chapter 419: Morning Pickup

Driving back to her apartment, Yukino struggled a little as she carried five large shopping bags and unlocked the door.

The moment she opened it, a familiar voice greeted her.

“Yukino, you’re finally back?”

“...Nee-san?” Yukino blinked in surprise. “Why are you here? You didn’t even call.”

Haruno rose from the sofa and walked to the entryway with a smile. “I got off work late today and only just arrived. I thought you’d be home already, but you only just got back. Hm? Did you go shopping for clothes? By yourself?”

“Not alone. I went with Onii-san and Utaha-senpai.”

“Ahhh~~ so with little Ichin and Utaha.”

Haruno nodded knowingly, then let out a mock sigh. “So you went shopping without me? Is the little sister really more favored than the big sister?”

Ignoring her sister’s nonsense, Yukino changed into slippers, carried the bags inside, and greeted the cats one by one, a relieved smile spreading across her face.

Once she made sure they had eaten properly, she went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

When she came back out, she found Haruno rummaging through her shopping bags.

“Nice clothes,” Haruno said with a grin, holding up a jacket. “You picked this out yourself?”

“I chose some, and Onii-san and Utaha-senpai gave their opinions too. I’m quite happy with everything I bought today.”

“Mmm, very good choices. Let me guess—Ichin paid, didn’t he?”

Yukino blinked in surprise. “How did you know?”

Putting the clothes back, Haruno said matter-of-factly, “Of course he did. Maybe before, no—but now? You’re his little sister. If he takes you and Utaha shopping, of course he’ll pay. You know his personality. He’s always good to the people he considers family.”

Yukino nodded in agreement. Even before, Ichin had always treated her and Eriri kindly as juniors—let alone now.

Putting the bags away, Yukino got ready for a shower. It was already late, and she had class tomorrow.

---

Tuesday Morning.

Ichin yawned, rubbed his back, and slid into the driver’s seat.

Last night, he’d done well picking clothes for Utaha, and she had given him a very stimulating reward. As a result, his sleep was a bit short. Combined with his recent lack of exercise, he was feeling tired.

Yes—he definitely needed to start working out again.

In the passenger seat, Utaha looked equally sleepy as she buckled up. “Honestly, Eriri could’ve just gone to school on her own. Did she really have to hitch a ride? I could’ve slept an extra hour.”

That morning, Eriri’s parents had left early for work, before she was even awake.

The Sawamuras had never thought to arrange a chauffeur for her. Back in high school, if her parents couldn’t drive her, she simply used public transport.

But today, she had called Ichin directly, asking for a ride.

Considering she had class first period and the timing, Ichin had agreed.

Taking a sip from his thermos of coffee, he started the car. “It’s fine. It’s not like this happens often. We’ll just pick her up. Yukino’s free too, but she’s taking Haruno-nee somewhere this morning, so she couldn’t help. Might as well, since we’re passing the Sawamura place. Utaha, you can nap a little on the way.”

“Aren’t you tired, Ichin?”

“I’m fine. Coffee will do. Besides, I don’t have class first period this afternoon—I can catch up on sleep later.”

That was the good thing about university. With gaps in the schedule, you could use the time however you liked—even for a nap.

They drove to the Sawamura villa, where Eriri was already waiting.

She hopped into the backseat, smiling brightly. “Thanks for the ride! Dinner’s on me tonight!”

Now that was considerate.

Since she offered, Utaha let go of her irritation about the morning call.

After all, getting a free meal out of Eriri was rare—it was worth the trouble.

After dropping her at campus, Ichin and Utaha headed for Todai.

Carrying her bag, Eriri checked the time and let out a sigh of relief. “Good thing I asked Ichin for help. Otherwise I’d have to make breakfast and wait for a bus—I’d never make it. Taxis aren’t reliable either.”

Relieved, she stepped onto campus—only to spot two classmates staring curiously at her from the gate.

“Eriri, who was that guy who dropped you off just now?”

“I saw him—total hottie! Is he your boyfriend?!”

Eriri waved her hands frantically. “No, no! He’s just a senpai and a friend. My mom couldn’t drive me today, and I overslept, so I asked him for help. Besides, it wasn’t just me—his girlfriend was in the car too. Don’t spread weird rumors. Anyway, let’s hurry, class is about to start.”

Hearing he wasn’t her boyfriend—and that he already had a girlfriend—the two girls instantly lost interest and walked in with her.

Much like Yukino, Eriri quickly gained attention at Tokyo University of the Arts. Her looks and talent made her a well-known figure among the freshmen in the fine arts department.

But unlike Yukino, whose family was prominent in Chiba, Eriri’s family was established right in Tokyo. Not long after enrollment, some upperclassmen who knew her background had quietly spread the word about her well-off household. That alone discouraged many boys who had been hoping to approach her.

And since Eriri always went straight home or to the company after class, suitors at school rarely even had a chance to see her.

In class, she pulled out her textbook for the first period: Art History.

It was one of her least favorite subjects. Too much memorization—her worst area.

Once everything was ready, she half-listened to the chatter of the other girls, mostly gossip about which senior boys were handsome or who was being confessed to.

With so many girls in the class, gossip was never in short supply.

Handsome guys, huh...

Eriri rested her chin on her hand, uninterested. Instead, her mind drifted to the work she hadn’t finished yet.

Even though she’d delegated some tasks because of school, there were still key jobs that only she could handle.

***

Chapter 420: Sales Breakthrough on the NS

Since Ichin and Utaha didn’t have class first period that morning, the two of them stopped by the cafeteria after arriving at campus to grab a bite.

Ichin bought two sandwiches—one for each of them—and they sat together eating leisurely.

Checking her phone, Utaha asked, “There’s still about an hour until second period. Ichin, where should we go?”

After swallowing his bite, Ichin suggested, “How about the library? Read for a while and the time will pass quickly. Just sitting outside would get boring.”

Though he wasn’t nearly as frequent a visitor as Utaha, Ichin had been to the library a few times and liked the atmosphere there.

Utaha agreed happily—she was a regular there anyway.

After finishing their sandwiches, they headed to the library, each grabbing a book and reading quietly for over half an hour. When the time came, they went their separate ways to class.

When Ichin entered his classroom, plenty of students were already there. After greeting a few close classmates, he chose a seat toward the middle-back and took out his textbook.

That was when a few guys who often played games together crowded over.

“Hey Ichin, when’s your company’s new game coming out? I really want to play Dark Souls!”

“I’m looking forward to Titanfall, but there’s been zero news. When will you announce something?”

Ichin chuckled at their eager curiosity. “Don’t worry, games take time to make. As for Dark Souls, we don’t have a set release date yet—it’s still in development. But Titanfall should have new information revealed around July or August, so be patient. Oh, and besides those two, we’ve got another new game in the works—scheduled to release before Titanfall. It’s an online multiplayer battle game. Pretty fun. If you’re interested, look out for the public network test in June.”

Development on Fall Guys was moving at lightning speed. With everyone at the company contributing ideas, stage design was progressing smoothly.

The plan was to hold public online tests in June and August to evaluate server performance. If no issues cropped up after those, the game could be ready for release around September or October.

The moment his classmates heard about a new title, they got excited.

Unfortunately, the bell rang and they had to return to their seats, saving the questions for later.

Of course, Ichin couldn’t actually tell them details about Fall Guys. Even as the company’s boss, he had to keep what was confidential, confidential.

—

After classes ended in the morning, Ichin met up with Utaha and Yukino, and the three had lunch together in the cafeteria.

Their schedules were similar in the afternoon—each had only one early class. Ichin and Utaha had just two periods total, while Yukino had a full morning and one afternoon course.

After lunch, Ichin bought juice for the two girls and asked Yukino, “Once your class is done, are you going to study at the library, or come to the company with us?”

Yukino thought it over. “I’ll come with you. I studied at the library yesterday, and I don’t have any urgent assignments. I can finish them tonight at home.”

Utaha checked the time. “Yukino, after class, do you want to grab milk tea before heading over? A new shop opened near the company—it’s been really popular.”

“Milk tea, huh…” Yukino hesitated, but in the end couldn’t resist. “Alright, let’s try the new place.”

She liked sweets, though she usually had strong self-control. Drinking milk tea today just meant she’d have to spend more time on her fitness ring workout later tonight.

After class, the three went straight to the company, stopping first to line up at the new milk tea shop.

As for the rest of the company, no worries—they always ordered their own afternoon drinks.

Sure enough, when they walked in, almost everyone had a milk tea in hand already—just not from the new store.

Spotting theirs, Yagami Kou asked curiously, “How’s that place? We wanted to try, but the line’s too long. With so many of us, we had to order from other shops instead.”

With over a hundred employees, they usually split orders among several stores—otherwise, a single shop couldn’t handle it. Large orders of thirty-plus cups were already a strain, though the local cafés welcomed them gladly—big money for the day.

“It’s pretty good,” Ichin said, shaking the taro ball milk tea in his hand. “Tastes almost the same as what I’ve had back home. Kou, everything going smoothly with development today?”

“No worries,” Yagami Kou replied cheerfully. “Both Fall Guys and Dark Souls have their frameworks solidly built. We’re developing step by step—no major issues. But there is one bit of special news.”

“Oh? What is it?”

She pointed at the Switch on her desk. “Persona’s NS version just passed five million copies sold.”

“That fast? Already five million?”

Last summer, the Switch version of Persona had already broken three million sales, but afterward its growth slowed.

Then came the year-end TGA Awards, where Persona swept three major prizes. The surge of attention, paired with an official 20% discount on the Switch store, boosted sales again.

This year, discounts on Switch had been rarer—another 20% off during the spring sale, but that was it.

Nintendo rarely slashed prices deeply for their platform’s hot titles—especially not to 50% or lower—within a year of release.

On PC, Persona sold at roughly the same price as console, but thanks to excellent optimization, it ran on relatively modest hardware. Plenty of players opted for the PC version.

All those factors explained why Switch sales slowed.

Even so, breaking five million in just one year was extraordinary.

After all, the Switch’s top ten bestselling games were all Nintendo’s own. Even the tenthNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe—had sold over nine million copies.

***