After gathering the art and animation teams, Ichin asked Kō Yagami and the others to call out the programmers, HR, and finance team as well.
Once everyone had assembled, Ichin looked around at the group and said, "Ahem, I've got an announcement to make. Good news. I just finished tallying up the numbersPersona officially launched its pre-orders last Saturday night, and as of now… our total pre-order sales have surpassed one million copies!"
Surpassed one million.
One million copies.
A million.
A few hundred thousand.
The room fell completely silent. Everyone stared at each other in stunned disbelief for nearly thirty seconds… and then erupted into thunderous cheers.
"One million! One million copies, wow!"
"And this is just pre-orders! The numbers are definitely going to keep rising!"
"Totally! Feels like we might hit two million or even three million!"
As everyone cheered and celebrated, Utaha walked up beside Ichin, smiling as she gently took his hand.
Once the excitement started to settle down, Ichin smiled and said, "This achievement is thanks to everyone's hard work. As your boss, of course I have to show my appreciation. This month's salaries have already been paid, so when next month's October paycheck goes out, I'll be adding a bonus for everyone. And tonight's dinner—let's all go out to eat together and celebrate!"
"Yay!!"
"Long live the boss!!"
As the others continued celebrating, Ichin and Utaha returned to the office.
He also sent the news to the studio members in Shanghai, informing them about his plans to return by the end of the month.
Although the Shanghai team hadn't been part of the development process for very long, Ichin wasn't going to favor one side over the other. He planned to give them a bonus next month too—to reward their hard work during the first month of the new studio's setup.
That evening, the entire studio went out to a restaurant to celebrate over dinner. After a hearty and joyful meal, Ichin and Utaha returned home.
After changing clothes, the two of them went over to visit Utaha's parents and shared the exciting news with them as well.
The elder couple was thrilled to hear that Ichin's company had achieved such success—and it was only pre-orders! It meant things could only go up from here.
After chatting with Utaha's parents for a while, Ichin and Utaha returned to their own place.
While Utaha went to take a bath, Ichin video-called his own parents for a quick chat.
His father had been following the studio's progress closely and already knew about the pre-order sales of the new game.
On the screen, smiling at his son, Ichin's dad said, "You've done a great job, Ichin. But I'll say it again—you can't let it get to your head, understand?"
"Don't worry, Dad. You know me better than that," Ichin replied, smiling at the image of his parents. "Besides, the game isn't even fully done yet—we've still got more than half a year to go. Oh, and by the way, I'll be coming home for a visit before National Day. I need to handle some business stuff, and I figured I could spend a few days with you two. Maybe we can go on a little trip somewhere nearby—how does that sound?"
"You're coming home?" his mom said happily. "That's great! Will Utaha be coming too?"
"Of course," Ichin nodded. "And I'll ask her parents if they'd like to join us too. Maybe we can all go on vacation together."
"Alright, it's settled then," his dad said with a grin.
After chatting for a while longer, Ichin ended the video call, stretched lazily, and glanced over at the orange tabby cat, Peppa, who had at some point jumped up onto the sofa. He reached over and scooped her up.
"Well now, look at you. You've put on some weight, huh?"
Holding Peppa up to eye level, Ichin muttered thoughtfully, "Hmm... if I think about it, it's probably time to get you spayed. Or... do you want a little girlfriend first? The only other cat owner nearby is Yukino. She's got two cats—one older, one younger. Which one do you like?"
The little tabby tilted her head, staring at Ichin in confusion.
Just then, Utaha came out of the bath, dressed in her pajamas, and gave him a curious look.
"What's going on, Ichin?"
"Oh, I was just thinking whether we should get Peppa spayed now or let her have kittens first and then do it."
"So that's what it is."
Utaha walked over and sat beside him, gently taking the cat and placing her on her lap, stroking her fur as she said, "I've thought about that too. What if we wait until Yukino's younger cat, Sesame, grows a bit more, and pair them up? As for her older cat, she already has plans to get her spayed."
"Sounds good. Let's talk to Yukino about it, then."
---
Monday.
At lunchtime, Ichin and Utaha met up with Yukino at school and told her about their cats.
After listening, Yukino put down her bento and chopsticks and said thoughtfully, "Hmm, I've already made an appointment for Mochi's spaying surgery—it's scheduled for this weekend. As for little Sesame, I haven't really decided yet. She's still young, after all."
In Yukino's view, getting a cat spayed was no issue, but whether or not to let her cat have a litter beforehand was something she needed to think through carefully.
If it were just one litter, she could definitely raise the kittens herself. Her monthly allowance from home was quite generous, and she was very frugal with her spending. Supporting a few more cats wouldn't be a problem at all.
Hearing all this, Eriri, who had been listening while eating, swallowed her bite of rice and chimed in with interest, "So... you're going to raise kittens? If they really do have kittens, can I have one? Seeing all of you with pets is making me want a cat too!"
"Your family allows pets, right?"
"Of course." Eriri nodded. "We live in a villa, after all—no problem having pets. It's just that when I was younger, and with both my parents busy with work, we never really thought about it. But if it's just a cat, I think it'll be fine. I'll ask my mom again tonight, just to be sure."
It seemed Eriri was genuinely interested in having a pet. After all, Hazuki often brought Mozuku to the studio, and both Ichin and Yukino had cats. Eriri had plenty of exposure to animals.
Given her family background, owning a pet wouldn't be a burden at all. If there really were kittens, neither Ichin nor Yukino would object to giving her one.
Taking a sip of her drink, Yukino glanced at the time and said, "Honestly, it's still a bit early to talk about this. If we're going to consider breeding them, it would be safest to wait until next year, after Sesame turns one."
Eriri nodded eagerly, "No problem at all—I can wait!"
***
T/N: New Harry Potter story is out, if you want to check it out.
Search→ HP: Trickster System
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