Ichin didn't have a large extended family, but there were still a few relatives around. As usual, during the New Year holiday, they would visit family and friends, and so of his parents' long-ti friends would also drop by.
He had thought about whether or not to bring Utaha back ho for the holidays, but before he could even bring it up, his mom had already suggested it. From the looks of it, she really liked Utaha and couldn't wait to show her off.
Still, this wasn't sothing Ichin could decide alone—it would depend on Utaha's own thoughts.
So, he turned and looked at the girl beside him.
Utaha hadn't expected Ichin's mom to bring up sothing like this. After a rare mont of bashfulness, she nodded and said,
"Um… I'm fine with it. I'll go back with Ichin then. As for my parents, I'll just talk to them about it—it shouldn't be a problem."
She knew her parents well. Given how far their relationship had progressed, they definitely wouldn't oppose it.
Ichin's mom looked even happier after hearing that. "Great, great! Then it's settled—you'll co back together. It's getting late now, so I won't keep you two any longer. Go ahead and get back to work if you need to, but don't forget to study too, okay? And don't stay up too late!"
After answering with several "yes, yes" responses, Ichin finally ended the video call.
He handed the phone back to Utaha and smiled. "We're going back together at the end of January then. Just don't forget about your passport."
"I won't," she replied, nodding as she hugged his arm. "Hey, Ichin… what kind of reaction do you think your relatives will have when they see ?"
"Hm, let think…"
Ichin pondered for a mont, then said,
"Well, I imagine they'll be surprised… and probably a bit jealous too. I'm pretty sure Mom hasn't told them I have a girlfriend. And most of my relatives don't even know I run a ga studio. I don't really have any cousins my age either. I bet my mom's planning to show you off to all the relatives and friends when the ti cos."
"Show off, huh? I get that." Utaha chuckled, clearly understanding where his mom was coming from.
"My mom's kind of the sa. Ever since my novels started gaining traction, she's been itching to tell all our relatives and family friends about it when we et during New Year. She used to get annoyed when other relatives would brag about their kids going to so top university or landing high-paying jobs. Now it's finally her turn."
Apparently, _this kind of family drama is universal_, no matter the country.
"Oh, right, Ichin—"
She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before continuing with a smile,
"Since you're not going ho for New Year's, spend it at my place, okay? I an, if your mom wants to introduce to your family, then I should introduce you to mine too. Be prepared though… my relatives—especially my aunts—can be a handful."
"…"
Ichin's mouth twitched slightly. He was clearly a little nervous.
But even if he was feeling a little anxious on the inside, he couldn't let it show. Puffing up his chest, he said confidently,
"No problem. Leave it to —I'll show them what a once-in-a-millennium boyfriend looks like!"
"Mhm, good attitude. I like that."
Utaha gave his head a playful pat and added with a smirk,
"I'll reward you later. Rember those special outfits I bought a while ago? You can pick one tonight."
At those words, Ichin's nerves disappeared in an instant—replaced by pure excitent.
et the relatives? Piece of cake!
---
Just as scheduled, Steam's Autumn Sale kicked off. A wave of gas started slashing prices, with many titles hitting all-ti lows or near-historic discounts.
For example, _The Witcher 3_, which used to be full price, was once again among the discounted gas—its Ga of the Year Edition practically being sold for pocket change.
Slay the Spire was, of course, among the discounted titles—and this was its very first ti going on sale.
Before the Autumn Sale even began, Ichin had already posted a heads-up on Bilibili, letting fans know in advance that _Slay the Spire_ would be discounted. So, many players who had been eyeing the ga decided to hold off and wait for the sale.
Sure enough, the mont the sale started—a whopping 50% off, even a bit more than that. The original price of 68 yuan dropped straight down to 30 yuan.
As soon as the new price hit, players who had the ga sitting on their wishlists didn't hesitate at all—they rushed to check out and add it to their libraries.
And this trend wasn't limited to just the China region; the sa was happening in overseas markets too.
_Slay the Spire_ had excellent streaming potential—whether strears were pulling off impressive plays or failing miserably, both could trigger strong reactions from viewers. Over the past six months, the ga had spread widely, gaining montum through word of mouth and streams.
Just half a day into the Autumn Sale, Ichin—who had been keeping a close eye on sales—saw that _Slay the Spire_ had already sold 20,000 more copies.
Even at half price, that number was very respectable. After deducting Steam's cut, the rest was pure profit.
Everyone in the studio was thrilled when they saw the numbers. After all, the sale had only been running for half a day, and the entire Autumn Sale would continue for a full seven days—the sales numbers were only going to climb.
On the other hand, even though Hollow Knight wasn't on discount, the hype was still going strong. In the ten days since its release, it had consistently ranked among the top sellers. It didn't even need a discount to push more units.
After reviewing all the backend data, Aoba turned to Ichin excitedly:
"Ichin-kun, are we going to continue updating _Hollow Knight_? You ntioned before there's still a lot of content planned, right?"
"There is, but no need to rush it," Ichin replied, waving his hand.
"First, we'll implent the chanic where you retrieve your soul by defeating your own shade after dying. We can package that into a small update and roll it out soon. Also, I'm thinking of adding a ranking system—kind of like what we had in _Slay the Spire_. Each week, we could shuffle the boss list and order for gauntlet runs. As for the rest of the extra content, we can take our ti and discuss it properly. The ga's only been out for ten days, after all."
In the original _Hollow Knight_, there was a "Godseeker" DLC—which Ichin was also considering. It would be treated as additional content, but he wanted to approach it carefully. The last thing he wanted was a DLC that didn't match the quality of the base ga.
After listening, Kaiko nodded.
"Ah, so it's not a fixed feature. That's good—it might be fun to work on. But wait, is that part separate from the main map?"
"Of course not," Ichin replied.
"It'll be integrated into the ga world. We'll create a new exploration area, where players can fight through to a gatekeeper boss. Once they defeat it, a new zone will unlock—sothing like a combat arena for endless challenges. But that's just my rough idea for now. Let's talk it over later and figure out how to make it better."
Stretching lazily, Ichin pulled out his phone.
"Alright, it's dinner ti. Are we ordering in, or heading out?"
"Let's go out!"
Yagami chid in energetically.
"There's a new yakiniku place that just opened nearby!"
"Gogogo! BBQ ti!"
"Autumn is perfect for grilled at!"
"Let's roll!"
Glancing one last ti at the steadily climbing sales numbers on his monitor, Ichin smiled, then headed out with the team—off to enjoy so well-earned barbecue.
...
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