21: Will they win in Chapter 21? Yes, they will!

Another week or so passed.

It was the eve of the launch of Spark Games' new title—Slay the Spire.

The office was brightly lit, stocked with all kinds of food and drinks, and everyone was present.

In the afternoon.

Chen Yu had already posted links to the hype threads on various forums in advance. The number of replies had already surpassed a thousand, filled almost entirely with curious discussions and all sorts of creative praise from players.

With the high reputation and sales of their previous work, Vampire Survivors, as support.

Nowadays, although Spark Games was just a tiny studio, its reputation and word-of-mouth among countless players undoubtedly surpassed many well-known major domestic companies!

It could be said that.

Before their first Waterloo, this good reputation would bring a steady number of supporters for every release from Spark Games, which was truly precious!

Zhou Ming, Lin Zhengtao, and Wang Hao had also finished the final round of testing, confirming that all known bugs were fixed. Su Meng replaced the last screenshot on the Steam store page with a high-definition version, while Jiang Yuan was responsible for monitoring the backend, repeatedly checking the launch time and looking for minor oversights.

At eight in the evening, it was time for dinner. The takeout and various vegetarian dishes were laid out on the table, but no one took the initiative to eat.

In the end, it was Jiang Yuan who herded everyone over one by one. They gathered together and finished the meal absentmindedly, the food tasting like wax.

At ten o'clock, Chen Yu began to feel anxious.

"Boss, what if no one buys the game when it launches tomorrow?"

Jiang Yuan glanced at him, knowing that his current mood was very similar to hers before she first launched Vampire Survivors—perhaps even more so. So, with a calm expression on her delicate face, she said:

"That's impossible."

Chen Yu couldn't help but ask:

"Why?"

Zhou Ming couldn't stand it anymore and chimed in from the side:

"Are you stupid? There are nearly four million Vampire Survivors players. Even if just one-tenth convert, that's already three to four hundred thousand."

Chen Yu was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly:

"Makes sense, makes sense!"

At eleven o'clock, even the usually steady and reliable Lin Zhengtao began to worry.

"President Jiang, what if someone intentionally spams our game with negative reviews?"

Jiang Yuan said calmly:

"Let them. It doesn't matter."

Lin Zhengtao was dumbfounded:

"We're not going to do anything?"

"First, if that really happens, Steam will officially intervene to stop it. Second, the cost of doing that isn't low; who would do that unless they have a blood feud with us? Third, I have confidence in the game we've made."

Lin Zhengtao fell silent for a moment before breathing a slight sigh of relief. It wasn't that he couldn't think of these things; it was likely just because this was the first single-player game he had personally participated in, so his judgment was clouded by concern.

At twelve o'clock, Su Meng stood up and twisted her waist to stretch her body, barely calming her increasingly rapid breathing. Pretending to be composed, she said:

"I'll go buy everyone something to drink."

Half an hour later, she returned with a large bag of milk tea.

Zhou Ming took the milk tea and was startled:

"Which milk tea shop is still open at this hour?"

Su Meng said in a level tone:

"That one is open twenty-four hours."

Everyone silently sipped their warm milk tea. Some scrolled through their phones while others rested with their eyes closed; no one spoke.

In the silence, Jiang Yuan's phone suddenly vibrated.

She picked it up and saw it was a WeChat message from Lin Xi:

"Xiao Yuan! Is the new game launching tomorrow???"

Jiang Yuan replied with a single, concise word:

"Yeah."

Lin Xi:

"Why didn't you say so earlier!!!"

Jiang Yuan:

"I'm saying it now."

Lin Xi sent a string of speechless and frantic emojis, then said:

"I'm going to get up early tomorrow and stream your game from the very start. Wishing your new game explosive sales and lasting popularity, may it be a roaring success, blazing hot, dizzily successful, whoo whoo whoo..."

Jiang Yuan:

"..."

"You're nuts."

At one in the morning, Chen Yu leaned back in his chair, his eyes staring blankly.

"Boss, I'm sleepy."

Jiang Yuan, looking full of energy, glanced at him:

"Go to sleep."

Chen Yu shook his head:

"Can't sleep."

Zhou Ming chuckled from the side:

"Me too."

Lin Zhengtao didn't speak, but his eyes were fixed on the ceiling, clearly pushing through the fatigue as well.

Su Meng said flatly at that moment:

"If you all stay up like this, watch out or you won't have any energy when the game launches tomorrow."

The few of them looked at each other, but no one was willing to be the first to move.

Jiang Yuan stood up, hands in her pockets, and looked around. With a stern expression on her pretty face, she said unquestionably:

"Everyone, go back and sleep."

Zhou Ming was taken aback:

"Boss..."

Jiang Yuan interrupted him:

"Don't give me that. If you burn yourselves out, who's going to monitor the data tomorrow? Everyone, go back and sleep!"

The office area suddenly fell silent.

After a brief silence.

Chen Yu was the first to stand up:

"Okay, Boss. Then I'll head back first. Bye everyone, get some rest!"

Zhou Ming followed suit and stood up.

Lin Zhengtao, Su Meng, Wang Hao, and Fang Qingqing also began packing their things one after another.

Having packed his things, Zhou Ming was about to leave when he suddenly asked in confusion:

"Boss, you're not leaving?"

"You guys go ahead. I'll stay a bit longer."

Zhou Ming wanted to say something, but Lin Zhengtao pulled him away.

The door closed.

The office area became quiet once more, so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard.

Jiang Yuan looked around to confirm that everyone's computers were off, then returned to her own office and opened a document.

The contents of the document were written by her—plans for future updates to Vampire Survivors and Slay the Spire, as well as some goals and ideas for their next project.

These contents included new classes, new cards, a Steam Workshop, and a whole host of other complex things that would keep them busy for months.

But if the new title failed and met its Waterloo, then more than half of the things in there might have to be scrapped on the spot.

Logically speaking.

As the person with the most confidence in the new title in the world, Jiang Yuan was undoubtedly the last person who should be having such thoughts.

But human thoughts often drift uncontrollably. For example, right now, Jiang Yuan's thoughts couldn't help but stray toward a very unlikely scenario.

"It won't fail."

Resting her snowy-white chin on one hand, her clear eyes gazed faintly out the floor-to-ceiling window at the colorful lights outside. Jiang Yuan whispered:

"We will definitely win!"