66: Chapter 66: The five million sales mark is just around the corner!

Time flowed like water, and soon it was the fourth day after the game's official release.

It was the peak of winter. When Jiang Yuan arrived at the company around eight in the morning, the sky hadn't fully brightened yet.

She wore a milk-white turtleneck sweater, black straight-leg pants, and black leather ankle boots, topped with a long white coat. Her ink-black hair was left loose, slightly curling at the ends as it draped over her shoulders.

The damp, cold air turned the tip of her nose red, which, against her exquisite, porcelain-white face, made her look like a snow doll that had just stepped out of a frozen world—a beauty that made one's heart tremble.

She took the elevator up to the eighteenth floor. When the doors opened, the atmosphere in the hallway was quiet, devoid of any noise.

She pushed open the door and discovered that almost everyone was already in the office. She didn't know what had happened to make everyone so quiet so early in the morning.

Jiang Yuan's clear gaze swept across the office area. Amidst everyone's greetings, she walked curiously straight into her office, took off her coat to hang it on the rack, sat down, and turned on her computer.

She then took out the sweet soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks she had bought that morning from a bag while simultaneously using her mouse to open her inbox and browse through the work emails sent by other staff members.

The first thing that caught her eye was the sales statistics software sent by Qin Gong, the head of the Publishing Department.

As of 7:00 AM, the total sales of Plants vs. Zombies across all platforms had reached the staggering figure of 4.78 million copies, leaving only 220,000 units to reach the five million mark.

Based on the trends of the past few days, reaching it this morning should be easy, with no difficulty whatsoever.

At this point...

PVZ (Plants vs. Zombies) could be considered a late bloomer that had overtaken the rest, completing a sales domination over Spark Games' first two titles. It became the last game to be released but the first indie game to reach the striking milestone of five million units.

With this achievement, Spark Games also became the first game developer in the history of domestic games to have a title surpass five million sales within its life cycle! It was an achievement that might not be considered overly exaggerated, but it certainly looked impressive!

The corners of her pink lips curled up slightly as she swallowed a sip of the sweet soy milk. Jiang Yuan felt that faint sweetness instantly surge into her heart, making it taste exceptionally sweet and delicious compared to usual.

Although she had a faint expectation of this scene while observing PVZ's somewhat unusual sales curve over the past few days...

To be honest...

Even with preparation, when this scene actually played out, the happiness and joy in Jiang Yuan's heart were intense enough that she felt an urge to clear her throat and burst into song.

Fortunately, this impulse came in a surge and left just as quickly.

On the surface, Jiang Yuan's exquisite face remained as calm as water, with only a flicker of happiness and joy passing through her eyes.

Carrying that slight joy, she stood up and walked out of her office.

Jiang Yuan was about to share this joy with everyone and announce the company's subsequent bonus raises and vacation plans when she bumped into Chen Yu in the hallway.

He was holding several reports. His usually shiny, neat black hair was now a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot. Given his robust build, he really looked like a 'double-door' sized hunk who had just come from the gym after pulling an all-nighter.

"Boss."

Chen Yu called out, his voice a bit raspy. It looked like he really had stayed up late last night.

He handed over the reports in his hand and said excitedly:

"Last night, the Steam peak concurrent players reached 610,000, and the topic views for our game on Douyin surpassed 200 million!"

Jiang Yuan took them and began flipping through with a focused expression, asking:

"Where's Qin Gong?"

"In the conference room. He didn't leave yesterday and has been pulling through until now!"

Jiang Yuan didn't say anything and turned toward the conference room. She couldn't help but mutter to herself that it seemed the utterly ridiculous, incomprehensible counter-attack curve had truly impacted Qin Gong's psyche.

The conference room wasn't far from her office, just a dozen steps away.

As soon as she walked in...

She saw Qin Gong sitting there with an excited expression, not looking at all like someone who had just pulled an all-nighter. A laptop was spread out in front of him, the screen showing the real-time page for sales statistics.

He wasn't doing anything.

He just stared wide-eyed as the numbers on the screen ticked up bit by bit, constantly pushing toward the five million sales mark.

Given the sacredness of his expression, it was as if he were watching a deity about to descend upon the world.

Three coffee cups on the table were empty, their walls covered in dried coffee stains. A window was cracked open, and the cold wind blowing in made one's scalp tingle, yet this guy didn't seem to feel a thing.

It wasn't until Jiang Yuan stood at the door for a moment and gave a light hmph.

Only then did Qin Gong snap out of that trance-like state, shivering from the cold.

He looked at Jiang Yuan with a dazed expression.

Qin Gong tried to stand up, but his legs went weak, and he stumbled back into his seat, a look of embarrassment appearing on his face.

Just as he was about to explain...

He heard Jiang Yuan speak calmly in her unique, crisp voice:

"From now on, without my permission, no one is allowed to work overtime or pull all-nighters at the company. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

She hadn't originally planned to set restrictions in this area.

Because she never thought there would be such oddballs who would eagerly live at the office overnight without the boss even saying a word.

But looking at it now...

In Spark Games, such oddballs not only existed, but there was more than one!

Sitting back down with his face burning, Qin Gong hurriedly nodded and said:

"Don't worry, President Jiang, there definitely won't be a next time!"

Jiang Yuan walked over, sat down beside him, and glanced at the computer screen.

The total platform sales recorded there had reached 4.85 million in just half a day, leaving only 150,000 to go until five million.

If this incredible speed were to get out, it would probably be enough to make countless game developers shed tears of envy. For some companies, this would be a lifetime goal.

"Roughly when will it break through?"

Jiang Yuan asked with a calm expression on her exquisite face.

Qin Gong glanced at the time, then at the screen. His lips moved as if he were making a silent estimation in his head, and then he said:

"At the current speed, about an hour or so, but..."

He paused, his expression looking a bit conflicted and hesitant, as if he had discovered a new world but didn't dare say it because he wasn't certain.

"But what? Just say it!"

"But it might be even faster."

After saying this, he turned the laptop toward Jiang Yuan and clicked the mouse a few times, switching to another page—the web version of Douyin.

Qin Gong nimbly clicked on a bookmarked video and turned the screen around.

The footage showed a dorm room where several boys were gathered around a laptop.

The screen showed the Pool level. One person was playing while the others watched from behind, cheering him on.

When a huge wave of zombies surged up, several people roared in low voices simultaneously: 'To the left!', 'Blast that bastard!', 'Holy crap, we passed!', 'My turn, my turn!'

In a fleeting glimpse, Jiang Yuan noticed that this was a new video posted only last night, yet its likes had already reached a staggering 320,000—almost equaling the sum of all the PVZ-related Douyin videos she had seen these past few days.

Qin Gong closed Douyin and leaned back in his chair. His eyes were slightly red as he said emotionally:

"I've been in distribution for over a dozen years, and I've never seen anything like this! I'm starting to doubt if my twelve years in distribution were all for nothing!"

"We didn't rely on big streamers or gaming influencers to make it popular, nor did we rely on media reviews or promotions. It just relied on the word-of-mouth recommendations of ordinary players and short video suggestions! It carved out a god-defying sales curve that just keeps climbing!"

"President Jiang, did you know all this beforehand? You really kept it hidden too well..."

Jiang Yuan didn't say anything.

Because she couldn't explain to him that she only had a vague feeling that short video platforms might play a huge role this time based on her experience from her previous life, rather than being some divine genius who could foresee the future.

After chatting briefly with Qin Gong, she walked out of the conference room.

The previously quiet and peaceful work area was now filled with soaring cheers, having completely turned into an ocean of celebration and joy.

Clearly...

By this point, almost everyone in the company had noticed that PVZ was only one step away from the five million mark. Even colleagues from the Legal and HR departments knew exactly what this meant for the company and themselves.

Noticing Jiang Yuan's appearance, someone—it was unclear who noticed first—shouted 'President Jiang!' The rest of the crowd immediately surged over like a tide. Praises and congratulations were endless, making the scene look like a modern version of an 'Imperial Coronation,' perhaps only lacking a yellow robe.

Surrounded by everyone, she walked back to her office in a pleasant mood.

Jiang Yuan closed the door and sat at her computer. After taking a deep breath to calm her excitement, she turned her attention back to the document on the screen.

There, the words '[Resident Evil]' and '[Minecraft]' project drafts were prominently listed. The cursor was flashing, waiting for her to continue writing.