The YiYou Platform recently launched a set of Golden Wind exclusive emojis called the “Lotus-style Emojis,” created by Yuki, the chief art director of Golden Wind’s Steel Chain Fingers Studio.

The emojis feature chibi characters with a pair of cute bun hairstyles, displaying a variety of adorable and hilarious expressions.

Once released, they quickly gained massive popularity among players. As a result, the comment section on the YiYou Platform is now flooded with all sorts of Lotus-style Emojis—

“I’m a smartass! (Lotus-style starry eyes)”

“The abstract masterpiece of the year. The moment I used Corn Captain to blast my head off, I knew I picked the right game.”

“Checking designer’s mental state (Lotus-style petrified)”

“Too addictive, dreamed about pushing the cart all night…”

“Detailed cart pushing analysis (Lotus-style hilarious)”

“The push-the-cart mode is so interesting, using the most brutal method to drive player participation in battles, a small force moves a thousand pounds.”

“Strongly recommend all new brothers to try the push-the-cart mode; the mobile battlefield design makes the fights more intense, truly letting players experience a fierce tug-of-war for every inch.”

“Friendly reminder: Plants and zombies, if the cart isn’t moving in push-the-cart mode, it means enemies are nearby; it’s not broken, so don’t go pushing it yourself…”

“(Lotus-style shock) When you see a creepy prompt, it means something even creepier happened before.”

“Who the hell came up with a 6T cart push lineup?! Are you even human?! (Lotus-style anger)”

“……”

Shen Miaomiao looked at the phone screen filled with overwhelmingly positive reviews and her own chibi emoji.

Then she glanced at the computer screen showing the staggering “153,500 sets sold in 24 hours.”

Her expression matched perfectly with the ‘Lotus-style speechless’ emoji.

Life was impossible now.

One hundred fifty-three thousand sets in a day!

At 65 yuan per set for Garden Warfare and a 38 million yuan cost, to break even, total sales revenue needed to reach 47.5 million yuan.

Divided by the unit price, that’s… 731,000 sets sold in a single week.

But judging by the current sales, the first day already sold 153,500 sets. Assuming the best-case scenario, weekly sales would reach 1.07 million sets!

Even taking a step back, even if they don’t hit one million, surpassing 700,000 sets is practically guaranteed!

My money!!!

Shen Miaomiao’s heart was exhausted.

Clearly, this wasn’t even the key project, just a work rushed in two short months by Golden Experience.

No endorsements, no promotions, not even a proper release announcement.

Yet despite all this, the first day still sold over 150,000 sets!

Maybe she had underestimated the drawing power of the Plants vs. Zombies IP.

But the problem was, now holding the official system version, she knew that choosing to lose money on sequels was clearly the best option.

If she pinned hopes on the main project, losses would be even more distant.

“Fifty, just fifty. Tell me,”

Leaning on the desk, Shen Miaomiao held a fifty-yuan bill she always kept in the office as a mascot to bring luck, her brow furrowed:

“When will we finally lose a huge amount of money?”

She sighed, feeling that if she closed her eyes, she could already see her future—

Darkness.

Meanwhile, far away in Neon, in a conference room, Moriya Tetsuya sat anxiously, feeling the same way as Shen Miaomiao.

……

Next month, the annual Higashitsu Gaming Festival registration would begin.

For Komera, participating was a given—they never missed a year.

Today’s meeting was mainly to discuss the initial wave of promotional plans for the festival.

Chairman Kamikoshi Kagemasa hosted the meeting, attended by Komera’s top executives and the chief directors of the three peak studios.

The agenda was routine, nothing worth debating.

Traditionally, promotional campaigns for gaming festivals start small and build up.

Upon announcing participation, the first batch of small to medium games lead the charge, using quantity to create a flourishing atmosphere.

Then, as time passes, the three peak studios’ works appear one by one.

Finally, right before the festival ends and manufacturer stats are tallied, the core big titles launch.

This method keeps the core titles’ discussion hot until the festival opens two months later.

It saves time, effort, and money, while maintaining steady hype and preventing promotional dry spells.

Following this principle, the first wave of promotional plans for this year’s festival was quickly set.

No need to mention the small and medium games leading the pack.

The three peak studios’ lineup was as follows—

From the second week, Nishikawa Studio, one of the newly risen Big Three, would kick off with Wild Dunk EX, using trailers and some gameplay demos to open the showcase of the three peak studios.

The third week would feature Takasugi Studio’s Hotspot Rally: Return, bringing the second most popular motion-sensing pod genre, racing, to consolidate the heat.

Finally, the main event would be Koizumi Kazuo’s masterpiece, Komera’s core FPS shooter of the year—Torii: Phantom Shadow.

This 200 million dollar 3S-grade title was Komera’s strongest weapon at the Higashitsu Gaming Festival and their crucial project to turn the tide.

Everyone at Komera agreed on this plan.

It was a reasonable, proven approach—small to large, weak to strong.

Except Moriya Tetsuya.

This couldn’t be arranged like this!

Moriya clenched his fists internally.

Indeed!

According to past practice or current conditions, this lineup was fine.

But Golden Wind was still watching from the sidelines, eyeing them like a tiger.

Why did Golden Wind release Garden Warfare?

To accumulate disposable net assets, to qualify as a medium-sized game company at the festival, to compete with them!

And now, Garden Warfare just went live. Judging by its momentum, it would take about half a month to reach the profit goals they aimed for.

Exactly during Hotspot Rally: Return’s promotional campaign.

Right before Torii: Phantom Shadow.

At that time, Golden Wind would officially announce participation in the festival and reveal their true core masterpiece—Sekiro.

Thinking of this, Moriya twisted uncomfortably as if needles pricked his back.

If he didn’t know what kind of game Gu Sheng was preparing to compete with them, it wouldn’t be so bad.

But now, he knew the general design and some details of Sekiro. Gu Sheng was completely open with him.

The deeper his understanding, the more he sensed the project’s terrifying nature!

If Sekiro got promoted first,

What awaited Torii would be an unprecedented disaster!

But he couldn’t say anything.

He couldn’t betray his long-held code of loyalty. His mouth was tightly sealed by ethics.

This blatant conspiracy made Moriya uncomfortable all over.

During a break in the discussion, he lightly tapped his thigh, quietly humming a tune:

An ancient man said it well,

Who compares to Guan Yu when it comes to loyalty?

I find it hard to compare myself to Guan Yu,

But I’m not worse than the treacherous Cao Cao…

Sigh—

Now, he was like Lord Guan before Huai River’s Huarong Path and Kang Mao Cai on Poyang Lake.

Though he knew letting Gu Sheng go would bring consequences,

Before heaven’s justice and morality, he had to watch Gu Sheng set traps and schemes against Komera with his own eyes.

He didn’t blame Gu Sheng; after all, Gu Sheng never held a gun to his head threatening him not to leak secrets.

Moriya even admired Gu Sheng’s ruthlessness as true heroism.

But the feeling… was unbearably painful.

Unable to bear it, Moriya stood and told Kamikoshi: “Excuse me, I need to use the restroom,” then left.

He lit a cigarette and took a deep breath.

Originally, Moriya thought he could avoid the rest of the discussion and keep his mind clear.

But when he returned to the conference room, an even more shocking plan was taking shape before his eyes—

……

“Fifteen thousand sets sold on the first day—that’s a decent result.”

In the meeting room, Kamikoshi praised, though there seemed to be more implied.

The promotional arrangements for the festival had been completed.

Everyone was casually chatting about Garden Warfare’s first-day sales.

Upon hearing this, Koizumi Kazuo, chief director of Koizumi Studio, smiled:

“Indeed, 150,000 sets on day one is a respectable result for their ‘main project.’”

Then he clicked his tongue and added:

“But the game’s quality… somewhat does not live up to that ‘main project’ title.”

“Oh?”

Kamikoshi gestured for him to continue.

Hearing this, Moriya’s heart skipped a beat.

Just as expected.

He had thought about this before.

Since Golden Wind put most effort into Sekiro’s development,

Garden Warfare, originally meant to make up for the price difference, suffered in quality.

Not that the game was bad, but its industrial technical level was mediocre.

Given the investment and development time, it couldn’t be top-notch.

Once Garden Warfare was released,

Even without Moriya’s words, it would cause attention and suspicion within the company.

If any executive or director viewed Golden Wind as a top rival,

Even if they couldn’t grasp Garden Warfare’s true intentions, they would remember past tricks and be cautious toward Golden Wind.

That was fine.

Moriya thought.

Because that meant he hadn’t leaked secrets, and the company had taken precautions—perfect.

But before Moriya could praise Koizumi’s insight, Koizumi continued:

“In my opinion, this marks the turning point where Golden Wind begins to slack off and decline…”

Damn it!

Moriya almost spat blood!

He wanted to stand up and give the smug Koizumi a good punch!

It was like a multiple-choice question where Koizumi had already eliminated options 1 and 4, and decisively chose 3 between 2 and 3!

Koizumi gave his analysis—

“I tried the game when it launched yesterday,” Koizumi said.

“Unsurprisingly, the shooting experience is average, and the gameplay introduces some small innovations,”

“But compared to their previous games,”

“Whether it’s the second-generation FPS pioneer Left 4 Dead, the level design miracle Titanfall,”

“Or the first to combine skills with shooting in APEX, and the battle royale pioneer PUBG,”

“Garden Warfare is merely a mediocre work that fails to impress,”

“The upgrade path is tedious, the art style childish and cartoonish, matches repetitive… flaws obvious,”

“Far from a masterpiece, and not worthy as a flagship title,”

“Yet, it’s Golden Wind’s main project following Escape from Hell.”

“More importantly, Golden Wind has never developed or cared to develop sequels or derivatives before.”

“But this time, they not only released a derivative but made it their flagship,”

“That makes one think of what the media said—creative exhaustion.”

Koizumi took a sip of water and continued:

“Remember, when PUBG launched, Golden Wind wasn’t as famous, nor did they have a phenomenon-level game like Plants vs. Zombies, and PUBG’s price was higher than Garden Warfare.”

“Under those conditions, PUBG sold nearly 600,000 copies in a week.”

“So, Garden Warfare’s 150,000 sets on day one isn’t particularly outstanding, so…”

Koizumi pondered and shrugged:

“I personally think this shows Golden Wind’s laziness, their inspiration running dry forcing them to rely on sequels,”

“After all, Chinese game companies have always been like this.”

Originally, Moriya was annoyed, thinking Koizumi was talking nonsense, arrogant and presumptuous.

But that last sentence silenced him.

Indeed.

Now that he knew the truth, he could see Koizumi’s nonsense clearly.

Still, Koizumi’s analysis wasn’t entirely baseless.

Especially that last sentence—Chinese game companies have always been like that.

A killer line.

As Koizumi said,

From PC games to motion-sensing pods,

In decades of development, China’s gaming industry has seen dazzling titles.

But rampant reskins, sequels, derivatives, and cash grabs ruined wave after wave of quality works.

“Genius designers” flashed like meteors, then disappeared.

To Koizumi, the only difference between Gu Sheng and those fallen designers was that Gu Sheng shone longer.

Until Garden Warfare, even Gu Sheng fell into clichés.

Moriya was familiar with this game.

The flaws Koizumi mentioned really existed.

Compared to Golden Wind’s past games, it was indeed less impressive.

It inevitably created the illusion of “creative exhaustion.”

“Escape from Hell was Golden Wind’s last burst of inspiration,” Koizumi concluded,

“Garden Warfare is where Gu Sheng fell from the pedestal, and where Golden Wind started to decline.”

……

Sigh—

Hearing this, Moriya sighed inwardly.

Was Koizumi’s analysis valid?

Certainly.

The unimpressive quality, lack of obvious innovation, noticeable flaws, and mediocre sales…

Compared to Golden Wind’s previous flagship titles, Garden Warfare did seem like the start of a fall.

But was Koizumi’s analysis thorough?

Not at all.

His preconceived notions made him ignore that Garden Warfare’s scale wasn’t big enough to be called a flagship.

And Golden Wind never officially called Garden Warfare their main project.

So, Koizumi’s analysis was just hearsay.

He didn’t consider Golden Wind a real rival, nor imagine them joining the Higashitsu Gaming Festival to launch an assault against Komera again.

This mindset was deeply rooted not only in Koizumi’s mind but also in many others at Komera!

After all, the size gap between the two companies was obvious!

It was like when China stunned Argentina 1:0 in the last World Cup group stage.

Four years later, would Argentina see China as their number one enemy?

Don’t be ridiculous.

Forget number one enemy; this time, China might not even get out of the group stage!

Such a mentality at Komera was unsurprising.

“What does Executive Moriya think of Director Koizumi’s analysis?”

Just as he was thinking, Kamikoshi called him.

Moriya was stunned: “Ah? Sorry, Chairman, I didn’t catch that?”

“I asked,” Kamikoshi frowned slightly, “do you think Director Koizumi’s analysis makes sense?

Is this mediocre flagship a sign of Golden Wind’s fall from grace?”

Kamikoshi finally remembered to ask Moriya’s opinion.

But sadly, the last time Moriya gave honest advice, Kamikoshi didn’t listen.

Now, even if he wanted to listen, Moriya wouldn’t say anything.

Fate and timing.

Opportunities aren’t like cabbages in winter, always available.

“I haven’t tried the game,” Moriya grimaced helplessly, “sorry, Chairman, I can’t judge.

Besides, as an experienced game producer, Director Koizumi’s analysis should be more thorough.”

That was enough.

Moriya didn’t want to continue the topic.

No matter what they thought,

Golden Wind’s decline and Gu Sheng’s fall from grace didn’t matter.

Sekiro’s development was already set.

No amount of analysis would change that.

When the Higashitsu Gaming Festival launched, they would see Golden Wind’s real flagship.

However!

Just as Moriya thought the chat was over and everyone would go their separate ways waiting for Sekiro’s news,

Kamikoshi chuckled:

“Then in that case, why not help them?

Since they’re going uphill fast, their downhill shouldn’t be too slow…”

Hearing this, Moriya was shocked!

Damn it!

Tyrant! What the hell are you planning now?

What do you mean ‘help them downhill’?

Could it be…

Moriya stared at Kamikoshi.

At that moment, a sly and ruthless gleam flashed in Kamikoshi’s eyes!

Exactly!

Since Koizumi’s analysis was reasonable and Moriya didn’t object,

This was his chance to ruthlessly kick Golden Wind down!

Yes.

Kamikoshi had long hated Gu Sheng with a burning passion!

Imagine you’re Argentina’s head coach, and China upset you 1:0 last World Cup!

What would the fans say? What about the players? The board?

“FXXK KOMINA” everywhere!

“Yamamoto I say you’re a hermit!” flooding the internet!

“Fire Kamikoshi Kagemasa!” sweeping through the gaming community!

He remembered it vividly.

And it was all thanks to Gu Sheng!

Now, the chance for revenge was here!

How could he not “help” Gu Sheng fall from grace?

With that thought, Kamikoshi cleared his throat: “Director Koizumi.”

“Chairman,” Koizumi nodded.

“There’s a saying: the higher you fly…” Kamikoshi paused.

Koizumi smiled knowingly.

“The higher you fly, the harder you fall,”

He added, “Especially falling from a pedestal—it’s even worse. Might shatter into pieces.”

“Oh—right right,” Kamikoshi nodded as if enlightened,

“I think this can serve as a warning for our company, reminding us not to get complacent. What do you think?”

“Wise words, Chairman!”

Koizumi nodded,

“Rest assured, Chairman, we’ll have such a warning example soon!”

Damn it.

Damn it!

Hearing this, Moriya cursed silently three times.

Kamikoshi was going to retaliate against Golden Wind by stirring up public opinion, spreading that Garden Warfare caused Gu Sheng’s fall!

Wasn’t this just asking for trouble?

Gu Sheng was still aiming at them, ready to strike any time.

But Kamikoshi didn’t even notice, instead posing right in front of their sniper scope!

Of course!

If it were just posing and mocking, it would be fine!

Moriya felt uneasy because he already foresaw the chain reaction this would cause.

First, Garden Warfare’s problems truly existed.

Second, Koizumi understood those problems clearly.

Finally, this attack would likely affect Garden Warfare’s sales.

Then!

What would the impact be?

Slower capital recovery for Garden Warfare.

That slowdown would delay Golden Wind’s rise to a medium-sized game company.

Thus, the promotional schedule for Sekiro would be pushed back.

Which would delay their plan to launch alongside Hotspot Rally: Return.

Then—

Bang!!!

It would clash head-on with Torii: Phantom Shadow!!!

Tsk.

Moriya really wanted to quit now.

Couldn’t handle this anymore!

Damn it!

Originally, they hadn’t predicted their 3S-grade masterpiece’s launch time perfectly, so a perfect ambush was impossible!

Now, with this stirring, the two companies would crash into each other again!

And perfectly matched!

Just like before!

Last time, two horror masterpieces clashed!

They completely crushed the other!

This time, even crazier!

3S-grade versus 3S-grade!

Each side’s investment exceeded 100 million dollars!

I…

Moriya felt like throwing up.

He held his forehead, pale, eyes shut in despair.

Kamikoshi noticed and asked:

“Executive Moriya? Are you feeling unwell?”

“Yes,” Moriya nodded,

“Suddenly dizzy. Chairman, may I step out for some fresh air again?”

“No need,” Kamikoshi waved,

“Director Koizumi, come to my office later,”

“Let’s end today’s meeting here,”

“Dismissed!”

……

The Golden Wind meeting room doors opened.

Everyone left in groups.

Shen Miaomiao and Gu Sheng were last to leave.

Seeing Gu Sheng’s furrowed brow and thoughtful expression, Shen Miaomiao asked curiously:

“What happened?”

“I don’t know either,” Gu Sheng shook his head, following Little Nezha into the office, saying,

“Someone is messing with us.”

“Huh?”

Little Nezha was stunned.

“What do you mean?”

Gu Sheng motioned for Little Nezha to sit and handed over his phone.

Shen Miaomiao took it and paused at the screen.

It was the official YiYou platform’s Garden Warfare comment section—

“(Negative) No innovation, repetitive battles, mentally and physically exhausting.”

“(Neutral) Fun at first, but got boring after two or three rounds; unlocking routes too complicated, bad experience.”

“(Negative) If this were another company’s game, it deserves a good review, but as Golden Wind’s game, it’s disappointing.”

“(Negative) Everything’s fine except it’s not fun; poor game environment.”

“(Neutral) Sure enough, a company that never made sequels before, once they start, it means decline.”

“(Negative) Seems abstract but full of trash, not fun.”

“(Negative) …”

In just four days!

Garden Warfare’s player reviews plummeted from 98% overwhelmingly positive to 69% mixed.

“This…” Shen Miaomiao was caught off guard!

She hadn’t checked Garden Warfare’s news these days.

With the first day’s result obvious, she expected another big win, so she didn’t have high hopes.

But now it seemed…

“Search for more news about Garden Warfare,”

Gu Sheng signaled Shen Miaomiao to search on the computer.

She did.

Soon, news headlines popped up—

“Falling from Grace! Golden Wind’s New Game Receives Mixed Reviews!”

“Half the Sequel Wasted! Has Supernova Burned Out?”

“Success and Failure All from Xiao He! PVZ May Mark Golden Wind’s Decline Turning Point!”

“Escape from Hell May Be the Last Spark! Supernova’s Three-Year Glory Finally Fades!”

“Gu Sheng Falls from Grace! Golden Glory No More! Mixed Reviews Reveal This Game Company’s Reality!”

“…”

Shen Miaomiao’s brows furrowed deeper!

Her cheeks flushed, teeth clenched!

Seeing this, Gu Sheng waved his hand:

“Hey… don’t be too angry…”

Don’t say anything!

Shen Miaomiao took a deep breath!

I’m about to burst!

Hahaha! Justice is served! Justice is served!

Clearly!

Someone was deliberately manipulating public opinion, attacking Gu Sheng, viciously targeting this work they never had high hopes for!

Good people still exist in the world!

Who is it?

Who has so much free time to pick fights with a bunch of plants and zombies?

Isn’t this divine help?

“XunTeng?”

Shen Miaomiao’s first guess was Little Polar Bear.

Gu Sheng shook his head: “No.”

Escape gave XunTeng a sweet taste, and this time he planned to team up with XunTeng. Chen Guangde was already eagerly flattering him. He wouldn’t do something so absurd.

“Ninety percent sure it’s Komera,”

Gu Sheng clicked his tongue:

“But it’s probably just revenge, trying to disrupt Garden Warfare’s sales.”

“In fact…”

Hearing this, Shen Miaomiao’s eyes lit up, cautiously asking:

“Our sales…?”

“Are indeed affected,”

Gu Sheng nodded:

“Before the meeting, I checked Garden Warfare’s sales—less than 500,000 sets total.”

He sighed:

“That’s part of what worries me.”

“My plan was to recover funds quickly, become a medium-sized game company, and release Sekiro’s trailers and promotions early,”

“Because we can’t judge when Komera’s 3S-grade masterpiece will be announced,”

“So precise ambush is almost impossible, and we can only try to announce first,”

“But now…”

Gu Sheng hesitated, mood darkened.

“We’re likely delayed by about a week,”

“We’ll announce Sekiro a week before the registration deadline,”

“My fear is… we can’t compete with Komera’s 3S-grade…”

“Tsk… tough.”

Oh! Relief!

Hearing this, Shen Miaomiao pinched her thigh hard!

It’s getting better!

Better!

Two hundred million yuan delayed by a whole week!

The game’s been out four and a half days, still under 500,000 copies!

“Ah… I see…”

Shen Miaomiao forced a laugh and quietly reached for the framed fifty-yuan bill on the desk, rubbing it in her arms.

Fifty, fifty!

Our good days are coming!

Komera’s move is brilliant!

To vent anger, they fiercely attack our Garden Warfare and call Gu Sheng ‘fallen from grace.’

But honestly, this weak attack isn’t even worth a direct insult calling them ‘big idiots.’

It won’t stop us from participating normally in the festival!

It even caused me a loss but gained a rebate!

The only effect seems to be slightly messing up Gu Sheng’s ambush plans.

No big deal.

Good.

Shen Miaomiao’s verdict—

Not enough, bring more next time.

Thinking this, her gloom instantly brightened.

She stood, rubbed Gu Sheng’s hair, and handed him a lollipop:

“Forget it, it’s okay. Good things are never late.”

“Besides,”

She tore open her own lollipop and popped it in her mouth:

“The more they say you’ve fallen, the louder the comeback and slap in the face will be!”

“Have you read web novels? Don’t you know the tropes?”

“Phew—”

Gu Sheng gasped:

“Really?”

“Really!”

Shen Miaomiao crossed her arms proudly:

“Trust my daily goofing off reading experience! Guaranteed! Believe me!”

“Oh—”

Gu Sheng nodded, eyes firm, then stood and turned to leave.

“Hey!” Shen Miaomiao was startled: “Where are you rushing off to?”

Gu Sheng pushed the door open, palm like a blade: “Training Iron Sand Palm! Getting ready to slap Komera’s big mouth!”

“No… no… hey…!”

Shen Miaomiao hurried after him:

“Not real hitting! That’s illegal!!!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com