June 25, 1990.
Pokeni Corporation.
A suffocating atmosphere of despair permeated the company.
If the air had been heavy a few months ago, it was now thick with utter hopelessness.
They had pinned their hopes on Onmyōji as their breakthrough title, only to see it fail before it could even fly. Since its release in early June, it had sold a mere thousand-plus copies—a number that even paled in comparison to the previous title, Heart of the Sword.
If they had given up without truly trying, they might have been able to console themselves with the excuse, "We still have hope; we just need to work harder."
But after pouring everything into it and still suffering a crushing defeat, true despair set in.
They no longer knew what to do next.
For days, Pokeni had been on the brink of collapse. Employees worked tirelessly, making sales calls, running promotions, calling friends and family, handing out flyers on the street, and pushing Onmyōji to every possible retailer.
Yet, to their dismay, the results were negligible.
Many stores refused to even try the game before condemning Onmyōji to death—
The company was unknown, and the game's initial performance was so poor that no one believed it could truly captivate players.
"Ah~ This time, it's really over, isn't it?"
"Dead. Stone dead."
"Who would have thought?"
"Yeah, such a great work, and yet it didn't sell much."
In the smoking room, the employees had given up all hope, even considering resigning.
"But since the company is practically finished anyway, we might as well stay and see it through to the end."
"The President is actually decent. We didn't do anything wrong. It's just bad luck."
"Yeah, a glorious finale. After this job, I want to go back to my hometown and raise chickens."
"Ah~ Tokyo... the dream of so many people. I guess it's just not for me after all?"
Make a call!
What are you waiting for?
If there are no clients, go out and get some!
But...
I can't say it.
When Aoki Haruhi saw the exhaustion on everyone's faces, the reprimand he wanted to give them wouldn't come out.
Even when he heard them talk about staying to see it through to the end, he felt a tear well up.
Damn it!
As a reborn person with a hand full of trump cards, this shouldn't be the outcome, should it?
So, all those stories about easy takeoffs in novels are just lies, huh?
"Everyone," Aoki Haruhi said, clapping his hands.
Everyone looked up.
"Let's knock off early today. Thank you all for your hard work and support these past few days." He bowed deeply to the group.
For some reason, everyone's eyes welled up when they heard his words.
"I'm treating everyone to drinks tonight," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile. "There's still some money left in the account. Order whatever you want—food, drinks, anything. Please do me the honor."
Akanishi Ken stood up and walked over to clap Aoki Haruhi on the shoulder. "Definitely! We're going to have a real drink tonight!"
"Alright!" Everyone nodded in agreement, their faces beaming with smiles.
Senkawa Hiroichi wiped his glasses, tears streaming down his face.
"President..."
This was clearly a farewell party. Pokeni would likely cease to exist after today.
This feeling... it's so damn awful.
Senkawa hated it.
If Aoki Haruhi were a cold-blooded president, it wouldn't have been so painful.
He wished Aoki would just humiliate them thoroughly and then disband Pokeni—anything would be better than this insincere, "nice guy" act of treating them to drinks.
"I can't accept this... I just can't..." Ishino Mika began to cry.
Her emotions were contagious, and her colleagues soon found themselves weeping uncontrollably.
"Let's go. We all did our best, so there's nothing to regret," Aoki Haruhi said, forcing a smile as he gently embraced Ishino Mika.
Her body began to tremble.
"Because we did our best, that's why it's so hard to accept... so hard to accept! Damn it!" Senkawa Hiroichi stood up, slamming his employee ID card onto the floor.
The others turned away, not wanting anyone to see them crying.
Aoki Haruhi understood them perfectly, knowing that pain.
It was because they had poured their hearts into it, because they had worked so hard, that it hurt so much.
"I..."
Aoki Haruhi clicked his tongue, wanting to say something, but found himself momentarily speechless.
Ring, ring...
Just then, in the midst of this silent, oppressive atmosphere of despair, the company phone rang at the most inopportune moment.
Ring, ring...
After several rings, no one answered.
All eyes turned to the President.
But Aoki Haruhi remained motionless.
HR Ayase Akane couldn't bear it any longer. Wiping away her tears, she walked over and answered the phone.
"Hello, this is Pokeni."
"Okay."
"Okay."
In the entire company, only Ayase Akane's voice could be heard.
But in the next moment, her expression changed drastically.
From initial dejection and despair, it transformed into shock.
"Okay?!"
"Please tell me the address of your store."
"Okay."
Ayase Akane quickly grabbed a pen from nearby and began scribbling on her notebook.
"Okay, thank you very much!"
After hanging up, she looked up at Aoki Haruhi, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"President!"
"Hm?" Aoki Haruhi turned around.
"One thousand copies!" A smile spread across Ayase Akane's face, her heart pounding like a drum.
"What one thousand copies?" Aoki Haruhi narrowed his eyes, not understanding.
"The Sano Game Store just called and ordered one thousand copies of Onmyōji!" Ayase Akane announced.
Huh?
The entire Pokeni office fell silent, not a sound to be heard.
After two seconds, the office erupted in cheers.
"Wow!~"
"Nani?!"
"One thousand copies?!"
"Is that real?!"
Ring-ring-ring~
Just as everyone was still reeling from the first call, a second one came in.
"Hello, Pokeni," Ayase Akane said as she answered.
"Two thousand copies of Onmyoji? Certainly. Please provide your company address."
As she scribbled down the information, Ayase Akane gave Aoki Haruhi a thumbs-up.
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, completely clueless as to what was happening.
How could so many orders suddenly come in?
At the same moment, a third call rang.
Then a fourth...
A fifth...
Everyone was stunned into silence.
"What are you waiting for? Answer the phone!" Aoki Haruhi shouted.
As if snapping out of a daze, everyone scrambled back to their workstations.
"Hello, Pokeni here."
"Right, Onmyoji. How many copies would you like to order?"
Throughout that night, the office was filled with the incessant ringing of telephones.
Orders poured in one after another, seemingly without end.
For Aoki Haruhi, it was nothing short of a miracle.
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