In the morning, even though everyone had gone out for a late-night snack, the alarm still dragged them out of bed.

Ichin glanced at Utaha, who was still struggling in the blankets, and pinched her cheek with a smile.

"You don't have class this morning, so just sleep a little longer. I'll go check out the sales at the physical stores and be back before noon to cook."

Hearing that, Utaha didn't argue. She pulled the blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and mumbled,

"Mm, then I'll sleep a little more… so tired."

Watching her fall asleep at lightning speed, Ichin chuckled, grabbed his clothes, and went out to wash up.

After freshening up, stretching a bit, and eating something simple, Ichin headed to the dorm downstairs.

Rin, Yagami, and Umiko were already up, though except for Umiko, the other two still looked sleepy.

"Are we really going?"

"Of course!" the two said in unison, nodding firmly.

"But I don't feel like driving this morning," Yagami added, glancing at Ichin. "I'll just sit in your car. Anyway, we only have to go to the company this afternoon."

"Sure. Umiko, why don't you come in my car too? Utaha's still sleeping, so with the four of us, it'll fit perfectly."

But Umiko shook her head.

"No need. Don't forget, others don't have cars. Relying only on you and Hazuki isn't enough to carry everyone. We need more than two cars."

Ichin thought for a moment and realized she was right. Shinoda Hajime, Iijima Yun, Aoba, Nene, Hifumi, Tsubame, and Momoko—none of them had cars. And they weren't just visiting Akihabara today.

Once Yagami and the others finished breakfast, the four of them drove to Akihabara.

After parking, they waited a few minutes before the others arrived one after another.

"Good morning!!"

Shinoda waved energetically, then looked around curiously.

"Eh? Utaha didn't come?"

Ichin replied, "She's still sleeping. No classes today, so I let her rest."

Just then, the Sawamura family's car pulled up. Behind the wheel was Sayuri Sawamura, while Eriri sat in the passenger seat.

"Eriri came too? But today's Monday."

As a company member, she didn't need to line up for the game they had developed. Ichin thought she'd obediently attend class, but here she was.

Getting out of the car in her school uniform, Eriri faced everyone's puzzled looks, put her hands on her hips, and declared confidently,

"What? I can't come see the release of a game I helped develop? Besides, my grades aren't bad! I told Mom, and she let me take half a day off."

Sayuri got out as well, smiling.

"Eriri's grades are good enough that I don't need to worry. Letting her indulge just this once is fine. But Ichin-kun, I'll trouble you to send her to school at noon. I'm too busy to take her."

"No problem. Leave it to me," Ichin assured her.

Sayuri then drove away, while the group headed toward Akihabara.

Outside the big game stores, despite being a Monday, long lines stretched far down the street. Seeing the staff holding signs at the front of the queue, it was obvious—this was the Persona purchase line.

Aoba stood on tiptoes, peering toward the distant front of the line.

"This many people… over a hundred, right?"

Ichin glanced at the number tags in people's hands and nodded.

"Mm. The line is already past number 400. Which means plenty of people had already bought the game right when the store opened and left. These folks aren't even the first batch."

"Didn't we see posts online last night?" Yagami added. "Some people queued overnight. It's May, not cold, but still, that's crazy."

Hazuki clapped her hands to gather everyone.

"Alright, no need for us to queue too. Let's head to the next place."

They checked every store in Akihabara before moving on to other big game shops across Tokyo.

Everywhere they went, sales were booming. The hype was undeniable. Even casual players who hadn't known about Persona got hooked after seeing the promo videos playing on the in-store TVs.

They couldn't check sales outside Tokyo directly, but they could call later in the afternoon. No rush.

After making the rounds, Ichin drove Eriri home, bought ingredients on the way, and went back. He cooked lunch, ate with Utaha and Eriri, then drove Eriri to Toyogosaki before heading with Utaha to their own classes.

The first week after Persona's release flew by.

Every day, Ichin checked sales numbers across platforms, active player counts, and watched the explosion of streams and discussions on various platforms.

On YouTube and Bilibili, Persona videos popped up like mushrooms after the rain. Strict anti-leak policies plus the game's long playtime meant that by the weekend, no one had posted a complete first-run guide. Some systems hadn't even been fully figured out yet.

Still, a handful of hardcore streamers and uploaders managed to beat the game's first run within a week, grinding day and night, streaming almost every waking hour.

On Sunday, Ichin went to the company instead of staying home. Everyone else also showed up in the morning.

Because today—they were announcing the first week sales.

After half an hour in the office, Ichin came out with a small notebook. Everyone was already waiting in the art department. The moment they saw him, all eyes turned.

Shinoda was the first to burst out, waving his hand.

"Ichin-kun, how were the first week sales? Tell us already!"

Ichin looked around at everyone. His calm expression finally broke into a smile—and that smile kept growing wider.

"Everyone… in the first week, Persona's worldwide total sales on PC and console combined, including pre-orders, has reached 6.58 million copies! Which means this week's actual sales alone surpassed 3 million!"

"Six million… three million…"

Yagami Ko repeated blankly, then broke into a laugh, grabbing Rin in a tight hug.

"This is amazing!!!"

Cheers erupted across the office, excitement and joy surging through everyone's hearts.

These sales meant the company's success had reached an entirely new level.

*