55: Chapter 55 The old thief has gone mad! He's giving away shares directly!

On the homepage of the Xinghai Steam Platform, a huge banner hung at the very top.

The rating for "sekiro: Shadows Die Twice" has been officially released.

The positive rating is 99.9%.

This number shattered the all-time record since the platform was founded ten years ago.

The data in the review section refreshes every second, making the page scroll so fast it is dizzying.

The most upvoted review only had one sentence: "This game is practically a dating simulator; Lady Butterfly is so gentle."

The second one right below it followed: "I suggest the developer increase the difficulty tenfold, otherwise even my grandma could beat it with one hand."

The entire screen was filled with surprisingly consistent comments, with no one complaining about the difficulty.

In the bottom right corner of the game store page, the system automatically generated several category tags based on player feedback.

"Casual," "Wholesome," "Family-Friendly," "Walking Simulator."

Song Yan pushed open the door to the CEO's office.

He held a freshly printed data sheet in his hand, his expression twisted.

"Brother Fei, these people are truly stubborn as a mule." Song Yan tossed the data sheet onto the desk.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, tapping his fingers on the desktop.

"If we released the footage of them getting body-slammed by the Chained Ogre, they would probably want to crawl into a hole right then and there." Song Yan looked at Ye Fei, his tone full of speechlessness.

Ye Fei looked at the review section on the computer screen without saying a word.

Action game players have two words engraved in their bones: "showing off."

It seems Ye Fei underestimated the thickness of these people's skin; this was confirmed to be a massive online boasting session.

The system panel floated in mid-air, with the progress bar for the 'super difficult' rating stuck firmly at 121.

Last night, tens of millions of players across the network beat Genichiro, yet only one person selected 'very difficult.'

Ye Fei closed the webpage.

"What is the situation downstairs?" Ye Fei leaned back in his chair.

Upon hearing this, the speechlessness on Song Yan's face instantly turned into unconcealable smugness.

"They are all here." Song Yan stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and pointed downstairs.

The first-floor reception area of the Silver Horn Studio headquarters building.

The 300-square-meter lobby did not even have a place to stand at this moment.

Twelve hours ago, these people were still watching the sales war between "soul of the samurai" and "sekiro."

Now, the CEOs of major game companies in The Capital and partners from investment firms were all crammed into this lobby.

There were two leather sofas by the window.

President Zhang of Tenglong Capital and President Li of Xingyao Entertainment were squeezing in front of the same single sofa, neither willing to yield.

A year ago, it was these two who spearheaded a coalition of over a dozen capital firms to block the distribution channels for "dead cells."

President Zhang shoved President Li's shoulder hard and plopped down on the edge of the sofa.

"Old Li, your Xingyao Entertainment lost 30 million last month, and you still have spare cash to come here and talk about investment?" President Zhang straightened his suit tie and sneered.

President Li sat on the other side of the sofa without hesitation, forcing President Zhang over by half a seat.

"That mech game your Tenglong Capital invested in shut down three days after launch; what right do you have to talk about me?" President Li crossed his legs.

The two manufacturer representatives who had once teamed up to block Ye Fei were now being snide and sarcastic to each other over a front-row sofa seat, their relationship falling apart in the face of massive profits.

In the corner of the lobby, the young receptionist was holding a huge tray with over a dozen cups of tea.

She had just graduated from college this year and had been at Silver Horn Studio for less than three months.

The big shots she usually only saw on the covers of financial magazines were now all crowding in front of her workstation.

"President Li, here is your tea." The receptionist bypassed the two men in suits and handed over the cup.

President Li immediately stood up, took the paper cup with both hands, and his face was full of smiles.

"Thank you. May I ask if President Ye is free right now?" President Li asked in an extremely polite tone.

The receptionist stepped back and waved her hands repeatedly.

"President Ye is in a meeting. Director Song said he is not seeing anyone."

As soon as these words were spoken, instead of complaining, the lobby became much quieter.

No one dared to lose their temper.

The first-day sales of "sekiro" had completely shattered their arrogance.

This game not only took away all the players' time but also drained the traffic from every game streamer on the network.

If a streamer is not playing "sekiro" now, they have no popularity, and the platform has no daily active users.

Ye Fei alone had monopolized the entire gaming ecosystem of the Xinglan Federation.

The elevator door opened with a 'ding.'

Song Yan walked out of the elevator.

The lobby instantly went quiet, and everyone's eyes were fixed on him.

President Zhang reacted the fastest, springing up from the sofa and striding to meet him.

"Director Song, congratulations! This achievement for "sekiro" is definitely a milestone in gaming history." President Zhang extended both hands, bowing his waist at an exaggerated angle.

Song Yan did not reach out.

He kept one hand in his dress pants pocket, his gaze sweeping across President Zhang's face.

"President Zhang, last year you said Silver Horn Studio would not last three months." Song Yan's voice was not loud.

The smile on President Zhang's face froze, and a layer of fine sweat broke out on his forehead.

"That was me being blind. I came here this time with full sincerity, wanting to talk to President Ye about the exclusive distribution rights for the next work." President Zhang quickly added.

President Li squeezed over from behind and shoved President Zhang aside.

"Director Song, our Xingyao Entertainment is willing to give up 30% of our shares as long as we can reach a strategic partnership with Silver Horn." President Li shouted.

The crowd instantly erupted.

Representatives from major manufacturers scrambled forward, desperately trying to shove their business cards into Song Yan's hands.

"Director Song, our Thunder Studio is willing to disband our own development department and have all staff merge into Silver Horn Studio, just to have our names added to the "sekiro" DLC development list!" A boss of a medium-sized manufacturer shouted, his eyes red with desperation.

Song Yan looked at these capitalists who were usually so high and mighty, now fawning over him without any dignity.

A surge of intense satisfaction welled up in his heart.

He raised his hand and pressed it downward.

The lobby went quiet again.

"President Ye said that Silver Horn Studio does not accept any form of external investment, nor do we need distribution channels." Song Yan looked at everyone, articulating clearly.

"Everyone, please go back." Song Yan turned around and walked back to the elevator.

The elevator door closed, cutting off the desperate sighs outside.

The top-floor CEO's office.

The CFO pushed the door open and walked in.

He held a thin sheet of paper, his wrist trembling uncontrollably.

"Brother Fei, the revenue data summary for the first 24 hours is out." The CFO walked to the desk and handed the report to Ye Fei with both hands.

Ye Fei took the report and glanced at the final number in the bottom right corner.

The single-day net profit had already exceeded the combined sum of many medium-sized companies over ten years.

This was a number that could drive any capital insane.

Ye Fei placed the report on the desk, his face expressionless.

He did not need money.

What he needed was the 'super difficult' rating.

Without the rating, he could not redeem that deep neural-dive VR pod, and the scar on Zheng Yiyun's face could not be repaired.

"Go notify the PR department." Ye Fei looked up at Song Yan, who had just entered.

"Brother Fei, should we release a victory poster?" Song Yan pulled out a chair and sat down.

"No." Ye Fei stood up.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the bustling streets below.

Since these players like to show off and call "sword clashing" a casual game.

Since they think "sekiro" is not hard enough.

Then he would tear away all their fig leaves.

"Launch an official voting event on the StarNet Forum." Ye Fei turned around.

"Title it: Searching for the First Samurai of Star Blue."

Song Yan was stunned.

"Unlock the combat data for the Headless Ape Duo, the Demon of Hatred, and Isshin, the Sword Saint in his prime, ahead of schedule, and turn them into a separate challenge mode to be put on the platform."

Ye Fei walked back to the desk, pressing his hands against the surface.

"Require players to have both the Bell Demon and Charmless debuffs active throughout, and prohibit the use of any Prosthetic Tools or Combat Arts; they can only use basic attacks and parries."

Song Yan gasped.

The Bell Demon increases the enemy's attack power and health, and Charmless makes even imperfect parries cause damage.

This was equivalent to stripping away all of the player's margin for error.

"Brother Fei, with settings like that, no one can possibly beat it." Song Yan's voice trembled.

"That is the result I want." Ye Fei straightened his posture.

"I want this challenge to be live-streamed across the entire network. I want all the players in the comment section who are shouting that it is easy to be killed instantly without even seeing the monster, under the gaze of tens of millions of people."

Ye Fei looked at the system panel in mid-air.

"I want to rub their pride, which they are so proud of, into the dirt."

The online frenzy continued.

Brother Bao was livestreaming, wandering around the Hirata Estate.

"Brothers, this game is truly boring after you beat it; the monsters are all fragile and weak." Brother Bao bragged while drinking water.

A system-wide announcement suddenly popped up right in the center of the screen.

[Official Challenge Mode: Searching for the First Samurai of Star Blue has been unlocked.]

[Clear Condition: Bell Demon + Charmless status, disable Prosthetic Tools, defeat Isshin, the Sword Saint in his prime.]

[The first player to clear it will receive a 1% dividend of Silver Horn Studio's shares.]

Brother Bao spat a mouthful of water onto the screen.

A 1% share dividend.

Based on the current sales of "sekiro," this money would be enough to buy ten top-tier luxury mansions in The Capital.

The chat in the livestream room froze for a second, then erupted into unprecedented madness.

"Old Thief is crazy! Giving away shares directly!"

"There will be brave men under heavy rewards. Go for it, Brother Bao, and take home that luxury mansion!"