Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 202: Winning Three Times

Avalon.

Tang Yao sat at her desk, closely monitoring player feedback. When she saw that the FGO collaboration event received overwhelmingly positive reviews instead of polarized opinions, she leaned back with a satisfied stretch, her mature curves on full display as she smiled.

Success!

Now all they needed was to let word-of-mouth spread and convert these readers into players... Avalon would finally be on the right track.

Because this time, Avalon would win three times over! The collaboration gacha pool would rake in profits (win one)! The player base would grow again (win two)! And it would subsequently boost both ANF's manga and game divisions (win three)!

As the saying goes: misfortune begets fortune... our ancestors never lied.

Though Dark Night Decree's poor reception had caused some trouble, precisely because its reviews were so terrible, it became the perfect contrast that made FGO shine even brighter...

Tang Yao wondered if Season Technology's executives would vomit blood seeing these player reviews...

Chuckling at the thought, she straightened up and grabbed her mouse.

The situation looked promising, but one crucial element remained missing - the revenue data. Without that, they'd only win twice.Yes, this time Tang Yao planned to publicly disclose the collaboration gacha's earnings. She hadn't forgotten her original purpose for collaborating with manga in the first place.

But how much would this collaboration gacha generate?

Tang Yao stared at the screen, deep in thought. Unlike the game's launch period where revenues could easily break 100 million, that was impossible now. While the domestic market was larger, FGO's previous high revenues came from having multiple gacha pools during launch and year-end events, plus the novelty of being the first 2D mobile game with this monetization model.

That explained the astronomical numbers.

But as FGO's open beta extended, earlier gacha pools had been exhausted. Whales had already maxed out all five-star characters! Under these circumstances, achieving similar first-day revenue was nearly impossible with just one collaboration gacha pool...

Still, it shouldn't perform poorly either, since the newly attracted readers had never played FGO before. Based on Tang Yao's past life experience, such collaboration gachas typically performed exceptionally well - their profitability strongly correlated with the IP's popularity, character appeal, and gacha design.

And Dark Night... excelled in all these aspects. This was top-tier IP collaboration.

Moreover, while Tang Yao hadn't stuffed the pool with overpowered meta characters, the key collaboration characters were still quite strong. Combined with being the first limited-time servants implemented...

Hmm...

Tang Yao recalled that in her previous life, FGO's collaboration with Kara no Kyoukai's Shiki Ryougi had generated nearly 300 million yen in single-day revenue. The Fate/EXTRA CCC collaboration performed even better, temporarily dethroning Genshin Impact's gacha pools across Chinese, Japanese and Korean servers.

Because in her past life, FGO infamously took years between reruns - Shiki Ryougi went three years without one. Though this was FGO's first collaboration here, it shouldn't perform too poorly...

Tang Yao watched the screen with anticipation...

Meanwhile, Guan Fang was also monitoring FGO's collaboration event. Initially, she hadn't wanted her daughter endorsing FGO again after the Dark Night Decree backlash.

But Rumi convinced her with: "You get a share of the collaboration gacha profits anyway. And if readers think my works only produce garbage like Dark Night Decree, don't you think my future works' value will plummet?"

Still, when FGO's update actually launched, Guan Fang felt nervous. But after browsing forums and fan groups, her worries evaporated - the reception was genuinely good, far better than yesterday's game.

Noticing this, Guan Fang relaxed, then glanced at her daughter chatting with someone. "How much do you think this collaboration will make?"

"No idea." Rumi looked up, shaking her head after a pause. "Just wait. It shouldn't perform poorly."

Truthfully, Rumi was also relieved. She'd feared FGO would flop like Dark Night Decree... Thankfully, her worst fears didn't materialize. She'd just been discussing this with Tang Yao.

Guan Fang pressed: "Didn't that third-rate artist friend of yours tell you? Isn't she Avalon management?"

"No, why would she?"

"......"

Guan Fang finally gave up, returning to her screen as wild guesses ran through her mind. Though bold, she didn't dare imagine FGO's launch revenue numbers - even industry insiders found those absurd, let alone an outsider like her.

Consulting professionals had yielded the same conclusion as Tang Yao: FGO's earlier gacha value had been mostly exhausted, so a single collaboration pool likely wouldn't achieve astronomical numbers.

Plus... knowing Dark Night Decree's revenue made her subconsciously assume manga readers had low willingness to spend on games.

So...

10 million yuan.

That was Guan Fang's boldest estimate. If it reached ten times Dark Night Decree's first-day revenue, she might consider more collaborations with Avalon... though she doubted it would happen.

That night, FGO's collaboration gacha and the game itself gained increasing popularity. But Tang Yao didn't monitor further, opting for proper rest instead.

The next day at the office, Tang Yao worked on Chainsaw Man drafts while awaiting news. Morning passed quickly.

Checking the time, Tang Yao leaned back with another stretch - only to startle when someone approached from behind.

Before she could react, Li Xue's voice sounded softly: "The weather's warmer now and clothes are thinner. Be more careful." Reaching over Tang Yao's shoulder, she adjusted the white T-shirt to better cover the faintly visible collarbones.

Indeed, spring had arrived - Tang Yao had swapped bulky sweaters for long-sleeved tees that accentuated her mature curves.

Tang Yao blinked, then turned. Since the previous incident, she and Li Xue hadn't stopped communicating, but busy schedules and mutual reservations had reduced their physical intimacy... This level of contact had become rare.

"Ah..."

Regaining composure, Tang Yao checked her clothes, blushing slightly before straightening up. But then she reconsidered - wasn't this normal? Why blush?

"I just noticed and wanted to remind you..." Li Xue suddenly felt compelled to explain.

"I know, it's fine." Tang Yao quickly cut her off, finding their dynamic oddly strained. "No need to explain. If anything, I should thank you."

"Mm..." Li Xue lightly tucked a stray lock behind her ear.

An awkward silence followed.

Breaking it, Tang Yao asked: "How's the game performing?"

Just as Li Xue parted her lips to answer, a staff member rushed over, handing her a sheet before hurrying off.

Li Xue's eyes brightened reading it. She pulled up a chair and passed the paper to Tang Yao, delighted: "First-day revenue for the gacha pool - 37 million! Just one pool!"

"......"

Tang Yao froze momentarily before breaking into a smile.

Yes! It hadn't disappointed.

She glanced at the figures, then looked up: "Make it public!"

"Huh? Publicize the numbers?" Li Xue looked shocked. "We never disclose revenues! And we're not even listed..."

Tang Yao smiled at the still-gorgeous older woman, straightening slightly with a "come ask me" expression: "Don't get it, do you?"

"......"

Li Xue rolled her eyes at the beaming Tang Yao, instinctively moving her chair closer before abruptly stopping. Biting her lip, she desperately wanted to cup Tang Yao's face and demand answers... but didn't dare.

Noticing Li Xue's hesitation, Tang Yao proactively explained: "Trust me on this. You'll understand why later."

After a pause, Li Xue simply replied: "Okay."

That afternoon, Avalon's official account posted a brief but explosive announcement:

[Good News] FGO × Dark Night collaboration gacha achieves 37 million yuan first-day domestic revenue! Thank you for your support, Masters!

The news detonated across the industry like a bomb!!

At Season Technology, Deputy Ji Liang stared at the number, his mind ringing as if the entire world had condensed into those digits on screen.

Simultaneously, at the Guan residence, Guan Fang's teacup clattered onto the carpet.

"Mom?" Rumi looked up from her sketches.

Guan Fang turned mechanically: "Daughter... do you think your other works could collaborate with Avalon too? And this gacha pool... could it become permanent?"

Rumi: "?"

Back at Avalon headquarters, within thirty minutes of the revenue announcement, Li Xue received eleven calls - all from game companies inquiring about ANF collaborations! And all were 2D mobile games!

Meanwhile, Cai Quan reported a sudden influx of new manga artist registrations on ANF - what was happening?

As Cai Quan asked, Li Xue's phone kept vibrating. Overwhelmed, she alternated between the confused Cai Quan and her buzzing phone in utter bewilderment.

Frankly... she wanted to know too. What exactly had just happened?