A Flood of Praise

The next day, Chen Xu arrived at the company at seven-thirty in the morning, but surprisingly, Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue had already gotten there ahead of him.

Seeing Chen Xu push through the door, the two of them rushed over to him with excited faces.

"It blew up, it blew up! CEO Chen, the word of mouth is exploding!" Yang Xin held a laptop in her hands, her face full of excitement.

On the screen was the official app store rating.

9.9 points—an incredibly high, almost unbelievable score.

And that wasn't all; two media outlets had already released game reviews for "Undertale" on its second day of release.

The most shocking part was that both outlets gave it a perfect score of 10 out of 10!

One review site, Game Time Media, even praised it to the heavens.

In the review, they avoided any spoilers, keeping the whole thing cryptic like a riddle-master teasing the reader.

But the article was packed with exaggerated descriptions.

For example, after finishing "Undertale," the editor said they sat in silence for a long time.

This was a game that broke the shackles of traditional RPG conventions.

It overturned players' understanding of what an RPG could be, showing that a game could be this stunning.

Even though it was a low-budget indie game, it delivered a more stirring experience than AAA games.

Similar comments appeared in the comment section of "Undertale."

It was filled with many bewildering remarks.

Like "An unbelievable RPG game—my spine was still tingling by the end!" "Crush your mercy, and mine too!" "This fills you with determination."

"The sales aren't bad, but we should let it simmer for a while." Taking the laptop and checking the backend sales figures, Chen Xu also broke into a smile.

2,749 copies—not a particularly high number.

That was normal too. Even though they had stirred up some hype with Zhong Mei earlier, in reality, it only made more players aware of the name "Undertale."

For many players, Nebula Games and Chen Xu were still very unfamiliar.

Their only notable title was a lewd game.

And Chen Xu had priced "Undertale" at 36 yuan, just like in his previous life.

It wasn't expensive for an indie game, and the parallel world's economy was much better than his old one's—otherwise, the game industry wouldn't be so thriving.

From 7 PM to 11 PM, that was a prime time slot.

The Game Time Media review had already fueled the game's buzz, and this period was also when players had free time, perfect for diving into the game.

Before 7 PM, "Undertale"'s sales growth was roughly around 500 copies per hour.

But after 7 PM, that number more than doubled, hitting about 1,200 per hour.

The total sales also broke through 14,000 copies.

And the game's reviews were starting to pile up.

Keep in mind, it had only been a day and a half since "Undertale" officially launched on the game platform.

In the private room of the hotpot restaurant at Vientiane City where they had previously gathered, Yang Xin listened to the numbers Chen Xu was dropping at the evening celebration, her face brimming with excitement.

"Magic Mirror" had sold impressively before, but she hadn't been involved back then—she was just a spectator.

With "Undertale," though, she had been part of the entire production process.

Even if the process felt like "a dog on a leash could win," the fact remained that most of the game's story filling was her handiwork.

That gave her a real sense of accomplishment.

"I wonder what the final sales will be!" Ruan Ningxue took a sip of juice, equally excited.

"I feel like it could break a million!" Yang Xin said, brimming with enthusiasm.

"Given the current trend in reviews, a million is just a matter of time," Chen Xu nodded with a smile, giving his affirmation.

Unlike Chen Xu's calm confidence, the players keeping an eye on "Undertale" and some industry designers were going crazy over the game's reviews.

What was going on?

At River Media, Zhong Mei's eyes were practically bulging out of his head, with no intention of leaving work.

Did Nebula Games bribe them? How much did they have to pay?

Buying positive reviews, buying good press—he'd done that too—but this "Undertale" was way too over the top, wasn't it!?

That was his first thought, and the same thought that struck everyone else who saw "Undertale"'s results.

No one believed that "Undertale"'s actual quality deserved such praise.

After all, it was just a low-budget indie game.

And a score like that was practically the mark of a standard masterpiece.

Is a low-budget game like Undertale really worthy of this?

But at the same time, it also sparked curiosity among many players—just what kind of game Undertale really was.

And once those players became curious, they would go on to become part of the endless wave of praise, adding more fuel to the fire.

The most direct sign was the game data Chen Xu had been watching.

Every hour when it refreshed, there was a noticeable spike.

But even more critical was the game's reviews.

They were almost universally positive. The overall rating remained at 9.9, not dropping despite the surge in sales.

After all, a game's rating usually declines as more players come in.

Generally speaking, hitting 8.5 was already the baseline for excellence.

Reaching 9 meant it was a quality game, while 9.5 and above could be called a masterpiece.

But even as Undertale's sales skyrocketed, its player rating stayed rock steady.

Though it was certain that as more players joined later, the rating would eventually drop, it was still terrifyingly impressive.

And under the store page, the reviews players left truly expressed their thoughts on the game.

"I thought it was just an ordinary RPG monster-battling game, but I have to say, Flowey's appearance and the ending really blew my mind!"

"At first, the Magic Mirror made me curious about Nebula Games and Chen Xu, but I have to say, Undertale showed me what a real game is! Seriously, it overturned my understanding of RPGs!"

"I can only describe it as unbelievable!"

"Whatever you do, don't hurt the monsters in the game, or you'll regret it! Trust me!"

"The wind howls. Standing before you is a true hero!"

"It feels like an explosion! I have a feeling Undertale is going to be a massive hit!"

"Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this, kids like you should be burning in hell!"

"This fills you with determination!"

"An incredibly novel and mind-blowing game design!"

Countless players gave Undertale extremely high praise, though there were a few negative reviews mixed in.

They dragged the rating down by 0.1, but compared to the tidal wave of positive reviews, those negatives were like a drop in the ocean.