Chapter 19: Official Launch

The much-anticipated release day of Girls Memorial had arrived.

The end of a year-long race and the beginning of a new one.

While it wouldn't have been strange for the office to be tense, the atmosphere was surprisingly calm.

The reason was simple: not only had they received good evaluations in the previous trials of FGT and CBT,

But the number of pre-registered users had surpassed the expected 250,000, reaching 500,000 by yesterday's deadline.

After all, a student who aced all their mock exams wouldn't be nervous for the real thing, right?

The only exception was Ye-rin, who was frantically wielding her tablet pen with a pained expression, drawing an unplanned thank-you illustration for the 500,000 pre-registrations.

It wasn't a bad atmosphere.

In fact, it was much better than everyone being on edge and irritable on launch day.

With that thought, I moved to the center of the office and clapped my hands to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone, listen up!"

All eyes turned to me at the sound of the clap.

"I, Ji Ho-jin, am truly grateful to all of you for sticking with the Project GM development for the past two years!"

After finishing my words, I bowed my head, and applause erupted from all directions.

"While Project GM ends today, the service for Girls Memorial is just beginning. I look forward to your continued hard work. Thank you!"

As I finished speaking, I opened a large box I had brought, drowning out the applause.

Inside were snacks like coffee, bread, and cake.

I felt a twinge of guilt seeing the exhausted faces of the cafe part-timers due to the bulk order, but...

"Please, help yourselves to whatever you like."

As I stepped aside after speaking, team members came forward one by one to grab coffee and snacks.

"Thanks, Director! We'll enjoy these!"

"Thank you!"

After confirming that everyone had taken their share, I was about to grab some snacks for Ye-rin, who was still working alone, when suddenly,

My dormant smartphone rang.

*

"You called for me?"

"Yes, I hope I'm not interrupting anything important?"

"No, not particularly..."

"Then have a seat on the sofa for a moment."

The person who called me about 30 minutes before launch was CEO Jo Su-yeon.

As I sat down on the sofa as Su-yeon suggested, she approached holding two cans of coffee.

Unlike her formal suit from before, she was dressed quite casually in a one-piece dress.

"Americano? Cafe latte?"

"I'll take the Americano, please."

Su-yeon nodded at my words and handed me the can labeled Americano.

Then she sat down on the opposite sofa, crossing her legs.

I looked at her curiously and asked:

"May I ask why you called me...?"

"Are we only allowed to call each other when there's business? You're the first person I personally brought into this company, Director Ji."

"Well, that's..."

I was at a loss for words at Su-yeon's sudden flirting.

Seeing my flustered reaction, Su-yeon burst out laughing and waved her hand.

"I'm just kidding, just kidding. Why are you so surprised? You're more innocent than you look."

"It was just so sudden..."

"But not everything I said earlier was a joke. The part about you being the only person in this company I can truly trust."

"......"

I couldn't say anything in response to Su-yeon's show of trust.

Su-yeon didn't seem to expect a reply and continued speaking.

"I heard the launch is at 10 AM today. Are you confident?"

"Of course I am."

"Really?"

"Yes, the reactions from FGT and CBT were more positive than expected, and the number of pre-registered users is record-breaking..."

"No, I'm not talking about those objective numbers."

Su-yeon pointed at my chest with her finger and said:

"That intuition. I'm asking if that intuition you showed during the interview is pointing towards success."

Intuition, huh...

Since I had never once thought that Girls Memorial would fail, I could confidently nod my head.

"Then that's good enough. This project started because I believed in your intuition, Ho-jin. I'll believe in it until the end."

"...Thank you."

With those words, a brief silence fell over the CEO's office.

Su-yeon seemed lost in thought, staring into space, and I kept quiet as I had nothing particular to say.

As the silence stretched on and the atmosphere was about to become uncomfortable, Su-yeon spoke up.

"Look at me, keeping such a busy person for too long. You can go back now."

"...Understood."

There was more I wanted to ask, but Su-yeon seemed fragile today, so I couldn't bring myself to press further.

"Then I'll head back down."

As I bowed my head before leaving, Su-yeon waved her hand, urging me to go quickly. I headed back to the team office.

There, someone came running towards me.

It was Yu-mi.

"Director...!"

"What's the matter?"

"The app store rankings are out...!"

"Already? What time is it now?"

Hearing Yu-mi's words, I took out my smartphone to check the time.

11:02 AM.

It was certainly enough time for the real-time rankings to be tallied.

"How are the rankings? No problems, right?"

"Of course not! We're ranked first in both real-time downloads and revenue on the Japanese App Store...!!"

*

[Username: oo]

[Title: Breaking News) Girls Memorial achieves #1 in all real-time app rankings lololol]

【Screenshot of Japanese App Store rankings】

Wow, Enson really did it lololol

If they could do this, why were they only releasing crappy games until now?

Seeing a Korean weeb game dominate the Japanese App Store is giving me a patriotic high, for real

[Comment Section][Sorted by: Most Views]

- For real lolololololol

- *flag waving*

- I can't believe this actually happened lolololololol

- Kyaaa lololololol

[Username: Switched to GirlsMemo]

[Title: I was playing Inmila until yesterday, but I immediately switched to Girls Memorial today.]

【Screenshot of Inmila account deletion】

No lie, Girls Memorial addressed all the issues that users had been asking Inmila to fix.

While in-game play can't be compared due to genre differences, everything else can be.

Inmila never implemented a pity system no matter how much users begged for it, but Girls Memorial introduced one.

If you don't get the rate-up character you want after 200 pulls, you can get them at full price.

What's more, if you get the SSR character you want while hitting pity, you can just carry it over. It's truly revolutionary.

Plus, unlike Inmila, you can use both paid and free currency for gacha, and they're generous with early rewards, so many people reroll until they get the SSR character they want before starting.

I heard they call this "reroll marathon" in Japan. Those planning to try Girls Memorial should keep this in mind.

[Comment Section][Sorted by: Most Views]

- Is it because they're former Inmila fans who turned dark? They're hitting all the pain points lololol

- Was Inmila's monetization really that harsh as described? That's an insane level

- What's this "reroll marathon" thing in the post?

ㄴIt's Japanese for "reset marathon." It means resetting your account and pulling until you get what you want.

[Username: Vanguard]

[Title: Guide) Translation of Japanese reroll guide for those planning to enjoy Girls Memorial JP server]

【Screenshot of 4chan Girls Memorial thread】

I just translated the reroll method posted by Japanese players.

Feel free to share, but make sure to credit the source.

When the initial screen appears, click "Login as Guest"

Wait for client update and various data downloads

.

.

.

Use free currency to do a 10-pull

If you get the character you want, link your account and start. If not, press the "reset" button in the menu and go back to step 1

It might look a bit tedious, but you'll get the hang of it after a few tries. Definitely use this to start with your desired or essential characters.

Judging by how they loaded the tutorial with tons of currency, it seems the devs are encouraging reroll starts.

*Once you get the character you want, make sure to link your account via email! Otherwise, you'll lose your data.

[Comment Section][Sorted by: Most Views]

- You're headed straight for the trending posts.

- It's been a while since we've had a proper guide like this lolol

- Bookmarked this right away

- Thanks thanks

- Wait, they're giving away 20 free pulls? That's insane

Kim Jae-hyun, who was lurking on the community forums, was feeling quite pleased right now.

There were several reasons, but the biggest one was thanks to Inmila.

Or more precisely, Inmila's users.

The same bunch who had loudly proclaimed that a Korean game like Girls Memorial could never succeed in Japan were now switching games as easily as flipping their palms, once it actually launched.

Seeing such an unsightly display from Inmila users made Jae-hyun feel like all the frustration from being treated as a Girls Memorial shill was melting away.

That's why you should have waited with faith.

After mocking the fickle Inmila users, Jae-hyun installed Girls Memorial but soon found himself in a big dilemma.

To reroll or not to reroll?

The dilemma facing countless users starting Girls Memorial had now reached Jae-hyun as well.

The reroll method itself didn't seem particularly difficult.

But the problem was the tedium.

For Jae-hyun, who wanted to taste Girls Memorial as soon as possible, rerolling was a huge barrier.

After pondering for a moment, Jae-hyun checked his bank balance due to a sudden uneasy thought, and that thought became reality.

I haven't been taking on freelance work lately, so my balance is pretty tight...

In the end, Jae-hyun had no choice but to start rerolling with tears in his eyes.

It would be two days and four hours before he finally pulled the characters he was aiming for and broke down in tears of joy.