Chat was losing it.
"HOLY—THIS IS WILD!"
"Bro, I'm drenched in sweat!"
"Yin's gone quiet. RIP."
"You gonna ghost us like that, Yin?!"
"This is TERRIFYING!"
"Who said multiplayer makes horror games less scary?"
"Gus Harper's a sadist, using teammates to crank the fear!"
"If ShuBro hadn't snapped that pic, Yin wouldn't have clocked the ghost on his back!"
"Teammates don't help—they just spike your heart rate!"
"ShuBro screwed Yin over, LOL."
"This game's a friendship shredder and a scare machine."
"Gus lives to torture us."
"Yin's down for the count!"
After ages, Yin's shaky voice crackled from the VibeX1 cabin:
"Did Jada mess with the alarm settings? It's on minimum!"
"Why'd it boot me when I was just getting hyped?!"
"I wasn't that scared!"
He stumbled out, clutching the hatch, pretending to check the rig.
Chat wasn't buying it:
"Stop fronting, Yin! Your legs are Jell-O!"
"All talk, no spine!"
"Voice shaking, but keep flexing!"
"Yin from Portland, you lasted as long as SlickRick—five minutes!"
"Old man can't handle the heat!"
"Quit tinkering, you'll break the damn thing!"
Yin avoided eye contact with the screen.
Humiliating.
His rep as "fearless Yin" was toast.
He'd thought, It's just a horror game, and I've got a squad. No biggie.
Wrong.
Gus Harper was a twisted genius, weaponizing multiplayer chaos to amplify dread.
No guns, just vibes—and those vibes were lethal.
Watching Benny flicker closer, powerless, pushed Yin's fear past human limits.
Jump-scares were a quick stab; Phasmophobia was a slow, dull knife.
That kid's face inches away?
Yin nearly lost it.
Crouching by the cabin, he exhaled, heart rate dropping.
As he stood—
A tiny hand tapped his shoulder.
"Yinny! Why you hiding?"
"OH SHIT!"
Yin jumped, PTSD from Benny's face-kiss kicking in.
Turning, he saw Ellie, his daughter.
"Jesus, kid," he gasped, clutching his chest, patting her head. "Daddy's working, Ellie. Go bug Mommy."
He laughed, but his voice cracked.
Chat erupted:
"LMAO, I'm dying!"
"Ellie's the real jump-scare!"
"Yinny?! She's the boss here!"
"This house runs on Ellie!"
"Cops downstairs thought I was losing it!"
"Ellie: I call you Yinny, you call me Dad."
"Mom checked if I was unhinged!"
"Peak stream moment!"
"Daddy's working—iconic!"
"Horror game turned comedy gold!"
"Promote this NOW!"
After shooing Ellie out, Yin chuckled at the "hahaha" flood.
The scare faded, thanks to her.
To save his "fearless" rep, finish the mission, and get even with ShuBro, he climbed back into the VibeX1.
Reconnecting, he found ShuBro offline.
"Yo, where's ShuBro?" Yin asked via walkie-talkie.
Jada Brooks and Tank's shaky voices replied:
"After you dropped, ShuBro thought it was safe. Went upstairs, fake-crying, 'Yin, you died so bad! Damn ghost, take me too!'"
"Then what?"
"His wish came true."
Yin cackled. "Serves him right!"
A night of screams and laughs.
For streamers, Phasmophobia's new terror tested their limits, with VibeX1 alarms blaring like a soundtrack.
For viewers?
Pure gold.
Who doesn't love watching cocky streamers get wrecked?
All swore it wasn't scary.
All got scared shitless.
By nightfall, day one ended.
At IndieVibe Tech's San Francisco HQ, Victor Lang and his execs gathered.
The conference room glowed, a PPT blazing on the screen:
"Phasmophobia" Marketing Strategy Seminar.
"Alright, everyone's here," Victor said. "You know the drill, so let's cut to it."
He nodded to Secretary Carter. "Sales update."
Carter clicked the mouse, pulling up charts.
"Here's the 24-hour sales breakdown for Phasmophobia, compiled by Marketing and Data."
"We used our new 'big data precision targeting' algorithm. Beyond raw sales, we've got eight charts: player demographics, geographic spread, playtime, and more."
"All to max out sales and keep players happy."
"Starting with sales…"
Zoey Parker's $150,000 VibeX1 login deal had Victor all-in on Phasmophobia's promotion.
Execs initially questioned its "key project" status.
But Victor, a seasoned player, laid it out:
Why did WindyPeak pay double the market rate for login rights?
WindyPeak was tiny—seven people, including a Parker Capital accountant, no marketing team.
To sell big, they needed hype.
Zoey swapped "deep cooperation" for outsourcing promotion to IndieVibe, banking on their Vampire Survivor success (43,775 single-day sales, $199,995 revenue).
Unlike shady "pay-to-play" deals, this was legit—tied to game quality, with funds hitting IndieVibe's books.
WindyPeak's track record—Cat Leo, Who's the Daddy, Vampire Survivor—made them a safe bet.
But their size didn't meet IndieVibe's partner standards.
Zoey's $150,000, matching CloudWave Tech's rate, was a signal: Step up, match the big dogs.
Victor wasn't a stickler.
Quality trumped size, and this was a test from Mr. Parker via Zoey.
A $150,000 bet—not $100,000, not $1,000,000—screamed ambition.
Zoey, Parker Capital's heir, was testing IndieVibe's hustle.
A win could tie them to Parker Capital and Gus Harper, the hottest indie designer in the U.S.
A cash cow.
"Letting this slip would be dumb," Victor said.
Execs nodded, sold on his vision.
Today's seminar was born.
Carter reported: "Phasmophobia sold 2,085 copies day one, $93,800 revenue."
The room stirred.
Execs frowned, whispered.
"Only 2,085 copies?"
"Good for a small game, but that revenue…"
"Price too low?"
"At $45, it's rock-bottom for this scale. Quality's there—should be higher."
"$75,000,000 sales? Easy. Maybe $100,000,000."
"First VibeX1 game, probably played it safe."
Carter's half-hour, eight-chart analysis dug deep.
Victor spoke: "Data's solid. We've maxed standard platform promo. Now, brainstorm—how do we blow this up?"
A glasses-wearing marketing exec raised a hand.
"Game media reviews. PixelPulse News, GameRant."
"Details," Victor said.
"Normally, media skips games this size, but Phasmophobia's different. I played five minutes last night—mind-blowing. Not just jump-scares, it's deep horror. Hard to describe, but it's a banger. Reviews will eat it up."
Victor nodded. "Good call. Reviews carry weight."
News fades fast, but reviews from PixelPulse or GameRant?
Players trust those.
High scores guarantee sales.
"Carter, reach out to review sites in my name," Victor said.
"More ideas?"
The room lit up:
"Push it on TikTok's official account."
"Tech team makes a Phasmophobia-themed VibeX1 interface—free for buyers."
"Lottery for playtime shares. Prize: a VibeX1."
"Promotes the game and our brand!"
Ideas flew.
$80,000 wasn't much for promo, but IndieVibe had clout.
Connections, resources, favors—Victor could flex without spending.
The "bang for your buck" hustle began.