Started as a comics editor

Chapter 207 Bad
Time moves forward a little.

The transaction details for the joint event were made public on the day it was released, and continued until after 8 p.m.

Tang Yao finally saw Li Xue again.

Because Li Xue has so many things to do, she is currently holding two positions at Avalon: CEO and Tang Yao's special assistant.

Although Avalon recently hired a group of managers, such as department managers, to assist Li Xue.

But for her, who needs to oversee the company's daily business activities... even with assistance, it's clearly not going to be easy.

As for the assistant... Tang Yao had actually asked her to find a suitable candidate a long time ago, but perhaps because there wasn't a suitable one, Li Xue hadn't found anyone to replace her.

This is actually one of the reasons why the two of them haven't seen each other much recently.

It's not just because of a misunderstanding.

But despite how busy I am, I have to say...

Li Xue is indeed intelligent and resilient; she has been growing almost every day during this period.

In addition, the company's content department is relatively independent, and with Tang Yao, the nominal 'chairwoman,' keeping an eye on things... Although it's not easy, Li Xue isn't exactly overwhelmed.

but.

That was before.

The first day's revenue from the FGOX "Nightfall" collaboration gacha pool has been released.

With the entire Avalon operating at full capacity, Li Xue was already struggling. Even after resolving her misunderstanding with Tang Yao, she didn't have time to return to her own workstation.

They were incredibly busy.

Of course, being busy was only one aspect; the reason she didn't return to her workstation was also partly due to a slight sense of guilt.

As for why I felt guilty...

Li Xue had just returned to her workstation and hadn't recovered yet.

Tang Yao immediately jumped up from the chair, reached out and gently grabbed her neck, shaking her up and down, gritting her teeth and saying, "I've finally waited for you!"

“…I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Looking at Tang Yao's pretty face, which was flushed with a faint blush... Li Xue knew very well why she was angry.

So without saying anything, he simply bowed his head and apologized.

"..."

Her straightforward apology, however, left Tang Yao speechless.

Tang Yao looked at the older sister with her head down, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

"No, it was indeed I who got carried away."

Li Xue raised her head and said sincerely, "Even if it's just playing around, you shouldn't do that..."

"..."

Hearing Li Xue's sincere words, Tang Yao remained silent for a long time, not knowing what to say.

Because she often hugged Li Xue, she wasn't particularly angry... she was mainly shy and surprised.

As time went on, her feelings for Li Xue became less about anger and wanting to question her, and more about simply being unable to contain her resentment...

You can only call it karma... You used to like looking at lewd pictures of super-older women, right?

Now that's great, I've become the main character.

Think of this.

Tang Yao released her grip on Li Xue's neck, suddenly feeling utterly hopeless: "Fine, I'll forgive you this time."

"..."

Li Xue was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, and looked at Tang Yao.

She was prepared to be scolded, but Tang Yao let it go so easily.

She didn't really think that much at the time; she was just concerned... and at the same time, she was a little carried away by Tang Yao's actions.

Li Xue asked cautiously, "Aren't you angry?"

Tang Yao sat down again, amused, and said, "You're angry! What are you going to do about it?"

Li Xue remained silent for a moment, then reached out to smooth her skirt and sat down gracefully. She then moved her office chair closer to Tang Yao, slightly puffing out her cheeks: "...Let you get your revenge."

Since you said you didn't mind.

If you're going to pretend, then pretend to the end.

Tang Yao: “…”

Damn.

I'm so tempted!

……

The reconciliation between the two senior executives at Avalon has not yet brought any benefits to other staff members.

The main purpose was to improve the mood of the two parties involved.

Of course, this only applies to that one day.

Soon, neither Tang Yao nor Li Xue had time to care about each other... they were so busy they were dizzy.

3 month 23 number.

Tang Yao is working hard on this week's "Chainsaw Man" manuscript.

But it's impossible to completely ignore what's happening around you.

Soon, Si Jinliang came knocking on their door.

"Tang Yao, these are a few new game names we came up with. Take a look and see if they're suitable."

Holding an A4 sheet of paper, he woke Tang Yao, who was engrossed in drawing, and explained his purpose.

Tang Yao reached out and took it, then looked down at it, her pretty face immediately scrunching up.

After a while.

She then looked up and asked curiously, "Is this the name you gave me?"

“Hmm.” Si Jinliang nodded, pointed to the paper in Tang Yao’s hand, and said with some pride, “Look, there’s the fantasy-style ‘Spirit Pivot War Song,’ the magical-style… ‘The Era of the Scepter,’ ‘Echoes of the Abyss,’ ‘Dragon’s Fall Contract,’ and the dark-style… ‘The Contract of Time Ruins.’”

"..."

Tang Yao glanced at the names on the paper, then at Si Jinliang, who seemed quite satisfied.

I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong.

But none of them feel quite right.

"...Not suitable?"

Si Jinliang gave a long and detailed explanation, but when he noticed that Tang Yao still had a furrowed brow, he finally realized something.

"Hmm... how should I put it, it doesn't feel catchy enough."

Tang Yao hesitated and said, "Besides, it doesn't feel right with the game's theme."

"So...do you have a good name?"

Si Jinliang scratched his head: "These are the only names we can come up with."

"me?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Yao fell into deep thought.

to be frank.

She didn't have any either.

but.

Tang Yao had considered calling it "Hearthstone"... but she was still hesitant. In Diablo and World of Warcraft, Hearthstone is a game item used to return to town. The reason Blizzard chose this name for their card game is quite obvious: they want to tell players that Hearthstone can help them find their way home...

Although Tang Yao felt that the name was also quite far-fetched.

Think about it for a while.

Tang Yao placed the papers on the table, not in a hurry to make a decision: "How about this, I'll think about it some more and give you an answer later."

"Row."

Si Jinliang nodded, took his leave, and departed.

After Si Jinliang left, before Tang Yao could pick up her brush to continue drawing, Li Xue returned.

Upon seeing Li Xue, Tang Yao stopped painting and turned her attention to the intermodal transport: "Miss Li, how's the intermodal transport going?"

Li Xue smoothed her skirt and sat down. After taking a sip of water, she replied, "Most manufacturers have agreed to send over the demos."

Have any major companies contacted us?

"There really is... I was just about to tell you about it."

"Oh?"

"Have you heard..."

Li Xue put down her cup, then asked seriously, "Jiuxiao?"

"The second largest internet company in China?"

Tang Yao was taken aback when she heard this: "They contacted us too?"

"Correct."

Li Xue nodded, then hesitated for a moment, and said with some disdain, "But their attitude was terrible."

"Very bad?"

Tang Yao was somewhat surprised upon hearing this... because it was rare for Li Xue, who was usually so gentle and kind, to show such a disgusted expression: "How exactly is she awful?"

“They contacted me and immediately told me that the prerequisite for intermodal transport was… that Avalon needed to accept their investment.”

Li Xue took a deep breath, regained her composure, and continued, "Although she talked a lot about strategic cooperation and said that she would establish a deep alliance mechanism for mobile games... her attitude was extremely arrogant, and even carried a threatening tone."

"……what?"

Tang Yao was somewhat shocked upon hearing this: "How many shares do they want?"

"40%, and they also demanded intervention in Avalon's game development and operation."

Li Xue shook her head and said, "What's even more outrageous is that they also demanded that the distribution rights for all our future new games be granted to Jiuxiao Channel... Simply put, all our future games, including the current FGO, must be released on Jiuxiao's channels."

"???"

Upon hearing this, Tang Yao was completely bewildered and instinctively asked, "Are they crazy?"

This was indeed Tang Yao's truest thought at that moment.

No, how could I dare to make such a request?
Although Avalon is not as good as them, it is currently in a period of rapid development.

Even in the most desperate situation.

Why couldn't Tang Yao have sought other external funding? Why did she have to agree to such an outrageous request?
What's the difference between this and being slaughtered like a pig?
Tang Yao couldn't help but ask, "Where did they get the courage?"

"..."

After hearing this, Li Xue remained silent for a while before saying, "When I first heard this, I was also very angry, so I did some research on Jiuxiao... and found that they have a long history of bad deeds. Their specialty is to use capital to crush small and medium-sized game teams."

"Copyright law does not protect ideas, only expressions; pure gameplay is not protected, right?"

"They exploit this to suppress small and medium-sized teams... Their method is simple and crude, but very effective: they copy and imitate successful games, and then, with their strong financial resources and long-accumulated user base, create an almost identical competitor and let it compete with the original game."

"Many small teams have no way to fight back against their rogue practices. They either accept investment or go out of business because it is difficult to define plagiarism. If they sue, they can be dragged down by the other party."

"If we choose to confront them head-on, then the other party, as the second largest internet company in China, will use its vast resources to completely crush the original game with its plagiarized work."

"Even if it can't completely crush the original game, it will gradually erode the original game's user base until the other game is finished."

"And this tactic is almost unsolvable for small and medium-sized teams."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Tang Yao's beautiful eyes widened slightly: "So their threat is... to plagiarize FGO?"

"Correct."

"...?"

(End of this chapter)