Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

This means they want to invest.

Four hundred billion yen, wow, that should be around four hundred million US dollars.

If that's the case, my company is already valued at two billion US dollars? That's terrifying!

Valuation is a rather mysterious thing. Although it relies on some data, it is also largely based on the value judgments of the parties involved.

Zhu Youxing believes his company is not yet valued at two billion US dollars, but the internet platform is quite wealthy and doesn't mind spending money.

"Does this 40 billion yen investment include decision-making power?"

"Of course, after all, if we invest so much money, we naturally hope that it can make us more money. And President Zhuyou, you must think so too, right? Make more money, live in a bigger house, and if you want women, you can have as many as you want."

"Sorry, I'm not interested," Zhu Youxing replied directly.

There was a brief pause of a few seconds on the other end, then someone said, "President Zhuyou, won't you reconsider?"

Instead of answering the question, Takeyusei countered, "You're not a business manager, are you? I don't think a mere business manager could make the decision on an investment of 40 billion yen."

"...Okay, let me formally introduce myself. I am Changweiyu, the president of YOO Networks, and I am sincerely hoping to invest. Moreover, I can assure you that we will not easily influence your company's decisions."

Not easily influenced means that I can easily influence the company's decisions.

"President Nagao, I am very grateful for your offer of investment, but we really don't need it. I am also very grateful for your help, but I will not use the company as a bargaining chip to exchange with others."

"President Zhuyou, you're in big trouble this time. Attacks from four major television stations, as well as attacks from the baseball industry, are something your small company absolutely cannot handle."

The other party is clearly exaggerating on purpose.

The TV station might be planning to gang up on him, but it seems more like a decision made by a few people in the baseball industry, rather than the entire baseball industry attacking him. He doesn't think that one game can anger the entire industry.

At most, it just angered some people with guilty consciences.

Moreover, he didn't actually need the other party's help, because he had already come up with some solutions.

"President Zhuyou, you don't need to answer so quickly. I know the company belongs to you alone. It is indeed hard to give up some power, but you can expand more quickly, which is definitely more beneficial than harmful. If after a while, you are suppressed by various industries, resulting in a decrease in market share, the value of your company will also depreciate rapidly, which is not worthwhile."

"I understand, but this is my own decision. If I fail, I fail. It's not a big deal. At worst, I'll just live off my parents."

Living off one's parents?

This term hasn't become popular in the world yet, but Longtail Rain can roughly understand the meaning of Bamboo Star.

Was Zhu Youxing's family very wealthy? He hadn't actually investigated that; he had only investigated how Zhu Youxing had made his fortune.

Initially, he relied on a strategy of advertising video game consoles on the roadside to attract children's attention.

Then he partnered with the manager of an arcade to sell game consoles.

The process of establishing his company was quite mysterious. It seemed that someone provided him with start-up capital and bank loan guarantees, but because the company was not listed, all the data was not made public, and he had no idea who the shareholder was.

There are no convenient stock inquiry agencies in the world yet. The Japanese government still relies on fax machines to transmit various data, so finding this kind of information is not easy.

In these messages, there is almost nothing about Zhu Youxing's parents.

At the time, Nagao Yu thought his parents were at most a middle-class family, but now it seems that things are not that simple.

Chapter 147 Find a Helper

Despite being rejected, Longtail Rain did not give up.

He told Zhu Youxing to think it over some more, and then he didn't press the matter further.

After hanging up the phone, Zhu Youxing suddenly thought of something.

internet.

The internet has gradually risen to prominence.

Moreover, this world rose to prominence earlier than the previous one.

If we consider a decade of technological advancement in the world, by this time, a true social network would probably already be in its rudimentary form.

At the same time, he recalled the accident that had happened at the TV station before.

That was quite a coincidence; the TV station just happened to be embroiled in a scandal, which helped me deal with a past crisis.

Speaking of the internet, Zhu Youxing immediately thought of one person.

Aya Tsukino.

This is now the company's network administrator.

Zhu Youxing tried several times to promote her, but she completely disdained doing such things. She only said that she could help solve any problems. She usually focused on being a game producer, but she hadn't produced any results yet and didn't know what the game was like. She thought it would be a good opportunity to ask.

So Takeyusei called Tsukino Aya in.

Recently, Aya Tsukino hasn't had much to do at the company. She usually just handles some issues on the company's network. Anyway, she doesn't care about the salary or what position she's assigned to. She just hopes to have more time for herself to make games.

Zhu Youxing was somewhat helpless in the face of this request, but since she was very skilled in network technology, he really needed her. So he simply gave her a sinecure, where she did nothing but help solve network problems. She could concentrate on making her own game, which was practically equivalent to a hired network consultant.

At that time, Aya Tsukino was helping out with the game development team at the Fifth Game Development Group.

They wanted to implement some of the cinematic storytelling methods that Takeyusei had mentioned, but even the 16-bit capability was somewhat insufficient, so they had to find some special methods, and Tsukino Aya seemed to be particularly good at this.

Having just finished resolving the issue and being praised by everyone, Tsukino Aya was summoned to Takeyusei's office.

Nowadays, Aya Tsukino's dark, smoky-eyed circles are much lighter.

However, it will take at least one or two years of normal rest to completely disappear.

She no longer seems so aloof.

At least when facing Zhu Youxing, she was not as awkward as she was when facing outsiders, and could even sit directly opposite Zhu Youxing in a very familiar manner.

This was something that was unimaginable before.

However, she still prefers to keep herself completely covered up, just like before.

Even though it's almost the height of summer, she still won't take off that outfit outside.

According to her, she is not sensitive to high temperatures. She also claimed that the temperature in her usual place is very high every day, so the outside temperature is nothing. In addition, the climate in Japan itself is not excessively hot, so she can continue to maintain that outfit.

"What do you want? Is there another new game quest to complete?"

Aya Tsukino looked relaxed as soon as she closed the door to Yusei Take's office.

She would never do such a thing outside; it seemed that Zhu Youxing's office had become a safe haven.

She crossed her legs, her hood still completely covering her, with only her striking silver twin ponytails drawing attention.

Zhu Youxing shook his head: "There are no new game plans for the time being. I'm currently focused on getting the GB console released before starting development on the next generation handheld. Game development will have to wait a bit. By the way, how's your own game development going?"

Tsukino Ayaka was sitting with her legs crossed, swaying back and forth. When she heard Takeyusei's question, she paused and said, "Not yet. I've recently developed a new game mode, a completely new game mode that you've never seen before. I'm doing data testing right now. Just wait, I should be able to finish it in about a month. Then I'll show it to you and make you absolutely amazed."

Zhu Youxing smiled: "Oh? Then I'm really looking forward to it. With your expertise in both the internet and computers, I think programming and making games shouldn't be a problem. But have you solved the art and music issues yet? If not, I can offer my help."

Aya Tsukino snorted, seemingly disdainful: "Don't underestimate me. I've already sorted out the music aspect. As for art... it'll be soon. I'm currently learning hand-drawing from other people in the company, and I should be able to master it soon."

Zhu Youxing's lips twitched slightly.

Are all students from top universities this abnormal?

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary computer science undergraduate who later became a programmer; his life experience was almost unremarkable.

After arriving in this world, his biggest advantage was simply the game-making concepts he learned in his previous life, along with some more advanced game-making methods.

However, this is already enough for someone to stand at the top of the world.

As for the details of programming, it's normal practice to leave them to more specialized people in the future.

Aya Tsukino is clearly a super expert in this area.

Honestly, if it weren't for her experience in making video games and her innovative thinking, such a top technical expert would never bother staying in such a small company.

"As expected of a genius, he is also very good at art."

Aya Tsukino asked, "Alright, what did you want to see me about? If it's not important, I'll go back to my drawing lessons."

"There is something I wanted to ask. Are you familiar with how to find dirt on people online?"

"Find dirt on someone? What do you mean?"

"Right now, we're being attacked by those guys at the TV station, along with a bunch of neurotic baseball kids. I think it's time to teach them a lesson."

"What? They're..."

Aya Tsukino seemed somewhat agitated. Her eyes, which she had been hiding well, were wide open. They looked very beautiful and pure, as if they were sparkling with emotion.

She used to be a night owl, and normally, someone like that would have cloudy eyes prematurely, but she didn't. Perhaps you could call it the capital of youth? That is, being able to squander it at will.

"Huh? What?" Takeyusei didn't understand what was going on because Tsukino Ayaka's words suddenly stopped, and then she quickly sat back down.

Zhu Youxing seemed to have thought of something, but he wasn't quite sure.

Aya Tsukino calmly said, "It's nothing. What are those TV station people attacking now?"

Zhu Youxing said, "It seems you haven't been watching TV or reading online news lately."

Aya Tsukino said, "Of course, I've been focusing on learning to draw and making my own games lately, so I don't have time to watch those boring things."

After finishing her sentence, Tsukino Aya continued, "What exactly happened?"

Takeyusei shrugged: "It's similar to last time, but this time there's a group of more neurotic baseball players."

Chapter 148 Did they hire a genius?

Takeyusei gave Tsukino Aya a general account of what had happened.

Takeyusei didn't know how Tsukino Aya was feeling, but he could vaguely sense her anger, which she didn't easily show.

"What do you plan to do?" Tsukino Aya seemed to have calmed herself down before asking Takeyusei with renewed composure.

Takeyusei stared intently at Tsukino Aya, then said, "Last time, I had prepared some public relations plans to deal with the attacks from the TV stations, but I didn't expect that all six TV stations would suddenly have scandals, disrupting everything. Those TV station people finally quieted down for a while. I suddenly realized that this method is quite useful, and..."

Takeyusei paused deliberately and then carefully observed Tsukino Aya's reaction.

However, since Aya Tsukino was wearing a black mask and had covered most of her eyes with a cloak, it was difficult for Takeyusei to see what expression Aya Tsukino was making.

He now suspects that the previous scandal revelations may be related to Aya Tsukino.

But... probably not, right? She's quite skilled in networking and programming, but getting hold of scandalous news wouldn't be easy for her.

Perhaps it was some other kind-hearted person who helped.