"Reader meeting? Mine?"
Takumi was stunned, and suddenly, the image of thousands of readers standing in front of him in line, shaking his hand one by one, appeared in his mind.
He felt very tired just thinking about it, but Genji's idea of publishing Touhou Fantasy Township made him happy. He had always had similar ideas. The development of manga is inseparable from the development of fan fiction.
Since Touhou Fantasy Township is not suitable for mangaka, encouraging readers to create original works can also yield good results, but this requires a premise: that readers are willing to explore this theme.
For readers to be willing, they must first like it. But for them to like it, they must first be offered attractive things, such as games, manga, and animations of Touhou Fantasy Township.
"Forget it..."
Takumi shook his head: "It's too troublesome. Touhou Fantasy Township will be put aside for now, and I'll look for an opportunity to publish it later."
He really wanted to create a video game production department to first create a bullet-screen game of Touhou Fantasy Township, and thus gain the acceptance of mangaka and other readers, but Genji disagreed.
"Okay, let's postpone the reader meeting for now...".
Seeing that Takumi disagreed, Genji immediately gave up: "I'll reserve the Touhou Fantasy Township theme for you first. If there's an opportune moment to launch it, you can discuss it with me."
Genji asked Alice to put away the information and then said: "There's also the issue of Pokémon manga copyright. I agree. The contract will be drafted tomorrow. You can come sign it at noon."
Takumi wanted to freely give the manga copyright to Hinotori Publishing for other mangaka. Genji couldn't disagree. The company's copyright purchase fee was not high. As long as a mangaka successfully serialized it, profits could be recovered.
There were two themes, and only one was successfully implemented. Takumi felt disappointed and relieved. At least his work was still beneficial to the company.
However, Takumi calmly thought that he was not omniscient or omnipotent in this world. Even if he had thousands of manga in his head, he had to be realistic in the future. Pokémon was burned once, Five Centimeters Per Second caused a stir, and Touhou Fantasy Township became empty talk... 'There must be more obstacles waiting for Takumi. He reminded himself not to be arrogant.'
After talking about the new theme, Genji seemed to have something else to say.
His face was full of hesitation, and he finally asked: "Takumi. Does what you said before still count?"
"What?"
Takumi reached out and picked up the teacup. He looked at Genji strangely. The elder pondered for a long time and said: "You said before that even if you became the majority shareholder of the company, you wouldn't be president. Do these words still count?"
"Of course they do." Takumi nodded and replied: "I can't run the company. As long as I can draw manga and do something according to my own ideas, like the current animation, I'm very satisfied."
He wants to be the majority shareholder of Hinotori Publishing. The main goal is to have a voice, to free himself from the limitations of others. As long as this is met, Takumi will draw and produce stories honestly.
"I'm glad." Genji praised him with satisfaction: "I'm relieved, Takumi. If you promise me three things, I'll increase your stake in Hinotori Publishing to 60% and no longer deduct royalties from you in the future. How about that?"
"Puff!".
Takumi and Alice spat out the tea in their mouths at the same time and coughed.
"Don't be funny...".
"Dad! You're crazy!"
Both were full of disbelief. 'Was the elder confused while sleeping? How could he say something so strange? Takumi owned less than 30% of the shares, and Genji gave away hundreds of millions of yen in shares. Is it possible?'
Furthermore, the most unscientific aspect of Genji's behavior was that he demoted himself from the position of majority shareholder and made Takumi the true owner of Hinotori Publishing.
Takumi absolutely did not believe that such a good thing would fall from the sky.
"Seriously..." However, Genji's expression was calm, without the slightest smile: "I don't want to give you many explanations, Takumi, just give me the answer directly."
Genji made this decision because he heard that Kanto was going to spend an astronomical amount of money to dispossess Takumi. If Takumi joined Kanto, Hinotori Publishing would be completely finished. Genji could not match Kanto's capital capacity, and he could only use the shares to retain Takumi.
"..." Takumi frowned and said: "What three things?"
He didn't understand why Genji was doing this, and he still harbored doubts.
"I will give you the shares without compensation, but I will remain president of Hinotori Publishing for three years. This is the first thing. The second is that, as long as I don't actively sell them, the remaining 40% will be mine."
Genji finished the two things at once.
The first is very simple. Takumi doesn't want to run the company, and the second is not too much. Now Genji's shares represent the vast majority. He gave some to Takumi and only kept 40% for himself. Takumi couldn't be ungrateful, so of course he would agree.
"And the third?" Takumi asked, eager to know the content of the last thing. Genji looked at Alice and lowered his gaze.
"I promise you something. Takumi, you will do something for me in the future."
This sentence was very familiar to him. Takumi remembered that every time he dealt with Genji, he seemed to have this purpose. When they first gambled, he asked Takumi to accept something. When they gambled a second time, he asked him for the same thing again, and this time... it was obviously the same.
"What do you want me to do?" Takumi asked, not daring to accept blindly: "President, if you don't make it clear, I won't accept the same thing three times."
Genji was speechless.
"Act as if I didn't say anything." After a short while, he shook his head and said: "The third thing is that, as the majority shareholder for half a year, you can use the company's resources to develop animations, manga, and other things as you please."
"Half a year later, if you manage to keep the company afloat competing with Kanto Manga Company, 60% of the shares will be yours. If the company goes bankrupt or its performance is even lower than the current one, you will have to return everything I gave you."
Genji's piercing gaze: "What do you think of this?"
It wasn't a gift, but a test. Genji's condition reassured Takumi. He didn't want to take advantage, and this matter suited him.
"No problem!"
Takumi was eager to try. Being the majority shareholder for half a year allowed him to do whatever he wanted. Genji provided him with tons of resources. If Takumi hadn't been able to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, he would have been reborn in vain.
Manga, animation, video games, merchandise...
Too many ideas, what should he choose?
- - - -
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