Chapter 3. Additional Condition
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"How could this happen?"
Kiyoshi Yuuma stood in front of a ten-story office building, letting out a sigh that was nearly one of despair.
A huge signboard with the word DUN hung at the top of the building. The glass doors on the first floor reflected his haggard appearance all too clearly.
The process of seeking investment had been extraordinarily difficult.
Before the economic bubble burst in Japan, securing investment was incredibly easy. You didn't even have to go and look for others; many investors would come to you offering money.
But now…
Only the phrase "deserted like a ghost town" could describe it. No one had money; just surviving was already considered good, let alone investing.
In times like this, anyone still willing to invest, other than banks, had to possess not only courage but also financial strength.
DUN Co., Ltd. was one of those rare, almost one-in-a-million companies.
To be precise, DUN wasn't actually an investment firm. They used to produce children's toys, but a year ago, they expanded into adult toys. Besides toys, they also handled the filming and distribution of some adult videos.
This company was one of the very few that hadn't been hit by the financial tsunami, and in fact, they'd even made a bit of money.
Kiyoshi Yuuma didn't know whether to say the president of DUN was too timid or too bold.
He was timid because he hadn't jumped on the bandwagon during the country's bubble frenzy to make quick cash. He was bold because he dared to explore new markets after the bubble burst.
But one thing was certain: he had been lucky.
Not long ago, DUN announced they wanted to invest in games. That might be Kiyoshi Yuuma's last lifeline.
"No matter how well you plan, who would've thought you'd stumble at a small hurdle like this."
Before this, Kiyoshi Yuuma had practically run through every major VC firm in Tokyo. He'd even gone to all the banks. The only thing left was borrowing high-interest loans from organizations with names containing the word 'Gumi'.
If he couldn't secure DUN's investment today, Kiyoshi Yuuma had no idea what he was going to do.
There's nothing more heartbreaking than not having the money to realize your dreams. He clearly knew that if he could just get started, the future would be bright. With Kiyoshi Yuuma's experience and capabilities, he could definitely achieve great things, but he had stumbled hard even before taking the first step.
Kiyoshi Yuuma took a deep breath, patted his cheeks, and pulled himself together.
"Let's go!!!"
Then, carrying his briefcase, he entered DUN's office building along with scriptwriter Ishino and the company's IT engineer, Asakawa Hiroki.
…
Because they had scheduled an appointment in advance, after arriving at DUN, Kiyoshi Yuuma was quickly led to the conference room.
Nervously, the three of them sat waiting for a while. The door to the meeting room opened, and in walked a young woman in a white fitted suit, with neatly styled hair, a slim figure, a sharply defined face, and a surprisingly prominent bust.
With just one glance, Kiyoshi Yuuma formed an internal impression.
This young woman was indeed beautiful, but she gave off an inexplicable sense of distance, and she didn't look easy to deal with.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Tsuda Nao, president of DUN. It's our first meeting, pleasure to meet you all."
"Nice to meet you."
Everyone quickly stood and bowed in return.
After sitting back down, Kiyoshi Yuuma was secretly stunned. He never imagined that DUN's president would be a woman, let alone such a young one. You know, considering the company's current main business was in the adult market, it required an extremely precise understanding of men's preferences.
Could a woman really understand men's preferences?
At that thought, Kiyoshi Yuuma felt a bit uneasy inside.
If he'd seen someone as beautiful as Tsuda Nao walking down the street, he might have felt joy and happiness all day long.
But in the business world, meeting someone like her wasn't necessarily a good thing.
It wasn't that he was biased against women. It's just that there were so few women in Japan working in professional industries, let alone in the game industry. Many young women don't even play games. Without enough understanding of games, she might very well reject his proposal outright.
But then again…
If she was a woman, maybe she'd be even more emotionally moved by the story of "Onmyoji".
…
After everyone finished introducing themselves, Tsuda Nao was the first to speak. "I've already read your company's proposal. To be honest, I was deeply moved."
"Thank you," Kiyoshi Yuuma quickly responded.
A few days earlier, Pokeni had already sent the proposal to DUN. Their initial response must have been favorable; otherwise, this meeting wouldn't be happening now.
When Tsuda entered the conference room, she was holding the Onmyoji project proposal they had sent before.
As she spoke, she flipped through the pages.
In fact, she had already read it more than three times before this. But every time she went through it, she couldn't help but be drawn into the story in it.
Tsuda Nao looked up, gazing at the young president sitting across from her, and asked, "President Kiyoshi, I see from your budget sheet that you've listed a development cost of 50 million yen, right? What is your estimated development timeline? Expected sales? Do you have a goal?"
"The expected sales volume is over 100,000 copies. My goal is to make this game a milestone, an eternal classic that players will still remember clearly even ten or twenty years from now."
Huh?
Ishino and Hiroki, sitting nearby, both flinched slightly. This was the first time they were hearing this part. No one had discussed it beforehand, and it genuinely shocked them.
100,000 copies!
That's an astonishing number. In a whole year, games that sell over 100,000 copies can be counted on one hand. The last title, Sword of the Heart, hadn't even sold 2,000 copies. Where did the president get the confidence to say this new game would sell 100,000 copies?
But thinking deeper, this had to be part of the president's strategy. It was obvious that President Tsuda wasn't someone well-versed in games. Investors like her cared more about return on investment. As long as they could secure the investment, it didn't matter what was said.
Yes, yes, it must be that.
Tsuda Nao lowered her eyelids without replying, her gaze falling on the proposal in front of her, studying it seriously.
To sweeten the deal, Kiyoshi Yuuma had even included a few character concept illustrations in the proposal. These corresponded to the male protagonist and the three female protagonists in Onmyoji. With his drawing skills, aesthetic sense, and technical level, these pieces were at least twenty years ahead of their time.
Tsuda Nao's eyes landed on one particular illustration: the first female protagonist, Yuuki Rei, who had long straight black hair, big beautiful pupils, a well-proportioned figure, and a unique expression of strength on her face. She wore a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit and held a longbow in her hands. Just one glance was enough to captivate anyone.
In fact, Kiyoshi Yuuma had designed her image based on Kikyo from the future Inuyasha anime.
Of course, once adapted into the actual game, the design and clarity of the character would be significantly downgraded.
To put it plainly, these concept illustrations were simply tools Kiyoshi Yuuma used to attract investment. It's good enough to fool outsiders, but any insider would instantly know such quality couldn't possibly appear in a real-time game.
After two seconds, Tsuda Nao spoke: "DUN will invest in your game. If 50 million isn't enough, we can add another 20 million."
Huh?!
Kiyoshi Yuuma was stunned.
They hadn't even asked many questions. How could she agree so easily?
He had come today prepared for the worst, even ready to grovel on the floor if necessary. He hadn't expected the other side to agree so readily.
"There's nothing to refuse," Tsuda Nao said. "This proposal is extremely well-done, with an excellent script and beautiful character design. I believe it can succeed."
She closed the proposal in her hands and looked up with a radiant smile.
Kiyoshi Yuuma immediately stood up and bowed deeply. "That's wonderful! President Tsuda, thank you—"
Before he could finish, Tsuda Nao interrupted, "However, I have one additional condition."
Kiyoshi Yuuma clenched his teeth.
Of course… there's no such thing as a pie falling from the sky.
If the agreement came too easily, he would feel suspicious. After all, DUN had managed to stand out in these turbulent times. There's no way the president would be a fool.