Chapter 15: This Is It?

You Were Told to Lose Money By Making Games, and You Actually Did It? 

Chapter 15: This Is It?

"Pr-President Chen, what is all this?"

Kamiyama quietly swallowed and tried to maintain a calm expression, pretending not to understand.

"This is also for the sake of our friendship," Chen Xu replied with a smile.

"After all, we're newcomers in many areas ourselves."

"Y-Yes— of course! Hahaha!"

Kamiyama forced out an awkward laugh, but internally he felt terrible.

This was completely different from the plan!

Why were there lawyers and bank guarantors involved?

Although his expression remained unchanged on the surface, inside he was screaming.

Even though he worked in the gaming industry, Kamiyama had heard of Komon Law Firm.

It wasn't the largest law firm in Japan, but it was certainly one of the most expensive.

And there was a reason for those fees.

Whether in civil law, criminal law, or commercial matters, their attorneys were among the best in the industry.

As for Osaka Bank, Kamiyama was even more familiar with them.

Not long ago, Hyakukin Studio had signed a collateralized loan agreement with the bank.

A subcontracting deal worth less than twenty million yen and you hired Komon Law Firm to draft the contract and the Osaka Bank to provide performance guarantees?

You're an absolute monster!

The money spent on the lawyers and bank exceeds the outsourcing fee itself!

As he led the group into Hyakukin Studio, Kamiyama still wore a friendly smile, but inside, he already felt as though he'd been stabbed full of holes.

The temperature outside was around twenty degrees Celsius, yet he felt an icy chill penetrating his bones.

"This is Omori Tsune, one of Hyakukin Studio's executive directors."

Kamiyama called over a middle-aged man with a balding hairstyle and introduced him.

Afterward, he turned toward Chen Xu and lowered his posture to an almost absurd degree.

Right in front of his own employees, he performed a flawless ninety-degree bow, then he sincerely blurted out:

"Hontō ni sumimasen!" (I am truly sorry!)

"President Chen, I sincerely apologize, but there are some urgent matters within the company that require my immediate attention. Would it be possible to discuss the outsourcing contract a little later?"

"For now, perhaps Director Omori could show you around our studio so that you may gain a deeper understanding of our operations."

Chen Xu was stunned.

Having never experienced such an overwhelming display of Japanese bowing etiquette before, he felt genuinely shocked.

"No problem."

"If President Kamiyama has urgent business to attend to, please handle it first. We can discuss the details later."

Chen Xu nodded in agreement.

The exact timing of the contract signing didn't concern him much.

As long as the money got spent, everything was fine.

Besides, he was honestly curious about Hyakukin Studio.

"Thank you very much for your understanding!"

Kamiyama showed a deeply grateful expression.

Then he bowed once more before quickly turning and heading toward the executive offices.

He walked away fast.

Very fast.

The sudden appearance of Attorney Komon and Department Manager Hanzawa from Osaka Bank had completely destroyed all of his original plans.

For the first time, he wasn't entirely sure what to do.

Still, he wasn't panicking.

Kamiyama firmly believed that Inaba would come up with a brilliant solution.

. . .

"President Chen, we'll remain here."

Attorney Komon smiled politely from the side.

"If we're needed, just let us know."

Department Manager Hanzawa nodded in agreement.

After all, neither of them worked in the gaming industry.

They had little interest in touring a game studio.

Compared to that, sitting in the reception room, drinking tea, browsing their phones, and waiting until it was time to work sounded far more comfortable.

Chen Xu didn't insist.

The money had already been spent, which was what mattered.

And to be honest, he really was quite curious about what Hyakukin Studio was actually like.

"Director Omori, we'll be troubling you then."

Chen Xu smiled politely at Omori Tsune.

"Not at all, not at all. It's my pleasure," Omori quickly returned the smile.

At that moment, he was feeling quite a bit of pressure himself.

Although he had no idea what urgent matter had suddenly called President Kamiyama away, he knew one thing:

Everyone standing before him was a major client of Hyakukin Studio.

If he failed to entertain them properly, then when he next faced the president, a simple bow and a "sumimasen" probably wouldn't be enough.

Looking at the large crowd before him, Omori took a deep breath.

Carrying the weight of that responsibility, he led Chen Xu and the others deeper into the studio while providing introductions.

"This is our recording area. Simple music tracks, sound effects, and voice recordings for our games are all produced here."

"And over here is our motion-capture studio. All of the in-game performances are created in this facility."

As Omori guided the tour and explained each department, he secretly observed the visitors' reactions.

Sure enough, Gong Qi, Xiu Fu, and the others all looked excited and impressed.

While Hyakukin Studio wasn't considered one of the industry's giant publishers, it was still a well-known international studio.

And with a development team of over two hundred employees, it was by no means small.

Unlike Morning Star Games—which still had to rent external facilities for voice recording and motion capture—Hyakukin Studio possessed everything in-house.

"And this is our main workspace."

Omori proudly gestured toward the office area.

"Our art department, programming team, game design staff, and balance designers all work in separate sections."

However, something unexpected happened.

The visitors who had been excited just moments ago suddenly became strangely calm.

"So this is the Hyakukin office setup?"

"It feels worse than ours."

"I can't tell what CPUs they're using, but those graphics cards look like 70 Ti models. And aren't they from two generations ago?"

"Those monitors aren't very impressive either."

"A lot of them are using identical keyboards. The company probably doesn't provide equipment reimbursement."

The Morning Star employees quietly whispered among themselves.

At first, they had been genuinely impressed.

Some of them even felt like country bumpkins visiting a grand palace for the first time.

They had assumed that a famous overseas studio would be completely different from what they were used to.

But after seeing the actual office...

This is it?

Compared to the treatment President Chen provided them, it wasn't even close.

The atmosphere instantly became a little awkward.

As the tour guide, Omori suddenly felt like he wanted to dig a hole through the floor with his toes.

Although he couldn't understand Chinese, he could read their expressions and tone well enough.

The two interpreters standing beside Chen Xu also became unsure whether they should translate those comments.

Fortunately, before things could become any more uncomfortable, a familiar voice sounded from behind.

It was Kamiyama Atsushi.

At that moment, Omori felt as though a tremendous burden had been lifted from his shoulders and let out a silent sigh of relief.

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Tn: I updated the story once a day, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.

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