Early morning, the familiar sound of piano music was missing.
When he stepped out of his room, Aunt Lisa's family was sitting around the dining table, each holding their phone, eating breakfast in perfect sync.
William rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.
"Morning."
Facing William, Aunt Lisa was the first to notice him.
"What's going on?"
As William walked closer, he saw what they were looking at on their phones.
Jenny was playing—or maybe studying—a game called Classical Poetry Crossword. Uncle Zach was completely hooked on 2048. William couldn't see Aunt Lisa's phone at first, but when she put it down to help him get a bowl, he caught a glimpse and saw she was also on Classical Poetry Crossword.
Uncle Zach explained, "It's a school assignment. They have to do ten poems a day."
Wasn't Classical Poetry Crossword something only elementary and middle school kids did for homework? William clearly remembered that Jenny was only in kindergarten—she shouldn't have this kind of assignment.
He voiced his doubt, and Jenny pouted. "I don't even have time to play piano anymore."
"You can still do it after school," Aunt Lisa comforted her. Then she glanced at the clock and said to Uncle Zach, "Stop playing. If you don't go now, you'll be late."
Reminded by her, Uncle Zach quickly finished the rest of his porridge and jogged toward the door with a new burst of energy.
It seemed that after visiting his family, his mood had improved a lot, and the gloomy attitude from before was gone.
"Don't just sit there watching—finish your breakfast," Aunt Lisa said while tidying the dishes.
William sat next to Jenny and saw she was stuck on the clue "Spring breeze ( ) intention horse hoof ( )". He quietly gave her the right answer.
"Yay!"
Seeing the answer was correct, Jenny immediately put down her phone, buried her face in her bowl, and mumbled, "Thanks, brother!"
William just smiled without replying.
After watching the two leave, he cleaned up the table and got ready to take a taxi to the administrative service center.
According to what he'd read online, the company's approval had already gone through. All that was left was to collect the business license and other related items.
It wasn't even eight yet, but the hall was already more than half full. People were lining up to get a number and waiting to be called.
After about half an hour, it was finally William's turn. Once his identity was confirmed, the staff handed him the business license, official seal, legal representative seal, financial seal, and other items symbolizing the birth of his company.
His feelings were hard to describe. Having only worked for others before, this was his first time becoming a boss himself. There was fear, excitement, and a mix of other emotions.
But no matter what, he had taken the step.
He posted on Weibo to announce that Earth Games Co., Ltd. was officially established, and teased that their next project would completely shake up the gaming world.
He said "next" because Life Restart Simulator hadn't been released before the company was formed—there was still some final polishing to do. That meant it couldn't serve as their first big launch like Honor of Kings, but that was only a matter of formality. In reality, it didn't make any difference.
Just as he got into a taxi home, his phone buzzed with a WeChat notification. He thought it might be Cynthia letting him know she landed early, but it was Aunt Lisa sending her congratulations first.
"Remember, always fight for your rights! Your talent deserves more!"
"I will."
To this day, William had never explained to Aunt Lisa what his relationship with Earth Games actually was. First, there was no need. Second, the misunderstanding had gone too far, and he didn't want to deal with the trouble—so he just let it be.
After putting everything away at home, he immediately had to head to the airport to welcome Cynthia.
"Well, well, the big boss himself coming to pick me up. I'm truly honored," Cynthia said, walking out of the crowd in her winter coat.
A flash of awkwardness crossed William's face, but he quickly recovered and reached for her luggage. "Let me."
Cynthia glanced at him in surprise, then cheerfully handed him the suitcase with a smile. "Thanks, boss."
The two of them got into a taxi. They were expected to reach the city around 11 o'clock. William suggested they get something to eat first.
Cynthia quickly responded, "Let's go to Magnolia Restaurant!"
"You're really not holding back, huh?"
For someone like William, spending a few thousand on a meal wasn't a big deal. Still, just because it wasn't a problem didn't mean it didn't sting a little.
But feelings aside, since this was a welcome meal, William wasn't going to treat Cynthia poorly.
Magnolia Restaurant.
The greeter at the entrance seemed kind of numb to their arrival. She probably had never seen anyone treat a business meal like a regular lunch. The world of the rich was just beyond her understanding.
Once they sat down in a private room, Cynthia sighed sincerely, "It won't be this easy to get in next time!"
She had only been able to get in without a reservation because she worked at Tencent. But now that she had quit, word would soon spread. After that, coming back for a meal here wouldn't be so simple—unless William became a shareholder, but that clearly wasn't part of his plan.
"We're going to look at apartments this afternoon. Got any preferences?" William had already contacted a real estate agent—the same one who helped him rent his studio.
While eating the appetizers, Cynthia thought for a moment. "Good light and airflow, not too far from the office, easy to order takeout. It'd be nice if there's a park or basketball court nearby."
"You play basketball?" William looked surprised.
Cynthia had slim arms and legs, and she was always in heels. She didn't look like someone who played basketball.
"Of course," Cynthia said proudly. "How else am I supposed to go check out hot guys?"
William gave her a look and forwarded her preferences to the agent.
"I heard from a coworker that Tencent's having an internal investment meeting the day after tomorrow."
"Oh?" William perked up.
"It's about in-game ads for Jump Jump."
Of course. Only a game as popular as Jump Jump would get its own internal meeting.
"I was originally in charge of that project," Cynthia said, clearly annoyed. "If you can't make another hit like this in the future, we're gonna have a problem."
"Don't worry," William said with a confident smile. "Jump Jump was just a small game."
"Sure, sure," Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Just a 'small game' worth a few billion."
"A few billion?!"
William's eyes widened. He thought the ad revenue might hit a few tens of millions at most. But Cynthia just casually dropped a number in the billions.
"With over two billion total active users, and over a hundred million online at any time, how is it not worth a few billion?" Cynthia said, rattling off numbers William actually knew even better than she did.
"Are there really companies out there dumb enough to pay that much?" William was skeptical.
Would anyone really spend billions to place ads in a mobile game?
"You didn't think we'd get all that money upfront, did you?"
William took a sip of water. He kind of did think that.
"Jump Jump's ads are split into tiers. First-tier ads are permanent spots, costing over a million each, renewed yearly. Second-tier ads are around a few hundred thousand per month. Third-tier ads run weekly, for tens of thousands. Fourth-tier ads change daily, and cost just a few thousand."
"So how many ads would you need to hit a billion?"
Let's start with a small goal.
"Maybe seven or eight."
"Seven or eight?"
By that math, seven or eight didn't seem nearly enough.
Cynthia laughed. "That's just the base price for first-tier ads—over a million. But that doesn't mean it can't go over ten million. The actual price depends on how hard they compete for the spot. They call it an internal investment meeting, but it's really just a bidding war between big companies."
"That makes sense."
"So tell me, without me, how much money would you have lost?"
Cynthia was right. If she hadn't stepped in and handled things, and William had stuck with his original plan, he would've just handed over a few small targets for free—and he would've totally regretted it afterward.
"Here, let me toast you... with water!"
---
Read +30 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---