The volcanic ash-colored Panamera sped along the ring expressway.
Chen Pingjiang, firmly seated in the boss's seat, frowned as he carefully recalled all the information about Neople.
Guan Yifeng observed cautiously and attentively.
On this trip to South Korea, Chen Pingjiang was targeting the game "Dungeon Fighter Online," or DNF.
Chen Pingjiang only remembered that in early 2008, Tencent secured the agency rights for mainland China.
The reason he remembered it so clearly was mainly because he used to enjoy watching Xuxu Baobao's live streams, but he had never actually played the game himself, and didn't even understand why a 2D game could become so popular, and remain popular for so many years.
As one of Tencent's "Four Great Masterpieces," DNF once achieved a terrifying record of 5 million concurrent online players, breaking the highest online record for fighting online games.
Speaking of DNF, many post-90s netizens are probably no strangers to it, as DNF was extremely prevalent in the world of post-90s youth at the time.
A popular saying back then was: "Nine out of ten internet cafes have Dungeon Fighter!"
How profitable was it?
It is said that as of 2023, DNF had raked in a whopping 22 billion US dollars.
In terms of nominal total revenue without inflation, DNF is the highest-grossing video game of all time globally.
For such a profitable game, the revenue split between the two parties was Tencent 7, Neople 3.
It wasn't until DNF became hugely popular in China that both parties re-signed the contract and increased the agency fees.
Chen Pingjiang faced numerous difficulties on this trip.
Firstly, DNF itself was very successful in South Korea, hailed as the "national game," and so far, more than thirty domestic online gaming companies have participated in the competition for its agency rights.
Even Tencent back then went through a lot of trouble, let alone Chen Pingjiang, who currently had no involvement in the online gaming industry.
At that time, there were various versions circulating in the market about "Tencent acquiring DNF":
"No one wanted the side-scrolling 2D DNF, and Tencent just got a bargain."
"Major companies (Shanda, The9) suppressed prices from Korean companies and made unfair demands, leading to DNF falling into Tencent's hands."
"Or perhaps Tencent impressed the other party with its sincerity..."
In fact, all of these are wrong.
Just think about it: the first few billionaires in China made their fortunes by acting as game agents.
"Legend of Mir," "Audition," "World of Warcraft."
That was the era when Shanda and The9 made huge profits by distributing games.
Would they not be able to afford agency fees of a few million?
It's unclear how all sorts of rumors about the DNF agency rights dispute circulated back then.
At least according to Tencent itself, they put in a lot of effort.
And didn't they put in a lot of effort?
Currently, Tencent was still just a younger brother in front of Shanda and The9.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, Tencent's game business revenue was only 281.7 million yuan, while Shanda Games' revenue was 602.6 million yuan.
Companies like NetEase, Giant, and The9 also had higher revenues than Tencent.
Shanda became the largest gaming company in China with "The Legend of Mir," while The9 also thrived with "World of Warcraft" in its hands.
Tencent, on the other hand, was quite miserable.
Its previous attempts at game agency were lukewarm, and in the eyes of the clients, it demonstrated limited capability and insufficient reliability.
If even Tencent was considered "not reliable enough," one can imagine what Chen Pingjiang would be in the eyes of the other party.
When they arrived at the airport VIP lounge, the relevant staff from the accounting firm and law firm hired by Chen Pingjiang all stood up and respectfully greeted Chen Pingjiang.
It was the first time for everyone to see such a young big boss.
This team of business elites, each appearing astute, capable, stylish, and cool, quickly attracted the attention of other waiting passengers in the VIP lounge.
However, Chen Pingjiang attracted the most attention.
Soon after, a beautiful service attendant hurried over and softly said,
"Hello everyone, boarding is now open."
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Everyone stood up, their eyes fixed on Chen Pingjiang.
And Chen Pingjiang walked at the front of the line under everyone's gaze.
......…
The plane arrived at Incheon International Airport at 7 PM.
Neople had also done its homework and, knowing Chen Pingjiang's identity, sent a vice president to pick him up.
After picking up Chen Pingjiang, they proceeded directly to the Park Hyatt Seoul, located in the Gangnam Financial District.
This hotel is known for its understated and grand style, and its high-altitude residences.
"Chairman Chen, please rest well today. We will meet at Neople tomorrow at 10 AM,"
Said Jin Taiheng, Neople's vice president, with a smile.
Chen Pingjiang nodded, and after bidding farewell to the vice president, immediately held a meeting with his negotiation team.
"This is Manager Liu from the business consulting firm. Everyone, please get acquainted,"
Chen Pingjiang introduced Liu Weimin to the team in the conference room.
He was from a top business consulting firm that Chen Pingjiang specifically found in Shanghai, primarily to provide Chen Pingjiang's team with information related to this agency deal and assist with commercial operations.
Although Liu Weimin was in his forties, he was well-managed physically and appeared very gentlemanly.
"Currently, according to information obtained through our company's special channels, a number of domestic companies such as Shanda, NetEase, 9you, The9, Tencent, and Giant have already made preliminary contact with Neople.
Our competitors include some of the largest online gaming companies in China, and we are at a significant disadvantage compared to them."
"Although well-known online gaming companies have great confidence in DNF, their proposed terms regarding agency fees, revenue split, modification rights, server quantity, and promotional efforts are far from Neople's conditions.
This is because the Korean market is too small, and Neople highly values the mainland Chinese market, especially since previous Korean games like 'Legend of Mir' and 'Audition' were very popular after being licensed, earning their parent companies huge profits.
Therefore, they hope their partners will show sufficient sincerity and guarantee the use of maximum resources to promote DNF."
"However, Shanda has 'Legend of Mir,' NetEase has 'Fantasy Westward Journey' and 'Fantasy Westward Journey Online,' 9you has 'Audition,' Giant has 'ZT Online,' and The9 has 'World of Warcraft.'
Everyone is essentially raking in money effortlessly, so they can't agree on certain terms. As for Tencent, because it doesn't yet have a standout game to prove its operational capabilities, Neople is not very keen on collaborating with them."
"This concludes the information I've gathered in Seoul during this period."
Everyone present frowned; this battle would not be easy.
It wasn't even "not easy," it was "impossible to fight at all."
Their opponents had guns, cannons, and experienced soldiers, while they themselves...
But having taken the money, the work still had to be done.
Chen Pingjiang saw the troubled expressions of the group but smiled easily:
"I won't hide it, the difficulty of securing this agency is certainly immense; otherwise, I wouldn't have spent a high price to invite elites in your respective fields. Of course, you don't need to feel any psychological burden, just do your best. I am still the lead negotiator."
Liu Weimin said with a heavy expression,
"Actually, it's not that pessimistic. We certainly don't have an advantage compared to the others, but as long as our sincerity is sufficient, we can still talk."
After speaking, he looked at Chen Pingjiang, wanting to see Chen Pingjiang's reaction.
Chen Pingjiang, with his astute mind, immediately knew this was a test of his sincerity.
If he himself was unwilling to commit, morale would immediately crumble.
After all, with no guns, no cannons, and not even enough people, what good would it be to fight?
"My sincerity is absolutely sufficient; otherwise, I wouldn't bother flying for so long just to humiliate myself. Everyone can rest assured about this."
Everyone clearly breathed a sigh of relief.
With sincerity, there was still room for negotiation.
"Actually, the situation is very clear now. Neople is like a beautiful woman pursued by many handsome men. Some are tall and strong, some are rich second-generations, some come from good families, and we only have money. Of course, that's not entirely accurate; it should be said that we are the most willing to spend money."
After the meeting, Chen Pingjiang paced back and forth in his room, found Shen Nanpeng's number, and dialed it.
"Old Shen, it's me, Chen Pingjiang."
"Yes, I know. What's up?"
"I need your help here. Please take the earliest flight to Seoul tomorrow."
"..."
Shen Nanpeng on the other end of the phone was dumbfounded.
"Why?"
Chen Pingjiang smiled and said,
"I'm negotiating a big project and need your influence. We'll talk about the details when we meet tomorrow."
When Shen Nanpeng was about to ask further questions, Chen Pingjiang had already hung up the phone.
A dial tone buzzed from the receiver, and Shen Nanpeng, frowning, called Feng Tailin, the director from Sequoia Capital stationed at Renren.com.
As expected, Feng Tailin was also unaware.
Although he was nominally a director under Renren.com, it didn't mean Feng Tailin stayed in Dongjiang to work long-term.
He was only notified a week before each board meeting, and then he would rush to Dongjiang to attend.
And generally, corporate board meetings are only held a few times a year.
As Sequoia China's most promising seed player, Renren.com was naturally highly valued by Shen Nanpeng, as it related to Sequoia China's interests.
The next morning, Chen Pingjiang woke up, first went to the gym for a thirty-minute jog, then returned to his room for a shower, making himself look more refreshed.
The negotiation team left the hotel and drove towards Neople.
This was Chen Pingjiang's first time in South Korea.
"The infrastructure here isn't great, the roads are narrow and look dilapidated,"
Guan Yifeng complained, looking left and right.
"It's not surprising for such a small country; even the napa cabbage in their kimchi relies on domestic supply, otherwise, they wouldn't have any to eat. Fruits, vegetables, and grains are all imported. Koreans particularly love watermelon, but most people are reluctant to buy it because it's too expensive."
To some extent, a country's menu and recipes represent its cultural heritage.
You can tell this by looking at Western cuisine.
Especially in the UK, it's practically a culinary wasteland; international students there almost cry.
South Korea also makes international students cry; the food in school canteens is worse than what ordinary dogs eat in China.
A small country with an exceptionally strong national pride, claiming everything as theirs.
They often consider themselves a developed country.
Chen Pingjiang's impressions of South Korea also included being "overly competitive," super fond of iced Americanos, seemingly not needing sleep, being "masters of disguise," with chaebols in power, and rampant feminism.
"Sigh, it's no wonder people in this country want to emigrate."
(End of chapter)