DUN Corporation.
Inside the meeting room.
"We request an investment of 10 billion from your company."
Aoki Haruhi stood up and gave a deep bow to the president of DUN, who was dressed in a white business suit across from him.
Tsuda Nao closed her eyes and let out a sigh, feeling the urge to strangle this man.
She had originally only intended to offer him some advice and hints.
She never expected that it would end up biting her in the back.
"10 billion? Have you lost your mind?"
Tsuda Nao looked down at the proposal in front of her, which read—
"Next-Generation Handheld GamePoket Development Plan"
She didn't know who Aoki Haruhi had learned this from.
He was becoming more and more shameless.
"Where would DUN even get that kind of money? Even if we had it, why would we invest it in Pokeni?"
Tsuda Nao only flipped one page before her fingers stopped. In truth, she didn't need to look; she already knew the contents of this proposal like the back of her hand.
Usually, Haruhi Aoki would often talk to her about his dreams and plans for the future while they were eating or sleeping.
It's just that she never expected him to make such an exorbitant request.
If it were one or two hundred million, she could still find a way to manage the funds.
But this is 10 billion!
"Do you think money for DUN is that easy to come by?
I also have a responsibility to the board of directors and to DUN's shareholders, don't I?"
"President Tsuda, please finish reading the proposal first. Once I explain it clearly, you will understand," Aoki smiled politely. "This proposal is absolutely beneficial to DUN."
"Fine." Tsuda took a deep breath, trying hard to calm her emotions. "Then go ahead and tell me."
"First, DUN will invest in Pokeni, and we will collaborate with Sony and Sega to jointly develop a handheld console with a color screen."
"Huh? Sega?" Nao Tsuda looked completely baffled. "When did you get in touch with Sega?"
"I haven't yet," Aoki said. "But once I get this investment, I will go and persuade Sega."
"Well..."
Tsuda Nao covered her forehead, feeling an immense headache.
"President Tsuda," Aoki Haruhi said seriously, "Yesterday, while having a meal, a friend of mine told me something very important."
"And that is—
Only when you have enough weight of your own can you touch the other party's heart.
In other words, in a business context, it means—
Only when you have enough bargaining chips of your own can you stand at the same negotiation table as them.
And only then can you engage in smoother cooperation with them."
Yes, while having dinner with Tsuda Nao yesterday, Aoki Haruhi had already figured out this principle.
In his previous life, Sony could proactively seek out Namco to become partners, but they couldn't make a decision when facing Pokeni. That just goes to show that Pokeni's weight was not enough.
"So, you're seeking investment from DUN just to increase your own weight? Did that friend of yours not tell you that even with increased weight, there's still a possibility of failure?"
Nao Tsuda felt a sudden headache.
Should she call this guy smart, or just smart?
How could he be so quick to catch on?
The most crucial thing was, this wasn't her original intention. How did he end up setting his sights on DUN?
"The proposal I've drafted is actually a win-win-win-win scenario," Aoki Haruhi said. "As the main investor, DUN will secure the primary intellectual property rights and a share of the console sales, and the future royalties will also be quite substantial.
With Sony's technology, combined with the market scale Sega operates...
And games developed by Pokeni that are ahead of their time.
I've already calculated it. If we develop a new generation of handheld console and sell it for 10,000 yen, as long as we sell 2 million units, DUN, as the main investor, will see a return of over 5 billion yen.
And that's just the beginning.
If..."
"Wait," Nao Tsuda interrupted, "there's a problem with this part, isn't there?"
Aoki Haruhi stopped speaking and gestured for her to continue.
"These are all just theoretical values. The problem is, a console co-developed by Sony and Sega isn't necessarily going to be better than a Game Boy, right? Two million units is not a small number.
If they don't even sell 20,000 units, wouldn't DUN's investment be going down the drain?"
Seeing Tsuda looking a bit anxious, Aogi Haruhi found it rather amusing.
So this guy has moments like this too.
"President Tsuda, you've been in the business for so many years, don't you understand one principle? Investment always comes with risks.
Where would you find a deal that guarantees profit without any risk?"
Aogi Haruhi said resoundingly, "But the substantial returns that come with it are what your company should be considering, right?"
Tsuda Nao opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.
Truth be told, this was the first time she had been left speechless by Aogi Haruhi.
"Did you clear this four-party proposal with Sony beforehand?" Tsuda Nao threw out the question that had been on her mind.
"Not yet," Aogi Haruhi said, completely unashamed.
Uh...
Tsuda Nao really wanted to strangle him.
"But the 10 billion from DUN is our bargaining chip. With this 10 billion, I can leverage Sony and Sega," Aoki Haruhi said.
Pokeni didn't have the money right now, otherwise, they wouldn't need DUN to participate.
If Aoki Haruhi had this 10 billion himself, he would have wanted to do it alone.
To some extent, this proposal sounded a bit like wishful thinking, but Aoki Haruhi caught a whiff of possibility in it.
"President, you can take a look at our data analysis."
"In this report, we have listed in great detail the technology Sony possesses, as well as Sega's market scale."
"We compared the corresponding data with Nintendo."
"The final conclusion is—"
"If the R&D is successful, our probability of defeating Nintendo and achieving market success is as high as 56%."
"Isn't that worth a shot?"
"Besides, even if the four-party proposal ultimately fails, your company won't suffer any losses, right?" Aoki Haruhi asked.
Tsuda Nao's mouth twitched noticeably.
It would be better if it didn't pass.
If it did pass, wouldn't that be something?
"Persuading Sony and Sega is incredibly difficult in itself, isn't it?"
Tsuda pondered to herself.
She took a deep breath and slowly flipped through Aogi Haruhi's proposal.
I have to say, this proposal was put together quite thoughtfully.
But this proposal—even a bank wouldn't dare grant a loan for this, would they?
Wait.
If it were a bank...
Thinking of this, Tsuda Nao's thoughts suddenly cleared up.
She closed the proposal and a smile appeared on her lips. "DUN can sign a conditional contract with Pokeni. The condition of the contract is—
If you can convince Sony and Sega to sign, then DUN is willing to get involved."
"However," Tsuda Nao said, "this money won't be an investment from DUN. Instead, DUN and Pokeni will jointly apply for a bank loan.
The final debt will be shared between DUN and Pokeni."
"Can you do this?"
That detestable woman.
Doesn't this amount to shifting the risk onto the bank?
If things go wrong, Pokeni will go bankrupt and be seized by the bank.
But...
Thinking about it from another angle, Pokeni probably wouldn't be able to borrow this much money on its own anyway, right?
"No problem."
Aogi Haruhi had already made up his mind. He stepped forward and extended his right hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."
"No problem."
Qing Zhiyuan had already made up his mind. He stepped forward and extended his right hand, "Pleasure doing business with you."
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