Chapter 10: Negotiation

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

“May we speak privately?” Wu Guoyi looked around. Obviously, it wasn’t a place suited for business conversations.

“Come on! Let me finish first!” when she heard that they were leaving, Bei Li was very reluctant. She had been having instant noodles with Lu Wu for a few days now, so it was difficult to part with the proper meal she was having now.

“This girl is…?”

“Ah, this is my younger sister!” Lu Wu replied.

Since Bei Li did not want to leave, Wu Guoyi resorted to temptation, “Hey, little girl, why don’t we go somewhere else? The food is even more delicious there!”

“Really!?” It was super effective, Bei Li turned her head with shining eyes.

“Of course!” Wu Guoyi laughed.

Only then did Bei Li reluctantly put down her chopsticks. She then held Lu Wu’s hand and went into Wu Guoyi’s car.

In the car, Lu Wu was quietly amazed. Is Platform173 so wealthy? He is just a manager but he can afford a limited edition Maglev Racer!

Wu Guoyi valued this meeting very much. He booked a dining room in the Palace Hotel, the finest in Indigo City. He even bought a bottle of wine worth more than his apartment.

Lu Wu’s jaw dropped when he saw the menu. He must be damn rich!

When all the dishes were served, Wu Guoyi smiled and finally asked Lu Wu, “May I know which prestigious studio developed this game?”

Lu Wu was stunned. He really could not answer this. There wasn’t a studio, there were just two people on the team, the Old Ancestor and Bei Li. Moreover, he himself was merely a coordinator.

“Confidential, huh? It’s alright! Come, drink!” Wu Guoyi smiled awkwardly, thinking hard on how to frame the question.

Facing a table full of dishes, Bei Li had long began eating, and Lu Wu wasn’t shy either. Whenever Wu Guoyi offered him a toast while he was eating, he would drink a little.

“Hey, Wu. Do you plan to sell your game?” Wu Guoyi finally entered the main topic when his face was beet red from the alcohol.

“Don’t worry, we will give you a fair price!” Wu Guoyi continued as he seemed to have thought of something.

You sly fox, Lu Wu whispered in his heart. As expected, Wu Guoyi was aiming for his game.

“We’ve put a lot into developing this game, so we don’t really plan to sell it,” Lu Wu rejected his offer tactfully.

“Ten billion, what do you say?”

Taking a deep breath, Lu Wu calmed his agitated mind, “We started doing this because of our passion, we don’t care about…”

“Fifteen billion!”

The price made Lu Wu’s heart beat quickly. It was an irresistible offer.

Although Lu Wu was penniless, he wasn’t a myopic person. He knew that if this game becomes a hit, it would generate profits way beyond that.

Moreover, he couldn’t sell it even if he wanted to. The underworld was real. The entire game was created by the battle artifact bound to Lu Wu’s body. No one else could use it.

“Honestly speaking, our team has no intention to sell this game. If you’ve played it, I am sure you are very clear on how advanced it is. If we only compare its realism, it basically trashes all other VR games in the market. So, in our opinion, our game is worth way more than that.”

Lu Wu had clearly presented his stance.

“Actually, we can still discuss the price further…” Wu Guoyi could not help sighing.

“How about, no!” Bei Li, with a mouth stuffed full of food looked up, too, and said while chewing.

He thought that the developer of this game should be a young man who is easy to tempt with money. But he didn’t expect Lu Wu to be this firm. This triggered Wu Guoyi to think about how he should maximize his profit on the platform next.

“Why don’t you release your game on our platform, and if you promise to become exclusive to us, I can give you this amount,” Wu Guoyi pointed a finger up.

“Then, what benefits do you want?”

If a game is released on a major platform, they would usually be charged a percentage of their revenue. Just like how the apps on the app stores are charged a percentage of each micropayment as service fees.

“Nothing else! If you release exclusively on our platform, I can give you a hundred million!”

Wu Guoyi’s condition was indeed attractive. Lu Wu understood what Wu Guoyi was after, and that was traffic on his platform.

If his game was exclusively released on Platform173, and becomes a hit, players would flock to his platform for Battle Online. This was Wu Guoyi’s goal.

If it was just a game, Lu Wu might have agreed to Wu Guoyi’s tempting proposition.

However, he had to consider the underworld.

He promised Bei Li to reclaim Beiqi, and even to conquer the entire underworld. In that case, the number of players would be a decisive factor.

If he agreed to Wu Guoyi’s request, it would no doubt inhibit the development of Battle Online.

“You may release my game, but I cannot promise you anything else. That would restrict our game’s development. Our goal is the entire world, so we need to release it on as many platforms as possible to promote this game!”

When Wu Guoyi saw Lu Wu’s blazing eyes and heard his ambition of making it popular all over the world, he was stunned.

He did not expect that both his ideas would be rejected. He felt unpleasant because he wanted to profit from the game as it wasn’t released yet, but he failed miserably.

“Mr. Wu, I have a suggestion. Would you like to listen?”

“Sure, go ahead!”

“Your main goal is to gain traction and traffic for your platform with our game. If so, our game can be released exclusively on your platform for two months. We will not work with other platforms in this period. But you have to promote our game on your main page during these two months.”

Lu Wu had his reasons for this suggestion.

Battle Online is a game in its toughest stage, the beta stage. Using this chance to propel their name, their player base would increase through further recommendations. In the later stages, they would not even need to promote their game themselves anymore. Naturally, more and more players would join to try it out.

It was the same for popular games such as League of Legends and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Wu Guoyi was surprised by this new hope. He followed with a smile, “You are a terrific businessman, but I accept your proposition. I am willing to bet that your game will be a hit!”

“It’s a deal!” Lu Wu smiled and raised his glass. After clinking his glass with Wu Guoyi’s, he emptied its contents into his mouth.

Then they talked about the game’s content. Lu Wu had researched this with Bei Li beforehand, so he was able to answer easily.

However, Lu Wu did not say a word about the main storyline development, only saying that it was confidential.

Wu Guoyi was disappointed. After all, it had been a long time since Wu Guoyi had played any games. And after playing this one, he had a nostalgic desire to play again.

But not knowing was good, too, as exploration is part of the experience.

Wu Guoyi felt that this talk was a success. After finishing their meal, Wu Guoyi paid the bill and left. He told Lu Wu that during the two months of promotion on their main page, they will air their cinematic trailer regardless of their sales ranking. So, he asked Lu Wu to prepare the CG trailer.

The happiest one of them all was indubitably Bei Li, as she stuffed herself with food the entire time. Looking at the tall stack of crab shells, Lu Wu could not believe that it was all the work of a petite girl.

Rubbing her tummy, Bei Li burped and said, “Yay, I’m full!”

Seeing Bei Li’s innocent smile, Lu Wu felt sorry that he couldn’t provide more to her.

But he knew that all these were temporary. The future is his era.