The Battle for Agency Rights

Unexpectedly, Old Ban could also sing, and he was particularly fond of military-themed songs like "Green Flower in the Army," "We Who Are Soldiers," and "Unity is Strength."

Especially when singing "Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty," Pang Ban's rough voice delivered the song with a sense of patriotic fervor, heroism, and grandeur that captivated the young ladies beside him, who were as gentle as those from the water towns of Jiangnan, their eyes shining with admiration.

As for Chen Hao, he was in the nostalgic corner, singing "Ex-Husband's Love" and "Sister, You Sit at the Bow" with the older sister in his arms, and they even finished with "Hu Lu Wa" and "Black Cat Detective."

The group sang, drank, and played games together, filling the private room with laughter and merriment, living in the moment.

When it was time to leave, Chen Hao and Lin Lang each left with a girl, and the girls were happy to go with them. After all, it wasn't every day they met such handsome and wealthy young masters.

Pang Ban, upon leaving, was like a scholar who had just passed the imperial examination, ruthlessly rejecting Chen Hao's arrangements. He left amidst the wistful glances of the Jiangnan young lady, a perfect example of unrequited love!

Half-drunk and with his senses slightly dulled, Chen Hao and Lin Lang, in just the right state, returned to their hotel suite with their respective companions.

It was time for the real battle of the day.

The battle process was 404.

An hour later.

After they left, Chen Hao, who had become a Sage and Wise Man, threw his business card into the trash.

He lay on the soft, large bed, feeling utterly drained, his eyes unfocused as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

He mused, "I've waited a full fifty chapters for this day."

With his body and mind relaxed, Chen Hao's mind was flooded with thoughts.

Eating, drinking, whoring, gambling – only one remains. He'll have to experience that another time if the opportunity arises.

He wondered how Old Brother's battle went; did they play overtime?

Surely the agency fee for Miracle should be enough by now?

He also wondered about the renovation progress in Beijing.

Chen Hao drifted off into thought, and soon, he fell into a deep sleep.

Miracle wasn't called Miracle yet; it was called MU.

MU was an online game launched by South Korea's Webzen in the latter half of 2001. It instantly became a sensation in internet cafes across Korea, recouping its development costs in just two months, demonstrating its terrifying profitability.

By the end of the year, MU was voted "Best Online Game" by several official and authoritative gaming institutions, and at the same year's game expo, it was named the most popular online game.

MU's virtual 3D technology created cool equipment appearances and dazzling special effects, combined with a human-centric equipment crafting and upgrade system, delivering a massive visual impact to players at the time.

It also transformed Webzen from a small game development and design studio into one of the leading game companies in Korea.

And today, Kim Nam-joo, the chairman of this Webzen company, was frowning, looking at the three bids on his desk, undecided.

He hadn't advertised abroad, yet these groups in China had sniffed him out like wolves smelling meat; their senses were indeed sharp.

The three companies were Shanda Network, The9, and Century Horizon.

Kim Nam-joo had heard of the first two. One was the agent for Legend of Mir, and The9 specialized in virtual communities. However, he had never heard of Century Horizon.

In terms of bids, the first two companies were stronger, but their offers were not entirely satisfactory. Century Horizon's price was very sincere, but the company had only been established for a month, and its management team consisted of young people, making him hesitant about the company's stability.

For this reason, he had organized a special meeting with the MU agency selection team. Although no final decision had been made, one option had already been eliminated: Shanda was the first to be dropped.

According to recent rumors, Shanda had some unpleasantness with Wemade regarding the Legend of Mir agency rights, so they preferred agents who didn't cause trouble.

The final conclusion of the meeting was to continue negotiations with The9 and Century Horizon for a second round of talks.

Looking at the proposal submitted by Century Horizon, a brand-new independent server room and a modern company facility depicted in their company brochure indicated significant strength. Especially the bid for the agency fee, 3.1 billion Korean Won (approximately 20 million RMB), was very tempting.

He wasn't in a hurry and was looking forward to the final negotiation results.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xiao, though unaware that he had already been eliminated by Webzen, had a feeling about it.

In the following days of contact, President Kwon's attitude towards him was no longer as warm as before, but rather professional.

Finally, after repeated invitations, President Kwon agreed to meet at a high-end nightclub in Seoul. It was only after a few drinks that he revealed some inside information.

He mentioned that there were two other disruptive players, and their bids were higher. Most importantly, Shanda's reputation in China wasn't very good.

He knew of The9, Zhu Jun's company, which was running a virtual community. He'd heard through the grapevine that The9 was struggling to pay its employees, so he didn't understand why they were getting involved here.

And who was this Century Horizon, and where did they come from?

Without showing any outward emotion, Zhou Xiao, after eating and drinking his fill, invited two beautiful hostesses to accompany President Kwon. He then proposed meeting other executives to try and win them over. Seeing that the president was receptive, President Kwon agreed to introduce him to two executives he was on good terms with.

With no other options, Zhou Xiao had to resort to an indirect approach.

President Kwon left with the ladies, leaving Zhou Xiao alone in the room. He loosened his tie, downed a glass of sake, and felt an inexplicable annoyance, feeling that everything at work had been going wrong lately!

He thought to himself, perhaps he should go to a temple to pray when he got back.

Zhu Jun was equally frustrated.

He had come to South Korea for tourism and enthusiastically watched a football match. That evening, with nothing else to do, he went online at an internet cafe and discovered an online game comparable to Legend of Mir.

With his keen business sense, he had a premonition that this game had great potential. And with the precedent of Shanda's agency for Legend of Mir leading to explosive growth, he also wanted to get a piece of the pie.

Seeing the business opportunity, Zhu Jun didn't hesitate and acted decisively. He contacted the game developer, Webzen, through their official website, while simultaneously instructing his already cash-strapped company to raise funds.

A few days later, he submitted a quote proposal for a total of 2 million US dollars, which converted to about 2.5 billion Korean won. This was the maximum funding he could currently provide.

He had initially thought it was a sure thing, but after their first meeting, he found the other party's attitude becoming increasingly ambiguous. At first, he suspected the Korean translator they hired wasn't good enough, but he eventually realized they genuinely needed to negotiate further.

"Damn it," Zhu Jun thought, "they probably saw how explosively popular Legend of Mir is in China and these bastards want to jack up the price."

But there was nothing he could do. At this time, Korean online games were all the rage. First came Thousand Years and Red Moon, followed by Lineage II and Legend of Mir, which had already captured more than half of the domestic market.

It seemed the matter had become complicated. Zhu Jun pondered for a moment, scrapped the previous agency proposal, and created a new one. Besides keeping the original amount unchanged, he added other concessions.

This included establishing a new company, which he would control, and then offering Webzen shares as additional compensation for the agency fee!

He had even thought of a name for it: The9 Interactive Entertainment.