Technical Advantages

"Of course, no problem. I've also felt lately that there are plenty of business opportunities in the cosplay scene. Those otaku seem pretty easy to make money off."

Wen Yu had a keen nose for business as well. He had already noticed this peculiar group that usually kept quiet and entertained itself within its own circle.

After several accidental encounters, he discovered that this group's spending power seemed somewhat beyond expectations.

It wasn't that they had a lot of money in their pockets, but that they were willing to spend!

They had extremely low demands when it came to other material things and could save up quite a considerable amount, yet when it came to things they were interested in, they spent without batting an eye.

Now that the boss next door had come to him with business, he naturally intended to give it a try as well.

"Let's start with footage of your employees playing games—sailor uniforms and nurse outfits. Bring in more varieties later. I'll make you a list."

Among the outfits Yuzhong Media currently had on hand, only those two were suitable for the time being.

Once costumes for certain anime characters became available, the results should be even better.

Using Little Broken Station as a starting point to break into the mainstream was probably one of the most cost-effective options at the moment.

They were neighboring companies, so filming would not take much time, and he could offer them a friendly price.

The models at Yuzhong were already of very high quality. Although several had undergone cosmetic surgery, the results had been excellent. Combined with makeup and matching outfits, the visual effect was striking.

They only needed to be pretty in the first place. Who watched videos and cared what they had originally looked like?

Paired with the beauty-filter app Lin Shiqin had developed, they would be unstoppable on Little Broken Station...

"Huh? Is that me? How did you do that? The post-production is amazing, especially in such a short time."

"Wow, that's me too. Can you send me a copy of the video?"

"I want one too."

"..."

It had to be said that Lin Shiqin truly understood women and aesthetics. The beauty software she had personally developed produced genuinely outstanding results.

Wang Yi did not intend to sell the software for the time being, though, because it would not fetch much of a price in its current form. The best approach would actually be to sell it to various phone manufacturers and have it integrated into their camera features, then charge them some kind of beauty-filter tax.

For now, these advertisement videos could also serve as a warm-up...

A university male dorm room looked rather messy.

The air carried the peculiar odor unique to boys' dormitories. The ceiling fan overhead creaked as it stirred the stifling air.

A bespectacled young man reclined on his bed.

A laptop sat on a small table before him, its screen playing a newly released anime filled with scrolling comments.

Only after the episode ended and the stirring ending theme began did he finally relax, as though a weight had been lifted off him.

"Sigh, now I have to wait until next week again..."

This year's new anime lineup had been incredibly satisfying for Jiang Bo. It was practically a battle of gods—any one of them could have been the season's dominant hit!

"Date A Live," "Attack on Titan," "A Certain Scientific Railgun," "Oreimo," "K-On!," and "White Album"—every single one was right up Jiang Bo's alley.

Along with Naruto and One Piece, which he was still following, his schedule was truly packed.

When the ending theme finished and Jiang Bo took off his headphones, he heard a familiar idiotic BGM coming from the bed opposite his.

He was nearly sick of hearing that BGM. It was unbelievably stupid.

"What are you doing? You've been at it for ages."

Jiang Bo asked.

"I sent it to you ages ago, but you never watched it. Hang on, this round's almost done. Once I watch this ad, I can clear it."

His roommate seemed to have entered an ad break. He looked up and answered Jiang Bo.

Jiang Bo merely smiled dismissively. He glanced over and saw a match-three game. It looked stupid as hell, and he had no idea why his roommate was playing it so enthusiastically. Watching ads for it? Was he crazy?

His roommate seemed a little abnormal.

Not wanting to hear that idiotic BGM anymore, Jiang Bo put his headphones back on. The new anime episode was over, and he felt a little empty.

Should he look for an older anime?

As he pondered, he casually clicked through some videos in the video section.

Very soon, the thumbnail of one video suddenly caught his attention completely.

It showed a young woman in a sailor uniform holding a phone and playing a game.

Because she held it in both hands before her, while the camera angle looked down from above, her earnest pretty face and that unfathomable cleavage, paired with the somewhat improper sailor uniform, instantly glued his gaze in place.

So pretty!

She was already model-level beautiful. With a good natural foundation, minor cosmetic work, makeup, and the beauty software Lin Shiqin had developed, all three buffs were fully stacked!

Then there was that otaku-bait outfit. On Little Broken Station at this point in time, it would absolutely crush everything.

Although plenty of people constantly shouted about their 2D wives and claimed their wives existed in the anime world, when a beautiful older girl with a real-life anime style appeared before them, quietly clicking in to take a look was only natural.

Then Jiang Bo heard that familiar BGM again, along with the sigh of that young lady.

"This is so hard~, minna-san~ Can anyone really clear this stage? It's so infuriating~"

Though that cutesy voice was a little out of place in this circle, she was just too pretty.

"Hehe~, if anyone can really clear this stage, contact me and I'll send you bonus photos~, you can pick a character for me to cosplay—any character at all. Even if you want stockings mailed to you or something, it's not impossible~"

As she spoke, she hooked a finger under the black stocking on her leg and gave it a snap. Even the slight curve where the edge of the stocking pressed into her thigh was crystal clear...

Jiang Bo gave a cold laugh.

Heh~

Shallow!

After adjusting his glasses, he closed Little Broken Station and took out his phone.

I just want to prove this game can be beaten. That's all...

"President Wang! Brother Wang! Old Master Wang! God Wang! Please, I won't charge you anything—help me out!"

Once the shoot was done and the models had all eagerly asked for copies of the video, Wen Yu, the Boss, came clinging over as if he had honey on his lips, trailing behind Wang Yi and begging him for help.

Wen Yu was very young. The fact that he had noticed the cosplay scene early on and gathered such a high-quality group of models under him showed that he had a good eye.

The moment his sharp eyes saw the finished video, he immediately understood the enormous business opportunity within it.

Holy shit!

This little company was about to take off! Why the hell were they still making games? What use was that dumb game? Working with me to shoot ads would be so much better.

"We're neighbors, so our company can make an exception and take on some post-production work for yours. We can even give you a friendly price, but you'll have to cooperate with our advertising needs in the future."

Software was meant to be used. Wang Yi did not want to release it yet because this version was far better than anything on the market, and he wanted more.

This place next door happened to be a living advertisement. Rather than going out to promote it himself, he might as well wait for people to come knocking.

By then, several games would have brought in substantial returns as well. With stronger finances, he would have more leverage at the negotiating table.

"Alright, alright. I'll be relying on you from now on, President Wang."

Wen Yu absolutely had an eye for this, and he was young and socially adept.

When Wang Yi agreed to make an exception and handle the work for their company, he was even more delighted, because that meant there would be no competitors in the short term!

The models under him had already been high quality. Add in that godlike post-production, and they would absolutely crush everyone else!

There were already plenty of heavily retouched Photoshop photos, but the era of video beauty filters had yet to truly arrive. Early beauty apps existed, but they were nowhere near as good as those of the future.

Not to mention that the program Lin Shiqin had made for Wang Yi was even more outstanding and comprehensive.

"By the way, President Wang, is there anyone you've taken a liking to? I think they'd be quite willing to get to know you better."

It had to be said that Wen Yu really knew how to handle people. He lowered his voice as he spoke to Wang Yi.

"Thank you for the kind offer, President Wen, but there's no need."

Wang Yi turned him down tactfully.

He was not some lofty, abstinent person.

But they now had a business relationship, and he possessed something they needed. If he could not keep himself in check at a time like this, it would be easy to get trapped.

Someone admired him? It was consensual?

Brother Dongzi would definitely have something to say about that.

Even if he managed to smooth things over in the end, it would still leave him covered in trouble.

When he could take it easy, Wang Yi could be very easygoing. But when self-control was needed, he could be disciplined to the extreme...

Second Update~

From now on, I'll try to put this sort of rambling in the author's notes. I was lazy before and often wrote it directly at the end of chapters, forgetting how that felt for audiobook listeners. Sorry about that~

If I do it again next time, remember to remind me, haha~