The Troublesome Agent

The Virtual Battle Company sent two representatives. Bai Xiaowen knew one of them; he was a chubby middle-aged man An Li, who was the head of the Virtual Battle Company's branch in Jinghai Base City.

When Bai Xiaowen's virtual store shipped its first item, it signed a guarantee agreement with the Jinghai branch of the Virtual Battle Company. The person in charge at that time was An Li.

An Li merely Standard Template -Intermediate Awakened, and he doesn't have much ambition for personal strength anymore. In middle age, he craves a comfortable and respectable life. For the Virtual Battle Company, hiring an Awakened to manage branch affairs is more convenient when storing and transporting psionic items.

There are many awakened individuals like An Li who are not strong and have limited potential. They are unwilling to go to the Spirit Realm and only dare to go to low-risk areas in the Wilderness Zone. Their strength is basically stagnant, so they might as well give up their efforts on the path of evolution and enjoy life.

It should be noted that even among these awakened individuals at the bottom of society, their level of comfort still surpasses that of most ordinary people. This is why professions for awakened individuals are highly sought after by many parents.

An Li was merely accompanying Bai Xiaowen during this negotiation. He formally introduced his companion to her.

"Bai, this is Yuan Hongji, a negotiation representative sent from our company headquarters. He is fully responsible for the issues concerning your image and the right to use the template."

After shaking hands with Bai Xiaowen, Yuan Hongji carefully examined Bai Xiaowen and said with a smile, "Bai Xiaowen has more of a star quality than I imagined."

Bai Xiaowen greeted the two of them and introduced her personal agent, Sister Zheng, to Yuan Hongji.

The advantages of having a personal agent became apparent. Bai Xiaowen and An Li sat to the side drinking tea and chatting, only needing to watch Sister Zheng and Yuan Hongji negotiate.

"Regarding the rights to use Bai Xiaowen's character image template, our company intends to buy it out for ten million yuan. Of course, the purchase is limited to the Player Platform of the Virtual Battle Platform... This price is already very sincere for Intermediate Awakened. This is a win-win situation; with Bai Xiaowen's personal image appearing on the Player Platform, his popularity will skyrocket..."

"Is that so?" Sister Zheng smiled slightly. "I have a slightly different opinion."

"Please speak." Yuan Hongji maintained excellent manners even in front of the beautiful lady.

"Virtual Battle Company buy out over one hundred Awakened templates annually, but of these one hundred Awakened, fewer than ten achieve significant exposure. The other ninety-odd Awakened don't see a marked increase in their World Fame. I've compiled statistics on this, and I have a table. Mr. Yuan, please take a close look and see if there are any discrepancies between my statistics and your company's actual data?"

Sister Zheng handed a folder to Yuan Hongji.

Yuan Hongji's relaxed expression vanished, replaced by a hint of seriousness. He didn't actually need to look at the document to know that Sister Zheng was telling the truth.

Virtual Battle Company acquire Awakened character templates primarily to enrich the Player Platform's vast database, diversify character choices, and enhance Player Platform game's replayability. With limited promotional resources, only a few dozen Awakened characters are heavily promoted each year. After removing the top-tier Awakened characters, how much promotional resources are left for newcomers?

Yuan Hongji pretended to be flipping through documents, organizing his thoughts. He quickly composed himself, looked up, and smiled again, "This information is very detailed, and Ms. Zheng's information is very accurate..."

After a pause, Yuan Hongji continued, "Ms. Zheng can rest assured regarding the promotion of new talents. Bai Xiaowen, as an Awakened template, is a top-tier, high-potential character. We will definitely strongly recommend her among the new talents we've bought out this year."

Sister Zheng smiled and said, "I'm glad we've reached a basic consensus. However, I hope your company can place Bai Xiaowen in a more important position, and not just treat her as a newcomer."

"A more important position?"

"Yes. The year Spirit Origin Era is approaching, so the Virtual Battle Company should have a new version to update, right? I hope Bai Xiaowen can have a sufficiently significant entrance animation in the opening CG of the new version in 1997." Sister Zheng revealed her true purpose.

Yuan Hongji's expression changed, and he shook his head repeatedly. "That's impossible, I can't agree to that."

The so-called new version opening CG refers to an animation lasting ten to several tens of seconds, in which many of the classic Awakened character images from the Player Platform will appear.

(Those who have played King of Fighters can imagine the opening animation of King of Fighters '97, where dozens of fighting characters take turns striking poses and showing their faces. Among them, the main characters' team (Kyo Kusanagi's team), Iori Yagami, and the Hell Band have precious action scenes that are very memorable.)

This short CG sequence, lasting only a few dozen seconds, is incredibly valuable, and many Awakened Ones are willing to pay extra to get in.

This is a huge advertising effect. Every CG clip from the Virtual Battle Company is extremely well-made, so much so that some people jokingly say that the Virtual Battle Company should be renamed the virtual movie company.

Almost every ordinary person using the Player Platform will click to watch the new version of the CG. They know every awakened character that appears in it like the back of their hand, and the new faces often cause heated discussions and even make it to the top of the trending searches.

Sister Zheng made outrageous demands, not only requiring the Virtual Battle Company to include Bai Xiaowen's character in the opening CG of the New Year version, but also demanding that he enjoy "significant animation" treatment like the protagonist. Yuan Hongji resolutely refused.

Sister Zheng was not discouraged. The key to business negotiations is not winning, but communicating with the other party and finding the key point that both parties can accept.

"Mr. Yuan, you can take a look at my employer. His personal image, physique, temperament, and most importantly, his talent—every aspect is top-notch. I can guarantee that if your company uses him as the protagonist of the opening CG, it will achieve results beyond imagination."

Yuan Hongji said, "I admit that Bai Xiaowen has the potential to become a superstar, but that's just potential. In that important opening CG, there are already no fewer than ten superstars. They are all classic characters from the Player Platform and need to occupy a major portion of the CG! Letting them serve as a foil for a newcomer? Impossible."

"Why not? Classic characters are an advantage, but also a disadvantage. Players who are used to seeing the same old faces, would they rather see more new characters in the new version, or just keep rehashing the same old ones? New versions, new Hero Tier, a fresh look, and constant innovation are the key to attracting players to continue using the battle platform."

Yuan Hongji narrowed his eyes and began to think; what Sister Zheng made sense.

If the opening cinematic of the 1997 version features characters from three, five, or even ten years ago, what's the difference between it and the 1996 version?

Once the platform loses its novelty, player support will inevitably decline—and there are other gaming platforms besides Virtual Battle Company, this isn't a monopoly.

"I must consult with the company's senior management." Yuan Hongji stood up and walked out the door.

As soon as Yuan Hongji stepped outside, he looked up and saw a huge crowd of people.

"Who... are you looking for?" Yuan Hongji felt a little dizzy. The crowd in front of him was mostly girls, mostly around fifteen or sixteen years old.

"Excuse me, are you a negotiating representative from the Virtual Battle Company? Are you here to discuss the rights to use the templates with Xiao Wen?" Yi-Yi squeezed through a group of cute girls, her voice as sweet as cotton candy, making one's body melt.

Yi-Yi's voice isn't the affected, nauseating kind of affected sweetness; rather, it's genuinely natural, radiating a sweet and charming quality from the inside out.

"Uh, yes..."

Before Yuan Hongji could finish his sentence, he was almost drowned out by the surging sound.

"That's awesome! We absolutely have to bring Xiao Wen's character to the Player Platform! I've been wanting to try out the summoner class for ages!" Wu Mengchen, a young boy with a few pimples on his face, exclaimed.

"Me too! As long as Xiao Wen's character is released, I'll buy it no matter the price, and I want to collect all the skins!" said another chubby, round-faced girl.

"Yeah, Xiao Wen is so pretty, I want to buy it too! We're both loyal users of the Virtual Battle Company's Player Platform!"

Yuan Hongji finally found an opening and quickly expressed his gratitude on behalf of the company, then asked, "Are you all Bai Xiaowen's fans?"

"Yes, we're all here for the fan meeting."

"Getting a spot at this fan meeting wasn't easy; all my classmates and roommates are so envious of me."

"..."

Blah blah blah, and Yuan Hongji was getting dizzy listening to it. However, he understood that combining the fan meeting with the negotiations was probably a tactic employed by that manager.

As a seasoned business negotiator, Yuan Hongji did not dislike Sister Zheng's approach; negotiators, of course, should do everything possible to showcase their side's advantages.

This clearly demonstrates Bai Xiaowen's appeal to fans, especially teenage fans, who are precisely the main consumers of Virtual Battle Company Player Platform.

Having finally escaped the onslaught of fans, Yuan Hongji's attitude and stance during his phone call with senior executives of the Virtual Battle Company had subtly shifted.

He initially thought that what Sister Zheng said about making Bai Xiaowen's character the protagonist of the new version of the CG was a pipe dream—because of Bai Xiaowen's experience, it was almost impossible for him to even enter the CG; at most, he would only appear in the same frame as a few other outstanding newcomers.

But now, Yuan Hongji feels that it's not a bad idea to be bold and innovative, and to cast Bai Xiaowen as the male lead in the CG...

After connecting with a senior executive at the company, Yuan Hongji briefly explained the situation and suggested that Bai Xiaowen be the male lead in the CG film.

"Your suggestion could indeed succeed and further expand our company's market share in the gaming industry. However, the risks are too great. We can't gamble our entire year's worth of plans for our Virtual Battle Company Player Platform on a single Level 5 Awakened player..."

On the other end of the phone, the company's senior management quickly responded and outlined Yuan Hongji's bottom line for negotiations:

"Every second of the new version's opening animation is precious, and you know how important it is. The company's bottom line is that we can let Bai Xiaowen, as a newcomer, have a single frame of his entrance, and we can even create some entrance actions for him, but it's absolutely impossible for him to be the male lead."

After a pause, the higher-up instructed, "You can propose that Bai Xiaowen appear in the opening animation alongside the other two newcomers, sharing a single frame of their entrance. If that works out, all the better."

Yuan Hongji could only nod. "Yes, Mr. Chen, I'll try my best. However, the other party's agent is very difficult to deal with."

Mr. Chen on the other end of the phone offered a few words of encouragement before hanging up.

Yuan Hongji sighed inwardly. President Chen still preferred stability and did not want to take any rash actions. As a lowly subordinate, Yuan Hongji could only follow orders.

Back in the conference room, Yuan Hongji and Sister Zheng resumed their conversation.

Actually, Sister Zheng's initial request to have Bai Xiaowen's character as the male lead in the CG was just an exorbitant price. Seeing Yuan Hongji's firm attitude, she didn't insist and compromised by accepting Yuan Hongji's bottom line, which was to have Bai Xiaowen appear alone in the early stages of the CG with actions, and the appearance time should not be less than 1 second.

This is already the treatment of Great Ming; in a few dozen seconds of CG, her importance is only slightly less than that of the protagonist.

"While this aspect didn't meet my expectations, it's still barely acceptable," Sister Zheng said with a smile, pulling out another stack of documents. "Mr. Yuan Hongji, you've worked hard. Would you like to take a break before we move on to the second item, the signing bonus?"

"..."

"Wasn't it all over?" Yuan Hongji paused for a second, then subconsciously asked, "A buyout for ten million? Is there a problem?"

Sister Zheng decisively took over the conversation and moved on to the second point of negotiation. "As far as I know, your company has two types of contract templates for Awakened characters: one is a buyout, and the other is a profit-sharing agreement. I have absolute confidence in my employer's potential, so a buyout contract would clearly be detrimental to the employer's interests. I hope your company can provide another contract template, a profit-sharing agreement."

Before Yuan Hongji could speak, Sister Zheng had already handed him two stacks of documents: a buyout contract and a profit-sharing contract.

Yuan Hongji sighed. He had underestimated his opponent, thinking he was just facing a young man. He hadn't expected Bai Xiaowen's manager to be so difficult to deal with.

These two contracts alone demonstrate how well-prepared Sister Zheng was.

"How should the revenue-sharing agreement be structured? The revenue-sharing agreement template you gave me is an S-Tier agreement, the treatment of a superstar. It's absurd that Bai Xiaowen can currently enjoy a 50% share of the platform's revenue and 25% of merchandise sales."

"We can sign a landmark revenue-sharing agreement," Sister Zheng said with a smile, pulling out the third stack of documents.

The so-called milestone contract is actually a performance-based contract, betting on the revenue and benefits that Bai Xiaowen will bring to the platform within a certain period, including revenue from unlocking characters within the platform, as well as the sales of subsequent peripheral products, figurines, etc.

If revenue reaches a certain milestone, the revenue sharing will be based on the corresponding milestone's profit-sharing ratio. The higher the revenue, the higher Bai Xiaowen's profit-sharing ratio.

Looking at the thick third stack of documents, Yuan Hongji felt a strange sense of unease creep into his heart...

I didn't update yesterday because of something... and I didn't ask for leave... I'm sorry.