The head of the Marketing Department cleared his throat and pressed the remote for the projector.
A detailed report appeared on the huge screen.
"Everyone, this is the sales summary for our first batch of licensed Pokémon peripheral products, just one week after launch."
For a split second, the air in the conference room seemed to congeal.
Everyone's eyes focused on the rows of scrolling bar charts and astonishing numbers.
The report showed clearly that plush dolls, toy belts, themed stationery, and even tiny stickers and keychains had accumulated sales that reached a jaw-dropping figure.
More importantly, because the main revenue from these peripheral products came from brand licensing fees, their profit margins were far beyond anything the electronic pets themselves could compare with.
Silence.
A brief silence, so still they could almost hear each other breathing.
Then came the irrepressible sounds of sharp inhales and low gasps of amazement.
The directors who had still worn traces of scrutiny and doubt on their faces earlier all shut their mouths now.
The expressions on their faces underwent a complex and rapid evolution.
From that initial slight disdain, to stunned disbelief when they saw the data, then to eyes widening in incredulity, until finally, all their emotions turned into complicated looks mixed with relief and unconcealable excitement.
Nakayama Takuya quietly watched it all.
The light in the conference room filtered through the blinds, casting bright and dark patches across his young yet deep eyes.
Everything was developing basically as he had expected.
He could not help sighing inwardly: As expected of the world's number-one money-sucking IP.
He glanced at the new event he had prepared long ago. On the cover of the event proposal, a few large words were printed in eye-catching type—"Pokémon Center" Flagship Store and Preliminary Concept for Offline Events.