Do You Know How I Survived These Five Years?

"Your studio is pretty nice." Carter smiled as he sat down on the sofa.

After hurriedly serving tea to the two of them, Song Shan left Ethan Vale's office. They had not hired any idle staff yet, so there was not even anyone specifically assigned to pour water for guests.

"They say you Great Xia people like to get straight to the point, so I won't beat around the bush either." Carter took a deep breath and set down his teacup.

"I want to work with you. We can sign a new revenue-sharing contract. My bottom line is a ninety-ten split—you get ninety, I get ten." Carter held nothing back and laid out his terms directly.

There was not even any room for Ethan Vale to bargain over the terms Carter offered, which was enough to show just how sincere he was.

Ethan Vale: ...?

You're already giving me this much. What exactly do you want me to do?

"What kind of cooperation do you want to discuss?" Ethan Vale fell silent for a moment. There were no free lunches in this world, and he did not want his newly established studio to fall into a massive pit the next second.

"Once I tell you about my situation, you'll understand why." Carter's tone was somewhat dejected.

"I was assigned to oversee the Great Xia region after losing an internal competition. And the quality games produced by game studios in each regional market, then distributed worldwide, also count as part of our performance." Carter sounded helpless.

If he had a choice, he would much rather oversee another regional market, because every other country would occasionally put out some quality games.

"I've been here for five years. Over those five years, I went from hopeful at the beginning to utterly hopeless now."

"You're the best game studio I've seen during my tenure. If possible, I hope you'll seriously make your next game."

"I'm currently in charge of Steam's platform in the Great Xia region. I can sign a long-term contract with you in Steam's name. That way, even if someone else takes over later, they won't be able to breach the contract." After saying that, he stared intently at Ethan Vale. All he wanted was for this man to make another game—though better quality would naturally be even better.

That way, along with Dead Cells, he would have two trump cards in hand.

He would also have the confidence to submit an application to switch regions and leave this place.

"That's all?" Ethan Vale looked at him strangely. He knew that games in this world were in a slump, and Great Xia was even further behind.

But he had not expected things to be this bad—to the point where even the person in charge wanted to flee desperately.

At that moment, Carter's eyes seemed to be saying, Do you know how I survived these five years?

"That's it! This benefits both of us. You can get a high-revenue-share contract lasting twenty years, while all I want is to leave this place." Carter looked at Ethan Vale. That was all he was asking for.

"No problem." Ethan Vale looked up at Carter, his face full of a sincere smile.

"Then let's draft the contract right now." Ethan Vale did not hesitate any longer.

He genuinely did not want to hesitate for even a second over something this good. The other party merely wanted to leave. What had he done wrong?

Before leaving, he was even giving Ethan Vale a huge benefit. Who would not like that?

"Don't worry. My next game will definitely satisfy you." Ethan Vale's eyes were filled with amusement.

"Alright, we can sign the contract right now, but I want to know what genre your next game will be, how long it will take to make, and whether it can be finished before the end of the year." Carter had no issues with signing the contract. All he cared about was Ethan Vale's next game and what type of game he would make.

"The next game will be out in about three months. But I can still make another one before the end of the year."

"Haha, I don't understand game development, but I believe in you." Carter laughed heartily. In truth, based on Dead Cells' current performance, he could already transfer to a regional market with a game industry slightly better than Great Xia's.

He had only sought out Ethan Vale because he wanted to play it safe.

As for that absurd revenue-sharing contract?

Once he transferred away, it would be the headache of whoever came after him.

Huh? Did that have anything to do with him?

Nope. Hehehe~~

After the two had agreed on the details, Carter sent Ethan Vale the contract he had drafted in advance.

It had to be said that Carter was truly determined. Before coming to see Ethan Vale, he had already made thorough preparations.

There were no issues with any of the contract's terms.

Looking at that twenty-year ninety-ten revenue split, Ethan Vale could not help feeling exhilarated.

After sending the contract to Song Shan, he and Carter waited patiently in the office for Song Shan to print it out.

Song Shan was baffled when he received the contract.

Using the company printer to print the documents, he accidentally caught sight of the revenue-sharing clause while waiting for the printer to spit out the pages.

"Oh my god!" Song Shan could not help crying out.

The company printer was placed in an office corner outside for everyone's convenience.

Hearing Song Shan's cry, everyone at their workstations turned to look at him in confusion.

"Brother Shan, what are you looking at?" Someone curiously leaned over, wanting to see what was written on it. Song Shan immediately covered the contents with his hand. "Nothing. Get back to work. Don't ask about things you shouldn't."

Song Shan glared at the person and covered that page of the contract.

The printer continued churning out the finished documents. Song Shan gripped the still slightly warm A4 paper tightly in his hand.

He did not know whether this part needed to be kept confidential, but since Ethan Vale had asked him to print it, he was clearly trusting him.

But could the contents possibly be real?

A ninety-ten split? Had Steam's gaming platform gone insane? How could they sign such a contract?

That was right, he knew who had come to meet Ethan Vale—Carter, the person in charge of Steam's Great Xia region.

Before the meeting, Ethan Vale had told him that he would be meeting the man today.

At the time, Ethan Vale had said that he did not know why Carter had sought him out either.

Now, looking at the contract in his hands—

If he had not checked Carter's information online, and if the man who had shown up today did not look exactly like his photo, he would truly have thought Ethan Vale had encountered a scammer.

Song Shan took the two printed copies of the contract and delivered them to the office.

After taking the contracts, Ethan Vale and Carter merely looked them over once more before picking up their pens and writing their names in the signature fields.

"Mr. Ye, happy cooperation!" Carter was exceptionally excited as he looked at the document in his hands.

The contract stated that no matter what, Ethan Vale had to produce another new game selling over three hundred thousand copies before this October.

Otherwise, the contract would become void.

And if Ethan Vale really did make it, then his application to transfer out of the Great Xia region at the end of the year would be completely secure.

"Happy cooperation!" Ethan Vale extended his hand and firmly shook Carter's outstretched hand.

"I hope to see Mr. Ye's work as soon as possible."

"Definitely."