Chapter 83. Simply an Outrageous Demand
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DUN, conference room.
"Please invest 10 billion yen in us."
Kiyoshi Yuuma stood up and bowed deeply to the DUN President in a white suit across from him.
Tsuda Nao closed her eyes and sighed, suddenly feeling an impulse to strangle this man.
She had only intended to give him some advice and hints.
She never expected it would end up trapping her instead.
"10 billion—are you crazy?"
Tsuda Nao lowered her gaze to the proposal before her, which read—
Next-Generation Handheld Game Pocket R&D Plan
This Kiyoshi Yuuma guy... who knows who he learned from—
He was getting more and more shameless.
"Where would DUN get so much money? Even if we had it, why should we invest it in Pokeni?" Tsuda Nao had only turned one page when her finger stopped. She didn't even need to read further—she knew the contents by heart.
Kiyoshi Yuuma had spent countless meals and bedtime conversations telling her about his dreams and future plans.
She just never imagined he would make such an outrageous demand.
If it were one or two hundred million, they could still think of a way.
But this was 10 billion!
"DUN's money doesn't come that easily. I also have to be responsible to the board and to DUN's shareholders, okay?"
"President Tsuda, please finish reading the proposal first. Once I explain it clearly, you'll understand." Kiyoshi Yuuma smiled politely. "This proposal is absolutely very beneficial to DUN."
"Fine." Tsuda took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Then let's hear what you have to say."
"First, DUN will invest in Pokeni, and we'll collaborate with Sony and also with Sega. Together, we'll develop a color-screen handheld console."
"Eh? Sega?" Tsuda Nao looked completely bewildered. "When did you make contact with Sega?"
"Not yet," Kiyoshi Yuuma said. "But once I get this investment, I'll go convince Sega."
Ah, this…
Tsuda Nao pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling completely overwhelmed.
"President Tsuda," Kiyoshi Yuuma said earnestly, "yesterday a friend told me something very important over dinner."
"That is—
Only when your own weight is sufficient can you move the other party's heart.
In business terms—
Only when you have enough chips can you sit at the same negotiating table with them.
Only then can cooperation go more smoothly."
Yes, after having dinner with Tsuda yesterday, Kiyoshi Yuuma had figured out this principle.
In his previous life, Sony could proactively seek out Namco as a partner, but when facing Pokeni, they couldn't make a decision—that meant Pokeni didn't have enough weight.
"So you're looking for DUN to invest so you can increase your weight? Didn't your friend tell you that even with increased weight, there's still the possibility of failure?"
Tsuda Nao felt a headache coming on.
Should she say this guy was smart, or too smart?
He understood immediately.
The worst part was—it hadn't even been her intention, so how did the calculation end up targeting DUN?
"This proposal is actually a four-way win," Kiyoshi Yuuma said. "DUN as the main investor will obtain the primary intellectual property rights and profit sharing from game console sales.
Future royalties will also be considerable.
Sony's technology, Sega's market scale…
And Pokeni's games that transcend the era."
"I've already calculated—if we develop a next-generation handheld console and sell it for 10,000 yen, as long as we sell 2 million units, DUN as the main investor could gain over 5 billion yen in returns.
And that's just the beginning.
If—"
"Wait," Tsuda interrupted. "There's a problem with this part."
Kiyoshi Yuuma immediately paused and gestured for her to continue.
"These are all theoretical values. A handheld console jointly developed by Sony and Sega won't necessarily be stronger than the Game Boy, right? Two million units is not a small number.
If we can't even sell 20,000 units, wouldn't DUN's investment be completely wasted?"
Seeing Tsuda getting anxious, Kiyoshi Yuuma found it quite amusing.
So she had moments like this too.
"President Tsuda, you're an experienced person. After being in business for so many years, you should understand one principle—
Investment always carries risk.
Where is there a business that guarantees profit without loss?"
"But the considerable returns within this are what your company needs to consider, right?" Kiyoshi Yuuma said firmly.
Tsuda opened her mouth but couldn't respond.
Honestly, this was the first time she had been rendered speechless by him.
"Has this four-way proposal of yours been discussed with Sony in advance?" she asked, voicing the doubt in her mind.
"Not yet," Kiyoshi Yuuma replied shamelessly.
Uh…
Tsuda Nao really wanted to strangle him.
"However, DUN's 10 billion is our bargaining chip. With these 10 billion, I can leverage Sony and Sega," Kiyoshi Yuuma said.
Right now, Pokeni had no money—otherwise they wouldn't need DUN at all.
If Kiyoshi Yuuma himself had 10 billion, he'd go solo.
The proposal was, in some sense, wishful thinking, but he could still sense a possible path forward.
"President, please look at our data analysis."
"In this report, we've detailed Sony's technology and Sega's market scale. We've compared these figures with Nintendo, and our conclusion is—
If development succeeds, our chances of defeating Nintendo and capturing the market are as high as 56 percent."
"Isn't that worth taking a gamble?"
"Moreover, even if the four-way proposal ultimately fails, your company won't suffer any losses, right?" Kiyoshi Yuuma asked.
The corner of Tsuda's mouth twitched.
It would be best if it didn't get approved.
But what if it actually did?
"Convincing Sony and Sega is extremely difficult, isn't it?"
Tsuda muttered to herself as she flipped through the proposal.
It had to be said—he had prepared this proposal quite thoroughly.
But even banks probably wouldn't dare approve a loan for something like this.
Wait.
Speaking of banks…
The thought struck her, and everything suddenly became clear.
She closed the proposal, a smile forming at her lips.
"DUN can sign a conditional contract with Pokeni. The condition is—
If you can convince Sony and Sega to sign on, then DUN will be willing to participate."
"However," Tsuda continued, "the money will not be DUN's direct investment. Instead, DUN and Pokeni will jointly take out a bank loan.
The final debt will be shared by both DUN and Pokeni."
"Can you do this?"
Damn woman.
Isn't this just shifting the risk to the bank?
If things fall apart, a bankrupt Pokeni would be reclaimed by the bank.
However…
From another perspective, Pokeni probably couldn't get a loan of this size on its own anyway.
"No problem."
Kiyoshi Yuuma had already made up his mind. He stepped forward, extended his right hand, and said, "Happy cooperation."