NABC Page 103
Page 103
As a result, Kenichi Uesugi gained considerable fame throughout Japan, especially since he was so handsome that it's hard to find anyone more handsome than him in the entire idol world.
The fervor intensified immediately, and many people remembered the name of this dashing young man on the baseball field.
Meanwhile, Kenichi Uesugi's performance has also been highly praised in the professional baseball community.
There's no way not to praise him. No pitcher in professional baseball today can match his 188 km/h speed. If someone like him is belittled, then what are they? Trash?
Faced with this situation, Uesugi Kenichi did not show any emotion this time. He had already prepared himself mentally. At worst, he would just have to go through the trouble of disguising himself when he went out in the future.
Compared to the actual benefits they bring, these troubles are insignificant.
After yesterday and today, Blizzard Entertainment's blog has now reached 300 million followers, and this figure is absolutely accurate and without any exaggeration.
For a studio's official account to have this many followers is no small feat, while his personal account has nearly 700 million followers!
This shows just how terrifyingly high the level of popularity can be.
These data can ultimately be converted into real money. As long as their subsequent works are of good quality and not disappointing, success is absolutely guaranteed.
When school was over, a rather luxurious van pulled up in front of the school gate, and a middle-aged man in a suit stood by the van waiting.
Uesugi Kenichi walked out of the school gate with Kato Megumi and went straight there. The driver immediately opened the car door when he saw this.
"Go to the studio."
"Yes!" the driver replied, pressed a button, and the car door closed automatically.
The car I ordered a couple of days ago has finally arrived. After comparing various options, I finally chose a minivan.
After all, he doesn't have a driver's license yet, and there might be quite a few people needing to ride the 680 bus occasionally.
Akane Akasaka didn't try to save any money on this, spending nearly 1500 million yen.
Although the price is high, the comfort is truly unparalleled. The interior space is very large, and you won't feel cramped at all. It has genuine leather massage seats, various multi-function buttons on both sides, a car TV, a refrigerator, and everything else you could want.
Anyway, Kenichi Uesugi felt quite satisfied.
The car came to a smooth stop in front of the building, and Uesugi Kenichi led Kato Megumi straight into the studio.
"Congratulations, President! Yesterday's match was truly spectacular."
"That's really amazing."
……
Upon entering the studio, many employees stood up, smiled, and bowed.
"Thank you." Uesugi Kenichi smiled and nodded in response, then chatted with everyone for a while before returning to his office.
Kato Megumi went to attend to her own business.
Recently, Kato Megumi has been learning from Akane Akasaka, focusing on studio planning, staff allocation, and public account management. She has been learning very diligently.
Her progress is also very obvious. She is constantly deepening her knowledge of all aspects of game production, and Akane Kousaka often marvels at the girl's talent and hard work.
Chapter 197 Studio Expansion
As for Kasumigaoka Utaha, she is also very busy. Although she has finished writing her novel, she is currently creating a script for the story of Zelda and another gala game. On top of that, she is also busy with her studies.
He hasn't even come to see Uesugi Kenichi at night for several days now.
This is truly an incredible thing for the juicer.
After sitting for a short while, Mashiro was brought in by Aoyama Nanami. Just as the girl was about to leave, Uesugi Kenichi called her back.
"Aoyama-kun, how have you been here lately?" Uesugi Kenichi asked with a smile.
When Aoyama Nanami was called out by Uesugi Kenichi, she stiffened and turned around with a slightly flushed face, saying with her head down, "I've been doing very well here lately. Everyone has been very kind to me. Nakajima-senpai and Miyuki-senpai have taught me a lot about voice acting."
"That's good. Mashiro didn't cause you any trouble at school, did she?"
“I’m very well-behaved,” Mashiro, who was sitting to the side drawing on her computer, turned around and retorted.
Kenichi Uesugi touched Shiro's hair, smiled, and looked at Nanami Aoyama.
Aoyama Nanami smiled somewhat awkwardly, "Mashiro-chan is indeed very well-behaved, but sometimes she does things a bit unpredictably."
Indeed, Mashiro is very obedient. She usually won't refuse to do anything unless she particularly resists it. It's just that she often does things unpredictably, which makes her a bit difficult to deal with.
As expected, there is a big difference between geniuses and ordinary people, but Uesugi Kenichi is an exception.
Despite possessing such exceptional talent, he acts like a normal person and is extremely kind.
"If you encounter any difficulties or need my help, please let me know," Uesugi Kenichi said.
Through their time together, he developed a very good impression of Aoyama Nanami. Of all the girls he had ever met, Aoyama Nanami was probably the most normal one.
She is beautiful, kind, gentle, and extremely responsible. She is very dedicated to taking care of Mashiro.
He was always on time to pick up Mashiro from school every day, never late or absent, and he saw her hard work.
They keep striving for their dreams, and although their talents are not particularly outstanding, that is precisely why they are so admirable.
"No, no, everything is fine here. I'm really grateful to you for giving me this job opportunity." Upon hearing this, Aoyama Nanami quickly waved her hand, blurting out her Kansai dialect in her haste.
Kenichi Uesugi treated her very well. In addition to the income from the studio, the remuneration he paid her for taking care of Mashiro greatly reduced her financial burden.
She was truly grateful for such a wonderful learning opportunity.
"That's good, keep it up." Uesugi Kenichi smiled and encouraged Aoyama Nanami. If the girl had any shortcomings, it might be that she lacked confidence.
"I will do my best!" Aoyama Nanami bowed deeply and walked out.
As Aoyama and Aokai left, Akane Akasaka pushed open the door and walked in.
"My dear president, shouldn't you hire a secretary?" Akane Akasaka complained as she entered the room.
"What's wrong?" Uesugi Kenichi asked, puzzled.
“There’s a lot of information, and work reports, and sometimes it’s not very convenient for me to report directly to you.” Akane Akasaka sat down opposite Kenichi Uesugi.
Upon hearing this, Uesugi Kenichi thought for a moment and said, "Let's not rush it for now. Let's look for it after this summer festival."
Akane Kousaka nodded and placed a document on the table. "The game development is progressing very smoothly. We expect the test version to be completed around August 5th, which should be enough to meet the summer festival deadline."
Kenichi Uesugi took the document and looked it over. It contained information about the current production progress of Splatoon.
"That's good. This game is currently our top priority, and we must not slack off on its quality."
"By the way, how's the progress on adding content to the personal mode that Mizushima Akira mentioned last time?"
"It went quite smoothly. We added three more straight-line dungeons on top of the existing levels."
"There's another thing. The game Plants vs. Zombies has now sold over 300 million copies in Japan, and its overseas sales are also very impressive, reaching 280 million copies so far, with the highest sales in China and North America."
"Hmm, it's much better than I expected. Please make arrangements to give the employees a bonus after the summer festival in August. Please prepare a plan for the specific amount of the bonus."
"Okay, but Nintendo seems to have a lot of objections to us giving the agency rights for China to Magic Cube."
"...Heh, ignore it. We'll have to fight him sooner or later."
Akane Akasaka nodded and smiled, "The previous batch of revenue sharing has arrived. Currently, our company has nearly 15 billion yen in working capital. How about we expand our recruitment to prepare for the future?"
Kenjiro Uesugi tapped his finger lightly on the table: "If we want to produce a large-scale game, how many people do you think are needed?"
While the current number of employees is sufficient, this is for a medium-sized game production. If you want to make a large-scale game, you can certainly use just these people, but you will have to spend time to earn the revenue.
Time is something that Kenichi Uesugi values highly, since his mind is filled with countless wonderful games and anime.
"If it's a large-scale game production, it would require at least 100 people."
"We need to hire people. So, this hiring will be divided into two parts: one part is about game production, and the other (Wang Qian's) is about setting up a new department."
"A new department? What area is it targeting?"
"Animation production!"
Akane Akane's eyes flashed with understanding upon hearing this. She had also read the manga about 5 Centimeters Per Second, and she could also sense the potential of the anime adaptation.
It is indeed very necessary to start preparing now. After thinking about it, she realized that she was currently in charge of game production. If she were to take on animation production as well, she wondered if she would have enough time.
Taking on both departments might also arouse Uesugi Kenichi's suspicion. Although Uesugi Kenichi's personality and way of doing things don't seem like that kind of person, as an employee, I need to understand these things first.
If she wants to stay here long-term, it's best if she doesn't get involved in the anime/manga/anime industry.
Chapter 198 Summer Vacation is Here
"I understand. Do you have a candidate for head of the animation department?"
Kenichi Uesugi shook his head. "I'll handle this. Tomorrow, prepare a list of backup candidates for me, and I'll take a look."
"This time, the recruitment target is 120 people, 90 for game development, and the rest will be recruited after I confirm the responsible persons."
"I understand, then I'll start preparing." Akane Akasaka said hesitantly, "In that case, we might not need our current office space anymore."
"That's easy. We can just rent the whole floor. Don't skimp on the specifications. Let's go by our current scale. I'll ask around later. If it's possible, I'd like to knock down those walls."
"Okay, I understand. I'll go take care of things now if there's nothing else."
"Go."
After Akane Akasaka left, Kenichi Uesugi made a phone call to inquire with the person in charge of the building.
The building manager was equally delighted to hear that Kenichi Uesugi wanted to rent the entire floor and immediately gave a positive reply, saying that as long as the load-bearing walls were not demolished, the rest of the space could be handled as desired.
We made a verbal agreement and decided to sign the contract tomorrow.
After dealing with other trivial matters, Uesugi Kenichi returned home.
In the following days, the contract with the building was renegotiated for 680, and the overall area of Blizzard Studios was expanded to nearly 4000 square meters.
The monthly rent for the entire floor is approximately 900 million yen. Kenichi Uesugi hired a design company to design the layout of the entire floor and began decorating it.
Meanwhile, Akane Akasaka also began a large-scale recruitment drive.
The recruitment process went very smoothly. First, Akane Akasaka's connections were indeed strong enough. Second, Blizzard Entertainment benefited greatly from Kenichi Uesugi's influence, which significantly boosted its brand awareness.
Many people are very interested in this emerging company with great potential.
After a busy period, summer vacation finally arrived on July 15th, with the start of the new school year on September 1st. Compared to China, this is about half a month shorter. However, unlike China, Japan adopts a three-holiday system, with winter and summer vacations plus a spring break, which adds up to a few extra days of school.
In addition to the fact that the opening date of the Koshien tournament is set for August 10, Coach Xiang Cheng organized a two-week training camp in preparation for the arrival of Koshien.
Kenichi Uesugi refused without hesitation. He simply didn't have time to participate in the training camp, and even if he did, it wouldn't improve his skills.
Coach Xiang Cheng was somewhat disappointed but didn't say much. After all, the team's qualification for Koshien was basically due to Kenichi Uesugi's efforts, and it didn't have much to do with him.
On the very night after the holiday started, Kenichi Uesugi was packing his things. Although he wasn't going to the training camp, he still had to be back by August 8th. The draw for the competition would be held on the 8th, and various procedures would be completed. The rehearsal would be on the 9th, and the official opening ceremony would be on the 10th.