154: Chapter 154 Refusal

She was a student from the School of Management, and despite having nothing to do with the School of Finance, she came to cheer him on.

After the game ended, she took the initiative to talk to him, praised his dunk, sent him a video, and now she was asking him to see a movie.

With this combo of moves, even a block of wood would have noticed.

Chen Fan did indeed have a good impression of Tang Tian.

She was pretty, cute, and passionate.

Chen Fan didn't consider himself a saint, so how could he not be tempted?

However, Chen Fan already had a girlfriend, Lin Xi.

Chen Fan wasn't exactly pure either; he just believed that his experience of being single for over thirty years in his past life meant he had no way to handle two girlfriends at the same time.

He had the heart to be a playboy, but lacked the means to be one.

If Tang Tian were throwing herself at him because of money, Chen Fan wouldn't have felt any burden and would have accepted it directly.

Problems that could be solved by money were not problems to him.

"You want my money, I want you; we each take what we need, and neither owes the other."

But that was clearly not the case—judging by Tang Tian's clothing and daily demeanor, her family's situation should be quite good.

Moreover, Chen Fan had not revealed his income to any classmates at school.

Therefore, she might simply... like him as a person.

That was the most troublesome part.

He thought for a long time, his fingers hovering over the screen, then letting go, then hovering again.

After pondering for a moment, he picked up his phone and tapped on the keyboard.

"Sorry, I can't make it. I have to go shopping with my girlfriend tomorrow."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Chen Fan clicked the send button.

The message was sent, and the chat box was quiet.

Looking at the words "Sent" before that line of text, he couldn't tell if he felt relieved or something else.

A long time passed.

Finally, a reply from Tang Tian popped up on the screen.

There was only one word: "Oh," followed by an "Alright."

Compared to the previous messages that carried emojis and warmth, this reply clearly showed a lack of high spirits.

However, Chen Fan could understand.

He knew that after sending this message, Tang Tian probably wouldn't look for him again in the future.

This made him breathe a sigh of relief, yet he also felt some regret.

Chen Fan placed his phone face down on the sofa, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a long sigh.

Forget it, this was for the best.

Monday morning, in the office.

"General Manager Chen, I've contacted the person in charge of business at Webzen. They've relented and can license the IP, but the quote they gave exceeds our budget."

Wang Jing was reporting the progress of the mu online IP licensing matter to Chen Fan.

Hearing Wang Jing say it was over budget, Chen Fan was taken aback, but he didn't feel surprised.

He knew the nature of people from South Korea.

People from that country had always been stingy, treating even a broken stone like a treasure.

Especially with a PC game like mu online, which was incredibly popular in China back then, Webzen treated it like a goose that lays golden eggs, guarding it tightly.

He hadn't originally expected to secure it for five million.

In his past life, 37 Interactive Entertainment had spent a full ten million to acquire the license.

"How much are they asking for?"

"Twelve million, plus a ten percent revenue share."

"What?"

A flash of anger crossed Chen Fan's face.

Did the people at Webzen take him for a fool?

Not only was the licensing fee twelve million, but they also wanted a ten percent revenue share.

This ten percent share wasn't a one-time payment, but rather 10% taken from the monthly revenue.

If the monthly gross revenue exceeded one hundred million after launch, Webzen would take away over ten million.

Chen Fan could accept the licensing fee; it was expensive, but the scale of the archangels sword project could support that price.

But the revenue share was absolutely impossible.

Whether he earned more or less was his own business; how could he possibly share money with others?

"Tell Webzen that we don't want the license anymore; let them play by themselves."

Wang Jing was stunned and looked up at Chen Fan.

She had been with Chen Fan for some time and was used to his decisive style, but this decision still surprised her a little.

After all, a lot of effort had been spent on the initial communication, and it was hard for the other party to finally relent; giving up now was a bit of a pity.

"General Manager Chen, then... we aren't going to negotiate anymore?"

"No more negotiating. Just let them keep this IP as a treasure. You go busy yourself with other things."

"Alright."

Wang Jing nodded and turned to walk out of the office.

After Wang Jing left, Chen Fan leaned back in his office chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest, making a dull, rhythmic sound.

He couldn't quite figure it out.

Four years later, 37 Interactive Entertainment spent ten million to acquire the license, and there was no revenue share—a clean, one-off deal.

Why did they now require not only a high licensing fee but also a revenue share?

He went over the timeline in his head—in his past life, archangels sword launched in 2014, and now it was 2010, a difference of 4 years.

In those 4 years, Webzen's financial situation, the IP's operational strategy, and the conditions of the Chinese market could all have undergone earth-shattering changes.

Perhaps Webzen was really short of money 4 years later, perhaps the popularity of the mu online IP wasn't as high then as it was now, or perhaps 37 Interactive Entertainment's negotiation team was better at bargaining than his Wang Jing.

Unfortunately, among the operation methods provided by the system, there was only the result that 37 Interactive Entertainment spent ten million to get the license, but it didn't say why they were able to get it for ten million.

Maybe Webzen was about to go bankrupt back then? He muttered in his heart, then shook his head.

Regardless of whether he could get the license, the web game had to be made.

It was just that without the license, the next game couldn't be archangels sword.

Or archangels sword could still be made, but the IP didn't necessarily have to use mu online.

There were plenty of games on the market flying the "mu online" banner, and players could tell at a glance who you were paying tribute to.

But as long as you didn't copy the name, didn't copy the characters, and didn't copy those specific copyrighted elements, you were legally on solid ground.

If it really didn't work, he would make an original western fantasy theme, spend some money to hire a good artist, make the art exquisite, make the wings big and bright, and make the equipment light effects sufficient.

Isn't that the flavor old players wanted?

After figuring this out, most of the anger in Chen Fan's heart dissipated.

After staying in the office for a while, Chen Fan went to Zhang Tao's workstation to check the progress of happy elimination.

Zhang Tao was adjusting parameters on the screen, with two empty coffee cups on the table, and faint dark circles under his eyes; he had clearly been working overtime again.

The first version was already done.

Chen Fan took the test device handed over by Zhang Tao and tried playing it.

The gameplay, settings, and art style were all similar to his past life; that familiar "match-three" elimination feel was done very well, and the special effects weren't exaggerated; it belonged to the type that looked unremarkable but was impossible to stop playing once you started.