Those people clearly didn't know the importance of the misprinted female swordswoman Canaan, discarding her amidst a pile of ordinary cards. She might as well have been thrown in the trash.
Yugi Mutou's breathing grew rapid. As he pondered how to obtain this particular card, a voice rang out, "Are you still going to keep these duplicate cards? If not, I'm willing to pay 100,000 Japanese yen for them!"
The moment this voice was heard, it immediately became the focus of the entire venue. Even more surprisingly, the speaker was a beautiful girl, dressed in a traditional Japanese shrine maiden outfit of red and white.
"Are you cosplaying Kikyo?" Upon seeing the girl, Mr. Huang couldn't help but ask. His first thought was that she was a cosplayer.
"Uh... yes!" The girl's eyes darted around, and then she admitted it.
What could she do? She couldn't very well admit she was a real shrine maiden and then wander around Akihabara.
"Why do you want these cards?" Mr. Huang asked curiously. "We've only opened about 400,000 yen worth of card boxes and taken out over a dozen rare cards. While there are still some duplicates left, the quantity isn't large. Wouldn't spending 100,000 yen to buy them be too much of a loss?"
"Ah, this girl is too impulsive!" Yugi Mutou sighed inwardly. He figured the girl had also recognized the rare female swordswoman Canaan and, in an attempt to snag a bargain, had declared her willingness to buy all the remaining cards for 100,000 yen.
While such a tactic was not wrong, it was too direct and too peculiar, bound to arouse suspicion among these people. This would, in turn, make them ponder what might have been overlooked among these cards.
"You're not Japanese, are you? So you don't know that cards can actually be listed on the trading center to be sold. Different cards have different prices. Your remaining cards actually contain some cards with good prices. If you were to list each card individually on the trading center and set a price for each, the total price should be around 150,000 Japanese yen."
"I'm just picking up these cards to earn some hard-earned money. If you're interested, and want to list these cards one by one on the trading center to sell them, then I have no objections. I simply won't buy them!" the girl said, immediately earning Yugi Mutou's admiration.
This reason was excellent! It perfectly explained why she wanted to buy all the remaining cards, while also concealing the existence of Canaan and making a very sensible argument. In fact, if these unwanted cards were listed for sale, and one was willing to invest a significant amount of time and effort, they could indeed earn over 150,000 yen piecemeal.
"What a smart girl! She'll probably buy all these cards!" Yugi Mutou exclaimed in his mind.
Yugi Mutou expected these people to agree to the girl's request. However, Mr. Huang smiled faintly and said, "Who says these cards can only be sold for 150,000 yen? If I were to sell them, I could get back the entire 400,000 yen!"
"That's impossible," the girl was stunned for a moment, then said earnestly, "I'm very clear about the value of all these cards. Even if you sell all your cards at relatively high prices, you absolutely cannot sell them for 400,000 yen!"
"You can wait and see. I don't have time tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, I'll show you how to sell all these Yu-Gi-Oh! cards!" Mr. Huang said with a slight smile, and then he, along with Leng Zhimeng and others, and a large entourage, left the most famous shop in Akihabara with thousands of Yu-Gi-Oh! card boxes.
Meanwhile, the news that a wealthy patron had bought tens of thousands of Yu-Gi-Oh! card boxes in Akihabara and claimed they could sell cards worth less than 150,000 yen for over 400,000 yen quickly spread through many circles.
---
"Brother-in-law, we just came to buy something, and suddenly we're selling things again. The whole storyline today is off, with no logical behavior at all. If this were a novel, your actions would be called 'poisoning,' you know?" Leng Zhimeng chattered endlessly as they rode back in the van.
As Jiangnan Group acquired several large online novel websites or forums in China at very low prices, it essentially monopolized the control of the Chinese online novel website industry.
At the same time, Mr. Huang leveraged his company's advantages to integrate these websites, eventually launching a website called Zhongdian Literature Network. Simultaneously, recognizing that excellent authors were the most important asset of a website, and relying on their financial strength, Mr. Huang first introduced a VIP system and then a full attendance bonus system.
As long as VIP works maintained a daily update of over 4,000 characters and no breaks in updates for the month, they would receive a full attendance bonus of 600 yuan.
In 2004, 600 yuan was a considerable income. Many people's monthly salaries were only around 1,200 yuan, so this immediately stabilized the website's author community.
In addition, besides "Journey to the Wandering World," Jiangnan successively announced the copyright buyouts of novels such as "Zhu Xian," "Little Soldier Legend," "Ghost Blows Out the Light," "Heroic Annals," "Daoist Immortal of Confucianism," "Ascending Dragon Path," "Blossom to Fold," and "Magic Apprentice."
The highest buyout price, for "Zhu Xian," was 6 million yuan. Even the cheapest, "Magic Apprentice," had a buyout fee of 1 million yuan.
Therefore, the momentum of online novel development in China was currently even more vibrant than in historical 2004. Many later authors and works had even debuted earlier.
Correspondingly, some cultural terms for online novels were invented ahead of time. For instance, "poisoning" and "poison points" became popular among many readers. Leng Zhimeng, who read many online novels, naturally had a firm grasp of these slang terms and accurately roasted her brother-in-law.
"Now that you mention it, this plot does seem a bit forced. It seems the plot design still has issues!" Mr. Huang readily admitted, then ordered Ito Makoto by his side, "Ito-san, we still have two days. I want the Japanese ACG cultural circle to know about what happened today within those two days, and to get as many people as possible to visit our event later, to join in the excitement. Do you understand?"
"Also, go and contact all the large chain convenience stores, snack shops, and anime culture product stores in Japan and express our desire to cooperate with them in product sales."
"Hmm, it seems the title of a mere 00 Game branch company is not enough to handle this task. How about this? Change the name of 00 Game Center Japan Corporation to Jiangnan Entertainment Japan Corporation, and elevate the scale and status of the entire company. Go and get a larger building, recruit several hundred employees, including administrative, art design, marketing, etc. I don't know what specific positions are needed, but just plan it like a company like Bandai and give me a detailed market plan. I want to see it tomorrow!"
"Also, go and contact that company and rent out their first floor temporarily for our event!" Mr. Huang continuously issued commands, a cascade of operations instantly erupting, leaving Ito Makoto stunned.
"Have you remembered all my orders?" Mr. Huang asked, seeing Ito Makoto's dazed expression.
"Yes!" Ito Makoto quickly replied, then hesitated sitting there.
"Is there any problem?" Mr. Huang asked.
"Well... Boss, you have too many tasks. I should start working right away, otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to complete your tasks at all," Ito Makoto said cautiously.
"Since you know that, then hurry up!" Mr. Huang rolled his eyes.
"But you just ordered me to help the president unpack those Yu-Gi-Oh! cards..." Ito Makoto said.
"Do you think my order is more important, or unpacking these cards is more important?" Huang He retorted. Ito Makoto immediately bowed deeply, "Yes, your subordinate will go complete the task now!"
After saying that, Ito Makoto was about to get out of the car to go to work and complete his tasks.
"Wait!" Huang He called out to Ito Makoto. "However, the work of helping the president unpack is still very necessary. So, call all the employees in the company who don't have specific tasks to our hotel to help the president unpack!"
"Yes!" Ito Makoto's face twitched slightly, but he quickly responded.
"Brother-in-law... aren't we just here to participate in an event? Why does it feel like you're starting a new company again!" Leng Zhimeng said with a strange expression.
Although she wasn't with them during their previous trips to the US, she had heard that every time her brother-in-law went abroad, he would start a string of new companies. She had originally thought this trip to Japan was just for fun, but unexpectedly, he was starting to stir things up again.
Not to mention anything else, Mr. Huang had ordered the recruitment of hundreds of people to staff the new company and even changed its name. It was no longer just a branch of the 00 Game Center but directly under the Jiangnan Group. The treatment and specifications of this company were completely different.
Of course, such actions were not strange. What was strange was the complete lack of warning. This morning, the group was simply touring Akihabara, and in the next moment, they were about to start a new company.
"Yes!" Mr. Huang nodded, then said with some regret, "Actually, your brother-in-law came to Akihabara originally to experience Ichiban Kuji, but I didn't get to experience it!"
"Ichiban Kuji? What is that? Did you spend the whole day in Akihabara looking for that Ichiban Kuji?" Leng Zhimeng asked curiously.
After buying the cards, they were enthusiastically unpacking them. However, Mr. Huang had gone out alone for about an hour before returning, and no one knew what he was doing.
Leng Zhimeng thought her brother-in-law had gone to experience adult services, and she figured an hour was too short. It turned out he was going to experience Ichiban Kuji.
So the question arises, what exactly is Ichiban Kuji?