Tokyo: The story begins with a confession.

Page 73

Especially when the cheerleaders (BBBI) came on stage, they really elicited countless cheers.

The cheerleaders, dressed in neat uniforms, displayed their long, white legs, which shone brightly in the sunlight, attracting countless eyes.

Coupled with cute and beautiful girls and rhythmic music, the atmosphere in the entire venue was completely energized.

This was the first time he had ever realized there were so many people at the school!

The stadium was packed with people for this second leg of the tournament. Not only were the seats full, but there were also many people standing in the aisles. Everyone wanted to see if the legendary Sky Demon King, who was talked about online, was really that good!

Meanwhile, Hokubu High School, Yamato Academy's opponent in the second round, was almost scared to death by Yamato Academy's display of strength, especially the cheering squad.

Seeing the Yamato Academy's gaze that seemed to want to devour them, they quickly put away all the support items in their hands.

We desperately extended goodwill to them, but as for our own baseball team members, there was nothing we could do. It wasn't that we didn't want to help, but the other team was just too strong.

The baseball team members of Hokubu High School felt extremely miserable. Their skill level was already quite average, and they might not even be able to beat Yamato Academy without Uesugi Kenichi.

After watching Kenichi Uesugi's pitching and powerful hits online, they realized that their opponent in the second leg would be him, and they were filled with despair on the spot!

Having no hope of winning whatsoever, even repeated encouragement from the coach and captain of the Beiwu baseball team failed to boost morale after they went on the field. They practically stood on the field with the thought of suicide.

After the game started, Coach Xiang Cheng immediately sent Uesugi Kenichi onto the field, ignoring the boos from tens of thousands of spectators. He planned to take advantage of these three opportunities to train the other eight members of the baseball team.

Let them experience the pressure of being watched by so many people, since there will be fewer and fewer opponents like Beiwu High School in the future.

So far, the results seem quite good. As the competition progresses, the players on the field are becoming more and more adapted to the atmosphere.

Hokubu High School, on the other hand, was not doing well. In the fourth round of the match, they were already down by one point even though Uesugi Kenichi was not playing. The main reason was that they were nervous, since they didn't have Uesugi Kenichi on their team to cover for them.

Even though Uesugi Kenichi hadn't entered the game yet, people kept glancing at him, as if he was about to step onto the field.

After the fourth inning ended, Yamato Academy entered the fifth inning with a one-point lead. Coach Cheng waved to the confident Uesugi Kenichi and sent him onto the court, feeling that the game was already decided.

Hokubu High School completely collapsed after Uesugi Kenichi entered the game. After Uesugi Kenichi threw a ball at a speed of 175 and found that Hokubu's batting lineup had no reaction at all, he simply reduced the speed of the ball to 150.

However, even with the ball speed reduced to 150, it was still not something that Hokubu High School's batting lineup could handle. They had absolutely no way to deal with Uesugi Kenichi and were easily defeated.

When it was Yamato Academy's turn to attack, the entire batting lineup became completely energetic. Seeing Uesugi Kenichi standing there, they seemed to be the backbone, and like dogs relying on their master's power, they opened their mouths and howled. One after another, they performed exceptionally well and hit hits one after another.

They completely shut down Hokubu's defense, turning it into a complete reversal of Yamato Academy's defeat against Tokiwa. Their offense was ineffective, and their defense was ineffective.

Finally, after Kenichi Uesugi hit a walk-off home run, he completely surrendered.

The match was won very easily, and the Yamato Academy team members were all laughing heartily, but the audience and media were a bit unhappy, as they didn't get enough of the game.

They felt it was a real shame that they had only witnessed one of Uesugi Kenichi's terrifying pitches.

Kenichi Uesugi himself felt quite satisfied. He was becoming more and more adept at throwing the ball, and with so many spectators cheering, he felt his heart was constantly boiling.

After the competition, the school leaders came over and had a friendly chat with Uesugi Kenichi. Their attitude was incredibly kind; they treated him like a treasure.

There was no way around it; they had to rely on him. Everyone could see that Yamato Academy's baseball team was only able to win because of Uesugi Kenichi's efforts.

Discussions about Kenichi Uesugi continued to escalate after the second match, extending beyond the Tokyo area.

Chapter 144 Fame Spreads in Tokyo

After the second match, discussions about Kenichi Uesugi continued to escalate, extending beyond the Tokyo area.

As videos of the two matches continued to circulate online, all sorts of shady characters emerged.

Some people approached him at school wanting to be his coach, while others wanted to recruit him into an entertainment company to become a star, saying that it was a real waste for him not to be a star, and that he would definitely earn more than he would as a baseball player.

Many professional teams even secretly contacted him, wanting to recruit him into professional baseball!

Everyone could see his potential; once he joined professional baseball, he would definitely become a legendary player, the kind whose photo would be hung on the wall for future generations to admire.

Although Major League Baseball has rules that teams cannot contact players privately, it's one thing if it's just an ordinary person, but who can let go of a prodigy like Kenichi Uesugi?

Almost all teams loudly proclaim their condemnation of this practice of contacting players privately, yet they themselves keep sending people to contact him behind the scenes.

They promised to sign a contract right away, offering an exorbitant signing bonus, a generous annual salary, and various bonuses, relentlessly pursuing him until they achieved their goal.

This is no empty promise; once he signs his name, a large sum of money will soon be deposited into his account.

For these teams, giving away two years' worth of money to Kenichi Uesugi, given his potential, is not an unacceptable thing.

Even once he signs with a team, the team will 'fire' several coaches to work alongside him and oversee his future training.

So many teams contacted him that it became incredibly annoying for Kenichi Uesugi, and no matter how many times he refused, it was to no avail.

Some people noticed his firm stance and even took a roundabout approach, trying to persuade him through the school and even his family.

Fortunately, his family members were smart enough not to be blinded by the benefits promised by these people.

His nominal father called and talked to him for a long time. After learning in detail about his achievements, he was amazed and very pleased. He told him to make decisions according to his own ideas and that they would not hold him back.

This actually made Uesugi Kenichi feel more connected to his nominal family.

If it's the kind of disgusting family members you see in TV dramas, he guarantees that he'll only provide financial support and won't have any other contact with them.

……

Akane Akasaka was not exaggerating when it came to recruiting staff for the studio; she has a wealth of connections and resources, and the people she recruits are all highly talented individuals.

For a whole week, Uesugi Kenichi interviewed many people based on the list provided by Akane Kousaka.

The results were remarkable. A week later, when Kenichi Uesugi stepped into the studio again, it was no longer as deserted as before. The entire studio was bustling with activity.

Akane Akasaka is probably the kind of subordinate that all bosses like—someone who bosses her employees around like a landlord.

"Hello, President!"

As Uesugi Kenichi entered the studio, greetings rang out continuously. He wasn't the kind of person who would simply leave things to his own devices. Although he couldn't stay in the studio every day because he was still in school, he would come over whenever he had time after school.

After all, Akane Kousaka's abilities are indeed not to be underestimated, and he doesn't want to end up with employees who don't even know who their boss is.

"Hmm." Uesugi Kenichi nodded to the employees who kept greeting him and walked into the office.

The studio has been on the right track recently. Many of the people they recruited are indeed very capable and perfectly meet their needs. The Blizzard studio's thirty-odd workstations are now almost full.

They finally shed their makeshift, unorganized structure.

Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri practically treat the studio like their second home, rushing over there after school.

He had just sat down in his office when someone knocked on the door, came in, poured him a cup of tea, and then quietly left.

Kenichi Uesugi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and began to ponder the studio's next game.

Currently, the manpower is sufficient, and some medium-sized productions can be started. Now that he has so many people to support, he is starting to feel some pressure.

Although there is no immediate financial pressure, we cannot simply sit idly by and let our savings dwindle.

His thoughts kept flashing back to the magnificent masterpieces of his past life, and he rejected one by one the games that had left countless emotions and passions for players in his past life.

Large-scale productions like Warcraft, Diablo, and The Witcher are not suitable for now; the timing is not right. At their current scale, it would take too long to develop such games.

· ·Requesting flowers· ········

Just as he was deep in thought, a knock sounded on the door.

"Please come in."

The door opened and Akane Akasaka walked in, carrying a stack of documents.

"President, I'd like to report to you on the current operation of the studio."

"Sit down." Uesugi Kenji stood up, sat on the sofa, and started making tea.

He wasn't very familiar with this practice at first. Later, when he was working in the south, he would always brew a pot of tea before discussing business, and over time he learned it.

"The Plants vs. Zombies update has received a lot of positive feedback. The DLC, priced at 100 yen, has sold very well. The game has now been officially launched in China and North America."

"Based on the current feedback, things are going very well. On the first day, sales in China reached 8 and in North America 6. If this trend continues, and we add our domestic data, the cumulative global sales are expected to exceed 500 million!"

...... 0 ...

Akane Akasaka's tone was tinged with excitement. What does it mean for a game to sell 500 million copies? Even if you expand the scope globally, that's an incredibly impressive sales figure.

Although the price is not high in various regions, considering the cost of making this game, the return on investment is incredibly high!

This is the advantage of casual games: they are not limited by region or culture and have an extremely wide audience.

After brewing the tea, Uesugi Kenichi poured a cup for Akane Kousaka and said, "Just as I expected, the lifespan of Plants vs. Zombies is much longer than that of other casual games."

Subsequent version updates need to keep up, aiming to update with new maps, zombies, and plants every half month to keep players engaged.

"I understand, I'll keep it in mind." Akane Akasaka nodded. Plants vs. Zombies was practically a calling card for their studio, so naturally they had to maintain it well.

"Next, I'd like to ask about the development direction of our next game." As she said this, Akane Kousaka's eyes were filled with fervor, radiating a light that seemed to melt Kenichi Uesugi.

She had seen the plans for Cedar these past few days, and they were simply amazing. She was certain that if the game could be successfully made, it would become a huge IP, bringing unimaginable profits.

Chapter 145 Blizzard Productions, Guaranteed Quality

However, she also understood that with Blizzard's current influence, even if the game were made, the profits would not be maximized, which would be a complete waste of a game that could be considered a global phenomenon.

She was certain that the game would be loved by countless players. After seeing Saidar's plan, she finally understood why Uesugi Kenichi was unwilling to give her 10% of the shares.

If someone is confident that they can build the company into a behemoth, they will not easily give away their shares unless absolutely necessary.

"I'm still thinking about the planning for the next game, but don't worry, there shouldn't be any problems before mid-July."

Akane Kousaka nodded. "How about I take them through a gala game during this time?"

After thinking for a moment, Uesugi Kenichi said, "Okay, '603'. But the plan needs to be presented to me for review first. I hope you always keep one sentence in mind and carry it out with that sentence as your goal."

"What?"

Kenichi Uesugi stood up, looked out the window at the scenery below, and then said solemnly, "I need to make sure players remember one thing: anything from Blizzard is guaranteed to be a masterpiece!"

"To make all game lovers look forward to every game from Blizzard!"

“Blizzard products are always top-notch…” Akane Akasaka repeated several times before a smile appeared on her face. “I will do as you wish.”

After Akane Akasaka left, Kenichi Uesugi reviewed some documents and then took Mashiro home.

He's been quite satisfied with his work these days. He comes over on time every day to take Mashiro to school, and when she gets out of school, he asks her whether he wants to take her to the studio or home.

He didn't go to the studio after school the next day. Tomorrow is Saturday and the studio will be closed. He planned to go see Keiko Kagura. He had been so busy dealing with various things lately that he had forgotten to see her.

"Kenichi, where are you going? Are you coming back for dinner?" Saeko Busujima asked, puzzled, as she was tidying up the house and saw Kenichi Uesugi preparing to leave.

"I'm planning to go to the orphanage. There's a child I know there, and I'm going to visit her. I probably won't be back for dinner."

While tidying up the clothes, Uesugi Ken asked, "Do you want to come along? Mashiro is staying at the studio today and won't be coming back for dinner."

"Alright, wait for me." Saeko Busujima put down her work and smiled.