Chapter 36: Funding Secured, Partnership Established!
Yukinoshita Haruno truly lived up to being the heir raised by a wealthy, powerful family. Her business judgment was anything but ordinary.
To fully develop Honkai: Star Rail as Saku envisioned it, the total cost would require at least three to four hundred million US dollars.
Development costs, staffing costs, and similar expenses would account for most of that.
In other words, Haruno's rough estimate had actually come remarkably close.
That was impressive considering real estate was the Yukinoshita family's core business, while most of their other holdings were also traditional industries.
Internet businesses were already outside their strongest field, let alone the far more specialized mobile-game industry.
Even so, hundreds of millions of dollars obviously wasn't money anyone would casually hand over.
If Saku wanted to recreate miHoYo's original rise, starting with a side-scrolling action mobile game like Honkai 2 would've been far more practical.
But he'd deliberately chosen Honkai: Star Rail instead.
What he wanted was differentiation.
Something significant enough to redefine the era.
Naturally, asking for the entire investment upfront would never work.
So the plan Saku had prepared for Haruno was staged investment.
"Haruno-san really does have a sharp eye."
Saku steadied himself.
"If I want to fully realize this project, then yes, it'll require a huge amount of money."
"Your concerns are completely reasonable."
He paused.
"But..."
Saku's greatest assets were his technical ability and his grasp of the project's core elements.
Because he could personally handle much of the technical work, development costs could effectively be removed from the initial budget.
Next came marketing and promotion costs.
The product didn't even exist yet, so there was no need to spend heavily on promotion at this stage either.
That expense could also be postponed.
Finally came staffing costs, which would normally represent the largest share.
But during the early stages, even that could temporarily be ignored.
Before producing the first closed beta build, Saku had no intention of recruiting a professional development team.
He planned to rely on himself, his existing club members, and his unfair advantages to solve the problem.
Once those costs were stripped away, the amount of money needed at the beginning dropped drastically.
Saku didn't hide any of this reasoning.
He explained everything directly to Haruno.
"...Until the first build is ready, I don't intend to recruit a professional team."
He continued calmly, "And my club members aren't drawing salaries, so the amount of funding I need right now is actually fairly small."
Haruno didn't interrupt.
She listened carefully and considered every point just as seriously.
She was admittedly skeptical about Saku's claim that he could proceed without a professional development team.
But she didn't challenge him immediately.
"So how much are you asking for in the first round?"
"One million US dollars."
One million dollars was hardly a small amount.
Converted into yen, it was already well into the hundreds of millions.
Yet after everyone had just been mentally assaulted by figures in the hundreds of millions of dollars, one million suddenly sounded almost reassuring.
Hikigaya and Yui especially seemed to relax.
To them, even one million dollars was already an astronomical sum.
What made the situation even more surreal was hearing two people not much older than themselves casually discussing such numbers as though they were perfectly normal.
Still, one million fell within Haruno's expectations.
For a mobile game meant to be groundbreaking, asking for dramatically less would've actually seemed unrealistic.
More importantly, even if the investment failed, this was still a loss Haruno could personally afford to absorb.
"How about this?"
Haruno folded her hands.
"I'll give you five hundred thousand first."
"If that's not enough, you can speak to Yukino about additional funding."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"But I have one condition."
Saku didn't hesitate.
"Please, go ahead."
"Yukino must join your team."
Haruno's tone left no room for negotiation.
"And she'll be responsible for the project's finances."
This wasn't a suggestion.
It was a requirement Saku had to accept.
Although the money technically came from Haruno's personal funds, the investment would be made under Yukino's name.
Naturally, Yukino needed to remain involved and track the project's progress.
Five hundred thousand dollars might not be enormous by Haruno's standards, but it certainly wasn't pocket change either.
She could accept the possibility of failure.
That didn't mean she wanted to lose.
"Perfectly reasonable."
Saku agreed immediately.
「Even if you hadn't asked, I would've tried to bring Yukino into the team anyway.」
「I'm handling the technical side. I seriously don't want to waste my life dealing with finance, administration, human resources, and all that miscellaneous corporate nonsense.」
「While the team is still small, I can juggle a few extra responsibilities. But eventually this has to become a proper company, which means I'll need people who specialize in those areas. Yukino is a perfect fit.」
「There's also another advantage besides her own ability: she's basically the team's wallet. As long as she stays involved, my project has a path toward continuous funding.」
「Looks like deliberately avoiding the subject was the right move. Even if I didn't ask for Yukino, Haruno would've wanted someone inside my team, and Yukino was obviously the best candidate.」
「But there's a huge difference between me asking first and Haruno making it a condition.」
「If I asked, I'd owe them another favor. If she asks, it's simply part of the transaction. Everything stays even.」
「I'm seriously too smart.」
[Valid roast detected. Roast Points +150. Current total: 1,410.]
Yukino turned her head slightly and looked at Saku.
She was genuinely surprised by how carefully he'd thought everything through.
She hadn't realized he'd hidden this much calculation even inside today's negotiation.
The only thing she couldn't tell was whether her sister had noticed it too.
"...Then it's settled."
Haruno gave Saku a long, meaningful look before extending her hand.
"I look forward to working with you."
"Likewise, Haruno-san."
Saku reached across the table and shook her hand.
"I look forward to working together."
Only then did he truly relax.
They hadn't signed the contract yet, but the likelihood of Haruno suddenly backing out was extremely low.
At last, the funding had been secured.
The two shook hands while wearing similarly meaningful smiles, almost as though each had found someone equally troublesome and equally interesting.
The moment business ended, Haruno immediately switched back into her carefree university-student persona.
She cheerfully invited everyone to enjoy their coffee and desserts.
"Speaking of which, Yukino-chan, how's the Service Club lately?"
Haruno smiled.
"Are you still getting along well with Hikigaya-kun and Yui-chan?"
「Looks like Haruno's sister complex is acting up again. She's checking how Yukino's social life is progressing.」
「Well, that's none of my business. I'll just sit here and enjoy the show.」
Saku immediately transformed into an innocent bystander, calmly sipping his coffee as he watched the drama unfold.
Yukino, who heard every word, glared at him.
'This bastard really does burn the bridge after crossing it.'
'The moment his business is finished, he starts enjoying my suffering.'
Yui felt much the same.
She'd been enjoying the spectacle earlier.
Now the wheel had turned and suddenly she was part of it.
"It's fine."
Yukino wasn't deliberately being vague.
She simply didn't know what else she was supposed to say.
Haruno knew perfectly well how emotionally slow her little sister could be, so she turned toward Yui instead.
"Yui-chan, have you and Yukino become closer?"
"Uh... o-of course!"
Yui immediately began gesturing nervously.
"We're really close! Yukino is a very important friend to me!"
Her words came out somewhat awkwardly and with a slight stammer, but she still managed to convey what she meant.
「Yui is as fun to tease as ever. No wonder Haruno enjoys messing with her.」
「But the person Haruno really cares about is probably Hikigaya. He's the only boy who's been staying around Yukino.」
Yukino: 'How is he the only one? Aren't you around me now too?'
Yui: 'So that's really what Haruno-san is thinking? Though lately, Yukino and Hikki haven't actually talked that much...'
Haruno's attention shifted exactly as expected.
"Then what about Hikigaya-kun?"
Her smile became suspiciously playful.
"Have you gotten closer to Yukino-chan, or have you gotten closer to Yui-chan?"
Hikigaya had already sensed disaster coming and prepared his response in advance.
"My mom says you should always be sincere when making friends!"
「As expected of high-EQ Hikigaya. He chose to completely dodge the question.」
「Honestly, giving a deliberately irrelevant answer is probably the best strategy in this situation.」
「Still, he clearly notices Yui's feelings for him, and he's also vaguely aware of his own feelings toward Yukino. Yet in public, he's still trying desperately to keep the scales perfectly balanced.」
「Love or friendship? That's way too difficult. I don't know how to answer either!」
Saku watched with growing amusement.
Yukino, meanwhile, was rapidly approaching her limit.
She placed her empty cup down on the table with noticeably more force than necessary and looked at Haruno with restrained irritation.
"Onee-san, if you have enough free time to obsess over my relationships, perhaps you should worry about your own marriage instead."
Without giving Haruno a chance to respond, Yukino immediately turned toward Saku.
"Are you finished?"
"If you are, we're leaving."
"Uh..."
Saku glanced regretfully at the untouched sweets.
"I haven't eaten my dessert yet."
"I'll buy you one next time."
With that, Yukino stood and headed for the exit.
Once the central person in the gathering had left, everyone else naturally found it awkward to remain.
Well...
Almost everyone.
Saku was perfectly capable of staying behind for dessert.
Unfortunately, Yukino seemed to understand him far too well by now.
Before he could settle back into his seat, she grabbed him and dragged him out with her.
…