Monday arrived in the blink of an eye.

When Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao walked hand in hand into Golden Wind, the entire company erupted in excitement!

Everyone seemed prepared, having arrived at the company early to quietly await their arrival.

The moment the automatic doors opened, two loud pops sounded as streamers suddenly sprayed out, floating in the air.

Then, from the crowd, Da Jiang shouted loudly:

"Labacus Garlic!"

Everyone chorused together:

"Lock them in—"

"Labacus Garlic!"

"Woo hoo—!!!"

Gu Sheng: "..."

Shen Miaomiao: "..."

After a long silence, Shen Miaomiao turned to Gu Sheng, her lips twitching:

"Is this... your arrangement?"

Gu Sheng's face was full of rejection:

"Do I look like that kind of person to you?"

They looked at each other, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This was utterly ridiculous.

But fortunately!

Neither of them were tactless people. Since everyone was so enthusiastic, they didn't hold back and shared a kiss right then to show their appreciation.

Instantly, the company filled with laughter and applause as everyone cheered—

"Another one!"

"Witnessing sugar live, truly immersive!"

"President Gu is amazing! Chairwoman Shen is amazing!"

"Boss is generous—!"

......

For a moment, the company was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

After the laughter and fun, Moriya brought the latest update on their Neon trip—

"Things are progressing very smoothly."

Sitting with Gu Sheng in the president's office, Moriya poured tea while reporting.

Yes.

While Melancholy Blues was preparing It Takes Two and Golden Experience was perfecting Overwatch, Moriya had taken Sato and Yuki back to Neon to negotiate with a mysterious person about developing the next IP.

The reason Golden Wind was going to such lengths, even deploying the company vice president and studio executives for this business activity,

was fundamentally because this IP was simply too massive.

Without exaggeration, if you play games, you've definitely heard of this IP.

Even if you don't play games, you might have heard of this IP.

As a flagship game genre, back in its day, this series was absolutely unstoppable, slaying gods and buddhas alike.

It was only later, after the lead development director stepped back from frontline work, that the series gradually began its decline.

But!

Although that director is now nearly sixty, the copyright for this series IP has always remained solely in his hands.

Moriya's team went to negotiate exactly this matter.

They need the IP from this director's hands to revive this series in motion-sensing pods and use it as their flagship title for the upcoming Los Angeles E3 exhibition in September.

"...Actually, the other party was quite hesitant initially,"

Moriya said:

"Even if our Silent Hill and Escape hadn't been very successful, they wouldn't have even considered talking with us."

Hearing this.

Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow slightly:

"That hard to get? Do they have prejudice against our scale?"

"Not really,"

Moriya shook his head:

"On the contrary, for him, how much money this IP sells for is actually insignificant now."

"To put it bluntly, from the creation of this IP to now, the money it's brought him is enough for three lifetimes. Copyright fees are more symbolic than monetary for him."

"In other words, this IP has become sentimental, unrelated to the offer price."

Hmm—

Gu Sheng nodded slowly.

If this came from anyone else, he might scoff and call them pretentious before moving on, still planning to throw money at it.

But this IP, this person...

Gu Sheng smacked his lips, thinking to himself that these words weren't false.

After all, if this director were really like Konik, prioritizing money above all else,

then this series IP definitely wouldn't be available for them to acquire.

Komera or CloudPower would have already made their move long ago.

Thinking this, Gu Sheng nodded:

"Then what?"

Moriya took a sip of tea and continued:

"Then our It Takes Two was released. Coincidentally, it launched the day before our final visit to him."

At this, Moriya laughed.

Shaking his head, he said:

"I suspect he must have seen the content of It Takes Two, or even played it himself."

"The final negotiation went very smoothly,"

"That's why we have today's conference call."

Exactly!

The result of Moriya's trip to Neon is today's video conference!

The acquisition negotiation for this super IP—success or failure hinges on this moment!

Checking the time—it was already 8:50 in the morning—Gu Sheng nodded.

Then, he briefly flipped through the proposal in front of him:

"Let's do this together later."

"Okay,"

Hearing this, Moriya also nodded, finishing his tea in one gulp:

"Whatever you say."

As they spoke.

Both adjusted their video backgrounds and seating positions.

Zhongjing time, 9:00 AM sharp!

A video call from Tokyo, Neon, marked the beginning of this IP acquisition.

As the call connected!

The video showed a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a side-parted hairstyle.

The middle-aged man looked very upright, almost unlike typical Neon features. Though nearly sixty now, he appeared in great condition, looking quite young.

At this moment, the middle-aged man sat in his villa's office, slightly bowing and nodding to Gu Sheng and Moriya on the video:

"Good morning, Mr. Gu. Good morning, Mr. Moriya."

On their side, Gu Sheng also nodded slightly with a smile:

"Good morning. I've long heard of your great reputation, Mr. Shinji Mikami."

Correct!

This time, the super IP that Golden Wind wants to acquire is none other than the world-renowned Resident Evil series!

And the mysterious person Moriya's team has been contacting is none other than the father of Resident Evil—Shinji Mikami!

Yes.

Although this world doesn't have Hideo Kojima, Hidetaka Miyazaki, or Hideki Kamiya,

it does have Shinji Mikami! And it has Resident Evil!

Starting about twenty years ago, with the release of Resident Evil 1, a biochemical craze was ignited by Shinji Mikami and his studio.

Yes, Shinji Mikami Studio.

Due to timeline changes, the master of remasters Capcom seems to have never emerged in this world. The Resident Evil series has always been produced by Mikami Studio.

From the first to the fourth installment, Resident Evil's reputation grew increasingly prominent, even becoming the undisputed dominant-level IP in horror games at one point.

The movies adapted from Resident Evil were released one after another, earning massive profits.

However!

After Resident Evil 4 starring Leon, at the peak of his career, Shinji Mikami announced he was stepping back from frontline work, resigning as chief director of Mikami Studio. As the motion-sensing pod era arrived, he retired at his peak, living a comfortable, worry-free life.

Thus, the Resident Evil series without Shinji Mikami's leadership embarked on a steep decline, never recovering from its downward trajectory.

It was from this point that Resident Evil ceased to be the Resident Evil Gu Sheng was familiar with. Leon, Chris, Ada Wong, Jill, and others all "retired."

Entering the motion-sensing pod era, the Resident Evil IP first ventured into new territory with Resident Evil: Slaughter under the banner of Resident Evil 5.

But they made a fatal error—they continued the over-the-shoulder perspective that the series had always featured in motion-sensing pods, making players experience first-person immersion while controlling third-person over-the-shoulder perspective protagonists.

The result was predictably disastrous—a complete flop.

After this, the team reflected on their failure and two years later released the sixth installment of the series, called Resident Evil: Tide.

This time, while they fixed the perspective issue to suit motion-sensing pods by adopting first-person view,

the changes to the main cast and overly complex, ambitious storylines beyond their capabilities led to continued failure, even worse than the previous installment.

That year, Mikami Studio announced its dissolution.

And the globally renowned super IP Resident Evil became Shinji Mikami's personal property, not for external distribution.

Although many manufacturers over the years have wanted to invite Shinji Mikami back or purchase the copyright from him,

without exception, they were all turned away.

As Moriya said, manufacturers who could sit down for face-to-face negotiations with Shinji Mikami over the years could be counted on one hand.

And manufacturers like Golden Wind who could have detailed discussions with him multiple times—they were the first.

"...President Gu's creativity is admirable, and your attitude toward games is respectable,"

After brief introductions, Shinji Mikami got straight to the point:

"I've played some of your company's works—truly impressive."

"Thank you, Mr. Mikami. You flatter me,"

Gu Sheng smiled slightly:

"Compared to flagship super game IPs like Resident Evil, we still have much room for improvement."

"Hahaha, Mr. Gu is too modest,"

Hearing this, Shinji Mikami laughed heartily and waved his hand:

"Mr. Gu has an entire game library—you're too busy turning imaginative ideas into reality to be like me, living off past achievements."

Hiss—

Actually!

Shinji Mikami's words were just metaphorical.

After all, from Golden Wind's establishment to now, the games they've produced have been incredibly diverse.

Shooters, action, tower defense, role-playing...

They have it all!

Gu Sheng's mind is like an inexhaustible treasure trove of inspiration, always making breakthroughs in various fields that catch people's attention.

Golden Wind doesn't need to count to 2 because they can't even finish counting their 1s!

This was Shinji Mikami's complimentary metaphor.

Little did he know!

This wasn't a metaphor at all!

Gu Sheng's mind really does contain a treasure trove of games!

And!

Just as he said, this treasure trove is indeed inexhaustible for Gu Sheng—he can't even finish releasing all the 1s!

Gu Sheng couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety.

Although he knew Mikami was making a comparison, his laughter still felt somewhat forced:

"Hehe, ha, Mr. Mikami overpraises me. I just... occasionally have sudden inspirations."

"The humility of Huaguo people is truly ingrained in their bones—something we can never quite grasp no matter how we try to imitate it."

Mikami nodded repeatedly, clearly moved by Gu Sheng's genuinely humble attitude, his favorability increasing dramatically.

Heaven knows!

If Gu Sheng knew what Mikami was thinking right now, he'd probably couldn't help but awkwardly laugh out loud.

Sorry about that, Brother Mikami—I'm really not being humble, I genuinely don't dare take credit.

All these things you're seeing are games from my previous life.

And what I'm about to show you is also a continuation of your IP from my previous life.

Even though you didn't make it yourself, it's hailed as the most successful next-generation Resident Evil series work that returns to horror atmosphere.

Thinking this, Gu Sheng's smile became even more sheepish.

Honestly, this feeling was pretty damn absurd—like finding someone's phone, formatting it, then selling it back to the original owner.

"I heard from Mr. Moriya that for this copyright acquisition, Mr. Gu had already outlined the general framework for a new Resident Evil installment some time ago."

Shinji Mikami didn't notice Gu Sheng's hidden awkward smile, still speaking politely:

"A brand new Resident Evil with the Golden Wind flavor?"

"Well—you could say that,"

Gu Sheng nodded, shamelessly admitting it:

"After all, for this Resident Evil installment, we'll be introducing completely new protagonists."

"And perspective-wise, we'll break away from the previous 'save the world,' 'protect the city,' 'rescue the president's daughter' type of extraordinary major events."

"Oh?!"

Hearing this.

Shinji Mikami's eyes lit up: "Could Mr. Gu elaborate in detail?"

"Certainly."

As Gu Sheng nodded.

He slowly opened the prepared proposal in front of him and said:

"We've seen too many stories about heroes saving the world."

"This time, I want to tell a story about an ordinary person."

"A story about an ordinary husband. A story about an ordinary father."

"The story is called—"

"Resident Evil 7: Not a Hero"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com