Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 1019: I Wanted to Stay Proud, But He Offered Too Much

In Takayuki's plan, the development of Cyberpunk 2077 was nearly complete, so it was time to begin official promotion.

The game could still be polished for about a year and a half, and during that time, the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners would be released first.

This anime would serve as a powerful marketing tool—far more effective than that "Night City Wire" series from the original game studio. In the previous world, Takayuki had seen what worked in promoting Cyberpunk 2077, and he had no problem using the same strategies here to build hype. And this anime was the best possible way to do it.

In fact, that anime had even revived the game itself after it had fallen into a half-dead state. Many players swore they'd dive back into the game to avenge a character who died in the show—slaying the final boss over and over again.

So before officially launching the Cyberpunk 2077 campaign, Takayuki wanted the anime to drop alongside a new game trailer, creating double the impact.

"Only ten episodes, with each under 25 minutes—that's a huge investment," said Shinji Asami sincerely.

Takayuki's $50 million investment was meant to be used wisely. It wasn't for personal gain—wasting it would only damage his reputation.

Asami was shocked not just by the amount, but also by the level of seriousness Takayuki showed. If he succeeded in pulling this off, it would prove that he could handle high-budget productions, and possibly lead to funding for an animated feature film in the future.

He made up his mind: even if the script was bad, he'd do everything he could to make it great.

Takayuki said, "It's because of your experience and your achievements that I'm willing to invest this much. I trust you won't let me down."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Takayuki. I've been in this industry for years, and I know what I'm doing. May I take a look at the script?"

Asami had mentally prepared himself for a terrible script. If it was awful, he wouldn't complain—he'd just work hard to fix it during production.

"Of course. I wouldn't have brought it here if you weren't meant to see it."

Asami picked up the script.

On the cover: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

It clearly looked like a spin-off. Given Takayuki's status as a top game developer, this was likely tied to one of his game IPs.

Normally, Asami wouldn't be interested in creating a promotional tie-in.

But this time... the pay was just too good.

For Takayuki, though, this amount wasn't a big deal.

His daily revenue from video games was enormous—enough to build a massive theme park with no concern for profit. Even if it lost money, he could keep it running without issue.

What he needed now was to convert money into long-term value.

And since he didn't answer to any shareholders—he owned everything—he had the freedom to build what he wanted.

If Edgerunners turned out great, then producing more Cyberpunk spinoffs with even bigger budgets was totally possible.

Takayuki's ultimate goal was to create a massive IP franchise—something like Marvel or Star Wars.

The TV Tokyo director could only look at Asami with envy.

Handling that much money freely... it was unimaginable in the past. As station director, he might control similar budgets, but he'd need approval from twenty shareholders. Asami only had to convince one person: Takayuki. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Asami began reading the script.

It was written in a standard format—familiar to both game and anime production. For Takayuki, creating something like this was second nature, and Asami had no trouble following it.

Night City. A futuristic American city filled with all kinds of people.Our protagonist is a teenager named David.

He's rebellious by nature. His mother, however, had high hopes for him. To get him into the best schools, she took on dangerous, illegal jobs.

But things took a turn. One day, while trying to handle school troubles for David, she got into a car accident.

It wasn't her fault—local gangs were fighting on the highway, and she got caught in the crossfire.

David and his mother could have survived.

But in this city, only the rich get proper medical care. Ordinary people are left to die like trash.

David watched as a team of elite medics ignored his mother because she wasn't a VIP. They went to save paying customers instead, casually saying,"Have the cleanup crew handle these two."

David desperately dragged his mother to a black-market clinic.

With little money, he could only afford the cheapest care. He wasn't even allowed to see her.

He tried to raise more money, but before he could, the doctor informed him: his mother was dead.

David (confused): "Didn't you say yesterday she was stable?"

Black-market doctor (casually): "Yeah, she was. But then her condition got worse last night. Nothing we could do. You paid for the basic tier."

The doctor patted his shoulder. "Anyway, I've already arranged for a body disposal service. They'll give you a fair price."

Moments later, the cremation company called. The voice was cheerful but robotic:

"Hello, sir. Our condolences. Your mother's cremation is now in our care. We have several cremation packages for you to choose from..."

Sad music begins to play...

This was the entire scene for Episode 1, Act 1.