Great, we're doomed now!

The group took a helicopter to Kuze Bessou at Mount Fuji. Ruri kept reassuring herself, but she still felt a strange sense of déjà vu and was secretly uneasy.

There shouldn't be any problems. This is a remote mountain area, not a job market. Besides, even if someone else does come down, it might not be a woman, and she might not suit the master's taste—even in this world where good looks are generally valued, naturally beautiful girls are a scarce resource.

Correct!

We must not waver!

Perhaps Lord Ye Shou just suddenly felt like he was here to enjoy the scenery—

This idea finally gave way to Ye Shou's insistence when he brought Sasha down with him.

—Liuli covered her face.

I can't keep lying to myself anymore!

Seriously! Enough already!

……

One thing that made Ruri feel somewhat relieved was that Sasha did not move into the Kuze Mansion like Ruri had before, and Lucy was also moving out with her.

Now that [Blue Dream] is on track and all the supporting facilities are in place, Lucy has been living in the mansion for a month but is not quite used to it, so she plans to move into the high-end apartment specially prepared for the executives with Sasha.

Ye Shou naturally agreed, and Liu Li breathed a slight sigh of relief: things might not be as bad as she thought.

As Ye Shou's personal secretary, she was used to being shocked by all kinds of unexpected events. Although she was still a little dazed, she was still able to cheer up and devote herself to her work without delaying anything.

“ALO is operating well, with over three million units sold worldwide. Only a very small portion of these units use the NERvGear; the majority opt for the lightweight AmuSphere.”

The production line for the helmets has now been completely shut down, and they are now mainly supplying the market with goggles... The NERvGear is starting to show collectible value.

"After all, anything becomes valuable once it's labeled 'limited edition,' especially something with such commemorative significance."

Ye Shou took the tablet in surprise and browsed the reports on it: "It's already past three million sets?"

"Yes, it is truly amazing."

A million units seems like a small number compared to the flagship products of major console manufacturers.

However, considering that the previous month was spent focusing on the Japanese domestic market before launching the international version, this data is quite impressive.

While virtual reality games are undeniably impressive, they also have weaknesses:

The entry barrier is relatively high.

As gamers often say, the most expensive piece of hardware isn't the console, but a room where you won't be disturbed.

Fully immersive games like "SAO" and "ALO" require even more private space and free time than regular consoles!

Three million sets is not ALO's limit, but the manufacturer's limit—because the initial problems caused significant adjustments to the production line, and now even if they keep screwing the screws on until they spark, they still can't meet the needs of all players.

If there is an unlimited supply, judging from the number of pre-orders and player demand, it is very likely that it will break 10 million within a month.

—You should know that this is not just about buying a game, but also about getting the whole set of equipment!

Currently, this "console" can only play ALO and a hidden map, SAO. If no new games are released, this system will essentially be exclusive to a single game...

All of this, yet it still enjoys such popularity, can only mean that the game's quality is so high that players can disregard these demanding conditions!

This is not surprising. Just the ability to "fly freely" fulfills the childhood dreams of countless people and easily surpasses all competitors on the market.

In fact, as a fantasy adventure game, many players of ALO do not focus on combat and leveling up. After enjoying the intense and exciting "swords and magic" in the early stages, they often turn their attention to life skills and professions.

Fishing, cooking, traveling, parties... Because of its extremely high level of realism, it is almost indistinguishable from real life, and you can even enjoy richer flavors and climb more magnificent mountains—it is extremely popular among adult players!

In middle age, one must be careful about excessive oil and salt in food, be mindful of others' moods when socializing, fear lack of stamina when traveling, and even often come back empty-handed when fishing!

Suddenly one day I can go back to my youth, and I can enjoy delicious food without consuming a single calorie. Old classmates from all over the country can gather together, and we can transform into fairies and fly over snow-capped mountains, grasslands, rivers and seas... The key is that I can even improve my fishing skills!

This was something they never dared to dream of before!

Therefore, ALO has a very interesting phenomenon:

These adult players, mostly office workers, prefer to play in a casual mode. People who have experience in their professions will accept tasks and trade, gradually becoming like NPCs in the game, which enhances the gaming experience for students.

Ye Shou never expected that someone would be willing to work for him without taking a salary.

"As a result, the stock price of [Rect], which had previously fallen, has now rebounded and has even surged in the past few days."

"Heh~ The Yuki family must be overjoyed~" Ye Shou shook his head with a smile.

Ruri proudly said, "When SAO collapsed before, [Rect] was the main party responsible, and its stock price plummeted for days. We released good news in time to bail them out. The Yuuki family should have been overjoyed, let alone now."

"Hmm?" Ye Shou looked at the maid strangely. "You seem very happy?"

"Because your plan has been a great success, it's time to reap the rewards."

My plan?

Sorry, I've been "winning" too much lately. Which one are you referring to?

"Have you forgotten? Well, after all, it's just the Yuuki family."

Liuli's expression was joyful, revealing a hint of pride and confidence, and her words conveyed a sense of having everything under control.

"When SAO was about to collapse, you remained unmoved from beginning to end, foreseeing all the developments long ago, which taught me a lot."

Although you didn't say it explicitly, I was already acquiring the plummeting shares of [Rect] at that time—of course, through an external fund holding them on my behalf, without harming Kuse's reputation.

Now, after a series of sharp drops and surges, the stock price of [Rect] has doubled. While the Yuki family has certainly made a fortune, we have become the second largest shareholder after the Yuki family through nominee shareholding and financing.

Furthermore, there are two other companies in which we have stakes, and their major shareholders are companies under our umbrella... In other words, we now effectively hold a 'majority stake'!

"...I see."

"Of course, with your mercy, you won't kick Yuki out of the game, but from now on we have a sword of Damocles hanging over us. It all depends on whether they remain loyal."

Liuli's eyes shone brightly: "As expected of Lord Ye Shou, you turned a crisis into a business opportunity, not only turning the entire project from loss to profit, but also taking control of the new subordinate forces... truly a brilliant strategist!"

Don't say that!

At the time, all I could think about was how to get tons of coins in the kaya shop, I didn't think about all that!

The boy tightened his lips and slowly nodded: "These are all minor matters... but you did a great job. It's clear that all the time you've spent with me has been worthwhile."

"It's all thanks to Lord Ye Shou's teachings and example that we subordinates have such a perfect role model!"

Where can you find such self-disciplined workers?

Ye Shou was deeply moved.

It didn't cost much to "buy" Ruri from the Amber River family. She was such a pitiful and beautiful girl, and she not only gave him a lot of gold coins, but also worked so hard in the business world to make money under her master's name. The return on investment is too high!

...It seems that it's unacceptable not to give the child a year-end bonus.

"Oh, right, there's one more trivial matter."

The swiping interface is like a glass screen, where your fingertip stops on a note.

"Your class will soon have a new transfer student."

"Hmm?" Ye Shou looked up. "Is it necessary to bring this up specifically?"

"She is Yuuki Asuna, the daughter of the Yuuki family."

Ruri-chan's voice sounded very indifferent, quite different from before, as if she had suddenly calmed down.

"It seems that the head of the Yuki family has tasted the sweetness and no longer wants to work hard."

"Ha!" Ye Shou chuckled. "Let him be."

"Hmm~" Liuli's lips curled up, and she casually crossed out the memo with her fingertip.

From the past to the foreseeable future, the head of the Yuki family is not the first to do this, nor will he be the last, but Ye Shou is not a child who can be manipulated.

It's just sending a daughter; do they really think they can climb up the social ladder to the Kuse family?

Ruri accidentally saw Asuna's everyday photos, blinked, and hesitated slightly with her fingertips.

In the end, she still clicked "Focus on".

Although she felt this probably wouldn't suit Ye Shou's taste... at this point, she no longer trusted her own judgment.

How's the youngest daughter of the Shirogane family? Should I add her to my watchlist too...?

Seriously, isn't the concentration of good-looking people around their owner a bit too absurd?

Am I living in some kind of bishoujo game world? How come all my competitors are of such high quality!

Calm down~

Calm down, Liuli. Compared to these people, you have a huge advantage—

"This is ALO's upcoming promotional plan, as well as the development progress of their new game, [GGO]."

—Only I can keep up with the intensity of my master's work (exploitation)!

"GGO... This is the focus for the next year, so we can start hyping it up now."

So early?

"After all, the development speed is astonishingly fast these days," Ye Shou shrugged.

The Jiushi Group already had strong technical capabilities, and now with Kayaba leading the way, using the "power platform" to attract top talents from all over the world and utilizing the black technology of quantum mechanics, what would normally be a development cycle of several years has been compressed into a month, which is quite outrageous.

But then again, the scientists in the Ultrasonic System develop "monster attack weapons" by the hour, almost as efficiently as the blue cat-shaped robot... Kayaba and his group are still too green!

“GGO is a full stealth shooter with a post-apocalyptic survival mode, as well as team dungeons and player-versus-player battles... I feel it will be very popular.”

Liuli is very much looking forward to it: "Compared to fantasy adventure games, this type of game is more likely to become a hit, and it is also easier for us to operate the virtual economy."

"Hmm~" Ye Shou nodded.

He's an RPG enthusiast, so he doesn't quite understand, but limited-edition items in shooting games are indeed easy to hype up. The game quality might be slightly lower than ALO, but its commercial value is actually higher.

Some games don't even care about content; they can survive solely on their virtual economy...

"Actually, we could also try a pay-to-win gacha system."

Liuli said earnestly, "For example, we collaborate with famous IPs. We have partnerships with companies such as Jixiongshe, Dongfang, and Qiandai."

"..."

Ye Shou gave the maid a strange look, then shook his head: "A collaboration is fine, but gacha pulls... I'll leave that for now."

"Ugh?"

"This model provides too little 'positive and negative feedback' to players, which doesn't align with my preferences as an RPG player."