Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 209: Stranglehold

"Did the investor tell you that?"
Tang Yao sounded puzzled: "Why would an investor mention this to you?"
Li Xue sighed helplessly: "You know how since Avalon's rise late last year, there's been no shortage of people wanting to throw money at us, right?"
"Oh..."
Tang Yao drew out her syllable as realization dawned.
The current Avalon clearly belonged to that rare category of investment targets - a rising star in a booming industry with both long-term stability and short-term hype.
To classify it properly, they'd be considered an "icing on the cake" investment.
The so-called "icing on the cake" investment targets referred to companies with proven business models in thriving industries. The catch was these targets were usually already overvalued by capital, making bargain purchases impossible. Investors could only buy in at premium prices - hence the "icing" metaphor.
Of course, Avalon was special. Its initial funding came from Li Xue, while Tang Yao's personal capabilities and perfect timing had created a textbook case of small capital achieving big results.
The company's current equity structure remained clean and transparent, far from the overinflated valuations common with such investments.
Yet it still fell into the "icing" category because Avalon currently had no funding needs - FGO's monthly revenue alone enabled Tang Yao to pursue numerous projects.
Ironically, this very profitability combined with ANF's unexpectedly explosive growth only made more investors desperate to get in.
To put it bluntly, if Tang Yao wanted funding now, she could raise massive amounts effortlessly.
Naturally, she had no such intentions. But her reluctance only fueled investors' eagerness to claim their slice of the pie.
"Quite a few investors have reached out recently - my cousin contacted me twice already."
Seeing Tang Yao understood the situation, Li Xue explained further: "Today another investor called, probably wanting us to take their money. She deliberately leaked some information - saying Jiuxiao's 'Stellar Ode' project team has begun large-scale outreach to all the anime-related channels we've worked with."
"Basically every major platform except ANF - including ACG Dream (China's largest anime forum), MyAnime (the top anime rating site), and fan art sharing platforms... They're not just placing ads like 'Dark Night Decree' did. They're offering higher ad fees plus revenue shares, on condition all FGO promotional materials get removed - even if it means paying our penalties. This includes 'Dark Night Decree' ads too."
"The investor implied Jiuxiao plans to let competitors blaze the trail, then dominate the space by ensuring anime fans only know about 'Stellar Ode' for a period..."
Here Li Xue paused, then apologized: "Tang Yao, I'm sorry. When we originally contracted these channels, we didn't secure exclusivity clauses... So Jiuxiao's tactic of offering better terms to replace our ads is standard competitive practice. Without evidence of false advertising, bribery or defamation, we can't stop them unless we outbid..."
"...No."
Though stunned, Tang Yao grasped Li Xue's hand and gently shook her head in reassurance: "You've barely started handling this work, and I never anticipated Jiuxiao would do this... But what's that investor's angle in telling us?"
"Suggesting we take external funding while Avalon's valuation is high, claiming they could help weather Jiuxiao's coming assault..."
Li Xue returned Tang Yao's grasp, her slender fingers whitening slightly from the pressure, delicate features showing flickers of regret.
Tang Yao noticed but didn't offer further comfort. Some sentiments didn't need repeating - they'd pass. She simply pulled Li Xue closer until their knees touched, wordlessly conveying her lack of blame, then frowned in thought.
Something felt off about this investor...
But she quickly dismissed the suspicion. Regardless of ulterior motives, since she had no intention of accepting funding, it didn't matter.
The real concern was Jiuxiao...
"Seems Jiuxiao wants more than just profits from one or two games," Tang Yao mused slowly. "They're trying to smother competitors by throwing money at the problem - forcibly closing the gap or even surpassing established games..."
"Exactly."
Li Xue nodded: "As latecomers with 'Dark Night Decree's' failure fresh in mind, they recognize ANF's channel advantage. But seeing mobile gaming's potential, they're adopting this scorched-earth approach..."
"Since they can't touch ANF yet, they'll first cut off our other channels to reduce FGO's exposure while suppressing rivals. I suspect their earlier investment offers were attempts to co-opt FGO's success for their own goals."
"They want to leverage their resources to claim half the mobile gaming market despite being late to the game."
Tang Yao couldn't help shaking her head: "Quite the ambitious scheme."
"Indeed... They'll likely push for exclusivity deals next, leaving us only ANF as a channel."
After a thoughtful silence, Li Xue tightened her grip on Tang Yao's slender hand and admitted softly: "I checked earlier - external channels don't account for most FGO players, but they've contributed significantly to the game's current hype..."
"True."
Tang Yao acknowledged: "The short-term impact may be limited, but long-term consequences are inevitable..."
This proved you should never underestimate rivals - money could indeed solve many problems.
Fortunately, ANF was no longer the struggling platform they'd first acquired. Back then, such targeting would have been disastrous, forcing desperate measures to maintain game popularity.
While "good wine needs no bush" held truth, it didn't apply to continually updated mobile games needing sustained visibility.
That said, ANF's gaming section remained vulnerable - its audience still narrow, popularity not yet peak, and overly reliant on FGO alone. Most visitors still came for videos, not associating the site with gaming.
Hmm.
The co-publishing plans couldn't wait any longer.
And the livestreaming initiative...
Taking a deep breath and setting aside discomfort, Tang Yao decided: "Miss Li, please compile a list of those game demos for me to try. We need to quickly select suitable titles. Also inform Kang Ming to prepare the livestreaming project."
"Competing with Jiuxiao for external channels through money wars is pointless now. We're better off focusing on rapidly developing ANF's gaming section and boosting its visibility..."
Rather than engage in a spending battle, Tang Yao preferred strengthening their own platform.
Though she'd never run websites or livestreams in her past life, she did possess some marketing know-how.