In late April, Tokyo's temperature had noticeably warmed, and the cherry blossom trees outside the window had sprouted fresh, emerald-green leaves.
Monday morning, Sega Headquarters Building.
Takuya Nakayama pushed open the heavy wooden door to the Executive Office.
Having just spent a relaxed and pleasant weekend with his family at his parents-in-law's house, he was now in excellent spirits, his very footsteps light and brisk.
The newly assigned assistant, efficient and nimble, had already cleaned the spacious solid wood desk to a spotless shine.
A freshly brewed cup of black coffee was steaming, its rich, bitter aroma filling the air.
Beside the coffee cup lay a thick kraft paper envelope.
In the upper right corner of the envelope was the logo that now commanded the attention of all of Silicon Valley—the black-and-white logo of Silicon Valley Online.
Takuya Nakayama took off his slim-fit suit jacket, casually hung it on the coat rack, and sat down in the high-backed leather chair.
He picked up the envelope, tore open the tamper-evident seal, and pulled out a thick stack of reports and summaries.
This was the first-quarter financial report of Silicon Valley Online for 1997, along with a summary of the latest reactions from Wall Street's top investment banks, which had been rushed out over the weekend.
Across the Pacific, the economic climates of Japan and the United States presented a starkly ironic contrast this spring.
In Japan, the government's forced hike of the consumption tax to 5% had plunged the retail sector and the real economy into a sudden winter. A gloom descended as people clutched their wallets tight, hesitating even to buy a single beer at an izakaya.
Meanwhile, across the ocean in the United States, the Internet industry was exploding like a Mustang with a V8 engine, driving the entire information sector to new heights and even pulling traditional manufacturing into a strong recovery.
Takuya Nakayama lifted his coffee, blew on it gently, and flipped to the first page of the report.
It featured a line chart showing the trends of the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, their curves rising and falling like a thrilling roller coaster.
Over the past three months, Wall Street had endured a volatility so extreme it was destined for the history books.
On February 13th, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 7,000-point mark for the first time.
That day, Manhattan traders descended into absolute madness. Champagne corks flew through the air over Wall Street as capital poured into tech stocks at any cost, as if one could rake in a fortune simply by buying blindly.
Yet the frenzy did not last long.
The warning signs of an overheating economy soon alerted the old men at the Federal Reserve. On March 25, the Fed unexpectedly announced a 25-basis-point rate hike.
This decision directly ignited panic over the overvalued nature and profitability of tech stocks. From March 10 to April 11, in just one month, the Dow and S&P 500 indices erased nearly all of their gains since the beginning of the year. The Nasdaq Composite Index suffered an even more severe blow, plummeting relentlessly to a new yearly low.
As one of the leaders in the Internet sector, Silicon Valley Online naturally became a prime target for panic selling. Speculators and hedge funds, accustomed to making quick money, fled in droves. This caused the stock price to experience its largest drawdown since its IPO, sending a shiver of terror through many retail investors.
Takuya Nakayama took a sip of the bitter coffee, his expression unchanged as he continued flipping through the pages.
In mid-April, the line chart staged an incredibly steep "V-shaped" reversal.
As April began, US stocks entered the critical quarterly earnings disclosure period. Industry leaders like Microsoft, Intel, Caterpillar, and Ford released financial reports that far exceeded Wall Street's most optimistic expectations.
The strong earnings data instantly shattered the market's panic. US stocks rapidly entered a "sweet spot," and capital, like sharks smelling blood, came pouring back in.
Amidst this powerful rally, Silicon Valley Online delivered a stunning report that struck terror into the hearts of all the short-sellers.
Takuya Nakayama's lips curled into a slight smile as he looked at the core data on the report.
The daily unique visitors and total clicks for go.com had both broken historical records.
The number of registered users in the Passport System was showing even more terrifying growth.
But what truly drove the vampires of Wall Street wild was the revenue data for Dungeons & Dragons Online.
After the seven-day free trial ended, players who had been won over by the hardcore gameplay and vast worldbuilding didn't hesitate to link their credit cards to their Silicon Valley Online Passports.
The steady stream of cash from monthly subscriptions and point card sales slapped the analysts—those who had publicly questioned the portal's "lack of a clear monetization model" in the newspapers—completely silent.
Just then, the encrypted line on the desk rang urgently.
Takuya Nakayama glanced at the caller ID and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Boss," Frank Marshall's voice, hoarse with excitement, crackled through the speaker.
Even across the Pacific, Takuya could clearly hear the cheers and whistles as champagne bottles were popped outside the Redwood City office.
It was currently Sunday afternoon in California; the Silicon Valley Online executives were clearly working overtime at the office to celebrate.
"I'm reviewing the report," Takuya said, leaning back in his large leather chair and tapping the desk twice. His voice remained calm. "Excellent work, Frank. These numbers are impeccable."
"Impeccable? That's an understatement! For the past month, that old bastard Donald Valentine nearly blew out my office phone!" Frank spoke rapidly, his voice laced with the satisfaction of a long-overdue victory. "When the Fed hiked rates in March, those hedge fund managers on Wall Street ran faster than anyone! Our stock price plummeted for two straight weeks. A few short-sighted partners within Sequoia even suggested we trim our position to hedge our bets!"
"And you held the line?" Takuya Nakayama asked with a smile.
"Of course I did! I completely ignored their bullshit macroeconomic analysis. All I showed Donald was our real-time active user data from the backend." Frank sneered, his tone dripping with contempt. "I told him, regardless of whether the Fed hikes rates or what Greenspan says, every internet user in America still wakes up and checks go.com for news, and logs into Battle.net to play games at night! As long as we control the traffic, those Wall Street idiots will eventually have to pay us back double what they spat out!"
Takuya flipped to the final page of the briefing.
It contained a series of research reports, hastily prepared by analysts at top-tier investment banks who had worked overnight after Silicon Valley Online released its first-quarter earnings.
Without exception, every single rating had been upgraded from "Hold" to "Strong Buy," and the target prices were hiked to a jaw-dropping figure.
"The facts prove I was right! The very day the first-quarter report was released, the stock price recovered all its losses with an incredible gap-up opening." Frank's voice grew increasingly triumphant.
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