Masayoshi Kishimoto stood on the Tokyo Bay Bridge, feeling the gentle breeze on his face. He looked towards Tokyo Bay and saw everything in front of him in disbelief.
He was not originally from Japan, but he died of a sudden heart attack because of work pressure. Not only was he reborn in Japan, but he also returned on December 1, 1997.
Kishimoto frowned, his expression never relaxed, and he sighed and shook his head from time to time. He looked down at the water of Tokyo Bay flowing under the bridge, and an idea flashed into his mind.
If I die again, will I return to 2025? There is definitely a risk, and it is very high.
What if, after I died, I didn't resurrect, but died directly and became food for the fish and shrimp in the water of Tokyo Bay? Wouldn't that be a very unfair death?
He had been given a chance to be reborn that could not be explained by scientific theory, so he naturally had to cherish it. However, he still missed everything from his previous life.
Kishimoto leaned forward, holding his hands on the guardrail on one side of the Tokyo Bay Bridge. He just raised one foot and placed it on the railing. Before he turned over, he heard a voice behind him saying, "Young man, don't be impulsive. No hurdle cannot be overcome.
You are still young, don't do stupid things. You should think more about your family. They are still waiting for you to come back home. "
Kishimoto was stunned for a moment. He had never thought of committing suicide. He just had a sudden urge to feel the excitement and completely dispel the idea and fantasy that if he committed suicide, he might be able to be resurrected.
He did not put down his raised right foot. Instead, he turned sideways and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a man wearing conspicuous clothes standing not far away, looking at him nervously.
He had no idea when the other party came. He also had no idea how long he had been there. The reason why he was targeted by the strange man was because he stayed on the Tokyo Bay Bridge for too long, causing a camera installed on the bridge to capture him and then transmit the video to the screen in the monitoring room.
The Tokyo Bay Bridge in Tokyo has another creepy name, the Suicide Bridge. Therefore, to reduce the number of suicides jumping off this bridge, a volunteer team was organized.
Once an abnormality is found on the bridge deck, volunteers will rush to the location for a physical inspection. If a suicide attempt is found, they will certainly persuade him to save his life, as saving a life is better than building a seven-story building.
Especially at this particularly sensitive time point, there will be more suicides than in the past. After all, at this time, Japan is experiencing a huge disaster that has evolved from the Southeast Asian financial crisis to the Asian financial crisis.
Kishimoto stared at the other person with a confused look on his face, without gaining any deeper understanding of the actual national conditions of this country.
The suicide rate in the nation tops the list. Contrary to the beautiful Japanese dramas, there are huge pressures on study, fierce competition for jobs, and poor and lonely elderly people.
It is not just the celebrities we know who commit suicide, but also many helpless, ordinary people. This is not just an individual problem, but a serious social problem.
Social polarization and aging are becoming more and more serious, bringing with them poverty and loneliness, fierce competition for admission, difficulty in finding employment, etc.
Children in Japan are the unhappiest group of people in the world. They know from a very young age that their country has extraordinary pressures in the world.
"Suicide cannot solve all problems. If you die like this, your family will be so sad, especially your parents, who will have to bury their precious child." The volunteer carefully persuaded the man while trying to get closer to him.
Seeing the other person's nervous expression, Kishimoto wanted to laugh from the bottom of his heart, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell the truth.
At that time, he would be scolded by others and my face would be humiliated. A mature adult would never do such a boring thing.
Besides, can suicide be used as a joke? However, this action of mine does have the suspicion of suicide.
Kishimoto experienced firsthand what it meant to be in a dilemma. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should take his foot off the railing or keep it there.
"As long as people are alive, there is hope. Think carefully about it. First of all, the probability of becoming a human being is very small. You should have learned about this in school.
Secondly, even if you are born successfully, you will still encounter various dangers. Many people have accidents before they reach adulthood and lose their precious lives.
You may think that a day is particularly boring, but it is a day that many people cannot wait for. Finally, think more about the people you love and the people who love you. "The volunteer said earnestly to try to save a life.
The more sincere and earnest the other party spoke, the more Kishimoto felt that he was going to lose face. Even if he wanted to find an excuse or reason to get out of the situation, he couldn't.
He was a little dumbfounded, but he actually took the other person's words to heart. As this volunteer said, it is really not easy to become a person living in this world. As for suicide, it is easier than living.
The volunteer approached Kishimoto step by step as if he was afraid of waking up a sleeping person. He saw that he did not show any particular excitement, and did not say anything like "Don't come over here again, I will jump if you come over here again", which was enough to show that the other party's determination to commit suicide was not firm enough, and there was a chance to save him.
"If you trust me, tell me about your story. You'll feel better after you tell it." The volunteer didn't relax and rushed over to grab his idea.
Kishimoto immediately thought of his rebirth and said, "You won't understand. Even if I tell you, you won't believe it and will only think I'm crazy."
The volunteer came closer and closer to him and said, "Since you don't want to talk, then don't talk! You must believe that difficulties are temporary and they will eventually pass. You are still so young and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
Kishimoto took the initiative to put down the foot that was on the railing. He felt a little numb in his right foot, but nothing else was left.
Kishimoto had no choice but to cooperate. He loosened his grip on the railing with both hands, clenched his fists tightly, and encouraged himself: "Well, I will definitely live well."
The volunteers were relieved to see that he had given up the idea of committing suicide and said, "That's right!"
He didn't immediately leave but kept talking and advising him how beautiful life is. Then, he stopped a taxi for him and sent him home for fear that he would jump again if he was left alone.
'what a good person.'
Kishimoto chuckled at the back of the Taxi before he suddenly remembered something very important, so he hurried to his destination. This was a party, a party to explain the investment project.
That is, people who have projects but lack funds come to Tokyo to look for partners. Similarly, people who have funds but no good projects naturally come here to look for a good project to invest in.
However, this was the critical moment when the Asian financial crisis was raging, causing the originally high-end investment briefing meeting to become somewhat deserted.
To continue the event and attract popularity, the organizers lowered the threshold again and again, but it didn't attract many people to participate. After all, many people were in dire straits.
In addition to the hard fight they were in, they were also prepared for the worst. If they went bankrupt, it was only natural that they would be on the road of no return.
Even the minority who have not encountered this disaster will not be optimistic about the economic situation in the short term or next year. In the long term, it may be difficult to recover from the damage caused by the Asian financial crisis within three to five years.
Kishimoto got an invitation to participate in this event by chance, which was not favored by most people. If it had not happened before the financial crisis, he would not have been qualified to participate.
He was dressed in formal attire, holding in his left hand the investment project brochure that was handed to him by the receptionist as soon as he entered the room. It clearly listed the names of some companies and the general situation of their respective projects.
Kishimoto opened the investment project manual in his left hand and started reading from the catalog. He lowered his head and stared at an online game company called NCSoft.
This is a new company that was established on March 11, 1997. It was unlucky that it encountered the Southeast Asian financial crisis that first broke out in Thailand on July 2, 1997, and then raged all the way and evolved into the current Asian financial crisis.
Kishimoto tried hard to suppress his inner ecstasy. He immediately decided that even if he had to sell everything he had, he would invest the money in this online game company called NCSoft.
Kishimoto was excited and thought that great opportunities exist in crises. As long as he can find them, he can make a small profit with a big investment.
At present, others don't know the company NCSoft, but he knows it very well. Although it is unknown at present, it will definitely be well-known in the online game industry in the future.
Kishimoto calculated the time and believed that in another half a year, NCsoft would become famous for an online game called "Lineage."
For online game players, only hardcore players have heard of and played the online game "Lineage."
It is extremely popular in many other countries and has opened up a new form of entertainment and leisure.
The game "Legend of Mir 2," which is well known to online gamers, is a copy of "Lineage" to a large extent. The former is also one of the poorer imitators among many.
It seemed as if Kishimoto's steps were out of his control, just like the positive pole of a magnet being attracted to the negative pole, and he involuntarily looked toward NCSoft.
When Kishimoto saw Kim Taek-jin, before he even had time to bow, the first thing he said was: "I want to invest in your company."
Jin was stunned. He had come all the way to Tokyo just to raise funds and save his company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was taking a desperate gamble.
Because the NCSoft online game company he founded was also deeply affected by the Asian financial crisis, Jin repeatedly encountered setbacks on the road to financing.
Banks will naturally not lend money to me, after all, the eight major banks in South Korea are already in trouble. European and American investors look down on small companies like me that have just been established. Even if they want to buy, they will buy high-quality assets in traditional industries that are facing temporary operating difficulties.
What's more, console games still dominate the current gaming industry. Next is single-player computer games or computer LAN games. Finally, there are arcade games and handheld games. What on earth is this online game?
Not to mention asking investors to make a venture capital investment, this is something that even many peers in the gaming industry are not optimistic about, but it has the power to bring about earth-shaking changes.
Jin was happy but also worried. He looked at the man standing in front of him from head to toe, and from toe to head again, like a police officer examining a suspect, for fear that the man might be a liar.
Kishimoto could tell from his eyes that he did not see him as a good person, but he was not angry. After all, it was understandable.
When two people who have never met before meet, he says this sentence, which can't help but make the other party more vigilant. Who can blame me for not being a big celebrity in the investment industry now?
"What? Are you afraid that I'm a liar?" Kishimoto took the initiative to break the thin layer of window paper between the two parties.
Jin was naturally not stupid enough to admit it, so he smiled politely and changed the subject: "I want to know, why do you want to invest in our company?"
"Buffett once said a wise saying about investment: When others are greedy, I am fearful, and when others are fearful, I am greedy. Today, everyone is afraid of the Asian financial crisis, and it is the time when I should be greedy.
Even those who have money will be more cautious than usual. You can tell from the number of people present. But I am not afraid.
There are three reasons. First, I am a huge computer game fan. I can play games for three days and three nights without sleep.
Secondly, I have always believed that the future development direction of computer games will not only stay in the single-player or LAN area but also have a broader world;
The third and most important point is, once you have made up your mind, do not hesitate and be the first to do so." Kishimoto said, raising the three fingers of his right hand one by one.
After listening to his words, Jin couldn't help but nod, especially the other party's second point, which deeply touched him. The other party's idea and his own concept of the game just happened to coincide.