"And what are you planning to do now?" Jenny asked.
"I have a lot of confidence in my novel."
Of course—history would eventually prove her right.
"Hey… Kate, I've got an idea." Lily suddenly leaned in.
"What is it?"
"We could publish it ourselves!"
Start their own publishing house?
The idea immediately popped into Catherine's head.
"Let's start our own publishing company!"
Did she really just suggest that?
"Yes! Let's call it Angel Publishing. What do you think?"
Lily straightened her clothes, revealing the logo of an angel-themed costume design company with a pair of wings.
"That sounds good." Jenny nodded.
"Yeah! From now on, we'll publish all of Catherine's books!" Lily grinned and grabbed Catherine's hand.
"But what do you even need to start a publishing house?"
"We need capital and visibility!" Lily said.
"That won't be hard for us. The profits from the costume company should be pretty substantial. Maybe I can help too?"
"Hey! I haven't even planned on publishing for you yet!" Catherine protested.
Still, she was a little excited. After all, it would be her own publishing house, which meant she wouldn't have to worry about restrictions on what she could publish in the future.
Of course, this was still just an idea that hadn't been put into action. They discussed it for a long time but didn't reach any concrete conclusion—though the thought stayed with all of them.
In the meantime, with some time still left before the official release, Catherine began thinking about GameTV.
GameTV's performance was poor, and Catherine wanted to create high-quality, genuinely fun games—but that was clearly impossible with GameTV.
If they really tried, the game console would have to be separated into components and made about the size of a large refrigerator, barely achieving something close to what the later Famicom (FC) console would offer.
After all, manufacturing precision at the time was nowhere near good enough; fine tuning was simply out of the question.
Still, Catherine wasn't too worried about that. Instead, she was thinking about supercomputers.
Ever since Seymour Clay's letter, this idea had been on her mind.
She had briefly considered building a supercomputer and becoming a computing tycoon, but what she really cared about was whether she could actually play games on a supercomputer.
Sure, the idea was a little ridiculous—but Catherine genuinely wanted to play real computer games. Unfortunately, by the time that became possible, she'd probably already be an old woman.
The full title of the game was Magic Chess: Harry Potter and Hogwarts.
In Catherine's mind, Magic Chess was the core title. Harry Potter was just one part of her career, while Magic Chess could continue to grow—expanding with new miniatures, merchandising, and eventually forming an entirely new cultural phenomenon.
For each miniature, Catherine prepared two versions. One had a more cartoonish style aimed at children; the other was designed for adults, with completely different terrain and character portraits.
She paid special attention to making the characters visually appealing. In her previous life, she had absolutely hated the ugly character portraits common in D&D.
This was also a recurring issue in American comics.
In her past life, American comics were often criticized for their art style.
While there were certainly beautifully made works, American comics tended to emphasize "realism." Unfortunately, Catherine was an idealist.
She genuinely wanted to fix what she saw as the grotesque aesthetic sensibilities common in Europe and America.
Of course, one person's influence is limited. All she could do was try to improve the appearance of characters in her own illustrations.
What she didn't expect was that the beautifully designed adult version of Magic Chess would end up being far more popular with children than with adults. Meanwhile, the middle class and other adult players actually preferred the cartoon version.
It was completely backward.
How could that be?
Catherine found it absurd, but sometimes that's just how things work.
Barbie dolls were popular with children precisely because they were designed for adults. Children's longing to grow up, among other reasons, made them drawn to these elegant, beautiful toys.
In Catherine's adult version, the characters were exquisitely designed.
She had already created professions like wizard apprentice, white mage, and black mage. Each profession had four cards representing different character appearances: a boy and a girl around fifteen or sixteen years old, and a young man and woman in their early thirties. All of them shared one defining trait—they were beautiful. The men were handsome, and the women were alluring and elegant, all designed by Catherine herself.
Honestly, Catherine didn't really understand the way American kids thought. Sometimes everything about it felt downright absurd to her.
Her Magic Chess game was an instant success, especially among Catherine's fans, who absolutely loved it.
She had woven many compelling stories into the game, all centered on the history of Hogwarts, allowing players to interact with and experience this classic world together.
The paperback publisher seemed to notice this business opportunity and decided to release Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire earlier than originally planned, earning even greater profits as a result.
Catherine followed suit and announced the release of her first expansion game:
Magic Chess: The Clock Tower of London.
Coincidentally, The Goblet of Fire focuses on the Triwizard Tournament, where three schools compete for the trophy. Catherine replaced the original Nordic and French magic schools with the Babylonian School of Magic from the Middle East and the Clock Tower School of Magic from London, creating a more complete structure and a more engaging story.
The new game and the novel reinforced each other perfectly, resulting in sales that far exceeded expectations. Catherine's royalties alone had already surpassed one million dollars.
In this whirlwind of success, Catherine felt dizzy almost every day.
She knew she couldn't do everything on her own. She understood the big picture and could guide her subordinates—so why insist on doing everything herself?
Moreover, as her future businesses continued to grow, she would only become busier.
As a result, Catherine decided to look for a CEO for her "Ark Group."
But… who were the financial talents of this era?
The thought gave Catherine a headache.