Chapter 7: Business planning and Third trade

After saying good night to his dad, he goes to his room. His conversation with his father continues till after dinner and he is tired mentally.

He needs time to process the information. It is noted that he didn't tell his father about his smartphone business. In 1992 after IBM launched its version of the smartphone, it was not well received. The function is barely working and it's too bulky.

"If I want to make this smartphone, I need to advance a few technologies such as network communication, telecommunication, WiFi, touch screen technology, processing chip, camera, and so on. It'll take a lot of time to explain it", especially to his family if he wants to claim it as his "invention".

It'll also be suspicious if he comes out with an era-defining tech after only 2 months. He plans to start his business after getting into his college as he can where the idea comes from.

But, it seems like he has to do something else first. His father is having some difficulty with the board members of the company. His action may have caused the board to lose confidence in him. The company is in decline as a result of the incident, and his dad is rumored to be forced to step down as the chairman.

"It seems like I can play a prodigal son returning...just a little bit."

He has planned to help his father with these things. Ryan asked Hiddle to get a list of company products, with their corresponding specifications. Although puzzled, Hiddle complied with his demand.

The higher-level technology in the Marvel world cannot be underestimated. Although it's only 2005, the technology for automobiles, such as car engines, alloys, and smart systems is advanced. But, it's still within the range of the early 2010s.

Ryan focused on the improvement of cars. The company started with the automobile industry, it's only right for his father to make a comeback using it. The Knight model luxury sports car with a V6 engine is the main seller in the automobile industry for now, but it's falling behind compared to its competitors.

Knight industries also have a stake in housing development, real estate, agriculture, insurance, and many more. The knight industry has a plethora of revenue sources. Even entertainment and theatre are a part of it, but it's very small as they only started to dabble in it.

While making some designs, he remembered the 2022 Ferrari twin-turbo v6 engine with 663 hp and 221hp/l, it was his dream car at the time. He was very poor before this, but if it's only looking at YouTube videos, it didn't matter right? The details of the car are crystal clear in his memory.

It'll take some effort to make something similar. Although Ryan plans to modify the V6 engine, he still needs to learn about it. As a fan, he knows exactly how to improve it. He just needed to do some calculations and material research. He's planning to search for a car blueprint on the trading site as a fallback.

He also planned to search for Intelli-crop, stark innovation in the agricultural industry in the year 2008, thus expanding the agricultural business of the Knight industry. The idea is there, but it'll take a lot to make it come true.

After careful planning, he feels a little lost on how to start. He is not a genius. Maybe the previous Ryan is smart, but he was comatose for 3 years, a lot has happened since, and he still hasn't caught up with all of it.

"Young master, this is the material you requested." Hiddle handed Jim a stack of documents. "Thank you, but next time you can just hand me a flash drive"

Hiddle looked confused "What's a flash drive? ". Ryan stammered a bit and quickly said "A CD, it's called a drive."

"Can you burn documents onto a CD?". Hiddle asked again. Ryan has to play the role of a grandson, explaining technology to the old man. "It seems like a USB drive is also a good idea." he quickly noted in his mind.

As he is still in 'rehab', he is locked up in the house. Maybe in another month or two after the doctor clears him he can step into the world. Prolonged isolation is not a new thing for him as he was in the pandemic, but it's a hassle for him to find relevant knowledge.

"Hiddle, I also need some R&D data for the past few years. Ooh, and the data of our competitors", he passed down the order. The data compelled him to start. He's already finishing the design for the new engine. It only took two days.

"Sure, I'll bring it to you in a CD after this Young Master", Hiddle is going to let the young uns of the company do it. Although the young master explains carefully, he didn't understand any of it. He is in Vietnam for god's sake. This new technology all looks like doodads to him.

At dinner, Tim asked him about his intentions. "What are you going to do with all the data Ryan?". The son replied, "I'm just interested in the company, and I can learn a lot of things from it."

Tim is satisfied with his son's answer. "You can go to the company to learn it soon. Don't push yourself too hard. Finish getting healthy first.", his father started to nag.

Ryan has no problem going to the company, but he is afraid that he will come across as a little weird around others. His basic social skills degenerated a lot during the pandemic. It's not like he can buy social skills on the trading site. "let's check if the system got it later"

This problem bothers him because some of the patrolmen in his house that he tries to talk to, of them look at him weirdly. Putting his social awkwardness aside, he took 2 weeks to finish his design of the engine and modification a new car.

He's pretty sure that it'll get an explosive reaction once it hits the market. "I'll give myself a gift because I did a good thing." He waltzed to his father's art room and stole a few antiques. He wants to sell it at the trading site. This is the kind of thing that makes the patrolman look at him weirdly, but he didn't realize that.

" Should I wrap it or just leave it be? ", he finished his work and he wanted to present it to his father. But not now. He wants to make sure that he can run after giving it, so he doesn't have to deal with the awkwardness afterward.

Today is the 15th." Boy, time surely flies". He's been busy doing all sorts of stuff that a month passes by. He prepares 10 kg of gold, this time priced at 140,000 dollars. Previously, he only prepared 2.5 kg gold at 70,000 dollars. "Why is gold cheap? It's only 2005 muahaha"

This is the last of his stock. If he wanted more gold, he needed to get out of the house. Hiddle already forbade him to buy stuff online. "It's for privacy reasons", the old man said.

After exchanging the gold. Ryan took a look for knowledge and a blueprint. There's an engine here, but it's too powerful for Ryan's needs. He still buys it for reference. He has a lot of money this time, 2000 tc. His listed item from the previous trade gives him an extra 150 tc once sold.

He gets his focus back after the evil laugh. Ryan buys some knowledge in alloy refining, vacuum arc melting plant, hydraulic press steel plate, alloy composition, and many more to upgrade knights company equipment to prepare for his new car.

Basic knowledge such as basic mathematics, basic physics, and basic chemistry, are bought to further solidify his foundation. When it is integrated into his mind, it's a lot more advanced than what basic knowledge should have been. With it, he could make the design in a day instead of taking two weeks.

He also buys a lot of new knowledge in agriculture, and real estate planning, more and more as if he gets addicted to it. He was busy buying, then something popped out.

[Congratulations to the user. You have bought 30 or more basic knowledge sold in the trade. You got the achievement [SCHOLAR]. You will get 10% off for the next 10 purchases of knowledge]

He didn't know there was an achievement in the system. He skips a lot of the rules because the time is too short to read it all. The 10% discount is good though. Ryan continues to buy more knowledge in the system so as not to waste the discount. Then he searched for new skills.

"Maybe there's an achievement for many skills taken?", he got an idea. He contemplates for a while. There are 1000+ tc points left. He only has 7 basic skills. To get to 30 will cause him to use more than 500 tc. "Well no time to think about it, I've only got 30 minutes ."

He quickly buys basic dagger mastery, basic staff mastery, basic sniping mastery, basic bomb-making mastery, basic interrogation, basic psychological cues reading, basic acting, basic mimicry, basic parallel thinking, basic rest skill, basic yoga, basic Kamasutra, basic mixed martial art, basic kung-fu, basic wingchun, and more.

After reaching the 30th skill, Ryan gets a notification

[Congratulations, You have acquired 30 or more skills in the skill section. You get the achievement [BEGINNER]. You will receive a 10% discount for the skill-related section in the future.]

Ryan is excited. He spent 460 ts to get the achievement. "Item is also a category, right? Maybe?"

Good thing for sure that items bought in the system are stored in the inventory where he can summon them anytime. Otherwise, his room will be full.

But even after more than 30 items, there's still no notification. Even after 40 items, still no notification. He thought "maybe there's no achievement for the item section? " he didn't stop as there was no time left, he has 250 tc in his account.

He's very lucky that he bought knowledge first before he bought the item. Otherwise, there's a lot of stuff he has no idea what it is. He buys a supercomputer, an external transmitter, a connecting drone, a hacking drone, a radar scanner, a full-body kevlar suit, a night raid suit, an infrared camera, USB, more phones, some manufacturing machines, a car, a variety of guns, beer, random food and drinks, some potions.

"Let's just finish it, I'll get more funds next month". It's almost an hour, and none of his items listed this week are sold. His fund is now gone. He wanted to count today's harvest but a notification came through. To be exact there are 2 notifications.

[Congratulations, you've spent all your currency in a trade 3 sessions in a row. You've got the achievement [Nouveau Rich]. You can get 10% more in tc when you sell stuff to the system next session.]

"Yes!", next trade he planned to sell even more gold. He thought that was it, but when he read the next notification, it blew his mind.