13 Profits

Shin arrived at the Ikeburo Center alone while Mira was still sleeping. She wasn't much of an early riser, especially after the tiring task of assembling the three video game consoles with Shin.

Upon arrival, Shin visited Manager Han to hire some people to collect the coins from the video game machines. Both Shin and Manager Han were taken aback by the substantial number of 10-yen coins they had collected.

Lee Han asked Shin with confusion, "Mr. Suzuki, I've been meaning to ask this, but why are your video game machines so cheap? I mean, 10 yen? Even some vending machines on the streets wouldn't be priced that low..." He hesitated slightly, worried that Shin might take offense.

Shin was caught off guard by the question. He hadn't considered the strong spending power of Japan's population. He had underestimated it, assuming that the country was still recovering from the economic bubble of a few years ago. The previous Shin, not being much of an outdoors person, was unaware of the true economic situation and had focused on programming rather than market research.

Shin quickly searched for an explanation and said, "Well, the reason is that our target audience is primarily children..."

Lee Han nodded in understanding and suggested, "I see... but it might be better to charge 100 yen for three lives instead. Mario can be quite challenging, and most players won't last as long as 10 minutes unless they're experts."

"I understand, and once it becomes consistently popular, we can consider raising the price," Shin replied with a smile.

Lee Han agreed with the idea.

After Lee Han's workers counted the coins, Shin exchanged them for cash, totaling 36,040 yen. However, Shin wasn't complacent. It was Monday, and there were fewer people compared to Sunday, although it was still early at 7 am.

With Manager Han's assistance, Shin set up two more video game consoles on the coin-operated machines he had prepared the day before. In fact, Shin had already prepared many of these coin-operated machines for future use. It seemed they might be needed sooner than expected.

Shin's budget, initially at 148,000 yen, was now boosted to 184,040 yen.

Later, Shin returned to the apartment and considered adding another video game machine. However, at 9 am, Manager Han called to report that many people had arrived to play the video game machines again. Shin saw this as a positive sign.

So, he ordered a batch of components, and when Mira, who had just woken up, was informed, she fretted about being busy again. However, Shin reassured her, saying they would hire people to assist them.

Shin explained, "Assembling a video game console is challenging, but it can be done by an ordinary person as long as they follow our instructions."

Mira sighed, realizing that she might not feel so alone working with Shin anymore. Shin playfully flicked her forehead, which caused her to yelp in pain.

"Ouch! What's that for!?" Mira protested as she rubbed her forehead.

Shin chuckled and reassured Mira, saying, "Don't worry. We won't be hiring anyone just yet. Our budget is still quite tight. So, we'll wait for the revenue from our video game machines at the Ikeburo Center to accumulate the funds we need for our future plans."

---

A few days passed, and the daily revenue from KiShin Video Game machines averaged 48,000 yen. Finally, people in the Ikebukuro District began to take notice of the Video Game Machines. 

With this upward trend, the video game machines continued to generate earnings. Following Lee Han's suggestion, Shin changed the pricing to 100 yen for three lives in Super Mario. This pricing adjustment led to even higher earnings, especially as new players came to try the game.

Surprisingly, people didn't complain about the change. They found it convenient and felt that if they were careful and didn't die too often, they could play for longer periods. Of course, this was true for some, but most players still struggled and lost quickly, ultimately blaming their own lack of skill.

---

With the funds now built up, Shin was ready to start hiring people. Mira had been assisting him all along, and their budget had increased to 380,000 yen.

Shin and Mira successfully hired 20 interested individuals for the job. They rented an unused building space at a cost of 9,000 yen per day, which was already considered affordable compared to other options. It was a perfect spot for their small-scale production.

Shin and Mira began instructing the newly hired workers on how to assemble the video game consoles. Shin had designed the PCB (printed circuit board) for his console from the start and ordered it to be custom-made through a sales agent at Tora Electronics. This was a convenient option for him. Additionally, he had filed a patent for his video game console long ago.

Now, all the new employees needed to do was assemble the game console according to Shin's design. In a matter of hours, they managed to produce eight video game consoles.

However, upon testing, they found that five of them were working perfectly, while three were faulty. Shin felt a tinge of frustration but knew there wasn't much he could do at this point. After all, it was their first day, so he sighed and accepted it.

The five functional game consoles were transported to the Ikeburo Center, filling the space Shin had rented there. He realized that the space wouldn't accommodate more than 12 consoles. This resulted in an increase in revenue.

Shin then began planning to rent space in other locations, such as mall entertainment halls. He had already contacted mall managers at other malls and the store managers at the Ikeburo Entertainment Center for potential rental opportunities.

The Ikeburo Center was quite expansive, housing a variety of stores within its premises. Shin reached out to these stores to lay the groundwork for the future placement of his game consoles for rent.

---

Meanwhile, in the meeting room at the Ikeburo Center, a sense of seriousness hung in the air. General Manager Fuyuko Kimura sat with a stern expression, joined by various department heads, including the finance manager, retail manager, and others. Seated beside them was the Assistant General Manager, Ito Kimura, the son of the general manager.

Lee Han, feeling a growing sense of unease, was also present. He suspected that this meeting had something to do with the sudden surge in popularity of KiShin Video Game machines.

As the meeting began, General Manager Fuyuko Kimura spoke gravely, placing a report on the table before them. "According to this report, there has been a recent influx of visitors to our Ikeburo Center, with a significant number of them being children."

The other managers exchanged puzzled glances, silently wondering, 'Isn't that a good thing?'

Nevertheless, they remained silent.

The general manager continued, "One of the key reasons for this increase in visitors to our Ikeburo Center, as indicated in the report, is the presence of the video game machines."

This revelation left some managers visibly surprised. One of them questioned, "But weren't those game machines consistently unprofitable? Why would people suddenly flock to what was previously considered a financial drain?"

The meeting room filled with voices as a lively discussion erupted.

General Manager Fuyuko Kimura calmly interjected, "That's precisely what this meeting is about. I've been informed that a video game machine in Section Manager Han's department is now generating significant profits."

All eyes in the room turned towards Lee Han, who suddenly felt the weight of their scrutiny and began to sweat nervously under the pressure.