Chapter 111: Gamers Set
Chapter 111: Gamers Set
“Ah. So it’s a type of vending machine.”
“Yes. But it’s a vending machine where you can’t know or choose what’s inside.”
“Hmm.”
Ras remembered holding the plastic capsule that rolled out through the hole, heart pounding as he wondered whether it contained what he wanted, twisting it open or placing it on the floor and stomping on it to crack it apart.
As he smiled at the thought of giving children in this world similar memories from his own childhood, Utaro wore a slightly serious expression.
“Is there some kind of problem?”
“No. It’s just…”
Ras gestured for the hesitant man to speak freely.
“Hmm. It just feels somewhat like gambling. Of course, it’s cheap and only toy capsules, but I think people could still use that as grounds to criticize us.”
“Ah…”
Now that he heard it, that was true.
Honestly, even Ras had thought it felt a little underhanded back when he used to put in coins and turn those machines.
As a child, he had initially been excited at the thought of getting an awesome toy for just one hundred won. But after repeatedly getting random junk he didn’t care about and still failing to obtain the cool Granzort toy displayed on the machine even after spending all his coins, it had felt like he had been scammed.
(Translator’s Note: Granzort (그랑죠) — Korean title for the 1989 Japanese anime Madō King Granzort (마동왕그랑죠), which became highly popular among Korean children during the 1990s due to its robot designs and merchandise.)
He had even thought he would’ve been happier just buying snacks with that money.
“People who want to complain will complain no matter what. If we worry about every complaint, we won’t be able to do anything. Still, we can’t completely ignore the gambling criticism, so let’s display the probabilities. No, rather than probabilities, it should be enough to write how many of each item are inside a machine.”
That was the solution Ras came up with after some thought. It was also the same sort of solution mobile games on Earth had eventually been required to implement.
Beyond this, nothing particularly clever came to mind.
“Yes… that would definitely reduce the feeling that people are being deceived.”
And in any case, Ras intended for the capsule machines to be filled mostly with Bubble Bobble toys.
Rather than placing one extremely expensive item inside as a prize, he planned to create various Bubble Bobble items that could be collected and assembled into a diorama.
Instead of making people chase one rare item like gambling, he intended to stimulate their collector instincts.
“That certainly does seem like a better way to avoid the feeling of gambling.”
Apparently satisfied with Ras’s idea, Utaro nodded with a noticeably brighter expression.
Maybe he was being overly sensitive, but Meta Soft had grown so large that there were now many people who viewed the company negatively.
Arcade Game Land especially stood out.
Every branch occupied a large spot in busy downtown districts, and they were always packed with people, making them impossible to overlook.
Moreover, now that Quick & Fun Burger had been added, even non-gamers came there just to eat, making the surrounding areas extremely crowded.
One group that viewed Arcade Game Land negatively was parents.
Naturally, they thought children were going there only to play games instead of studying.
Ras had already expected that and considered it unavoidable. At the very least, he made sure the places were managed well enough not to become breeding grounds for delinquents like arcades on Earth, preventing their image from deteriorating beyond that point.
Some politicians and businessmen disliked them as well.
“But why?”
When Ras first read articles related to it, he genuinely couldn’t understand.
His business reduced people’s stress and paid huge amounts of taxes.
So he looked into their arguments, and this was what they claimed:
“People will only pursue pleasure and seek entertainment rather than work, causing labor productivity to decline.”
Naturally, it was nonsense that merely sounded plausible.
But since this world had never experienced anything like a communist revolution, workers here seemed to occupy a position only slightly better than slaves, which was probably why such statements could even appear.
Still, he couldn’t afford to worry about every complaint like this.
So Ras merely observed the trends and mostly ignored them.
The reason he couldn’t completely ignore them was because negative public opinion still existed, meaning he needed to avoid giving people further ammunition.
“Then we’ll begin with the machine design and start sourcing the items to put inside the capsules.”
“Yes. Please make the contents as safe and ordinary as possible. The primary customers will be children, so they’ll smash them, bite them, and do all sorts of things. It’ll be troublesome if someone gets hurt. Materials like glass are unsuitable. Though marbles might be okay.”
“Ah. That’s true.”
As a child, these had only felt like worthless junk whenever he pulled a losing capsule, but now that he was in the position of filling them himself, it was surprisingly difficult.
Of course, the ones actually handling the work would be the employees of Meta Hardware.
In any case, yet another new project had now begun.
Since the machine itself wasn’t especially difficult to make with this world’s technology, Ras expected it wouldn’t take very long.
“And let’s expand the toy manufacturing factory even further.”
“Ah. Understood.”
Utaro looked slightly uncertain because Ras was already talking about scaling up a business that had not even properly begun yet.
Still, he assumed it was because Ras had immense confidence in capsule toy machines and nodded.
And from his own perspective, the idea did not look bad at all.
“Understood. Then I’ll prepare everything according to the estimated completion date of the capsule machines.”
But that wasn’t the only method Ras had in mind.
“No. This needs to match another event we’ll be running soon, so there’s no need to wait. Proceed as quickly as possible.”
Utaro’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the revelation that Ras had another plan prepared.
He wondered whether solutions could really come this easily.
Of course, unlike what Utaro thought, it wasn’t because Ras himself was extraordinary. It was because of the unfair advantage of his memories from Earth.
“Yes. It’s not a particularly difficult method.”
What Ras recalled was McDonald’s Happy Meal.
Other similar examples included Pokémon bread, Cheetos Tazo, and all sorts of food products that came with toys.
(Translator’s Note: Pokémon bread (포켓몬빵) — Korean character-themed snack bread line first released by SPC Samlip in 1998, famous for including collectible Pokémon stickers inside the packaging.)
(Translator’s Note: Tazo — Collectible circular discs included in snack promotions during the 1990s and early 2000s, commonly associated with chips like Cheetos and used in simple competitive games among children.)
“Ah. So it’s a kind of bundled sale.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
When he first remembered Happy Meals, he hadn’t thought of them as bundled sales, but while actually planning things out, even Ras realized their true nature.
In fact, bundled sales could probably be considered one of the oldest business tactics in history.
Still, since Happy Meals had existed since the 1970s, maybe they could even be considered one of the originals.
“In any case, if we give one with every meal, then considering Quick & Fun’s sales, we should be able to secure a huge distribution volume.”
“I-I see.”
Quick & Fun wasn’t merely a restaurant attached to an arcade.
It had become a major shock to the food service industry of the Republic of Smite.
Because it offered cheap, delicious, and fast meals, it appealed not only to gamers but also to ordinary people, and it was expected to soon gain even more recognition than Arcade Game Land itself.
Though Utaro wasn’t personally in charge of that business, it was still under Meta Soft, so he could check the performance indicators.
The numbers had truly been enormous.
If even a fraction of that customer flow could be redirected toward the toy business, it would be incredible.
“The target demographic is suitable too. Quick & Fun’s identity was originally meals for gamers anyway, so we’ll make something called a Gamers Set and include toys packaged in small cardboard boxes.”
“Ah. Gamers Set. That sounds good!”
They could have gone with something like a children’s set, as McDonald’s did.
But Ras also remembered that some people avoided ordering children’s sets even when they wanted the toys because they felt embarrassed.
Honestly, he himself had once wanted a dinosaur toy, but because he felt self-conscious, he waited until the promotion was almost over and awkwardly claimed it was for his nephew even though nobody had asked.
And this world was even more macho than Earth had been in the past.
That tendency would likely be even stronger here.
So after some consideration, he decided to remove the feeling that it was something exclusively for children and simply call it the Gamers Set.
“This event will be permanent. Not just Bubble Bobble, but future games and even characters from older games can all be made into toys, which should naturally keep the event fresh.”
Utaro calculated things in his head.
Given the popularity of Quick & Fun Burger, a certain level of sales volume was practically guaranteed.
That meant they could mass-produce the toys and lower production costs enough that they could easily be included as bonuses with meals.
At present, the biggest problem with plastic toys was the expensive equipment and worker skill requirements.
But the more the equipment was used, the faster the investment cost could be recovered.
And workers would naturally improve their skills through continuous production.
This was a way to solve both problems at once.
“I’ll establish a dedicated team immediately.”
Utaro once again admired Ras and moved proactively.
The business was larger than expected and would continue long-term, so it clearly needed its own department.
“Ah. Yes. We should make one.”
Ras paused briefly at the mention of a dedicated team before nodding.
The idea of forming a new team naturally caused slight resistance because it meant increased costs.
Still, considering that Happy Meals on Earth had continued for decades, a dedicated team would inevitably exist sooner or later anyway.
Moreover, there was still enormous future potential in plastic toys themselves, so it probably was worth paying more attention to the field.
After all, toys had eventually become entirely plastic, and one exciting iconic item after another had appeared.
Lego would definitely exist eventually. Figures too. Plastic model kits. Things like Gundam robots as well.
(Translator’s Note: Gundam — Japanese mecha franchise that began with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, widely known for plastic model kits called “Gunpla.”)
Just imagining himself creating and owning companies like those made Ras smile unconsciously.
In Lego’s case especially, he had often wanted them because of childhood memories, but they had been too expensive for him to buy.
Seriously, what kind of toy costs several million won…?
Thinking about it, it felt like the plastic toy factory should probably become its own separate company eventually.
For now, though, things were only beginning, and since he still couldn’t be certain these projects would succeed, he planned to wait and see a little longer.
In any case, the toy-related discussion concluded like this.
Afterward, the final test for Project “Spirit” awaited them.
The prototype they had checked previously had no major issues.
There had been a lot of work because of the sheer number of spirits, which made development take time, but fundamentally it was a fairly simple game.
The network battle mode, however, had been a different story.
Since it was the first time they had used this kind of system, there had been many trial-and-error problems.
Still, after continually fixing issues, they had finally completed the final build and reached the stage where testing was possible.
“Then we’ll proceed with network battle mode.”
After looking around at the development staff, including Ras watching from behind, Garazt selected the battle mode menu.
<Connecting to the Spirit Realm.>
That was the displayed message, but of course the place it was actually connecting to was Meta Soft’s server.
Well, not a server exactly like those on Earth, but rather the relay system Karkov had created.
The connection method still used the telephone network directly, so technically it was making a phone call.
<Connected to the Spirit Realm.> <Searching for battle opponent.>
The system immediately moved into opponent matchmaking.
It selected two random people among those waiting on Meta Soft’s server and connected them together.
The relay system encrypted their phone numbers before directly linking them.
<Battle opponent found. Prepare for combat.>
The development staff all tensed up and focused on Garazt’s screen.
Some had even gathered in front of Nebrania’s monitor, since she was the opposing player.