Chapter 176: A New Market, A New Business

“Oh?”

Ras was reviewing and approving the documents brought up to the chairman’s office.

And one of them caught his eye.

< Official Import Inquiry. Republic of Tonidu >

Overseas expansion was something both Meta Soft and Barbal Soft had continuously pursued.

Of course, because this was a world with strong exclusivity toward outsiders, it was by no means easy. Still, this game industry was one where profits could be maximized only if the market became as large as possible.

And even among overseas markets, not every country held the same importance. Some countries lacked money, while others still had little interest in technologies such as computers.

That was why they mainly targeted countries that could be called advanced nations, and the Republic of Tonidu was one of them.

Moreover, because of the recent next-generation CPU matter, Ras had become more interested in that nation than others.

But making inroads there had proven extremely difficult.

Since it was an advanced nation, it already possessed a sufficiently developed game industry of its own. Furthermore, perhaps because of racial or cultural differences, Meta Soft’s games did not seem to work especially well there.

Thus, they had been disappointed because the results were extremely poor compared to the effort invested, when suddenly a request for official imports arrived.

“Ella. Did the Management Team or Barbal Soft happen to receive any contact regarding exports?”

“Hold on. No. Nothing.”

“Really?”

And it did not even seem to be because they had exerted influence on their side.

After checking, Ras confirmed that Arcade Empire accounted for most of the requested software volume.

Apparently, this game suited the tastes of Tonidu’s Gnomes.

In any case, it was good news.

Ras immediately summoned Martin and instructed him to proceed with the exports while matching the other side’s conditions as much as possible. Of course, even if they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠called it exports, the CDs themselves would not physically travel from here. Production would take place on the Tonidu side.

This deal was profitable no matter what, even if the immediate revenue was not especially large.

With exports like these, the first step was always the most important. Once they secured a foothold, other games would naturally follow.

Besides, Ras operated many businesses beyond games, and many of them also targeted overseas markets.

However, since this world was highly exclusive toward foreign products, expansion was truly difficult. But because the request for official imports had come from their side first, if Ras could use that opening to establish even a small foothold, then it would become easier to push his other businesses in compared to charging in blindly from nothing.

That was why successfully concluding the deal was more important than squeezing out maximum profit from it immediately.

“Yes. Understood.”

Martin, as the head of the Management Team, understood this situation well, so he simply nodded when told to accommodate the other side’s conditions as much as possible instead of objecting.

Of course, he did not intend to agree to everything to the point of taking losses.

After all, this too was a business intended to generate profit, and since this was the first contract, it could become a precedent for future dealings with the Republic of Tonidu.

Final was now a boy who had just entered high school.

Average height, average build, and average grades and athletic ability. He was that sort of child.

However, he possessed one special talent.

He was good at games.

When the boy had been very young, this talent had not stood out much.

But once Arcade Game Land appeared and versus games were released, it gradually became noticeable.

Children were more instinctive than adults and highly sensitive to hierarchy.

Still, children were not purely animalistic.

This world already possessed the concept of basic education, so children, who would become the next generation’s leaders, received fundamental social education.

Thus, they at least knew that violence was bad. Even if they did not fully understand it, they had been taught so and knew they would be scolded if they did it.

However, since they could not completely suppress the instinct to establish hierarchies, they expressed it in various ways. Academics, athletics, appearance, and popularity were all methods of doing so.

And after versus games appeared, games also became one such method.

Thanks to that, at some point, Final began enjoying a more comfortable school life.

After all, there were almost no children who disliked games.

Though occasionally he had to duel experts from other classes or even other schools, which was a minor nuisance, it did not happen very often, and later on, Final himself began to enjoy it somewhat.

The trending games constantly changed.

At first, it had been Fighters Club, and after that, Tetris 2, Bomb Special Forces, and many others had continued appearing.

Still, there was no need to be good at every game.

Even excelling at just one of them was enough to maintain one’s position to some degree.

Of course, being good at the most popular game was advantageous for gaining popularity among children.

And these days, the most popular game was undoubtedly Magic & Creature, MTC.

Unlike previous forms of entertainment, this game did not require players to visit an arcade or own a computer. As long as they had the cards themselves, they could immediately play, which made it extremely popular among children.

Moreover, physically holding and playing with cards featuring cool illustrations felt much more tangible than electronic games.

Final maintained his position as one of the strong players in MTC as well.

He could not quite be called the best in the school, but he definitely dominated his class and was one of the strongest players in the entire school.

“Heh heh...”

Even after returning home, he sat in front of the computer enjoying online mode.

He grinned while watching his naive opponent intercept the sacrifice creatures he had deliberately laid out one after another.

< Sacrificial Magic: When there are six or more Creatures in the graveyard, delete all cards in the opponent’s field and hand, then inflict 6 damage. >

It was one of the cards in Final’s hand.

In the end, the opponent was completely swept away by the unexpected magic, then lost all remaining life to the Charge Creature Final had been saving and was defeated.

Feeling the thrill of victory, Final checked the coins he had earned.

The reason he maintained his position as a strong player was partly because of his basic talent and sense, but also because he trained endlessly like this.

He did not simply repeat games over and over. He constantly learned strategies through Spirit Space and gaming magazines while devising his own original tactics as well.

Evidence of that filled several notebooks on his desk, all covered in traces of strategic research.

And even now, instead of immediately starting another game, he connected to Spirit Space again.

Compared to other games, MTC placed greater importance on information than practice.

Since it was a card game, there was no need to rapidly and skillfully mash levers and buttons.

But that also made strategy and tactics even more important.

Even though the game had not been out long, the meta had already changed several times.

At first, strategies were fairly simple, so improvisation could handle most situations. But these days, all sorts of bizarre things had appeared, and if you did not know about them, there were countless cases where you simply died.

The strategy Final had just used was one such example.

That was why Final checked the MTC boards every day.

Though aside from practical reasons, he was also simply interested.

“Oh?”

Then Final discovered a piece of news that immediately caught his attention.

The MTC Game Hall was finally opening.

While excited, he also felt slightly uneasy.

After all, Collita, where he lived, was technically a city, but still a small rural town.

“Oh? It’s here?”

Fortunately, on the next page, he found Collita listed among the opening locations.

Normally, businesses like this first opened experimentally in major cities, then slowly expanded after observing reactions.

However, the response to MTC had been so enthusiastic that Ras, who led the project, possessed strong confidence.

The IP Management Team still held concerns. But because the boss’s will was firm, and because even if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they suffered some losses it would not greatly damage Meta’s finances, they shifted away from continued opposition and instead focused on making the project succeed as best as possible.

In any case, after confirming the opening date, Final eagerly waited for it.

And three days later, he headed into the city together with his friends.

“Where are we going again?”

“The MTC Game Hall.”

“MTC has a game hall too?”

“It opens today.”

This group, consisting of two Humans, one Orc, and one Gnome, often wandered around together. Usually, their destination was the arcade.

“But why would you play MTC at a game hall?”

Rokta was the Orc in charge of muscles within the group.

His gaming skill was not particularly bad, but he was somewhat lacking when it came to information.

“Haven’t you heard about the MTC Player?”

“Huh? What’s that?”

Even though MTC Player had become a fairly major topic of conversation, Rokta only blinked his large eyes with a completely clueless expression.

Well, since the actual product had not yet appeared physically, some people dismissed it as merely a rumor, so it was not that strange.

“That must be it.”

Although it was their first time there, Final’s group easily found the game hall.

The massive crowd was visible even from far away.

“There are way too many people.”

Seeing the game hall packed with people, the group made exhausted expressions.

But at the same time, they also became curious.

They wondered just how fun it had to be for so many people to gather, and the players inside did not look normal either.

They were incredibly focused, and despite supposedly playing a card game, their physical motions were large enough to resemble flailing.

That was because illusions were still invisible to Final’s group.

MTC Player did not display actual video footage. Instead, it used magic to make people see illusions, so only the players and people observing immediately around the table could see them.

“Are there four of you?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll let you know once a table becomes available.”

The group waited twenty minutes before getting a table.

Those twenty minutes were incredibly boring, but in truth, they were actually very lucky. Some people had waited over two hours.

That was especially true for groups like Final’s.

“The controls are simple. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠First, place your deck on top of this box.”

A neatly dressed employee kindly explained how to use it.

The outfit, which combined things like a checkered shirt and a white suit jacket, somehow resembled the uniforms of Arcade Game Land employees, so it did not feel unfamiliar.

“If you have any questions or run into any issues while playing, feel free to come to the counter and ask anytime.”

“Yes.”

The group answered like well-behaved children.

They were not particularly rough delinquents to begin with, and adolescent boys were naturally weak toward pretty older girls.

“This is freaking amazing.”

The moment Rokta placed down the cards, they smoothly disappeared and automatically arranged themselves across the table, causing him to gasp in admiration.

“Right?”

Even Final, who had already heard detailed information about it, found it astonishing, so the reaction was only natural.

Even in a world where magic truly existed, ordinary people rarely encountered magic in daily life, so whenever a new magical device appeared, reactions were usually like this.

If people from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Earth had seen it, they likely would have fainted from shock rather than merely finding it fascinating.

“Huh?!”

Rokta, who had the first turn, summoned a Cost-1 Diseased Orc Warrior.

Completely unprepared, he was startled when the illusion of the Creature suddenly appeared above the table.

Then he hurriedly looked back at his friends.

Several of them also looked surprised, while Final merely chuckled slightly.

Still, since nobody looked completely terrified, Rokta roughly grasped the situation.

Pressing down his still-racing heart, Rokta examined the appearance of the Creature he had summoned.

Just like the illustration, it was emaciated enough for its ribs to show, yet it still barely managed to carry a heavy weapon, and its eyes retained the spirit of a pre-modern Orc warrior that had not yet died.

Footnotes:

Translator’s Notes:

Pay to Win — A monetization structure where players can gain gameplay advantages through paid purchases.

Meta — In gaming communities, “meta” refers to the most effective or currently dominant strategies, deck compositions, or gameplay trends used by players.

Charge Creature — Refers to units with abilities similar to “Charge” mechanics in card games, allowing immediate attack or activation.