Chapter 60: Pump! Pump!
Chapter 60: Pump! Pump!
“We are hiring talent to operate a company that develops and produces computer systems and peripherals. Write it like that.”
“Okay.”
The game development team was on vacation, but Ella, his secretary, had no such thing. She was called to Ras’s room and had to prepare documents.
But she did not have any particular complaints. She received a high salary compared to the work she did. At least, Ella herself thought so.
Not only that, she followed Ras around to businesses other than Meta Soft and saw people there working without anything like a vacation either. Because of that, she did not really feel as if she was the only one working.
After a while, applicants began contacting them, and this time, Ras decided to hire someone with experience. He judged that finding a factory, producing goods, and selling them seemed like work that required experience.
Unlike before, Ras now had business success through Arcade Game Land in addition to Meta Soft, which only developed games. Because of that, Ras judged that there would definitely be people who came after seeing its potential.
The person chosen was a middle-aged man formerly from Entrona, a large company that was strong in electronics, especially TVs.
This man, named Utaro, had a gaunt face despite his fairly large build. That was probably because he suffered quite a lot after leaving Entrona, starting his own company, and watching it fail completely.
“Do you have any thoughts of starting a business again?”
“No.”
He gave a rather firm denial to Ras’s question during the interview.
“This failure made me realize it clearly. I jumped into it because I had confidence in my abilities, but I was lacking when it came to truly taking responsibility for everything. However, I am truly confident in managing within an organization.”
Ras liked the way he showed confidence despite his failure and acknowledged his own limits.
But after hearing his story, something made Ras flinch a little. Whether on paper or in person, Utaro was clearly a capable person. Yet someone like that had suffered a crushing failure. Also, when he said the heavy words “taking responsibility for everything,” Ras wondered whether he himself had been running forward with only vague confidence, without truly preparing his heart.
In any case, Ras appointed him as the Meta Hardware Business Department manager, explained the current state of the business, and told him what needed to be done.
“Yes. If it’s an electronics factory, we should first look into radio factories or TV factories. This is a highly competitive field, so there are many factories, and some of them should have spare capacity. Especially radio, since some places have almost given up after being pushed back by TVs, so it should be relatively easy. The issue is what level of production difficulty this item called a joystick has.”
“Ah. Yes.”
As expected, once someone with related experience took charge, the direction was set immediately. Of course, this person would not necessarily be right about everything, and there might be trial and error, but he was far better than Ras, who had not even known what to do.
“Then I’ll leave it to you. Please tell me right away if you need anything. Here is my business card. Ah, Miss Ella. Please give him your business card too.”
Ras handed Utaro his own business card and Ella’s.
After that, Utaro pushed the work forward efficiently and brought back a plausible prototype from a radio factory in the Kames City Eastern Industrial District.
“Oh. It’s plastic.”
“Yes. The owner here introduced plastic injection molding machines and technology to increase competitiveness. But after failing to secure a radio production contract with Crims, and after spending money on equipment, he was suffering from serious financial difficulties. Because of that, we were able to sign a contract under fairly good terms without much trouble.”
Utaro then explained the contract terms together with the documents. They were not bad.
Even in the early stages of a business, if the unit price was too high, joystick sales would not be good. That would increase the chance of failing to secure the market first. Because of that, Ras had worried most about the price.
But under these conditions, even with a decent margin added, it seemed they could sell the 1P joystick for around 30 del and the 2P version for around 50 del.
In truth, he had not wanted the 2P version to have a different price from the 1P version. He also wanted to sell it cheaper, but he could not help it because of the chip inside.
Even that was only possible because Fighters’ Club, despite its flashy graphics, was not very complicated in terms of its system, leaving enough computer resources to use a diskette-type driver.
If they could not use a driver, they would have needed to put more chips inside the joystick. If that happened, there could have been the disaster of each joystick costing over 100 del. No, at this early stage, it might still have sold at that price, but there would have been no avoiding a sharp drop in sales volume.
While the joystick was going through the production process, two pieces of news about Panchi Games came through Barbal Soft.
One was that Pump’s development had ended, and the other was that development had begun on the arcade version of Fighters’ Club.
Ras immediately contacted Arcade Game Land’s Management Team. Then, cutting straight to the point, he gave instructions.
“Panchi Games has released a new rhythm game. Place orders immediately and install them in the branches. They’re a bit more expensive than other game machines, but each branch should still have at least three or four.”
“Ah. Yes. Understood.”
Since it was a bulk order, the capable Management Team would handle the price negotiations themselves.
Naturally, Panchi Games welcomed it. Even before development, there had been many opinions, and after much consideration, they had made it with the feeling that they were half gambling, so they had been very worried. With such a significant priming order coming in, they felt relieved.
“At least since Arcade Game Land is introducing it, it won’t be a complete failure.”
Ajabran let out a truly relieved sigh.
“No, since they were the ones who suggested it, it’s only natural that they take this much responsibility.”
Cheims said that, but he also looked clearly relieved.
Arcade Game Land had already become a business with powerful influence in the arcade game market. The number of games it bought was one thing, but because so many customers visited, simply having a game there became a kind of advertisement.
So they could expect a certain amount of additional sales, and that was enough to keep them from worrying about a disastrous failure like they had during the middle of development.
“Anyway, the order came in, so tell them to make it quickly.”
“Yes.”
As if worried that the order they had already received might somehow be canceled, Cheims pressed Ajabran and the Production Department. Thanks to that, Pump was quickly manufactured and delivered to Arcade Game Land.
Arcade Game Land Ranchert Branch No. 1, which Ras had visited not long ago.
O’Neill was a female university student attending a nearby university. These days, people often shortened “arcade,” or rather Arcade Game Land, to “arcade hall.”
In any case, as she headed toward the arcade hall, she was average in height but slender. Her clothes were not expensive, but they were stylish, and her hairstyle and makeup had the pure yet flashy feel of a university student.
She was human, but she was a stylish young woman who drew more attention than Elves who dressed plainly. And fitting that appearance, she had sociable and active tastes, such as listening to music and dancing.
At the same time, however, she was also a diligent student, enough to have gotten into a university in the capital.
So drinking and enjoying parties was fun, but after her grades had recently fallen a little, she decided to restrain herself. Instead, she decided to relieve her stress with something else. What caught her eye was the game called Beat Heater, which she had seen when she went to the arcade hall with her friends fifteen days ago.
Honestly, she had not liked video games much. The crude images on small monitors, the irritating mechanical sounds, and having to sit still and press only plastic buttons did not suit her tastes.
But this game called Beat Heater was a little different. The music was proper, the screen was stylish and flashy, and even the gameplay satisfied her quick sense of rhythm. It was not as good as going to a party, but it gave her a decent amount of enjoyment.
But I’m starting to get tired of this too, aren’t I?
Once she grew somewhat used to it, it was still the same in the end: looking only at a screen and pressing buttons. At some point, the stuffiness in her chest stopped being relieved and started piling up.
So she thought she could enjoy it for a little longer, but once she got completely tired of it, maybe she would exercise instead.
“Welcome!”
When she entered the arcade hall, whose glass-covered exterior made it stand out immediately, an employee greeted her warmly. He did not exactly flirt, but his attitude was clearly different from how he treated other customers.
But she did not particularly feel offended. This was goodwill too, after all. And she was used to this kind of goodwill. As long as it did not make her uncomfortable, she did not mind.
She accepted the greeting with a faint smile and went inside.
As she headed toward Beat Heater, she noticed an unfamiliar machine standing in the middle of the arcade hall. Judging by the music and something on the large screen, it definitely felt like a game similar to Beat Heater.
But it was big. And the sight of an Elf girl who looked about middle-school age playing on top of it seized O’Neill’s attention.
Dancing? Is she dancing?
It was clumsy, but the way she moved her legs here and there and changed her posture clearly looked like dancing. However, her gaze kept moving back and forth to the monitor, and she was holding a metal-bar-like handle, so it did not look very cool.
O’Neill slowly approached and examined what kind of game it was. She understood it quickly. It did not seem to be a complicated system.
The flashing foot panels replaced buttons, and like Beat Heater, one only had to press the foot panels in time with the rhythm. Watching the Elf girl play made it feel a little frustrating, but also fun.
“Please change this.”
O’Neill went to the coin exchange room, exchanged money for coins, then found a place near the coin slot where the coin stack was relatively low and placed her coins on top of it. As expected of a new game, it was extremely popular.
While waiting, she familiarized herself with the new music and watched the skill of the others. Most were clumsy, but a few moved fairly well, and some really did feel like they were dancing.
Among them, the one who drew the most attention was a Lizardman wearing fluttering white clothes, perhaps traditional attire.
She did not know whether the person was male or female, but in any case, they stepped on the foot panels to the rhythm. Unlike the other races, they did not use only two feet, but their tail as well.
Perhaps because of that, despite their heavy build and not being especially nimble, they somehow hit the nodes and displayed many “PERFECT!!” marks.
Then, perhaps proud of the high score that appeared, they raised the nose at the end of their long snout, which felt rather amusing.
The machine seemed to be built quite sturdily. Aside from the Lizardman, several Orcs also got on and stomped heavily, yet it continued operating without breaking.
“That one is mine!”
After waiting for quite a while, the man playing before her stepped down, and O’Neill immediately sprang forward and picked up the coins she had placed there.
Then she put them into the slot and climbed onto the foot panel with her heart beating slightly.
It was only raised a little, yet looking down at the tops of the surrounding people’s heads made her feel suddenly tense. But if asked whether she disliked it, that was not the case. It felt like standing on the stage at a party, so she actually liked it.
She selected the menu by stepping on the panels, just as the others had done. Since there were no songs she knew anyway, she chose Pump Story Mode, which proceeded randomly.
Ddan-ddan-ddan.
After waiting a little, she heard the small sound of the machine changing records, and soon the intro began.