Chapter 75: The Company Building and the Magazine Company
Chapter 75: The Company Building and the Magazine Company
Meta Soft planned to continue expanding its development teams. Arcade Game Land’s business scale was also growing, and since Ras planned to try various things like game tournaments, it was only natural that its size would increase.
Meta Hardware went without saying. It would continue developing products, and especially when it came to computers, Ras was looking very far ahead. Later on, even if Meta Hardware alone was separated out, it might need a large building of its own.
The situation was completely different from the old Meta Soft, back when it only had one development team. Building a company headquarters could not be called vanity or waste.
And since money had just come in from exports, funding was not a problem either. After thinking it over for a while, Ras finally made up his mind.
“Ella. Please connect me to Mr. Utaro.”
“Yes!”
Ras’s company had recently finished installing internal phone lines. But now that they had gone through the trouble of installing them, the idea of putting up a new company building made it feel like a waste.
Of course, building a company headquarters did not mean it would appear instantly. It would take at least years. Forcing the company to endure inconvenience during that time would actually be a loss. It was better to think of it as making full use of the construction cost during that period.
In any case, being able to give instructions by phone had become quite convenient.
This did not simply mean it was convenient.
In truth, although Ras was the president, he had felt slightly burdened calling Utaro over every time. Utaro was also the person overseeing Meta Hardware, and he was more than twenty years older than Ras. Now that Ras could give instructions by phone, that hesitation disappeared as well, making him feel more comfortable mentally.
Utaro did not seem to care about that in particular, though.
“Yes, President.”
As always, he responded politely. He was someone who had lived his entire life in the organizational society of companies. Moreover, a president like Ras, who continued achieving almost mythical success, was a superior he could not help but respect regardless of age.
“Mr. Utaro. I’m thinking of putting up a company headquarters. Could I ask you to handle the process?”
His tone made it sound like a request, but since the president was assigning company work, it was naturally an instruction. Still, there might be other urgent and important matters at Meta Hardware, and considering Utaro’s position and age, Ras exercised a bit of caution.
“Yes. It seems we’re finally putting up our own company building.”
Fortunately, Meta Hardware had nothing urgent at the moment.
They were slowly increasing production of the claw machines and looking into distribution channels, but that was all. Judging from his reaction, Utaro seemed to have been thinking about a company building too.
Ras felt somewhat relieved.
Building a company headquarters meant spending at least several billion, and possibly tens of billions, of money. So even though he had made his own calculations, he still worried a little that it might look like a pointless waste of money.
“Yes. The businesses are gradually growing larger, after all. But there’s no need to rush. It’s not something we need immediately.”
“Yes. Understood. Then I’ll begin by looking for a suitable site.”
After entrusting the company building matter to Utaro, Ras rose from his seat. Utaro would handle it far better than Ras, who knew almost nothing about real estate.
Of course, since a large sum of money would be moving, he could not feel completely free of anxiety. But since he was running businesses of this scale, it was unavoidable. All he could do was check the reports on the process as it went along.
“Ella. Let’s go.”
“Okay. I’ll call Mr. Radmi.”
Ras had Ella call the car, then left the office and descended the stairs. They were familiar stairs by now, and he did think of it as exercise, but at that moment, it felt especially bothersome. He missed elevators.
When the company building was completed someday and he moved there, he would probably be able to ride a stylish private elevator. Imagining that day, Ras continued down the old stairs.
“We’ve arrived.”
After roughly fifteen minutes by car, they arrived at a quiet commercial area near a secluded residential district. Since a magazine company did not particularly need to be located in a crowded area, this was the place they had chosen. The distance from Meta Soft had also been considered.
The building looked a little old, but it appeared reasonably clean and sturdy.
The exterior material was covered in all sorts of carvings. To people of this world, it was merely an outdated style that had been popular thirty years ago. But to Ras, it looked somewhat antique and not bad at all.
“Oh? President, you’re here.”
When Ras entered, a young man in his mid-twenties greeted him. His name was Telomi, and he was the president of this magazine company. His narrow eyes and pointed chin left a strong impression.
Ras had also wanted to use someone with more experience as the person in charge. However, perhaps because the field of games did not sound very serious, no such people applied.
Still, this man named Telomi had at least some experience working for another magazine, and he was interested in games. And the thing that decisively appealed to Ras was his enthusiasm.
“For now, the general structure is finished.”
Perhaps because he liked the idea of the first game magazine, Telomi filled out the magazine’s contents with genuine passion.
“Wow... Already?”
“Yes. Well, it’s still only the structure.”
It had only been three days since they moved into this building, yet he had already finished deciding what would go into the 120 pages.
“And since you helped that much, President, I should at least do this much.”
True, as Telomi said, Ras had interfered in quite a few things.
He told them to include strategies for popular games, game manga, and interviews with famous gamers, such as William, the winner of the game tournament Ras had held. Basically, he ordered them to include everything he had seen in magazines on Earth.
He had heard that experienced people in this field often tended to be stubborn, but perhaps because Telomi was young, he obediently accepted Ras’s instructions. That was also one of this man’s strengths.
“Did everyone else go out for interviews?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Ras asked while looking around the interior of the magazine company, which was a little over forty pyeong. It was narrow, but there was a second floor, and there were not that many reporters, so the size was adequate enough.
If this were Earth, they could probably do everything with computers. But in this world, people still needed to physically run around and gather material, so the office was filled only with desks and was mostly empty. Since it was a game magazine, a few people remained because articles like strategy guides had to be written while playing the games themselves.
“Ah, President.”
“No, I’m just curious what game you’re writing a strategy for, so don’t mind me and keep going.”
Ras had assumed it would be one of Meta Soft’s games, but unfortunately, it was not. Still, it was a game Ras knew by name. It was called Quest of the Mad King, and it was famous for creating a three-dimensional dungeon despite being made for older computer specifications.
Of course, even if it was called three-dimensional, it was simply implemented with lines. It was like drawing three-dimensional shapes with lines in math class. Moreover, the monsters were nothing more than flat pictures with no sense of volume.
Even so, its distinctive viewpoint and atmosphere, combined with the player’s imagination, gave it considerable immersion, making it one of the popular role-playing games.
Some computer magazines even praised it as the post-Land of Adventure.
Well, rather than it actually being that, it’s more that Land of Adventure’s domination has gone too far, and that backlash is mixed in.
This was not only Ras’s opinion. Moreover, the fact that this was not the only game praised as the post-Land of Adventure could be considered proof.
In any case, it was certainly a decent game. And since it was quite difficult, it was also suitable material for a strategy article in the magazine.
“I got stuck in quite a few places too, so please work hard on the article.”
“Ah. Yes!”
In truth, Ras was not from the 8-bit generation, so even Land of Adventure, which he created himself, was not exactly to his taste. Therefore, he had only roughly looked over Quest of the Mad King and had never properly played it.
But he deliberately said that because merely looking and leaving might cause a misunderstanding.
Unless this reporter had a fairly firm backbone, he might interpret Ras’s gaze as silent pressure asking why he was writing a strategy for another company’s game instead of a Meta Soft game.
Of course, Ras also wanted to promote his own company’s games. And one of the purposes of this magazine was indeed that.
But if he filled the pages with only Meta Soft games, it would never become a proper game magazine. That would just make it an advertising flyer.
Ras moved on and checked what the other person still in the office was doing.
“Ah. Would it be all right if I take a look?”
“Yes. Yes! Of course.”
She was a small Beastman woman with perky ears that stood out.
Ras wondered what kind of Beastman she was, then belatedly realized it from the squirrel-like striped color of her hair.
She seemed to be a manga artist rather than a reporter.
When Ras gathered manga artists, he chose younger people rather than established artists or longtime aspiring artists.
He needed a youthful sensibility, and the direction Ras would attempt from now on included many new things different from existing works. So he judged that younger artists would be better than people whose minds had already become rigid, even if they lacked some experience and technique.
Ah. This one.
He wondered what kind of manga it was, but as soon as he saw it, he understood. He remembered that when Ras roughly presented the direction, this young woman had offered an idea to match it, and he approved and signed off on it because it seemed good.
<Arcade Commute Diary>
That was the title.
The protagonist of this manga was a human-sized squirrel. Of course, it was not completely realistic. It was drawn in a cartoonish, deformed style, with a slightly human-like feeling. Since the author was a squirrel Beastman, she had probably made it that way.
The sense was good, so it did not feel alien, and the character was quite cute.
The story depicted the things this squirrel experienced while commuting to the arcade every day, presenting them in a realistic but light manner.
The episode currently being drawn began with the squirrel going to the arcade, seeing a large Orc, and shrinking back.
Then, after playing various games, she tried a fighting game, and her opponent happened to be that Orc.
The squirrel was frightened by the opponent’s strong-looking impression, but internally, she also displayed confidence in her own gaming skill.
After winning a fierce battle, the squirrel maintained as much of a poker face as possible outwardly, but inwardly, she was jumping around and cheering. The manga comically depicted her unable to suppress her satisfaction as she secretly made a triumphant expression.
“It’s fun. I look forward to more good work from you.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
This time, he meant it sincerely. It was quite fun, and he found himself smiling without realizing it.
Ras thought that he would need to see the market reaction later, but if he wanted to keep her tied to the magazine company, he would have to pay careful attention to her treatment.
In any case, after confirming that the magazine’s contents were being created properly, Ras was able to leave the magazine company with a satisfied expression.
And not long afterward, the inaugural issue was published.
The magazine’s name was Gamers.
Distribution also went fairly well.
They borrowed Barbal Soft’s distribution network, placed it in Arcade Game Land stores, and had the magazine company employees directly call bookstores across the country to make sales pitches. Thanks to that, contrary to his initial worries, they were able to distribute quite a large number of copies.
This was only the beginning.
If the reaction to the magazine was good, the places they had supplied this time would keep asking for more copies. If not, the magazine would have to be placed only in Arcade Game Land stores and endure a period of hardship.
While creating the next issue, Ras and the employees of Gamers spent tense days filled with both anticipation and worry over the response.
For now, the reactions around them were not bad.
It happened when Ras dropped by the Casual Game Development Team to check Tetris 2, which seemed close to completion.
He trusted Dure, the team leader of the Casual Game Development Team, but games were different from food, where a recipe existed and following it exactly produced the desired result.