Chapter 23
Chapter 23
“Where should I tell them to contact?”
[Yes. This is Japan’s TechnoShoku. The phone number is...]
Insu cheered internally as he wrote it down. Then something he wanted to confirm came to mind. Of course, his father would handle the contract negotiations separately, but he still wanted to ask while he had the chance.
“Um, if publishing goes through, your company handles the translation, right?”
[Ah. Yes. That will probably be the case.]
“Yes. Understood.”
[Yes. Then please pass along the message.]
He was lucky. He had seen The Land Of Fantasy featured in a Japanese magazine, but he never expected a Japanese distributor to contact them first about publishing it.
In truth, translation was usually handled by the publisher anyway.
But because overseas expansion was difficult in this era and the game had little recognition, he had originally intended to handle the translation himself to gain even a little negotiating power and increase the game’s appeal as a product.
Ah. I wonder if America might contact us first too?
It felt like he was hoping for too much luck, but given the situation where he didn’t know when money would come in, or if it even would, he couldn’t help it.
Still, after everything that had happened recently, he felt strangely confident that they wouldn’t fail.
A little while later, Mom returned home.
“Really? You got contacted from Japan?”
“Yes!”
His mother looked genuinely shocked after hearing the story. Since even Insu himself was surprised, it was only natural.
“And we don’t need to look for translators anymore. They said they’ll handle it themselves.”
“Really? Alright.”
Then, when Dad came home from work that evening, he reacted with the same surprise. But unlike Mom, he soon nodded as though it made sense and wore a proud expression.
“The company’s called TechnoShoku. I wrote down the phone number here.”
“Right. And you said they spoke Korean on their side?”
“Yes. It was a bit awkward, though.”
Of course, that didn’t mean they intended to completely stop preparing for Japanese matters.
Before, they had searched for someone proficient in Japanese for translation purposes, but now they needed one for the contract negotiations instead. Still, the fact that the other side could speak Korean would make the negotiations much smoother, which was fortunate.
Three days later, someone from TechnoShoku arrived.
From TechnoShoku’s perspective, since The Land Of Fantasy had already been released in Korea, they believed they needed to secure the contract before the game became a hit in order to gain the most advantageous position possible, so they moved with considerable urgency.
That was how strongly TechnoShoku already believed in the game’s potential.
Thanks to that, the negotiations proceeded fairly smoothly.
However, as expected, discussions regarding revenue distribution ran into difficulties.
“It’s already under contract in Korea at a much higher rate than that. And hasn’t it already gained enough attention in Japan to be featured in magazines?”
Seongcheol argued that The Land Of Fantasy was already receiving high praise and demanded a higher percentage.
“However, it’s still too early to call it fully proven. Considering the risks involved in importing and distributing a foreign game, as well as the costs of translation and marketing, 35 percent is difficult.”
Takahashi, the negotiator from TechnoShoku, wore a troubled expression. And it wasn’t an act.
Since this was the game they had found to patch the company’s financial hole, there was a limit to how much funding they could invest. Furthermore, distributing a Korean game in Japan carried risks beyond simply being unfamiliar.
Though it would be difficult to say openly here, Japan tended to look down on Korea, and that prejudice itself had to be overcome.
Of course, if they keep insisting, I’ll eventually have to bring that up too.
Fortunately, Parallel Soft did not continue insisting on 35 percent. After gradually adjusting their positions and with Takahashi repeatedly showing sincerity by calling headquarters for further consultation, they finally agreed on 28 percent.
“Sounds good.”
Seongcheol looked slightly regretful. Truthfully, he also believed 35 percent was unrealistic. It was simply a strategy to start negotiations high.
However, according to what he researched beforehand, overseas games usually received between 10 and 30 percent, so he believed The Land Of Fantasy deserved at least 30.
But thinking about it calmly, this still isn’t a bad split.
Seongcheol was confident in the game’s success, but he also recognized that there were several obstacles it needed to overcome to succeed in Japan. One of those was the cost of localization, including translation.
If they truly wanted the game to receive proper evaluation without compromising on the percentage, they probably could have waited a few more months instead.
Seongcheol had that much confidence in his son’s game.
But he also knew that Insu was already planning his next game. And he had heard at least part of the vision his son possessed. Because of that, he judged that even if they conceded slightly on the revenue split, it would be better to first establish a foothold in Japan and build recognition.
“We look forward to working with you.”
“Of course. Now that we’ve signed the contract, it’s practically our game too.”
Takahashi was not simply speaking out of courtesy.
His company absolutely needed this game to succeed. And not merely so he could avoid Department Head Isao’s scolding.
Under normal circumstances, many employees might have felt indifferent since the company doing well didn’t directly increase their own pay. But the situation was different now.
If the company’s condition continued worsening like this, performance bonuses would shrink, and in the worst case, salaries could be delayed and jobs endangered. The employees, including Takahashi, had to give their all for their own sake as well.
“The contract’s done. Twenty-eight percent.”
“Waaah! Dad, you’re the best!”
Unlike Seongcheol, who still felt slightly dissatisfied, Insu simply cheered.
He remembered seeing even up until 2025 how Korean games still struggled to enter Japan. Yet here, during what could be called Japan’s golden age, they had succeeded.
And this percentage was more than satisfactory.
Honestly, the contract with Hyun Soft had simply been exceptionally favorable. He had heard that in truly terrible cases, domestic distribution deals could pay as little as 10 percent.
So receiving 28 percent on their first entry into Japan was an enormous success.
Insu and his family all celebrated the contract. Then Insu suddenly turned toward Mom.
“Mom.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“You know that English translator you were trying to find? Wouldn’t it be better to stop for now and wait a little?”
“Ahh. Should we?”
The reason they had tried preparing an English version was to improve their negotiating power. But they had already received a response from Japan and signed a distribution contract.
Japanese games were already performing extremely well in the American market. So simply being a foreign game that had signed with a Japanese publisher would already become useful leverage. And this contract had also greatly increased their confidence in the game’s commercial success.
So rather than awkwardly translating it themselves with their limited budget, the idea was that it might be better to wait for some measurable success first and then use those results to target American distributors.
And that wait did not last long.
“Huh?”
Insu froze while reading a computer magazine.
Or more honestly, after the game’s release, he checked the game section every time a new magazine came out, and now his own game had appeared there.
[The Game of a New Era]
That was the article’s title.
It talked about how the game featured advanced graphics tailored to the latest 386 computers and incredibly refined systems.
The article also mentioned the fun factor, but its overall focus leaned more toward the game being technologically progressive.
In any case, most of it was praise, and it clearly looked like the article would draw people’s interest.
“Mom!”
The magazine had been bought by his mother on her way home from shopping earlier.
“What is it, my son?”
“Look at this!”
Hyein initially wondered why her son was making such a fuss. But after reading the article herself, her eyes widened behind her glasses. Then she checked the magazine’s cover.
It was one of the magazines her husband frequently read, a fairly famous publication.
Appearing here meant the game had already gained some level of recognition.
Or even if it hadn’t yet, this article would make it famous.
“That’s wonderful!”
Delighted, Hyein stroked Insu’s head.
She was happy for her son, of course, but she also felt relieved for another reason.
Recently, while establishing the corporation, maintaining connections, and hiring interpreters for the Japanese company negotiations, their money had nearly run dry, leaving her constantly anxious.
Her husband’s salary was fairly decent, but at the end of the day, they were still just a young couple in their twenties. They still had a long road ahead of them, and pouring everything out without savings naturally made the future frightening.
Then, a few days later, the first settlement payment they had been waiting for finally arrived.
Seongcheol did not have time to visit the bank because of work, so Hyein went instead. And because Insu insisted on coming too, she simply took him along.
Even if he was still young, he was the actual creator of the game and effectively the real owner of the company.
“The bankbook update is complete. Please check it.”
“Yes.”
Then, with slightly trembling hands, Hyein opened the bankbook.
“!!”
Without realizing it, Hyein’s eyes widened.
Seeing her reaction, Insu’s curiosity exploded, and he tugged at her sleeve, asking to see it too. Hyein hesitated briefly, but thinking that this was her child’s achievement, she carefully showed it to him.
[Deposit — Hyun Soft — 27,201,920 won]
Insu’s eyes widened as well after seeing the amount.
If calculated purely based on inflation, 1990 and 2025 differed by roughly three times, so it could perhaps be considered equivalent to around 80 to 90 million won. But Korea had undergone such compressed economic growth that the actual value difference could be even larger. As mentioned before, the starting salary for a university graduate right now was only around 500,000 won.
The two of them left the bank.
“The package price is 32,000 won, and 38 percent of that is 12,160 won... so around 2,200 copies sold?”
Insu mentally calculated while counting on his small fingers.
Hyein wasn’t bad at math either, so she knew the estimate was roughly correct. But she still wasn’t nearly as fast and accurate as her son.
Feeling proud again, Hyein stroked his head once more.
2,200 copies...
In 2025, games selling hundreds of thousands of copies within days of release would not be unusual, so this might seem small.
But as had already been said many times, Korea in this era didn’t even have the internet installed yet.
Information spread slowly, and sales were entirely offline, making things incomparably slower.
Moreover, computer ownership rates were low, and among those, machines above the 386 level were even rarer. The market itself was small.
Considering those conditions, 2,200 copies was absolutely not a small number. Rather, it was correct to view it as a success.
This judgment was based on the information Insu gathered by diligently studying this era’s computers, game magazines, and newspapers, as well as what he learned through his father communicating with distributors.
Afterward, Insu repaid the money he borrowed from his parents first.
Though since he was still only six years old, repaying financial support to his parents felt somewhat awkward.
“But this is company business. All that money was Mom and Dad’s personal funds.”
“...That’s true.”
And the awkwardness was the same for his parents, who were themselves still only in their twenties. But as the child said, this was a matter of business.
“For now, it’s probably fine because there’s only me and Eunha, but before more employees join, it’s better to keep these things properly organized.”
Still, Seongcheol was more accustomed to matters like this than Hyein was. And after hearing his words, Hyein nodded as well.
Besides, the borrowed money had all gone toward corporate establishment costs and interpreter fees during contract negotiations, so every expense would be classified as corporate spending anyway.