Ch.254This Year’s Outstanding Employee, Shota (1)

I roughly explained the situation to Mr. Kujo and Madoka.

“I see. So they’re aliens. And not hostile ones toward Earth at that.”

Mr. Kujo seemed to understand the gist of it.

“…You’re less surprised than I expected.”

I had anticipated him screaming something like “Eeeek!”

“In the entertainment industry, you can’t survive if you’re frightened by every new thing.”

Mr. Kujo said.

Ohhh… so the president of a top domestic corporation does have some tolerance.

“Besides, I’ve seen aliens before when I was young.”

Mr. Kujo said nonchalantly.

So aliens are… surprisingly common? Maybe Earth is actually a hotspot for extraterrestrials.

“By the way, stop fondling Madoka’s butt in front of me.”

Mr. Kujo said with a murderous expression.

“Ah. Sorry.”

I had been unconsciously touching her like a comfort doll. I immediately removed my hand.

“Oppa. Keep touching me.”

Madoka said with a sulky expression.

“Don’t touch her. Before I call the police.”

Mr. Kujo said.

Um, whose lead am I supposed to follow here?

In the end, I compromised by just patting Madoka’s butt.

“I told you to take your hands off her butt!!!”

Mr. Kujo immediately flared up.

“You said not to fondle her butt, not that I couldn’t pat it.”

I said seriously while touching Madoka’s butt, which promised to be quite impressive in ten years.

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?!”

Mr. Kujo was furious.

“Um… what about food…?”

At that moment, the Kirtan pirates spoke up timidly. These guys only think about food.

However, they did have some social awareness. Though they didn’t know Earth’s customs, they seemed to have figured out that Mr. Kujo was the richest person here. Because of that, they were oddly deferential toward him.

“Haah… space aliens, huh. Their technology was certainly impressive. I knew Earth was a backwater planet among backwater planets with inferior technology.”

Mr. Kujo looked at them directly.

“When I was young… right. At a time when polygon gaming consoles were just coming out, these guys were already creating VR. What kind of technology do you have now?”

Mr. Kujo asked.

“Oh my! Of course!!! We’ve evolved to the point of making portable augmented reality gaming consoles. Hehehe.”

The navigator, Cactus-kun, immediately rubbed his hands together.

“Can you make one?”

Mr. Kujo asked.

“But… even in space, intellectual property rights are strict, so we can’t just…”

Despite being pirates, they had a strangely law-abiding spirit.

“If you do it, I’ll provide food and lodging. I’ll also arrange a place for you to hide. I’ll control the media too. I have that kind of power.”

Mr. Kujo said.

“Then it’s a deal!! We’re pirates after all!! Ignoring laws is our job!”

They all quickly gave in.

Mencius once said, “Without a stable livelihood, there can be no stable mind”… In the face of basic needs, the law was utterly powerless.

“Dad, we’ll be going now.”

Madoka said, giving me a kiss.

“Wait.”

Mr. Kujo stopped me.

“Yes?”

I had an ominous feeling.

“Our company is… planning a new project. We need opinions from ordinary people, so how about helping us out?”

Mr. Kujo smiled slyly as if he was plotting something.

Hmm… this was making me extremely nervous.

“Dad!! That’s so childish!! Do you want to ruin your daughter’s date that badly?”

Madoka immediately got angry.

I wasn’t entirely against the idea, as there was something I wanted to get from Mr. Kujo.

“What do I get out of this?”

I immediately tried to make a deal.

“Hah. As expected. You’re sharper than you look. I like that.”

Mr. Kujo grinned.

“I’ll be more favorable toward you. And I won’t interfere with your relationship with Madoka.”

Mr. Kujo said.

“Dad!!”

Madoka was furious. I hugged her tightly to calm her down.

“Hmmmm…”

Madoka’s expression softened as she felt my warmth with her whole body.

“Then follow me. I’ll feed you first.”

Mr. Kujo said to the aliens.

“Food!!! Food!!!!”

“If I have a son in the future, I’ll name him ‘Kujo’!!”

The pirates were immediately bought off with the promise of food.

———

The place Mr. Kujo took us to was a high-class restaurant.

Chomp-! Chomp-!!

The alien pirates were eating enthusiastically, practically burying their faces in their plates.

“Our company is thinking of expanding its market. We’ve decided to enter the console gaming competition.”

Mr. Kujo said, sipping his coffee.

“Co-console gaming…?”

Is that a good idea? I felt somewhat uneasy.

“Aren’t there huge companies like Nintendo and Sohony?”

I muttered, swallowing nervously.

They were like the Four Emperors of the gaming industry. It wasn’t easy to break into the cartel established by existing companies.

“What if a portable augmented reality gaming console using alien technology came out? And very quickly at that.”

Mr. Kujo said.

“Ah…”

So he was planning to borrow alien technology.

“You guys!! How quickly can you make it?”

Mr. Kujo shouted loudly at the aliens who were eating.

“Oh my!! We can do it in three days!!”

The aliens treated Mr. Kujo like their master. The power of money is truly amazing.

“Hmph. Good. I’ll give you four days. Make a prototype by then. Make sure it’s compatible with Earth software.”

Mr. Kujo immediately issued his special order.

“Yes sir!!”

They immediately saluted.

Kirtan… are you watching? They’re listening better than they ever did to you.

“Then what’s my job?”

I asked.

“Just making the device is meaningless. We need to structure the revenue model. You’ll participate in developer meetings and give opinions on revamping the revenue structure.”

Mr. Kujo said.

Wait… isn’t that too much for a high school student?

“I’ll pay you handsomely.”

“I’ll do it.”

With those words, I was immediately bought off. Having just one girlfriend is expensive enough, but with a harem, expenses increase even more.

Besides… it’s honestly every otaku’s dream to get involved in the gaming industry. And developing a new console!! I was super excited!! I’m an otaku to the bone.

“But… if oppa works, I can’t play with him.”

Madoka immediately puffed up her cheeks.

Squish-!

I squeezed Madoka’s puffy cheeks and deflated them.

“Madoka can attend the meetings too. You can be lovey-dovey all you want.”

Surprisingly, Mr. Kujo spoke with a benevolent expression.

“……..”

Something seemed suspicious. This wasn’t like the usual Mr. Kujo. I knew he was plotting something.

———

‘Hehehe.’

Kujo was inwardly laughing wickedly.

‘Women are creatures who easily become disappointed. You young pup.’

Kujo thought as he looked at Shota.

Of course, Shota would lack practical skills. The plan was to relentlessly push Shota to expose his incompetence and cool Madoka’s feelings for him.

“Well… let’s finish up and go to the meeting room.”

Kujo stood up and said.

“Let’s go!!!”

Shota shouted with sparkling eyes.

‘Foolish boy… taste the bitterness of society.’

Kujo let out a villainous laugh.

———–

I headed to the company’s conference room with Madoka tightly embraced in my arms.

The Kirtan pirate crew said they would lease the entire dormitory building where our hideout was located. I heard they would develop the equipment there. It was horrifying how things progressed smoothly with just one phone call. The rich really are different. I felt that keenly.

In the conference room sat people who exuded an incredible aura. They seemed like the type who could casually talk about something like the Human Complementation Project.

“Oppa. Kiss me.”

Madoka, unconcerned about all this, demanded my lips. As the corporate princess and future successor, she had no reason to be self-conscious.

“Okay. Mwah.”

I immediately kissed Madoka.

“Pat pat.”

“Mmm.”

I patted Madoka’s butt as she requested. At times like this, she’s strangely childlike.

The executives from other companies were trying hard to pretend they didn’t see anything.

At that moment, Mr. Kujo made his entrance to the conference room.

“Well. The prototype for the new console will be ready in three days.”

Mr. Kujo made a shocking announcement.

“S-so suddenly?”

“We haven’t heard about this…”

“Right. I deliberately didn’t tell you. It’s certain that there are industrial spies among you.”

Mr. Kujo stated bluntly.

“………!!”

Everyone fell silent at those words. They were reluctant to speak for fear of being suspected.

“Well, that aside. The new console will definitely come with our new game payment platform. If we ride on other platforms, it’s hard to get a piece of the pie. We’ll secure contracts with third-party games in order… but first, let’s talk about the revenue structure.”

Mr. Kujo displayed a PPT that other employees had hastily prepared.

I’m guessing he wants to make something like Steam or PS Plus. I got the gist of it.

“In reality… a new platform naturally has fewer contracted titles compared to early entrants. To compensate for the falling competitiveness, we need an excellent revenue structure. I’ll give you 10 minutes to think.”

Mr. Kujo had a unique meeting method. He always set a timer for everything.

However, it was very effective. With a time limit, everyone compressed their thinking. That alone cut out a lot of the unnecessary parts of the meeting.

I also roughly researched the situation of other gaming platforms on my phone.

Soon, I smiled with satisfaction.

‘I see. So this is an otaku world.’

The world of otaku content was similar to reality but with one different aspect. Elements that make readers or gamers uncomfortable are minimized. Being unpleasantly similar to reality was actually a demerit for creative works.

There were many eventful incidents, but in some ways, it was a utopia that had grotesquely removed the ugly parts of reality. The people here were somehow kinder than people in the original world, or rather, more yielding.

Even at our school, common incidents like bullying or ostracism didn’t exist at all. These elements were excluded to remove resistance to reality.

The same was true in the gaming industry.

‘The revenue structure here is… less predatory than in reality!!!’

Through internet research, I immediately grasped the situation.

There were no malicious payment systems or microtransactions. They hadn’t gone beyond simply trading games online. Online play was free. It was incredibly generous.

If that was the case, the answer was obvious.

‘I’ll show them the predatory payment structure from the Earth I used to live on.’

At that moment, I resolved to become a devil. To win my father-in-law’s favor.

“Ah. Oppa. You’re thinking something evil.”

Madoka said, staring at my expression.

“Well. The 10 minutes are up. Shota, let’s hear your opinion. What do you think we should do?”

Mr. Kujo threw down the gauntlet at me.

“First… let’s make online play for the console available only through a subscription fee.”

I immediately voiced my first opinion.

Predatory Business Principle #1: Make essential features subscription-based.

“Wh-what lack of business ethics…!!”

“What nonsense is that!!”

“Get out!! Get out right now!!”

Everyone in the conference room immediately foamed at the mouth.

“Then who would use our platform? Huh?”

Mr. Kujo said with a sinister smile. He seemed desperate to expose my flaws.

“But if they pay the subscription fee, they get access to a catalog of games they can play for free each month. Focusing on unpopular titles or indie games. From the gamers’ perspective, it looks like good value. It makes them think about trying it out.”

I said.

Giving away AAA games for free would be a big loss. But… releasing dozens of games that wouldn’t sell anyway for free each month wasn’t a big loss. It was about bundling them to appear less predatory. That’s how it was in my original world. I had been a victim of it many times.

“……….”

Mr. Kujo stared at me intently.

“………..”

I stared back at Mr. Kujo, not backing down.

———

And the next day, in the company’s conference room.

‘Employee of the Year’

My name and photo were hung there.

“What is this?”

I muttered involuntarily. Wait, this actually worked?

“As expected, oppa is amazing!!”

Madoka immediately threw herself at me.

And so, Konami Corporation opened its eyes to “predatory business” from another dimension. Somehow, I felt like Prometheus who brought fire to humanity.