Ch.268263 – Marketing

“The wooden sword…”

“I’m sorry… I’m tired, so I’ll head in first…!”

After finishing her report on the Korean trip to the Katsuhata clan head, Emika fled to her room and loosened her tightly bound hair.

Worried it might fall off accidentally, she gently touched the translucent horn with her finger.

Of course, this horn is an artificial organ created by concentrated mana, similar to an Aura Heart.

Tap tap-

Only a slight vibration was transmitted to her head, but the horn itself had no sensation.

[Since it’s a temporary casting, the magic might break and the horn could disappear if you enter a place where mana is completely blocked or use a Virtual Reality Capsule. To grow the horn, go somewhere relatively quiet, get into a comfortable position, and draw in mana. Once the horn grows to about the size of your thumb, you’ll be able to manipulate mana through it.]

Emika knelt down in a formal sitting position.

After meditating for over an hour with no sign of growth, she finally contacted NoName again.

[NoName: An hour?]

[Katsuhata Emika: Yeah. How much longer should I do this? Surely not half a day.]

[NoName: Well, if you really focus, you could finish in a day. About 18 hours?]

[Katsuhata Emika: Whaaaat? I don’t have that much time…]

“No, it’s fine. Today was still my vacation day. I might have to stay up all night, but let’s try to endure it a little longer.”

Through meditation, she became aware of things she normally wouldn’t notice.

The mournful cries of evening cicadas came from all directions, and the footsteps of Katsuhata clan members made the ceiling thump.

But the novelty of discovering these things eventually wore off.

‘This is boring… I’m sleepy…’

After finishing her battle with boredom, her eyelids began to droop.

While meditation requires closed eyes, one must never fall into sleep.

Whenever drowsiness came over her, Emika barely managed to stay awake by pinching her thigh.

While Emika was fighting her inner battle behind her firmly closed door, people outside who were unaware of her situation worried about her well-being and whispered among themselves.

“Was the shock from Korea that severe?”

“She seemed fine until we boarded the plane…”

“Sigh. Has puberty finally hit her?”

“Puberty…! Our little Katsuhata miss…!”

Since returning from the trip, the girl had refused food and stayed locked in her room.

Perhaps the defeat in Korea was weighing on her mind.

In the Katsuhata main house, where breakfast preparations were in full swing, concerns poured out about the young successor who had been marked as the future clan head.

“Call for Katsuhata. I have instructions for Emika regarding the Autumnal Equinox ceremony. Tell her I’ll reprimand her if she’s later than the Council of Elders.”

An elderly man appeared and firmly issued the summons.

From March to May and September to November, training camp was mandatory in the Katsuhata school.

No exceptions were made, even for the successor.

Slide-

Katsuhata Emika, who had nearly become a high-risk hikikomori, entered the dining hall.

No matter how famous someone might be to outsiders, familiarity breeds a certain casualness.

While ordinary people might see her as a mysterious genius swordswoman, to the Katsuhata clan members, Emika was just their adorable youngest.

She appeared with an unusually haggard expression, rubbing her eyes with her arms as she trudged in.

“Whoa!”

“What… what is that?”

“A headband?”

“Devil cosplay?”

As this incomprehensible situation unfolded, her close senior Tachibana approached and placed a hand on her head.

“Emika, what’s with this look! You’re not some chuunibyou kid—you should remove such unsightly things before coming to a place with people!”

Emika was exactly 14 years old, precisely matching the age of a second-year middle schooler.

No one had imagined that this normally well-behaved child would display such eccentric behavior in the notoriously conservative Katsuhata household.

“What is this? Why won’t it come off?”

“That’s my horn…”

“Huh?”

“I said it’s a horn growing from my head.”

“Whaaaat?”

Rustle-

He used both hands to part her hair.

Naturally, he couldn’t find any plastic band or horn attachment point.

Emika’s face gradually turned as red as a radish.

When the clan head and Council of Elders entered the dining hall, the noisy atmosphere subsided.

But piercing gazes still poured onto one person.

The elders, noticing the strange atmosphere, frowned and pointed fingers.

“That… that!”

“How shameless!”

“How dare you play such pranks here!”

“I can explain everything!”

Emika pushed away from the table and came to the center of the dining hall, facing the clan head.

“This isn’t a toy or anything—it’s magic! I’m not suffering from chuunibyou! And it’s definitely not cosplay!”

It took great courage to reveal the truth in front of about fifty people with an average age of 45.

Katsuhata Emika swallowed hard and hastily pulled out her newly acquired wooden sword.

The dining hall was the most prominent “sword-free zone” where bringing weapons was absolutely forbidden.

The elders rose from their seats and shouted at the successor who had not only been disrespectful but had broken the rules.

“Everyone please calm down and listen to what Emika has to say. You all know she’s not the type of child to act this way, don’t you?”

Finally, the clan head sitting in the center intervened to stop the commotion.

“Emika, tell us. But be prepared for punishment regarding today’s disturbance if you don’t have a legitimate reason.”

“Well… this is.”

Emika slightly bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

She just needed to explain as NoName had told her.

[For now, we’re calling it the Demon King’s Horn, though the official name might change later. It’s a magic that Bio-Akashic will release in about a month, and you’re basically a tester for our company’s new product. Go to those Council of Elders people and tell them this is an amazing magic and ask if they’d be interested in investing. You can do that much, right?]

“So what kind of magic is it? Explain quickly, Katsuhata Emika.”

“The Demon King’s Horn…”

“Demon King? The one I’m thinking of? Are you saying you’ve become a Demon King now?”

“N-no… that’s… it’s not decided yet, and I don’t really know myself, but I think that’s right…”

“Sigh.”

“This isn’t how I wanted to explain it… hic… waaaaaah! Why won’t you listen to me until the end!”

In the end, Emika burst into tears first.

* * *

“Wow NoName, this is insane! How did you manage to recruit such an important person?”

“Wait. Did you order correctly?”

I stopped Baek Hochan as he tried to sit down next to me, gripping the cafe chair firmly.

He took a deep breath.

“Caramel Frappuccino with whole Java chips added. Espresso whipped cream, mocha syrup, and caramel drizzle. Right?”

“You pass.”

“Consuming too much caffeine at your age isn’t good for your body… Anyway, look at this article.”

[Global News) Halloween is still a month away… but a Demon King cosplay craze in Japan?]

I slowly stroked my chin as I took in Emika’s achievements.

In Japan, the Autumnal Equinox is designated as a public holiday.

Especially venerable families like the Katsuhata conduct their own memorial ceremonies.

The Katsuhata school’s educational policy direction is conveyed through her words.

In a speech encouraging and supporting the growth of young Japanese mages, Emika mentioned the “Adela” magic and hinted at changes in swordsmanship principles.

“Did she just hint at it? She actually mentioned our company during the magic demonstration!”

“Yes, yes. I told her to do that.”

“You know this kind of marketing is something you can’t get even with billions, right? Oh, our NoName has grown up so well.”

“Hey, back off a bit! Let me see this properly, please.”

Unfortunately, it seems Emika didn’t reach the level of destroying the “Legacy Sword.”

Instead, she demonstrated 1st Circle Adela magic by herself, plunging many theoretical magic scholars who had been grinding away into despair.

By showing that she could cast it herself using magic already available on the market, she immediately became the focus of media attention.

However, things unfolded slightly differently than I had expected.

Rather than praising the magic’s potential, the public was more captivated by cute Emika wearing horns.

Trends spread like epidemics.

And in a capitalist society, companies have an uncanny ability to smell money.

Toy companies and headband manufacturers rushed to produce “Demon King’s Horn: Emika Edition” items for seasonal sales.

Since they were essentially promoting Bio-Akashic’s magic for free, we had no reason to stop them.

“Originally, magic has huge costs not just in labor but in advertising and promotion.”

“How far has the multiple sclerosis treatment progressed?”

“We passed the preclinical tests last week and immediately entered Phase 1 clinical trials.”

“Still only there?”

“That’s actually incredibly fast! Preclinical testing normally takes 2-3 years, but we did it in just 2 months.”

“No, it’s too slow… If we skip Phase 2 clinical trials and take the shortest possible time for everything, how long would it take?”

“Skip Phase 2? Even if that were somehow approved, which is nearly impossible, FDA approval would still take at least 3 years.”

Three years is too long.

Vaccines can get emergency use authorization in just 10 months, so why not treatments?

“So NoName, about pricing—I’m thinking 10,000 dollars per year. If you’ve studied economics, you know we need to consider future inflation…”

“Absolutely under 3,000 dollars. This is non-negotiable, so don’t even dream about it.”

“Even fake drugs with barely any effect cost like 50,000 or 100,000 dollars… Sigh, fine.”

“The shorter the development period, the easier it is to recover costs, right? So Baek Hochan, please try to make it happen faster.”

And I’ve basically given away knowledge from my past life for almost nothing.

“The outsourcing costs for clinical trials are no joke! The government funding we received is draining away.”

In the end, it always comes back to money.

Money is needed to solve problems, and money is needed even in the process of making money.

I gently closed my eyes and interlaced my fingers.

I sipped my Frappuccino through the straw while deep in thought.

“Let’s delay the release of the Demon King’s Horn.”

“Why delay it? I’m telling you we need to create a cash cow as soon as possible to keep the company afloat.”

“Investment funds will soon come in from the Katsuhata school. I don’t know how much it will be, but shouldn’t that help us survive for at least a month?”

“And the reason for delaying?”

“Let’s create two versions for the market. One with a 3rd Circle simplified casting, and another with the original 5th Circle. If we sell the latter at a very high price, wouldn’t that bring in a lot of money?”

“How? Based on the performance you described, it doesn’t seem that attractive as a magic.”

Of course, the Demon King’s Horn has the critical flaw that it’s designed for demon races, so humans can barely benefit from using it.

The ability to purify magical energy isn’t very useful except in the Middle East or at mana power plants, and the ability to read magical currents in the atmosphere with the horn requires tremendous effort.

“I heard something once. Companies that make what people already want to buy are second-rate.”

“…?”

“Would you agree that truly first-rate companies are those that create buying desire even in people who hadn’t given it much thought before?”

“Huh? Oh, I think I’ve heard that somewhere too.”

“This time, let me focus on the marketing.”

[Reply: Cephiron Foundation]

[We approve your participation in the Academy Competition.]

There were no height regulations for the middle school division.

Since there had never been a middle school student under 120cm at Cephiron Academy before.

My guess was correct—if the regulation was hastily created due to someone’s injury, it would naturally only be included in the elementary division rules.

After inquiring with the foundation, I was allowed to participate in the Academy Competition as a middle school student, though it was somewhat of a stretch.