A few days later, at the Atlus office.
Kobayashi Tetsu had a ten-square-meter office. It wasn't big. He'd once imagined an office where the secretary would crawl under the desk, but that idea never materialized. In the end, he simply partitioned off a small room and called it his office.
At this moment, Kobayashi Tetsu was lying flat on the sofa, feeling that it was far too cramped for his body.
"This hurts, bro—"
He clutched his chest.
One hundred eighty million yen was gone. Makoto Yamashina from Bandai hadn't budged an inch.
In industries he didn't understand, Yamashina was easy to talk to. But in manufacturing—the field Yamashina knew best—he spoke so convincingly that Kobayashi Tetsu was left speechless.
Add in January's profits, all the previous surplus funds—
And on top of that, the office relocation this month.
Kobayashi Tetsu reached into his pocket and nearly burst into tears.
He had become a poor bastard with only a few million yen left in his pocket! Sure, payments would come in next month, but it still hurt like hell.
He didn't move, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, looking peaceful—like a corpse.
In his mind, he quickly ran the numbers.
Under the old revenue-sharing model, where Sega took a portion of the cartridge profits, the income structure had been completely different.
Now that he held the cartridge production rights, Kobayashi Tetsu had to shoulder the 1,600-yen production cost per cartridge, plus the costs of commissioning Sega's game stores for sales.
But at the same time—
He could directly pocket the remaining profits.
It used to be 12%, about 417 yen per cartridge. Now it could reach 800 yen, including the game's sales share and various costs before and after retail. Sega itself would only take the standard share and the fees for offline store distribution.
Take Jörmungandr's sales as an example—one hundred thousand copies in the first week meant a whopping eighty million yen!
"So actually, this is a good thing!"
Kobayashi Tetsu made the sound of a capitalist awakening and sat up again.
The office wasn't particularly soundproof, and the door was slightly ajar. He could vaguely hear voices outside.
"So this whole office belongs to Tetsu-kun?"
"Well, to be precise, the office belongs to all of us. The president only has ownership. The property rights belong to everyone, but the usage rights go to the president!"
Kobayashi Tetsu lifted his eyelids slightly.
Sounds like Kobayakawa talking to Yuji Naka. She'd mentioned last week that she wanted to see Atlus's new office, but Kobayashi Tetsu had been busy negotiating the Bandai manufacturing deal, so he hadn't had time.
The office door wasn't locked, but someone still knocked lightly twice.
Kobayashi Tetsu instantly lay back down, letting out a muffled groan.
"Come in."
Kobayakawa stepped in hesitantly. After seeing the office layout, she oddly relaxed.
It looked pretty normal! Just a bit bigger.
She'd imagined something exaggerated like in TV dramas—a luxurious executive office with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking tiny people below.
But it was actually quite ordinary.
Which was nice. If it really had been that extravagant, she wouldn't have dared to come in.
"Tetsu-kun? What's wrong?"
Kobayashi Tetsu pressed a hand to his chest.
"I think I might be dying!"
He said mournfully. "Renting this big office is so expensive!"
"That's true," Kobayakawa agreed.
Still clutching his chest, Kobayashi Tetsu continued, "I don't even have money to eat anymore."
Having a few million yen and still claiming he couldn't afford food—whatever, he was broke!
Kobayakawa stared at him for a while. His pained expression didn't seem fake, so she naturally patted her chest.
"Rinko will take you out to eat! I submit articles to Kadokawa's Game Magazine—there's稿費 every month."
She wasn't bragging, but even as a high schooler, she had almost a hundred thousand yen saved up. She could buy game consoles on her own!
As for why she still kept coming over to play games with Kobayashi Tetsu even though she had her own console—
That's JK business. Don't ask.
Kobayashi Tetsu shot upright.
"Alright! Let's go! Food!"
Watching the two of them leave, Yuji Naka poked his head out and shook his head with a sigh.
Morals were collapsing, society was going downhill. He refused to believe Kobayashi Tetsu was actually so broke he couldn't afford a meal.
Kazuki Takahashi sidled over to ask, "Naka-kun, is that the president's girlfriend?"
Yuji Naka replied, "First of all, my surname is Naka—Naka-kun. Second, I can't answer that question. I can only say… she's one of them."
Kazuki Takahashi was surprised. "But President Kobayashi always calls you Yuji-kun."
Yuji Naka looked up.
That's different!
That day, Kobayashi Tetsu didn't go to Old Dixie. Instead, he went to a ramen shop.
The place was apparently famous, supposedly with a hundred-year history, called something like "Oni Kanabō."
Kobayashi Tetsu stood in front of the sign for a long time, just to make sure he wasn't mistaken—it really was Kanabō, not something else.
The name came from Japanese mythology. Oni are different from other kinds of demons—huge, immensely strong humanoid beings, often depicted with horns and carrying massive spiked clubs.
That massive spiked club is called an oni kanabō.
—
Extra spicy, extra numbing, with an additional egg and extra chashu—one bowl of Oni Kanabō ramen cost 980 yen.
Kobayakawa sat beside him and ordered the same.
"This is my first time at a place like this," she whispered. "I heard ramen shops are full of middle-aged guys!"
"Not that many," Kobayashi Tetsu said, glancing around. There were seven or eight people at the counter. Besides them, only five or six office workers in suits and ties.
"Let's eat," Kobayashi Tetsu said, pressing his hands together and reciting the standard phrase before digging in.
Japanese spiciness was different from Chinese spice. Instead of dried chili peppers, it used spicy miso and sanshō pepper, later relying on various capsaicins. It lacked the fried chili aroma, instead creating fragrance through other elements, like pork bone fat.
Kobayashi Tetsu cautiously took a sip of the soup, smacked his lips, and nodded.
It was fine.
They called it extra spicy, but it really wasn't that spicy.
Not that he looked down on Japan—but in his view, Japanese spice tolerance was about on par with people from Guangdong, the kind who thought braised beef noodle soup was already spicy.
A few mouthfuls of noodles later, he felt quite satisfied.
Chinese-style ramen emphasized chewy noodles, while Japanese ramen focused on the broth and toppings. In that sense, it actually resembled Su-style noodles. Kobayashi Tetsu was pretty pleased.
Halfway through the bowl, he wiped the sweat off his face with a napkin and casually glanced to the side—then froze.
"Your lips are swollen!!"
Kobayakawa covered half her face, gulping down iced water, her voice on the verge of tears. "It's really spicy!!"
Kobayashi Tetsu hesitated.
Was it really that spicy?!
The next day, at school, Nenene Anezaki saw Kobayakawa furiously writing in the library.
"You—"
Nenene stopped mid-sentence.
Her lips were swollen! What on earth had she done yesterday?!
"Is it really that obvious? I even used an ice pack," Kobayakawa said sadly, putting down her pen. "Tetsu-kun took me to a ramen shop yesterday and we ate super spicy ramen! It was really spicy!"
Nenene let out a sigh of relief.
Oh, ramen. For a moment she thought it was a love hotel.
But then she suddenly looked up.
Wait.
Those two sneaked off to eat ramen together and didn't bring her?!
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