Tokyo, at the Graphic GG Design Company.
Supervisor Hayato Kinoshita stormed into the office, waving a newspaper.
"Kitagawa Takeshi! You bastard, come out here! Who allowed you to take freelance work on the side?"
The staff lowered their heads silently, not daring to speak in the face of his fury.
Amid the silence, Kitagawa Takeshi stood calmly, meeting his supervisor's gaze with unusual composure.
"You bastard, taking freelance work on the side… If it weren't for this appearing in the newspaper, I wouldn't even have known it was you!"
Two newspapers slapped onto the desk.
Kitagawa didn't even need to look—he already knew what they said.
One was a sales report: Sega claimed the SG-2000 had sold 60,000 units in the two weeks after the New Year, thanks to its revolutionary performance and design.
The other mentioned Duck Hunt, bundled with the console.
Fami—Maga magazine condemned this practice as shamelessly exploiting players through bundling.
Because the game was tied to the console, it sold 80,000 copies—60,000 with the console, and 20,000 sold separately, requiring players to buy the light gun themselves.
Faced with Kinoshita's questioning, Kitagawa deliberately, almost annoyingly slowly, pulled from under the desk a letter wrapped in kraft paper—extremely formal.
The supervisor's boiling anger suddenly cooled as he stared at the paper-wrapped envelope.
"What's this?"
"My resignation," Kitagawa said simply. "I quit."
"Kitagawa!!"
In an instant, Kinoshita's anger vanished, replaced by a softened tone. He reached for Kitagawa's hand, urging him to sit.
"Kitagawa, let's talk. You know, I've always valued you the most in this company. You're the designer I care about most. No one here surpasses you. I understand it's not easy raising a child alone in Tokyo. The company will take care of you! How about 120,000 yen a month?"
Kitagawa scoffed.
"With my experience, 120,000 yen? You might as well find someone else. This isn't about money!"
People often say employees leave for only two reasons: grievances or insufficient pay.
Kitagawa belonged to a third category: wronged and underpaid.
He pulled from under the desk a cardboard box he had prepared, packing his belongings one by one. He showed no sign of being ousted in disgrace; instead, he moved with pride, even humming a little Doraemon tune.
The supervisor stood frozen, veins bulging on his neck, words trapped behind clenched teeth, only able to watch Kitagawa pack.
"Wait… what's that?"
He suddenly noticed Kitagawa pull out a large, dark object.
Kinoshita's forehead twitched, his heart pounding furiously.
That thing was expensive!!
"Oh, it's just a plain hand-drawn tablet. A new release from ASCII. Not cheap, but I checked Akihabara—they sell it for 800,000 yen. With my salary, no eating, no drinking, it would take a year to afford it."
Kitagawa finished packing, casually storing the tablet, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, and faced everyone.
"Gentlemen, I've had enough of this lousy company and that damn boss! From now on, I won't come back! Take your 80,000-yen salary and go eat your large portions!"
Usually calm and obedient, Kitagawa now revealed a rare ferocity. He saluted his dear-but-despised boss, Hayato Kinoshita, with both hands, flipping two elaborate middle fingers.
Then he turned and walked away with flair.
Kinoshita gritted his teeth and shouted: "This month's salary isn't settled! Don't even think about getting a single yen from accounting!"
"Keep your 80,000 yen to buy a large portion from the cesspool!"
Kitagawa didn't look back, flipped off once more, and exited via the elevator.
On the bustling main street, carrying his box and backpack, Kitagawa looked up.
There, he saw a massive GG display from Sega.
It was for Duck Hunt and the SG-2000, with the designer's name listed below.
And this time, it wasn't as part of a design team—he was credited as the lead designer.
Kitagawa grinned and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ignoring the strange looks of passersby, he half-crouched, shielding his face with his hand, laughing uncontrollably.
…
…
At the Atlus garage, dishes from a family restaurant covered the long, joined tables.
Tetsu Kobayashi raised his drink.
"Come on, everyone, cheers! Even though it's just me and Naka Yuji, we celebrate Kitagawa finally giving his boss the boot and moving toward a brighter future!"
"Cheers!"
Naka Yuji raised his drink as well. Kitagawa was the only one drinking alcohol.
—Japan's rules were strange: Tetsu Kobayashi could date before turning eighteen, even marry at eighteen, but couldn't drink, nor buy alcohol.
Fortunately, he didn't particularly enjoy drinking, so it wasn't an issue.
With drinks down and food enjoyed, Tetsu casually mentioned another piece of news.
"Good news, I guess. Thanks to the bundling strategy, and because the game is genuinely good, I got this week's sales report from Sega."
"Duck Hunt revenue: 27 million yen!"
Naka Yuji raised his cup, swelling with pride at Atlus Studio's earnings.
Kitagawa grinned, holding his cup beneath Tetsu's for a toast, unable to hide his joy.
Having decided to leave, of course, the better Atlus did, the happier he'd be!
At least Tetsu hadn't held back 80,000 yen like GG Company had.
Sega paid monthly on the 25th; it wasn't that day yet. But when it came, Tetsu's pre-tax earnings for the month would be about 40 million yen.
—not an exaggeration.
Tetsu's "Square" series consistently sold 20,000 units per month, in sync with the SG console series.
Yamayama Tank Battle wasn't as fierce as Square, but still brought in steady revenue.
Add other titles, and pre-tax monthly income hit 40 million yen.
Since Tetsu had changed his business structure from a solo studio to a corporation, the highest tax rate was now 35%. Aside from a 10% local tax at year-end, only the 35% monthly tax applied.
Meaning:
This month's post-tax income: 26 million yen.
Combined with earnings since August, Tetsu now had 50 million yen in his pocket.
"Too much money with nowhere to spend… what should I do?"
Tetsu pondered.
He needed to find something to buy!
Maybe hire a reliable music designer, or invest the money in software and hardware, or even marketing—a waste to let it sit and earn only interest in the bank.
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