Chaebol

The next morning, in Tokyo.

Jo Soo-deok stayed up all night.

Even though the boss had told him to do some sightseeing and use the company card to buy some sake.

'How could I enjoy myself when the work isn't finished!'

Jo Soo-deok had rushed back to his accommodation yesterday and gathered all the information he could about Shueisha Publishing.

It was said to be one of the top 20 publishing houses in the world.

Indeed, they had a vast number of subsidiaries.

Perhaps because of this, rumors of intense competition within the company were rampant.

This sensitivity over personal information might not be due to moral reasons alone.

With fierce competition between departments, they had no reason to risk anything that could be held against them.

"Tsk."

Thinking about it, he had handled things quite well.

After all, how could they trust a stranger with someone's phone number?

That was understandable, but still.

'I need to meet this Togashi guy!'

As a result, Jo Soo-deok had to rush to Shueisha Publishing early in the morning.

He stopped by a nearby market to buy a case of vitamin drinks.

'This is the Korean style!'

Indeed, with a resolute determination, Jo Soo-deok walked with firm steps.

However, the outcome was not favorable.

"You're here again?"

This was the editor-in-chief of 'Weekly Manga,' if he remembered correctly.

He hadn't been very friendly yesterday, but today, his expression bordered on disdain.

"I must have been a real bother yesterday. Now that I think about it, asking for a phone number right off the bat was…"

"Get out."

"Just five minutes… no, just one minute…"

"We're all swamped with the magazine's release deadline looming, so get out of here."

"..."

"If you don't leave, I'll have to call the police for disrupting our work."

Trying to push any further would only backfire.

"If I disturbed you, I apologize. I know you all must be tired… Since I already brought these, at least have these drinks…"

"Just leave!"

It must be because of the deadline.

Today, he was greeted with shouting right from the start.

'I wanted to make some progress before the boss arrived.'

What choice did he have?

"Please enjoy these. I'll leave them here."

With heavy steps, Jo Soo-deok exited the building.

***

Shueisha Publishing was in a state of emergency.

Why was a successful company in emergency mode due to the explosive popularity of 'Dragon Ball'?

Everything is relative, after all.

While 'Dragon Ball' had indeed conquered the comics market, rival company Gangonsha had acquired a major animation production company with the backing of the Otoh Group. Not content with that, they also established a record production company and aggressively bought 20% of the shares in a private broadcasting company.

With their rivals causing such a commotion…

Shueisha Publishing found itself being criticized, even while performing well.

What else could they do?

Shueisha Publishing was desperately throwing money around, trying not to fall behind.

As a result, the company had grown noticeably, but the side effects were becoming evident.

Due to this reckless expansion, the company's finances were always running low.

Even when they tried to attract external investment…

"If we give those guys money, they'll just buy land. They never invest in content."

Such ridicule became so widespread that at some point, investments dried up as if by magic.

And it was happening precisely when they desperately needed to animate 'Dragon Ball.'

Given the situation, the CEO of Shueisha Publishing found himself constantly making calls to the heads of the subsidiaries.

"What are you doing sitting around in the office? Go secure some investments! This isn't something a few ads will solve!"

His tirades always ended with a threat.

"If you can't deliver results this time, we might really shut down. Got it?"

The CEO's office was ringing with his shouting again today.

***

An hour later.

I arrived at the lobby of the hotel where Jo Soo-deok was staying.

"Boss!"

Turning toward the voice, I saw Jo Soo-deok sitting in the corner of the café.

He looked like he was ready to jump up at any moment.

"Stay there. I'll come to you."

I quickly signaled for him to stay put and headed into the café.

Had he been there for a long time?

There were already two empty coffee cups on the table in front of him.

I joked as I sat down.

"Looks like you had company?"

"Excuse me?"

He looked confused for a moment, then awkwardly laughed as he glanced at the empty cups.

"Oh… I was just trying to stay awake."

"Didn't you get any sleep?"

"Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the time difference. Haha."

Adjusting to the time difference in Tokyo?

Knowing Jo Soo-deok, he must've been up all night stressing over how to handle the situation.

The dark circles under his eyes were proof of that.

"Shall we get going?"

"Excuse me?"

"Let's get this sorted out so you can come back and rest."

"Oh, well…"

Jo Soo-deok quickly explained what had happened over the past two days.

He also filled me in on everything he had learned about Shueisha Publishing overnight.

"Even if you make a reasonable offer…"

"I got it. Let's go."

"They're really sensitive because of the deadline…"

"You said they won't listen to a reasonable offer?"

"Uh, yes."

"Then we'll make an unreasonable one."

"An unreasonable offer?"

Instead of replying, I just nodded quietly.

We stopped by a nearby bookstore.

'Let's see what's so great.'

Sure enough, every display was dominated by 'Weekly Manga.'

Well, no wonder they're so full of themselves.

I opened the magazine and skimmed through its contents.

I was only interested in one thing.

'How much of the latest chapter of 'Dragon Ball' is published?'

I'd read it over ten times, so I could roughly tell the storyline just by looking at the art.

'They're facing the Demon King.'

The protagonist is still in his childhood.

'There's a long way to go before 'Dragon Ball' hits its real peak!'

And yet, it's already this popular?

Hmm.

If that's the case…

"Professor, is the publishing house nearby?"

"Yes, but you're not thinking of going already… Have you seen enough?"

"Yes, I've seen everything I need."

"Hehe."

After walking for about ten more minutes.

"Here we are."

We arrived at the Shueisha Publishing building.

They say 'Weekly Manga' sells a million copies a week.

The building itself isn't particularly remarkable.

I turned to Jo Soo-deok.

"Shall we go in?"

"Oh, yes."

The 'Weekly Manga' editorial department was on the third floor.

As expected during a deadline, you could hear yelling from all directions.

Even if I didn't understand Japanese, I could guess the situation.

They were probably haranguing someone about why the manuscript wasn't ready yet.

'This happens every week; why make such a fuss?'

Honestly.

What does their busy schedule have to do with me?

I brazenly walked into the editorial department.

Maybe it was because I acted so confidently, but no one tried to stop me.

However, when they saw Jo Soo-deok trailing behind me, several people started to frown.

I ignored them.

"Professor, which one is the editor-in-chief?"

"That person over there."

"The one in the green vest?"

"Yes."

At that moment, the editor-in-chief noticed Jo Soo-deok and stormed over, fuming.

He wore a smug expression, as if to say, 'I've got you now.'

"Don't you understand what I'm saying? If you're going to make a fool out of me, I won't be nice!"

The editor-in-chief was about to roll up his sleeves and get even angrier when I spoke up.

"Our Boss wanted to see it in person."

"What? Boss?"

"This is him."

At Jo Soo-deok's words, the editor-in-chief looked down at me.

"I already told you we're busy! This isn't some kind of joke!"

I stared directly into his eyes.

My gaze didn't waver, even in front of this grown man.

Sensing something wasn't quite right, the editor-in-chief, who had been fuming, paused for a moment.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"If this is about that background artist, I've already told you, no phone numbers, no addresses, nothing…"

"I'm not here because of Mr. Togashi."

"…?"

"I'm interested in investing in 'Weekly Manga.'"

Both Jo Soo-deok, who was interpreting, and the editor-in-chief were taken aback.

"...!"

Their eyes widened in surprise.

***

In the editor-in-chief's office.

Jo Soo-deok and I sat side by side on a sofa meant for executives.

The editor-in-chief had an assistant bring a small chair.

He was barely perching on the edge of the chair, but…

"Heh heh."

The editor-in-chief couldn't stop smiling.

"I heard you were busy because of the deadline."

"Oh, busy? No, we've been doing this for so long; we can get it done in no time."

"With all the noise I heard, I thought something might be wrong."

"No! Not! At! All! We've got all the popular series lined up and ready to go."

The editor-in-chief seemed like someone with strong ambitions for promotion.

You could tell by how his eyes had changed the moment the word 'investment' was mentioned.

'He must be thinking of getting a higher position by taking credit for bringing in the investment.'

No doubt, he was probably dying of curiosity about how much the investment would be.

'Well, that's his problem.'

I just needed to proceed at my own pace.

"I heard you're in charge of Nintendo America's distribution…"

"I'm also a major shareholder of Hyungang Semiconductor."

"Oh my! I didn't realize I was shouting at someone so important… I sincerely apologize."

The editor-in-chief bowed to me.

"No, you didn't shout at me."

"Oh, your kindness is overwhelming…"

"But you did yell at the professor here. If you feel the need to apologize, perhaps you should direct it at him instead of me."

"Excuse me? Oh, my, what was I thinking…"

The editor-in-chief quickly bowed to Jo Soo-deok.

This should restore some dignity for Jo Soo-deok, who had had a hard time here earlier.

'Now, let's put that behind us.'

I moved on to discuss business more seriously.

"You said you sell a million copies a week?"

"Yes, that's roughly correct. Sometimes we sell even more. The response to 'Dragon Ball' has been phenomenal lately…"

"A million copies a week for a year would bring in about 50 billion yen in revenue."

"Yes, it's probably around that."

"And there's also revenue from the trade paperbacks?"

"That's right. We produce and sell separate volumes for the popular series."

"That revenue should be roughly another 50 billion yen."

"Well, it varies depending on whether there's a hit series each quarter…"

At this point, the editor-in-chief's voice lowered slightly.

Meaning the revenue from trade paperbacks usually didn't meet that target.

Okay, that's enough.

"So, the total annual revenue is less than 100 billion yen. Is that right?"

"Approximately… yes."

The editor-in-chief seemed to sense that the conversation was getting serious.

Gulp.

His Adam's apple moved visibly.

"I hear you're in a more desperate need of investment than ever."

"Excuse me?"

"You're considering entering the U.S. market."

"Oh, well, we have had some interest from there…"

"You're also preparing for an animation production."

"Y-yes, that's correct."

"So you need investment."

"Oh, it's not exactly like that… It's more about finding a partner to help expand our business…"

"I'm thinking of investing at least 5 billion yen."

"What? 5 billion yen?"

"Why? Is that not acceptable?"

"Oh, well…"

He probably assumed the investment would only be a few hundred million yen at most.

That's why the editor-in-chief decided to handle this himself.

But 5 billion yen in the 1980s? That's enough to acquire a few publishing houses.

Even if the editor-in-chief were here, it would be hard to provide an immediate answer.

"I'm sorry, but with an investment of that scale… it's beyond what I can handle…"

"Do I need to speak with the CEO of Shueisha Publishing directly?"

"That's probably what's needed…"

"Then, please give him a call."

"Right now?"

"Should I wait?"

"No, no. I'll make the call immediately…"

As the editor-in-chief quickly picked up the receiver.

"…Boss?"

Jo Soo-deok turned to me in surprise.

"If this is just about getting a phone number… I could try other methods…"

Who would invest such a large sum just to get one phone number?

"Sure, they sell a million copies a week, but there's no telling how things will be in the future…"

Grin.

It's a million copies now, but when the 'Dragon Ball' alien battle arc comes out, followed by 'Buzzer Beater' and 'Young Detective,' they'll be selling over six million copies a week, breaking records and making it into the Guinness Book.

Reading the confidence in my eyes.

"Well, I've never doubted your decisions, Boss…"

Jo Soo-deok looked at me with eyes full of unwavering trust.

TL/n -

Dragon Ball is a cultural phenomenon created by Akira Toriyama that began with the original manga series published in Shueisha's "Weekly Shōnen Jump" from 1984 to 1995.

(Those late nights watching Dragon Ball were the best! The excitement of the battles and the memorable characters really made it special. Do you have a favorite saga or character from the show?)