Chapter 11: Surely Not, Surely Not
1239 Words
Adam’s new proposal was straightforward:
The company and Aaron would each operate the new game independently, without interfering with one another.
Aaron would first need to pay a deposit of one hundred thousand dollars, upon which the company would open the first server for him. For every subsequent server he wished to launch, he’d need to replenish the deposit with another hundred thousand, up to a maximum of one million.
Monthly fees would then be calculated based on the number of servers, with each server incurring a monthly payment of one hundred thousand dollars.
However, there was an additional condition: during the first ten months, Aaron was required to open at least one new server every month.
Adam truly was a shrewd operator!
This arrangement was undeniably enticing. The initial investment was modest—just a hundred thousand dollars to get started.
It also guaranteed the company a steady income. After all, servers were cheap; the company had plenty of idle servers lying around, and putting them to use made perfect sense.
At the same time, Aaron retained the freedom to decide whether to launch new servers based on how the game performed.
If the game fared poorly, his losses would be limited.
It was a rare moment of generosity from Adam—perhaps because he didn’t want to ruin Aaron completely, lest he push the young man into a corner and provoke a desperate reaction.
If things turned ugly, Adam’s own reputation would suffer.
Though avaricious, Adam clearly had his limits; he wasn’t entirely unscrupulous.
Aaron didn’t immediately accept the proposal. Instead, he carefully considered it, for Adam’s offer was undeniably tempting.
The upfront cost was low; all he needed was the hundred-thousand-dollar deposit, and he could decide on opening new servers later, depending on the situation.
If profits were high and players flocked in, there’d be no hesitation in opening new servers.
But if things went south and revenue lagged, the losses would be bearable.
…
As Aaron pondered, Adam sipped his coffee, silently observing the young man before him.
He hadn’t expected the first person to walk into his office to be strong, barely in his twenties.
Some of the words he had spoken moments earlier were indeed genuine; he did admire Aaron.
It was precisely this admiration that prompted him to offer such a generous deal.
Had an experienced old hand come in, winning such a contract wouldn’t have been so easy.
Of course, Adam’s motives weren’t purely altruistic.
He intended to promote the concept of “internal entrepreneurship” within the company—encouraging employees to further develop existing games and even repurpose them multiple times. This was a strategy the company planned to champion aggressively in the future.
But to get everyone excited and eager to participate, he needed a shining example.
Without a trailblazer, most employees would remain hesitant, suspecting that their boss was merely toying with them, and the whole scheme would fall flat.
Aaron happened to arrive at the perfect moment, becoming the very benchmark Adam sought to establish.
…
“All right! I accept your proposal. But Adam… could I perhaps delay the deposit? "Say, pay it in a month’s time?” Aaron asked, lifting his head after serious thought.
His bank account was nearly empty—down to just three or four hundred dollars.
Although the deposit wasn’t enormous, it was still a hefty one hundred thousand dollars.
Even with the system rewarding him over four thousand dollars daily, it would take him twenty-five days to accumulate the amount—assuming he didn’t spend a single penny in the meantime.
Hence, his request to defer the payment by a month.
Adam was both amused and exasperated. Pointing a finger at Aaron, he took several seconds before finally blurting out, “You… you little rascal, are you trying to pull my leg?”
A month’s delay just to scrape together a hundred thousand dollars—Adam seriously doubted Aaron’s financial capacity.
“Adam, it’s just that this is my first entrepreneurial venture. Funds are tight, but I promise I’ll get you a hundred thousand within a month! "Besides, the game isn’t launching for a few more days anyway,” Aaron hurriedly explained.
“The game will go live in about a week. All right, young man, starting a business isn’t easy—I’d look bad if I didn’t show some flexibility. But a month’s delay is out of the question. "I’ll give you ten days. "By then, your server will need to go online, and you’ll bring me the hundred-thousand-dollar deposit,” Adam declared firmly, slapping his thigh for emphasis.
Aaron sensed there was no room left for negotiation and reluctantly nodded in agreement.
Ten days—he’d earn over forty thousand from the system, and he’d figure out a way to secure the remaining fifty-some thousand.
It wasn’t an insurmountable sum; surely he could borrow it from a few friends.
Once the contract was secured, he’d use popular streamers to drive traffic to his game, and things would soon fall into place.
…
When Aaron stepped out of the boss’s office and returned to his desk, he immediately sensed the change in his colleagues’ gazes.
The customer service manager had just made an announcement on his behalf, declaring that Aaron intended to take over the company’s new game!
“Surely not! Surely not! Surely no one would actually be so foolish, right? "We were just discussing how bad that game is, and you heard it too,” Abigail exclaimed dramatically, eyes darting sharply at Aaron.
“Aaron, you’re being reckless! For something this important, you should have taken more time to think it over. "It’s not too late if you haven’t signed the contract or paid yet,” Alice added with concern.
“Don’t worry, I’ve thought it through. I’ve been in the gaming industry for over a year now, and this opportunity is too good to pass up. "I just want to give it a shot… just a shot,” Aaron replied with a carefree smile.
At that moment, the customer service manager strolled over as well.
“Who knew our department had hidden talents? Aaron, impressive! "When you become a big boss, don’t forget your old colleagues,” the manager said, his tone dripping with a hint of sarcasm.
…
By the afternoon, word of Aaron’s plan to take over the new game had spread throughout the entire company, becoming the hot topic of conversation among the staff.
Most doubted him, believing he was far too young and had been ensnared by the boss’s scheme.
No one knew the exact cost of running a game, but it was obviously beyond the means of a lowly customer service rep.
Everyone knew Aaron wasn’t some rich heir; he looked nothing like a trust-fund kid.
Most predicted he was about to suffer a spectacular failure.
But Aaron paid no mind to the gossip. His priority was raising the hundred thousand dollars as quickly as possible.
Without it, his entire plan would collapse.
The system had finally been upgraded and granted him a “Luxury Tycoon Experience Card”—it would be a waste not to put it to use.
So that evening, he left work on time for once, skipping his usual overtime, and returned straight to his modest rental apartment.
After pacing the living room for a long while, he finally steeled himself and dialed the number.
- Writer
