New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 195

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 195. Project Launch (5)

Today, as always, I arrived at the Nexpin office earlier than anyone else.

After opening the curtains, refilling the water dispenser, and emptying the trash cans, the employees finally began entering the office one by one.

But did they plan this together?

Everyone seemed to have made a pact, looking at me and saying similar things.

“Why are there so many patent drafts coming out lately?”

“What’s with the prototype department? There are over 50 patents from there alone.”

“What exactly are the system semiconductors that Dae-hyeon Semiconductor is making? Patents are pouring out like crazy!”

Sharp gazes pierced me from all directions.

Even without words, the meaning behind those looks was clear.

They were gazes that thought I was the main culprit behind this situation.

“Alright! Let’s quiet down and start working. The more work we have, the better.”

“President! There’s too much, even if it’s a lot. No matter how much we pass to the support team and outsourcing teams, the workload doesn’t decrease.”

“Tsk! You should work as much as you’re paid. Hurry up and get to work. And Employee Lee, come see me for a moment.”

The only one taking my side was President Cha.

I quickly moved to President Cha’s desk and sat on a folding chair.

“Is there something I need to handle?”

“Not exactly that… but a patent contract inquiry came in from a new place. Since it’s a patent you created, I thought you should know about it.”

Nexpin was already under patent contracts with dozens of companies.

Not only Apple and Microsoft, but also dozens of patent contracts with Samjin Electronics.

Besides that, most major global mobile phone manufacturers had contracts with Nexpin.

And like today.

Patent usage contract inquiries from companies around the world were coming in dozens per day.

“Where did the inquiry come from?”

“We’ve had many inquiries from mobile phone companies and electronics companies, but this time it came from a game company.”

“A Korean game company?”

“Not a Korean company, but a Japanese one. Have you heard of ‘Nintendo’? I played a lot of their games when I was young.”

It was a name I never even expected.

A game company with highly loyal users worldwide.

Who would have thought that Nintendo, which holds countless core gaming patents, would inquire about a patent contract.

“Do they have something that would use our patents?”

“They inquired about using Wi-Fi module related patents.”

“Are they perhaps trying to install Wi-Fi functionality in game consoles?”

“Probably so. The day when game consoles have Wi-Fi installed is coming.”

A strange thrill ran down my spine.

There’s another place besides me trying to put Wi-Fi in devices.

The thought that there was a company moving faster than I expected brought both eeriness and strange anticipation simultaneously.

“Could I handle this contract directly?”

“That’s fine with me. If you’re willing to take on the work, I have no reason to refuse.”

“I’d like to proceed with negotiations under Tiger Fund’s name, not Nexpin’s.”

“You want to scale it up? Well, that patent was created by you anyway. It doesn’t matter how you use it.”

A connection with Nintendo came at perfect timing.

And it wasn’t us reaching out first, but Nintendo extending their hand to us.

To cook this windfall as deliciously as possible, I immediately headed to the fund office.

***

As soon as I arrived at the fund office.

I instructed the staff to investigate Nintendo’s current situation completely.

And in less than 30 minutes.

The Deputy Branch Manager appeared before me with materials that perfectly organized Nintendo’s current status.

“Branch Manager, Nintendo’s situation isn’t very good. They’ve been pushed back by Microsoft and Sony, sales have dropped sharply, and due to poor sales, bad inventory has accumulated, causing some production factories to stop operations.”

“So they’ve received the worst report card twice in a row.”

“That’s right. Following the Nintendo 64 failure, even the GameCube recorded consecutive poor performance. Now they’ve fallen from the industry’s number one position to a distant second place.”

Nintendo, which was the overwhelming number one in the game console market.

But now they had fallen to a position where even second place was precarious.

“Why did the situation get that bad?”

“The performance wasn’t significantly behind the devices released by Sony or Microsoft. The problem was the ‘exclusive production’ policy. Because of that, third-party game companies left Nintendo one by one, and eventually serious content shortage caused popularity to drop rapidly.”p>

The closed policy was ultimately the root of all problems.

When they were the overwhelming industry leader, such policies actually increased profitability.

But conversely, the moment they fell from first place, it inevitably became the cause for third-party game companies to leave.

“How closed was their policy that game companies that had provided games for a long time turned their backs?”

“Instead of CDs, they had to buy and use Nintendo-exclusive cartridges. Even if inventory remained, refunds were impossible, and they were even limited in the number of games they could release per year.”

“So they passed all the risks to third-party game companies.”

The Deputy Branch Manager turned a page of materials and shook his head.

“That’s not all. The royalties were also at the industry’s highest level. When you combine cartridge purchase costs and royalties, they had to pay nearly half their revenue to Nintendo, so there’s no way third parties could make proper profits in this structure.”

“Now I clearly understand why third-party game companies left.”

Excessive greed caused Nintendo’s downfall.

And conversely, Nintendo’s such policies created opportunities for latecomers.

“That’s right. On the contrary, Sony and Microsoft implemented much more third-party friendly policies. Game companies that turned away from Nintendo moved to their side and supplied various games, allowing both companies to quickly pull up their market share.”

“Nintendo’s situation must be very bad.”

But for us, it was rather a good opportunity.

The more difficult Nintendo’s situation, the more favorable conditions we could negotiate.

“I need to negotiate directly with Nintendo’s senior executives. Could we bring them to Korea?”

“With just Wi-Fi module patents… there’s insufficient justification to move high-level executives.”

“Since they’ve failed major businesses consecutively, their financial situation probably isn’t good either. If we inform them that Tiger Fund has investment intentions, they’ll surely show interest.”

I actually had sufficient intention to invest.

It was a company looking in the same direction as me.

Just the fact that they thought of installing Wi-Fi modules in gaming devices was enough to make Nintendo worth investing in.

“If we bundle investment intentions, collaboration, and patent usage into one proposal, I think we could bring Nintendo’s high-level executives to Korea.”

“If possible, I’d like to have direct conversations with them as soon as possible.”

“I’ll move on this today.”

This was a method possible because we were Tiger Fund.

If Tiger Fund, with its high reputation in the global market, made an investment proposal, anyone would be swayed.

Especially for a company with poor financial conditions, it would look like a lifeline.

***

As expected, Tiger Fund’s name worked properly.

Of course, the Deputy Branch Manager’s creation of a perfect proposal helped greatly.

But above all, the powerful phrase “Tiger Fund’s investment proposal” made Nintendo’s high-level executives come to Korea.

“Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Lee Jung-hoo, Branch Manager of Tiger Fund Korea Branch.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Hasegawa Noriyuki, serving as Vice President.”

Three executives joined this visit in total.

Including Vice President Hasegawa, the Technology Director and legal representative accompanied them.

It was a personnel composition to simultaneously discuss Wi-Fi technology review as well as Tiger Fund’s investment proposal.

“I’m sorry for making you come all the way to Korea when you’re busy.”

“Not at all. Going from Tokyo to Osaka or from Tokyo to Seoul doesn’t make much difference.”

The conference room atmosphere flowed quite well.

That was natural since we received Nintendo’s executive team with the highest level of protocol.

We had a large limousine waiting at the airport, and hung several welcome banners throughout the building.

“I heard you need Wi-Fi module patents.”

“Yes. While reviewing development directions, we were quite surprised to learn that related patents were already registered in advance. Even before Wi-Fi was fully installed in laptops, Nexpin had already created them.”

“We secured patents in advance for installing Wi-Fi not only in portable devices but also in home appliances and factory equipment. It may not seem very useful now, but we anticipated that an era when Wi-Fi becomes essential will surely come soon.”

I took out the prepared patent certificates one by one and placed them on the table.

The Nintendo executives couldn’t hide their admiration as they looked at the patent list that was much more extensive than expected.

Then, the head of the technology division stopped his eyes on one document.

After checking the patent registrant’s name, he looked at me with wide eyes.

“The registrant’s name is Lee Jung-hoo. By any chance… isn’t that the same name as the Branch Manager?”

“That’s correct. These are patents I created. I am both the Tiger Fund Korea Branch Manager and an employee of Nexpin.”

“You’re saying these are patents you personally created, Branch Manager?”

Fund branch manager and Nexpin employee.

There was bound to be a considerable sense of disconnect.

Perhaps because of this, Vice President Hasegawa lost his words and looked me up and down.

“That’s why I personally came forward for this negotiation. I wanted to show courtesy to those who recognized my patents.”

“Haha, what a surprise. You’re more of a developer than a financier.”

“You flatter me. Even though I’ve filed many patents, they can’t compare to Nintendo’s. Without Nintendo’s patents, the gaming industry wouldn’t have grown to what it is today.”

I showed maximum courtesy to Nintendo.

Although they had now fallen to second place in the industry.

The achievements they had made so far deserved respect.

“Thank you for your kind words. But what are your thoughts on the Wi-Fi module patent usage contract?”

“Of course we should conclude the contract. But would you perhaps be interested in other proposals as well?”

“What kind of proposal do you mean?”

Vice President Hasegawa had expectant eyes.

He seemed to be hoping for an investment proposal, but what I brought up was completely different.

“There’s a game company under Tiger Fund. We’d like to develop Nintendo’s classic IPs exclusively for mobile. Would that be possible?”

“Mobile games… you mean games for mobile phones?”

“That’s right. And naturally, we would pay licensing fees. The price would vary depending on the game IP, but we’re thinking of a minimum of $300,000 plus 10% royalties.”

Nintendo was a closed company.

They had never once shared their IPs with other platforms.

But what we were proposing was a completely different market from existing consoles – mobile.

Because of this, the executives took some time to consider.

“Hmm… could our IPs be made into mobile phone games? If done poorly, it could damage the IP value.”

“If they’re classic games, the control systems are simple enough to be fully implemented for mobile phones. And we’ve prepared various measures to ensure IP value doesn’t decline. To mention just the most important condition, we absolutely won’t release anything without Nintendo’s final approval.”

The value of the masterpiece IPs Nintendo possessed was at least tens of millions of dollars.

So it was natural for them to have such concerns, which is why I put forward the condition of Nintendo’s final approval.

“Hmm… we understand the mobile phone game market has low profitability. Is there a reason you’re pursuing it despite this?”

“As you said, it’s currently a loss-making structure. But we prioritize entering various markets to gain experience. Even if it’s a loss now, we judge it to be a market with sufficient opportunities later.”

The executive team’s atmosphere was still negative.

I needed a card to hold them before they completely turned away, so I brought out the proposals I had prepared in sequence.

“We’ll bundle 10 IPs that Nintendo owns and prepay $3 million. Of course, even after signing the contract, we won’t release a single one without Nintendo’s approval.”

“Even so… you’re saying you’ll pay $3 million first?”

“That’s right. And we’ll also create Nintendo-exclusive versions of Neowiz’s own games and supply them.”

“That means… you’re joining as one of our third-party game companies?”

Money and joining as a third-party game company.

I had brought up the two things Nintendo needed most right now.

They were in financial difficulty due to two consecutive failures.

And they were suffering from content shortage as third-party companies had left in droves.

So I thought this proposal would be sufficiently attractive from Nintendo’s perspective.

But my expectations were completely wrong.

What Nintendo chose was not immediate money, but pride.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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