This Is Professionalism

"Oh, oh! Yoichi is back!"

"Good day, Young Master! Thank you for your hard work!"

"Good day, Young Master! Thank you for your hard work!"

"Good day, Young Master! Thank you for your hard work!"

"..."

Led by Explosion Head, a group of useless middle-aged men in their thirties and forties bowed enthusiastically to Akimoto Yoichi.

Akimoto Yoichi was already accustomed to such scenes.

These uncles weren't meeting at his house for the first time; his home essentially served as the office for the Black Bear Gang because they lacked the money to rent a commercial space or office building.

While the other members of the Black Bear Gang were offering their greetings, Akimoto Yosuke had his brows tightly furrowed, looking furious.

"Yoichi! You! You are forbidden from studying! Starting tomorrow, you will be with us! Otherwise, I won't let you leave the house, or I'll go find the principal again."

Looking at this Idiot Old Man in front of him, Akimoto Yoichi stopped his attempt to ignore them and head straight upstairs to his room.

He turned to look at Akimoto Yosuke; it was clear this old man wasn't just talking for the sake of it this time.

Evidently, if he didn't resolve this matter properly today, it seemed he wouldn't be able to get any peace.

"Old man, are you too full? I'm in a bad mood right now, so don't force me to fight you one-on-one."

"That's right! That's how you should talk to your father! Sounds good!"

"Get lost, stop making noise."

"Where did those injuries on your body come from? Did you get into a fight with someone? Seeing that you could walk back, you must have won! It seems you really can't abandon the family business after all! Let me tell you, Yoichi, you will never be able to leave the Black Bear Gang that raised you!"

"..."

If this argument were to continue like this, it would never end, so Akimoto Yoichi suppressed the urge to snap back.

If nothing else, his own father was truly reckless.

If he said he was going to go bother the principal again, there was a high probability he would actually go and do it.

Whether it was the new principal or that previous bald one, it didn't matter; it would ultimately just lead to misfortune for Akimoto Yoichi.

To prevent this group of idiots from ruining his high school life, Akimoto Yoichi had to take a deep breath and sit down next to the sofa.

"So, why do you want me to be the new boss of the Black Bear Gang?"

Akimoto Yosuke turned his face away with a guilty conscience, while the other members of the Black Bear Gang began to explain all at once.

"Because we lost all our money playing Pachinko."

"The Black Bear Gang is broke!"

"The next income isn't coming for another month, and my wife is going to divorce me!"

"I stole my son's New Year's money."

"The Black Bear Gang cannot be dissolved under my watch; it can only be dissolved under yours."

The last sentence was spoken by his father, Akimoto Yosuke.

Hearing such a stupid reason, Akimoto Yoichi felt his blood pressure skyrocket.

"Then couldn't you guys just stop playing Pachinko!?"

"That won't do! We're in the yakuza, how can we not have a few bad habits?"

"That's right, that's right! My wife is very demanding, we can't go to those adult entertainment shops."

"Cough syrup is out too; that stuff makes me lose my life, and it's a grave sin."

"We don't even have enough money to play Pachinko ourselves, so naturally, we wouldn't lend money to others or run loan sharking operations."

"Only Pachinko, Pachinko is our romance!"

"Exactly!"

"..."

To put it bluntly, they were just a bunch of morons.

This was the reason why Akimoto Yoichi could never bring himself to have a good attitude toward his father, Akimoto Yosuke.

With a father like this, how could you resist the urge to pick up the Seven Wolves?

Although it was a bit backwards, Akimoto Yoichi didn't ask for his father to be a high-achiever; he just hoped he could be a normal person.

However, Akimoto Yoichi couldn't do anything about it; he didn't have the ability to choose the family or identity he transmigrated into.

Since the old man only wanted to dump the burden on him because the Black Bear Gang was broke and about to dissolve, then solving the gang's financial issues should be fine.

"Fine, then what is the source of the Black Bear Gang's income? And about how much money do you have?"

Seeing that Akimoto Yoichi had actually started asking about the Black Bear Gang's affairs, Akimoto Yosuke and Explosion Head immediately looked delighted.

They thought Akimoto Yoichi had finally changed his mind.

Naturally, they were quite cooperative in answering his questions.

"Our Black Bear Gang's income all comes from the three shopping streets. We formed a shopping street management association to collect management fees."

"That's right, there are about three hundred merchants, and each one pays a small management fee."

"It adds up to over nine million yen a month."

Over nine million yen? Averaged out across three hundred merchants, that's not much—only thirty thousand yen each.

At least by the standards of yakuza extortion, this was low.

Akimoto Yoichi was somewhat surprised and said, "So little?"

"Of course! You have to understand that the reason the Black Bear Gang has survived until my generation is because we know how to keep a low profile and know when to stop. If we were to stick our necks out too far, we'd be wiped out."

Seeing the surprised expression on Akimoto Yoichi's face, Akimoto Yosuke puffed out his chest.

"Each shop only pays a little over thirty thousand yen, so nobody has any major complaints."

"More importantly, they have all become our allies. If any other gang wanted to come and muscle in on our business, they would definitely charge more than us. Would the shopping street welcome them? No!"

"Although the Black Bear Gang only has a few dozen people, everyone can at least make a living. We don't need to extort too much money, which is why the Black Bear Gang has been able to last until today. Every day, there are plenty of kids who want to join us but don't get the chance!"

"Speaking of your grandfather's era, back then..."

To put it bluntly, it was just playing it safe.

The Black Bear Gang certainly had its own way of surviving.

There was a reason his own father had managed to live this long; at the very least, he had a clear sense of his own standing.

"Alright! Enough, enough, no need to keep going!" Seeing that Akimoto Yosuke was about to start reciting that family history he had heard so many times his ears were practically calloused, Akimoto Yoichi immediately cut him off.

He picked up his cup to think, but the motion of lifting the water jar brushed against the wound on his arm, causing Akimoto Yoichi's mouth to twitch involuntarily.

Looking at these middle-aged loafers who did nothing all day, Akimoto Yoichi had an idea.

"Didn't you say there are people wanting to join the Black Bear Gang all the time? Why not just act as intermediaries? You can go find those idiots who want to join the yakuza, or those kids on the street who don't go home at night, are short on cash, or are just rotting away at home as losers."

"Just tell them they can make big money, then refer them to work at the shopping street, or put them into assembly lines, construction sites, food delivery, haunted house sleep-testing, extra work for actors, or whatever else."

"Keep in mind that we are just intermediaries; we only look for those who have nothing better to do. Our slogan is 'Helping them return to society and revitalize their lives.' Wouldn't you be able to collect a referral fee that way? You know plenty of these idiots anyway, right? This is doing a good deed; it's cleaning up the city."

After hearing Akimoto Yoichi's plan, Akimoto Yosuke and Explosion Head's eyes lit up.

If they sent those kids who wanted to join the Black Bear Gang to work at the shopping street, stuffed them into assembly lines and construction sites... oh wait, helped those bad kids return to society.

Not only could they maintain the Black Bear Gang's low-profile status, but they could also collect referral fees.

Killing two birds with one stone.

"Yoichi! You watch the house tonight!"

"Young master, we're off!"

"I still have the phone numbers of a few kids who wanted to join the Black Bear Gang a few days ago!"

"Big Brother! I know where there are a lot of little bastards!"

"I'm familiar with the construction side! My uncle runs a construction site! They're just short on people!"

"Ah! My favorite actress tweeted that she wants fried chicken! But there's no one to deliver food in the middle of the night!"

"Right, my daughter knows a few little bastards who just graduated from college and don't have jobs!"

"..."

Watching this group of idiots who couldn't wait to go out, make money, and play pachinko, Akimoto Yoichi glanced at the messy living room. Having no heart to clean it up, he turned and headed upstairs toward his room.

Professional people doing professional things.

Making a small contribution to this world—at least there would be fewer people coming to cause him trouble.