Preparations (Part 2)

"Everyone, be careful. Don't bump or scratch anything by accident." Ya Midie directed ten porters as they carried a batch of custom-made tables and chairs into the shop.

Inside, more than a dozen workers were installing exquisite hanging chairs woven from rattan.

The treated green vines had been hung from hooks prepared in the ceiling, suspending each rattan chair above the floor.

Just like swings.

These were all temporary workers Ya Midie had hired from the South Gate Logistics Market. With a daily wage of five hundred ryō on offer, the villagers waiting at the market for work had immediately rushed to take the jobs.

Meanwhile, at Hiruko's research base, twenty youngsters were hard at work. The assembled, brick-sized "Fruit Machines" were being packed into boxes and sent to the shop on East Street.

All twenty youngsters had been selected from the Konoha Orphanage. They were employees who had signed long-term contracts, similar to indentures, along with confidentiality agreements.

If anyone violated the terms of the contracts, they would face punishment equivalent to defecting from the village.

No one doubted the contracts were genuine. At the very bottom were the signatures of Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and Hokage aide Shimura Danzō. After reviewing Xian Yu's entire proposal, Danzo had initiated this valid, legal contract, which had received unanimous approval from the Konoha High Command.

Besides working as Hiruko's assistants, they were also prospective researchers. Their current monthly salary was only 5,000 ryō, but the benefits were quite generous.

The "Five Protections and One Subsidy," conceived from a concept proposed by Xian Yu, included pensions, medical coverage, unemployment benefits, workplace injury coverage, maternity benefits, and housing subsidies. With these provisions, the twenty youngsters no longer had to worry about their future.

There was still more to prepare.

Early that morning, Shinozaki Ayumi had gone to pick up thirty promotional banners she had commissioned from a craftsman. After Xian Yu came out of the Hokage Building and notified her, she began hanging them throughout Konoha's streets.

"Xingxin Internet Cafe opening soon! 500 Fruit Machines given away for free! First come, first served, while supplies last!" The shop's address was written in the bottom-right corner of each banner: Building 7, 7 East Street, Konoha.

"Xingxin Internet Cafe? What kind of shop is that?"

"Fruit Machines? Are they for making fruit juice?"

"Wow, they're giving them away for free! Let's go check it out."

"They've only got 500! I'd better go take a look too."

The villagers of Konoha, who had never seen banners like these before, immediately began discussing them.

Some people were unimpressed. "There's no such thing as good free stuff! A bunch of commoners."

People's curiosity could be a powerful motivator. Before long, thirty or forty villagers had gathered outside the shop at Building 7 on East Street, where a sign reading "Xingxin Internet Cafe" hung above the entrance.

Xian Yu had also had a hand in the sign's design. Since the internet café would be open around the clock, lights had been installed behind it and the outside covered in fluorescent paper. At night, the words "Xingxin Internet Cafe" glowed in a kaleidoscope of colors, looking quite beautiful.

"Everyone who wants a Fruit Machine, please line up and don't crowd. They'll be handed out in order." A girl of about thirteen, wearing a hood and with golden-yellow hair, smiled as she kept the onlookers in line.

At the front counter, two children aged seven or eight and three kids, including Samoya, were handing Fruit Machines to the people whose turns had come and explaining how to use them.

Each machine had an app that explained how to use it, so the children only needed to show people how to open the app and view the instructions.

"Please write your name here. Thank you. Once you've registered, you can claim a Fruit Machine for free. If you're willing to leave your home address, we'll also send a few little gifts to your home whenever we hold an event." Aunt Ya was handling registration at the front counter. After registering with her, people could collect a Fruit Machine from the three children nearby.

"Sorry, didn't you already get a Fruit Machine? Are you...?" Just then, the hooded girl at the entrance, who was keeping the line in order, spoke to a young man in the queue.

She had been assigned to this job because of her exceptional memory.

The people around them heard her and looked over with disdain.

As long as people in Konoha were willing to work hard, they could get by even when times were tough. It was rare to see someone behave like this, and most people were fairly honest.

The young man hurriedly shook his head in embarrassment. "No, I'm not trying to get another Fruit Machine. I just wanted to ask, do I top up the coins for the Fruit Slot Machine game at the front counter? I came back to the end of the line just to ask that."

The hooded girl saw that the Fruit Machine screen he was holding up showed a balance of zero coins and immediately understood. Everyone's Fruit Slot Machine app came with an initial balance of 100 coins. Clearly, this young man had been among the first to get a Fruit Machine and had already lost all his coins.

There was a hint of surprise in the hooded girl's eyes. Earlier, a child with a crossed scar on his chin had asked her to help hand out free items, saying it would make a lot of money.

She hadn't believed him at the time, but he had taken out 8,000 ryō and said it was her first month's pay.

She knew that even if she was lucky enough to find work every day at the market, earning 5,000 ryō in a month would already be considered good.

Out of concern, she had even asked him, "Won't you lose money by giving all this stuff away?"

Now that a customer had come to pay so soon, she still didn't quite understand it, but she was beginning to believe him. Perhaps she could keep this job for a long, long time...

"If you want to buy a top-up card, go over there. See? Over there." The hooded girl pointed to a solid-wood round table inside, where a boy sat looking bored.

Everyone who came into the shop had gathered around the front counter, leaving his side looking all the emptier.

"Thank you." The young man thanked her, walked over to the solid-wood table, and asked, "Hello. Do I buy top-up cards from you?"

Xian Yu opened his eyes, which had nearly drifted shut, and took a stack of paper cards from the drawer under the round table. "How much do you want? We have cards for 100 ryō, 1,000 ryō, and 10,000 ryō."

The young man considered it for a moment, then said, "First, I'd like to ask: is what the Fruit Slot Machine app says true? Can I spend the coins in it here anytime? Even the coins I win?"

"Mm, that's right. Look, they're selling drinks, chicken legs, and rice over there right now. You can exchange the coins in the app for those directly. The prices are the same as in ryō. We'll add more items you can exchange for later," Xian Yu said.

The young man glanced toward the corner, where there was indeed a small booth selling snacks, and said, "Then I'll take three top-up cards worth one thousand each."

Xian Yu took the young man's 3,000-ryō note and handed him three top-up cards worth 1,000 ryō each.

The young man examined the cards closely, then asked, "The people pictured on these cards look really nice. Do they have some special meaning?"

Xian Yu didn't mind his many questions and patiently explained, "Before long, you'll be very familiar with the people on these cards."