Everything Was Ready; All That Was Missing Was the Final Push

"Hello, this is Hiruko. What can I do for you, Xian Yu?" Hiruko's voice came through the Fruit Machine.

"Hiruko, how's that encryption I mentioned to you coming along?"

"We've completed thirteen layers of encryption. And, as you suggested, all our core data is stored on the mainframe. The Fruit Machines can only send and receive signals; they don't store any core information. We're the only ones developing this technology right now, so there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Keep working on improving the encryption. Make sure it's the best it can be. If our system gets cracked, the consequences will be disastrous."

"Okay, I understand."

The call ended.

After all the work I'd done these past few days, it was time to open a treasure chest and have some fun. With that thought, Xian Yu silently said, System, I want to open a Black Iron Treasure Chest.

"The host has opened a Black Iron Treasure Chest, consuming 15 diamonds. Balance: 58 diamonds."

"The host successfully opened a Black Iron Treasure Chest and obtained the secret technique 'Thousand Years of Death.'"

Xian Yu sighed helplessly. "I knew it would be something like this..."

After getting up and eating breakfast, Xian Yu headed to the Xingxin Internet Cafe.

All 500 Fruit Machines had already been handed out. There weren't nearly as many people crowding around the entrance to Xingxin anymore.

After a few days of tidying up, the interior of the cafe was in order. The front desk was just inside the entrance, and the main hall was neatly furnished with rows of solid-wood round tables.

Each table had three hanging wicker chairs, which swung back and forth when you sat in them.

For now, the tables were empty, with no computers on them. Even so, the cafe had been doing pretty well lately.

Three days ago, after all 500 Fruit Machines had been given away for free and the word had spread, people who owned one could call their friends and family anytime from anywhere in the village. The amazing feature had become a huge hit with the villagers!

A top-up of just 10 taels bought a month of calling. Even the poorest households could afford 10 taels.

The Fruit Machines had sold out over the past three days. The remaining 500 units in stock were all gone, and people kept calling to ask, "When will you have more Fruit Machines? I want to buy one for my wife, too."

Over at Hiruko's, the materials and labor for each Fruit Machine cost 1,000 taels, and the selling price was 1,200 taels.

The price had been kept low to get the Fruit Machines into widespread use as quickly as possible. Once everyone in Konoha had one, would there be any end to the money they could make?

Even at that price, the 500 Fruit Machines had earned Xian Yu 100,000 taels.

Quite a few people had bought top-up cards, but 80 percent of them had only purchased a 100-tael card for calls.

After all, this was a brand-new product, and only a few people were willing to spend big right away. Most were cautious and wanted to test the waters.

Among the thousand users, top-up card sales had exceeded 250,000 taels. That averaged out to 250 taels per person.

For now, that was enough to cover the wages at Xingxin Internet Cafe and Hiruko's research department.

But the entire 350,000 taels couldn't exactly be considered money in hand. Quite a bit of it was still unspent, sitting in users' accounts.

With Danzo's 5-million-tael loan, Xian Yu felt as steady as a rock.

After all, Konoha had a permanent population of 100,000. These thousand customers were barely one percent of the total.

"I'll have a large Coke and a hamburger, please." A young man walked in and sat down at the table beside Xian Yu.

Aunt Ya and the girl in the hood were both at the front desk. At the young man's order, the hooded girl briskly got up, made a hamburger, poured a Coke, and brought them over.

The computers still weren't ready, so the round tables had become dining tables instead.

"Thank you for your business. That'll be 15 taels. Would you like to pay in cash or with gold coins?" The hooded girl set a tray gently in front of the young man and smiled sweetly.

The young man was clearly taken aback by her lovely face. He stared for a few seconds before answering awkwardly, "G-gold coins. I'll pay with gold coins."

The hooded girl's smile was warm and infectious. Xian Yu thought, As expected of Nonō.

"Could I have your Fruit Machine number, please?" the hooded girl asked.

"1500023," the young man replied.

Using the Fruit Machine in her hand, the hooded girl logged into the sales backend and completed the transaction. Then she said politely, "All set. Please confirm the payment on your Fruit Machine."

Because of temporary technical limitations, they couldn't do things as advanced as Xian Yu's previous life had. They had to use an old-fashioned method: the terminal backend of the 'Fruit Slot Machine' app had been split off to handle payments, and several specially made Fruit Machines were used to collect them.

"Beep beep, beep beep~" Just then, the Fruit Machine at the front desk rang.

"Hello, this is the front desk at Xingxin Internet Cafe." Aunt Ya answered the call and spoke gently.

"I'd like two hamburgers, two large Cokes, and one grilled sausage. The address is 82 Ninja Academy Road." A voice came through the Fruit Machine.

"Certainly. Hamburgers are 10 gold coins each, large Cokes are 5 gold coins each, and grilled sausages are 2 gold coins each. That'll be 32 gold coins. I've sent you a payment request. Please confirm it."

Once the payment went through, the front desk showed that the gold coins had been received. Aunt Ya immediately prepared the hamburgers and Cokes, packed them into a paper box bearing the Xingxin Internet Cafe logo, and called out, "Samoya, come out and deliver this order!"

The little white-haired boy, Samoya, hurried downstairs. "Okay, coming!"

"Deliver this to 82 Ninja Academy Road. The customer's Fruit Machine number is 1500537. Be careful on the way." Samoya obediently nodded, took the paper box, put it in a bamboo basket, and dashed outside with the basket.

Five young delivery boys were waiting upstairs at all times. Besides Samoya, there were four children from the orphanage, all of them older kids at least six years old.

Business hadn't been great lately, and they only had a few delivery orders a day.

But Xian Yu didn't mind. Everything was difficult at first. Once people got used to it, they'd naturally find they couldn't do without it.

Most orders were for Cokes and hamburgers, since Xingxin was the only place that sold them.

"Ah, Xian Yu, I knew you'd be here again." Little Tsunade suddenly ran in through the door, gasping for breath, and plopped down in the hanging chair beside Xian Yu.

After Tsunade arrived, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Might Guy came in one after another.

As soon as Jiraiya entered, he sat in the other empty hanging chair at the table and swung his feet off the ground. He seemed to especially enjoy the sensation of swinging. "Xian Yu, you've got a really great setup here."

Business at Xingxin wasn't all that good yet, and most of the tables and chairs sat empty. As a result, the place had become the kids' hangout. They came over whenever they had nothing else to do.

"You've come at the perfect time. Things are going to get really busy here in a few days, and I hope you'll all come help out." Xian Yu took a couple of sips of Coke through his straw and continued, "We'll be starting the first closed beta of a really fun game here."

"What game?"

"There'll be ninjas who specialize in summoning beasts, ninjas who master elemental techniques like lightning, fire, and ice, and ninjas who focus on Taijutsu."

Xian Yu grinned. At last, he'd get to relive those old days. He said mysteriously, "I call it... Ninja Legend."