The Scourge of Shady Dealers, Hitting His Own Side Hard

Sitting at the computer, Lin Lixin still hadn't begun writing code.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to be missing some unlocks on his tech tree.

Scrolling technology sounded simple, but implementing it spanned both hardware and software, even requiring direct manipulation of video memory and RAM.

His improved programming stat had indeed given him a considerable boost; ways to implement those gameplay mechanics would naturally come to him.

But when it involved things he hadn't mastered, it was no help.

"I still need to look things up."

Lin Lixin scratched his head and simply skipped that part for now, concentrating on implementing the gameplay. He planned to visit the school library tomorrow to look up the relevant material.

It wasn't until evening that Sam angrily pushed open his bedroom door and plopped down on the edge of the bed.

"That goddamn old bastard." He opened with a bit of North American eloquence. "He's actually asking a thousand bucks apiece for that electronic junk!"

Only after listening to Sam curse and complain for quite a while did Lin Lixin figure out what had happened.

"We have to buy all the machines as a package? Otherwise, he won't rent us the place?"

"Exactly! He's taking things way too far! A thousand dollars a machine-with a little more, we could buy a new one!"

Although the arcade on the corner wasn't large, at that price, he would still have to spend over ten thousand dollars to take it over, equipment included.

That put it beyond Sam's budget.

Lin Lixin frowned. That price was definitely unreasonable.

This shop had closed down in the shock waves from Atari, and its owner should have been eager to get it off his hands right now.

The man had probably spotted Sam's more-money-than-sense nature and turned around to put pressure on him.

"Take me there."

"Mr. Lin, I already explained the situation very clearly to Mr. Sam."

Only one flickering light was on inside the arcade. The owner, a middle-aged man getting on in years, squeezed out an honest-looking smile.

"Look, these are all machines I paid good money to order. They're just a little old. Selling them for a thousand each is my way of making friends with you two. I don't mind gritting my teeth and taking a little loss."

"Come on, give us a better price. I really need this shop."

Every word out of Sam's mouth made Lin Lixin's vision go dark. He wished he could just plug the man's mouth.

Lin Lixin wore a smile, but inwardly gave a cold snort.

This fellow talked a good game, but not a word of it was true.

His expressions and mannerisms were simply so convincing that he had Sam completely hoodwinked.

Lin Lixin looked at a Pac-Man cabinet in the corner and silently activated his scanning ability.

The densely packed red lights nearly flashbanged him.

Something like this belonged at the dump, yet the man actually dared to put a thousand-dollar price tag on it.

He never would have imagined that the machine Sam had bought for eight hundred bucks was already one of the best in the shop.

"Could we power them up and check them out? If they work, we might as well buy the machines too. We'll need arcade machines once we open, after all."

Lin Lixin pointed at the machine in front of him and looked at the owner, praying that Sam would keep his mouth shut.

"Mr. Lin, as you can see, I haven't had a chance to clean this place. This machine has quite a bit of dust built up inside. I'd suggest cleaning it before turning it on, to avoid a short circuit burning something out."

With that, he turned to Sam beside him and continued,

"Don't worry about the quality, Mr. Sam. You should know perfectly well-the one I sold you before didn't have any real problems, did it? At most, there were a few harmless loose pins. Those take less than two minutes to fix."

Sam nodded thoughtfully, somewhat persuaded.

That machine really hadn't had any major issues. If they were all of that quality...

He gritted his teeth. He could steel himself and buy them; at worst, he'd take on some more debt. If it really didn't work out, he could fix the machines and sell them to recover some blood.

Sensing that things were about to go wrong, Lin Lixin hurriedly put a light hand on Sam to keep him quiet, then pointed to a Xevious cabinet and a Space Invaders cabinet standing nearby.

"These two have been maintained pretty well. They're certainly worth a thousand bucks."

In his field of vision, these two had the fewest highlighted spots, and those were all minor, unimportant components.

"But..." Lin Lixin pointed back at the Pac-Man cabinet. "This one's in pretty terrible shape, isn't it? The RAM is completely dead, and the circuit board is corroded in several places. It definitely won't work."

The owner's expression stiffened slightly, his narrowed eyes opening a little wider.

Damn it, I've run into an expert.

Faced with a god of wealth like Sam, he'd thought he was finally going to make a sale and rake in a hefty profit. He hadn't expected a real industry insider to be backing him up.

This Mr. Lin had a truly sharp eye. With just a couple of casual glances, he'd actually identified the damage precisely.

Now this was tricky.

"Ahaha..." He gave a hollow laugh. "This one's been sitting in the corner. Maybe it was too damp. How about this-I'll only charge you for the monitor on this one."

Lin Lixin nodded lightly, then walked over to another machine covered in highlights.

"What about this one? Why does it look like even the processor has been pried out?"

The owner still wore that same smile, but he was practically grinding his teeth to pieces.

Where the fuck did this bastard spring from? Things were going so well with Sam before. One more push, and we'd have had a deal.

Now the price negotiations had hit a snag, but he was desperate to offload these damned things.

Goddamn Atari had cleaved the entire industry's confidence apart with a single stroke. He'd thought this bitter winter would soon pass, but no matter how long he waited, there was no sign of improvement.

If this went on, his machines would only become less and less valuable.

Hang on for a few more years, hoping for a recovery that would never come? Dream on!

Video games were dead. Getting out from under them and making a run for it as soon as possible was the right move.

But he couldn't quite stomach selling them off so cheaply, either.

These two seem desperate to rent the arcade. Maybe there's still a chance to push for more.

He could only pin his hopes on the eagerness Sam had exposed.

"Mr. Lin, this price is really a little... difficult to accept. Please ask around elsewhere."

"Hey, don't do that. We can still negoti-" Sam grew anxious, thinking they might as well each give a little ground, only for a thoroughly speechless Lin Lixin to restrain him again.

"Forget it, Sam. At worst, we'll rent an empty unit and order a batch of new machines from Mr. Meyer. It won't cost much more."

Sam paused. The name Meyer rang a bell. He seemed to be that Jewish guy Lin Lixin had mentioned earlier, the one who wanted to buy their machine.

He was about to say something else, but when he turned his head, he saw Lin Lixin staring at him with a smile.

For some reason, he suddenly felt his hair stand on end.

"Oh~ you're right. That's a really good idea."

Before he had even finished speaking, he felt Lin Lixin pulling him toward the door.

"Gentlemen, wait!"