Talking Business
Moving in between the shelves of different types of books, with the smell of old books up in the air. We can find an eight-year-old girl(?) perusing the shelves for a few minutes.
After not finding what she(?) was looking for she(?) settled for her(?) favorite book on that particular shelf, [ Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) by Harold Abelson, Gerald Jay Sussman, and Julie Sussman ] a book published in 1996 as basically a programming for dummies book.
This, of course, is our protagonist. Nakamura Chihiro, born January 15th 2000. A very intelligent child with a bright future in front of her(?).
'I finished this one too.' She thought happily, finally finishing with all the books currently in the store.
Looking around the relatively empty book store, her(?) mood drops significantly.
"I have to do something about this..." She(?) mutters under her breath.
You see, these last few years haven't been the greatest for the Nakamura Bookstore franchise. It all started with the pandemic in 2005 which resulted in the mutation of the majority of the human race. Most mutations were minor and harmless, like an extra toe, or the eyesight of a cat. But there were also the more dangerous mutations such as the ability to secret poison.
The mutations weren't that big of a deal, the consequences they brought were though. Most elderly that catch the virus die in a matter of days, while those between 30 and 50 have roughly a fifty percent chance of dying, and those 10 and under never die.
Scientists say that it's due to the fact that kids are still in their growing process, and are more malleable to the mutations.
Another problem this brought for the bookstores is that most people stay inside to avoid the chance of being infected, which results in close to no business.
With the quarantine also came a lot of free time, which resulted in the rapid increase of people on the world wide web, and companies appearing left and right to capitalize on the situation. Websites like E.reader were a direct competitor due to it offering books but in an online format.
As years passed we were forced to close more and more stores due to the lack of business. Things have stabilized during the last few months of 2007, but the business isn't exactly thriving.
"And that's why I'm here to help you, dad," Chihiro said, looking at her dad on the other side of the dining-room table.
Raising his hand, Shuji, looking a bit confused, asked a pretty logical question.
"And... You know this how?" He asks slowly.
A pretty logical question all things considered. The parents tried their best to keep the kids in the dark about the family's financial situation.
"HMPF! You underestimate my greatness dad!" Chihiro said proudly puffing his(?) chest in pride, completely dodging the question while also avoiding suspicion.
The mother and father duo sitting in front of Chihiro glance at each other, having a silent conversation with her eyes.
'Did you tell him' the father's raised eyebrow indicated.
'Nope,' The mother motioned back with a small head shake.
'How'd he figure it out' He furrowed his brows slightly.
'He's my son after all' she smirked.
'Our son' he rolled his eyes.
'Yeah, ours' she smiled warmly.
"Okay stop that!" Chihiro interrupted. "Stop doing that freaky telepathy thing you guys have going on!" He complained
"Haha, okay. You have our attention Chihiro, now tell me this 'world-shattering' plan of yours." He said with a chuckle and made air quotations with his hands.
Seemingly not understanding his(?) dad's sarcasm she- okay enough of that, the mc's a dude shut up with all the question mark bulsh*t.
Ehem!! Okay, Where was I? Ah yes.
Seemingly not understanding his dad's sarcasm he spreads his hands wide and starts laughing maniacally.
"Mwahahaha. Behold as I present you your salvations mortals" He laughed as he slammed a stack of notebooks on the table.
Taking the top one from the pile, he puts it in front of his father with pride.
Opening up the first notebook, Shuji casually flips through the pages in confusion.
Looking up at his smug son, about to question him about what was written in the notebook, but was interrupted by his wife's confused voice.
"Is that code?... Oh! It looks like the source code for a website... about books?... And also writing your own books?" She voices confused.
"Exactly! As expected of my mother." He said proudly, while being internally shocked she could tell all that from a glance.
"You mean like that E.reader thing?" Shuji asks with a raised brow.
"Nope! Even better. E.reader is dog water compared to what I'm up to!" Chihiro excitedly exclaims.
After a moment of silence, with the occasional sound of flipping paper.
Shuji asks, "And how is this going to help us."
"Fufufu! The future is online old man! And that isn't the only thing we're doing!" He said excitedly
Shuji's brows twitch a bit, but he doesn't comment on the blatant disrespect. Instead, he starts grabbing different notebooks from the pile and flipping through them.
The notebooks can be divided into different categories:
Website/App
Advertisement
On location stores
Early updates
Exclusive stories.
On the Website and App front, they will post the app on the Appstore that was released in early 2007 and not long after followed by Android Market(, basically a year before they were originally supposed to launch.) Via the Appstore/Android market, we will reach overseas readers with a decently advanced phone.
With the App, we will allow the readers to buy books in PDF format, and even allow them to upload a total of 1000 of their own books.... (Yada yada yada. Basically stealing the Idea behind Gooogle Play Books, and Webnovel. If you guys want you can research it)
For the advertisement portion, they will also be developing small-time games ( like flappy bird or crossy road ) and ad advertisements to the side, and make it so that they get perks for every chapter they read, or how long they're active on the site or app....
With the on-location stores, there will need to be changes to how they operate. Instead of just being a bookstore, with internet, it will have to evolve into something more. most likely ad more gimmicks, offer food, drinks, make events related to the app or website, and or offer different things at different locations....
Early updates are for those that buy a VIP via the website or App, pretty self-explanatory.....
The same with exclusive stories, stories that authors give the exclusive right to distribute. So basically you won't find the story anywhere else that aren't in one of our stores, on the site, and or app....
( This world is basically an AU of our world, but changed enough that it isn't the same world. Things might happen earlier, companies might never exist, people never born or oc's created. Also most company names are edited... Like Pokimon with the 'e' changed with an 'i'. )
"...How...How will we manage to manage all this? And how do we know this will even work?" Shuji asks seriously. "Are you certain the code you wrote can do all of this effectively?" He continued, knowing full well how much of e genius his son is. " And how will we get exclusive authors?"
Smirking Chihiro brings out another stack of notebooks.
"Your exclusive author's right here!" He exclaimed pointing his thumb at himself proudly.
The young couple could only do a double take at the second stack placed on the table.
"And let me tell you about my story, I call it..." He said dramatically with a pause.
" FATE!! "
As the family of three were having a meeting about the future of the Nakamura name, an eleven-year-old girl was peeking in from the hallway, looking at our MC in awe with stars glowing in her eyes, and a warm feeling in her chest.