Chapter 14: Sciatis Holdings Limited

This makes me a C-9 Paranormal according to this world's standards, right?

Hiro got off from his bed and checked the time. It was already around 10 in the morning of the following day.

Calculating the time, Hiro quickly checked out from the hotel after the daily routine and took a taxi to the Committee of Commerce in the city center where he waited in line to register a private company.

The process was long and boring, but it was quite simple. Other than renting an office in the Committee Building, Hiro needed to lay out a clear blueprint for the future direction of the company.

He would also need to open a shared bank account for the company in the International Commerce Bank, but the assets that make it into the bank would be frozen until Hiro accumulated 100,000 International Credits of liquidity.

Usually, a one-year probation wouldn't be enough for anyone to gather that much money, thus allowing the COC to take over the established foundation of the company to squeeze it dry.

However, Hiro was different.

Since he had the blueprints and technology for futuristic VR technology, he made use of the commerce's endorsement and included teasers for the VR helmet technology in his company's future plans.

He was willing to share the technology with up to five partners, signing exclusive contracts not to share the VR helmet technology with anyone else.

In exchange, 33% of the overall sales profit would go to Hiro's company, and the contract is due for three years.

With the current information technology, news travels fast. In less than one hour, Hiro was already on a video call with the five representatives who were decisive enough to sign a letter of intent without any negotiations whatsoever.

…

"This office is pretty small, but I guess it will do for now…"

Hiro sat on the leather chair, running his fingers on the plastic keyboard, and took a moment to admire the logo of "Sciatis Holdings Limited" on his waiting screen.

Soon, a video call request was forwarded to his business account, and he answered the call. As expected, with the exception of the middle man from the COC, everyone else had their company's logo on, not their live video feed.

Each of these five companies was a behemoth in the local hardware gaming industry.

Then again, Hiro understood that overseas taxes would butcher a company's profits, let alone having to shave off an additional 33%…

And for what? A better hardware? How many companies have claimed that they could revolutionize the VR industry with a realistic, full-immersion dive technology?

Then, how many actually succeeded?

Therefore, while the local giants were willing to take the risk and test their luck in the local markets thanks to their connections with the government, the international market was a whole different animal.

Hiro understood all of this with his new acumen for business, hence why he didn't care too much about earning money internationally for now.

The meeting progressed smoothly, and with the CCC presiding over the deal with a handling fee of 3% of the total profit, the discussion reached the contract signing stage.

After all five company representatives signed their end of the deal, they left the video call and went to Hiro to finish the formalities with the CoC handler.

Towards the end, Hiro requested that out of the five transactions, one of them would deposit the money directly into his Nexus bank account.

"Are you sure?" The Handler furrowed his brows and advised. "This will account as a separate handling fee, doubling your losses from 3% to 6%! Don't think so little of 3% just because the number sounds small." Sёarch* The Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Hiro hesitated. Honestly, he merely wanted to show off by having a string of zeros in his bank account, because he couldn't use the company's money during the one-year probation period.

Eventually, his vanity won over his rationality and business acumen combined, signing the necessary papers with the handler.

It's not that you're wrong, Mr. Handler, Hiro felt a little guilty about turning down such good advice from the man. However, 3% is really nothing to me since I have yet to reveal my other trump cards!

The Handler failed to convince Hiro with the voice of reason. Resigned, he ended the call and requested from Hiro to send the related documents to the five companies.

Unperturbed, Hiro summoned the VR helmet flash drive from his system space and deposited the data into the shared cloud server.

This server was opened by the five companies together, and it easily proceeded the ton of data.

In less than 15 minutes, the data was available on the cloud server for all five companies and their respective R&D departments.

Once the files were confirmed, they sent an email indicating that within three months, the new products would be on the shelves in department stores, and they would transfer 33% of the monthly revenue to the Commerce Bank.

From there, the Handler would process the necessary taxes and handling fees before depositing the money into Hiro's private account and the company's account.

By the time Hiro left his small office in the COC building, the sun was about to set.

While Hiro was feeling bored about what to do, he received a phone call from Bella.

Hiro's eyes lit up! After he passed the entrance exam to Inter-High, and with the cash cow technology in hand, Hiro decided to quit his job as a clerk in the clothing store.

Sadly, that meant that he didn't have anything to do for the following month while he waited for school to start.

He almost forgot that he was now a Paranormal, so why shouldn't he do what Paranormals do?

Without hesitation, he answered the phone and was the first to speak up.

"I think I've awakened!"

The other end of the phone went silent for a moment before he heard Bella speak, "Come to the school's club building and head to the third floor, I'll be waiting by the stairs!"

Beep!

The phone hung up.

Did she ignore what I just said? Hiro felt confused for a moment, but he quickly realized his mistake; he shouldn't be saying such nonsense in public, let alone on a phone call!

Shaking his head, Hiro hailed another taxi and left for the school.

…

"Took you long enough!" Bella pouted the moment she saw Hiro ascending the stairs.

With a harrumph, she made a turn for it and skipped away to a private club room at the end of the hallway.

It was the room directly opposite the student's council club room, making Hiro wonder if it was intentional.

Nonetheless, he followed Bella into the room and as expected, Rosaline was already waiting inside while sipping tea.

"This dolt almost said something that he shouldn't have, and it was only yesterday that we gave him a warning!"

Once the door was closed, Bella hopped up and smacked Hiro across the back of his head.

He could have dodged, but he decided that he deserved that one, rubbing the back of his head while chuckling.

"Well," he wanted to clarify himself. "I was too excited yet bored; we have one month of free time before school starts, and I have nothing else to do!"

"So you wanted to ask if people like us had anything else to do during our free time, something fun?" Rosaline asked, her big eyes blinking with a peculiar light.

"Haha… yeah… Well, do you guys have anything fun to do?" Hiro rubbed his hands and asked expectantly.

"If you consider mercenary work, assassinations, illegal smuggling, and anything that couldn't see the light of day as some fun activities… Then yes, by all means, we do fun stuff all day."

Rosaline's tone turned cold, oppressive, and foreboading as she spoke. The temperature in the room chilled all of a sudden, and Hiro felt as though his actions thus far had been agonizingly childish.