"About the desired salary…"
Yukinoshita Yukino paused mid-sentence.
She needed the money—badly.
With her qualifications and the position she was applying for, she was more than justified in asking for a high salary. In fact, requesting fair compensation aligned with her sense of justice. But in this job market, even landing a position was difficult.
Should she lower her expectations?
Still debating internally, she suddenly heard a light clap.
"Alright, Yukinoshita-san. I have a general understanding of your expectations," said Yukima Azuma.
"However, our company's situation may not be what you imagine."
Yukino stiffened. She hadn't even said her desired salary yet. Was she already being rejected?
Her normally straight posture faltered under the sudden pressure.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak—
"Please, hear me out first."
Yukima Azuma stood and gently pressed her back down into her chair. His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable gravity—impossible to resist.
Unconsciously, Yukino obeyed.
"Let me give you a clearer picture of Laplace Corporation's situation."
He tapped the table lightly, drawing her attention.
What followed left Yukino utterly stunned.
"The registered capital is, as you said, 1.5 billion yen—about 10 million USD. But while that sounds impressive on paper, all of that capital has already been fully invested."
Yukino's eyes widened.
If that was true, then despite its lofty registration, the company was essentially a hollow shell. Without restored cash flow, it could go bankrupt at any moment.
And that was just the beginning.
"The company is registered on Wall Street. We currently have no operations in Japan," Azuma continued. "So, the investment management or risk evaluation position you were hoping for isn't available."
"But if you join now, you'd be considered a founding partner—tasked with building our presence in Japan."
"Due to the parent company's funding shortage, we won't be doing investment operations yet. We'll pivot to other areas—like game development."
"And the most urgent task right now is to find a rental office, so we can begin basic operations."
As Yukima Azuma laid out the facts, Yukino's expression darkened.
This company was a mess.
No capital in Japan. No employees. No foundation. Just a vague name with barely any recognition.
A "penny-pinching" startup, through and through.
But the more she listened, the more it started to feel familiar.
Wasn't he describing her?
No marketable work experience, no social connections, no money. All she had were the name "Yukinoshita" and her degree from the University of Tokyo—neither of which had gotten her anywhere.
So what right did she have to criticize this struggling company?
She was barely holding on herself.
"…I understand, Yukima-san. Just tell me the position and starting salary," she said quietly.
"Hmm. Let's begin with a human resources management role. It's one of our more urgent needs," Azuma replied. "As for the salary… I'm afraid it may be disappointing. We're still in the startup phase."
Yukino lowered her expectations again. Maybe… a hundred thousand yen a month?
That was barely enough to scrape by, but she'd make it work.
(For reference, the average hourly wage for a part-time convenience store worker in Japan is around 800 to 900 yen.)
"The starting salary is one million yen per month—about 6,300 USD. How does that sound?" said Azuma.
"Of course, once operations stabilize, your compensation will increase."
Yukino blinked.
Wait—how much?
"I, um…"
She tried to clarify, but Azuma cut her off.
"This is still part of your interview. Please help me select an office location."
He pushed his laptop toward her.
"This is a shortlist of office buildings available for rent. And this—" he showed her his phone, screen facing up, "—is the company's budget. Well, more accurately, it's my personal account."
"Please be frugal. At least leave me enough for food."
Yukino instinctively looked at the phone.
The number on the screen hit her harder than she expected—not because it was massive. She was from the Yukinoshita family; she'd seen far larger figures.
But compared to her own finances… it hurt.
She had thought he was just another broke dreamer running a multi-level marketing scheme.
Turns out, his definition of "broke" simply meant not having billions.
Feeling vaguely insulted, Yukino turned back to the laptop and began browsing the options seriously.
The balance in Azuma's account was around 30 million yen.
Some of it came from profits on the game they had released. The rest? Winnings from professional shogi matches.
In official tournaments, even preliminary victories came with prize money. Professional shogi players in Japan could earn quite a bit—if they were good.
"How about this one?" Yukino asked, selecting a building.
Renting the whole place was out of the question, but leasing a few floors was feasible.
Fortunately, due to the bursting of Japan's economic bubble, commercial real estate in Tokyo had become much more accessible.
Azuma looked over the choice and nodded. He then extended his hand to her.
"Welcome to Laplace Corporation, Yukinoshita-san."
She took his hand.
After leaving the café, the two headed straight for the building Yukino had chosen.
As they got into the taxi, she glanced back at the café sign and found herself chuckling.
No wonder the interview was held at a café—there was no company office yet.
But it wasn't all smoke and mirrors. They were about to rent an actual office, after all.
And Azuma had just casually dropped tens of millions of yen like it was pocket change.
She wondered—were there any notable families in Tokyo with the surname "Yukima"?
She couldn't recall hearing of any.
Sitting beside him in the taxi, she studied his profile.
A strange feeling stirred in her—familiarity.
Had they met before?
…No. That couldn't be.
She'd always avoided the upper-class social scene. Her mother, Madam Yukinoshita, had never brought her to those events. That was her older sister Haruno's domain.
At most, their paths could've crossed once in passing.
And Yukino certainly didn't remember every handsome stranger she glimpsed once.
It had to be her imagination.
The taxi pulled up in front of the office building in Shibuya. The real estate agent was already waiting outside.
He greeted them with a wide smile. In this sluggish economy, anyone renting office space—especially for a full year—was a godsend.
Azuma and Yukino followed him upstairs for the viewing.
The building had an excellent location and overlooked the entire Shibuya shopping street from the top floors. Even better, renting for a year came with free use of the office equipment.
The floor Yukino selected had once housed a securities firm—until it went bankrupt two years ago.
After a thorough inspection, Azuma gave the go-ahead. The agent immediately called the owner, who arrived in a flash and signed the lease.
With the paperwork done, the agent and owner left.
Only Yukino and Azuma remained in the empty office.
"President, what's our next step?" Yukino asked, already slipping naturally into her new role.
"We hire people. Programmers first. It's already May—we need to move fast," Azuma replied. "And Yukinoshita-san, pay special attention to candidates with expertise in artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things."
"We don't want just anyone for those fields. Better to have a few excellent talents than many mediocre ones. We'll be investing heavily. Soon, we'll have ample capital."
Yukino nodded and took notes on her phone.
Hiring programmers made sense—Comiket was coming up in June.
Clearly, the game project needed to be ready before the convention.
Tight deadline.
Still, programming was manageable. The harder parts would be scriptwriting and artwork.
She had questions, but didn't voice them. Those were the president's problems.
But she did ask about something else.
"President… as far as I know, AI and IoT are still mostly in the theoretical stage. Globally, there aren't many successful applications yet."
"Are we… starting a supplementary course?"
Azuma chuckled softly.
"Tell me, Yukinoshita-san… do you know the meaning behind the name Laplace?"