Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 522

524

* * *

“Click.”

After ending the phone call with Yoo Seung-il, Department Head Park Sun-woo nodded, looking at Chairman Min Hong-shik.

Chairman Min Hong-shik, who couldn’t possibly misunderstand that meaning, had a subtle smile spread across his face. He opened his mouth slightly.

“So, in the end, President Yoo chose the second option?”

“Yes, that’s right. If that’s the case, of course, there won’t be any issues. But even if something goes wrong, our headquarters won’t be responsible at all. President Yoo made the choice himself. As expected, your handling of matters is flawless, Chairman.”

“…….”

“Tsk.”

Instead of answering, Chairman Min Hong-shik clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed and continued speaking.

“Of course, we shouldn’t lose against that little punk, but you never know what might happen, so we’re just creating an escape route, just in case.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“But keep in mind. That doesn’t mean you can do a sloppy job… you know?”

“Yes, of course.”

Department Head Park Sun-woo lowered his head as he answered.

Then, Chairman Min Hong-shik asked again.

“So, what’s your plan of action, Department Head Park?”

“Basically, I’m considering three things.”

“Three things?”

“Yes, that’s right. They are: destroying rental fees, point accumulation, and a deposit system.”

After Department Head Park Sun-woo finished speaking, Chairman Min Hong-shik nodded as if he was thinking for a moment, then asked again.

“So, in the end, it’s dumping [selling at a loss to eliminate competition]?”

“Yes, there’s no other way. There’s no more certain method than that. This method has never failed before.”

“That’s right, there’s nothing people are as sensitive to as money. So, how much are you planning to charge this time?”

“50%.”

“50% means 1,000 won?”

“Yes, that’s right. As you saw this afternoon, Chairman, that little punk’s rental fee was 2,000 won. But since he’s giving back 500 won on the spot, it’s essentially 1,500 won.”

“So, you’re saying you’ll charge less than that, 1,000 won?”

Chairman Min Hong-shik asked as if it was obvious. After all, anyone could have predicted that much.

Department Head Park Sun-woo nodded and continued his answer.

“Yes, that’s right. Customers will definitely move with that amount. No matter how much he gives back 500 won, the difference between paying 2,000 won when you first rent and paying 1,000 won will be huge.”

“Of course, it will be. People are more sensitive to the money that comes out of their pockets.”

“That’s exactly it. In the end, we’re using that psychology. Isn’t business all about who can better exploit people’s psychology?”

Department Head Park Sun-woo shrugged his shoulders as if he had accomplished something great.

Seeing that, Chairman Min Hong-shik shook his head slightly and continued speaking.

“But don’t be too sure… Anyway, what if that little punk matches that price?”

“That will never happen.”

“Never? What makes you so sure?”

“The reason is simple. If that happens, wouldn’t that little punk’s rental fee end up being 500 won? Because he’s giving back 500 won.”

“So, you’re saying that he can’t maintain his business with a 500 won rental fee?”

“As you know, Chairman, he has five employees there. And the cost of videos alone is at least 6,000 won. But receiving 500 won each… Only a crazy person would follow that.”

Department Head Park Sun-woo nodded as if he was certain.

Seeing that, Chairman Min Hong-shik also nodded slightly as if he acknowledged it. Then, he immediately asked again.

“Alright, let’s leave that aside. What about point accumulation and the deposit system?”

“That method is to keep regular customers. After all, if they accumulate points, they won’t go anywhere else. The deposit system is the same. Of course, the deposit system includes a service fee, but it’s a proven method that has more than that effect, so it’s a sure thing.”

“So, in the end, you’re saying you’ll dump the price to attract customers and then tie them down?”

“That’s right. This method has never failed in any Movie Heart store nationwide.”

“I see…”

Chairman Min Hong-shik nodded as if he understood.

Then, a bright smile slowly began to spread across Department Head Park Sun-woo’s face. Judging by the expressions of these two people alone, it seemed as if Movie Heart had already won the game.

But there was something these two people didn’t know.

Hyun-sung already knew exactly how Movie Heart would operate.

And one more thing.

From Hyun-sung’s perspective, it didn’t matter at all if there was no profit from the video store.

He was already making plenty of money from the restaurant in the countryside, and that amount was over 1 billion won.

* * *

“Myung-hoon, what time is it?”

“It’s 1:40 AM.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re probably busy collecting the last of the videos right now. There were a lot of places that called to have their videos picked up at the last minute.”

Just then.

“Clang!”

Yoo Young-seok came in carrying a bag. Of course, the bag contained the collected videos.

Yoo Young-seok took out the videos from the bag and said.

“Boss, here are 10 ‘Hit’ rentals returned.”

“Okay, good work. Are you tired?”

Hyun-sung asked as he received the videos.

Then, Yoo Young-seok shook his head and immediately continued speaking.

“No, I’m not tired at all. I’m actually having fun.”

“Really?”

“Yes, honestly, I learned about a new world today.”

“What? A new world? What are you talking about?”

“The world of videos. Honestly, I’ve always looked down on video stores until now. But after experiencing today, I realized that my thinking was wrong.”

There was sincerity in Yoo Young-seok’s answer. That meant he had felt something.

Hyun-sung looked at him and immediately asked.

“Really? What is it?”

“There are many things, but first of all, it’s the sales. Until now, when I saw video stores charging 1,000 or 2,000 won, I wondered how they could make any money.”

“But?”

“I realized that was my short-sighted thinking. I delivered about 1,200 videos today alone. And that’s not just me, the other guys are probably similar.”

“So?”

“Of course, this is just my calculation, but even with a rough estimate, the sales for today will be over 7 million won!”

“Pfft.”

Hyun-sung looked at Yoo Young-seok and chuckled. The reason was that Yoo Young-seok was wearing an expression he had never seen before.

He seemed to be quite shocked.

Well, why wouldn’t he be? The video store had made over 7 million in sales in one day.

Looking at him, Hyun-sung asked again.

“And what else?”

“Huh? What else?”

“Yeah, that’s what you guys delivered, but there must have been people who came to the store to rent, right?”

“Ah! That’s right, there were a lot of customers at the store today too. Wow! Then what’s the total sales for today if we add everything up?”

“Well, just a moment…”

Hyun-sung was also curious.

As a result, his fingers couldn’t help but move faster on the keyboard.

“Tap tap tap!”

“Wow…!”

Lee Myung-hoon, who was watching from behind, shouted first when today’s sales appeared on the screen.

Then, Yoo Young-seok, unable to contain himself, immediately asked.

“Hyung, how much is it?”

“Uh? That’s…”

Lee Myung-hoon couldn’t finish his sentence. No, he couldn’t speak. The reason was that Lee Myung-hoon also didn’t think such a huge amount would come out.

“Hyung!”

“Hyung, hurry!”

“Myung-hoon hyung!”

This time, the other employees, who had come in at some point, all called out to Lee Myung-hoon anxiously. They were also curious about today’s sales.

Just then.

Hyun-sung looked around at the employees once and immediately continued speaking.

“Everyone, come inside the counter, let’s check it together since we all worked hard.”

“Woosh!”

The employees, who had been hesitant for a moment, simultaneously entered the counter.

Then, Hyun-sung immediately covered the bottom of the screen with his palm. Of course, that was where the total sales for today were written.

Hyun-sung raised one hand and continued speaking.

“Okay, from now on, I’ll count down, so everyone watch together. Let’s start, five…!”

As Hyun-sung started with “five,” the next count immediately followed.

“Four…”

“Three…”

“Two…”

“One…”

“Zero!”

“Tada!”

Hyun-sung removed his hand that was covering it. Then, the numbers immediately appeared.

“…….”

No one opened their mouth first.

But that was only for a moment.

“How much is this?”

“The first digit starts with eight.”

“Wait a minute… eight million five hundred twenty thousand… five hundred? Wow…”

“Is this even possible?”

Everyone tilted their heads as if they couldn’t believe it.

Then, Yoo Young-seok, the youngest, looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“Boss, is this amount real? Is the computer wrong?”

“Hehe.”

Hyun-sung just smiled instead of answering. Then, he slipped out of the counter.

Then, the employees’ gazes turned back to the monitor.

“Wow! Really…”

“To make over eight million with videos… is this even possible?”

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“We did all this today…”

The employees, except for Lee Myung-hoon, were still unable to leave the computer as if they couldn’t believe it.

“Smile.”

Hyun-sung smiled once again as he looked at them. It was something that could never be done alone. It was an achievement that could be achieved because everyone ran for 17 hours from morning to dawn with one mind without anyone slacking off.

Hyun-sung was just endlessly grateful to them.

Just then, Yoo Young-seok looked at Lee Myung-hoon and asked.

“Myung-hoon hyung, how many times did ‘Hit’ go out today in total?”

“Huh? ‘Hit’?”

“Yes, I’m curious. ‘Hit’ was really flying around this neighborhood today, right? Can’t you search for ‘Hit’ once?”

“Just a moment…”

Lee Myung-hoon immediately looked at Hyun-sung. He was asking if he could use the program.

Hyun-sung, who couldn’t possibly not know that meaning, immediately nodded. Then, Lee Myung-hoon slowly began to type on the keyboard.

After a while.

“Tap!”

When Lee Myung-hoon finally hit the enter key, the total number of ‘Hit’ rentals appeared on the screen as a number.

“Wow!”

Yoo Young-seok shouted as soon as he saw the screen.

Then, another employee next to him immediately read the number.

“One thousand two hundred thirty-five? Then what’s the average number of times?”

“If you divide by three hundred sixty…”

Lee Myung-hoon was quick with calculations, perhaps because he had learned the abacus.

“3.4. In the end, it’s over three times on average. Wow! With this number, we made almost 2 million today with ‘Hit’ alone. Everyone worked hard delivering and collecting.”

Lee Myung-hoon patted the employees’ shoulders as he spoke. Seeing that, Hyun-sung gave Lee Myung-hoon a thumbs up.

Just then.

“Ring!”

The phone rang immediately. At the same time, Lee Myung-hoon immediately answered the phone. He seemed to have answered the phone habitually from answering the phone all day long.

The clock on the wall was pointing to 1:55 AM. That meant it was 5 minutes before closing.

“Yes, this is Cinema Paradise!”

Lee Myung-hoon’s voice still had kindness in it, even though he should have been tired. While he was on the phone, he covered the receiver with his hand and looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“Boss, they’re asking if we can deliver now, what should I do?”

“Huh?”

Hyun-sung’s gaze automatically went to the clock on the wall. 1:55 AM, it didn’t matter if they came to the store to rent at this time, but delivery was virtually impossible.

After checking the time, Hyun-sung immediately continued speaking.

“Tell them we’re sorry and…”

“Boss, I’ll go!”

It was Yoo Young-seok, the youngest, who interrupted Hyun-sung’s words.

“Huh? You?”

“Yes, since our business hours are until 2 AM anyway, we can’t say no. And more than anything, from the customer’s point of view…”

Yoo Young-seok’s explanation continued. His logic was simple. Since they were customers, they had to deliver unconditionally; otherwise, that customer would never call again.

Hyun-sung couldn’t help but smile and nod as he looked at him.

Then, Lee Myung-hoon immediately started talking on the phone again.

After a while.

A strange thing happened.

The employees were all saying they would go for delivery. They couldn’t send the youngest. But Yoo Young-seok, the youngest, also said he couldn’t because it was his fault.

Lee Myung-hoon, who was watching the scene, had no choice but to step in.

“Hey, decide with rock-paper-scissors.”

20 minutes later.

In the end, closing was delayed by 20 minutes.

“Okay, everyone gather at the counter.”

When the employees gathered in front of the counter, Hyun-sung opened his mouth again.

“There’s only one thing I want to say. I’m just grateful for the way you all think of each other as if it were your own business. And as I always say, you have to express your feelings. So I prepared this. Everyone, take one of these. It’s the first day bonus.”

Hyun-sung handed out envelopes to the employees.