Chapter 2201: Print 10,000 Copies First!
“Earning money is indeed the most fulfilling way to live.”
The breakfast service was over and the restaurant was quiet again.
Mag brewed a pot of black tea and sat next to the floor-to-ceiling window, basking in the warm sun. He laid on the chair in relaxation and cuddled Ugly Duckling, who was left behind in the house.
Amy, who had a one-month holiday, finally started school again. She started school about one week earlier than the Chaos School’s students.
Annie was drawing upstairs. The little one decided to finetune Miss Black Cat and show it to Maestro Vicki personally tomorrow, hoping to get her approval.
Irina had gone to the textile factory and there were many things at the Night Elves that still needed her attention.
The restaurant was closed for a long time. The chef job not only didn’t make Mag tired, instead, he felt even more motivated after he heard the customers’ praises.
What other jobs in this world could earn you money and reputation at the same time. It wasn’t easy to find such a job.
After drinking a pot of tea alone, Mag put a red and blue jacket on Ugly Duckling before putting it in the bicycle’s basket. He then took one of the picture books that Annie drew from the shelf and went out.
Mag rode to the textile factory at the north of the city. The elves at the entrance were very polite to Mag, who was the investor of the factory. They let him in without any issues.
Mag didn’t bother Irina and went straight to the empty workshop that kept the printing machine from Ultraman’s hometown.
1
The gigantic machine was placed in the center of the workshop. The dusty surfaces were already wiped down and the unknown silver metal had a cold gleam, showing its amazing technological feel.
This thing was nuclear-powered. Its previous activation even attracted Xi’s attention.
However, now that Mag and Xi were familiar with each other… at least superficially, using this machine shouldn’t be a big problem.
To the Elder Things who could manufacture advanced battleships, a nuclear-powered printing machine shouldn’t be something worth noticing. If they asked about it, he could say he had dug it out from the ground.
Moreover, even if the Elder Things wanted to take it away to study it, as long as Mag could ask for a printing machine that was equally effective from them, he would have no objections at all.
After all, Mag got this printing machine from the system for free. He wouldn’t feel the pinch at all.
Mag placed Annie’s picture book in the scanning area. This was Annie’s first complete work: The Tale of The Little Mermaid.
The machine was very sophisticated, and its operation was very foolproof.
Its setting was simple. Scan the whole book, print it out and then set the numbers of books to be printed.
Mag pondered about it briefly. Perhaps, he should just print 10,000 copies first?
A comic artist couldn’t say he or she was a bestseller comic artist without selling at least 10,000 copies, right?
However, looking at the rumbling machine and stacks of picture books that were sent out of the conveyor belt, Mag felt that he was being a little rash.
He hadn’t even found a sales channel to sell the picture books and yet he printed 10,000 copies just like that…
“At most, we’ll sell them at the restaurant’s entrance for 1000 copper coins a copy. This is a 10,000,000 business.” Mag rubbed his chin as he pondered out loud. He picked up a printed picture book. The print quality was exceedingly high, as though it was hand drawn. There was no sign of printing. The color was vibrant and the drawing style was cute. It was an excellently colored picture book.
Picture books of such quality could sell for at least 10,000 copper coins in Rodu.
10,000 copper coins was already considered cheap because colored picture books could only be hand drawn by artists before the printing technology advanced, and an artist who could draw such a good quality picture book needed at least a month or even longer to complete it.
Of course, Mag was cheating by using a printing machine.
However, 1000 copper coins could allow some rich young people to buy it as an inspiring book or a bedtime story book, or a choice for some straight men who didn’t know what to buy as a gift. It was considered very reasonable.
“I heard from them that you came…” Irina came in and saw the picture books that were sent out by the conveyor belt continuously. Slightly taken aback, she said, “So that’s what this machine is meant for?”
“Yes. This is the printing machine.” Mag passed the picture book to Irina with a laugh.
Irina flipped through the picture book and looked increasingly surprised. Finally, she put down the picture book and looked at the machine. She said with starlight in her eyes, “This is a machine that could print money.”
Yes, as his family member, she immediately realized the value of this machine.
“Get a few people to pack them up in wooden boxes. We will pack 1000 copies in a box and send one box to Mamy Restaurant every day, starting from today,” Mag replied with a smile.
“How much do you intend to sell a copy for?” Irina asked.
“1000 copper coins a copy. It’s a long term business so I can’t make it into a luxury item. Annie is a speedy Gonzales anyways.” Mag smilingly said, “Let’s earn 10,000,000 to test the water first.”
Irina nodded in agreement. After pondering, she continued, “But many children can’t afford the 1,000 copper coins price tag.”
After a brief consideration, Mag said, “Why don’t we print a batch of black and white ones and then sell them through the bookshop channels at 100 copper coins per book?”
“That’s great.” Irina’s eyes lit up. “Many Night Elves are free now. I can get some elves who are great at drawing and carving to do carving and printing work.”
“You don’t have to bother about the carving. This is a super printer. It could just print the black-and-white version. The elves will just have to finish the printing and binding work.” Mag shook his head smilingly. He also began to have a plan to make a simple black-and-white printer.
With this super printer, he could finish the carving and printing work on it. He could even print out all the spare parts for many simple machines.
This was the power of technology.
Mag had a 3D printer too, but that thing’s uses were very limited. It couldn’t compare to this printer at all and he couldn’t do much with it.
“Alright.” Irina nodded. Although she couldn’t quite understand what Mag was talking about, she simply felt she could trust him.
The job of printing 10,000 picture books was soon finished. The elves made the wooden boxes and packed the books before sending them to Mamy Restaurant.
Mag set the printer and printed the 3D version parts of the black-and-white printer. It was highly accurate and could be used simply by brushing ink over it once it was set up.
Mag wrote the user instructions in a small manual. As for the job of choosing the paper and printing, he left it to Ashley to coordinate.
The job of printing the black-and-white picture books could at least provide 500 job positions for the Night Elves.
Mag’s initial requirement was to print 1000 books a day.
This was just the black-and-white print, its price wouldn’t be too expensive. Hence, the profit could only be increased by the volume.
As for the market, Mag wasn’t worried at all.
The Norland Continent was going to welcome 100 years of peace. Mag’s target was to sell Annie’s picture books to the whole world!
***
At Mamy Restaurant’s entrance, Mag called out to the two elves who delivered the books, “Just put them here first. You two ladies just wait here for a sec.”