Tokyo Wrestler

The team leader is in a strange good mood today... Ishimura Taro remained silent, glancing in surprise at Aoi Soie, then at Sett.

"5:1?" Sett announced the odds.

Aoi Soe shook her head slightly and replied, "Wrong... it's 23:1. That means if someone bets 1 yen on you to win, they can get a net profit of nearly 20 yen. That's an outrageous profit, isn't it?"

"It's quite outrageous, but why is it 20 yen? Shouldn't it be 23 yen?" Sett discovered the blind spot.

The headlight black-skinned group leader isn't very good at math.

Upon hearing this, a hint of amusement flashed in Aoi Soe's beautiful eyes. She looked Sett up and down again, observing his somewhat youthful yet resolute and handsome face, and said:

"If I couldn't be sure before, after you said that, I'm completely certain now. You are indeed a newcomer who has only fought two underground boxing matches."

"You knocked out Okazawa in the first match and defeated Ice Hand Du Laisi in the second. What an incredible record for a rookie... Where did you train? I want to send my underground boxers to learn from you."

"High school boxing club, trained by the corner punching bag," Sett answered truthfully.

Aoi Soe was immediately amused by his serious yet nonsensical manner, her chest heaving as she waved her hand and said, "Corner punching bag? Haha, never mind, never mind, it's fine if you don't say anything."

Sigh, nobody believes the truth these days... Ser asked, "But you haven't explained yet."

Aoi Soeji glanced at him with her phoenix eyes, and the butler, Ishimura Taro, immediately understood and said:

"It's related to how the boxing ring makes money. This nearly 13% '30,000 yen' is the ring's cut, used to maintain the ring's operation and pay appearance fees to underground boxers..."

"Of course, 13% is just an example from the group leader. It's hard to say exactly how much it is right now. It's closely related to the time period, the size of the gambling pool, the returns, and so on, and it needs to be constantly adjusted."

"And I guess what you were thinking about was one of those underground boxing rings that don't take a penny but make a fortune by manipulating the outcome of matches."

Sett nodded thoughtfully and said, "Yes... but if it's a commission system, it means that although the money is less, the boxing ring can still get a certain profit regardless of winning or losing, and the amount of profit depends only on..."

"The size of the gambling pool," Aoi Soe said definitively.

It's similar to running a mahjong parlor. No matter how much the customers play mahjong, the parlor can always make money from the rent, making it one of the lowest-risk income streams... Sett laughed:

"But is it really okay for you to tell me so much?"

"It's alright, this is pretty much an industry consensus, plus..."

Aoi Suige took out two thick stacks of ten-thousand-yen bills and a contract that was clearly printed out, and said:

"Many conditions need to be explained in advance to make them more attractive, don't they?"

She first pushed two stacks of ten-thousand-yen bills toward Seti and said, "According to the contract, this is your appearance fee tonight, two million yen."

"And this..."

Aoi Suige swept the two million yen aside with a curt gesture, placed her slender fingers on the contract, and explained:

"This is a contract with Qinghe Black Boxing Arena. Once you sign this, you will become an official fighter in our Qinghe Group. You will enjoy the benefits of an official member of the Qinghe Group, and we will also spend a lot of money to promote you in the Nerima area."

“Every underground boxing match, win or lose, will give you a minimum appearance fee of 500 million, and if you win, you will also receive an additional 15% of the betting pool revenue.”

I said all of this in one go.

Aoi Soe didn't give Sett any further questions. Instead, with a sharp gaze and a straight back, she said solemnly:

"So, Sett, what's your answer?"

A minimum appearance fee of 5 million... that's a small part. The main thing is that after a victory, I get a 15% share of the betting pool's revenue... This should refer to the net profit the boxing ring takes from the betting pool, and then I get 15% of that... but that's already quite a lot. If the betting pool is big enough, I could even get close to 10 million per fight... Sett didn't rush to answer, but instead did some mental calculations.

He then asked, "If I become famous enough and achieve a winning streak of dozens of games, will my revenue share increase?"

Upon hearing this, Ishimura Taro quickly gave Sett a look, signaling him not to go too far.

To his surprise, Aoi Soe not only wasn't angry, but instead laughed and scolded:

“Interesting, this is the first time I’ve seen someone ask this without a contract... Of course it can be increased. As long as you become a star, I’ll give you 50% of the boxing ring’s revenue.”

50%, then it will be easier to earn 7 million... Sett took two steps forward, put the two million yen into his pocket, and then began to carefully review the contract.

There were no tricky clauses in the contract, and the terms were exactly the same as those explained by the headlight black team leader.

that is...

Ser asked, "Isn't there a penalty for breach of contract?"

"Breach of contract penalty?" Aoi Soe seemed to have heard a joke, her red lips curving upwards.

Her smile vanished instantly, her phoenix eyes suddenly turned sharp, making it difficult to meet her gaze. It became clear to everyone that this was the leader of the Seiwa Group in Nerima Ward, not just a pretty face.

He said, "Our Qinghe Group doesn't need breach of contract penalties to bind us in Tokyo."

His demeanor was quite domineering.

Tokyo, not Nerima Ward, the Blue Harvest Clan's reach is longer than I imagined... Sett lowered his head and checked the contract again to make sure it was correct, so naturally he had no reason to refuse and signed it.

He then placed his right hand in the air in front of Aoi Suige and said, "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

Faced with Sett's bold move, Aoi Soe was stunned for a moment before smiling gently and raising her right hand to lightly shake hands with Sett.

In terms of touch, it's not as soft as Akemi Nishimiya's hands; it's quite elastic, even a bit hard, and there are obvious calluses on the index finger and the web of the thumb—signs of frequent gun handling.

After withdrawing his hand, Sett couldn't wait to ask, "When is the next boxing match? Can it be tomorrow?"

But Aoi Soe leaned back in her chair, her beautiful eyes slightly closed, puffing out smoke as she pointed at Ishimura Taro and said:

"Ask Mr. Ishimura about all matters related to underground boxing. I'm just here to see what a super rookie who can beat Okazawa and Durex looks like."

The final evaluation was... pretty good.

Sett then turned to look at Taro Ishimura, who pondered for a moment and shook his head, saying, "I'm afraid it won't work tomorrow."

Taro Ishimura asked again:

"When you were boxing today, did you look at the number of spectators around you? Wasn't it noticeably smaller?"

Sett nodded; he had noticed this as soon as he entered.

Ishimura Taro continued to explain:

"There will be even fewer people by tomorrow."

"Most underground boxing rings rely on the casinos next door to attract some customers. Many people also come to watch underground boxing matches to relieve their boredom and find some excitement in their mundane lives."

"After watching for a long time, under the influence of others, you will try to put some money into the gambling pool. After making some profits, you will gradually become a veteran gambler and get out of control."

"Therefore, with fewer spectators, the amount in the betting pool is smaller, and with lower incomes for fighters, apart from one-time participants, there are not many underground fighters willing to fight in underground matches."

Sett quickly replied, "To put it bluntly, I have no rivals?"

"Yes, I checked the recent underground boxing match requests tonight. After considering everything, the underground boxing arena will be closed for a few days starting tomorrow, and it won't reopen until at least Saturday... Actually, I don't recommend that you fight back-to-back."

"In addition to the ever-present issue of physical recovery."

"Most importantly, publicity takes time. Once the publicity is in place, and you defeat a slightly famous opponent, you will become a household name in the Nerima district. At that time, the number of spectators attracted to you will only increase, and the prize pool will also increase."

"The fact that we still have this many spectators today, on a Monday, is largely because they came because of the name 'Ice Hand Du Lai Si'. This shows the importance of a reputation for underground boxers."

"So, since you're both going to box, why not choose the more profitable method? I think those two million should be enough for you to live on for a while, right?"

Ishimura Taro patiently explained a great deal, helping Sett to clearly analyze the best path for the future.

Sett pondered for a moment, then nodded and said:

"I understand what you mean... Just remember to let me know in advance when you find a suitable opponent."

There was one thing that Ishimura Taro said, though he didn't mention it, but Sett understood it.

That is:

If the betting pool is not large enough, and the final revenue from the betting pool is not even enough to cover Sett's minimum appearance fee of 500 million, then the boxing ring would only lose money by hosting an underground boxing match. Therefore, it is impossible for the boxing ring to hold a boxing match under such circumstances.

After all, the primary purpose of underground boxing rings is to help Qinghe Group make a profit, not to do charity.

"Then let's wait a while before fighting again. Based on my current record in these two matches, plus the promotion from the Qinghe Group, once the betting pool expands, I estimate I can get close to 1000 million yen from Okazawa... As my reputation grows, it will only increase, so there's no need for me to rush..." Seti thought to himself.

There is still a debt of 700 million yen remaining, and the court has allocated a 30-year repayment plan for his family.

With the accumulated interest, it would take about 270 million to repay each month.

In other words, Sett currently has nearly 230 million, not even counting his sister's salary. He only needs to take some from his mother's salary to pay off next month's debt without any problem.

Therefore, Sett doesn't need to rush; he can just develop his underground boxing career like a normal person.

Rushing things could easily expose his true nature, for example... his unusually fast recovery speed.

"Are you short of money?" Aoi Soe suddenly asked, seeing Sett deep in thought.

“No, my unscrupulous father has a huge debt,” Sett said bluntly.

Upon hearing this, a hint of "I see" appeared in the still clear eyes of Taro Ishimura standing beside him.

No wonder he's so young and wants to fight in underground boxing matches, and he's so determined to keep going... Sigh, he's a poor kid.

So Ishimura Taro suggested, "If it's really urgent, I can lend you some money first."

Although the butler has a scar on his face that looks rather scary, he's actually a good person... Sett mentally gave him a "good guy" card, then shook his head and refused:

"Thanks, but after two underground boxing matches, I'm not in a rush for now. I'll just stick to the pace you suggested and fight underground boxing normally."

Taro Ishimura nodded slightly and said nothing more.

"But I almost forgot to ask... Did that guy Du Laisi use some kind of weapon at the end? The video is a bit blurry, so it's not very clear, but you can tell he stabbed you several times." Aoi Suige suddenly asked, pointing to the video on the computer screen.

Sett didn't say much. He was prepared and simply lifted the hem of his shirt to reveal his slightly cleaved abs and several wounds less than a centimeter long.

The wound was still stitched up and was no longer bleeding.