I Went Broke Trying to Become the Richest Man, So I Fixed Pipes in Yokohama

The day before yesterday, a business partner I'd invested in defected to the dark side and joined the mafia.

Yesterday, a business partner I'd invested in moved their assets and ran off with the money.

Today, a business partner I'd invested in was assassinated by a killer who dropped out of the sky.

I, Hoshino Aoi, investment guru, owner of a fortune worth tens of billions, fated worker chosen by the System, Yokohama urban development planner, future wealthiest person in the world, strong contender for mayor of Yokohama... have suffered ten consecutive investment failures in just one month.

I only wanted to complete the System's Yokohama development mission and become a tycoon. How did things end up like this?

My money!!! (pounds the ground)

This was money I'd earned by working hard in Yokohama, picking up trash, doing good deeds, and saving up energy to exchange with the System for investment funds! You heartless capitalists, do you know how hard it is to scrape together a hundred million?!

The System didn't get it. All it did was demand to know why, after a whole month, Yokohama's development progress was still at zero.

It's not my fault. It's the world's fault. (palms together)

That's Yokohama for you, a place that developed without a plan. (palms together) (palms together)

I couldn't expect to boost the local GDP just by buying a few tech stocks, let alone dream of closing my eyes and raking in money. You can't build infrastructure by throwing money around!

I had to get personally involved! I had to keep construction on track! I had to make sure every penny counted! I had to put on a red hard hat and inspect the construction sites every day!

My construction site got blown up.

The site for Yokohama's citywide water-pipe renovation project, which I'd pulled all the strings to get approved, was blown up by the Port Mafia's "Lemon Bombs."

The entire city was suddenly left without running water, and development progress plummeted by twenty percent.

I demand compensation!!!

Do you ability users not drink water?! Huh? I'm taking this to your boss! I'm going crazy! Crawling! I'll smash myself against a wall for Yokohama!

Oh, Yokohama, how could you treat me so unfairly? I don't understand!

A kind-hearted calico passing by brought me a piece of paper. It said something about the Three-Part Framework, the mafia and government jointly ruling the city, and special districts for ability users under warlord control... I couldn't understand it, so I tossed it away.

Your Three-Part Framework might have been great once, but this is the age of my infrastructure projects!

If the government won't do it, I will. I'll take on the mayor.

The Special Division for Unusual Powers wants to regulate people? Come help me round up ability users and put them to work. The Port Mafia wants to use violence? Come join my port trade and profit plan. The Armed Detective Agency only needs one detective. The rest can still help salvage the education and healthcare systems.

Don't you want to see Yokohama's development steadily improve, with its economy catching the express train to the future? (reads aloud)

You disagree? Take it up with my abilities, my friends, or my money.

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Whips out super-strong friends.jpg

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Ability users and Yokohama citizens, whose lives got better with each passing day: What more is there to say, pal? Yokohama is yours.

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Yokohama, your big break is here! (In more ways than one)

Many years later, someone asked me how I became Yokohama's richest person.

I smiled faintly and taught them the three golden rules:

Invest, lose money, fix water pipes!

Love interest: Nakajima Atsushi

This story is a crossover with two other authors' works. Please check them out!

Three Sentences to Help You Conquer Yokohama's Love Triangle, by Tuntun Ai Chi Tang

Three Sentences to Help You Usurp the Mafia Boss, by Yu Qiu Yu

Three Sentences to Help You Become Yokohama's Richest, by Fei Guang Du Zhou

Core theme: Infrastructure development and rebirth.