Takuya Nakayama padded silently behind Shimizu like a cat stalking its prey.
On the newspaper spread across the desk, a racehorse named "Narita Silver" was circled in bold red ink.
"This horse has decent odds. You've got quite the discerning eye," Takuya's voice whispered in Shimizu's ear.
"Of course. That kid's last race—" Shimizu began absently, then jolted upright in his chair as if electrocuted, the newspaper scattering across the floor with a whoosh.
"Wah! M-Managing Director?!"
Flustered, Shimizu scrambled to stuff the newspaper under his chair. His previously relaxed face flushed crimson, turning pig-liver red. The nearby team members, caught off guard, nearly dropped their pens. The guy with headphones yanked the cord out of his ears, snapping it in the process.
"Alright, stop hiding. I saw everything." Takuya pulled up a chair and sat down with a self-assured air, his gaze sweeping over his former subordinates with an amused smirk. "The new recruits outside are running themselves ragged, while you lot are here... living out your retirements early? What happened to the development progress of The King of Fighters II?"
Shimizu stuffed the crumpled newspaper under his seat and cleared his throat, his embarrassment still evident, but his words came out defiant.
"Managing Director, you're framing me! How can this be called retirement? This is research—fieldwork, if you will! Do you understand?"
He pointed at the artist beside him, who was still drawing turtles. "See that guy? He's practicing the tension in lines for different art styles, trying to find inspiration for new characters. Artists can't let their hands go idle; we need to constantly experiment with new styles."
Then he gestured toward the one engrossed in a pocket book. "That's our scriptwriter. He's still involved with Children of the Star Ring. He's studying narrative pacing, trying to make The King of Fighters II's cutscenes more impactful."
Takuya glanced at the turtle artist. The turtle on the paper was indeed drawn with an intriguing style.
He then looked at the reader. The book's cover displayed the title of a complex detective novel.
"Fine, you've got a point," Takuya said, pointing at the newspaper under Shimizu's seat. "But what about you? Are you researching horse racing for inspiration? Planning to make Hot Blooded Horse Racing?"
"This is what they call being observant in all directions," Shimizu said solemnly, pulling out the newspaper again. He avoided the horse circled in red ink and pointed to a small news block in the corner. "I was looking at this—the J.League season is about to start. The whole of Japan is talking about soccer right now. This is a huge trend we can capitalize on."
As he got down to business, Shimizu straightened his posture slightly. "I was thinking, since soccer is the world's most popular sport, the potential audience is undeniable. Back on 8-bit and 16-bit systems, hardware limitations meant players all looked like carbon copies, with maybe a different hair color at most. But with the new console you mentioned—" He gestured a large circle with his hands. "With that kind of power, we should be able to capture each player's unique features, right? Roberto Baggio's ponytail, the numerical differences in each player's skills—if we could recreate those, it would absolutely blow up."
Takuya gave Shimizu a surprised look.
This smooth-talking old fox might look laid-back and carefree, but his instincts are sharp.
"Not a bad idea," Takuya nodded. "But soccer games involve complex AI movement and physics collisions. Our Third Group has always focused on action and fighting games. This is a pretty big leap."
"It's just an idea for now," Shimizu chuckled, rubbing his hands. "I'll put together a proposal for you later, and you can decide if you want to share it with other teams. As for The King of Fighters II, the foundation is already in place. The core system hasn't changed—it's still running on System32. We'll just fine-tune the system, add a few new characters, and balance it out. This kind of cookie-cutter work is perfect for the new guys to practice on. It would be irresponsible for us old-timers to steal their opportunities."
The key team members who had been pretending to be dead suddenly sprang to life and crowded around.
"Exactly, Managing Director! Spending all day tweaking graphics and adjusting values is making our brains rust over."
"Since you've come all this way, you can't possibly be here just to check attendance, right?"
"The new console is almost out! We're your personal guard, Third Group. You can't expect us to keep clinging to outdated systems and living off our past achievements!"
The lazy glints in their eyes from earlier had vanished, replaced by the sharp intensity of wolves on the hunt.
They knew Takuya Nakayama too well. This man never showed his face without a good reason—and a good opportunity. If he was here, he must have something good up his sleeve.
Takuya watched the group of direct reports vying for his attention, and the amusement in his heart turned to exasperation.
These guys were undeniably skilled, but their ambitions were insatiable. Ordinary projects simply couldn't satisfy them.
"I was planning to let you rest a few more days," Takuya said, standing up and dusting off his pants. "But since you're so eager to get back to work, follow me."
Upon hearing this, Shimizu's eyes widened, and he shot up from his chair so quickly he didn't even notice the newspaper falling to the floor. He turned and waved at the team. "What are you all waiting for? Grab your notebooks and head to the Managing Director's office! We've got big work coming!"
The group followed Takuya Nakayama back to his office. He gestured for them to sit on the sofa before striding to the safe in the corner and deftly spinning the dial.
With a soft click, the heavy alloy door sprang open.
Takuya retrieved a freshly printed folder still fragrant with ink and slapped it onto the coffee table in front of Shimizu.
"Take a look."
Shimizu rubbed his hands and picked up the folder.
The English title on the cover, Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation, made his eyes narrow.
This was the proposal Takuya Nakayama had written, drawing inspiration from the most refined version of Gundam Battle Operation 2 from his previous life. After years of refinement and widespread player acceptance, it was the definitive Gundam combat simulation game.
"Gundam?" Shimizu said, somewhat surprised as he flipped to the first page. "Managing Director, Bandai has already released quite a few Gundam games. Isn't developing another one a bit—"
"Bandai's games can even be called Gundam?" Takuya leaned against the desk, took a sip of water from his cup, his tone carrying a hint of disdain. "Those are just fighting games using our combat framework with a Gundam skin slapped on. What I want you to create is the feeling of piloting a Gundam."
Shimizu didn't respond immediately, his gaze quickly scanning the operation logic diagrams in the proposal.
As he studied them, his brow furrowed, then smoothed out, until he was practically leaning over the paper.
"This control scheme—" Shimizu pointed at one page, his finger trembling slightly. "Dual-stick movement logic? The left stick controls the lower body, and the right stick controls the upper body and camera? And you want to implement an inertial physics engine?"
"Exactly." Takuya set down his cup and walked to the coffee table, tapping his finger on the proposal. "Current robot games make these dozens-of-tons hunks of steel move as light as paper. I want weight. The control sticks need resistance, start-up should have hydraulic lag, and stopping should include inertial sliding. That's how dozens of tons of steel should behave."
Please Support me by becoming my patreon member and get 30+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon