Chaebol

The next day.

My brother and I set off for Japan, just the two of us.

In our suitcase, we packed nothing but five university notebooks and two floppy disks—no clothes at all.

'We can buy whatever we need once we get there.'

My brother's face was tense.

After all, he was on his way to show his work to Nintendo.

I wondered if I had worn a similar expression when I had just debuted as a novelist in my past life.

While my brother's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, mine was in a very simple state.

The entire time we were traveling from Kansai Airport to Kyoto by train, I focused solely on one thing.

'How can I make this project a success?'

I was fixated on this single goal.

Our stay would last no more than a week at most.

During that time, I needed to assemble a development team dedicated to my brother's game.

How much would it cost?

Considering this was about my future, it seemed petty to worry about money now, but still…

'If we overspend, Grandfather will definitely criticize that.'

We had to produce the best game with optimal efficiency.

Hmm.

'Maybe talking with Mr. Shigeru will give me a rough answer…'

Just as my thoughts were spiraling, the train began to slow down.

"Ji-hoon, it's time to get off."

My brother spoke, carefully handling the suitcase like a precious object.

"Isn't it heavy?"

"It's got my treasure inside, so what do you think?"

Kyoto Station was quiet.

"How do we get from here?"

"We'll take a taxi."

"Having a wealthy business partner is convenient."

My brother was trying to make light conversation to shake off his nerves.

"Sir!"

An English voice called out in the middle of Japan.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice.

"Over here!"

A man was waving at us from a distance.

Huh?

Wearing a red shirt and denim overalls… Wasn't this the quintessential Super Mario outfit?

He briskly walked over to us.

"It's been a while, sir."

After exchanging a warm greeting with Mr. Shigeru, I introduced my brother.

"This is my older brother."

"It's… an honor to meet you. I really enjoyed playing Super Mario. And Donkey Kong too…Oh, my goodness. My name is Park Yoo-geon."

"I'm Shigeru Miyamoto."

After the two men exchanged a friendly handshake, Shigeru asked.

"Is this all the luggage you have?"

Shigeru asked me with a smile.

"We were in a rush to get here."

"Please, let me take it. I'll put it in the trunk."

"You came to pick us up despite being busy…"

"It's been a while since I last saw you, sir. It's only natural."

"In that case, I won't be modest and will accept the ride."

Given the tight schedule, my shamelessness activated like a passive skill.

'It can't be helped.'

Shigeru took the driver's seat, I sat in the front passenger seat, and my brother sat in the back.

Although he must have made a fortune from Super Mario, Mr. Shigeru drove a Toyota compact car, showing he wasn't particularly materialistic.

"You're looking at the car closely?"

"It's my first time in this model."

Mr. Shigeru's driving style was extremely cautious.

Yet, the nimbleness characteristic of a manual vehicle was palpable.

"You haven't had lunch, right? Should we grab a meal first?"

"No, I'd prefer to finish our business talk first."

After saying that, I turned around to look at the back seat.

"You're okay with that, right?"

"Yes. I feel like I'd get indigestion even if I only drank water right now."

Luckily, Nintendo's headquarters wasn't far.

We drove for about twenty minutes.

Even that time was filled with game-related discussions.

From our brief conversation, it seemed my brother and Mr. Shigeru had already hit it off.

Well, they did share a common interest in games.

Thanks to that, my brother seemed to have eased his tension significantly.

Perhaps sensing this, Shigeru continued to chat with my brother on our way from the parking lot to the building.

"An RPG, huh? That's impressive. It's a genre I'd love to try someday too."

"No, no. It's just something I doodled on my own… It won't come close to Mr. Shigeru's standards."

"Could you tell me the story?"

"It's just about going to slay a dragon."

"Simple?"

Though he was smiling as he said it, Shigeru's expression subtly shifted.

Could he already be starting his feedback?

As if to confirm my thoughts, he continued with a more serious face.

"I'd like to hear more details. Who are the people going to slay the dragon? What do they each hope to gain from the dragon? And why does the dragon hoard treasure, for example?"

"Well, um…"

"…?"

"There isn't much worth mentioning."

"The story is weak… Hmm, that's a problem. A strong narrative is crucial for an RPG."

At this point, Shigeru glanced over at me.

His expression seemed to ask what I thought.

My answer was simple.

"I'm thinking of hiring a story writer. Japan is the land of manga, after all."

"Well, Japan does have a lot of talented writers."

Shigeru said with a light smile.

"Sure, outsourcing the writing is one way to do it. But it needs to be a writer who understands games."

More than just understanding… I know a writer who lives and breathes games.

If I could bring that person on board?

The story would be easily handled.

As we engaged in light conversation, we made our way to the building in front of us.

It seemed Shigeru's department was on the first floor, right near the entrance.

"I don't have a separate office. I prefer to work in the same space as my team to keep communication open."

The interior was plain.

A wide room with desks lined up in rows.

Although there were partitions, the layout allowed everyone to see what their colleagues were doing.

Still, the employees didn't seem to be paying much attention to their surroundings.

There were piles of manga on every desk.

Even now, some were giggling as they read the manga.

"It's a very laid-back atmosphere?"

"We haven't started the next project yet. Once the next project is decided, everyone will get serious and get to work."

"So until then, they're relaxed?"

"Well, it's the off-season."

It seemed that even though their boss was talking to a guest, they didn't pay much attention.

Not bad, actually.

Mr. Shigeru's desk was in the farthest corner.

"Did you bring the game on a floppy disk?"

"Yes, just a moment."

My brother quickly opened the suitcase and took out the floppy disk.

He brought two copies, just in case one malfunctioned.

After inserting the floppy disk, Shigeru didn't immediately start the game.

Instead, he typed commands to meticulously check the files inside.

Then he spoke.

"This is quite clean."

"What do you mean?"

I asked, prompting him to explain quickly.

"This is the work of a professional. The code has no unnecessary elements. Maybe that's why the file is so light. There's practically no chance of bugs."

I was clueless when it came to coding.

So when my brother mentioned that Martin had handled the coding for the script he had written… I hadn't thought much of it.

But if it was impressive enough to make Shigeru marvel…

'As expected of Martin?'

While I was lost in thought, Shigeru finally launched the game.

The familiar logo appeared on the screen.

"So it's really a 100% text-based game."

"Y-yes."

While my brother watched anxiously.

Click, click-click.

Shigeru continued playing the game with an expressionless face.

He chose the class of a mage.

The primary strategy was to grind to learn higher-level magic and then level up by mobbing enemies.

Once he reached level 15, he received a quest necessary for the second job change.

By the time he completed the second job change, he was level 20.

He learned a powerful magic spell and defeated the second boss mob before finally looking back at us.

Instead of providing feedback, as I expected, he made a surprising comment.

"Can I take a look at the design documents?"

"Oh, well… They're all written in Korean…"

"I'd still like to see them."

"Huh? Oh, sure."

My brother took out the thick university notebooks from the suitcase one by one.

Even as a professional, Shigeru seemed genuinely surprised by the sheer volume.

He quickly flipped through the university notebooks and pointed to a section with illustrations.

"If you included illustrations, this must be a significant setting…"

"Oh, that's about the physics of the world. Like a hot air balloon… how you can fly by lighting a fire… stuff like that…"

"Are you planning to implement all this in the game?"

"No, it's not that… It's just that it was fun to imagine…"

"So you wrote down whatever came to mind? For fun?"

"Yes."

Shigeru continued to pore over the design documents.

"Could you translate this part for me?"

"One moment."

This question-and-answer session continued for over an hour.

Only after meticulously reviewing all five notebooks did Shigeru lean back in his chair.

Was he trying to organize all the thoughts that were spilling out from every direction?

After a few minutes, his eyebrows furrowed intensely.

What was he going to say…?

That's when it happened.

"What do you think about changing the genre?"

Shigeru proposed an idea I hadn't anticipated.

"There's definitely potential here. I was impressed the entire time I played the game… and I was even more shocked after looking at the design documents."

"…!"

"The problem is that these outstanding concepts can't be integrated into the existing RPG genre at all."

If the planner is a designer, the developer is an engineer.

No matter how excellent the design, it's useless if contemporary technology can't bring it to life.

"I kept pondering as I played. Should we compromise and try to fit everything in, or should we explore a new genre to fully realize all these concepts?"

It seemed that Shigeru had settled on the latter.

"My suggestion is to create a card game based on this."

"A card… game?"

"All those detailed concepts written in the notebooks? We turn them into cards that exist in the game."

"…?"

"Players build a deck… and engage in battles using a random combination of cards…"

Maybe his thoughts weren't fully organized yet.

Scribble, scribble.

Shigeru quickly jotted down various ideas on a piece of paper.

He was imagining a genre that didn't exist yet, right on the spot.

It was only natural for his mind to feel overloaded.

"Do you understand?"

"Not quite yet…"

While my brother scratched his head, I immediately thought of a game.

'Card Collector.'

The ancestor of 'Duel King' and 'Heroes'… a TCG (Trading Card Game).

So.

To make the most of my brother's excellent concepts… Mr. Shigeru had just invented the TCG genre on the spot!

Haha.

Was that even possible?

'Well, coming all this way was worth it.'

Shigeru continued explaining as he refined his thoughts.

Proving his point, he introduced new systems even while he was talking.

"Oh, what about this?"

"Wouldn't it be interesting to have separate cards for battles, settings, items, and characters? Depending on how they're combined, the outcome changes."

As the explanations continued, my brother's understanding also started to grow.

"If there's a separate card for each setting… then there's no system that can't be implemented?"

"Exactly. That's the whole point of designing this genre."

At this, my brother looked at me.

We decided to follow Shigeru's feedback regarding the game's internal aspects.

But when it came to business matters, he wanted to hear my opinion.

'Achieving 100 billion won in sales with a console-based TCG game, huh.'

It wouldn't be easy.

After all, it was a niche genre.

'But if you know the future…'

Contrary to my thoughts, I feigned ignorance and looked at my brother.

"What do you think, brother?"

"I want to try it. It's a genre where I can pack in all the elements I love…"

"We're aiming for two million copies. Just wanting to do it isn't enough."

My brother nodded at my words.

"We'll make it happen, no matter what."

A single, declarative sentence.

Grin.

Yes, that was the response I had been hoping to hear.

I then turned to Shigeru.

"My brother is very satisfied."

"I'm glad to hear that. Honestly, with a game like this… even I'd be tempted."

"Tempted?"

"Yes. It's rare to find a game so unique and well-constructed."

"Then shall we draft a contract?"

"…What?"

"If my dear Shigeru is tempted, how can I possibly ignore that?"