Buying Mikufu's game division was no easy task.
There were still several months before the division would be officially spun off. First, the employees needed to be individually reassured—so they'd be willing to wait it out.
Takayuki handed that job straight to his strongest right-hand woman, Matsuhashi Minori.
She would personally lead a team to meet with every employee in Mikufu's game division.
The next step would be the acquisition process.
But acquiring this division meant taking an unconventional route.
Even though Mikufu's game division was about to be split off, it was still technically under Mikufu's umbrella. The only difference was that it would now be responsible for its own profits and losses. Without Mikufu's backing, funding would immediately become a crisis—just paying employee salaries and usage fees for things like Unreal Engine alone could crush the department.
Unless every employee was willing to work for free for more than half a year, give up most vacation time, and bet everything on the three games scheduled for future release, there was almost no chance of revival.
As for their previous games, according to Mikufu's agreements, Mikufu would retain the copyrights for over a year—to squeeze out a bit more sales for their own consoles and related products.
If someone wanted to acquire the game division, Mikufu's approval was still required.
And if Gamestar Electronic Entertainment were the buyer, Mayron Kess would almost certainly reject it outright the moment he found out.
Even if he didn't outright hate Gamestar Electronic Entertainment, there was no way he'd let them take advantage of him.
He'd rather sell it dirt cheap to someone else than let Gamestar get it.
So from the very beginning, Takayuki knew he needed to create a brand-new company.
A company that was clean, innocent-looking, and unlikely to arouse suspicion.
That's when Takayuki suddenly thought of the perfect candidate.
His alt account.
Nintendo—damn it—was practically a ruler of the world.
This alt identity had been active online for over ten years and, during that entire time, had almost zero interaction with Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
Even his three disciples didn't know that this account actually belonged to Takayuki himself.
The number of people who knew the truth could be counted on one hand.
Using this alt identity to start a company was simply perfect.
Once the idea formed, Takayuki acted immediately.
At that moment, a spark of excitement reignited within him.
Decades of game development had gradually made him steady and restrained.
But this felt like starting from zero again.
He wanted to see how many people would support him in this world—without the halo of his famous name.
Well… not entirely without fame.
This alt account was already quite well-known, widely regarded as the "King of Indie Games," with numerous indie titles dominating the Battle.net best-seller charts.
Still, founding a company alone wasn't enough.
He needed developers—and clean, unquestionable funding.
To make everything convincing, and to facilitate acquiring Mikufu, the company had to be registered in the United States.
This was a natural geographical constraint.
If the company were Japanese, it would inevitably face much stricter scrutiny from the U.S. government.
An American company acquiring another American company was far more feasible.
That's when Takayuki thought of another person.
Lorenzo, former CEO of the Morgan Group.
A figure comparable in status to Bill Gates of Microsoft in Takayuki's previous life.
Now retired and focused on philanthropy, Lorenzo rarely interfered with Morgan Group affairs anymore.
If Lorenzo could lend his name—and if the company were founded jointly by Lorenzo and Takayuki's alt identity—the resistance they'd face would be minimal.
"I'm going to the U.S.," Takayuki said decisively. "Help me contact Mr. Lorenzo as well."
He had his personal assistant make the arrangements.
That very afternoon, Takayuki boarded a flight to the United States.
His passion was fully reignited. The feeling of his youth had returned, as if he'd been reborn. He was energized to the core.
Even business negotiations—which he'd once found dull—now felt engaging again.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., nearly eighty-year-old Lorenzo sat in his estate, utterly puzzled.
Takayuki had suddenly reached out to him—saying he wanted Lorenzo to rediscover the feeling of his younger days.
The feeling of youth?
What could possibly bring that back?
Founding the Morgan Group in the early days?
That had indeed been a time of passion—his most brilliant era.
But what exactly was Takayuki planning?
Lorenzo received the invitation late at night, just as Takayuki was already preparing to fly to the U.S.
He only saw the message when Takayuki was about to arrive.
His confusion didn't last long.
Three hours later, Takayuki landed in the U.S. and arrived in Lorenzo's city, waiting at a discreet location suitable for confidential negotiations.
Takayuki hadn't waited for a firm reply.
Or perhaps he was already certain Lorenzo would agree.
And indeed—Lorenzo didn't hesitate much at all.
He'd always had a good impression of Takayuki.
As someone who had succeeded young himself, Lorenzo felt a kindred spirit in Takayuki's drive and ambition.
Later, Morgan Group and Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had worked closely together. Even when relations once froze, it never damaged Lorenzo's regard for Takayuki.
Naturally, he wouldn't refuse the invitation.
He was also deeply curious about what Takayuki was plotting.
They agreed to meet at a restaurant in a major U.S. city—one known for its absolute discretion.
This restaurant was famous for privacy and security.
Any negotiations held there were guaranteed secrecy. They even offered special services to ensure clients' entire stay in the U.S. remained confidential.
That was the foundation of the restaurant's reputation—and it also had powerful backing.
Given Takayuki and Lorenzo's wealth, the cost was trivial.
Takayuki spent over a million dollars on the arrangement, barely batting an eye.
By the time Lorenzo arrived, Takayuki had been waiting for a while, calmly browsing recent U.S. internet news.
Lorenzo, meanwhile, had deliberately put on a formal business suit—something he'd barely worn in recent years—clearly showing the importance he placed on this meeting.
"Mr. Takayuki, sorry to keep you waiting," Lorenzo said as he entered the private room, guided by the staff.
Takayuki stood up with a smile."No, not long at all. It's been quite some time since we last met, Mr. Lorenzo. I've missed this."
"Indeed," Lorenzo replied with a faint smile. "But we're not here just to reminisce. You spent over a million dollars to set this up—I'm very curious what kind of business you want to discuss."
Takayuki looked at him and said calmly:
"Are you interested in starting a company together?"
"…Hmm?"