In the end, Myron Keyes signed the contract.
All that remained for him was figuring out how to persuade his shareholders—how to explain to them just how important it was to abandon the game division in exchange for the support of a company like Nintendo.
That part had nothing to do with Takayuki anymore.
At this point, Takayuki had successfully acquired the majority of Mikuford's game division equity. The remaining small portion was still in the hands of Mikuford's shareholders, but it accounted for less than twenty percent.
With eighty percent in hand, Takayuki could forcibly demand a full acquisition at any time.
Whether those shareholders wanted to sell or not, they would have to.
Still, to make the acquisition go more smoothly, Takayuki suggested to Myron Keyes that those shareholders should also try playing Fortnite. It might have some… unexpected effects.
Myron Keyes wasn't particularly hopeful, but since things had already reached this stage, he had no choice but to seriously think about how to explain everything to the shareholders.
As for that—Takayuki could only wish him good luck.
"Oh right, Mr. Nintendo," Myron Keyes said, "since we're basically done cooperating, I should at least be able to see your real face now, right? You're not going to keep hiding your identity even from a partner?"
Takayuki replied, "That? You'll know sooner or later. There's no rush to find out now."
The day his identity would be completely exposed wasn't far off anyway.
Even if Takayuki didn't want to reveal it himself, U.S. financial regulators would eventually disclose information about Nintendo. When that happened, Myron Keyes would naturally see who was behind it.
Myron Keyes frowned slightly.
This person was just too mysterious—still unwilling to reveal himself even now.
He really couldn't understand why someone would go to such lengths.
"Alright then," he said.
He stopped pressing the issue, took the signed contract, and headed back to prepare a thorough explanation for his shareholders.
As soon as Myron Keyes left, Takayuki headed to the main employee office area.
At this moment, everyone was still busy at work.
The post-launch maintenance and updates for Fortnite required a huge workload. Especially recently, more and more IPs were actively seeking to collaborate with Fortnite, making crossovers and version updates extremely packed.
Watching the lively scene, Takayuki felt a faint echo of the passion he'd had when he first started making games.
Rebuilding this new company hadn't been just about acquiring Mikuford's game division.
He also wanted to rediscover the feeling of his passionate early days.
And now—
He had found it again.
By forming a new team, training them, letting them stand on their own, and starting from scratch to create Fortnite.
"Good morning, boss."
Marcus, who'd been busy all morning and was about to take a break, stood up from his desk—and then saw Takayuki stepping out of the office wearing his headgear.
At this point, Marcus felt nothing but admiration for him.
In his mind, this boss was comparable to the boss of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
Charismatic, with unique vision and ideas in game development.
"Marcus, right? I remember you—you were one of the earliest employees," Takayuki said.
"Yes, boss," Marcus replied happily, thrilled that he'd been remembered.
Then inspiration struck him."Oh right, boss—I was just about to take a break. How about we play Fortnite together for a bit?"
There were several dedicated game rooms inside the company. Whenever employees felt tired, they could go play games.
And those rooms weren't limited to Fortnite—they had almost every game in the world.
"Not yet," Takayuki said. "We can play later. Right now, I have something important to announce to everyone."
He then picked up a loudspeaker.
"Cough—could all employees please pause your work for a moment."
Takayuki's voice echoed throughout the office.
Nintendo still had fewer than two hundred employees. A two-thousand-square-meter office easily held everyone.
As soon as they heard his voice, people poked their heads out from their desks and looked toward him.
"What's the boss going to announce?"
"No idea—but someone just came out of his office earlier. That guy looked familiar."
"I know him. That was Mikuford's boss."
"Mikuford? The smartphone company?"
"Yeah. They used to make game consoles too—before they got crushed by Gamestar Electronic Entertainment."
"If it's that guy, is the boss announcing Fortnite's launch on Mikuford?"
"Probably. But that's not really big news, is it?"
"Yeah, couldn't that just be announced casually?"
"Unless… a new game?"
"Huh? That's actually possible!"
"If it's a new game, do we need to expand the team? Can we even handle it?"
"Overtime?"
"Please no…"
The employees' imaginations began running wild—and not in directions they liked.
Takayuki didn't give them long.
Seeing that most people were looking at him, he said,"Alright, first announcement: Fortnite will be launching on the Mikuford platform."
No one looked surprised.
They'd already completed Mikuford platform adaptation long ago.If they wanted, Fortnite could even launch today.
Since Takayuki said this was only the first announcement, it was clearly just an appetizer.
"Our company will also be expanding," Takayuki continued."We've entered the process of acquiring Mikuford's game division. Over five hundred experienced developers will be joining us, along with multiple game IPs. I hope everyone here will work together with the Mikuford team to make those IPs shine."
This announcement genuinely surprised everyone.
Mikuford's game division employees knew they were about to be acquired, but bound by confidentiality agreements, they hadn't said a word.
So for most people, this news came completely out of the blue.
"We're really expanding—and straight-up acquiring a whole game division. Five hundred people. That's huge."
"Honestly, it makes sense. Nintendo's booming—over five hundred million dollars in profit in just three months. Buying a game division is nothing."
"New coworkers, new IPs… looks like the company's really going big."
Some employees felt secretly delighted.
When they first joined, they hadn't had high hopes.
Most of them came only because they couldn't find jobs elsewhere, and Nintendo's pay was decent—so they figured they'd stick around for a bit.
If Nintendo went under, they'd just apply elsewhere.
But unexpectedly, the company just kept getting more famous.
And those who joined early became the envy of the entire industry.
With Fortnite alone, Nintendo would never have to worry about revenue again.
According to rating agencies, Nintendo's valuation had already exceeded five billion dollars.
And this was a company barely half a year old.
It was like riding a rocket.
People began discussing enthusiastically, even planning how to host a welcome party for the new employees.
Takayuki raised his hands to quiet them."Alright—that's the second announcement. Now for the third. This is something I think you've all been curious about for a long time."
Everyone's ears perked up.
Curious about what?
Some eyes widened, as if realizing something.
"That's right—my real appearance. In fact, hiding my face has always been part of the plan. Now that the plan is basically complete, there's no need to keep hiding it. So… I can take off the mask now."
Every single gaze locked onto Takayuki. No one even dared blink.
What did Nintendo actually look like?
No one here knew.
They'd been curious for ages.
His appearance was a frequent topic of speculation among employees.
And now—they were finally about to see it.
"Boss said he hid his face because of a plan. Was it because of acquiring Mikuford's game division?"
"But why would that require hiding his face?"
"How would I know?"
"Quiet! Watch!"
Takayuki set the loudspeaker aside.
Beside him, Marcus was already holding his breath.
As one of the earliest employees, his curiosity was the strongest.
At last—it was happening.
What did the boss look like?
Did he have some facial defect? Was that why he hid himself?
Even if that were the case, Marcus wouldn't mind.
Takayuki grabbed the bottom of his smiling mask and slowly lifted it off.
But instead of revealing his face, another black, furry hood appeared underneath.
To prevent accidental exposure, Takayuki had taken extra precautions.
At that moment, the huge office was silent except for the faint hum of computer fans.
Even breathing seemed quieter.
He removed the smiling mask, then deliberately slowed down as he took off the black hood.
Finally—
Takayuki's face was fully revealed to everyone.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Takayuki. Thanks for all your hard work during this time. I really appreciate it. Whew—honestly, holding that in was exhausting."
Everyone: ??????
Everyone: !!!!!!