Oh my god.
Oh. My. God.
OH MY GOD!!!
Everyone present stared at Takayuki in complete shock.
"Taka—"
"The God of Games!"
"It's actually the God of Games!"
"Our boss is Takayuki!!"
"Am I seeing things?!"
"Punch me!"
"I'll punch you—then you punch me too!"
"Ow! That hurts—it really is Takayuki! So from beginning to end, it was Takayuki all along!"
"I think… I finally understand everything."
Marcus's mind was buzzing.
For half a year, he had worked alongside his boss without ever knowing what he actually looked like.
He had made countless guesses.
Yet no matter how wild his imagination ran, he had never once guessed that their boss was Takayuki.
The God of Games himself.
And yet, now that the truth was out, everything suddenly made sense.
Every single thing connected.
During his six months at Nintendo, Marcus had investigated the company more than once, trying to uncover clues about Nintendo's true identity.
But the concealment had been flawless.
Not a single trace had been left behind.
At the very beginning, this independent game developer had emerged during the early days of the BattleNet platform.
Some people had once commented that Takayuki himself pioneered the platform-based game sales model and promoted an entirely new game development strategy.
But the person who truly made BattleNet popular in its early days—who convinced countless developers to willingly publish their games there—was Nintendo.
With Nintendo as a precedent, many indie games gained far more attention.
Players were no longer limited to massive AAA titles.
Small but beautiful games each had their own unique charm.
Marcus absolutely loved Stardew Valley. He had logged over a thousand hours on BattleNet.Back then, if he didn't play three or four hours a day, he felt restless all over.
Farming, clearing weeds, falling in love, helping villagers—there always seemed to be endless things to do in Stardew Valley.
Later, Nintendo released multiple indie blockbusters.
Each one inspired even more indie developers, drawing more people into game creation.
Takayuki was the god of the entire gaming industry.
And Nintendo was the guiding star of independent developers.
So that was it.
From beginning to end, the two had always been the same person.
Marcus suddenly recalled Nintendo's past collaboration with Triangle Game Studio.
Those three female producers were now Takayuki's students and disciples.
Once Nintendo's true identity was revealed, all the scattered pieces of information snapped together.
Everything was explained.
So their boss had been a super heavyweight all along.
Back then, they'd even worried that the company might suddenly go bankrupt.
Now?
Bankrupt?
That was impossible.
"I'm very sorry for only revealing my true identity now," Takayuki said."My plan from the very beginning was to announce it after successfully acquiring Mikuford's game division."
"So that's why! You couldn't possibly acquire Mikuford's game division under the identity of the God of Games—otherwise Myron Keyes would've demanded the moon!"
"No, he probably wouldn't even demand more—he might've outright refused. Even if Mikuford's game division suffocated to death, Myron Keyes would never have agreed to sell it to the boss!"
"Hahaha, I kind of want to see Myron Keyes's reaction now."
With Nintendo's true identity revealed, many people experienced the same sudden realization as Marcus.
All their past doubts were finally resolved.
At the same time, they felt deeply shaken.
Back then, Nintendo had been hailed as the number one figure beneath the God of Games.
People believed that if this indie developer ever made a large-scale game with massive influence, his status would rival the God of Games himself.
But now, none of that mattered anymore.
Because the "number one beneath the God of Games"…was the God of Games himself.
Was there anything more dramatic than that?
Takayuki cleared his throat and said,"I don't need to hide anything anymore. If you still have questions, feel free to ask."
"I—I do!" Marcus shot his hand up first.
"Boss, when you used the Nintendo alias, were you already planning all of this?"
"Of course! Mikuford was already showing signs of rising back then. To prevent someone like that from becoming a competitor to Gamestar Electronic Entertainment, our boss laid out the plan in advance—this is the thinking of a true god!"
By now, everyone had completely mythologized Takayuki.
Everything was foresight. Everything was part of a grand plan.
The recent quiet period at Gamestar Electronic Entertainment?
That was because the boss had been focused on Nintendo.
And Nintendo not being overly busy?
That clearly meant Gamestar Electronic Entertainment had gone quiet on purpose—to lower Myron Keyes's guard.
Takayuki couldn't help but think: Wow, their imagination is impressive.
He hadn't explained anything yet, and they'd already filled in the blanks themselves.
Marcus, however, still wanted an answer directly from Takayuki.
Takayuki simply smiled.
"You can make your own judgments about things like that. I don't need to say much—you already have your answer."
Since people were happy to build their own perfect narrative, Takayuki saw no reason to shatter it.
Marcus was now in full worship mode—whatever Takayuki said was absolute truth.
"Any other questions?"
"I have one!"
"Me too!"
People began asking all kinds of strange questions one after another.
Takayuki answered whatever he could.
Would the company merge with Gamestar Electronic Entertainment in the future?
Takayuki answered: no.
This would remain a new company jointly founded by Nintendo and Lorenzo.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment and the Morgan Group would provide support.
With two giants working together, the future of this game company was extremely bright.
It had to be said—having U.S. capital backing Nintendo made development in the U.S. much smoother.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment was often subjected to regulatory scrutiny and deliberate obstruction.
But since Nintendo's founding, hardly any government agencies had come knocking.
That was a clear advantage.
Takayuki had no intention of wasting it—he would let Nintendo grow freely.
As for the future, Takayuki would serve as the head of game development here.
The CEO position would be handed over to a professional manager.
Songqiao Shi had already recommended several strong candidates—former university classmates of his—people he personally vouched for.
Going forward, Takayuki would place part of his game ideas within Nintendo, encouraging the team here to develop new games and create fresh content.
Everything—
Finally made sense.