Zaborn was still happily chewing his gyoza when Zaboru stepped back inside the Emulator Mind, taking a seat across from him. The atmosphere felt relaxed, almost domestic, as if this strange inner world had already started to feel like a second home. Zaborn swallowed his bite, wiped his mouth, and looked around with growing curiosity before finally asking.
"So, Zabo… what exactly can you do in this Emulator Mind of yours?"
Zaboru smiled, clearly enjoying the question. "Well, first of all, time works differently here," he began casually. "From what I've observed, roughly one hour in the outside world equals about two and a half hours here. That means we can spend way more time in this space without worrying about real-world schedules."
He gestured around them as the environment subtly shifted. "I use this a lot when I'm traveling by plane. Long flights used to be a complete waste of time for me, so instead, I just came in here." With a snap of his fingers, a familiar setup appeared nearby—a fully realized workshop PC, desks, tools, and monitors neatly arranged. "I conjured up my workspace and just… work. As you can see, it's basically my workshop, just inside my head."
Zaboru leaned back slightly, continuing. "Not only that, my dexterity, focus, and overall physical control are boosted here. I can think faster, move faster, and work far more efficiently than in the real world." He paused, a playful glint in his eyes. "And then there's this."
In the next moment, Zaboru split apart. One became two, then three, then four identical versions of himself standing side by side. "I can clone my consciousness here," he explained calmly. "
Zaboru smiled proudly. "Each version of me can handle exactly one task," he explained. "That means if I decide to work here, I basically have four times the manpower. Pretty awesome, right?"
Zaborn grinned and nodded in clear approval. "Cool, man."
After that, Zaborn finally stopped eating his gyoza, wiping his hands before his attention drifted elsewhere. His eyes locked onto a strange, sleek machine nearby—something unfamiliar yet intriguing. He walked closer, crouching slightly to inspect it.
"So, Zabo… what is this?" Zaborn asked, tilting his head as he slowly circled the strange machine. "This isn't a console I recognize. Is it from your previous world?"
Zaboru smiled and nodded, a clear sense of nostalgia washing over his expression. "Yeah. This console is from my previous world," he said softly. "It's called the PlayStation 2—one of the greatest consoles of all time where I came from."
He reached down and lightly tapped the surface of the machine. "This thing wasn't just popular—it defined an entire era. It wasn't only about games, but about how people experienced entertainment at home."
Zaborn's interest immediately spiked. He leaned in closer, carefully studying the shape, the ports, the memory card slots, and especially the controller. He picked it up, testing the weight, pressing the buttons experimentally. "One of the best?" he repeated slowly, eyes shining with curiosity. "Just how good was it?"
Zaboru chuckled. "Let's just say," he replied, "for a lot of people, this console defined their childhood, their teenage years, and sometimes even became their escape from reality. It remained the best‑selling console of all time—released in 2001 and still holding that title all the way until the year I died in my previous life."
"Hey man, I want to ask a lot of stuff related to your world," Zaborn said excitedly. "And more importantly—can you bring everything from your world into here?"
Zaboru chuckled and shook his head slowly. "No, I can't do that," he replied honestly. "I can only bring things that are stored clearly in my memory. And even then, there's a limit. For now, even though my Emulator Mind is getting stronger, I still can't bring items or concepts I remember from around 2005 in my previous world."
He shrugged lightly. "It's like there's a hard cutoff. Anything beyond that point feels blurry—out of reach when I try to summon them."
Zaborn tilted his head, clearly intrigued. "So… when did you die, then?" he asked. "What year was it?"
Zaboru smiled faintly, his tone calm but reflective. "It was 2024," he said. "I died near the end of 2024. I was fifty years old at the time."
Zaborn's eyes widened dramatically. "Damn! You're old!" he burst out laughing. "Hahaha! But seriously—why don't you act like one? Especially after you just reincarnated?"
Zaboru smiled, not offended in the slightest. "I don't know, man," he said honestly. "In my previous life, I wasn't really a great person." He paused for a moment, eyes unfocused as he searched for the right words. "Let's just say I was an eternal employee. Same routine every single day. Wake up, work, go home, repeat. A bland, uninteresting life."
He let out a quiet breath. "No real friends. No real passion well probably video games still i.... Just… existing."
His smile turned a little wry as he continued. "And somehow, even then, I kept bothering Sanika in that world. She already had her own life, her own beautiful family, her own happiness… and yet she still cared about me. She checked on me, worried about me, even when I didn't deserve it."
Zaboru chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Looking back, I think that was the only warmth I really felt back then, the only reason that I stayed not to end it."
He leaned back slightly, his voice calmer now. "I guess when I reincarnated, I finally became myself again. All that pressure, all that emptiness, all that quiet loneliness—it disappeared." His expression softened, eyes faintly shining. "And honestly? Seeing my parents alive again, hearing their voices, eating meals together… that alone makes me feel younger than I ever did back then and Sanika? she still so small and i really happy seeing her"
He smiled gently. "Because getting older doesn't automatically mean you gain wisdom. Sometimes, it just means you forget how to live."
Zaborn nodded slowly, his expression softening. "I see… you had a tough life," he said sincerely. "That's fine, Zabo. You were just a normal human after all. Nothing wrong with that."
Zaboru let out a small chuckle, the tension in his shoulders easing. "You know what, Zaborn," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "having someone like you—someone who knows I'm reincarnated and understands everything—I can finally talk freely without fear. I don't have to hide parts of myself or pretend."
He exhaled deeply. "It really lightens the burden I've been carrying all this time. I didn't even realize how heavy it was until now."
Zaborn grinned warmly. "Well," he said with a confident nod, "I'm glad I can help, Zabo."
Zaboru smiled back, feeling a rare sense of ease settle in his chest. After a brief pause, curiosity flickered across his face—and then he asked.
"So!" Zaboru continued, curiosity clearly bubbling up. "How about video games in your world? Are modern games from 2024 amazing?"
He chuckled softly before answering his own question, leaning back as memories surfaced. "They are amazing, no doubt about that," he explained to Zabo. "The technology, the graphics, the scale—things got incredibly advanced. But honestly, it's very different from here."
Zaboru gestured around the Emulator Mind. "In this world, ZAGE takes the lead. We guide things, set directions, and because of that, a lot of creators are able to flourish together. There's competition, sure—but there's also vision."
He sighed lightly. "In my old world, though? It was complicated. Every era had its own identity, its own highs and lows. Power shifted constantly between companies, trends came and went, and sometimes innovation thrived—other times it got buried under fear and greed. It wasn't bad… but it wasn't simple either. Every era had its own struggles."
"Similar to here, 8‑bit video games—like Super Mario Bros.—were what made the video game industry flourish again over there," Zaboru explained. "The Atari crash actually happened in my world too, and for a while everything felt uncertain. Then the 8‑bit era arrived. Many companies tried to create unique games, experimenting with new ideas, even though they were still heavily limited by hardware capabilities."
He continued, warming to the topic. "After that came the 16‑bit era, and honestly, that period is still one of the most beloved eras of gaming. The jump in visuals, sound, and gameplay depth was huge. Games suddenly felt richer, more expressive, more alive. Developers finally had enough power to turn imagination into something tangible."
Zaboru smiled faintly. "And then came what we now call the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 era," he continued. "That was the moment when gaming stopped being seen as something only for 'nerds' or hobbyists hidden in their rooms. It became mainstream. Anyone could be a gamer—kids, adults, office workers, students. Games were suddenly everywhere."
He leaned forward slightly, clearly nostalgic. "Consoles moved into living rooms. Parents played games with their kids. People talked about games the same way they talked about movies or music. Gaming became part of everyday culture."
He gestured animatedly as his excitement grew. "Studios also started creating really weird, bold, and experimental games—ideas that probably wouldn't get approved in future. Developers took risks because nobody fully knew what would sell yet. Some games failed hard, some were janky and unpolished… but others became legends."
Zaboru chuckled. "That era was chaotic, messy, sometimes broken—but it was also extremely fun. Creativity was everywhere. Nobody was afraid to try something new, because the industry itself was still discovering what it could become."
Zaborn listened closely, clearly fascinated, absorbing every word. After a moment, he leaned forward and spoke, trying to piece everything together. "So starting from the PlayStation 3 era onward," he said slowly, "it sounds like the game industry finally found its formula."
He frowned slightly as he continued. "Most big video game companies decided to play it safe. Instead of experimenting, they stuck to what they knew would sell. There were fewer bizarre ideas, fewer strange risks, and while games became bigger and prettier, they also became less innovative."
Zaborn gestured vaguely, as if holding an invisible controller. "When hardware stopped being a limitation, creativity somehow became the real problem. Back then, developers had to be creative just to make their ideas fit into limited hardware. But once hardware was no longer an obstacle, that pressure disappeared. Some games even became poorly optimized, because brute force could replace clever design."
He sighed. "And then there's the weird part about the late 2010s and 2020s. A lot of huge video game companies became shadows of their former selves. They grew greedy, chased trends, and started releasing low‑quality or soulless games. Players who once adored those studios ended up hating them instead."
Zaborn looked back at Zaboru, eyes still bright. "But at the same time, something else happened. Independent developers—small teams, sometimes even single people—started making incredible games again. Passion projects. Weird ideas. Games made because someone wanted to make them."
He smiled slightly. "So even with all that mess, the community kept thriving."
Zaborn nodded slowly, clearly processing everything he had just heard. "So… you want ZAGE to lead the video game industry in this world," he said thoughtfully. "You want games here to thrive the way they did in your previous world—by following what worked back then, and avoiding the same mistakes you already lived through."
Zaboru nodded slowly. "I see… interesting," he said, genuinely intrigued by everything he had just learned. After that, the conversation between him and Zaborn continued for a long time. Inside the Emulator Mind, Zaboru casually summoned countless pieces of culture from his previous life—movies, books, manga, and comics, all from before 2006. They appeared one after another, filling the space like a personal archive of memories, and the two of them talked, commented, and laughed as they browsed through them together.
Eventually, Zaboru deactivated his Emulator Mind and returned fully to the real world. The familiar surroundings of his workshop came back into focus, and for a moment, he wondered if the connection would disappear. Testing it, he spoke quietly in his mind.
"Zaborn… can you still hear me?"
"Yes, I can!" Zaborn answered immediately, his voice clear and lively.
That response made it obvious—Zaborn could remain with him even while Zaboru was in the real world. More than that, Zaboru realized he could mute or unmute his passive Emulator Mind at will, freely controlling when Zaborn could speak or observe. He could even share his vision, letting Zaborn see exactly what he was seeing whenever he allowed it. The connection was stable, flexible, and far more convenient than he had expected.
Zaboru leaned back in his chair, clearly amused, and quietly made sure Zaborn couldn't hear him for the moment. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he muttered to himself, "I guess I've got my own alter ego now… hehehe. Is this what it feels like to gain a new ability? Man, it almost feels like I've got my own Kurama now."
He snorted softly, barely holding back his laughter. "Hahahah… does that mean I can enter Bijuu Mode later or something?"
The thought alone entertained him far more than it probably should have. Shaking his head with a smile, Zaboru straightened up and returned his focus to work, fingers moving confidently as he picked up where he had left off.
Meanwhile, Zaborn was having the time of his life inside the Emulator Mind—jumping between games, experimenting freely, and enjoying food without limits. For him, it was pure freedom. And for Zaboru, having someone who could understand his past life, joke with him, and share those memories without judgment made everything feel just a little lighter.
To be continue
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