Wednesday 18 March 2000 ZAGE Tower Japan.
Zaboru was now relaxing in his office on the 51st floor of ZAGE Tower. He had only recently returned from a long trip. First he had flown to the United States to assign new projects to the teams at PIXAR and Disney, and after that he continued traveling to the ZAGE London office to review the progress of Team OMNI. Overall, the past few weeks have been filled with constant travel and meetings. Zaboru honestly disliked traveling because it reduced the amount of time he could spend working efficiently. For someone like him, time was extremely valuable.
Still, things were slightly better now compared to the past. Whenever he traveled he no longer relied solely on his Emulator Mind to continue working. He could now carry a laptop with him, allowing him to transfer some of the ideas and information he had organized inside the Emulator Mind into real documents. That way he could continue handling small tasks even while on airplanes or in hotels, making his travel time at least somewhat productive.
There was also another strange detail whenever he traveled abroad. His ghost partner Zaborn, who normally could manifest outside within the space of the Emulator Mind, seemed unable to leave Japan. It was as if some invisible barrier prevented Zaborn from roaming freely once Zaboru left the country. However, inside the Emulator Mind itself everything remained stable and unaffected. Because of that, Zaborn could still accompany him within that mental world, meaning the two of them were never truly separated even during long international trips.
Zaboru looked at the ZAGE Steam sales dashboard, and the numbers were excellent overall. The growth curve over the past few weeks was especially encouraging, showing that more players were gradually adopting the platform. He spent some time browsing the creator pages on Steam as well, carefully observing how developers were presenting their games and how players were reacting in the comment sections.
In the few months since the platform had launched, several developers had already submitted their games, though the total number was still relatively small compared to what Zaboru expected the platform would eventually reach. Most of the creators were familiar ZAGE third‑party developers who had previously worked with the company and were now porting their titles to PC through Steam. For many studios, this was their first serious step into PC distribution, and Zaboru could see that they were still learning how to adapt their games to the platform.
The platform also featured an official developer verification system, allowing studios that had collaborated with ZAGE before to confirm their identity and receive a verified account badge. This system helped reduce confusion for players and prevented impersonation from unknown developers pretending to be established studios.
Because of that, players could easily recognize legitimate developers with a proven history of working with ZAGE. Verified accounts appeared more trustworthy on the storefront, which made it easier for fans to support their favorite studios and ensured that official developer pages were clearly identified as authentic on the platform.
Zaboru grinned. "Now it's time for my alternate account to do the trick… hehehe." He leaned back slightly in his chair while looking at the Steam dashboard. For a while he had been thinking about this plan. He wanted to create a separate account completely detached from the official ZAGE developer identity. Originally he only planned to have a single anonymous indie developer account where nobody would know it was actually him behind the projects. The idea amused him because it would allow him to experiment freely without the expectations that always followed the ZAGE name.
However, since he wanted to release the Fate/Stay Night game now, he realized that one account would not be enough. After thinking about it carefully, he decided to create two alternate developer accounts instead. The first account would use the name "Zaborn." The name was intentionally chosen because it was connected to his ghost partner, making it feel like a small inside joke that only he understood.
Under the Zaborn account he planned to release works that were closer to his personal creations—stories and projects that he had directly written or designed himself. The first release would naturally be Fate/Stay Night. Since the visual novel was already based on Zaboru's own manga with the same title, it felt appropriate to publish it through that identity rather than the official ZAGE brand.
In the future he also intended to release several other experimental titles through the same account. These would be games he personally designed in his spare time.
While the alternate account would be called "Isekai," Zaboru planned to turn the developer identity itself into a small gimmick. Under this account he would pretend that the studio had three developers with the names "PlayStation," "Nintendo," and "SEGA." Of course, in reality the entire studio was just Zaboru himself. The idea amused him greatly. From the outside it would look like a tiny indie team made up of three mysterious developers working together, when in truth it was only one person quietly releasing games.
Zaboru wanted to use this account as a playground for experimentation. Unlike the official ZAGE developer accounts, which carried enormous expectations from players and the media, this identity would allow him to release strange or creative ideas without pressure. If a game succeeded, people would simply assume it came from a talented indie studio. If it failed, it would disappear quietly without affecting ZAGE's reputation.
The joke was especially funny to him because those three names—PlayStation, Nintendo, and SEGA—were extremely famous in his previous life, but they did not exist at all in this world.
In the future he also hoped to release slightly larger indie-style games through this account—projects inspired by titles he remembered from his previous life such as Undertale, Dave the Diver, The Binding of Isaac, Hollow Knight, and many others. Those games had proven that small teams could still create incredibly influential titles through strong ideas, unique storytelling, and creative gameplay mechanics.
However, he knew it was still far too early to attempt games of that scale. For now the "Isekai" account was simply part of a long‑term plan. He would start with smaller projects, slowly build a reputation for the mysterious studio, and only later release bigger titles once the name had gained attention from players. Over time, the account might even become known as one of the most interesting indie developers on Steam—without anyone ever realizing the truth behind it.
Zaboru quickly prepared to upload the Fate/Stay Night game to his "Zaborn" account. "Well anyway, let's post this first," he muttered to himself. Sitting in front of his computer, he carefully reviewed the files one last time before beginning the upload process. Even though he had already tested the game thoroughly, Zaboru still preferred to double‑check everything. Once the upload started, he leaned slightly forward in his chair, watching the progress bar move slowly while preparing the store description and screenshots that would appear on the Steam page.
In his version of Fate/Stay Night, the game no longer contained the adult or eroge scenes that existed in the original concept from his previous life. Zaboru had deliberately removed those elements he decreased it. He clearly remembered how the Fate franchise in his previous world had originally begun as an eroge visual novel, something that often surprised new fans who later discovered the series through anime or other adaptations. While those scenes had been part of the original product, Zaboru felt they were unnecessary for the core story he wanted to present in this world.
Instead of focusing on that aspect, he chose to emphasize the story, characters, and emotional conflicts that made Fate/Stay Night so memorable. By removing the adult scenes, the game could reach a much wider audience and be enjoyed comfortably by more players. In Zaboru's mind, Fate's appeal had never truly been about those scenes anyway—it was about the complex relationships between the characters, the heroic ideals, and the dramatic battles between Masters and Servants. Because of that, he believed the story would actually feel stronger and more accessible without the eroge elements.
Not only that, aside from the three official routes of the original Fate game—the Saber, Rin, and Sakura routes—Zaboru also wanted to introduce an additional storyline. In this new route, Shirou would be able to choose paths involving Medea and Medusa. However, this route would not be immediately available. Players would only unlock it after completing all three of the original routes, turning it into a kind of secret or bonus story for dedicated fans who fully explored the game.
The additional route would explore sides of the story that the original structure barely touched. Medea and Medusa were both fascinating characters in Zaboru's memories, yet in many versions of the story they rarely received the same emotional depth as the main heroines. By giving them their own path, Zaboru wanted players to understand their motivations, their struggles, and their tragic histories more clearly. In his mind, Fate's world was always richer when even the so‑called antagonists were given the chance to show their humanity.
Zaboru loved Fate, especially the Fate/Stay Night era from his previous life, but he always felt that some parts of the story could become a little too depressing at times. The tragedy and emotional weight were part of what made the story powerful, but sometimes it left players feeling emotionally drained after finishing certain routes. While he respected the original tone, he also believed a game should leave players feeling satisfied rather than exhausted.
Because of that, he wanted to adjust the experience slightly by introducing this additional sub‑route. It would not completely remove the darker elements of the story, but it would allow for alternative emotional resolutions that felt a little more hopeful. Since this was still a game after all, Zaboru believed giving players more narrative possibilities and slightly different emotional outcomes would make the experience richer, more balanced, and ultimately more enjoyable for players who invested their time into exploring every path.
After a while the upload process finally finished, and the game officially appeared on the platform. Zaboru decided to price it at 1500 yen, or about 15 dollars, intentionally keeping it quite affordable for most players. He believed visual novels worked best when the entry barrier was low, especially for a new developer identity like "Zaborn." A lower price would encourage more people to try the game, allowing word of mouth to spread naturally among players who enjoyed strong storytelling experiences.
Zaboru leaned back in his chair and stretched slightly. "Heh… finally done," he murmured with satisfaction while refreshing the page to confirm everything looked correct. Seeing the game live on the store gave him a small sense of accomplishment. "Well, next week I'll release the next games from this account too." He paused for a moment, thinking further. "And aside from that… should I make a Fate/Zero game as well? Or maybe adapt it into a movie instead…?"
He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk while considering the idea. "Fate/Zero might work better as a story rather than a game," he muttered. "The narrative is far more linear compared to Fate/Stay Night. Still… it's something that definitely should exist in this world." After thinking for a moment longer, he shrugged slightly and smiled. "Well, that can wait for the future."
Zaboru chuckled softly before turning his attention back to work. There were still many tasks waiting for him, and he needed to assign new responsibilities to the ZAGE development teams as the March release schedule continued to approach.
To be continue
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