Saturday 9 May 2000 ZAGE Tower Japan.
As usual Zaboru was working, and right now he was preparing to post a new game to his alternate Steam developer accounts called Zaborn and Isekai.
Zaborn was his personal Steam developer account separate from the official ZAGE publisher account. That meant every game released under this account was not connected to ZAGE at all. Instead, the games were fully owned and created by Zaboru himself. It was something like his personal playground where he could experiment with ideas without involving the company.
So far there was already one game published under this account: "Fate/Stay Night," a visual novel. The game had become surprisingly popular. Even after several months since its release, the title was still selling steadily. One reason was the price. The game was very cheap, making it easy for many players to try it.
Another reason was the storytelling. Many players enjoyed the strong narrative and the text-based gameplay that visual novels offered. The genre allowed them to experience a deep story with multiple characters and branching paths. Of course, not everyone liked that kind of gameplay. Some players preferred action or faster pacing and felt visual novels were too slow. Even so, the overall reception remained positive.
The ratings were good and the sales numbers were still strong, which amused Zaboru quite a bit. For him, this little side project had turned into a nice way to earn some personal pocket money while also experimenting with different game ideas outside the structure of ZAGE.
"Hehehehe this aren't ZAGE money, this is my money. Not bad, not bad. So let's upload the next game, which is another visual novel from Type Moon in my previous life… 'Tsukihime.' Hehehe." Zaboru leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin. Unlike the massive corporate projects handled by ZAGE, these little releases felt personal to him. There was no board meeting, no development committee, and no marketing department involved. It was simply him putting out games he liked.
Yes, Zaboru planned to upload another title to the Zaborn account, and the game would be Tsukihime. Just like Fate/Stay Night, it was a visual novel from his previous life, known for its dark atmosphere and strong character-driven story.
Tsukihime told the story of a young man named Shiki Tohno, who possessed a strange supernatural ability called the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. With this power, Shiki could see the "lines" of death on objects and living beings, and by cutting those lines he could destroy or kill anything instantly. The story began when Shiki returned to his wealthy family mansion after many years of living away due to a childhood accident. Soon after his return, he encountered a mysterious and powerful vampire woman named Arcueid Brunestud.
That encounter dragged Shiki into a hidden world filled with vampires, supernatural creatures, secret organizations, and ancient conflicts. Throughout the story, the player followed Shiki as he uncovered dark secrets about his own past, the Tohno family, and the dangerous forces surrounding Arcueid. Depending on the choices made during the visual novel, the story branched into multiple routes focusing on different heroines such as Arcueid, Ciel, Akiha, Hisui, and Kohaku. Each route revealed different pieces of the overall mystery and explored different emotional themes.
What made Tsukihime memorable in Zaboru's previous life was its combination of horror atmosphere, psychological tension, and strong character relationships.
However, Zaboru was not planning to price it high. Instead, he decided the game would sell for only 2 USD. Cheap enough for almost anyone to try, but still enough to generate a small stream of personal income for him.
After finishing the upload process, Zaboru stretched his arms slightly and switched accounts again. This time he logged into another developer account called "Isekai." Unlike the Zaborn account, which already had a small following due to Fate/Stay Night, this account was meant to be something completely different.
There would be no marketing, no announcement, and no official promotion for anything released under the Isekai name. Zaboru simply wanted to publish strange or experimental games here whenever he felt like it. Whether the games sold well or completely failed did not matter to him at all. The account existed purely for fun.
To make the page even more amusing, Zaboru listed three fake developers under the Isekai studio profile: "SEGA," "NINTENDO," and "PLAYSTATION." In reality, every single one of them was just Zaboru himself. It was a private joke that only he could understand. Those names were legendary video game companies from his previous life, but in this world nobody recognized them. Because of that, the joke remained completely invisible to everyone except him.
Zaboru grinned. "Heheheh, let's upload these two games first." He had already prepared two titles for the account: Cave Story and Another World.
Cave Story was a game created by a single developer in Zaboru's previous life, a man named Daisuke Amaya, also known as Pixel. What made the project legendary was the dedication behind it. Daisuke Amaya spent nearly five full years of his life working on the game almost entirely by himself. He designed the gameplay, created the pixel art, composed the music, and programmed the systems. When it was finally finished, he released the game for free on the internet.
That story always impressed Zaboru. A single creator building a full and memorable game purely out of passion felt incredibly inspiring. The game itself mixed platforming action with exploration, secrets, and a charming pixel-art world. Even though it looked simple at first glance, the gameplay was tight and satisfying, and the story carried surprising emotional depth for such a small project.
Zaboru wanted to replicate that spirit in this world. Of course, he was not going to release it for free like the original creator did. Instead, he decided the game would cost only 1 USD, or about 100 Yen. The price was intentionally extremely cheap. It was almost symbolic, more like a small token payment rather than a real commercial product.
For Zaboru, the pricing itself was part of the gimmick. He wanted players browsing Steam to suddenly notice a well‑made game sold for almost nothing and become curious enough to try it.
The Cave Story itself was a side‑scrolling action adventure game that mixed classic platform gameplay with exploration and light RPG mechanics. Players controlled a small robot named Quote who woke up inside a mysterious cave with no memories of his past. As the story progressed, Quote discovered a hidden underground world populated by strange creatures known as Mimigas and other mechanical beings.
Throughout the game, players explored different cave regions, fought enemies using a variety of unique weapons, and slowly uncovered the truth behind the underground kingdom. Each weapon could level up through combat, changing how it behaved and encouraging different play styles. The levels were interconnected, allowing players to travel between areas while discovering secrets, upgrades, and hidden story elements.
As for Another World, it was a classic game from Zaboru's previous life originally created by Delphine Software. The gameplay was extremely unique for its time and pushed the hardware limitations of the era to the maximum. Even with the limited power of older systems, the game managed to deliver cinematic storytelling and smooth animation that felt far ahead of its generation. Zaboru admired that design philosophy and wanted to recreate the same feeling here. He optimized the game heavily so that even older PCs could run it smoothly, while slightly improving the performance and responsiveness compared to the version he remembered from his previous life.
Another World itself was a cinematic platform adventure game. The story followed a young scientist named Lester Knight Chaykin who accidentally transported himself to an alien world after a laboratory experiment went wrong. Stranded in this dangerous and unfamiliar environment, Lester had to survive while navigating strange landscapes, hostile creatures, and advanced alien technology.
Unlike traditional action games, Another World focused heavily on atmosphere and visual storytelling rather than long dialogue. The game rarely used text or spoken words. Instead, the story unfolded through animations, environmental details, and character interactions. Players had to observe what was happening and react accordingly.
The gameplay mixed platforming, puzzle solving, and action sequences. Players needed to carefully time their movements, avoid deadly traps, and use a small energy weapon that Lester acquired during the journey. Many sections required precise timing and experimentation, making the experience feel tense but rewarding when players finally succeeded.
One of the most memorable parts of the game was Lester's encounter with an alien prisoner who eventually became his ally. Their silent cooperation created a surprisingly emotional connection despite almost no dialogue being used. That subtle storytelling style was one of the reasons Another World became so respected among players in Zaboru's previous life.
Then Zaboru grinned and done posting both games as he smile continue to work another things.
Meanwhile Sanika Renkonan was currently on holiday from her work at ZAGE, and she was happily spending her free time doing one of her favorite things—playing games. When she opened Steam, she quickly noticed that her brother had posted a new game titled "Tsukihime." Her eyes immediately lit up with excitement.
Sanika chuckled happily. "Whoa! A new visual novel, hehehe. I'm so excited." She had already enjoyed Fate/Stay Night before, so seeing another game from the same developer instantly caught her attention.
Without wasting much time, Sanika quickly bought the game for 200 yen. The price was cheap enough that she didn't even hesitate. However, while the purchase page refreshed, something else suddenly caught her eye on the recommendation list.
"Huh?" she murmured while leaning closer to the screen. "Whoa… there's a new developer called 'Isekai?' What is this?"
The unfamiliar studio name made her curious. She had never seen it before, and since Steam was still relatively new, discovering new developers always felt interesting to her.
Sanika then opened the page of the developer called Isekai. The page itself was surprisingly simple. There was almost no description, only a short message written at the top: "We are 3 people Playstation, Nintendo and SEGA. Hope you enjoy our game."
Sanika blinked a few times when she read it. "Playstation… Nintendo… SEGA?" she murmured quietly. The names sounded strange to her, but at the same time they felt oddly interesting. She wondered if those were nicknames or maybe some kind of small indie studio group.
She then looked down at the list of games published on the page. There were only two titles available: Another World and Cave Story. Both of them were priced at only 100 yen each, which was extremely cheap compared to most games on the platform.
Sanika shrugged lightly and smiled. "Well… I'm interested. Let's buy them anyway. The games are cheap, and it's nice for filling my library. Hehehe." Without thinking too much, she quickly clicked the purchase button for both games.
Sanika had new hobby which now she enjoyed filling her Steam library with different kinds of games. Even though Steam had not been released for very long, many independent developers were already publishing their projects there. Some were small experimental games, while others were surprisingly well-made hidden gems.
Aside from ZAGE titles, Sanika loved exploring these smaller games. She often bought them out of curiosity, hoping to discover something fun or unusual. For her, collecting games had become a hobby on its own, and seeing her library slowly grow always gave her a strange sense of satisfaction.
Sanika paused and thought for a moment. "Hmm… should I play Tsukihime first? Well, maybe later. Let's try this 'Isekai' game instead… and I can do a live stream while playing it. Hehehe."
Sanika had already set up proper live streaming equipment in her room. She owned a decent camera, microphone, and a powerful PC capable of handling both gaming and streaming at the same time. Over the past months she had slowly built a small but enthusiastic audience online.
She also ran her own YouTube channel called "Play with Sani-Ran!" where she regularly uploaded gaming videos and weekend live streams. Streaming had started as a simple hobby, but surprisingly her channel had grown quite popular among viewers who enjoyed watching her reactions and playful personality.
Sanika loved the experience of interacting with people while playing games. Reading chat messages, joking with viewers, and sharing the excitement of discovering new games made the experience much more fun for her. Even though she wasn't earning any money from streaming, she honestly didn't mind at all. For Sanika, the enjoyment came from the community itself and from sharing her gaming adventures with others.
"Hehehe okay, let's live stream Cave Story from Isekai," Sanika said while adjusting her camera and microphone. She quickly made sure everything was working properly before starting the broadcast. Once the stream went live, she smiled brightly toward the camera.
"Hey guys! Today I want to try a new game from a developer called Isekai. The game is called 'Cave Story!'" she said cheerfully. "And guess what? This game is extremely cheap. It only costs 100 yen! So let's find out if it's actually good." She laughed a little and continued, "Honestly I'm not sure if this will be a good game or not, but that makes it even more interesting. Let's try it anyway!"
Meanwhile viewers had already started joining her stream. Messages quickly began appearing in the chat window.
"Ohh Sani‑Ran good morning!"
"Sani‑Ran I missed your streams!"
"Sani‑Ran you should stream every day!"
The chat quickly became lively as more viewers joined. Sanika was a beautiful girl who loved playing games, and naturally she had become quite popular among early streaming audiences. Even though game streaming was still a very new thing in this era, people enjoyed watching her energetic reactions and friendly personality.
Sanika chuckled softly when she read the chat messages. "Good morning everyone," she said happily while waving at the camera. Then she clicked the game icon on Steam and launched Cave Story, ready to explore the mysterious game from the unknown developer.
To be continue
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