Zanki continued, "Number 3... is that ZAGE somehow knows how to make people actually show their talents." Bill Gates frowned because he had not really thought about it from that angle before. Zanki let out a slow sigh and said, "I know this might sound like complete bullshit... but it's true. Let me give you one example first. I had an acquaintance, a former engineer at one of the companies I handled. I knew exactly how capable he was. Technically, he was not stupid at all. In fact, he was pretty sharp. The problem was that he was awful at communication. He could not explain his ideas properly, he often misunderstood team instructions, and because of that, projects around him kept suffering from miscommunication.
"He was the kind of person who would quietly solve a difficult technical problem by himself, but the moment he had to explain what he did to the team, everything became a mess. People misunderstood him, he misunderstood them, and even when he was right, it did not matter because nobody could actually move together properly. In most companies, a person like that slowly gets buried. Not because he lacks ability, but because the system around him has no patience for his weaknesses.
"Then later I met him again after he had been working at ZAGE for some time. Do you know what I saw? A completely different person. He had become one of the engineers at Team NIWA, yes, that same NIWA at ZAGE, and he was not just surviving there. He was doing well. He had friends. He could explain himself. He looked more confident. Somehow, that environment had pulled his actual talent out of him instead of letting it stay buried under his weaknesses.
"It was not like he suddenly became a genius overnight. That's not what I'm saying. But the version of him I saw at ZAGE was the version he probably should have been all along if the right environment had existed earlier. That's the strange part. ZAGE doesn't just use talent. Somehow, they unlock it."
He paused briefly, then added, "And that is only one example. I can give you more. I know of a former planner who used to be considered average at best, the kind of person companies kept around but never really trusted with anything important. After joining ZAGE, that same person ended up helping coordinate big games project schedules without collapsing under pressure. I also know a programmer who used to freeze whenever he had to speak in front of others. At ZAGE, he became someone who could actually present system ideas to his own sub-team. Not perfectly, not like some charismatic genius, but far better than before."
Zanki then looked toward the Microsoft side of the room. "And honestly, Microsoft should know this already. Surely some former ZAGE employees have gone over to your company, right? You know what they're capable of. They're not just technically solid. A lot of them come out of ZAGE more complete than before. Better communication, better teamwork, better adaptability, better confidence. That kind of improvement is real."
He tapped the table lightly and said, "That's what I'm saying here. People who spend enough time inside ZAGE and work under that system somehow improve dramatically. I mean real improvement, not fake corporate evaluation nonsense. And this doesn't even include the higher-ups inside ZAGE's development teams. Those people are a completely different breed entirely."
Bill Gates thought that Zanki was right. Microsoft already had a few former ZAGE employees working as engineers, especially because Microsoft was willing to pay them extremely well, and from what Bill had seen so far, those people were genuinely very capable. Their technical skills were strong, but what stood out even more was how adaptable they were. They learned quickly, communicated better than expected, and seemed far more complete than many engineers from more traditional companies. Still, even knowing that, Bill had never fully realized that ZAGE's internal environment might be this good. The idea that such an unusual workplace culture could produce employees of that quality made him frown even more deeply.
Then Zanki chuckled and said, "Okay, now we're down to the top two, and number two is simple: ZAGE's workflow is completely different from ours." He leaned back slightly before continuing, clearly enjoying the attention in the room. "From what I've gathered, they already have their own video game engine, Unreal Engine, and that alone is insane we all know that it's that famous. But it doesn't stop there. They've also mastered the art of recycling techniques and production resources. They constantly reuse old assets as the base for new ones, then modify, polish, combine, and upgrade them so efficiently that the final result still feels fresh. Their employees are genuinely masterful at this."
Zanki raised one hand and continued, "And it's not just technical reuse either. It's workflow reuse. Animation skeletons, environmental object libraries, sound effect banks, interface templates, combat frameworks, lighting presets, dialogue tools, even enemy behavior systems. A lot of these things don't need to be built from zero every single time. At most companies, teams still waste a shocking amount of time reinventing things that already work. ZAGE doesn't waste that time if they can avoid it."
He then looked around the room and said, "Think about how normal video game development usually works. First, we brainstorm. We argue about what kind of game might work, what kind of game the market wants, what kind of concept is too risky, what kind of design direction we should choose. Then after that, we move into planning, draft documents, test ideas, reject half of them, redesign things, and only after all of that do we start real development. Right?"
Everyone in the room nodded, because that was painfully familiar.
Zanki chuckled again. "In ZAGE, they don't do that in the same way. They practically skip the long brainstorm phase and much of the early design struggle. They move into development far faster than normal. Why? Because by the time a team receives a project, a huge amount of the uncertainty has already been removed. Their engine is ready, their internal capabilities are high, their team bonding reduces friction, and their resource structure is absurdly efficient. That alone already cuts down development time enormously."
He paused, then added more seriously, "And because of all that, it actually becomes possible for them to make some games in as little as three months. Not every game, obviously. But enough of them that the industry starts looking at the numbers and thinking ZAGE must be cheating somehow."
Bill Gates narrowed his eyes and said, "What? How do you know about this, Zanki?" There was a sharper tone in his voice now, because Zanki was no longer talking like a man making educated guesses. He was talking like someone who had looked directly into the machine and studied how it worked.
Zanki only grinned, looking entirely too comfortable under that kind of attention. "Trust me, Mr. Gates, I have my ways," he said lightly. Then his smile turned a little more calculating. "And honestly, the reason I'm even telling you this is simple. I'm also interested in working together to make... less ZAGE in the market."
A few people in the room shifted at the way he phrased that, but Zanki continued without hesitation. "Besides, I'm still not finished. Everything I've explained so far matters, yes, but those are still only supporting reasons. The real reason ZAGE is different..." He paused on purpose, letting the room lean into the silence for a moment. "...is still ahead."
Bill Gates adjusted his glasses and said, "Well... it's Zaboru, isn't it?"
Zanki let out a slow sigh and nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. Zaboru is the one who makes points five to two even possible. Those flexible office hours? He's the one who created that system. The strong team bonding? He's the one who encouraged his employees to play games together, and worse, he even joins them sometimes himself. Number three, the talent issue? Zaboru is apparently an insanely good teacher. He's like a walking knowledge library. Whenever people work with him, they keep asking him questions, and somehow he always has an answer."
Zanki folded his arms and continued, "From what I've heard, ZAGE also has a huge number of tutorial files and internal 'how-to' documents made by Zaboru himself. And the reason they can move so quickly into development? That's because Zaboru often already provides the foundation before the team even starts. Design direction, story, core gameplay, sometimes even pieces of the mechanics themselves. Even the logic behind reused assets is often something Zaboru already thought through. A lot of the technical methods they rely on were either discovered by him, refined by him, or taught directly by him."
He paused, then added more heavily, "And that still isn't the full picture. He owns one hundred percent of ZAGE, which means his voice is ZAGE's voice. There's no board fighting him every step of the way. No internal power struggle slowing things down. When he decides something, the company moves. And unlike most owners, he isn't just some rich man pretending to understand game development. He actually does understand it, at a ridiculous level."
Zanki gave a small, bitter smile. "As a businessman in the normal sense, he's honestly not even that impressive compared to people like us he even act stupid as praising his rivals games. He's not obsessed with wealth the way most top executives are. But when it comes to game development..." He shook his head once. "He's basically a god of video games. And on top of that, he's absurdly charismatic he feel so real. That's why ZAGE's higher-ups trust him so much. They don't just obey him because he owns the company. They follow him because they genuinely believe in him."
Zanki then looked directly at both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs before saying, "So yes... Zaboru Renkonan is really what makes ZAGE into ZAGE."
Then he grinned and added, "And honestly, the easiest way to make ZAGE fall would be to make Zaboru fall..." But after saying that, he chuckled and waved the thought away lightly. "Still, we're not actually going to do that, are we? Hahaha."
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs exchanged indirect looks with Zanki, and for a brief moment, Zanki noticed a dangerous glint in both of their eyes. It was subtle, but it was there. The kind of look powerful men showed when a conversation stopped being theoretical and started becoming useful.
Bill Gates broke the silence first. "You seem to admire Zaboru?" he asked, his tone calm but sharp.
Zanki only shrugged. "I don't, honestly. I'm just telling the truth based on the information I've gathered. Admiring someone and accurately understanding them are two very different things."
That answer seemed to satisfy neither Bill nor Steve completely, but neither of them pushed the point right away. Instead, the meeting continued, and the tone gradually shifted from observation to strategy. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs started putting forward suggestions one after another, each one aimed at slowing ZAGE down or weakening its advantages. Some ideas were predictable, like trying to poach more talented ZAGE employees with higher salaries, better benefits, and more aggressive recruitment tactics. Others were colder, more subtle, such as interfering with supplier relationships, increasing pressure through publishing competition, or trying to lure key developers away at critical times.
Even Zanki contributed a few ideas of his own. At one point, he recommended the possibility of spreading a carefully designed bad rumor about ZAGE. Nothing too extreme, nothing that would obviously cross the line into something criminal or insane, but just enough to plant discomfort around the company's image if the opportunity ever appeared. The suggestion made a few people in the room uneasy, but nobody rejected it outright.
As the meeting continued, the mood inside the room became heavier and heavier. What had started as a discussion about ZAGE's strengths slowly turned into something else entirely: a recognition of just how dangerous ZAGE had become in the video game industry. The more they talked, the clearer it became that ZAGE was not simply ahead. It was becoming the kind of company that could shape the market itself if left unchecked.
Eventually, the formal meeting came to an end. People began standing, gathering documents, and quietly leaving the room, but Bill Gates was not finished yet. Before Steve Jobs and Zanki could separate, Bill calmly asked both of them to stay at a nearby hotel for a while longer. This time, there would be no wider audience, no staff, and no need to speak carefully for the room.
Now the conversation was becoming personal.
Now the three of them were seated inside the restaurant of a fancy hotel, far away from the formal meeting room and the ears of their employees. The atmosphere here was quieter, more private, and in some ways more dangerous. In the office, they had still needed to act like executives discussing market pressure. Here, the conversation no longer needed that kind of mask.
Bill Gates was the one who spoke first. He looked at Zanki and said, "You know... what you said in the meeting as a joke intrigued me." Then he lowered his voice and added, "It sounds like you have some idea of how to make Zaboru fall. Give me more detail."
Steve Jobs let out a slow sigh and simply drank his water, but he was clearly listening just as closely as Bill. He did not interrupt, nor did he object. That silence alone made the situation heavier.
Zanki grinned, looking far too comfortable for a man sitting between two of the most powerful executives in the world. "Of course, Mr. Gates," he said. "And no, we do not need to kill him or anything ridiculous like that. That would be too much, too obvious, and frankly too stupid. What we need is much simpler."
He leaned forward slightly.
"We need to make his reputation plummet."
For a brief second, no one at the table said anything.
Then Zanki continued in a calmer tone, almost like a lecturer explaining a business model. "The problem with Zaboru is that his strength is not just his skill. It is trust. People trust him too much. His employees trust him. Players trust him. Even rivals end up respecting him more than they should look at Sonaya. That kind of reputation becomes a shield. If you want to weaken a man like that, you do not attack the shield from the outside. You crack it from within."
Steve Jobs lowered his glass slightly, now fully paying attention.
Zanki smiled again and said, "And that is why a good scandal is useful. Not a cheap lie. Not a random rumor. Those are weak. They burn fast and disappear fast. A truly effective scandal is something that has enough truth behind it to feel believable, but is shaped in a way that makes the truth look uglier than it really is."
Bill Gates narrowed his eyes. "You've thought about this quite a lot."
Zanki's smile did not disappear. "Of course I have."
He tapped one finger lightly against the table. "A man like Zaboru does not fall because of one failure. He falls when people begin to question whether the image they believed in was ever real to begin with. Once doubt enters, everything else becomes easier." Zanki grinned "I and i have such information... legit information"
Now both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were fully listening.
To be continue
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