Another world Game Developers in Japan`s 1991

Saturday, 12 October 2001.

ZAGE Campus, Silicon Valley, California, USA.

Zaboru was currently visiting ZAGE Campus after spending most of the day meeting with ZAGE Dev USA. The American development teams had presented several reports regarding ZEPS 4's launch games, online features, development tools, and the progress of several important projects that had been distributed across ZAGE's international branches.

Fortunately, everything remained steady.

ZEPS 4 itself was developing smoothly, while the launch lineup was gradually becoming stronger. Several games had already reached playable states, though many still required optimisation, additional content, balancing, and closer coordination with the hardware division.

Even so, Zaboru was satisfied.

The console was no longer only a collection of ambitious documents and experimental technology. It was becoming a real machine with a real identity.

However, almost nobody outside ZAGE knew that.

The company had maintained an unusually strict level of secrecy around ZEPS 4. No official screenshots had been released. No hardware specifications had been confirmed. No controller design had been revealed. Even the final appearance of the console remained unknown to the public.

Most rumours spreading across ZAGE Forum were either completely false or based on fragments that lacked enough context to be useful.

Some people believed ZEPS 4 was weaker than Xbox.

Others claimed ZAGE was copying iPlay.

A few supposed insiders insisted the console regularly overheated during testing, despite having no evidence beyond one anonymous forum post and a blurry photograph of a delivery truck entering ZAGE Tower.

Zaboru found those rumours entertaining.

He had no intention of correcting them yet.

Every ZAGE branch had been instructed to protect the project carefully. Employees working directly on ZEPS 4 signed strict confidentiality agreements, and important information was divided between teams so that no single careless employee could expose everything.

Zaboru did not want the console to be revealed through an ugly magazine scan, a blurry stolen photograph, or some anonymous forum user describing half-understood hardware specifications.

He wanted the first reveal to feel like an event.

The entire strength of ZAGE was slowly being redirected toward that moment.

When ZEPS 4 was finally revealed, Zaboru wanted the gaming world to feel as though the future had arrived without warning.

He certainly would not walk onto a small stage, casually place the console on a table, and explain the specifications with a sleepy presentation.

No.

He wanted impact.

A dramatic reveal. Real gameplay.

ZEPS 4 would not merely compete through graphics.

It would introduce an entire culture surrounding the console.

Naturally, the presentation would also need to hit Xbox and iPlay.

Unintentionally, of course.

Zaboru smiled faintly while imagining it.

Unfortunately, ZEPS 4 was not the only thing occupying his thoughts.

Zaboru leaned back in his chair and stared through the office window toward the wide ZAGE Campus below. Developers moved between buildings, while several employees crossed the open courtyard carrying documents and equipment.

Everything looked peaceful.

That peace only made the letter resting on his desk feel more disturbing.

It was an invitation to attend a large international business gathering at the World Trade Center in New York on Sunday, 11 November 2001.

Several major businessmen, financial executives, political representatives, and investors had apparently received similar invitations. Zaboru's name was naturally included because of ZAGE's enormous expansion and his growing influence across technology, entertainment, communications, and finance.

Under ordinary circumstances, he might have accepted.

But the date and location made him deeply uncomfortable.

In his previous life, the World Trade Center had been destroyed during the September 11 attacks. The event had changed international politics, security, warfare, surveillance, and public fear for decades afterward.

The date in this world was different.

So were many of the circumstances.

But the similarity was too strong to ignore.

Zaboru stared at the invitation again.

"Will something like that happen in this world too…?"

He genuinely did not know.

Many historical events had changed since his reincarnation. Some happened earlier, others happened later, and several never occurred at all. Political relationships were different. Korea remained unified and maintained friendly relations with Japan and China. Companies had developed through completely different paths, technology had advanced much faster, and ZAGE's existence had influenced countless industries.

Even natural disasters did not always follow the same timing.

The Kobe earthquake, for example, had occurred under noticeably different circumstances compared with Zaboru's previous life. Several accidents and tragedies he remembered had also changed dates or severity, while some appeared to have been prevented entirely by new technology, different infrastructure, or simple butterfly effects.

That should have reassured him.

It did not.

An international gathering inside the Twin Towers, attended by influential people, on a date close enough to awaken his memories felt too deliberate to dismiss as an ordinary coincidence.

Zaboru had already refused the invitation.

He did not provide a dramatic explanation. He simply claimed that his schedule would require him to remain in Japan and Asia during that period.

Even so, refusing only protected him.

It did not protect everyone else.

Zaboru lowered his gaze and rubbed his forehead.

"What am I supposed to do?"

He could not contact the American government and explain that he remembered a terrorist attack from another life. Even if someone believed him, he possessed no concrete information about whether an attack would happen, who might be involved, or whether the Twin Towers were truly the target.

A warning without evidence could create panic.

It might also expose him to agencies that would never stop questioning how he knew.

Worse, if the incident had already changed in this world, interfering recklessly might create an entirely different disaster.

His thoughts naturally moved toward the Illuminati.

"Could they be involved somehow?"

Zaboru had heard countless conspiracy theories in his previous life. Some claimed Osama bin Laden was only a scapegoat. Others accused governments, intelligence agencies, financial organisations, or powerful private groups of allowing or arranging the tragedy.

Zaboru had never known the truth.

Most of those theories contradicted one another, relied on questionable evidence, or transformed real uncertainty into increasingly impossible stories. He refused to treat them as confirmed simply because the Illuminati genuinely existed in this world.

Still, after meeting Leonard Epstein, he could no longer completely dismiss the possibility that hidden organisations influenced major events.

That was what frightened him.

The truth might be simpler than the conspiracy theories.

Or it might be much worse.

Zaboru sighed and turned away from the invitation.

"I really don't want to become involved in this kind of shit."

Unfortunately, avoiding it might already be impossible.

Both the Illuminati and Arachne had begun watching him. They did not treat Zaboru merely as a successful businessman. To them, he was an asset—a man with enormous wealth, public influence, technological power, political connections, and an instinct for predicting cultural and industrial changes.

They wanted him inside their world.

Arachne had chosen the softer approach.

Several of their associates had approached him as friendly professionals, admirers, potential partners, and even genuine fans of his work. They rarely threatened him directly. Instead, they created connections, offered information, and slowly surrounded his family with institutions connected to their organisation.

Kumo School was the clearest example.

Zenshin was already studying there.

The school genuinely treated him well, and the education remained extraordinary. Zenshin had become increasingly recognised among the students and teachers because of his intelligence, discipline, and unsettling maturity for a child his age.

But Zaboru understood that Arachne also viewed him as something more.

To them, Zenshin was a possible golden child.

A future leader, strategist, or symbol who could become useful to their organisation one day.

Zaboru disliked that thought intensely.

"Sigh… do these people think my family is some kind of treasure box?"

Arachne wanted Zaboru.

They were interested in Zenshin.

The Illuminati had already approached him directly through Leonard.

Even Ayumi's history and the Hamazou family's connections made them valuable to people operating in hidden political and criminal worlds.

Zaboru only wanted to create games, build technology, spend time with his family, and occasionally humiliate competitors through product presentations.

Instead, secret organisations kept treating him like the final piece of some enormous strategy.

"They clearly think I'm their golden spoon or something," Zaboru muttered. "Arachne keeps sending friendly agents who conveniently happen to admire me. Kumo School already treats Zen-chan like their future treasure. And then there's that Epstein bastard…"

Zaboru's expression darkened slightly.

Leonard Epstein was difficult to forget.

The man had entered ZAGE Tower with extraordinary confidence and spoken as though every powerful person eventually belonged inside the Illuminati's world. He did not behave like a desperate recruiter. He behaved like someone certain that time would eventually force Zaboru toward him.

That confidence irritated Zaboru more than an open threat would have.

Then another uncomfortable thought appeared.

"Epstein…"

Zaboru went silent.

"Does an Epstein Island exist in this world too?"

In his previous life, the Epstein name had become associated with one of the most horrifying scandals involving wealthy and powerful people. Zaboru did not know whether Leonard was connected to anything similar in this world, whether the name was only a disturbing coincidence, or whether the same hidden crimes had developed under different circumstances.

There was no public news about such an island.

No major scandal.

No confirmed victims speaking openly.

But absence from the news did not mean absence from reality.

Especially when the people involved possessed enough influence to hide their actions.

Zaboru stared at his computer screen without really seeing it.

"If something like that exists here… I can't ignore it."

Corporate rivalry was one matter.

Secret political manipulation was another.

But the exploitation of children and vulnerable people was something he could never tolerate, regardless of how dangerous the people protecting it might be.

Exposing such a network would not be simple. He would require evidence, trusted investigators, secure communication, legal preparation, and protection for any victims willing to speak.

Working with Arachne might actually help.

That thought made him sigh again.

He did not trust Arachne completely. They had their own agenda, and their interest in Zenshin remained concerning. However, compared with the Illuminati, they appeared more willing to operate through information, long-term influence, and selective intervention rather than simply protecting entrenched elites.

If Leonard or anyone connected to him was hiding something monstrous, Arachne might already possess fragments of information.

Cooperating with them could give Zaboru the ability to investigate without immediately exposing his intentions.

But cooperation created debt.

And secret organisations rarely forgot debts.

"Damn it…"

Zaboru rubbed his eyes.

ZEPS 4 felt simple compared with this.

A console either worked or it did not.

A game could be tested, revised, balanced, and improved.

People hiding behind governments, companies, criminal networks, and secret organisations did not follow rules that could be corrected through a patch.

Zaboru turned back toward the invitation.

He needed to act carefully.

First, he would quietly investigate the November meeting. He wanted to know who organised it, which businessmen had accepted, who controlled the security, and whether any unusual financial or logistical activity surrounded the World Trade Center.

He would not announce his suspicions.

He would not accuse anyone.

He would simply collect information.

If he found nothing, perhaps the invitation was only a coincidence.

If he found something disturbing, then he would decide how far he was willing to go.

Before he could finish typing, the AKAI Black Berry Z01 on his desk began ringing.

Zaboru glanced at the screen.

Michael Jordan.

The sudden normality of the name almost made him laugh.

He answered immediately. "Hey, Mike. What's up?"

Michael Jordan's voice came through the phone with its usual confidence. "Zaboru, let's go to the court near your house this evening. One-on-one."

Zaboru leaned back and chuckled.

Of course.

Michael Jordan did not ask whether Zaboru was tired, busy, travelling, or recovering from several days of meetings. He simply decided that they were playing basketball.

Zaboru looked at the unfinished security document on his screen, then at the invitation resting nearby.

A few seconds ago, he had been thinking about secret organisations, international terrorism, hidden islands, and the possible destruction of the Twin Towers.

Now Michael Jordan wanted to defeat him on a neighbourhood basketball court.

The difference was almost absurd.

"Sure, Mike," Zaboru replied. "But there might be a few spectators. Is that okay?"

"Spectators?"

"Jackie Chan and Michael Jackson are visiting my house this evening."

There was a brief silence.

Then Jordan answered, "Fine. They can watch you lose."

Zaboru laughed. "You sound confident."

"I am confident."

Zaboru chuckle

The call ended.

Zaboru continued staring at the phone while shaking his head.

Jackie Chan and Michael Jackson had already invited themselves to his house earlier that day. Both had become close friends over the years, and whenever their schedules placed them in California at the same time, Zaboru's house somehow became the natural meeting point.

Now Michael Jordan was joining them too.

Zaboru could already imagine the chaos.

Zaboru looked one final time at the invitation on his desk.

The worries had not disappeared.

The World Trade Center meeting remained suspicious. Leonard Epstein remained dangerous. Arachne's intentions remained uncertain, and the future could still contain tragedies Zaboru might or might not be capable of preventing.

But he could not spend every hour trapped inside possibilities.

Tonight, his friends were waiting.

He saved the unfinished document, locked the invitation inside a secure drawer, and stood from his chair.

"Well… I suppose that's enough secret-organisation anxiety for one afternoon."

Zaboru picked up his Black Berry and jacket before leaving the office. As he walked through ZAGE Campus, several employees greeted him, unaware that their CEO had spent the last hour contemplating terrorism, conspiracies, hidden criminal networks, and the fate of one of the world's most famous buildings.

Zaboru responded normally to each of them.

For now, he would return home, spend time with his friends, and play basketball against Michael Jordan.

Tomorrow, he could return to worrying about whether history intended to repeat itself.

To be continued.

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