Thursday, May 29, 1992.
After a casual yet loaded conversation with Sonaya's Hikaru Kurata and Junpei Hoshida yesterday, Zaboru made his way back to ZAGE HQ, brushing the tension off his shoulders. There was no time to dwell on rival schemes. June was coming fast, and his team had six new titles in development, all demanding attention. May's releases were still performing strongly in sales, holding steady in sales and staying in the public spotlight. Even the controversy around Base Wars was fading under the weight of continued praise and strong community engagement.
Zaboru's phone buzzed. It was Yasu from YaDo Animation Studio calling to update him on the SpongeBob anime project. Voice actor auditions were officially scheduled for early June. Zaboru took a mental note and promised to attend in person—he wouldn't miss the chance to cast the iconic voices of Spongebob himself; he also needed to ensure the quality of VA..
Back in his office, he dove into one of his daily rituals: scanning through the newest batch of CVs submitted to ZAGE. The HR department knew this was sacred to him, almost like a treasure hunt. Zaboru didn't just want good employeeshe wanted visionaries, the hidden gems, the names no one knew yet but would someday or in short Famous game Dev from his previous world!. That's how he had found Hideo Kojima, and Kojima was already proving his valuesharp mind, fast learner, excellent collaborator.
As he scrolled through resumes, something caught his eye.
"No freakin' way... Satoru Iwata?" Content orıginally comes from 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝓷𝓮𝓽
He leaned forward, scanning the document with laser focus.
Born: December 6, 1969 (Age: 22)
Experience: Recent college graduate
Attached were pages listing technical accomplishments, personal projects, programming accolades, and custom-built tools. He had even helped create a handful of independent games while still in school. There was brilliance written all over it.
"So in this timeline, he's ten years younger than I remember him being... same quirk as Kojima. Unreal," Zaboru murmured, grinning wide. He didn't hesitate. He picked up his internal line. "Get Satoru Iwata in here. Fast. Today."
Just a few hours later, Satoru Iwata stood in the ZAGE lobby, looking around, trying to take it all in. He had imagined the inside of ZAGE's office many times, but seeing it in person was overwhelming. He wasn't expecting the president himself to conduct the interview. And he definitely wasn't expecting the president to look like a college student.
Zaboru met him with an easy smile. "Iwata-san, welcome. Please, have a seat."
"Thank you, Renkonan-san," Iwata replied, bowing politely before taking his seat.
Zaboru leaned forward. "So—you just graduated. But from what I see here, you've been doing some wild work in programming. You're already deep in development tools. That's rare."
Iwata nodded. "Yes. I've been fascinated by how games work since I was a kid. I started making basic games in high school. Since then, it's been my dream to build experiences that inspire people the same way games inspired me."
Zaboru nodded. "Why ZAGE, though?"
Iwata didn't miss a beat. "Because you've made ZAGE the beating heart of gaming innovation. You revived the industry. I followed the fall of other companies, but ZAGE kept creating not just games—but experiences that felt alive. I want to learn from that. And frankly, I'm a fan of yours, Renkonan-san."
Zaboru grinned. He tried to hide the spark in his chest, but inside he was beaming. In my last life, he was my hero. And now he's telling me that i`m his hero.
They talked for over an hour. It stopped feeling like an interview and more like two creators geeking out. From game engine architecture to memory allocation hacks to design philosophies—Zaboru threw the full gauntlet at Iwata, and he crushed every question with quiet confidence.
Finally, Zaboru leaned back.
"You've got the green light from me. You're hired. Can you start tomorrow night?"
Iwata's eyes lit up. "Yes! Of course. Thank you so much."
"Head outside and talk to Yumi, my secretary. She'll walk you over to HR. They'll sort the boring stuff—salary, benefits, work hours."
Iwata stood and bowed again. "I'm honored. I won't let you down."
He walked out the door with a spring in his step, a grin tugging at his lips. He already researched ZAGE. He knew ZAGE didn't offer the highest base pay, but the bonus structure was generous, and the working environment was known to be fiercely creative, tight-knit, and employee-focused. Zaboru often bought meals for his teams, checked in with devs, and made sure everyone felt seen. Also Overtime is strongly not recommended here , the boss himself usually doing overtime.
Back inside, Zaboru let out a long exhale and slumped in his chair.
"Heh. Satoru Iwata—secured."
He stared out the window for a moment, watching the fading evening light glow against the Tokyo skyline. This wasn't just another hire. This was Satoru Iwata. In his old world, this man had become president of Nintendo, led them through innovation after innovation, and inspired millions. He had been humble, smart, funny, and endlessly curious. Even Zaboru stole his iconic line "In my Business Card i'm company owner, in my head i`m game developer and in my heart i'm a gamer".
Zaboru leaned back, folding his hands behind his head.
"I wonder... Can I change what happened to him? In my world, he passed away not really of old age. He still had so much left to give."
He sighed. "I'm no god. But maybe... just maybe, this time can be different."
With that thought lingering in his chest, Zaboru turned back to his monitor. June's schedule wasn't going to build itself. And now, he has Iwata on the team. The future looked brighter than ever.
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