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 etings. Zaboru honestly disliked traveling because it reduced the amount of ti he could spend working efficiently. For soone like him, ti was extrely 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 so of the ideas and information he had organized inside the Emulator Mind into real docunts. That way he could continue handling small tasks even while on airplanes or in hotels, making his travel ti at least sowhat 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, seed unable to leave Japan. It was as if so 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 ntal world, aning 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 so ti browsing the creator pages on Steam as well, carefully observing how developers were presenting their gas and how players were reacting in the comnt sections.
In the few months since the platform had launched, several developers had already submitted their gas, 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 gas 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 ti 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 experint freely without the expectations that always followed the ZAGE na.
However, since he wanted to release the Fate/Stay Night ga 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 na "Zaborn." The na 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 sa 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 experintal titles through the sa account. These would be gas he personally designed in his spare ti.
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 nas "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 gas.
Zaboru wanted to use this account as a playground for experintation. Unlike the official ZAGE developer accounts, which carried enormous expectations from players and the dia, this identity would allow him to release strange or creative ideas without pressure. If a ga succeeded, people would simply assu it ca 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 nas—PlayStation, Nintendo, and SEGA—were extrely 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 gas through this account—projects inspired by titles he rembered from his previous life such as Undertale, Dave the Diver, The Binding of Isaac, Hollow Knight, and many others. Those gas had proven that small teams could still create incredibly influential titles through strong ideas, unique storytelling, and creative gaplay chanics.
However, he knew it was still far too early to attempt gas 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 na had gained attention from players. Over ti, the account might even beco 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 ga 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 ti before beginning the upload process. Even though he had already tested the ga 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 ga no longer contained the adult or eroge scenes that existed in the original concept from his previous life. Zaboru had deliberately removed those elents he decreased it. He clearly rembered how the Fate franchise in his previous world had originally begun as an eroge visual novel, sothing that often surprised new fans who later discovered the series through ani 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 morable. By removing the adult scenes, the ga 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 elents.
Not only that, aside from the three official routes of the original Fate ga—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 dea and dusa. However, this route would not be imdiately 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 ga.
The additional route would explore sides of the story that the original structure barely touched. dea and dusa were both fascinating characters in Zaboru's mories, yet in many versions of the story they rarely received the sa 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 so parts of the story could beco a little too depressing at tis. The tragedy and emotional weight were part of what made the story powerful, but sotis it left players feeling emotionally drained after finishing certain routes. While he respected the original tone, he also believed a ga 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 elents of the story, but it would allow for alternative emotional resolutions that felt a little more hopeful. Since this was still a ga after all, Zaboru believed giving players more narrative possibilities and slightly different emotional outcos would make the experience richer, more balanced, and ultimately more enjoyable for players who invested their ti into exploring every path.
After a while the upload process finally finished, and the ga 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 ga, 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 ga live on the store gave him a small sense of accomplishnt. "Well, next week I'll release the next gas from this account too." He paused for a mont, thinking further. "And aside from that… should I make a Fate/Zero ga 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 ga," he muttered. "The narrative is far more linear compared to Fate/Stay Night. Still… it's sothing that definitely should exist in this world." After thinking for a mont 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 developnt teams as the March release schedule continued to approach.
To be continue
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