Hironobu Sakaguchi opened his mouth, almost unable to believe what he had just heard.
He looked helplessly toward Nakayama Takuya, only to find that Takuya was calmly and keenly observing the young man named Mitsuda.
"Yasunori Mitsuda-kun, is that right?" Takuya finally spoke. His voice was gentle, instantly breaking the awkward silence. "I listened to the demo you submitted last time—the one with the Celtic flute as the main melody. It was very interesting, full of fantasy and a sense of adventure."
Yasunori Mitsuda, suddenly called out by name, snapped his head up, shock written all over his face.
He never could have imagined that this Sega executive director would notice a piece he had tinkered with as a mere intern.
A glimmer of approval flashed through Nobuo Uematsu's eyes.
He had only casually mentioned to an acquaintance in music production that he was looking for a young person with talent to help out. He hadn't expected the other party to take it so seriously.
Watching this scene, Takuya couldn't help but smile inwardly.
Hironobu Sakaguchi, Rieko Kodama, Akira Toriyama, Nobuo Uematsu—and now, Yasunori Mitsuda.
That dream team from his previous life, the one that had captivated countless players, had finally completed its last piece of the puzzle.
The feeling was indescribably wonderful.
"Since Uematsu-san has said this much," Takuya said decisively, "then it's settled."
He turned to Square's president, Masashi Miyamoto, his smile taking on a deeper meaning.
"President Miyamoto, now that the project is decided, I have a small request."
"Please, go ahead, Executive Director."
"By the end of May, I want to see a trailer." Takuya held up two fingers. "Two minutes. The kind that will drive players all over the world crazy. We're taking it to CES in Chicago."
"By the end of May?!" Sakaguchi had just raised his cup when he nearly sprayed the water out of his mouth. "Nakayama-san! We haven't even written a single line of code yet!"
Takuya leaned back in his chair, gave him a wink, and smiled with a hint of mischief.
"It's fine."
"Haven't you already had a clear vision of this dream for a long time? Just bring the dream to life."
After leaving Yu Suzuki's lab, Nakayama Takuya changed direction, walked through several corridors lined with different project code names, and arrived at Development Team Three.
"Block it! Come on, block it!"
"It's over, it's over—this combo is going to carry all the way!"
"Beautiful! That's the timing! Super move!"
The corner of Takuya's mouth curled upward. Hands in his pockets, he leaned casually against the doorway, watching with interest.
In front of him was a modified arcade cabinet. On the screen, two massive, exquisitely drawn characters were locked in fierce combat.
A young man wearing a white T-shirt and a school uniform, flames burning in his hands, was unleashing a relentless combo, pinning a blond man in a red European-style suit into the corner.
The movements were fluid, the pixel art delicate. Every frame radiated power and beauty. Compared to the crude polygons he had just seen earlier, it was a stark contrast—two completely different visual styles, each taken to its own extreme.
"Executive Director!" A bespectacled young man with hair as messy as a bird's nest was the first to notice him and hurriedly stood up.
At that shout, the entire area instantly fell silent. Everyone turned toward the door, and the developers who had been shouting moments ago suddenly looked at a loss.
"Keep going, keep going, don't stop." Takuya waved his hand with a smile as he walked in. "I'm just here to take a look. Don't mind me."
He stopped beside the test machine, watching the match on the screen come to an end.
The flame-wielding youth struck a stylish victory pose.
"Kyo Kusanagi." Nakayama Takuya looked at the defiant young man in the school uniform and called out his name accurately.
Only then did the leader of Team Three, Shimizu, react. "Executive Director, what brings you here?"
"I came to listen to the noise over here. It's much livelier than Yu Suzuki's place." Takuya's eyes never left the screen. "In the proposal I gave you, I only sketched Kyo Kusanagi. You've done a great job bringing him to life—better than I imagined."
His gaze shifted to the blond man who had fallen on the other side of the screen. "And this is the final boss, Rugal?"
"Yes, Executive Director." Seeing that Takuya wasn't upset, Shimizu grew bolder, his tone brimming with barely contained excitement. "He's designed entirely based on the core story framework you provided. A mad arms dealer and a collector of martial artists, code-named R. He holds the King of Fighters tournament to lure the world's strongest fighters, defeat them, and then encase them in alloy as his private collection."
Takuya nodded. He was very satisfied with this setup.
"So in the end, Kyo and the Japanese team win, and then they face Rugal in a final showdown on his aircraft carrier," Shimizu said, pointing at the screen as if presenting a treasure. "After he's defeated, he activates the carrier's self-destruct system, and everything sinks into the sea along with the statues of fighters he collected."
"Presumed dead, but with a hint left behind for a possible return later, right?" Takuya continued.
Shimizu nodded vigorously. "Exactly! That's it! We even added a small detail to the explosion cutscene—a dark silhouette flashes through the fireball. It'll keep players guessing for months!"
The surrounding team members all smiled knowingly.
Clearly, they were very proud of this design.
"Very good." Takuya's praise noticeably relaxed the atmosphere in the room. "So, what have you decided to call the game?"
"We're temporarily calling it The King of Fighters '92, since it's releasing this year—" Shimizu answered hesitantly.
"No." Takuya shook his head and cut him off decisively. "Don't add the year. A year limits its lifespan and turns it into a rushed, annual product. What we want is a brand that can last for ten years—a series with a complete world and storyline. We can't let a year-based title lock us into a fixed pace."
He looked around at the developers listening intently and said slowly, clearly, "This first installment will be called The King of Fighters I: Murder Beneath the Feast."
Murder Beneath the Feast.
Shimizu repeated the title silently in his mind, his eyes lighting up instantly.
Compared to a dry year number, this subtitle was full of story and suspense, elevating the game's tone by more than one level.
"I understand, Executive Director!" he responded excitedly. "Using subtitles to tell the story of each generation!"
"Exactly." Takuya nodded, shifting his gaze from Shimizu's excited face back to the arcade machine. "But a good name alone isn't enough. The combat is what truly keeps players. Let me see how much of my ideas you've managed to bring to life."
"Yes! Please take a look, Executive Director!"
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