On the way back to the hotel.
The streets were lined with identical posters.
I wondered what they were, and it turned out to be two fierce-looking black men facing each other.
The phrase below caught my eye.
"Heavyweight Title Defense?"
It was only then that the face on the poster began to come into focus.
Wait a minute, I didn't recognize him because he looked so young.
"Isn't that Tyson?"
For people my age, Tyson's face with a tattoo around his eye would be more familiar.
But at this time, he still had a full head of hair…
How should I put it?
Eyes like a tiger?
It felt like if a wild beast turned into a human, this would be exactly how it looked, with a very menacing aura.
"This looks interesting."
I quickly checked the date.
It was only two days away.
I ran to a payphone and tried calling for tickets… of course, the answer was that all seats were sold out.
Usually, at this point, most people would give up.
"But this is Tyson in his prime!"
Thinking that I might not get another chance to see him, I grabbed the receiver again.
"Are the VIP seats also sold out?"
(Are you even aware of how much they cost?)
A prickly response.
It seemed like they got asked this question hundreds of times a day.
(Each seat is $10,000, are you sure about that?)
Ten thousand dollars, that's about a little over ten million won.
The price is reasonable enough.
"I have company with me. Is there one more seat available?"
Wait.
Baker might come back.
"Sorry. I'd like to reserve a total of three seats, is that possible?"
(If this is a joke, you should stop here…)
"I'm Park Ji-hoon, CEO of JH Network. You can check with a confirmation call if necessary."
Tyson's match was, as expected, explosive.
Like a full-bellied tiger, Tyson stayed in the center of the ring, moving sluggishly.
Suddenly.
Tap tap.
Just as he began stepping forward.
Thud!
Following a one-two straight combo.
Bam!
He landed a right hook square on his opponent's jaw.
At that moment!
Boom.
The opponent collapsed like a tree cut at the base.
The referee didn't even bother counting and immediately waved his hands.
A most primal clash of raw power.
Maybe that's why.
"Wow- Ahhh!"
The cheers pouring from all sides were more intense than ever.
In my past life, I admired people armed with intellect.
There was a time when I believed that was the only noble value.
But now, living this second life,
"What's more honest than sweating and honing the body?"
I guess my thoughts were starting to change.
Come to think of it.
When you're aiming to acquire Manchester United, a shift like this is only natural, right?
Speaking of which,
I'll be flying to Japan in two days.
"I wonder if Tajiri-san is doing well?"
***
Tajiri was tearing his hair out.
He could somehow manage to create a battle system, raise-and-train, and collect features, but…
The problem was the characters.
"Make 100 of them?"
Even if stages two and three evolutions were counted as one, how could he possibly do it in just one week!
"Get it together! This is 1 billion yen… That's 10 million yen per character!"
Damn it.
There was no use staying home.
Tajiri aimlessly wandered the neighborhood.
Maybe if he walked around, something would come to him.
But even after hours of walking… his legs were tired, and he still hadn't thought of any good solutions.
Maybe I'm not cut out for this.
When that thought crossed his mind, he envisioned the 1 billion yen floating away into thin air.
Money tied to a large hot air balloon drifting far, far away.
"No way!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Tajiri decided to take a gamble.
He had made this game because of his love for insect collecting anyway.
If it's all going to fall apart like this…
"Let's at least perfect the insects!"
Yes, instead of messing around with animals, plants, and dinosaurs, let's just focus on insects only!
Maybe there's still a way.
As soon as he decided to concentrate solely on insects, ideas started to come to him one by one.
"It's not enough to just increase the number."
He needed to maximize their characteristics as much as possible… to create synergy with the existing characters…
In that way, over the course of two days, he managed to churn out about 50 Capsulemon.
But then, what is this?
"This still isn't enough."
He frowned, feeling like he had barely made it halfway.
Others might say this:
"With 50, can't you still earn 5 billion yen?"
What a ridiculous idea!
You're talking about 10 billion yen… and you want me to be satisfied with half?
If he gave up now, the hot air balloon carrying 5 billion yen would drift far, far away…
"No way!"
Thus, Tajiri began rummaging through his entire house.
He was reminded of a picture diary he had used when collecting insects back in kindergarten.
Insects drawn from the eyes of a child!
That could be a treasure trove of character ideas.
"Alright, let's check everything, no matter what it is."
He opened wardrobes, lifted the mattress, and even emptied out the drawers to check the very back…
"There it is!"
Sure enough, it was stuck in the back of the drawer!
A faded diary.
Yes, this is it.
Tajiri hastily flipped through the pages.
Earwigs, beetles, stag beetles, rhinoceros beetles… many insects decorated the pages of the diary.
But what really caught his eye was something else.
"What is this?"
A huge drawing filled the notebook.
It looked like a rodent.
It was an animal wearing a detective's hat, a trench coat, and holding a large magnifying glass.
Looking closer, its cheeks were unusually puffed up.
It resembled a squirrel with its cheeks full of food.
"Kinda cute."
But that thought was fleeting.
"…!"
Like a sailor who had just discovered Treasure Island, his eyes began to gleam with excitement.
This might actually be good!
He looked at the words written under the character.
"Rika?"
He couldn't figure out what it meant, but the name had a nice ring to it.
"Rika… Rika…"
Tajiri immediately started scribbling something down.
***
Two days later.
Leaving behind the fun in America, we returned to Japan.
"I wonder how far he's gotten."
The appointment was for 3 PM.
The location was the same café in front of Tajiri's house as last time.
I figured he'd be a bit late, considering he'd probably been up all night.
But what do you know?
Tajiri had arrived 30 minutes early at the meeting place.
He said he came early to get some practice in.
Maybe he was planning to do a presentation, like Steve Jobs.
"Isn't the paperwork enough?"
"Well, yes, but explanations make things easier to understand."
Maybe it was the fact that 10 billion yen was on the line.
His face was fully geared up for battle.
Contrary to the long dark circles under his eyes…
"…!"
His eyes were brimming with energy.
The idea that the mind controls the body… this must be the kind of situation people refer to when they say that.
"I'll begin the briefing."
Though I could just look at it, Tajiri insisted on giving an explanation.
"You see the character on the first page, right? This is an electric rodent. You might wonder what a squirrel has to do with electricity, but for now…"
"The design is good."
"It, it is, right?"
"You could even use it as the mascot of the game."
Maybe because he got positive feedback right from the start, Tajiri seemed to relax and continued speaking.
"It shoots electricity with the power of 1 million volts. The line doesn't mean much, but 'Rika…'"
He hesitated for a moment, lowering his head as if embarrassed.
But soon, perhaps remembering the 1 billion yen, he spoke with a sharp voice.
"Rika! Rika!"
He now boldly began acting out the character.
"Then, the trainer in the back says, 'Rikachu! 1 million volt attack!'"
After that, similar scenes continued to unfold.
"This one is a turtle that uses a water cannon. Its name is 'Squirtle'... This one just sleeps... This one's a useless carp... And this is my specialty, a wasp-shaped character called 'Beedrill'…"
In truth, the only Capsulemon generation I'm familiar with is the first.
Even then, I only vaguely remember the popular main monsters.
But today, I heard quite a few familiar names…
'Doesn't this mean he just cranked out a bunch of popular characters in a single week?'
There were also surprising developments in the game system.
"This is a regular capsule. And this one is a Master Capsule that captures monsters with a 100% success rate…"
"What about battles?"
"I've added type matchups for the monsters. Following the laws of nature, plant-type monsters are strong against water but weak against fire. On the other hand, fire-types are weak to water…"
Impressive.
If we think of it like a building, last time we were just digging into the ground.
But now, it feels like steel frameworks have been set densely into the deeply dug ground.
The foundation work is always the hardest, but once that's done, things move quickly.
With a few more experts on board, the building's shape would soon come into view.
"Shall we sign the contract?"
"Pardon? Oh… but there are still a few things left…"
"What you've done is more than enough."
"…?"
"I'll invest the 1 billion yen as promised. Let's write up the contract now. What do you think?"
Perhaps because he had run himself ragged just to hear these words, Tajiri burst into tears instead of answering.
***
Tajiri and I headed to Nintendo's headquarters.
So far, the course of history hadn't deviated much.
Nintendo was impressed with the Capsulemon project… and they released the game with full support… What's changed?
'The fact that the investor has shifted from Nintendo to JH.'
Even though history had veered slightly, Tajiri couldn't make the game on his own.
Moreover, Nintendo's help was crucial to releasing the game within three years.
'There's no need to worry.'
After all, I have a special bond of trust with Nintendo.
As long as we share a portion of the profits, they'll provide all the help needed.
"This is good! It's very innovative."
As expected.
Shigeru-san, after reading the proposal, was immediately filled with enthusiasm.
"Only 1 billion yen for development costs? Wow… We could bring in top-tier experts from every field and still have money left over."
By then, Tajiri was beyond happy, practically in a daze!
Hehehe.
"The game side of things seems settled."
I picked up the phone and called 'Weekly Manga.'
The request was simple.
"Please assemble a team to produce an animation."
(Suddenly?)
"The character design is a particularly important part of this project. The target audience is from toddlers to 13-year-olds, and the animation style should be…"
Maybe it's because I've done this once before with 'Dream Quest.'
The editor just started taking notes without asking too many questions.
"The details can be sent via fax."
With the game and animation pretty much on track…
"All that's left is to wait."
Maybe it was because I finally felt at ease.
Grrrrr.
The hunger I had completely forgotten about suddenly hit me.
I was hungry, but I was sick of both Japanese and Western food.
I found myself craving my mom's soybean paste stew…
"Hmmm."
It seemed like it was about time to return to Korea.