Monday 8 September 1999.
Sanika breathed slowly, calming her own mind. Her heart was thumping too fast, and she hated how obvious it felt—like everyone passing by could hear it. She fixed her posture, pulled her shoulders back, and whispered under her breath.
"Okay, Sanika… you are Sanika Ran now… and you will work at ZAGE making video games."
She repeated it again, quieter, like she was locking the words into place. This wasn't a school project. This wasn't a hobby. This was her first real step.
Hidetaka Miyazaki smiled beside her, gentle in a way that made the morning feel less heavy. "Best of luck, Sani-chan," he said, and he reached out—carefully, almost like he was asking permission—then caressed her hair.
Sanika's lips curled into a grin. "Hehehe… you already have the guts to touch my hair now, Hide-chan."
Hidetaka immediately turned red. "A-ah… sorry, I—"
Sanika giggled, the nerves leaking out through laughter. "I'm not saying I hate it though. I love it."
Before he could melt completely, she grabbed his hand. Her fingers were warm, firm—steadying both of them. "Best of luck, okay?"
Hidetaka nodded, swallowing his embarrassment. "Yeah. You too."
Then Sanika's excitement finally broke through. She stepped forward as they walked through the doors of ZAGE Tower together, the lobby bright and clean, the air smelling faintly like polished wood and fresh paper. The logo overhead felt bigger in person, like it was watching her.
Everything was ready. Since last Friday, their ID cards had already been issued. Team NOVA and Team NIWA had been informed that interns would be joining. Their names were already in the system. There was no turning back.
They approached the gate, scanned in, and entered like real employees.
They rode the same elevator at first, standing side by side as the numbers climbed. Sanika kept her hands still, but her mind was loud. Hidetaka glanced at her once, a small supportive look, then faced forward again.
But their paths split soon.
Sanika would go to the 20th floor, where Team NOVA worked.
And Hidetaka would go to the 24th floor, where Team NIWA worked.
Now Sanika arrived at the 20th floor. She was dressed in a casual white shirt under a neat blazer, paired with office pants—simple, clean, and surprisingly professional for someone who had only just graduated. The outfit didn't erase her charm, though; it just sharpened it, the kind of look that said I'm serious today even if her heart was still thumping.
She paused near the elevator lobby, taking in the floor for a second. The air felt different here—quieter than the lobby downstairs, but heavier with purpose. A few employees walked past with folders and coffee, talking in low voices about schedules and builds as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Sanika swallowed, then pulled out her Z2-FLIP phone.
She opened her messages and typed to the person who will introduced her to Team NOVA. His name was Yugo Kanai—one of her brother's friends, and apparently someone important here.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kanai. I've arrived on the 20th floor of ZAGE Tower. What should I do now? Thank you."
She read it twice, making sure it sounded polite, then hit send. After that, she nodded to herself like she'd completed the first mission of the day and straightened her blazer, preparing for whatever came next.
It didn't take long. A reply popped up.
"Okay. Wait."
That was it. No emojis. No extra words. Just a short command that somehow made her more nervous than a full paragraph would have.
And then—only a moment later—a man appeared from the hallway. Around 170 centimeters tall, friendly-faced, with short hair that looked like it had been cut without much ceremony. He wore jeans and a plain T-shirt, completely ignoring office fashion rules, and his eyes had that half-open sleepiness of someone who probably stayed up far too late. He moved like he was still waking up, but his expression was relaxed, as if the entire 20th floor belonged to him.
"Uggh! I stayed up all night again playing Gundam Battle Assault—it's so damn good!"
He finally noticed Sanika standing there and blinked, like his brain needed one extra second to boot up.
"Ah! You must be Sani-chan!"
Before she could respond, he walked right up with zero hesitation and lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper.
"Hehehe… you're the Zaboru-sama sister, right?"
Sanika stiffened.
"Don't worry," Yugo continued, grinning like he'd just discovered a secret treasure. "Your secret is safe with me."
Sanika's brow twitched. Zaboru had warned her that Yugo wasn't exactly "normal"—he talked too casually, acted too freely, and had the kind of unpredictable energy that could either make your day easier or give you a headache. But he was a kind guy, and more importantly… he was someone Zaboru trusted. So Sanika took a breath and decided to trust him too.
She smiled politely. "Are you Mr. Kanai? And… thank you for keeping my secret."
Yugo nodded, then instantly looked offended like she'd insulted his entire bloodline.
"Mr. Kanai? What the hell?" He waved his hand like he was swatting away a mosquito. "Don't call me that lame title. Either call me Yugo… or call me Kako-GO!"
He puffed his chest out proudly. "It's my developer name. Cool, right?"
Sanika's brow twitched again, but this time she managed to hold in a laugh. She nodded with forced seriousness.
"Okay, Yugo-san."
Then Yugo led her to her new team. Inside the big ZAGE teams like NOVA, IZAN, NIWA, and the others, there were smaller groups that handled different projects at the same time. Most ZAGE teams had several leaders—usually five—where one acted as the "super leader," the head who coordinated the whole division and kept everything moving.
For Team NOVA, that head was Yugo. Under him were four other leads: Hideo Kojima, Yumeki Kojiyuki, Daichi Sumeda, and a new lead who had only been appointed recently—Koji Igarashi. Each lead ran their own smaller unit, but NOVA didn't work like isolated islands. Even when tasks were separated, they moved together, sharing tools, sharing feedback, and helping each other when a deadline started to bite.
It was necessary, because Zaboru's style was always the same: he didn't give one job per team—he assigned three tasks simultaneously. That meant the only way to survive was coordination, trust, and a culture where asking for help wasn't seen as weakness.
Yugo smiled as he walked with Sanika through the 20th-floor corridor, hands tucked casually in his pockets like he owned the place. "For the first month or two, you won't be thrown into big tasks yet," he said, voice still a little sleepy but clear. "You'll just familiarize yourself with how we work here—our tools, our habits, how we communicate, how we break problems down. You'll sit in, observe, take notes, and learn what a real pipeline looks like."
He glanced at her briefly, as if checking whether she was listening.
"Then, when the next task comes in, you'll start working for real. Not as a 'kid watching adults,' but as a proper member of the team." He shrugged. "From your recruitment report, I can see you're a great graphics designer. That's a good start. But let me tell you something—working here doesn't mean you only need to be good at one thing."
Yugo lifted a finger like he was giving a rule. "At ZAGE, we need people who can touch everything related to game development. Not because we want you to be perfect at everything, but because you need to understand everything. If the programmer says 'this can't be done,' you should know why. If the designer asks for a change, you should understand the cost. If an artist hands you assets, you should know how they'll be used in-engine." Yugo grinned "Because our idol is Zaboru-sama! he can do everything by his own!"
He grinned. "You already know that, right?"
Sanika nodded, serious. "Yes, Yugo-san."
"Good," Yugo said, satisfied. "Then I'll assign you to Hideo Kojima's team."
Sanika blinked. She'd heard the name—everyone had. Even outside ZAGE, the rumors about Kojima were loud.
Yugo leaned closer and lowered his voice like he was sharing forbidden lore. "He's a weird guy," he said, absolutely unapologetic. "But he's nice. And his brain is… sharp. You'll learn a lot if you survive his mood swings."
A voice snapped from nearby, irritated and familiar. "Who is weird? It's you who's damn weird, Yugo."
They turned.
It was Hideo Kojima. He looked like he'd just materialized out of a hallway corner, holding bread in one hand and a small carton of milk in the other, chewing slowly like he didn't care about anyone's schedule. His eyes narrowed at Yugo with the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly how annoying he could be—and enjoyed it.
Yugo grinned. "There he is. Anyway—Hideo, this is your new intern. Please teach her how we work."
Sanika smiled, then bowed her head politely. "My name is Sanika Ran. Nice to meet you, Kojima-san."
Kojima's expression softened. He nodded once, chewing the last bit of bread like he was still waking up, then offered a quiet, simple smile—brief, but not unfriendly.
"Welcome," he said.
With the handoff done, Yugo clapped his hands lightly and started backing away like he'd completed his duty for the day. "Alright, I'm out. Don't break her on day one," he joked, then disappeared down the hallway before either of them could respond.
Kojima turned his attention back to Sanika, and his tone shifted into something more focused. He began introducing her to the way his unit worked—where the shared folders were, how they tracked tasks, who handled what, and what kind of questions were good to ask early. He didn't overwhelm her with technical jargon, but he also didn't treat her like a child. It was clear he expected her to pay attention.
And even though she was assigned to Kojima's unit, Team NOVA didn't feel like separated islands. The smaller groups often worked together, swapping feedback and helping each other when tasks overlapped. So Sanika didn't just meet one circle of people—she slowly stepped into a whole floor-wide rhythm.
Naturally, her presence didn't go unnoticed. She was young, pretty, and new, and that combination pulled attention like a magnet. A lot of young men in the office suddenly found "good reasons" to approach her—offering guidance, showing her shortcuts, explaining tools, volunteering to walk her through processes they normally wouldn't bother describing.
Sanika didn't mind. She smiled, listened, and asked as many questions as she could. She was genuinely delighted to learn—because even if their intentions weren't completely pure, the information was still useful.
And of course, Sanika could tell what they were really thinking.
It was her gift. She could read intention in people like it was written in color.
But she didn't care.
As long as she learned everything she could, she'd take the help, store the knowledge, and keep moving forward.
Meanwhile, Zanichi suddenly appeared on the 20th floor—the same floor where Sanika was working. He didn't bother to look around like a visitor. He walked with purpose, straight to Yugo's desk, as if the entire division was just another room in his house.
"Yugo," Zanichi asked, voice calm but heavy, "where is Sanika?"
Yugo looked up and immediately grinned, like he'd been waiting for this scene. "Oh, Zanichi-san! Why are you here?" he said, pretending to be shocked. "Don't tell me you're worried about your daughter? Hehehe. And you know she's on incognito, right?"
Zanichi frowned. "There are definitely plenty of wolves around her."
Yugo burst out laughing, then stood up and waved Zanichi to follow. "Alright, alright. Come on. I'll show you."
As they walked, Zanichi's eyes scanned the floor with quiet intensity. He didn't need powers to notice the way some employees looked in Sanika's direction, or the way a few people seemed a little too eager to hover near the new intern.
And sure enough, when they rounded the corner, Zanichi's suspicion looked perfectly validated: four young men were gathered around Sanika, chatting with her while she asked questions and listened carefully. They weren't harassing her or blocking her—if anything, they looked like they were competing to be helpful. Still, the sight instantly set Zanichi's "father alarm" on fire.
But there was also something else.
Those four men weren't smiling because she was pretty.
They were smiling because they were impressed.
Sanika's questions were sharp. She absorbed information fast, and when she repeated something back, she did it correctly—like she was already building a mental map of how the whole team worked. The guys surrounding her had expected to babysit a newbie.
Instead, they found someone who could keep up.
Zanichi stepped closer and cleared his throat.
"Hm. Hm."
The reaction was instant. The four men went pale.
It was the CTO.
They scattered back to their desks so quickly it almost looked like a synchronized retreat. One grabbed a clipboard that wasn't even his. Another pretended to stare deeply at a monitor like it contained the secrets of the universe.
Sanika, meanwhile, didn't panic. She simply turned her head and glanced at Zanichi with an expression that said everything without a single word.
If you bother me, I will hate you.
Zanichi sighed, the sternness melting into quiet defeat for just a moment. He didn't lecture her. He didn't scold the office. He just gave Yugo a look that said, "Keep an eye on her," then turned and walked away.
Still, Sanika's first day at ZAGE was a major success. She genuinely liked the atmosphere, the pace, the energy of people building something together. And now, with her feet finally inside the world she'd been dreaming about, she felt herself inch closer—step by step—toward making her own video game someday.
To be continue
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