Zaboru smiled as he continued writing down his ideas, his fingers moving steadily across the keyboard while the new concept expanded inside his mind.
Hmm... should I add a Web Novel section directly to the ZAGE Forum, similar to what I did with the Artwork page?
He paused for a moment and leaned back in his chair. Integrating it into the forum would certainly be easier. The infrastructure already existed, millions of users already had ZAGE Forum Account, and the community was active enough to give new writers immediate exposure.
However, after thinking about it more carefully, Zaboru slowly shook his head.
No. On second thought, this should probably become a separate website.
The Artwork page worked well as part of the ZAGE Forum because people could quickly upload illustrations, concept art, fan designs, and short comics. Novels were different. They required dedicated reading pages, chapter lists, bookmarks, libraries, author profiles, search systems, ratings, comments, and perhaps even subscription features. Trying to force all of that into an ordinary forum section would eventually become a complete mess.
Zaboru chuckled and began organizing the concept more seriously.
The platform would be based on the web-novel websites from his previous life. It would support several major categories, including translated novels, original stories, and fan fiction. There would also need to be clear genre divisions—fantasy, romance, science fiction, mystery, horror, historical fiction, cultivation, adventure, comedy, and many others.
More importantly, the platform could become a specialized digital library for novels and light novels.
Zaboru had always loved light novels in his previous life. Unfortunately, unlike manga, novels were far more difficult to translate and remained much more niche internationally. A manga translator could work through dialogue bubbles and visual context page by page. A novel translator, however, had to deal with thousands upon thousands of words, cultural meanings, character voices, descriptions, jokes, and terminology that could easily lose their meaning when translated badly.
Most fan translators were willing to translate manga chapters.
But would the same number of people willingly translate hundreds of novel chapters?
Probably not.
Because of that, there had been countless light novels and web novels from Japan, China, and Korea that Zaboru desperately wanted to read in his previous life but could never finish properly. Some translations stopped after a few chapters. Others disappeared midway through the story. A few were locked behind publishers that never released international versions.
Eventually, desperation had pushed him toward machine-translated versions.
Zaboru's face twisted as he remembered the experience.
Some of those machine translations had been so terrible that reading them felt like allowing a malfunctioning robot to repeatedly strike his brain with a dictionary. Character names changed between paragraphs, genders switched randomly, attacks became household furniture, and emotional scenes sometimes sounded like badly written business reports.
Yet despite all of that, he had continued reading.
The stories were simply too interesting.
Zaboru covered part of his face and laughed. "Damn... I really sacrificed my remaining brain cells just to finish some of those chapters."
After recovering from the memory, he looked at the platform outline again. The same problem would eventually appear in this world if he launched the website globally. Not every writer would be fluent in English, nor should they be forced to write in English. Japanese writers would naturally prefer Japanese. Korean writers would use Korean, Chinese writers would use Chinese, and creators from other countries would want to publish in their own native languages each Countries has their own writing charm and that's what make them so good.
Readers would then face the same barriers Zaboru had suffered from before.
He leaned back and folded his arms.
In my previous life, this problem had started solving itself during the 2020s because artificial-intelligence translation became much more capable. It was still imperfect, but at least it no longer made every paragraph feel like a puzzle created by a drunk machine.
Unfortunately, that kind of advanced AI did not exist publicly in this world yet. Technology here was already several years ahead in many areas, but it was still nowhere near the sophisticated language models and automatic translation systems Zaboru remembered.
He had heard conspiracy theories in his previous life claiming that the United States military had possessed unbelievably advanced AI systems as early as the 1990s, but those stories were probably exaggerated.
And even if they were true, what was he supposed to do?
Walk into a military facility and politely ask them to share their secret AI because he wanted people to read cultivation novels?
Zaboru imagined the conversation and immediately laughed.
"Hahaha! I'd probably disappear before finishing the first sentence."
For now, the platform would need to rely on human translators, translation groups, official publisher partnerships, and perhaps simpler machine-assisted tools. If the website became successful enough, ZAGE or AKAI could eventually fund language technology specifically for novels. Even basic translation memories, shared terminology databases, and collaborative editing systems could already make the work far easier.
The more Zaboru thought about it, the larger the project became.
"This is actually huge..." he muttered.
A proper web-novel platform could not be treated like a half-finished hobby website. If it included subscriptions, payments, author revenue, premium chapters, or official translations, then users needed to trust it. Writers had to know they would be paid properly. Readers needed stable access. Translators required clear credit and compensation. Copyright disputes would need dedicated staff. Fan fiction would require its own rules to prevent it from colliding with commercial publishing.
There would also need to be moderation systems, plagiarism detection, reporting features, age ratings, content warnings, and separate policies for original works and fan-created stories.
Zaboru slowly sighed.
"I'll have to discuss this with the ZAGE higher-ups. It isn't directly related to video games, but it still fits our entertainment ecosystem. And if we add subscriptions and author payments, we'll need a serious budget."
The moment he said the word budget, an image of Sayuri Yamaguchi appeared in his mind.
More specifically, her deadly stare.
Zaboru immediately straightened in his chair as though she were already standing behind him.
Despite owning one hundred percent of ZAGE, Zaboru had entrusted the company's financial management to Sayuri because she cared deeply about ZAGE and possessed frightening skill with money. If financial decisions had been left entirely to Zaboru, the company might have already collapsed beneath the combined weight of his impulsive acquisitions, generous employee benefits, strange experiments, and projects that began with the phrase, Wouldn't it be cool if...?
Sayuri was the wall standing between Zaboru's imagination and financial ruin.
Unfortunately, walls tended to glare whenever he tried to run through them.
Zaboru sighed again. "Sayuri-san is going to look at me like I committed another crime against the budget."
Still, he could already imagine the platform's potential.
Many famous web novels and light novels from his previous life had later received manga, manhwa, manhua, animation, television, film, or video-game adaptations. A strong novel platform could become more than a place for reading. It could also become a source of new stories and talented creators.
ZAGE could discover promising works early.
YaDo Animation could adapt suitable stories.
Nickelodion or other subsidiaries could explore television projects.
ZAGE's development teams could eventually adapt certain novels into games.
In fact, Zaboru had already done something similar. Team Myth was currently developing Tales of Demons and Gods, with release expected around January of the following year. That project had begun because Zaboru remembered how much potential the original story possessed.
And there were many other novels whose greatness had never been fully captured by their later adaptations. Sometimes the manga removed too many details. Sometimes the anime rushed entire arcs. Sometimes the visual version looked beautiful but lost the atmosphere, internal monologue, or world-building that made the original novel exceptional.
One particular story immediately appeared in Zaboru's mind.
Lord of the Mysteries.
His grin widened as he quietly recited the familiar honorific associated with the Fool, remembering the gray fog, the Tarot Club, the hidden history, the pathways, the madness, and the enormous mystery surrounding that world.
"Goated as hell," Zaboru muttered proudly.
Among novels, Lord of the Mysteries was one of his absolute favorites. For manga, One Piece and Berserk remained at the top. For games, Elden Ring and the Yakuza series held a special place in his heart.
Even after reincarnating, some preferences simply refused to disappear but still the Manhwa of this GOAT Novel? it's so trash.
Zaboru could hardly wait to bring those kinds of stories into this world. Yet as excitement took over, another problem quickly appeared.
He had far too many stories he wanted to recreate.
"Hmm..." Zaboru murmured as he looked at the growing list. "There's Lord of the Mysteries, Cultivation Chat Group, The Second Coming of Gluttony, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Re:Zero, and countless Japanese novels that later received anime adaptations."
He stared at the names for several seconds.
Even with Deep Memory Dive, recreating them all would take an enormous amount of time. And if he released every one of them under his real name, people would become deeply suspicious. Zaboru was already known as a game developer, businessman, musician, occasional performer, hardware visionary, and creator involved in far too many projects people will suspect he might be a god.
If he suddenly released several enormous novels from different cultures and genres, people might finally begin asking whether he was secretly a building filled with writers wearing one coat or he just Alien shit or God honestly there already Rumour that there are Zaboru cult out there which make Zaboru shudder!.
Zaboru's grin slowly returned.
"I don't need to publish them under my real identity."
He could use alternate accounts.
Just as he used Isekai, his alternate developer identity, he could create different author names for different genres. One account could publish Japanese-style fantasy. Another could handle Chinese-style cultivation. Another could write Korean-style survival stories. Readers would believe they were completely different writers.
Zaboru began laughing quietly.
"Hehehe... I can become my own publishing industry."
The thought was absurd, but it was also strangely exciting. Zaboru had already begun inventing pen names for his future author identities, and naturally, most of them were completely ridiculous.
Small Fish, Big Mouth.
Try Tongue, But Hole.
Secret Path Ahead.
Griffith Did Nothing Wrong.
He had already thought of several more names based on old jokes, gaming references, and memes from his previous life. Honestly, he did not care how strange they sounded. If the novels were good enough, readers would eventually remember those names with respect anyway.
After all, the author of Lord of the Mysteries had used the name Cuttlefish That Loves Diving. On its own, it sounded less like the name of a legendary writer and more like a strangely enthusiastic seafood dish. But after Zaboru read Lord of the Mysteries, that name had gained an absurd amount of aura in his mind. The moment he saw it, he no longer imagined an ordinary cuttlefish. He imagined gray fog, hidden gods, ancient mysteries, madness, and monocles appearing where they absolutely should not.
Zaboru chuckled to himself. "That proves it. A strange name only stays strange until the author writes something incredible."
Still, he reminded himself that the platform could not exist only as a place for him to recreate stories from his previous life under increasingly suspicious pen names. Its true value would come from giving unknown writers a place to publish their own work.
People like Yuuki Kato possessed genuine talent, yet lacked the confidence, money, connections, or opportunity needed to approach traditional publishers. There were probably thousands of others like him—people carrying entire worlds inside their heads, but keeping those worlds hidden inside notebooks, drawers, or private computer folders because they believed their stories were too short, too unusual, or simply not good enough.
With the right platform, they could finally place those stories in front of readers and discover whether someone out there was waiting for exactly the kind of tale they wanted to tell.
Writers could release chapters gradually.
Readers could comment and offer support.
Popular works could receive premium contracts.
Translators could introduce stories to international audiences.
Artists could create cover illustrations.
Successful authors could later receive physical publications, manga adaptations, animation, or even games.
The Platform need to protect less famous author from content steal
The platform could create an entirely new entertainment pipeline.
Zaboru's fingers began moving faster across the keyboard.
His concentration deepened until the rest of the world nearly disappeared.
This was one of Zaboru's familiar flow states. His thoughts moved faster than his hands, but the keyboard still clacked at an almost ridiculous speed. Pages of notes appeared one after another, each idea connecting naturally to the next.
Without realizing it, two hours passed.
The quiet house eventually came alive again when Ayumi returned from visiting the Hamazou family with their children. This time, Akechi had accompanied them home as well.
From somewhere outside the workshop, Ayumi called warmly, "Zabo? Where are you?"
Zaboru finally stopped typing.
He blinked at the clock, surprised by how much time had passed, then stretched his shoulders. Hearing Ayumi's voice immediately pulled him out of his work-focused state.
He chuckled as he stood. "She probably wants me to test Akaishidan's newest game."
The possibility made him grin. Ayumi had been working hard recently, and Zaboru was genuinely excited to see what she and the rest of Akaishidan had created. If Akechi had come along too, then the project might already be further along than Zaboru expected.
He quickly saved his notes, placed the computer into sleep mode, and walked toward the door.
The unfinished document remained visible for one final moment before the screen faded.
At the top of it were the words:
ZAGE WEB NOVEL PLATFORM
Zaboru left the workshop with an eager smile, completely unaware that today would become special for an entirely different reason.
To be continued.
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