After more than twenty-six hours of long flights, Zaboru finally arrived at São Paulo Airport. Even with his Enlightenment Body, the trip was still exhausting in its own way. His body did not need much sleep, but sitting inside a plane for that long while constantly reviewing reports, working inside Emulator Mind, and eating enough food to fuel several ordinary men still made him feel slightly stiff.
When he stepped out of the arrival area, several people from B.E.A.K. were already waiting for him. They were dressed neatly, carrying ZAGE and B.E.A.K. identification cards, and the moment they saw Zaboru, their expressions immediately became bright.
"Boss Zaboru, welcome to Brazil!" one of them said with clear excitement.
Zaboru smiled and gave them a casual wave. "Thanks. Sorry for making you wait."
"No, no, Boss. It's our honor!" another staff member quickly said.
Zaboru chuckled because their happiness was not fake at all. B.E.A.K. employees were usually very enthusiastic whenever he visited, partly because they genuinely respected him, and partly because everyone knew Zaboru treated employees extremely well. When Zaboru came for international business trips, bonuses often followed. Good meals, sudden gifts, extra pay, and unexpected employee benefits had become almost legendary among ZAGE-related companies. Because of that, even the staff members assigned to airport pickup looked like they had just received a festival mission instead of ordinary work.
They escorted him to a comfortable car prepared by B.E.A.K., and after a short greeting with the driver, Zaboru was taken toward one of his temporary homes in São Paulo. It was not a place he used very often, but B.E.A.K. staff maintained it carefully throughout the year. The house was clean, secure, and fully stocked before his arrival. Even the kitchen had already been prepared because everyone knew their boss could eat an absurd amount after a long trip.
Zaboru looked around the house with a satisfied smile. "You guys really maintained this place well."
One staff member immediately bowed his head. "Of course, Boss. Carlos-san ordered us to make sure everything is perfect before you arrived."
Zaboru laughed softly. "Good work. I'll tell Carlos to give all of you a bonus."
The atmosphere instantly changed.
The staff tried to remain professional, but their eyes clearly shone with happiness.
"Thank you very much, Boss!"
Zaboru waved his hand casually. "Don't thank me too much. You did good work, so you deserve it."
That was one of the reasons B.E.A.K. staff were so loyal. Zaboru rarely treated good service as something invisible. If people worked properly, he noticed. If they worked hard, he rewarded them. And if they handled difficult tasks with loyalty, he remembered their names. In a business world where many rich owners barely looked at the employees beneath them, Zaboru's style felt strangely warm.
After washing up and changing clothes, Zaboru decided that his first priority was eating a lot before going to B.E.A.K. headquarters. His stomach had already been demanding attention for a while, and Brazil was absolutely not the kind of country where he wanted to waste a meal.
The staff had prepared a large spread of Brazilian food for him. There was grilled meat, rice, beans, farofa, pão de queijo, vegetables, and several dishes Zaboru had only eaten a few times before. The smell alone made him grin.
"Oh, this is dangerous," Zaboru muttered.
Then he ate.
A lot.
The chefs and staff watched in amazement as Zaboru devoured plate after plate with terrifying enthusiasm. Even though some of them had heard stories from Japan about Zaboru's appetite, seeing it directly was a completely different experience.
One younger staff member whispered, "Is Boss okay?"
Another, more experienced staff member whispered back, "That is normal."
"That's normal?"
"For Boss Zaboru, yes."
After finishing enough food to make an ordinary person question reality, Zaboru leaned back, let out a satisfied sigh, and smiled.
"Brazilian food is so damn good, damn!"
The staff looked at him silently.
Considering how much he had just eaten, nobody knew how to respond.
Not long after that, Zaboru finally departed for B.E.A.K. headquarters. The drive through São Paulo gave him time to observe the city directly instead of only through reports. He saw crowded streets, busy shops, people wearing football jerseys, small electronics stores, arcades, and internet cafés filled with young people gathered around computers.
The city felt energetic, chaotic, rough in some areas, but alive.
Zaboru looked out through the car window with visible interest. Latin America had always fascinated him. In his previous life, he had known how passionate many Latin American players were, especially in fighting games, football games, PC cafés, and community-based gaming. But here, because ZAGE had changed the world's entertainment timeline, the development of the region's game culture had taken a slightly different shape.
Technology was more advanced than it should have been.
Entertainment culture, however, was still behind in certain ways.
That created a strange gap.
Internet cafés were spreading, pirated games were everywhere, arcades still had strong local communities, and legitimate game purchasing was slowly increasing as more people became aware of ZAGE's official distribution and cheaper regional pricing.
When the car finally arrived at B.E.A.K. headquarters, Zaboru was slightly surprised.
The building looked much better than when he had last visited. It was cleaner, larger, more organized, and carried a stronger corporate identity. The B.E.A.K. logo was displayed proudly near the entrance, and several employees were moving in and out with the energetic rhythm of a company that had grown quickly but had not yet lost its hunger.
Zaboru stepped out of the car and looked up at the building.
"Whoa. Carlos really upgraded this place."
Before long, Carlos Busujima himself came out to greet him. Carlos was a large, energetic man with a bright grin, and the moment he saw Zaboru, he spread his arms wide.
"Boss! Long time no see!"
Zaboru chuckled and nodded. "Hello, Carlos. Long time no see."
Carlos shook his hand enthusiastically. "Welcome to Brazil again! You look the same as always, Boss. Maybe even more dangerous."
Zaboru laughed. "What does that mean?"
"It means you look like someone who came here to create more work for me."
"That's accurate."
Carlos immediately laughed. "I knew it!"
The two entered the building together. Along the way, employees greeted Zaboru with clear excitement. Some tried to remain calm and professional, but many failed. Several whispered to each other as he passed, and a few looked like they badly wanted to ask for a handshake or autograph but were too nervous.
Zaboru noticed and smiled. "Carlos, your employees are lively."
Carlos grinned proudly. "Of course. They know when Boss visits, something interesting usually happens."
"Interesting or troublesome?"
"For me? Troublesome. For them? Interesting."
Zaboru laughed at that.
Eventually, they reached Carlos's office. It was spacious but not overly luxurious, filled with maps of Latin America, distribution charts, game sales reports, arcade placement documents, and several shelves containing ZAGE games, hardware, and promotional materials. There were also football memorabilia and a few fighting game posters on the wall, showing that Carlos was not merely a businessman. He was genuinely a gamer too.
Zaboru sat down comfortably and leaned back.
"So," he said, looking at Carlos with interest, "how's the video-game industry in Latin America? And yeah, I know we already have reports and everything, but reports are boring, right? I want to hear it from you directly."
Carlos laughed loudly. "That's very you, Boss."
Zaboru grinned. "You're the one living here. Reports can tell me numbers, but you can tell me the smell."
"The smell?"
"Yeah. The mood. The feeling. The chaos."
Carlos nodded, understanding what he meant. "Then honestly, Boss, just like you predicted, PC games are spreading fast here, but piracy is still huge. Especially for ZAGE games like Counter-Strike and Half-Life. Pirated copies are everywhere."
Zaboru nodded calmly. "Expected."
Carlos continued, "But the interesting part is the internet cafés. They are not as advanced as Korea's PC bangs or Japanese gaming cafés, but they have their own charm here. People gather, play together, shout at each other, make friends, fight, laugh, and then come back again the next day. It's messy, but it's alive."
His grin became wider.
"And somehow, Boss, it has an effect on decreasing some street trouble in certain areas."
Zaboru raised an eyebrow. "Because people are playing games instead of causing trouble?"
"Exactly. Not everywhere, of course. I'm not saying games magically solve crime. But in some neighborhoods, young people now spend their nights in internet cafés or arcades instead of wandering outside looking for problems. Some local owners even told us that having popular multiplayer games helped keep groups busy."
Zaboru smiled. "That's interesting."
Carlos nodded. "Very interesting. Counter-Strike especially is insane. The teamwork, the competition, the trash talk, all of it fits the local energy really well. People here love showing off. If someone wins, the whole café hears about it."
Zaboru laughed. "That sounds fun."
"It is. And Half-Life also spread because of that. People play the main game, then they discover mods, then they discover more ZAGE titles. It becomes a chain."
Carlos leaned forward excitedly. "Also, arcades are still thriving in some areas. Especially in Mexico. Boss, I don't know what happened there, but they are obsessed with Fatal Fury."
Zaboru's eyes widened slightly. "Fatal Fury?"
Carlos nodded. "Yes. Fighting game culture there is crazy. Some arcades treat Fatal Fury like religion. Local champions have reputations. People gather just to watch strong players. Sometimes they even travel to other cities just to challenge someone."
Zaboru stared at him for a moment.
Then he began laughing.
In his previous life, The King of Fighters had been famously popular among Mexican players. In this world, however, ZAGE had reorganized many fighting-game brands differently. King of Fighters existed as a combined roster concept under ZAGE's wider fighting-game ecosystem, while the name Fatal Fury carried much more weight as the central brand of KOF in his previous life..
Yet somehow, even across worlds, Mexican players still gravitated toward that kind of fighting game.
Carlos continued, "But compared to previous years, the number of gamers who actually buy games has increased quite a lot. Regional pricing helped. Better distribution helped. And honestly, trust in ZAGE helped a lot too."
Zaboru looked more serious. "Trust?"
Carlos nodded. "Yes. People know that ZAGE games usually have quality. Even if they pirate first, many eventually buy later when they can afford it. Especially for games with online features or expansion content. Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne are doing extremely well. Somehow that game really pulled people in."
Zaboru grinned knowingly.
"Especially because of the ZAGE map DoTA, right?"
Carlos pointed at him. "Exactly! That map is becoming a monster. People who did not care about strategy games suddenly come to internet cafés just to play DoTA with friends. Some café owners told me they had to install more computers because groups came at night and occupied everything."
Zaboru's grin widened.
Carlos then added, "And aside from games, your ZAGE Foundation is becoming popular too, especially in countries where it already has projects. Schools, youth centers, computer education, small donations, local community support... people notice that. Because of the Foundation, even people who don't play games are becoming aware of ZAGE."
Zaboru nodded slowly, clearly pleased.
That mattered to him.
Profit was important, of course. ZAGE needed money to continue expanding, supporting its employees, developing games, building hardware, and funding insane projects that made accountants suffer. But the ZAGE Foundation was different. It was one of the parts of his empire that made him feel personally satisfied.
If ZAGE could make money while also improving people's lives, then that was a success greater than sales charts.
Zaboru leaned forward slightly. "So, what about game developers? Are there local developers trying to make games yet?"
Carlos's expression became more complicated.
He sighed and nodded. "There are a couple of them. More than before, actually. But most lack money and confidence. Many of them work regular jobs during the day and develop games at night. Some are programmers. Some are artists. Some are students. Some are just kids who love games and want to create something but still understand too little. But it's hard for them."
Zaboru listened carefully.
Carlos continued, "They don't have proper tools, proper funding, or proper connections. Some don't even believe a game from Brazil or Latin America can sell internationally. They think game development is something Japan, America, Korea, or Europe does. Not them."
Zaboru frowned.
That part bothered him.
"Talent can exist anywhere," he said quietly. "But if the environment keeps telling people they don't belong in an industry, they give up before they even start."
Carlos nodded. "Exactly."
Zaboru tapped his finger on the armrest of his chair. "Are there any developers still actively building their craft in Brazil right now?"
Carlos grinned slightly. "There is one group, Boss. Actually, they're the reason I thought you might ask this."
Zaboru's eyes sharpened with interest. "Oh?"
Carlos nodded. "They are struggling badly right now because their idea is absurd. Really absurd. They don't have enough money to realize it, and they're looking for investors. But you'll understand why I didn't help them directly."
"Why?"
Carlos scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Because their idea is a little too extreme."
Zaboru leaned forward. "Extreme how? Is it the game idea?"
Carlos nodded. "Yes. They want to create this weird game combining capoeira and football. But somehow it's played like volleyball. The concept is strange as hell, right?"
For a moment, Zaboru stared at him in silence.
Then his eyes widened.
"Capoeira and football with volleyball-like rules...?"
Carlos nodded again. "Yes. See? Weird."
Zaboru slowly smiled.
"Isn't that similar to Sepak Takraw from Southeast Asia?"
Carlos blinked in surprise. "Sepak... what?"
"Sepak Takraw," Zaboru repeated. "It's a sport where players use their feet, knees, chest, and head to hit a ball over a net. Kind of like volleyball, but without hands. It's popular in parts of Southeast Asia."
Carlos stared at him. "I've never heard of that."
Zaboru chuckled. "Most people outside the region probably haven't. But the idea is not absurd to me. Actually, combining that kind of structure with capoeira and football culture could be really interesting."
Carlos looked uncertain. "You really think so?"
Zaboru nodded. "Absolutely. Think about it. Brazil has football culture, dance, rhythm, martial arts, street energy, and style. A game based on acrobatic kicks, ball control, team play, and flashy movement could be extremely unique."
Carlos slowly leaned back.
He had expected Zaboru to laugh at the idea.
Instead, Zaboru looked excited.
Zaboru continued, "If they build it like a normal sports game, maybe it becomes boring. But if they exaggerate it properly? Special shots, character styles, capoeira movement, street courts, tournament mode, local teams, maybe even arcade-style energy... Carlos, that could become something."
Carlos frowned in thought. "But the idea is risky."
Zaboru grinned "Most good ideas are risky before someone proves they work beside Risky idea way more good and better than "Boring" Template ideas carlos.."
Carlos gave him a careful look. "Boss, are you seriously interested?"
Zaboru grinned. "For real."
Carlos sighed, then chuckled helplessly. "I should have known. The moment I said the idea was weird, you became interested."
"Of course. Weird means it has personality. Normal ideas ask permission to exist. Weird ideas kick the door open while wearing sunglasses."
Carlos stared at him for a second. "Boss, that sounds inspiring and stupid at the same time."
"That's usually where the best games live," Zaboru said proudly.
Carlos stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Fine. I can contact them now. Their workspace is not too far from here. But don't expect anything polished, Boss. They're poor, tired, probably nervous, and their studio name is Lo Siento."
Zaboru, who had already started standing, suddenly froze.
He slowly turned his head toward Carlos.
"Lo Siento...?"
Carlos nodded.
Zaboru blinked. "Isn't that Spanish for 'I'm sorry'?"
"Yes."
Zaboru stared at him.
Carlos stared back.
For a few seconds, the office became completely silent.
Then Zaboru pointed at him. "Carlos."
"Yes, Boss?"
"This is Brazil."
"I know."
"They speak Portuguese here."
"I know."
"And this Brazilian game studio chose a Spanish name that means 'I'm sorry'?"
Carlos scratched his hair awkwardly. "Yes."
Carlos sighed. "Their leader said the name is strategic."
"Strategic?"
Carlos nodded with the tired expression of a man who had already suffered through this explanation before. "Apparently, he thought it was a powerful name because one day everyone who doubted them would say 'Lo Siento' to them."
Zaboru stared at Carlos again.
Then he suddenly burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHA! Wait, wait, wait! So their studio name is not them apologizing to the world. It's them forcing the world to apologize to them?"
Carlos pointed at him. "Exactly."
Zaboru laughed even harder. "That's insane! But Badass!"
Carlos rubbed his forehead. "Boss, please don't say that to them directly they will have big heads...."
Zaboru grinned. "No, no, I respect it. It's arrogant, confusing, linguistically questionable, and slightly tragic but it's still creative"
Carlos looked exhausted. "I knew you would like it."
"Like it?" Zaboru said, already walking toward the door. "Carlos, I need to meet these people immediately. Anyone who names their Brazilian studio 'I'm Sorry' in Spanish because they expect the entire world to regret doubting them is either completely insane or secretly brilliant."
Carlos followed after him. "Honestly, Boss, they might be both."
"Even better!" Zaboru said brightly. "Game developers should have at least one screw loose. If they're too normal, they'll make menus for insurance software."
Carlos stopped for half a second. "That was oddly specific."
Zaboru laughed and pointed dramatically toward the hallway. "Let's go meet Lo Siento!"
Carlos sighed, but he was smiling now. He knew Zaboru well enough to understand that stopping him was impossible. The moment an idea became weird enough, Zaboru's curiosity activated like a hunting dog that had smelled meat.
"Then let's go," Carlos said.
Zaboru grinned brightly.
"Yeah. I want to meet them. I want to see the studio that apologized before committing the crime."
Carlos muttered, "That sentence is going to haunt me."
And so, less than an hour after arriving at B.E.A.K. headquarters, Zaboru was already preparing to visit a struggling local Brazilian development group called Lo Siento, whose strange name, stranger concept, and suspiciously powerful confidence had somehow caught his full attention.
To be continued.
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