"Square"
Oyama Rieko jerked her head up, her expression filled with shock.
That name carried tremendous weight in the industry! The company that used the Final Fantasy series to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Enix's Dragon Quest, the two titans jointly ruling the RPG market.
"Hironobu Sakaguchi is waiting for us," Takuya added another bombshell.
Oyama Rieko froze.
Hironobu Sakaguchi—the father of Final Fantasy?
And the Executive Director was taking her to meet Square's ace producer?
What on earth was he planning?
"This project is a big one," Takuya said. "Once you finish Golden Sun 3, I want your team to join this new project and work with Square. You'll lead Sega's side of the development."
His words were both a reassurance and a crushing weight, falling squarely on her shoulders.
"Before that, don't tell anyone in the dev team. Not until everything is finalized."
Rieko lowered her gaze to the manuscript in her hands, then lifted her eyes to Takuya.
She understood.
The Executive Director intended to rope in the king of the RPG world… and pull off something unprecedented.
And she—she was to be one of the central figures in this historic project.
A surge of indescribable excitement rose within her.
She tightened her grip on the manuscript, nodded solemnly. Her voice was soft, but crystal clear.
"I understand, Executive Director."
Takuya smiled with satisfaction and turned to leave.
As his figure disappeared through the doorway, Rieko took a deep breath and sat back down.
She didn't resume game testing immediately. Instead, she opened the manuscript titled "Chrono Trigger."
---
Friday, in front of Square's headquarters building.
Two cars pulled up, one behind the other.
Nakayama Takuya stepped out of his sports car, carrying a bulging briefcase.
From the other vehicle, Oyama Rieko emerged in sharp business attire.
A lone figure was already waiting at the entrance, pacing anxiously and checking his watch every few seconds.
It was Hironobu Sakaguchi.
The moment he spotted Takuya, his eyes lit up. He strode forward, grasping his hand in a firm shake.
"Executive Director Nakayama! I've been dying for you to get here!" His excitement practically spilled over. "Ever since that phone call, the things you said have been buzzing in my head nonstop. I can't even focus on Final Fantasy IV's bugs anymore!"
Takuya laughed, clapping his arm. "Don't rush. Good things are worth waiting for."
He then stepped aside and introduced Rieko.
"No need for me to say much, right? The creator of the only RPG on the Mega Drive that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your Final Fantasy—the Golden Sun series' mastermind, Oyama Rieko, our top producer at Sega."
Sakaguchi's eyes drifted from the manuscript in her arms to her face.
His smile faded into a professional seriousness—one creator sizing up another.
"Oyama-san, it's an honor." He extended his hand gravely. "To study Golden Sun, I replayed your first two installments many times. That distinctive art style, that brilliant Psynergy system… Even with cartridge limitations, you produced something unforgettable. Truly impressive!"
Everyone present understood the weight of such praise.
It was one king of the RPG world giving the highest recognition to a rising star.
Rieko clearly hadn't expected such direct admiration. She blinked in surprise, then quickly bowed and shook his hand.
"Sakaguchi-san, you overpraise me. Compared to Final Fantasy, I am still very much a student."
"Hahaha! In this industry, seniority doesn't matter—only the work speaks!" Sakaguchi laughed heartily, then glanced at Takuya's briefcase and gestured toward the conference room.
Once the door closed, Sakaguchi dropped all pretense. He looked like a cat that had just spotted a pile of dried fish.
"Executive Director Nakayama—quick! Don't hide it! Where's that thing you mentioned on the phone?!"
Takuya took his time, placing the briefcase on the table with exaggerated calm.
He smiled. "Sakaguchi-san, you were so excited over the phone, I'm worried your heart won't handle it once I show you."
"My heart is fine!" Sakaguchi slapped his chest—but his eyes stayed locked on the briefcase.
Only then did Takuya pull out a stack of documents and slide them across the table.
"Sega-CD Technical Specifications."
Sakaguchi practically snatched them, flipping through with blazing intensity.
The meeting room filled only with the rapid rustling of pages.
"CD-ROM drive… 650MB storage…"
"Dedicated graphics processor—rotation and scaling…"
"PCM audio chip… Wait—this can directly play studio-recorded audio?!"
At the final line of data, Sakaguchi's head snapped up. His eyes were wide—shock, regret, and finally an explosive, sky-piercing wail of despair.
He slammed his palm on the documents.
"Nakayama-kun! This is a crime! Do you hear me? A crime!"
His finger trembled as he pointed at Takuya.
"Why not six months earlier?! Why didn't you bring this out six months earlier?!
My Final Fantasy IV! Do you know how much hair we lost trying to cram that music and those visuals into a cartridge?! Do you know how many nights Uematsu Nobuo stayed up just to pick suitable instrument samples?! And now you tell me—you had THIS all along?!"
It wasn't anger.
It was the sorrow of a creator realizing his work had missed the chance to be something even greater.
Takuya simply laughed, fully expecting this reaction. "Sakaguchi-san, epoch-making hardware takes time to reach completion. What's past is past. What matters is—you won't miss the next stage."
He pulled out another, much thicker manuscript—the same one he had shown Rieko—and slid it forward.
Sakaguchi blinked, lowering his gaze to the title on the cover:
"Chrono Trigger."
He picked it up, opened the first page.
After only a few minutes, the fury drained from his face, replaced by deep fascination.
He murmured unconsciously:
"Time travel… a robot… a warrior frog… multiple endings…"
Halfway through, he suddenly snapped the manuscript shut and slammed it on the table again—but this time, his face twisted in agonized conflict.
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