Chapter 1397 1315 “This Is ZAGE”

Only four days had passed since Scurge: Hive released, yet the game had already exploded far beyond what Team FUMA had expected.

The ZGBA title had originally been treated as one of ZAGE's more experimental releases for December. It did not carry the enormous recognition of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, nor was it based on a famous outside property like Tarzan.

Yet its unusual structure quickly became the thing everyone wanted to talk about.

Players repeatedly entered the Hive, gathered temporary upgrades, experimented with different weapons, pushed deeper into increasingly dangerous sectors, died, returned through the Bounty Hunter Association's cloning technology, permanently strengthened Jenosa, and immediately tried again.

It was simple to understand once someone actually played it.

Describing it was considerably harder.

People knew RPGs.

They knew action games.

They knew dungeon crawlers like Diablo or Zelda.

But Scurge: Hive clearly was not a traditional Dungeon Crawlers either. It used real-time action combat, an isometric perspective, persistent upgrades, handcrafted room combinations, ranged and melee weapons, and a narrative designed specifically around repeated deaths.

Naturally, people eventually asked Zaboru directly what the hell they were supposed to call it.

Zaboru saw one of the questions while casually browsing ZAGE Forum through his official account.

He stared at it for several seconds.

Then smiled.

He already knew exactly what this style of game would eventually be called.

He could have explained the distinction between a traditional roguelike and what would later become commonly known as a roguelite.

He could have created some entirely new terminology.

Instead, Zaboru typed the laziest answer possible.

Zaboru Renkonan:

I call this genre "Roguelike."

That immediately created another obvious question.

Why?

Why would an isometric science-fiction action game starring a red-haired bounty hunter carrying Laser Blasters and Laser Blades be called something as strange as Roguelike?

When someone asked Zaboru where the name came from, his answer somehow made everything worse.

Zaboru Renkonan:

Think about it yourself. I really want to be mysterious these days.

Zaboru clicked send.

Then leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile.

"Hehehe."

He offered absolutely no further explanation.

Soon enough, however, the term started spreading.

Roguelike.

Scurge: Hive was a Roguelike. one day he will explain why it's called that as it's actually based on game "Rogue" which actually already exist in this world, released in 1988.

Whether that description perfectly matched the older meaning of the word did not matter much to ordinary players. Zaboru had given them a convenient term for the new style of experience they were enjoying, and the name stuck almost immediately and Zaboru know it's not far the community will found the fact it why it was called "RogueLike".

More importantly, the game itself continued becoming increasingly popular.

And there was another major reason.

Jenosa Arma.

Zaboru and Team FUMA had redesigned Jenosa considerably from the version he remembered in his previous life.

She retained the fiery red hair and blue combat suit that made her visually recognisable, but ZAGE pushed her design much harder.

Her red hair was usually tied high behind her head, although enough loose strands remained to give her a deliberately wild appearance during combat. Her tight blue suit was reinforced by futuristic armour across her shoulders, arms, hips, legs, and torso, balancing mobility with the appearance of someone prepared to fight alien creatures at extremely close range.

Her two most recognisable weapons quickly became her Laser Blaster and glowing blue Laser Sword.

But appearance alone was not what made players attached to her.

Jenosa's personality was surprisingly easygoing for someone who routinely entered infected alien facilities where she could be torn apart and reconstructed inside another cloned body.

She joked.

She teased Association operators.

She complained about boring assignments.

She took dangerous jobs because they sounded interesting.

And despite being extremely competent, she possessed a reckless streak that constantly pushed her toward situations any sensible bounty hunter would avoid.

If Samus Aran represented the calm, mysterious, highly professional side of ZAGE's science-fiction heroines, Jenosa felt like her significantly wilder cousin.

Less composed.

More expressive.

More reckless.

And considerably more willing to grin before charging directly into something dangerous.

Naturally, that combination of strength, confidence, humour, wildness, and an intentionally attractive character design caused Jenosa to immediately join the ever-growing collection of female ZAGE characters that players became obsessed with.

Some had already begun calling her ZAGE's newest "waifu."

Others had gone considerably further.

"Mommy Jenosa."

Zaboru had seen that one.

He chose not to investigate further.

At this point, however, nobody inside ZAGE was particularly surprised.

ZAGE already had a reputation for creating women who were simultaneously extremely capable and extremely attractive.

Chun-Li.

Mai Shiranui.

Samus Aran.

Tifa.

Jill Valentine.

Lara Croft.

Ivy.

I-No

Kasumi.

Morrigan.

And now Jenosa Arma had joined them.

For Zaboru, there was nothing particularly complicated about it.

Strong female characters did not need to be made unattractive to prove they were strong.

And attractive female characters did not need to be weak.

Jenosa could be sexy, reckless, funny, dangerous, and still be the person walking into an alien Hive alone with a Laser Blaster in one hand and a Laser Sword in the other.

That was simply Jenosa.

Friday, 20 December 2001

Only one day remained before the annual ZAGE End-of-Year Event.

Excitement surrounding the event had already reached enormous levels.

The ZAGE End-of-Year Event had gradually become one of the company's biggest traditions. Developers gathered together, games from throughout the year were celebrated, internal achievements were recognised, employees were allowed to relax considerably more than usual, and Zaboru inevitably ended up doing something ridiculous on stage there also special merc and Cosplay events, and give additional Rewards to E-sports champions

This year's gathering would take place at ZEB Japan — ZAGE Event Building Japan, the large event facility connected to ZAGE's Japanese operations just like it's always be

Preparations were already underway.

But while Zaboru and thousands of ZAGE employees were preparing for tomorrow, one particular YouTuber had apparently decided that the correct response to Scurge: Hive's success was to completely lose his mind on camera.

His channel name was Toro Kami.

His real name was Miguel Katayuya.

Miguel was half Mexican and half Japanese, in his twenties, fairly handsome—

and an absolute idiot.

At least that was how his own viewers described him.

Miguel was a complete ZAGE fanatic.

His channel was largely built around playing ZAGE games with an amount of enthusiasm that frequently bordered on physical danger. He screamed during boss fights, celebrated game announcements like his country had won a war, occasionally stood on his chair when something particularly exciting happened, and possessed seemingly endless energy whenever ZAGE released something new.

Yet that insanity was exactly why people watched him.

Miguel genuinely loved games.

Especially ZAGE games.

And over the previous several months, he had become increasingly defensive whenever people claimed ZAGE was beginning to fall behind technologically.

Microsoft's Xbox had entered the market with extremely impressive hardware.

Apple's iPlay, despite becoming a commercial disaster, had also possessed stronger raw hardware than ZEPS 3.

That naturally created discussion about whether ZAGE's dominance was finally ending.

ZEPS 3 was older.

ZGBA was a handheld.

ZEPS 4 remained secret.

To Miguel, however, those arguments completely missed the point.

And after playing Scurge: Hive, he finally released a video expressing exactly what he thought.

The title was simple.

"THIS IS ZAGE!"

The video opened with Miguel already standing in front of the camera instead of sitting normally.

His fiery expression suggested he had spent several minutes preparing himself before recording.

"SEE?!"

Miguel immediately pointed directly toward the camera.

"I TOLD YOU GUYS!"

He slapped both hands against his desk.

"ZAGE! ZABORU-SAMA! THEY DON'T FUCKING LOSE!"

Miguel stepped backward and threw both arms outward.

"Everybody keeps talking about hardware! Xbox this! iPlay that! 'Ohhh, this console has stronger numbers! This one has more power!'"

He leaned toward the camera again.

"WHO CARES IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT?!"

Miguel grabbed his copy of Scurge: Hive and held it beside his face.

"LOOK AT THIS!"

He shook the box dramatically.

"This is on ZGBA!"

Miguel pointed toward the game.

"A HANDHELD!"

Then toward himself.

"And they just introduced a whole new style of game!"

Miguel began pacing around his room.

"This isn't like when Zaboru-sama was creating insane ideas back when the video game industry was still tiny! We already have fighting games! RPGs! shooters! strategy games! racing games! platformers! simulation games! online games! Everything is already getting huge!"

He suddenly turned toward the camera.

"And this bastard STILL thinks of something new!"

Miguel paused.

His eyes widened as another thought entered his head.

"Wait…"

He slowly raised both hands.

"If ZAGE can still create completely different game structures now…"

His voice became quieter.

"What about ten years from now?"

He stared upward.

"Twenty years?"

Then his expression transformed into pure excitement.

"How many fucking genres are we going to have?!"

Miguel grabbed his head.

"Ohhhhh, baby…"

He stumbled backward dramatically.

"I'm getting high."

He stared at the ceiling.

"I'M GETTING HIGH FROM THINKING ABOUT VIDEO GAMES!"

Then he screamed.

"ZAGE! PLEASE NEVER CHANGE!"

Miguel slammed his palms against the table.

"I WANT TO SEE WHAT GAMING LOOKS LIKE WHEN I'M FORTY!"

He suddenly pointed toward the camera again.

"And ZABORU-SAMA!"

Miguel paused dramatically.

"One day…"

He placed one hand over his chest.

"I WILL HAVE A DATE WITH YOU."

Silence.

Then he immediately shouted,

"AND IT'S NOT GAY IF IT'S ZABORU!"

He pointed aggressively toward the camera.

"I'D KISS HIM IMMEDIATELY!"

Miguel stopped.

He thought about what he had just said.

Then nodded seriously.

"I stand by that statement."

The video abruptly cut to a title card announcing that later that evening he would begin a full Scurge: Hive stream.

That was Miguel Katayuya.

There was very little middle ground with him.

He was loud.

Ridiculous.

Completely shameless.

And somehow genuine enough that people continued returning to watch him.

His growing audience never knew whether the next video would contain a legitimate discussion about game design or Miguel screaming while standing on furniture.

Often, it contained both.

Several hours later at ZAGE Tower, Zaboru happened to discover the video while checking recent gaming content.

He clicked it mostly because the title had made him curious.

By the time Miguel reached the section about kissing him, Zaboru slowly leaned backward in his chair.

"…"

Miguel shouted from the monitor:

"IT'S NOT GAY IF IT'S ZABORU!"

Zaboru stared.

Then burst out laughing.

"Hehehehehe… what the hell is wrong with this guy?"

He replayed that section.

Not because he wanted to hear the kissing part again.

Mostly because he could not believe Miguel had actually said it.

Zaboru wiped the corner of his eye from laughing and looked at the paused image.

"This guy…"

Something about Miguel felt strangely familiar.

Not personally.

Culturally.

His editing style, exaggerated reactions, direct relationship with viewers, screaming, random jokes, and willingness to completely embarrass himself for entertainment reminded Zaboru strongly of YouTube personalities from much later in his previous life.

"He really feels like a modern YouTuber."

That fascinated him.

YouTube was still young in this world.

The culture surrounding online video had not yet fully matured.

People were still discovering what kind of creators could exist when ordinary individuals suddenly had the ability to broadcast themselves globally without needing television networks.

Miguel had somehow stumbled naturally into a style Zaboru remembered becoming extremely common years later.

Fast-paced.

Personality-driven.

Community-focused.

Chaotic.

And extremely memeable.

Zaboru smiled.

"I actually want to meet this idiot someday."

Then he remembered the other part.

His smile weakened slightly.

"…But he was joking about kissing me, right?"

Zaboru stared at Miguel's frozen face.

"He was definitely joking."

Pause.

"…Right?"

Zaborn suddenly appeared beside his desk.

"He looked serious."

Zaboru immediately turned toward him. "Shut up."

Zaborn grinned. "Your new boyfriend seems passionate."

"He's not my boyfriend and you better leave or i whoop your ghost invisible see through ass"

Zaborn laughed.

Zaboru shook his head and closed the video.

"Tch…."

He still subscribed to Miguel's channel.

Then he stood from his desk.

There were far more important matters to handle.

Tomorrow was the ZAGE End-of-Year Event.

The ZAGE Event Building was already undergoing its final preparations

There are already many events for the Events itself and obviously it's opened for the public and also 2001 almost ended and Zaboru chuckled.

"2001 really isn't ending quietly, huh?"

He walked toward the door.

Tomorrow, ZAGE will close out one of the "Unique" years in the company's history.

And Zaboru intended to make sure everyone remembered it.

To be continued.

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