Sunday, 27 July 2001.
Today was a special day.
Across several countries, game stores were already crowded with fans, collectors, Bruce Lee admirers, action-game lovers, and ZAGE loyalists waiting to get their hands on the only major ZAGE game released this month. It was a game that had been promoted heavily not only because it was a ZAGE project, but because it carried the name and image of one of the most legendary martial artists in history.
Bruce Lee: The Thunder Dragon Fist.
For many older fans, the name Bruce Lee alone was enough to make them curious. For younger players, the fact that it was developed by ZAGE's Team IZAN made it impossible to ignore. Team IZAN was already known for strange, stylish, experimental action games, and the trailers had made the game look less like a normal celebrity title and more like a wild fantasy martial-arts epic.
Right now, inside a warm family household in New York, one child was more excited than almost anyone else in the world.
A half-Asian, half-American boy was kneeling on the living-room floor with sparkling eyes, holding the brand-new game package as if it were a sacred treasure. His name was Damian Lee, ten years old, and he was Bruce Lee's grandson.
More specifically, he was the son of Bruce Lee's firstborn daughter, Lunar Lee.
In this world, Bruce Lee's life had followed a different path from the one Zaboru remembered in his previous life. Bruce was still alive. He had married Linda Lee in the 1970s, and together they had four children. Their oldest child, Lunar, was now already in her thirties and had a son of her own. Damian had inherited both sides of his family clearly: his mother's sharp Asian features and his father's American side, giving him a bright, energetic face that looked even more animated whenever he smiled.
And today, Damian was smiling so widely that his cheeks almost looked painful.
He was a huge ZAGE fan.
He loved ZEPS 3, loved ZAGE games, loved watching game trailers on YouTube, and loved arguing with his friends about which ZAGE character was the coolest. But above all of that, Damian loved his grandfather's movies. He had watched them again and again, sometimes trying to imitate Bruce Lee's movements in the living room until Lunar had to tell him to stop before he broke something.
Because of that, this game felt impossible to him.
A ZAGE game.
Starring his grandfather.
In full 3D.
With lightning dragons.
For Damian, it was not merely a game release. It was like the universe had personally created something for him.
Ironically, Bruce Lee himself had not always approved of Damian's gaming habit.
For years, he had often scolded his grandson for playing too much. He would say that video games wasted time, dulled the body, distracted the mind, and made children too comfortable sitting still instead of moving, training, observing, and living. Bruce had never hated games exactly, but he had treated them as something shallow, something fun perhaps, but ultimately not serious.
At least, that was how he used to think.
Recently, after meeting Zaboru Renkonan and becoming involved with this game project, Bruce's view had changed more than even his family expected.
Now Bruce sat on the sofa beside Lunar, watching Damian tear open the package with the kind of pure happiness adults rarely showed anymore. His expression was calm, but his eyes were gentle. There was something quietly emotional in the way he watched his grandson, as if he was realizing that the small joy he once dismissed was actually something precious.
Lunar noticed it immediately.
She leaned back, crossed her arms, and chuckled. "You really changed, Dad."
Bruce turned toward her. "Hm?"
"You always nagged Damian about playing too many video games, remember?" Lunar smiled teasingly. "But now look at you. You're the one who bought it for him. Did teaching Zaboru Renkonan give you some kind of revelation?"
Bruce laughed softly.
He looked back at Damian, who was now holding the game case up to the light to admire the cover.
"Yeah…" Bruce said slowly. "I learned a lot of things."
His voice was calm, but there was honesty in it.
"I learned that in life, small enjoyments I thought had nothing to offer can become a whole world for someone. Maybe even their reason for living, or at least something that gives them strength when life is heavy."
Lunar's smile softened.
Bruce continued, "When I was young, I always believed in being open-minded. Absorb what is useful. Reject what is useless. Add what is specifically your own. That was my philosophy. But somehow, as I got older, there were things I judged too quickly."
He chuckled, but there was a little embarrassment in it.
"I thought I was still flexible, but maybe my mind became rigid without me noticing. Zaboru reminded me of that. Video games are not only toys. For some people, they are stories, training, challenge, friendship, imagination, dreams… even art."
Lunar looked at him warmly. "Don't worry, Dad. You're doing great."
Bruce smiled. "Hahaha. I still have a long way to go."
Then Damian suddenly rushed toward him with the game case in both hands.
"Grandfather, look!" Damian shouted, almost tripping over his own excitement. "It's you! It's really you! And it looks so cool!"
He shoved the cover toward Bruce with the urgency of a child presenting evidence in court.
Bruce accepted the case and looked at it carefully.
The cover art was striking. It showed Bruce Lee, but not as the ordinary martial artist people knew from films. This Bruce Lee wore a lean yellow-and-silver armor set, not bulky like a knight, but sharp and flexible, almost like a mix between a wuxia warrior, a mythological hero, and something close to a Saint Seiya-style celestial fighter. The armor traced the lines of his body without hiding his martial-arts posture. His stance was low, focused, and explosive.
Around his fists, a glowing yellow thunder dragon coiled like living lightning.
Its scales looked like sparks. Its eyes burned white. Its long body wrapped around Bruce's arm and shoulders as if it was both a weapon and a spirit.
The title shone beneath him:
Bruce Lee: The Thunder Dragon Fist.
Bruce stared at the cover in silence for a moment.
Honestly, he knew almost nothing about game-cover design. He did not know what made one box art more marketable than another. He did not know what would catch a player's eye on a store shelf. But even he could feel that the image had power. It did not merely use his face cheaply. It turned him into a legend, a martial spirit, a fantasy warrior, while still keeping something recognizably "Bruce Lee" inside the posture and expression.
He nodded slowly.
"This is not bad," Bruce said.
Damian looked offended. "Not bad? Grandfather, this is awesome!"
Lunar laughed.
Bruce looked at Damian's serious face and smiled. "Fine. It is awesome."
Damian immediately grinned again.
Bruce quietly thought about Zaboru. When ZAGE had first asked for the rights to use his image, Bruce had hesitated. Not because he distrusted Zaboru personally, but because letting someone turn his name and body into a game character was strange. What if they made him look stupid? What if they misunderstood martial arts? What if they used his image only to sell a shallow product?
But Zaboru had spoken with him directly.
Not like a businessman buying a famous face.
Not like a fan worshipping an untouchable legend.
Zaboru had spoken to him like a creator speaking to another creator. He explained the concept, the themes, the fantasy setting, the combat philosophy, and how the game would treat Bruce Lee as a mythic martial artist without disrespecting the human behind the legend. Beside Zaboru is his disciple now.
That had moved Bruce more than he expected.
So he agreed.
And now, seeing Damian so happy, Bruce felt that maybe he had made the right choice.
Without waiting any longer, Damian ran toward the television and carefully opened the game case. He took out the Thunder Dragon Fist disc like it was a holy artifact, then placed it into his ZEPS 3 with both hands.
The console hummed softly.
Damian grabbed the controller and sat cross-legged on the floor, bouncing slightly in place.
Bruce and Lunar watched from the sofa.
After a brief loading screen, the familiar ZAGE logo appeared.
The sound alone made Damian straighten his back.
Then came the Team IZAN logo.
A dark background. A flash of steel. A sharp red mark cutting across the screen. The logo appeared with a deep metallic sound that made the room feel suddenly more serious.
Damian whispered, "Team IZAN…"
Bruce glanced at Lunar. "He knows the development team?"
Lunar nodded with a smile. "Of course. Kids know this stuff now."
Bruce chuckled in disbelief.
Then the opening cinematic began.
And immediately, even Bruce stopped smiling.
The screen exploded into full 3D spectacle.
A storm-covered mountain appeared beneath a black sky. Lightning tore through the clouds, illuminating ancient temples, floating stone platforms, broken statues, and warriors standing across impossible cliffs. The music began with traditional Chinese wuxia-style instruments, elegant and haunting at first, like a story from an old legend.
Then the electric guitar entered.
A sharp, shredding rock riff cut through the melody, merging with pounding drums and rising orchestral strings. The combination should have sounded strange, but somehow it worked perfectly. It felt ancient and modern at the same time. Wuxia fantasy with rock power. Martial arts as myth. Lightning as rhythm.
Then Bruce Lee appeared on screen.
Not real Bruce Lee sitting on the sofa, but his digital self: younger, sharper, mythic, wearing the yellow-and-silver armor from the cover. His eyes opened as thunder cracked behind him.
Damian gasped.
"Grandfather!"
Bruce leaned forward slightly.
The digital Bruce moved.
Fast.
Extremely fast.
He dashed across the battlefield like a flash of yellow lightning, fists glowing as the thunder dragon coiled around his arms. He struck one enemy in the chest, then spun into a kick that sent another flying through a wooden pillar. The animation was exaggerated, but it carried the spirit of real martial arts: speed, timing, economy, explosive power.
Bruce's eyes narrowed.
He could tell that the animators had studied him.
Not perfectly, of course. This was fantasy. There were flying enemies, lightning fists, and impossible movements. But beneath the spectacle, there were details. The way his digital self shifted weight. The sudden stop before attacking. The snap of the kick. The hand position. The forward pressure.
Someone had cared.
On screen, the scene shifted.
Digital Bruce stood before a massive two-headed bear warrior holding a giant axe. The creature roared, both heads opening wide, while its axe smashed the ground and cracked the stone beneath it.
Damian shouted, "Whoa!"
Bruce's digital self did not retreat.
He stepped forward.
The bear swung.
Bruce ducked beneath the axe, slid across the ground, and struck upward with a lightning-coated fist. The thunder dragon roared, wrapping around the bear's body before exploding in yellow light.
The scene cut again.
This time, Bruce faced a huge man with a snake tattoo covering his chest and arms. The tattoo moved like it was alive. The man opened his mouth and breathed fire, turning the battlefield into a river of flames. Bruce dashed between fire streams, ran along a collapsing wall, and launched himself forward with a flying kick surrounded by lightning.
Then came other warriors.
Masked assassins.
Armored monks.
Ghost soldiers.
A woman carrying twin crescent blades.
A giant stone guardian with red eyes.
The setting kept changing rapidly: bamboo forests under moonlight, burning temples, mountain bridges, underground arenas, and a floating palace above storm clouds. Everything had the feeling of fantasy wuxia, but with ZAGE's dramatic game style layered over it.
No dialogue appeared.
No explanation was spoken.
Yet even Bruce could understand the emotion of the opening.
The digital Bruce was not just a hero.
He was a rebel.
Someone fighting against an ancient order.
Someone refusing to bow.
Someone whose power frightened those who ruled the world.
Then the music slowed.
The screen became darker.
Digital Bruce stood alone on a circular stone platform, injured but still standing. Around him, chains of silver light suddenly shot from the ground and wrapped around his arms, legs, and chest. He struggled, lightning bursting from his body, but the chains tightened.
Then a handsome Taoist appeared before him.
The man had long silver hair tied in a ponytail, narrow eyes, pale robes decorated with cloud patterns, and a calm expression that looked almost sorrowful. He raised one hand, and talismans floated around him in a perfect circle.
Damian became silent.
Even Lunar leaned forward slightly.
The Taoist spoke no words, but his movement was elegant and cruel. He pressed two fingers together, and a massive sealing formation appeared beneath Bruce's feet. The thunder dragon roared, twisting violently around him, but the seal absorbed its lightning.
Digital Bruce shouted silently.
The screen shook.
The storm above split open.
For a moment, it looked like he might break free.
Then the Taoist lowered his hand.
The chains pulled Bruce down onto the platform.
The seal closed.
Yellow thunder disappeared into darkness.
The music cut off.
Silence.
Then, slowly, the logo appeared on the screen with a thunderous impact.
BRUCE LEE: THE THUNDER DRAGON FIST
Damian stood up without realizing it, clutching the controller in both hands.
"That was insane…" he whispered.
Lunar smiled and looked at her father.
Bruce was still staring at the screen.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
He had not expected it to look this good.
He had not expected the music to hit so strongly.
He had not expected the opening, despite having no conversation, to clearly show the story's foundation: a powerful martial artist, a rebellion, enemies from a fantasy world, a mysterious Taoist, and Bruce's character being sealed away.
He understood it.
Even without being a gamer, he understood it.
And more than that, he felt something strange watching himself become a myth.
Lunar noticed his expression and asked softly, "Dad?"
Bruce blinked, then chuckled.
"Zaboru really knows what he is doing."
Damian turned around immediately. "Can I start? Can I start now?"
Bruce looked at his grandson's excited face, then at Lunar, then back at the title screen.
The thunder dragon moved faintly behind the logo, coiling in the darkness like it was waiting to awaken.
Bruce smiled.
"Go ahead."
Damian quickly turned back toward the screen, unable to wait another second, and moved his finger toward the start button.
To be continued.
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