Sega Headquarters.
Nakayama Hayao listened to his subordinate's report and nodded slightly.
"Eight thousand units, huh? That's not bad, but it still seems a bit short for Atlas."
Nakayama Hayao had been closely monitoring the Atlas situation all along.
He suddenly looked up at the employee before him.
"Mr. Ohba, what's your take on this?"
"Yes, President. I believe Sega has done everything it can. We've released the game in our own stores, purchased it in bulk, and done our best to persuade our partner stores to carry it. So, it should be fine."
The speaker was Noriyoshi Ohba, who had joined Sega Corporation in April of this year.
Noriyoshi Ohba graduated from Waseda University, a prestigious institution. Following the current Japanese trend, Sega had given him a "red envelope" containing one million yen to travel abroad upon his hire.
Nakayama Hayao placed great value on everyone he had personally recruited, including Kobayashi Kentaro.
After listening to Noriyoshi Ohba's response, Nakayama Hayao said, "What I'm really curious about is something else. Atlas hasn't made a move yet. I don't believe Kobayashi Tetsu would willingly let Namco, Konami, and Taito suppress his arcade business. If he's going to act, he needs a breakthrough."
Noriyoshi Ohba lowered his head, refilling his teacup. "So he has no choice but to approach Sega Headquarters."
"Exactly," Nakayama Hayao said. "He has no choice but to come to Sega Headquarters. Sega hasn't yet put its full weight behind this. If we really wanted to convince the arcades, we could at least double the current number—maybe even reach 20,000 units. Atlas doesn't have its own arcade distribution channels. Even Demon Tower's success, reaching 40,000 units, relied heavily on Sega's promotional channels. In other words, he will come."
Nakayama Hayao spoke with confident certainty.
But that wasn't enough.
"It would be ideal if someone could immediately monitor Atlas's movements. Ohba, do you understand?"
Noriyoshi Ohba snapped his head up.
He seemed to grasp the implication.
"You mean... I should join Atlas?"
"Exactly!"
Nakayama Hayao clapped his hands together.
Atlas was recruiting, aiming to expand their team to around one hundred members. Given this, infiltrating one or two suitable individuals wouldn't be out of the question.
Moreover, Nakayama Hayao could reassure himself that he was merely sending someone into Atlas, doing nothing else to interfere, solely to obtain firsthand intelligence.
In that case, surely no one could fault him!
Ohba Noriyoshi lowered his head, his heart pounding relentlessly.
But he didn't want to join Atlas!
Yet Nakayama Hayao had already decided.
You're the one!
We're sending you to Atlas. Operation code name: Project Fuji!
Kunio Taki, impeccably dressed in a suit, introduced Ohba Noriyoshi to the team. "Everyone, this is our new colleague, Ohba Noriyoshi."
The team responded with perfunctory applause.
Kunio Taki straightened his tie, still somewhat uncomfortable in this formal attire. He provisionally assigned Noriyoshi Ohba a desk.
Noriyoshi Ohba settled into his seat and looked at Kunio Taki. "Manager, is there anything I can do?"
Meeting Kunio Taki's gaze, Noriyoshi Ohba felt a sudden wave of anxiety.
Oh no, did I come across too eager? Will they discover I'm actually a corporate spy?
But quickly, Kunio Taki's scrutinizing look softened.
"There is a task, though you might not like it, given your prestigious academic background."
"Oh no, how could I refuse!" Noriyoshi Ohba hastily replied. "I'm willing to do anything."
"Then, go handle the offline promotions."
Kunio Taki was desperately looking for people to handle offline promotions for their game shop. He had specifically recruited a group of old buddies—retired bōsōzoku members who had no other passion besides their motorcycles. Now that they were getting on in years and could no longer race, most of them were still physically fit enough to be sent out to negotiate licensing deals with shop owners.
Noriyoshi Ohba gasped inwardly, as if inhaling Sakura Shinguji's essence.
Me, a graduate of Waseda University, the pride of the heavens, now being sent out for offline promotions?!
It would be easier to just kill me!
Though deeply reluctant, Noriyoshi Ohba bowed deeply.
"Yes, I will do my utmost."
Before leaving, Noriyoshi Ohba turned back to glance at the office.
He knew that Kobayashi Tetsu, the President of Atlas and the target of Operation Fuji, was in that room.
But he knew he couldn't get in now.
With a bitter taste in his mouth, Ohba left to prepare for the offline promotion push.
After seeing Ohba out, Kunio Taki entered the office to report the recruitment results to Kobayashi Tetsu.
Kobayashi Tetsu casually skimmed through the documents, initially uninterested, but his gaze suddenly stopped on a name.
"Waseda University? Impressive. Why would someone from there come to Atlas?"
Taki replied, "That's of course due to your brilliant leadership, President. Atlas's reputation has spread far and wide, even drawing students from Waseda University to our ranks."
Kobayashi Tetsu was puzzled.
Where did everyone at Atlas learn to flatter like this?
Outside the office, Naka Yuji suddenly sneezed.
Inside, Kobayashi Tetsu casually flipped through the document, checking the name.
Noriyoshi Ohba, as expected.
Waseda graduate, experience and name all matched.
"Why didn't you go to Sega to work on Sakura Wars? Why come to me instead?" Kobayashi Tetsu clicked his tongue.
Noriyoshi Ohba was the producer of Sakura Wars.
Of course, not the main producer. The mastermind behind Sakura Wars was an incredibly talented man named Ouji Hiroi.
But their actual capabilities were rather lacking.
During the development of Sakura Wars, Director Ouji Hiroi realized the project was floundering and had no choice but to seek help from Sega. Sega then dispatched Noriyoshi Ohba to assist, and it was only under Ohba's supervision that the Sakura Wars series was eventually born.
This incident, however, left a bitter taste in Hiroi's mouth. He resented Sega for taking advantage of their dire situation to seize the Sakura Wars IP.
Tetsuya Kobayashi couldn't judge the situation. If he were in Sega's position, he would have demanded the rights too.
But even he struggled to decide who deserved credit for Sakura Wars: Ohba or Hiroi.
After finishing his report, Kunio Taki suddenly turned serious. "President, I've noticed something about Ohba. He's not quite normal. By convention, a top graduate from a prestigious university like his caliber would receive at least several hundred thousand yen in signing bonuses. If his grades were exceptional, the company would even arrange a paid vacation to prevent him from being poached by other firms. Yet a Waseda graduate hasn't found work in four months. This isn't unheard of—some might just be after the signing bonus—but Ohba has another peculiar trait."
"He actually volunteered for work, and when I assigned him to do in-store promotions for games, he didn't protest at all."
Kobayashi Tetsu abruptly looked up.
In the 1980s, Waseda University was considered a prestigious institution in Japan, and field sales work was notoriously demanding and exhausting.
This was akin to a graduate from a top university getting a job at a company only to be assigned to clean the toilets, yet this graduate from a top university seemed completely unfazed.
"Interesting," Kobayashi Tetsu murmured, clicking his tongue in admiration.
How could anyone, especially a graduate from such an elite university, so easily accept such a situation? With a little more effort, he could have gotten into The University of Tokyo. There was no logical reason for him to end up cleaning toilets after graduation.
Noriyoshi Ohba must have had his own reasons for coming to Atlas.
Kunio Taki naturally saw this as well. The old bōsōzoku member's sharp instincts hadn't dulled.
"President, why don't I find a way to marginalize him? We could keep him out of development work and just send him away?"
"Why don't you just give him a motorcycle and tell him to crash it?" Kobayashi Tetsu waved dismissively. "Just let him work normally. Actually, assign him to an internship in the Second Division and have him work on Red Fortress with me. Let's see what he's really after."
If Kobayashi Tetsu hadn't known Noriyoshi Ohba and been aware that he worked for Sega, he might not have immediately understood. But with that knowledge, the puzzle pieces fell into place.
This Noriyoshi Ohba from Biyang must be a commercial spy sent by Sega! That four-month gap in his employment wasn't about scamming signing bonuses; he was already working for Sega for four months!
Alright then.
Tetsuya Kobayashi didn't think the signing bonus thing was exactly a scam, since many graduates from top Japanese universities did this. They'd get hired by big companies, collect a signing bonus, then hop from company to company, raking in bonuses until they'd had their fill of fun before finally settling down in a proper job.
This was a common practice.
It was nothing like the situation in later years, where students were picked over by companies and didn't dare make any demands.
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