After dinner, they strolled through the streets. Compared to the bustling areas of Shinjuku and Shibuya, Adachi City was noticeably less developed.
Along both sides of the street, piles of household appliances—televisions, old refrigerators, and the like—were stacked outside residential entrances. They sat there, untouched.
However, this was a common sight.
In Japan, there are specific disposal regulations for large household appliances. Discarding them directly incurs an extra fee.
As a result, many Japanese people choose to leave their items outside. Anyone who wants them can simply take them away, or perhaps pay a small amount to buy them. This saves them the disposal fee.
Some even go as far as hauling their waste to the mountains in the dead of night to avoid paying the extra charges.
Kobayashi Tetsu glanced around and even spotted an SG game console and an MS game console.
"It makes sense. After all, these are outdated models. They can't play the latest games even if they keep them at home, and throwing them away would cost extra. As for storage, that's almost impossible in a place like Tokyo, where land is at a premium."
Japanese detached houses sound fancy, but the rooms are actually quite small, with very little storage space for miscellaneous items.
Leaving things outside to sell to others was a better option.
Kobayashi Tetsu stopped abruptly as he walked.
Koyakawa turned her head, a look of surprise on her face.
"Did you think of something again?"
"Indeed."
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "I was thinking that some people no longer need these things, but others still do."
In the last century, many people in Tsimen resold Japanese electronics from Yokohama. They weren't new, but they weren't too old to use either. These electronics were scrap items they bought in Japan at extremely low prices and then refurbished before selling them back in their own country.
At the time, Tsimen had shipping routes to Yokohama, so many sailors would do this kind of thing.
Kobayashi Tetsu pondered for a moment.
"Actually, we could find someone to buy these unwanted old home appliances at an even lower price and sell them overseas. This way, we can not only dispose of the scrap but also indirectly promote the brand."
The more Kobayashi Tetsu thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but clap his hands.
Change of plans! I won't make games anymore. I'll sell scrap!
Reborn as Japan's Scrap King: Rising from Collecting Old Home Appliances!
Koyakawa pictured the scene and instantly crossed her arms in an X.
Dame! I refuse!
A trash-collecting Tetsu-kun would be a smelly Tetsu-kun, and I won't have a smelly one!
"I'm just kidding," Kobayashi Tetsu said. "But this actually gave me another idea."
He raised his hand, gesturing as he spoke.
Actually, we could leverage the strengths of our development engine to localize games for overseas markets.
Whether a game is localized—and whether that localization is done well—can have a massive impact on its sales.
In the early years, when pirated games were rampant, fan-translated versions were far more popular. Later, as legitimate games rose in popularity, there was a huge demand for official Chinese translations.
Kobayashi Tetsu didn't care how much money the Persona Engine made. At this stage, it wouldn't earn much anyway—it might even lose money.
What he wanted was fame and market share.
In the nineties, the Four Asian Tigers were booming, and China was beginning its Reform and Opening-up. A huge number of people had money in their pockets but didn't know where to spend it—or rather, the newly rich had no idea what to buy.
Buying the latest electronic gadgets from overseas became a major trend. Being able to snag a Walkman from abroad made you the coolest kid in town, a far more thrilling status symbol than any trendy haircut.
Kobayashi Tetsu was certain that a vast number of outdated game consoles—like the SG, MS, and FC—were just now flooding into markets across Asia, Eastern Europe, and even Africa.
He couldn't reach as far as Europe or Africa, but Asia was right at his doorstep.
Kobayashi quickened his pace.
"Let's go, find a place with a phone!"
He had to find someone to solve this problem immediately!
Zhang Mingzhi, a student at National Taiwan University, was destined to submit a game to Soft-World and earn his first pot of gold if his life had taken its original course.
As for why he never actually worked at Soft-World and became a NAS giant instead of a software developer—well, that was another story.
That afternoon, after returning from class, Zhang Mingzhi was just about to try out Syobon Action, a game rumored to be a hit in Japan, when he heard someone shouting outside his door.
"Zhang Mingzhi! Zhang Mingzhi! There's a call for you in the security office downstairs!"
Startled, Zhang Mingzhi thought for a moment. It was probably his parents calling to check in. He hurried downstairs.
When the call connected, the voice on the other end sounded unfamiliar, yet Zhang felt as if he had heard it somewhere before.
While he was still trying to recall, Kobayashi Tetsu spoke up: "You remember me, right? Kobayashi Tetsu from Atlas."
"Oh, oh!!" Zhang Mingzhi snapped back to attention. "Mr. Kobayashi! Yes, sorry, I just didn't expect to get a call from you."
It wasn't that he hadn't recognized the voice—it was that he dared not imagine why he was calling. After all, he was still a student, just an innocent college kid. There was no trace of the future NAS giant in him yet.
Zhang Mingzhi's heart pounded, a wave of nervousness washing over him.
Why is he calling me out of the blue? Could he have suddenly discovered my potential and be trying to recruit me for Atlas? Even if it means moving all the way to Japan, that doesn't sound too bad!
Kobayashi Tetsu got straight to the point. "Did you attend the Atlas Carnival?"
"Yes," Zhang Mingzhi replied. "I was there. You announced the Persona Engine—the tool for game development that allows anyone to quickly start making games. But it hasn't been released here yet."
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "Well, I can give you a copy."
Zhang Mingzhi: ??
"Let's get straight to the point. Atlas plans to establish an office on your side. Although it won't be at the level of a subsidiary yet, it can still accomplish a lot. I believe that if we take some of Atlas's past works, make a few simple modifications, and add the corresponding localized languages, they would gain a much larger audience over there."
Zhang Mingzhi nodded repeatedly, but he didn't ask any other questions. Instead, he seized the main point: "What can I do?"
"This requires a complete team; one person can't do this kind of thing alone. I will send someone over there to establish the office, but I've looked into your local regulations, and a local person must hold a key position. After meeting you last time, I thought you would be a suitable candidate. So, in addition to your university studies, I hope you can serve as the lead of the programming group, responsible for the localization of some of Atlas's games."
In a flash, Zhang Mingzhi understood what this was all about.
It was as if Atlas was sending people to Taiwan to establish a company, and he would be like a founding member of this company. Although he wasn't the general manager, he would still hold a pivotal position.
Of course, adding Traditional Chinese localization wasn't technically challenging, nor was the workload particularly heavy—but that was only for now.
What if the Atlas Taiwan branch decided to develop games tailored to Chinese culture in the future?
That wouldn't be unprecedented! Romance of the Three Kingdoms had plenty of fans in Taiwan after all.
Zhang Mingzhi nodded immediately.
"I'm in! I know a lot of alumni from the Information Engineering department whose programming skills are quite good. We can definitely get this done to the best of our abilities."
After hanging up, Zhang Mingzhi let out a long breath.
What's this? I've got a job lined up before I've even graduated! I have to do a great job!
Even if it was just simple localization work—handling the Traditional Chinese translation—doing it well would still be a significant achievement.
Zhang Mingzhi mused that perhaps in a dozen or so years, Chinese-speaking players would still be playing games he had localized. That would truly be a lasting contribution!
He didn't think Atlas was planning that far ahead; they were probably just setting up a localization department to temporarily expand their market.
But that didn't stop Zhang Mingzhi from feeling thrilled.
After all, he hadn't even graduated yet! In the future, he could call himself a manager at a certain company!
Manager Zhang... Just the thought of it got him excited!
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