Acquisition Successful

When everyone heard that, they all turned to look at Sasaki. They had rarely ever seen Sasaki take the initiative to speak, and they had not expected him to be the first to offer a suggestion today.

"Considering the CRT technology commonly used in arcade machines right now, certain color combinations that are overly saturated or have strong contrast may produce brief visual afterimages during rapidly changing images—that is, a ghosting effect—which affects the player experience."

"We can avoid this problem by adjusting the palette, choosing specific color combinations, and perhaps making some slight optimizations to the program's algorithms."

His remarks were extremely professional, striking directly at a technical detail that was easy to overlook but truly existed.

The conference room fell quiet for a moment, and everyone's eyes focused on Sasaki.

Takuya immediately nodded, appreciation showing on his face.

"Mr. Sasaki's opinion is extremely important, and extremely professional! This issue may indeed not be deeply felt by ordinary players, or they may not care much about it, but it will definitely have no small impact on top-level players of the highest skill. And top players are admired by ordinary players; they can help us amplify the word-of-mouth effect. Once this kind of advantage, which ordinary players don't obviously feel, is discovered by players, it will create that satisfying sense of 'So the product I'm using is actually this good!'—a feeling that it's worth more than the price. This is something that can raise the product's intangible value, in other words, its brand value."

After Takuya's barrage of praise and elevating the point to a matter of value, even Sasaki was left with the baffled feeling of, How did I not know I was this amazing?

"I truly didn't consider the matter in such detail. Then I'll have to trouble you to keep a close eye on the subsequent technical implementation and optimization of the color scheme."

He directly gave both affirmation and a task.

Sasaki was slightly startled, then nodded and agreed. The habitual seriousness on his face, tinged with a bit of distance, seemed to melt a little more.

After this small interaction, the atmosphere in the conference room became even more harmonious.

The meeting drew to a close in an active and enthusiastic atmosphere.

Section Chief Shimizu stepped forward and summarized the preliminary directions for improvement that had taken shape during the discussion.

Graphic concept design, the collection and adaptation of music and sound effects, the refinement of the core competitive mechanics... one task after another was preliminarily assigned.

The long-dormant engine that was the Third Development Department finally began to run at high speed around the core project of the arcade version of Tetris.

The team members' faces brimmed with excitement and drive they had not felt in a long time.

The gazes they cast toward Nakayama Takuya also gradually shifted from their initial scrutiny and suspicion into a preliminary trust and expectation.

The door to the president's office was gently pushed open again, then slowly closed.

Tanaka, head of the Overseas Business Department, stood before President Nakayama Hayao's broad desk. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes carried a few more traces of very real fatigue than they had last time in the corridor, but they also shone with the brightness of a heavy burden finally lifted.

Standing beside him was Nakayama Takuya.

Nearly three weeks felt especially long to those waiting in anxious torment.

"President. Deputy Section Chief Nakayama."

Tanaka bowed slightly. His tone remained meticulous, but the barely perceptible excitement in his voice betrayed his feelings at this moment.

"After multiple rounds of difficult negotiations, we have officially signed an agreement with the Soviet Foreign Trade Committee, that is, ELORG."

He gently placed a bound document on the desktop.

"We have successfully purchased the exclusive global rights to Tetris, covering all existing platforms as well as all known and unknown future platforms."

"The total price is four million U.S. dollars."

Four million U.S. dollars.

That number made Nakayama Hayao's brows lift almost imperceptibly.

For a block game that merely "looked very promising," this was definitely an astonishing price, enough to develop several large-scale arcade games.

But what he cared about more were the phrases "global," "all existing and future platforms," and "exclusive rights."

That was where the true value lay.

Tanaka pushed up his glasses and continued reporting.

"The negotiation process was indeed extremely complicated. In the early stages, the other side's attitude was very hard-line, and their internal procedures were cumbersome and inefficient."

"However," he changed the direction of his words, turning his gaze toward Takuya, "the information Deputy Section Chief Nakayama provided regarding ELORG's organizational structure and key figures played an absolutely crucial role."

"We followed your suggestion to be 'straightforward, and in war, speed is precious,' avoiding getting bogged down in nitpicking over details."

He paused, his wording becoming cautious.

"At the same time, following your hint, we used special channels to gift ten of the latest Macintosh computers to the Soviet Academy of Sciences Computer Center and to the original author, Mr. Pajitnov."

"This caused no small sensation within the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and also... greatly facilitated ELORG's eventual softening of attitude and the conclusion of the agreement."

He did not say outright whether "alcohol diplomacy" had worked, but that subtle pause and his wording had already implied everything.

Hayao's gaze moved between the document and Takuya, finally landing on his son.

Deep in his eyes, the recognition he had originally had only for Takuya's "business instinct" was now joined by astonishment at his "methods" and "information channels."

He said nothing, merely nodding slightly to signal Tanaka to continue.

Takuya, for his part, revealed a slightly bashful smile at just the right moment.

"The credit mainly belongs to Minister Tanaka and all our colleagues in the Overseas Business Department for their professionalism and efficient execution. I just happened to hear a few rumors and offered some immature suggestions."

Once again, he pushed the credit away, maintaining his persona of being "lucky" and having "come across the information by chance."

This humble attitude made the last trace of discomfort in Tanaka's eyes, which might have arisen from reporting across levels, vanish like smoke and clouds, leaving only pure admiration.

Hayao pondered for a moment, picked up the agreement, flipped through several pages of key clauses, then closed it.

"Department Head Tanaka, you've worked hard."

"For the follow-up work, such as archiving the copyright documents and having Legal confirm everything, please be meticulous."

"Yes, President."

Tanaka bowed again, then left the office with that weighty agreement in hand.

Only father and son remained in the office.

Hayao looked at Takuya for a long while before slowly speaking, his voice revealing little emotion.

"Four million dollars to buy a block game."

"I hope your judgment is worthy of that price."

Takuya met his father's gaze, calm and confident.

"Father, please rest assured."

"It will bring Sega returns far beyond that number."

The news that the copyright had been settled poured into the Third Development Department like a shot of adrenaline.

The development work, which had already been running at high speed, entered its final sprint.

A few more days passed, and in the department's small internal testing room, Team Leader Shimizu personally presided over the final internal evaluation of the arcade version of Tetris.

The projection screen lit up, and it was no longer the crude appearance of Takuya's original demonstration.

With Sasaki Nozomu's skillful optimization of the color scheme, blocks of various colors fell rapidly on the simulated CRT screen, rotating as they dropped. Their edges were sharp, their colors vivid without being harsh, and those irritating afterimages were almost nowhere to be seen.

The background was no longer a monotonous black, either. Instead, it had been given subtly dynamic, exotic patterns that enriched the visuals without interfering with the core play area.

The rousing melody of Kalinka rang out, rearranged with an extremely strong sense of rhythm.

As the game level rose and the blocks fell faster, the background music's BPM soared in sync, the tension nearly spilling out of the screen.

The crisp sound of blocks locking into place, the satisfying elimination effects, the oppressive warning tones... every piece of feedback was clear, powerful, and highly distinctive.

When the demonstrator pulled off two beautiful "Tetris" clears in a row—clearing four lines at once—the screen flashed, and six gray "garbage lines" were instantly stacked up in the opponent's area. The watching team members let out a burst of suppressed exclamations.

The enhanced battle mechanics made the rewards for consecutive clears extremely tempting, and filled versus play with variables and excitement.

Sasaki stood to the side, watching the color work he had been responsible for optimizing appear perfectly on the screen, then seeing everyone's approval of the overall effect. The habitual shell of stern ice on his face melted completely, and the corners of his mouth even lifted slightly.

Takuya walked over to him and gently patted his shoulder.

"Mr. Sasaki, the result is fantastic."

"You've worked hard."

Sasaki froze for a moment, then nodded, a few shades of pride appearing in his eyes. "It's the result of everyone's hard work together."