Preparations for Testing the Waters

Nohara became increasingly excited as he spoke, even gesturing. "Sixty percent of the kits were sold bundled with the MD console, and we even had distributors sell a lot of printers and consumables along with them! Many families weren't buying it for the game; they were buying it for this 'learning machine'! They felt that spending just over two hundred US dollar to let their children play games and get early exposure to computers and typing was the most worthwhile 'educational investment' in the world!"

At this point, Team Leader Nohara suddenly stood up, bowed deeply to Takuya, and his voice was filled with sincere gratitude.

"Manager, our entire Computer Software Development Team truly doesn't know how to thank you enough! Because of this project, everyone's bonuses have increased several times over, and several colleagues have even used the money to pay off their mortgages ahead of schedule! Everyone is now incredibly motivated, saying that working with you not only allows us to create groundbreaking products but also enables us to provide a better life for our families!"

Takuya looked away from the report and towards Department Head Nakamura, who hadn't said much from beginning to end.

Nakamura Head Nakamura adjusted his glasses, his face remaining calm. He simply shrugged, knowing that Sega wouldn't shortchange them by a single Japanese yen, Takuya demonstrated his prowess in the Hardware Development Department quite a bit; he was practically immune to it all.

"Very good." Takuya nodded in satisfaction and placed the report on the table.

Five million sets—this number validated his initial assessment.

This is not just about five million peripherals, but also about five million middle-class families who have a positive impression of Sega.

Then, Takuya slowly took out two manuscripts clipped together with paperclips from his desk drawer and gently pushed them in front of the two of them.

This is the next new project.

Team Leader Nohara and Nakamura Head Nakamura exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of seriousness in each other's eyes, and each reached out to take their respective documents.

Nohara Leader Nohara looked down and his pupils instantly contracted. On the pages of the manuscript, there were no fancy design drawings, only Takuya's signature, clear and powerful handwriting listing three software names he had never heard of before.

<Development Concept of Electronic Bulletin Board System (BBS)>.

<Functional Framework of a Cross-Border Collaborative Email Client>.

<Instant Messaging Software Development Concept>.

"Executive Director... this...?" Nohara Leader Nohara was a little confused.

BBS? Electronic bulletin board? What is this? Are you just moving the company's bulletin board to a computer?

And what about this instant messaging?

Compared to Nohara's excitement, Nakamura head, appeared much calmer.

He carefully read the document in his hand about the university's network protocols and related hardware.

Seeing Nohara's bewildered expression, Takuya found it somewhat amusing. He tapped the table and explained, "First, the BBS. You can think of it as an online bulletin board. All of Sega's networked computers can connect, post their discussion topics, and exchange information."

"Secondly, the email client, which is what we use to replace fax machines for internal communication. With this software installed, a document sent from Tokyo headquarters can be received by our colleagues in the United States in a second, without having to wait a whole day."

"As for the third one," Takuya paused, a mysterious smile appearing on his face, "You can think of it as a tool that allows you and another person connected to the internet to have a real-time conversation in a text box. You type a sentence here, and it immediately pops up on the other person's screen, just like you're chatting face-to-face."

"Hiss--"

Nohara, the group leader, finally understood something. Although he himself hadn't had much contact with the Internet, he had heard about it from his classmates who had stayed at the school before.

"It seems I still need to keep up with the latest technological advancements," Team Leader Nohara couldn't help but think to himself.

Takuya continued to explain to him, "I've already made arrangements with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and we'll soon be able to access the academic network for testing."

Therefore, Team Leader Nohara, I need your team to immediately begin preliminary research on the software framework and set it up. Once the network is connected, we will immediately begin on-the-ground development.

After speaking, he turned to Minister Nakamura had remained silent.

"Minister Nakamura, the situation is the same on your end. You need to have your team thoroughly understand the network protocols in this document. Currently, there are very few internet users, so our consoles won't have network functionality for now. But once the internet becomes widespread and the user base grows, every generation of Sega consoles will have network connectivity! What we want to build is a network empire that connects everyone!"

Nakamura Head Nakamura slowly raised his head. Unlike Nohara, he wasn't excited. He simply pointed to a line of text on the document. "Executive Director, should we adopt the packet switching protocol mentioned here directly, or should we perform secondary development to adapt to the low bandwidth of home network environments?"

That one sentence hit the nail on the head.

Takuya gave him an approving look; this Nakamura manager always managed to see the most crucial technical issues.

"The main priority is compatibility," Takuya stated clearly. "As long as the Hardware Development Department keeps up with the mainstream and can integrate the most common and widely used interfaces into our mainframes when needed, that's sufficient."

Nakamura Head Nakamura nodded. Their Hardware Development Department didn't have any specific tasks in this matter at the moment; they just needed to include it in their technical focus.

Team Leader Nohara flipped through the thin manuscript twice, carefully reviewing all the pre-set software functions, and became quite excited.

The three software solutions provided by the executive director are practically designed to completely connect people through computers!

He could already imagine what kind of products these things would be once they were made!

"Executive Director, if this were made, how many sets would we sell!" Nohara Leader Nohara's eyes lit up, his mind already racing with calculations. "A BBS, an instant messaging service—the market potential is far greater than our learning kits! We could afford to buy luxury apartments, let alone mortgages!"

He excitedly accepted the task, feeling an inexhaustible surge of energy.

However, Nakayama Takuya poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"Team Leader Nohara, don't rush to calculate the bonuses. Of these three software programs, besides the email client which we will release, the other two are BBS..."

We don't sell instant messaging software.

"Ah?"

The smile on Nohara's face froze instantly. He picked at his ear, wondering if he had misheard.

"Not--not for sale? Executive Director, you're not kidding me, are you?" he stammered. "Such a good thing, not for sale? What was the point of all that hard work we put into developing it?"

This was completely beyond his comprehension.

Sega is a company, not a charity. Why would they give away a golden goose for free?

"Charity?" Takuya chuckled, leaning back in his chair and looking at the bewildered Nohara, the group leader, as he slowly said, "No, we're going to 'claim land'."

"Land grabbing?" Nohara was even more confused.

"You can think of the internet as a newly discovered continent, empty and devoid of anything," Takuya his finger lightly on the table. "Sega's goal is to carve out its own territory on this new continent and establish its influence."

He roughly understood, but still didn't quite understand what Takuya was specifically supposed to do.

However, he still stood up, bowed, and said, "Executive, please rest assured! Our Computer Software Development Team will definitely complete the task you have assigned!"