Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Legendary World

A game company called Legend World appeared in Los Angeles, housed in an old six-story building. The company had only a handful of people, and the only ones busy inside were a few renovation workers.

This year the real-estate industry was in terrible shape. Without that downturn, there would have been no workers at this hour, no matter how much money was offered.

From the huge spray-painted mural on the wall, it looked as if they already had a product of their own, yet why had no one ever seen it on the market?

The appearance of this game company on the eve of Christmas did not stir much reaction in the gaming world. The big shots who could actually make decisions had long since gone on vacation, and those left behind were not inclined to take it seriously.

The gaming industry was highly closed off, and in this era it attracted little attention. Not to mention home consoles; even arcade machines were crude, their graphics almost laughable.

Several game makers in Japan still had not found their footing, and were mostly imitating the Americans.

That was unavoidable. Their target customers were the occupying troops, and the real task was to keep those men satisfied. Everything else could be set aside for the time being.

The American soldiers stationed in Japan were probably the happiest bunch around.

War?

Not only had their pockets been emptied, but their bodies had been too. As long as they did not go out and make trouble, there was probably no risk at all.

The weather in Okinawa was pleasant as well, and a few years of service there felt more like a vacation. Aside from eating, drinking, and entertainment, there seemed to be nothing else to do.

Japan’s entertainment industry was flourishing, and its original service targets had been those men, so the appearance of strange things was perfectly normal. It was all corrupted by the Americans.

As for such a peculiar thing as a game console, the Japanese had no interest in it. They had truly not expected that this very device would grow into an industry.

Setting consoles aside, Japan in that era had no respectable entertainment offerings. Films and television were purchased from Hollywood and Hong Kong. If Hong Kong had not destroyed itself, the Eastern Hollywood would have remained formidable.

Those awful films were utterly absurd, wrecking the entire Asian market. If not for support from China, they would have collapsed in the nineties.

Hong Kong cinema was busy killing itself, while Hollywood was actively seeking change, continually flattering Asian audiences and even turning Japan into its second-largest box-office territory.

Three days before Christmas, several Japanese console makers received invitations. Reading the information in them, the Japanese were somewhat bewildered.

When had the Americans come up with a company like this?

They only knew Atari. What in the world was Legend World?

That said, the Japanese did have a very rigorous work ethic. Although they had never heard of the company, they did recognize the name William White, and he might well be an important figure.

This was not overthinking. The invitation was no ordinary one, and the requirements for attendees were strict; it was not something a single overseas division head could handle.

The Japanese understood very well the importance of matching status. In fact, apart from the Americans, other countries and regions all took it seriously.

They soon learned this man’s background. He had a great many suppliers in Japan, and all of them were included among the invitees.

Renowned writer, rising IT mogul, Hollywood titan—any one of those labels was impossible to ignore.

The invited guests from America were rather odd. In the IT world there seemed to be only Motorola, while a group of theater-chain bosses was included among the invitees.

From these invitation lists, outsiders could easily infer the content of the event. It was likely to be some kind of arcade product; otherwise, retail merchants would have been invited as well.

Though people were talking about it, it caused no great stir. It was only a product launch. Since so many manufacturers had been invited, it seemed unlikely that they planned to make it themselves.

In any case, the invitees still intended to grant him this courtesy. The theater owners did not want to offend him either. Two films with box-office returns exceeding one hundred million were sitting there, and both had sequels in the pipeline. There was no need to quarrel with money.

They were eager to know what sort of arcade machine could be placed in a movie theater. If it truly had enough appeal, there would be no harm in trying it.

No one was foolish. His motives were so obvious that they naturally understood his intentions. What puzzled them was how William White could be so confident in doing this.

You have to understand that if these were the usual products on the market, they would not be very interested. Such machines were not cheap, and their appeal to audiences was only moderate.

If another man were at the helm, they would not attend personally; sending an executive would already be generous. William White was different. If you did not come, there was no issue—he did not care. Even your executives need not bother coming. We can speak of it another time.

His air of arrogant indifference was deeply irritating. He made it plain: if you refused to give him face, you would not be given any face in return.

Wall Street was completely stunned by William White’s grand design. Had he not been talking about agriculture? How had he suddenly turned to game consoles?

Diversification was not impossible, but this leap was far too outrageous. That comic project was still a mystery; how had he already moved on to game consoles?

A product launch for something no one even knew about?

Your company had barely been founded for a few days. What kind of product could possibly require a launch event?

When the office software was released, there had been no launch event, either. The debut of the database software had also been presented with only a very limited ceremony.

So what was this supposed to be?

There was another question as well: where exactly was this man’s research and development center?

Could it really be that so-called farm?

Damn it, whose R and D center was on a farm?

Most infuriating of all, that farm was in Texas.

In a sense, the farm was his home. No one on the outside could possibly know what went on there. Unless invited, no one could get inside.

The so-called titans of the industry were being selectively ignored by him. Since everyone was a competitor anyway, there was no real need to play along. They did not value him in any case, so it was better for all concerned to keep to their own roads and avoid trouble.

As the holidays drew near, William White always felt somewhat uneasy. His longing for family brought him a pain so sharp it twisted the heart.

When work was busy, he had no time to think about such things. But once he became free, those feelings surged toward him like a tide.

In his previous life, he had never been able to escape his own world, constantly courting disaster in one way or another.

Well, in the end, he had succeeded.

Clearly, even God had grown tired of such self-destruction and had decided to give him another chance.

No matter which deity it was, he would not be courting death again this time. Yet instead he had drifted to the opposite extreme.

Fear of death.

It had to be said: fools were always so particular. Given to another person, such a chance might have left them giddy with excitement, but in his case it only brought endless torment.

Still, this was understandable. Foreknowledge of the future was not necessarily a good thing. Prophets in history never met a good end.

Advance by half a step and you are a genius; advance by one step and you are a madman. If you go several steps ahead, you may very well end up killing yourself.

Whether in technology or in current affairs, there is always a certain course of motion. The best choice is to go with the flow. Never interfere with the course of history, because you cannot know what consequences will follow.

If you accidentally killed one man, and in the process another, even more dangerous one took his place, then the deaths might be even greater.