After Zaboru returned to London, having finished assigning tasks to Team Tempest in the USA, he spent nearly the entire month of May based in the city. Most of his time was dedicated to guiding Team OMNI through their intensive learning and adjustment period. From early morning meetings to late-night reviews, Zaboru was deeply involved in shaping their workflow, mindset, and long-term vision, ensuring the team fully understood ZAGE's standards and expectations.
His presence proved extremely effective. Zaboru's Aura of Influence naturally amplified the learning speed, focus, and work ethic of the employees at the London ZAGE offices—now widely referred to as the ZAGE Base. Team members absorbed knowledge faster than anticipated, collaboration improved rapidly, and confidence grew day by day. Beyond work, this period was also personally meaningful for Zaboru. His family came to stay in London for nearly ten days before returning to Japan, filling his schedule with moments of warmth and balance. Being surrounded by them after such a long stretch of travel reinvigorated him, and nothing made him happier than spending time with his newborn daughter, Arumi, whose presence brought a quiet joy that contrasted sharply with his demanding professional life.
By the time May was drawing to a close—Thursday, 27 May 1999—the atmosphere across ZAGE was charged with anticipation. Only a few days remained before the release of ZAGE's major titles for the month: Hitman: Agent 47 by Team Tempest, ZAN – The Cowboy Samurai by Team IZAN, and Dragon Quest V by Team NIWA. With multiple flagship releases approaching simultaneously, the company stood at the edge of another defining moment, and Zaboru was keenly aware that the calm before release day rarely lasted long.
Zaboru now stood together with the three leaders of Team OMNI, pacing slowly around the meeting room as he prepared to assign them their first major responsibilities. His hands were folded behind his back, his expression calm but focused. "So far," he said thoughtfully, stopping in front of them, "the growth of Team OMNI has truly exceeded my expectations—especially the three of you."
He smiled warmly before continuing. "I can honestly say this now: I'm no longer worried about leaving Team OMNI in your hands. You've proven yourselves during this learning period, and I think it's finally time for Team OMNI to receive its first three real tasks."
Zaboru's confidence was unmistakable, not just in his words but in his relaxed posture and tone. It wasn't blind trust—it was trust built on weeks of observation, guidance, and results.
Rebecca Wood, Oliver Heskey, and Tim Scholes exchanged brief looks before breaking into wide grins. They could feel it too—the difference between being trained and being trusted. Under Zaboru's guidance, their decision-making had sharpened, their confidence had grown, and their overall capabilities had increased by leaps and bounds. This moment wasn't just the start of new projects; it was the moment Team OMNI officially stepped out of the shadow of mentorship and into true leadership.
Zaboru then laid out the overall three tasks assigned to Team OMNI, starting with what he made very clear would be their main project: Football Manager. For this title, Team OMNI would focus heavily on building an in-depth statistical and management system centered around the STATS team in ZAGE Base in London. At the moment, this area of development was already performing exceptionally well, thanks to ZAGE's STATS Team growing partnerships with multiple scouting networks across European football clubs. Because of this strong foundation, Zaboru knew the project was in capable hands from the very beginning.
He emphasized that Football Manager would be radically different from ZAGE's other football titles like Winning Eleven. While Winning Eleven focused on direct control, action, and on-field excitement, Football Manager would be far more data-driven and cerebral. It would be hardcore in nature, centered on tactics, statistics, player development, club finances, scouting, and long-term planning. This wasn't just a sports game—it was a simulation meant for players who loved numbers, strategies, and the satisfaction of building a club from the ground up.
Zaboru openly acknowledged that this was a humongous task, especially as Team OMNI's first major assignment. But he also trusted his instincts. England's deep-rooted obsession with football made London the perfect birthplace for such a project, and Team OMNI's leadership composition reflected that cultural understanding. As soon as Rebecca, Oliver, and Tim began reading through the core gameplay documents, their eyes lit up. They immediately started asking questions—about data structures, match simulation depth, scouting realism, and long-term league evolution.
Seeing their excitement, Zaboru knew he had made the right decision. This wasn't hesitation or fear—it was genuine curiosity and ambition. Confident in their direction, he set a clear target: Football Manager was expected to release in June 2000, giving Team OMNI a little over one year to fully realize the project. It was an aggressive timeline, but one Zaboru believed would push the team to define itself on the global stage.
The next game Zaboru assigned to Team OMNI was Theme Hospital. Unlike action-heavy or narrative-driven titles, this game focused entirely on management, systems, and player-driven creativity. Players would be tasked with designing and running a fully functional hospital—planning room layouts, hiring and managing staff, balancing budgets, and attracting patients suffering from absurd, comical diseases unique to the game's world. Every decision mattered, from where to place diagnostic rooms to how long patients were forced to wait in corridors.
What made Theme Hospital especially valuable as a learning experience was its emphasis on resource management and systemic thinking. Team OMNI would need to design interconnected systems where money flow, staff morale, patient satisfaction, and treatment efficiency all influenced one another. Poor planning could cause hospitals to spiral into chaos, while smart optimization would create a smooth, profitable operation. For Zaboru, this made the game a perfect counterpart to Football Manager—less about numbers on a spreadsheet, but just as demanding in long-term planning and balance.
The tone of the game was also important. While the mechanics were deep and challenging, the presentation remained lighthearted and humorous. Treating bizarre illnesses with over-the-top machines allowed the team to explore how comedy, clarity, and accessibility could coexist with complex gameplay systems. Zaboru believed this would train Team OMNI to communicate complicated mechanics to players in an intuitive and entertaining way.
From a development standpoint, Theme Hospital would sharpen the team's ability to simulate real-time behavior, manage AI routines, and handle large numbers of interacting entities on screen. These skills were crucial for OMNI's long-term growth. Confident in the fit, Zaboru set the same target as Football Manager: a June 2000 release. With this project, Team OMNI wouldn't just be making a game—they'd be mastering the art of building living, breathing systems that players could experiment with endlessly.
The final project Zaboru assigned to Team OMNI was a horror title, one he personally felt had been deeply underrated in his previous life: Nightmare Creatures. This project was very close to Zaboru's heart. In his former world, he had come to truly appreciate Nightmare Creatures only after experiencing Bloodborne, realizing just how similar their atmosphere and core ideas were. Dark streets, oppressive tension, relentless combat, and grotesque enemies—it carried the same haunting energy long before that style became widely celebrated.
For Zaboru, Bloodborne was the peak of gaming experiences—there was simply nothing else quite like it. The atmosphere alone felt almost godly, a world that constantly screamed "horror" even though it wasn't strictly a horror game in the traditional sense. Every street, every sound, every shadow carried a sense of dread and mystery that lingered long after the controller was put down. The combat was intense and exhilarating, demanding aggression, precision, and confidence rather than hesitation.
Even the visual style—the drip, as Zaboru liked to think of it—was legendary. From hunter outfits to weapon designs, everything oozed style and identity. If there was one flaw in the base game, it was the boss difficulty; many of them were relatively easy compared to the rest of the experience. However, the DLC more than corrected that, introducing unforgettable encounters like Ludwig, Laurence, and the Orphan of Kos, bosses that pushed players to their absolute limits and perfectly embodied the game's brutal elegance.
To Zaboru, the fact that Bloodborne didn't win Game of the Year in 2015 was nothing short of an insult. He genuinely admired The Witcher 3 and respected its achievements, but Bloodborne was simply a different breed altogether—a tighter, bolder, and more distinctive experience that stayed with players on a deeper, almost visceral level. For him personally, Bloodborne in 2015 and Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018 were his true Game of the Year titles, even though both ultimately lost in his previous life.
That was why Zaboru had been genuinely surprised to discover that there were games on the original PlayStation that carried a similar vibe to Bloodborne. What shocked him even more was how incredibly hidden those games were. In his previous life, almost nobody talked about Nightmare Creatures—unless they had personally played it and were perceptive enough to notice its eerie atmosphere, oppressive tone, and aggressive combat design.
Out of curiosity, Zaboru had played it himself back then, and the experience left a strong impression. He remembered being honestly surprised—not because the game matched Bloodborne in quality, but because the idea was already there. The darkness, the monster designs, the unsettling mood, the feeling of stalking through hostile streets—it all existed in a rough, early form.
Of course, Nightmare Creatures couldn't truly be compared to Bloodborne. The technology, combat depth, and refinement simply weren't on the same level. But the timeline alone made the comparison astonishing. Nightmare Creatures had been released back in 1997 in his previous life, while Bloodborne wouldn't arrive until 2015. Realizing that such a concept had existed nearly two decades earlier made Zaboru appreciate just how far ahead of its time the game truly was.
Zaboru want this project would not be a simple remake or revival. He intended to elevate the gameplay significantly, refining combat responsiveness, enemy aggression, and overall pacing. He encouraged Team OMNI to push beyond the original design he known, even explicitly allowing them to integrate several Bloodborne-inspired elements, such as faster, more aggressive encounters, tighter melee-focused combat, and a stronger emphasis on risk-and-reward mechanics —something that, to people from Zaboru's old world, might have been seen as the first Souls-like game. Of course, Zaboru kept that thought entirely to himself. Team OMNI didn't know it, and there was no need for them to know—not yet.
The game would be set in Victorian-era London, a city shrouded in fog, decay, and fear. Players would roam dark alleyways, abandoned cathedrals, and cursed streets while fighting nightmarish creatures—particularly savage, werewolf-like beasts that stalked the city after dusk. Zaboru wanted the world to feel hostile and alive, where survival depended on skill, awareness, and courage.
Recognizing the complexity and ambition of the project, Zaboru granted Team OMNI significantly more development time than the other assignments. He set the release window for October 2000, a perfect match for the Halloween season the following year. Unlike Football Manager and Theme Hospital, which were PC-focused projects, Nightmare Creatures would be developed exclusively for ZEPS 3. This was a deliberate decision—Zaboru wanted Team OMNI to prove they could master both PC and console development, expanding their technical range and creative confidence in the process.
With the tasks finally assigned, Zaboru began preparing to return to Japan. It had already been more than a month since he last set foot back home, and the feeling of homesickness had quietly crept in during his time abroad. Despite the excitement of expansion and new responsibilities, he missed the familiarity of Japan and the rhythm of his life there.
At the same time, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. With this moment, Team OMNI had officially begun their journey, stepping forward to make a name for themselves in the video game industry. Zaboru was leaving London not with worry, but with confidence—knowing that the team was finally ready to stand on its own.
To be continue
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