The line went silent for a few seconds. When Tom finally spoke, his tone had turned solemn.
"Takuya… it sounds like you're planning something far beyond fixing internal communication."
"Of course." Takuya straightened in his chair. "I've prepared three pieces of software, and I'm planning to establish a brand-new, independent company in the U.S. to run them."
He briefly outlined the concepts for an email client, a BBS, and an instant-messaging application.
"The email client we can sell to enterprises, or retail individually. But the other two—BBS and instant messaging—I want you to release them to the global Internet, completely free, in the name of the new company."
"Free?" Tom's pitch shot upward, full of a businessman's suspicion. "Takuya, what are you thinking? We're a company, not a charity."
"Tom, listen." Takuya paused to choose his words.
"Think of the Internet right now as a newly discovered American continent. Empty. Scattered explorers and scholars roaming around, but not much to actually do there. What we need isn't to rush for gold. It's to find the most accessible place, plant Sega's flag, and build the first town."
"The BBS is our tavern. Instant messaging is the phone line connecting every home. We use 'free' to draw everyone in, let them live here, talk here, share here. When all the news of where the gold is buried comes through our tavern—then the town itself becomes an endless goldmine."
On the other end, Tom fell completely silent.
He was a marketing genius—one sentence was enough for him to understand the ambition behind Takuya's plan.
"And once the users gather," Takuya continued, his voice lowering to a devil-soft whisper, "GGs, value-added services, user data… Tom, we'll have countless ways to monetize."
"…My God." Tom finally found his voice again—shocked, feverishly excited.
"So you need to establish that new subsidiary as soon as possible," Takuya instructed.
"You choose the name. Make it cool—something that sounds like those geniuses born in Silicon Valley garages. We want everyone to believe this is a true American Internet miracle."
"I'll get on it right now!" Tom practically shouted. "We'll put the office in Silicon Valley."
Takuya held the receiver a little farther away, rubbing his ear. He could picture Tom on the other end, waving his arms wildly, droplets of spit practically flying across the Atlantic.
"Calm down, Tom." Takuya waited for his excitement to settle before speaking again.
"That little town may be nice, but the frontier isn't peaceful. There are hungry wolves… and dragons."
Silence. Then Tom spoke cautiously. "What do you mean?"
"What we're building—BBS and instant messaging—are software. They run on operating systems. And Tom… which operating system does the world use the most right now?"
The answer was obvious.
Tom's voice turned cold instantly. "Microsoft's MS-DOS."
"Exactly." Takuya's tone was level.
"The louder our move, the sooner we'll attract their attention. They don't need to play fair. They can bundle a functionally identical—even inferior—tool into their next system and tell the whole world, 'Hey, this comes free with Windows.' Then what?"
On the other end: dead silence.
Tom had clearly imagined the nightmare scenario.
"And that's just the dragon you can see," Takuya went on.
"There's another enemy—Wall Street. Wolves you can't see. Once our user numbers and influence grow, they'll smell blood. They'll find any way to swallow us whole. Sega isn't short on money, but compared to those financial gamers who move billions with a pen stroke… we're far too honest."
Tom's breathing grew loud and uneven.
"So," Takuya concluded, "we need allies. Or rather… a shield."
"You mean—"
"Once we reach a certain scale, we approach Microsoft ourselves."
Takuya dropped the real bomb.
"After the new company is founded, we seek a round of financing. We can give away a small portion of shares—five percent, maybe ten—and invite Microsoft to become a shareholder."
"What?!" Tom nearly shrieked. "Invite the dragon to sleep inside our vault?! Takuya, are you insane?!"
"No." Takuya chuckled softly.
"Tom, remember—what we're giving is equity. The right to dividends, not decision-making power. We can partner with their system. Even bundle our software. Build an alliance. But operational control stays with us."
He paused, then added with a sly tone,
"Think about it. If Microsoft owns part of us, would they still build a direct competitor? That'd be attacking their own asset. And with Microsoft's name on us, those Wall Street wolves will think twice before poking a dragon."
Tom fell utterly silent again, digesting the strategy.
A long moment later, he exhaled deeply.
"My God, Takuya… you're right." His voice held relief—and a firm resolve.
"I'll get to work immediately. But Takuya, dealing with Microsoft and those bastards on Wall Street… that's a lot harder than selling game consoles."
"I know." Takuya leaned back, watching Tokyo's neon lights flicker to life outside the window.
"That's why you need some solid lawyers on your side."
"I understand," Tom replied.
"North America's business is getting bigger, and it's only getting more complicated. I can't manage all of it alone anymore. We need to expand the management team and legal department here."
"North America will soon be the world's largest gaming market. That's not an unreasonable request—and we still have the Internet side to build. Write a proposal to the board. I'll support you."
They discussed several ongoing U.S. projects, then the call finally ended.
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