Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 864: You Really Got It, SE!

Takayuki only said maybe. He hadn't revealed the actual direction of the story in this new world since his reincarnation—but deep down, he was leaning toward adding a perfect ending this time. One where everyone might get to survive.

Still, it's always the imperfect stories that leave the strongest impression. Even though he never got to see how the remake's story ended before he crossed over, Takayuki could more or less guess how it had played out.

But in this world, he figured... why not add a hidden, perfect ending branch?

After all, Final Fantasy VII had already introduced the concept of parallel universes. So, in some timeline, somewhere, a perfect ending could exist. And adding such a possibility wouldn't interfere with any future spin-offs either.

The Fifth Development Division, the team long responsible for the Final Fantasy series, just happened to be free lately. This would be a long-term project—not only to give players a chance to mend old wounds, but also to flex technical muscle.

Naturally, the most powerful CG effects would be saved for Final Fantasy.

As for now...

Takayuki glanced back at the forum on his computer screen.

It was time to reveal his trump card.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

He logged into one of his many long-forgotten alternate accounts.

Among the official Gamestar forums, Takayuki had a number of secret accounts. Sometimes he used them to lurk and observe conversations. Other times, he posted as a "normal player," sharing thoughts and opinions from a different perspective.

Nobody—not even Ayaka Tsukino—knew how many accounts he really had.

Because of what Takayuki had said about Aerith possibly surviving, Ayaka was still basking in a gentle wave of happiness.

It was a feeling she hadn't had in a long time.

As she peeked over his shoulder and noticed he was browsing the forums, she raised an eyebrow.

"'Nice One, SE!'? What kind of weird username is that? And who's SE?"

"Oh, just... one of my little indulgences. Don't worry about it," Takayuki replied casually.

Ayaka still didn't understand the logic behind some of his usernames.

Most people picked names with some personal meaning.

But Takayuki's alt accounts often had names like "NintendoIsGod," "SonyForLife," or "BigSoftCorp"—all bizarre, cryptic references. And she had never even heard of these supposed entities.

If she didn't know him so well—if she weren't certain his only obsession in life was video games—she might've suspected he was keeping some big secret from her.

"What are you planning to do with this account?"

"You'll see. This little secret has been hiding in plain sight for years—one you might not even know about."

"Oh?" She narrowed her eyes. "Even I don't know about it? What kind of secret are we talking about?"

"It's an Easter egg. One so deeply buried that even after all these years, no one's ever discovered it."

Then, without further explanation, Takayuki began creating a new forum thread.

The thread title alone was clickbait gold:

"I found a hidden Easter egg buried for over a decade—in Final Fantasy VII. And it might just unlock a long-lost secret in the story..."

Ayaka read the headline and immediately admitted, "Okay yeah, I'd 100% click on that."

"Wait... an Easter egg? How have I never seen this before?"

Back when they developed Final Fantasy VII, Ayaka herself had combed through the game's code. Partly as part of her job, partly because she wanted to see if Takayuki had secretly tucked anything away.

She'd never found anything noteworthy.

"This one is encoded based on time. You'd need to finish the game a specific number of times, then access the game's source files during a particular moment in real time. And let's be honest—you're not gonna manually comb through millions of lines of code."

"...Fair. But now I really want to know what it is."

Ayaka had been planning to share her joy with Airi Hayasawa—that Aerith and Zack might return, that the Final Fantasy VII story wasn't over—but now her curiosity was hooked.

She stayed to see what Takayuki had hidden.

With rapid keystrokes, Takayuki input a sequence of code—an embedded program he had placed deep within the original game's source files. He sorted it through a specific algorithm.

At the end of the pattern, a piece of dialogue appeared on the screen:

Aerith: "Cloud... We meet again. This time, maybe we can change everything."

Ayaka's eyes widened.

"What do you think? No one ever found that, right?"

"There's no way anyone could have! You buried it too deep on purpose, didn't you?!"

"Maybe a little," Takayuki grinned.

Sure, Easter eggs were technically supposed to be discoverable... but this one was practically a buried treasure locked in a time vault.

Takayuki typed up the rest of the thread and clicked [Publish].

The post went live.

Final Fantasy VII Remake was now on its way.

At that same moment, Kazuo Murakami was holding a meeting at his company, discussing how to get more people involved in gaming and increase public awareness of the industry.

"I think we should hold a gaming event like Gamestar's Carnival—nothing too huge, just a fan meet-up to build momentum," said one team member.

"Exactly. We could invite more developers to offer demo builds, and it would help cement our presence in the scene," said another.

"I agree."

"Same here."

A passionate discussion broke out, and Murakami listened quietly from the head of the table, waiting for a final proposal.

Just then, a young staffer burst into the room, breathless.

"President! Everyone! It's Final Fantasy—Final Fantasy!"

"Huh?" Murakami looked up, puzzled by the interruption.

"What about it? Is Gamestar announcing a new title?"

Another person in the room said, "That's unlikely. If Gamestar were releasing something big, they'd have given us a heads-up. Our collaboration with them is pretty close."

"No—no, it's not official."

"Then what is it?"

"It's from the forums! A user named 'Nice One, SE!' just posted a Final Fantasy VII Easter egg—and I think you all need to see it!"