Yuki laughed softly. “People always imagine a castle. But this is just an office. We design pachinko machines in one room, mobile games in another, and once a year, someone unlocks a drawer with blueprints for a console game. The headquarters isn’t a shrine. It’s a factory.”

He rode the elevator to the 23rd floor. The doors opened onto a hallway of frosted glass and soft grey carpet. No posters of Solid Snake. No pixel-art murals. Just the smell of fresh coffee and the distant click of keyboards.

“You wanted to know where the magic happens,” she said, gesturing for him to sit.