Game Developer in the World of Anime

On Tuesday afternoon, after school, Ichin and Utaha spent some time in the Service Club before skipping a trip to the company. Instead, they drove to the supermarket, bought a bunch of groceries, and returned home.

Half an hour later, the front door opened, and Ichin's parents returned, dragging their suitcases behind them.

"We're back!"

Ichin was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner, while Utaha, who was playing with the cats in the living room, happily ran over to help carry the luggage.

"Uncle, Auntie, did you have fun in Kyoto? Where are my parents?"

"It was great, very enjoyable," Ichin's mom replied with a smile as she handed Utaha the suitcase. She glanced toward the kitchen and added, "Your parents went home to drop off their things. They'll be over in a bit."

That morning, she had already messaged Ichin to arrange for both families to have dinner together that evening. That's why Ichin came home early and bought a mountain of ingredients.

Hearing this, Utaha helped put the luggage away and then went next door to her house.

After settling the suitcase in the guest room and putting the souvenirs they bought out in the living room, her parents came over together and joined Ichin in the kitchen.

Looking at the mountain of ingredients on the counter, Ichin's father chuckled. "Haven't seen you for a while, and you're already cooking even more stuff than before, huh?"

As he chopped the monkfish into chunks and placed them into a bowl, Ichin replied, "Didn't care much before I learned how to cook, but now that I've learned, I may as well eat better. Dad, did you have monkfish while you were in Kyoto?"

"Nope," his father replied, stroking his chin. As he stared at the large chunk of monkfish liver set aside in a separate bowl, he added hungrily, "But I've had it back home at a Japanese restaurant—really tasty stuff."

Soon, Ichin's mother walked in as well.

"Need a hand, son?"

Ichin smiled and waved her off. "It's okay. You and Dad go relax. I've got everything under control here."

After watching for a moment and confirming that her son was indeed handling things smoothly, she nodded and went back to the living room with her husband.

A few minutes later, Utaha returned with her parents. After settling them in the living room with the others, she headed to the kitchen to help Ichin with dinner.

At 5:30 PM, dinner was ready. Everyone gathered around the table, eating happily while listening to the parents share stories about their trip to Kyoto.

After sipping her soup, Utaha turned to Ichin and said, "Ichin, how about we go on a little trip ourselves this summer?"

"Of course," Ichin replied with a smile. "Wasn't that already part of the plan? We said last year that we'd take everyone to China during summer."

He chuckled, then added, "Now that the studio's grown and the team's bigger, it's gonna be a bit more expensive. It'd be great to go with Kō and the others, but if everyone comes, some people might feel a little reserved. We'll just hire a couple of bilingual tour guides and make it a proper group trip."

Game development is a demanding industry, after all, and Ichin—who had always wanted to be a good boss—had already considered this: organizing an annual company trip in the middle of the year to let everyone unwind. The cost would be covered by the company—consider it a benefit.

After hearing Ichin's idea, his father offered a suggestion:

"If you're planning a company trip, my old company used to organize them too. I know several major travel agencies pretty well. Once we're back, I'll ask around for you. With some connections, we can probably save a bit on the cost—after all, your company is still just a year old."

With his father's network, Ichin was more than happy to accept the help.

August wasn't far off now. The company trip was approaching, and while the whole team would go together, Ichin himself might have to go a few days earlier—for the branch office had to be established.

Aside from the development of future game projects, there was also the matter of Chinese voice acting for the game, which had to be done domestically.

Having a local branch would make it easier to handle a whole host of things.

Thinking of this, Ichin turned to his father and said,

"Dad, I've decided it's time to set up the branch office. After you get back, can you help me look for a place to rent as the office space?"

"You're starting already?" his dad asked in surprise.

Ichin nodded. "Once the branch office is up, we don't need a big team right away. Just build a basic core staff. Aside from assisting with our current game development, we can take on some outsourcing work to keep things rolling. Once the team becomes more experienced and integrated, next year's new project can involve the branch fully—that'll boost efficiency a lot. Also, aside from development, I want the domestic branch to handle our local marketing and publicity."

Right now, Ichin was managing all the domestic promo using just a Bilibili account. That was their only channel.

With a branch in place, he could hand off that responsibility to a professional team and free up his own time.

His father didn't reject the request. Instead, he nodded and said,

"Alright, I'll help you scout for a suitable spot. But are you sure you've got enough capital for this?"

Ichin grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry. The company's been making consistent profits."

Though they were still in the middle of a development cycle, the sales of their first two games were far from reaching their limits. Both Slay the Spire and Hollow Knight continued to generate solid monthly revenue.

Besides, Ichin had never been one to spend recklessly. The only major purchase he had made for himself was a car—so the company's finances were more than stable.

On top of that, both games had recently launched on the Epic Store, which had a better revenue split than Steam. While sales weren't sky-high yet, every bit helped.

After dinner, everyone sat around sipping tea. Eventually, Utaha's parents returned home—her father had work the next morning, so they wanted to rest early.

Ichin's parents were also preparing to fly home the next day.

With the studio's team expanding, Ichin's mother hadn't bought too many souvenirs this time—just a few small gifts for those she knew personally, like Yagami Kō and the others.

Before going to shower and rest, she called Ichin to help carry the items downstairs to the girls' dorm. Kō, who had just returned not long ago, was thrilled with the gifts.

---

Wednesday Morning

Ichin and Utaha took a short leave from school to personally drive their parents to the airport. Once they saw them off and confirmed the plane had departed, they finally headed to school.

By the time they arrived, the second period was still in progress. Coincidentally, it was Japanese class with Shizuka Hiratsuka.

Knowing the reason they had taken leave, Hiratsuka-sensei didn't get upset. She simply gestured for them to take their seats and continued her lecture.

As Ichin opened his textbook, a sudden thought struck him—

Wasn't midterms coming up soon?

Sure enough, when the bell rang to end class, Hiratsuka gathered her materials and addressed the class:

"Midterms will begin the Tuesday after next. That gives you a week and a half to prepare. Don't forget—you're already third-years, and all of you are aiming for university. Every exam must be taken seriously. That's all. Class dismissed."

Then she turned toward Ichin and Utaha and added,

"Ichin, Utaha—come with me for a moment."

...

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