Game Developer in the World of Anime

"Oh? You want to invest more?"

After hearing what Haruno had in mind, Ichin naturally agreed.

The company was bound to expand further in the future. With operations and development demanding more funds, it was understandable that Haruno wanted to increase her investment after seeing the profits.

Ichin himself was confident—he wouldn't let his shareholders lose money.

"Sure, the game is about to enter the promotion phase, and we'll definitely need a lot of funding, not to mention looking for various marketing channels."

"I can handle the promotion channels. Just leave that to me," Haruno said with a snap of her fingers, smiling. "As for the investment amount, I'll discuss it with my parents when I get back. I plan to throw in the rest of my savings. Ichin, you better not let your me lose everything!"

"Don't worry, that won't happen."

At that moment, Yukino had also finished reading the financial report and turned to her sister.

"Haruno, didn't Mom say I also hold a small portion of shares in the family company? She's been saving the annual dividends for me, hasn't she?"

"Hm? Yukino, are you saying...?"

Yukino nodded. "I may not be as business-savvy as you, but I can understand this financial report. After the game is released this year, along with the various merchandise, revenue will definitely jump to another level. That'll allow for further expansion and the development of even more games. With such a promising future, there's no reason not to invest more."

Though she said she didn't know much, her reasoning was sharp and clear.

Haruno thought for a moment, then agreed. "Alright, I'll talk to Mom about it when we get home today. She should be okay with it. Ichin, could you tell us more about your plans after Persona is complete?"

"Plans, huh?"

Ichin nodded. "Sure. I've been thinking a lot these past few days and have a general direction. First off, hiring more staff and expanding the team. We still have space here in Tokyo—plenty of room to bring in more people. I'm even thinking of renting the vacant space next door and connecting the two areas. The studio in China will also be recruiting more, and I plan to open another one. With three studios, I'm aiming to develop two to three new projects: a large-scale ARPG, a first-person shooter, and a small-scale 2D indie game."

Dark Souls, Titanfall + Apex, and BattleBlock Theater—that was the lineup.

Persona's pre-order numbers had already surpassed a million. Ichin was confident that once officially released, total sales would hit three million within the year.

With that kind of revenue, boosted by merchandise sales and the additional investments from the Yukinoshita sisters, running three concurrent projects was totally doable.

After two years of steady groundwork, it was finally time to go all out.

"Three concurrent projects, huh? Looks like someone's finally showing his ambition."

Despite the bold plan, Haruno didn't try to talk him down. After all, she'd known Ichin for a long time and understood he wasn't someone who acted recklessly. If he decided to run three projects at once, it meant he had the confidence to back it up.

"Well, once your plans kick off, if there's anything you need help with, just say the word. I'll find a way to support you. As for the promotional channels for Persona, I'll start reaching out over the next few days. Once I have a shortlist of good ones, you can make the final call."

"Thanks."

After their discussion, the three of them left the office. Haruno took a copy of the financial report with her.

Before noon, she left the company to return to her own work, while Yukino stayed behind. Whenever she came by, she usually stayed until the end of the workday.

Over by the company's cat tower, Yukino had moved a chair and was quietly reading a book. From time to time, she'd glance up at her cats lounging on the cat tower.

After several encounters, Ichin's cat Peppa and her white cat Sesame had become quite close. They were now cuddled up together, eyes half-closed in lazy comfort.

The relationship looked good—given a few more months, they might be expecting kittens.

At the same time, Yukino figured she'd need to get her other cat, Mochi, spayed. Otherwise, when the kittens were growing up, it'd be all too easy for the older cat to go into heat.

Meanwhile, in the office, Hazuki suddenly received a call from a contact at Nintendo. After a brief exchange, her expression shifted to one of surprise. She then walked out of the office with her phone and found Ichin, who was currently with the programming team.

"Ichin-kun, come here for a sec."

"Hm?"

Ichin turned at the sound of her voice and saw Hazuki gesturing with her phone.

Looked like the call was for him.

"Umiko, take care of things here for now. I'll be back after this call."

After saying that, Ichin followed Hazuki to her office, where she handed him the phone.

"Hello, this is Ichin speaking."

"…Huh?"

Just like Hazuki a moment ago, Ichin's face showed surprise after hearing what the Nintendo rep said on the other end.

Exchanging a glance with Hazuki, Ichin replied, "If that's possible, then we'd be extremely grateful. A lot of our developers are really looking forward to it—we're curious about how much innovation this one brings. Alright then, we'll wait for the build to try it out."

After hanging up, Ichin scratched his head and looked at Hazuki.

"We're not even game streamers or influencers… didn't think we'd get early access."

Hazuki chuckled. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"True."

He glanced at his watch—it was 10:30 AM.

"They said the key will be sent at 1:30 this afternoon. I'll check in on everyone's progress. Hazuki, should we send it out to the team as soon as we get it?"

"You're the boss. You decide," Hazuki said with a raised index finger. "But I call dibs on the first copy. I've got nothing planned this afternoon."

"Alright, I'll go ask around."

After leaving the office, Ichin headed back to the programming team to ask about their progress, then checked in with the other departments.

Seeing him go around asking questions, Kō Yagami couldn't help but ask, "Hey, is there some last-minute task we need to squeeze in?"

"No, no, it's something else."

With his arms crossed, Ichin grabbed the project schedule from Rin Toyama's desk, glanced over it, then clapped his hands.

"Everyone, gather around. Kō, can you call the rest of the programming team over?"

Soon, everyone in the company had assembled.

Aoba and Momiji Mochizuki stood together, whispering:

"What do you think it is?"

Momiji shook her head. "No idea. But Ichin-kun looked pretty cheerful when chatting with Kō earlier, so it probably isn't anything bad."

*