Chapter 11

Tetris had only just started selling, after all. The market itself was already not that large, so if he handled this wrong, it could end up cannibalizing his own sales. Ras wrote “Pac-Man” on a label sticker, attached it to the disk, then carefully slipped it deep inside the disk case.

Still, he had no intention of leaving it there for too long. No matter how much of a masterpiece Pac-Man was, it was ultimately a very simple game.

While reading magazines, he realized something. Unlike in the earliest days, recently released games were gradually becoming more complex. Of course, complicated did not necessarily mean fun. But after getting used to games packed with all sorts of things to do, something too simple inevitably felt a bit dull and less interesting.

Ras intended to keep up with current trends as well. The type of game he originally wanted to make was a role-playing game from the start.

Unlike before, he now had a fair amount of confidence in his coding skills, and he was no longer in such desperate financial straits that he needed to worry about surviving day by day. It felt worth trying now. If Tetris continued bringing in large profits, he could even expand the team with people for graphics, sound, and coding, making it possible to produce a high-quality game right from the beginning.

Ras excitedly prepared to start planning, only to realize that he needed to recruit people first. He set down his notebook and pen.

But once he actually started thinking about hiring developers, he had no idea how to go about it. Programmers were manageable enough. There were no universities specializing exclusively in programming yet, but there were at least computer-related departments, so he could probably find some people there. However, there were no specialized schools at all for computer graphics or sound.

Then do I need to find someone knowledgeable in art or music who also happens to be interested in computers?

He had a strong feeling it would be extremely difficult to find suitable people.

After thinking further about expanding the team, Ras decided to postpone hiring programmers for now. Tetris was selling well, but after calculating the money he currently had, it still felt too early. Making a role-playing game would certainly require far more work than Tetris or Pac-Man, but honestly, he did not think it was impossible to do alone.

If absolutely necessary, he planned to teach the graphics staff enough to help out.

As for music, rather than hiring someone outright, he planned to look for freelancers. While creating the sound effects for Pac-Man earlier, he realized something. Even though he himself knew little about music, it still did not seem like something that would take nearly as much time as coding or graphics work.

In fact, someone experienced in that field would probably be able to produce things quickly and effortlessly. So it seemed better to simply pay per commission.

In the end, he decided to focus on finding only a graphics designer first and began considering how to do it. Then he remembered the local newspapers and recruitment flyers he often saw.

Since it was his first time visiting a newspaper office, he felt slightly nervous. He called the number listed in the paper, asked for directions, and went there, only to find the place much smaller than expected.

It was located on the second floor of a building in a rather quiet district. There were several empty seats inside, but even if every desk was occupied, it did not look like there would be more than ten employees.

“You were the one wanting to place a recruitment ad...?”

As he cautiously stepped through the open door and looked around the newspaper office, someone near the entrance called out to him. Ras flinched in surprise. The man had the head of a rat.

Moreover, he was quite overweight, making him feel less like a person and more like a giant rat.

Still, he wore a clean white shirt, and his fur was a light color, so he did not look disgusting. The shape of his wide face even somewhat resembled a hamster.

“Ah. Yes.”

Fortunately, the male Beastman did not seem particularly bothered by Ras flinching. Relieved, Ras sat where the man directed him.

He had already experienced this several times in this world, but even if the other party looked like something out of a fantasy world, the interactions between them were still perfectly real. Ras discussed the advertisement normally with the Beastman man, explaining what kind of ad he wanted, the cost, and how long it would run.

“I look forward to working with you.”

After finishing the contract, Ras shook hands with the rat Beastman. There was a bit of fur on his hand, but otherwise it did not feel much different from shaking hands with a human.

He had been startled at first, but the hamster-like face twitching with its own expressions while talking had somehow been amusing, leaving him feeling slightly regretful to leave.

The advertisement cost 500 Del. It was not a small amount, around five hundred thousand won in Korean currency, but if it brought him capable people, it would be worth it.

Afterward, he took the flyer he had made himself to the electronics district, made copies, and began posting them in suitable places.

First, he posted them on bulletin boards filled with job postings, then along busy streets where many people passed by, and finally at a nearby university.

Though “nearby” still required taking a bus due to the distance.

Ras recalled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hearing stories from the old days and wondered whether he needed to buy bus tickets or tokens, but apparently cash was sufficient. However, there was still a fare collector, commonly called a bus girl. Whenever the bus stopped, she immediately stepped out from the entrance to collect fares from passengers, then boarded last and closed the door once everyone was on.

“We’re departing.”

The bus door was manual. Considering the technological capability needed to make electronic devices, it felt strange that they could not at least make automatic doors. He briefly wondered whether it was to preserve the bus girls’ jobs, though he did not really think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that was the case.

It was not even rush hour, yet the bus was packed with people. Still, it was not as bad as the old days he remembered, when bus girls would physically shove passengers inside with their entire bodies during commute hours, so that was at least fortunate.

Ras kept feeling nervous about the wallet tucked inside his clothes. Public safety was not particularly terrible, but it was not on the level of Korea either. He had heard there were various crimes, especially pickpocketing in crowded places like this.

Thus, after traveling in tense silence for around thirty minutes inside a bus packed with humans and other races alike, he arrived at Tuba University. More accurately, he arrived at the bustling university district surrounding it.

Apparently, the university was named after a dwarf entrepreneur who founded it, and it was considered fairly prestigious in the western region. Since it was also a large comprehensive university with an art department, it seemed worth hoping for.

Huff...

Although it was located in the city center, the campus sat on slightly elevated ground, so he had to walk uphill for quite some time from the university district. Since Ras had not exercised much even after arriving in this world, he became slightly short of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breath.

When he finally saw the entrance in the distance, he worried that outsiders might not be allowed inside, but universities in this world apparently did not strictly block their entrances either. Besides, he was around the same age as freshmen, so he did not look out of place.

Passing through streets crowded with students, he examined campus maps posted around the grounds and first headed to the College of Art, posting flyers on campus bulletin boards. He also visited cafeterias and bulletin boards in other departments.

There was always a chance talented people existed outside the art department as well.

After spending several hours taking care of everything, he finally had the leisure to look around properly. The atmosphere ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was actually quite nice. It reminded him of Hyuncheol’s university days.

I miss it...

The stylish female university students especially kept drawing his gaze. By now, he had become fairly accustomed to the clothing styles of this world, so they no longer felt strange to him, making it even harder not to notice them.

Another thing that caught Ras’s interest at this university was the Department of Magic.

Unfortunately, the magic students were not walking around in robes, wizard hats, and carrying staffs. They looked just like ordinary university students. Still, knowing that magic was being taught inside that building made a playful thought briefly cross his mind.

Is this Hogwarts or something?

However, times had changed, and apparently not everyone who studied magic personally used it as a spellcaster.

According to a book he previously read in the library, in the past, only those with magical power studied magic and became wizards. But in modern times, as magic became systemized like other academic fields and its applications broadened, a new type of scholar known as a theoretical wizard emerged. Rather than mastering every theory and casting spells themselves, they focused solely on research.

Of course, some theoretical wizards still possessed magical power and cast spells personally, but these days, the term “wizard” did not necessarily refer only to people capable of using magic.

Nor were spellcasters especially respected. People with magical power were relatively rare, but as the population increased, their absolute numbers grew enough to more than satisfy demand.

Modern wizards were essentially no different from scientists.

He also read somewhere that people who were both theoretical wizards and capable spellcasters were called orthodox practitioners and regarded more highly, but they were so rare that it supposedly made little practical difference.

After learning all these realistic details, Ras felt some of his fantasy about wizards crumble away. They were very different from the image he imagined. They felt more like scientists.

Spellcasters themselves seemed somewhat different, but even they apparently could not accomplish anything truly extraordinary. Unlike in games, it was nearly impossible for an individual to possess enormous magical power, so using magic often required vast amounts of preparation, time, and money.

There was certainly mystery involved, but it still belonged within the realm of reality.

Even so, there was still something appealing about being able to accomplish things science could not. So although his fantasies faded somewhat, he still retained the desire to learn magic someday, which was why his gaze kept drifting toward the magic college even as he left.

After squeezing back through the crowds of the university and university district and enduring another bus ride where his body was compressed from all sides, Ras finally returned to familiar streets. He stopped by a bakery, bought sweet pastries and bread, then headed home.

Home really is the best.

By now, this old gloomy apartment felt incredibly comfortable to him.

Ras did not even have the energy to touch the computer. He turned on the television, lazily flipped through channels, then stopped at the first thing playing and staggered over to the sofa before collapsing onto it.

“Aren’t you supposed to be coming home?”

On the small CRT screen, a beautiful woman with reddish-brown eyes and gray cat ears perked up atop her head was angrily talking on the phone while lashing her long tail around.

“I was going to! I really was going to...!”

Soon a man appeared on the other side making excuses, and he actually had a full cat face. Still, after watching plenty of television in this world and frequently seeing Beastmen at James’s store, Ras could at least tell now that it was considered a handsome face.

Though emotionally, it still did not fully register that way for him yet.

Ras wondered what kind of program it was, but as the story progressed, it seemed to be a romance drama.

He usually avoided this world’s visual media because it did not suit his tastes, but while sitting there exhausted and absentmindedly watching, it actually felt reasonably enjoyable.

As he watched the drama, a thought suddenly occurred to him. If he knew how to write scripts and had directing talent, it might have been fun not only to make games, but also dramas, movies, or animated films.

No, not just visual media either. His thoughts expanded toward novels, comics, and other forms of content as well.

After absentmindedly reminiscing about memories from his previous world and resting for some time, Ras finally decided he had relaxed enough and stood up.

Thinking about it, he did not have the luxury of wasting time like this.

He had already posted recruitment notices, meaning people would eventually contact him, yet he still had not properly organized what kind of game he wanted to make.

If he did not want the graphics designer he finally hired to sit around doing nothing, he needed to establish at least a rough plan beforehand.

Ras briefly glanced at the computer and notebook on the desk, then forced his tired body upright and headed toward the shower room.