Chapter 158: The First DLC?

“Hello.”

“Yes! Hello, sir!”

Because of his age, Ras found it difficult to acquire anything like dignity no matter what he did, so he simply gave up and treated people normally. Because of that, even with new employees, instead of putting on airs for no reason, he would greet them first.

Naturally, from the employees’ perspective, the chairman greeting them first made them stiffen in nervousness and bow at a right angle. They had only just joined the company and had not even been assigned to a project or team yet, so before they could think of the chairman’s attitude as anti-authoritarian, they were probably simply flustered and nervous.

Ras smiled bitterly at the employees’ reaction. However, he did not tell them to relax. It was not as if they would relax immediately just because he said so, and since he had called them here to give them work, it might be better for them to be nervous and focused.

“Yes. The reason I called all of you here is that I want to assign you a task before full-scale development begins.”

Ras said this while especially meeting the eyes of a slender Elf lady who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had a beautiful appearance, but that was not the reason. It was because this Elf named Natalie was one of the main illustrators.

A job posting naturally had to include the details of the work. Because of that, Ras had clearly stated that the work would involve drawing many manga-like pictures of women and that there would be many emphasized sexual depictions.

This Elf had seen that and applied, and the portfolio she submitted suited Ras’s tastes so perfectly that he hired her.

In truth, Ras had also been extremely flustered at first when he saw that the person who had drawn those erotic pictures was such a beauty.

Even now, seeing her look at him with sparkling eyes made him feel somewhat embarrassed, but he had hired her to assign her work anyway, so Ras managed his expression and continued speaking.

“You all know Territory-Capturing Game, which was released recently, right?”

“Yes!”

Ras said this thinking there was no way they would not know a game released by the company they had applied to and joined, but people naturally varied widely. Still, even if someone did not know it, nobody here was so tactless that they would say so, and the answer that came back was exactly what Ras expected.

“I plan to create additional content for this game.”

Until now, once a game was released, that was the end of it, but now online systems existed, however weakly. Ras planned to use that to make up for what had disappointed him.

The distribution would probably be free. For one thing, there was no suitable payment method, and although Spirit Space seemed highly active, it was still spreading, so some buyers could end up excluded.

Even if it was distributed for free, he did have his own aims. Additional content would help maintain interest a little longer, and moreover, that kind of content would likely become quite a topic, so he could expect increased sales as well.

It also had the effect of avoiding responsibility. In truth, Ras still could not be certain how the market and society would react if he released an erotic game.

In this world too, if one went out into the streets, there were prostitutes and rows of such shops. There were also erotic novels, comic books, films, and porn. Yet at the same time, certain parts of society still had a stubborn and conservative tone.

Because of that, Ras calculated that he could observe the reaction through this, and if he uploaded it anonymously from the start, he could feign ignorance if the backlash was severe and problems arose.

“So please keep this work as confidential as possible. Of course, if there are no problems after distribution, it will be fine to attach the company’s name or your own names to it.”

“Yes...”

The employees nodded as if they understood easily. Since they were people interested in this field, they were used to hiding in the shadows. Some felt slightly disappointed because their vague expectations were broken by the fact that even a major company like Meta Soft was being this cautious, but they did not show it.

In any case, the dating simulation development team began its first project like that.

Once Natalie was assigned the work, she began drawing diligently. She liked erotic drawings. That did not mean she had any especially unusual or obscene disposition.

She had always liked drawing, and among all subjects, she liked drawing the human body. And among those, she considered the female body beautiful.

But only drawing people posing normally is boring.

At first, she had diligently drawn portraits and nude paintings, but at some point, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she began to feel something was lacking. If she was only going to draw fixed forms without vitality or purpose, how was that any different from a still life? That doubt came to her.

While searching for a path in various directions, after graduating from university, she worked as an illustrator and ended up taking a job illustrating erotic novels.

In truth, that was work other artists avoided, so it was half-forced onto her. However, Natalie found great inspiration there.

Expression, vitality, wildness, instinct, beauty, and desire were mixed together in those drawings. That was what she wanted.

After that, she went down this path. She illustrated novels, drew erotic comics, and even made posters for erotic films.

However, it was not purely good.

This was too much in the shadows. She had started drawing it because she liked it, but she was also human, so she could not be completely free from the world’s gaze.

Her parents, for one, were not very pleased with it. Most importantly, the income was not very good either. Natalie drew with all her passion because it was what she liked, but these kinds of drawings tended to be consumed for fleeting, momentary desire, so it was difficult to receive evaluation equal to the effort she put in.

It was not to the point that making a living became a problem, but Natalie could not help thinking about the future. Especially because Elves lived long lives.

While she was worrying over her path, she saw the recruitment notice posted by Meta Soft.

Huh? Isn’t this a major company?

She was not especially interested in games. However, because she had lived by taking any work she could get, she also had experience doing computer work.

Natalie immediately thought this was the place. She could become financially stable, and although it was a game company, it was a famous major company, so she would likely receive social recognition as well.

The first work she received after joining that company was simpler than expected. All she had to do was create pretty characters and draw moderately erotic pictures.

“That said, it must not be too intense. Of course, it needs to be erotic, but since the target is teenagers and young adults, it would be better to keep the mood light and cheerful.”

Of course, since it was company work, there were restrictions. This vague ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instruction was one of them. However, since Natalie had plenty of experience in this kind of work, she could roughly grasp what kind of feeling he wanted.

After thinking for a long while, she looked at Rush, the manga magazine released by this company, and referred to the atmosphere of the works inside it.

Because she had been drawing very explicit pictures until now, she wondered if it might be too weak, but considering teenage sensibilities, she drew a beautiful girl whose skirt was blown up by the wind, revealing her panties, while emphasizing emotional expression.

“That’s right! This is exactly it.”

The illustration she submitted with some worry received high praise from the chairman. Once she caught the feeling, she drew a shower scene when told to draw a slightly stronger picture with the same character, and that was also accepted.

“Good. Very good. This is the feeling. Yes. Miss Natalie, please take charge as the graphics team leader.”

“Yes? Yes! Thank you! I’ll work hard!”

It seemed somewhat sudden, but they needed a team leader anyway. From Ras’s perspective, Natalie had ability and was comparatively older within this team, so she felt like the perfect person for the role.

Once the team had a captain to guide its direction, the work gained even more momentum.

As the work came in one piece at a time, Ras felt a truly strange sensation. There was pride too, but more than that, he thought, So this is really becoming reality. After all, making an erotic game created one more layer of psychological distance compared to making ordinary games.

And the quality was even better than what he had vaguely imagined.

Especially Team Leader Natalie’s work. I can really feel the passion in it.

The illustrations from Gals Panic that Ras had played in his childhood were a boy’s dreams and hopes, but these illustrations seemed to have something beyond that.

Erotic! It’s seriously erotic!

There was no direct intercourse, simulated sexual acts, or other explicit pornography, and most of it was light exposure. However, even that much carried a stimulation that made it hard to look away.

Like that, the work proceeded smoothly, and a little less than two months after the project began, a file was uploaded to the Spirit Space homemade game board.

Thomas was a fourteen-year-old boy. His neat red hair and still-young features were cute, but he had a complex about that point, making him an ordinary child.

He liked games, but since it was rarer these days to find children who did not go to Arcade Game Land, that was nothing special. Still, the fact that he loved MUD Games could be called slightly different from other children his age.

After all, perhaps because it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a game without graphics, the age group that enjoyed it was slightly older.

In any case, today too, while heading to the game board to play MUD Games, he habitually stopped by the homemade game board. Since games were uploaded here for free, it was quite a popular board among children whose pockets were not very deep.

And although it was a secret, he had once played a game labeled adult-only and experienced a new world, so he had some expectations for that as well.

Huh? Something new was uploaded.

However, games were not easy to make, so most visits ended in failure. Today, though, he unexpectedly found that something had been uploaded.

<Territory-Capturing Game Erotic Version Patch>

“Hmm...”

He was slightly disappointed that it was not a game at first, but the word “erotic” caught his attention.

But how do you make that Territory-Capturing Game erotic?

As it happened, he also had Territory-Capturing Game. It was not enjoying incredible popularity, but because of the name value of Meta Soft, surprisingly many people owned it.

Also, the fact that Meta Soft held tournaments every time was effective, so many people played and practiced it out of expectation. Perhaps they might also have talent in this game.

In any case, captivated by the word “erotic,” he eventually clicked the download button.

The file size was considerable. Thomas regretted slightly that he would not be able to play MUD Games, but instead of giving ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up, he pulled Gamers from his bookshelf.

This magazine was one of his treasures. Even without playing games, reading the articles alone was fun, and there were even comics in the back, so each volume felt like a gift. Because of that, he had carefully kept every issue of Gamers released so far.

There were many people who collected Gamers like this. Of course, there were even more who did the same with Rush, the manga magazine.

In any case, after reading the magazine for a long while, he looked back at the monitor and saw that the download had finished before he knew it.

Thomas first read the included usage instruction text. It was simple. If he had a hard disk, he could simply copy this file into the game folder. If he was playing with a diskette, he first had to run this file, then insert the Territory-Capturing Game diskette into the B drive.

So this is how I do it?

He did have a hard disk, but he had not installed the game there, so he simply ran it using the diskette play method. Thirty megabytes seemed like an enormous amount, but it filled up quickly once one started using it, so Thomas avoided installing things whenever possible.

Footnotes:

Translator’s Notes:

DLC — Downloadable content: additional game content distributed after a game’s release.