Chapter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠33: The End of Vacation and a New Project Meeting

She spoke smoothly without the slightest trace of awkwardness, then quietly gazed at him.

It certainly didn’t seem like the desperate tutoring class of an unemployed intellectual struggling to survive, as Ras had first imagined.

“Could you tell me how far you’ve progressed in studying magic? I need accurate information to create an appropriate curriculum.”

Afterward, Ras held a consultation with Bert regarding how the lessons would proceed. They discussed things such as his goals, how much time he could devote each day, and what lesson hours would work best.

It was quite systematic, which made Ras decide that receiving lessons from her would be worthwhile. When he informed Bert of his decision, she merely smiled faintly like a veteran rather than showing excessive excitement.

“Understood. I’ll prepare the study materials, so please come starting tomorrow at the appointed time.”

“Yes. Then, see you tomorrow.”

And beginning the next day, he visited this place every day to learn magic. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he was learning Rune Language rather than magic itself.

Like when he first learned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠English in middle school, Ras carefully studied step by step, beginning with writing and pronunciation. It definitely felt far more structured than trying to learn alone from books.

“Yes. You’re doing well. Now, try reading this.”

Bert was quite a good teacher. Since she was supposedly a highly accomplished mage, Ras had worried she might behave harshly like the eccentric mages from novels, but although she gave the impression of being diligent, she wasn’t like that at all.

Thinking about it again, she wasn’t conducting apprenticeship training. This was paid instruction with fairly expensive tuition, so his worries had been unnecessary.

Still, learning Rune Language felt little different from learning a foreign language, so she felt more like an English teacher than a mage. In any case, by the time he had memorized the essential Rune Language and begun studying basic grammar, vacation had ended.

Of course, he planned to continue studying magic after work. It would be tiring, but his passion for magic and his attractive teacher motivated him.

“Miss Pana, did you rest well?”

Ras arrived at the office slightly later than usual. Diska seemed to be away from his seat momentarily, so Ras greeted the employees beginning with Pana, who sat closest to the entrance.

“Yes! Boss, did you have a good break too?”

Perhaps because the vacation had been enjoyable, the exhausted expressions everyone had worn near the end of development had brightened considerably. After exchanging greetings with everyone once, Ras casually raised one hand to draw their attention.

“Attention over here. We’ve rested enough, so it’s time to get back to work. Gather around the meeting table.”

Aside from Nebrania, who had been working on music, everyone had just been sitting around with nothing to do, so they immediately stood and moved to the table at one side of the office.

Since there were still no ranks or positions established, everyone sat freely. Though naturally, the men sat to Ras’s left while the women gathered on the right.

“We’re still making the music game, but everything else is already finished, and we’re just waiting on Miss Nebrania’s work. But if she’s the only one working while everyone else relaxes, she’ll probably hate that. So let’s find ourselves some work too!”

The employees chuckled at Ras’s lighthearted tone. Nebrania responded with a wry smile. After confirming the atmosphere had loosened enough, Ras brought up the main topic.

“Let’s think together about what we should make next.”

Until now, Ras had simply made whatever games he wanted to make. That was originally why he founded a game company in the first place. Still, from time to time, he had wondered whether he had been too authoritarian.

Of course, he still intended to keep making the games he personally wanted. But he thought perhaps listening to opinions like this would motivate the employees more.

And it wasn’t merely for show either.

If someone truly presented a good idea, he intended to use it. Besides, exchanging ideas like this could spark better thoughts than simply thinking alone. Ras saw no downside to it.

“Um, what about Land of Adventure 3?”

Garazt cautiously raised his hand and spoke. He had originally joined because he had fallen in love with Land of Adventure. And after participating in the development of the second game and seeing it succeed, he had become strongly motivated to make an even better game next time. So even while feeling his suggestion might not be appropriate, he still voiced it.

The reactions from the other employees were surprisingly positive.

Nebrania was still hiding her true nature and carefully reading the room like a newcomer, so she merely observed quietly. Aspa preferred role-playing games where he could fully utilize his abilities over things like rhythm games, so he silently nodded in agreement.

Pana also liked the Land of Adventure series, and since making games was difficult work no matter the genre, she simply watched the others as though she didn’t particularly care either way.

“No. We won’t be making role-playing games for a while.”

In this world as well, the computer magazine Computer World used the same term “role-playing game” as Earth, and people interested in games had adopted it until it became standardized terminology. At first, terms like “adventure game” had also been used, but this sounded much more appropriate.

“Land of Adventure 2 is still selling very well, and there are too many role-playing games being released these days, so I think we need to observe the market atmosphere for a while.”

If they were merely crude imitations, it wouldn’t matter. But beginning with Myth of Salvation, which he had seen in a magazine before, several games with surprisingly high quality had appeared. If they failed to make something truly exceptional, the series might not merely get buried — the IP itself could die. So they had to be cautious.

Once Land of Adventure was ruled out, everyone fell into thought rather than immediately offering opinions. Being told to produce ideas on the spot clearly wasn’t easy.

He could have told them to think about it beforehand, but taking a long time didn’t necessarily produce better answers.

“Don’t think too hard. Just say whatever comes to mind. I’m not asking you to immediately plan and release a game. Even fragmented ideas are fine.”

“Then what about sports? Like baseball.”

It was Aspa’s suggestion. Ras had only thought of him as a burly novelist, but apparently he was interested in sports as well. The baseball he mentioned differed slightly from Earth’s version, but since Ras himself wasn’t deeply familiar with baseball anyway, it was simply baseball in his eyes.

“Sports isn’t a bad idea.”

The first thought that came to mind was, There are already plenty of sports games. But for now, Ras simply wrote it down in order to encourage opinions as much as possible. And it wasn’t actually a bad idea. Even on Earth, sports games were still constantly being released.

As Ras wrote “sports” in his notebook, he suddenly remembered the blackboard in Bert’s house.

I should buy one for here too.

It seemed like it would be useful during meetings like this. In any case, Ras turned back toward the employees. They were all obviously avoiding his gaze, clearly reluctant to be called on. A bitter smile almost escaped him, but since he understood the pressure they felt, he simply waited quietly.

“Um, what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about war?”

This time it was Garazt again. It was a subject likely to interest men. But that wasn’t the only reason.

Garazt, who had a strong interest in virtual reality, had recently been thinking about systems where multiple people interacted to create societies rather than having a single protagonist. While doing so, several related themes had come to mind.

And among those themes, he thought war was the closest to games. Since violence was undeniably one of the primary subjects of games.

“War... War could work too.”

If one thought about it carefully, the battles in Sea King were also a form of small-scale warfare. Even if RTS games were still impossible, turn-based games might not be entirely impossible even on current 8-bit computers.

Ras wrote “war” down on the paper as well.

Games like X-COM, Desperados, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms might work nicely.

Since game quality had been improving recently and simulation genres were appearing, releasing something as a “war simulation” genre would likely attract interest.

As everyone gradually contributed ideas one by one, Pana became anxious and nervously fidgeted with her large glasses. She glanced toward Nebrania, who also still hadn’t voiced an opinion.

When their eyes met, Nebrania gave her a bright smile with her gray eyes, and Pana awkwardly smiled back. But Nebrania was still a newcomer. Pana, on the other hand, was the longest-serving employee, so she felt pressured to contribute something.

That was why, when her eyes met Ras’s, the thought circling her mind burst out before she could calm herself.

“L-Love, maybe?”

After speaking, she hurriedly looked around, only to find the other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠employees wearing puzzled expressions. After all, games and love seemed rather unrelated.

“Love...”

But Ras reacted differently.

Though it wasn’t exactly a mainstream genre, he remembered that Earth had games called dating simulations. Most were essentially pornographic so-called “eroge,” but some had been praised for their gameplay, while others succeeded by combining with different genres, so they seemed worth considering.

Lastly, Nebrania felt she couldn’t remain silent when all the senior employees had offered opinions one by one, so after thinking briefly, she decided to keep it simple.

“Hmm... What about raising something? Like plants or animals.”

“Raising simulation?”

“Yes. That term sounds good.”

After condensing Nebrania’s suggestion into a short phrase, Ras stroked his chin thoughtfully before nodding. Though she pretended otherwise, her opinion subtly revealed her identity as a Dryad. Regardless, it was a good keyword.

Even in the currently popular role-playing games, raising and development were important elements, so the idea didn’t feel unfamiliar. And among the Earth games Ras remembered, there were titles entirely centered around raising mechanics.

Princess Maker was the representative example.

In the multi-racial Republic of Smite, changes would be necessary, such as allowing children of different races, but it would still likely feel fresh enough.

Even after everyone contributed individual themes, they continued exchanging opinions for quite some time about additional concepts and what kinds of games could be made from them. No truly groundbreaking game idea emerged on the spot, but they did manage to gather several fairly promising concepts.

Ras had now become enough of a proper company president that he couldn’t tolerate employees idling around without work, so he stopped the discussion before lunchtime rather than letting it drag on endlessly.

Unfortunately, dating simulations were eliminated first.

Putting success aside, I kind of wanted to try making one at least once.

Pana’s graphics skills were certainly sufficient. But with the graphics technology of this era, illustrations capable of making men’s hearts race were still impossible.

Even without making it erotic, games centered on romance and attraction fundamentally relied on visual stimulation.

For similar reasons, raising simulations were also eliminated. Even Princess Maker filled its events with gorgeous illustrations that provided visual satisfaction. The daughter’s portrait constantly displayed on-screen was another important part of that appeal.

But it would be difficult to provide that sort of satisfaction with pictures drawn in only six colors, and more importantly, current hardware wasn’t even capable of permanently displaying such illustrations on-screen.

As for sports, Ras had a few ideas in mind, but compared to the other themes, he found himself drawn more toward “war.” There wasn’t any special reason. He had simply started wanting to make something like Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

However, he had no intention of making a mere imitation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

To begin with, this world doesn’t even have a novel like Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

It wasn’t that he underestimated the gameplay of Romance of the Three Kingdoms titles. But honestly speaking, Ras believed much of their success came from factors outside the games themselves.