Chapter 43: The Release of Civilization and War and Vacation

As Barbal Soft grew larger, the company judged that continuing to operate as though it were still a small business would lead to inefficiencies and problems, so it went through a process of systemization. One of the resulting regulations was that games produced by external developers would no longer be received by just anyone but instead routed to designated personnel.

And games from Meta Soft, which held one of the highest ratings among external developers, were arranged to be delivered directly to the president’s office. Once this rule was established, quite a few people, including Amans, were disappointed.

“Yes. It’s called Civilization and War, apparently. He’s really a diligent person.”

The response was somewhat lukewarm. Jennifer found it a little strange. It was hardly a secret that the president was a fan of Meta Soft. She also remembered how excited he had sounded while taking the call earlier.

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s just that the overseas expansion plan we talked up before still hasn’t produced any real results.”

Only then did Jennifer understand what he meant.

At the time, they had confidently declared they would sell games overseas as well, but it turned out to be much harder than expected, and there had been little progress. Meanwhile, Meta Soft simply continued creating new games and sending them over without concern, which both reassured him and made him feel somewhat ashamed.

“Why worry over something like that? Aside from overseas sales, the arcade business is clearly producing results.”

“That’s true. Amans really accomplished something huge.”

Only then did a faint smile appear on Paul Roxy’s face. Through the arcade business, Barbal Soft had firmly established recognition within the industry. Thanks to that, a considerable portion of the games selling well in the PC market were now being distributed through Barbal Soft.

Their overall software market share was around ten percent, and when narrowed specifically to games, it was an astonishing twenty percent. Considering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that in the past, “market share” had barely even existed for them since they mostly sold their own programs and only distributed products from companies connected through personal relationships, this was tremendous growth.

And beyond immediate growth, Roxy held high expectations for the future of the computer market itself. Since they had already secured market share, unless they made a major mistake, the company would likely grow naturally alongside the expanding market. That was what he looked forward to even more.

“And it’s not like we’ve been sitting idle regarding overseas expansion. We’ve been probing around constantly, so eventually something should come of it.”

“Right?”

Encouraged by Jennifer’s words, Roxy regained his spirits and decided to enjoy Meta Soft’s new game. Of course, this was not simply for fun but for testing purposes.

Barbal Soft Development Office.

“Oh! Looks like this one’s similar to Sea King.”

Holding the copied diskette of Civilization and War that had arrived from the president’s office, Kadanio’s dark-circle-ridden eyes filled with interest. Among Meta Soft’s games, he held Sea King in particularly high regard.

Even aside from characters and story, he thought the idea of recreating elements of reality through systems alone and giving players enjoyment through that was truly genius. In Earth terms, he was the type who liked simulation games.

“I prefer Land of Adventure more than Sea King.”

Amans fiddled with the diskette using his thick fingers. Sea King was not a bad game, but he personally preferred games with clearer objectives.

“What? Didn’t you move to the arcade cooperation department?”

“Nope. I only agreed to help port Meta Soft games over there. I have no intention of planting myself there permanently.”

The company did want to assign Amans there full-time. However, the Panchi Games project had been accomplished entirely through his personal enthusiasm, and Roxy judged there would be no point forcing him to stay once that enthusiasm faded. So he simply sent Amans back to the development office as requested.

Of course, since he had produced results, a bonus payment was planned. And if anything involving Meta Soft came up again, he would probably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠step forward once more anyway.

In any case, the Barbal Soft employees inserted the diskettes and began testing.

“This is taking a while.”

After selecting a race and pressing Start Game, Kadanio frowned as the drive rattled noisily and the loading screen refused to finish.

But this could not be helped. There were many calculations required to randomly generate the map, and the resulting data also needed to be recorded. Garazt had truly done his best, but with the current computer systems, this was the limit.

“There we go.”

Still, the wait was not unbearably long. To be honest, the resulting map screen was not especially impressive or flashy.

Since the focus had been entirely on conveying necessary information intuitively despite poor graphical performance, it resembled a crude map. However, Kadanio understood the limitations of computers very well, so he was not disappointed.

Instead, he was simply amazed at how much had been expressed despite those limitations. And the massive map filled with unfamiliar terrain gave him a strong sense of anticipation.

He moved the provided Settler unit and established a city in an appropriate location. Since he had no idea what anything meant yet, he decided to simply keep progressing and see what happened.

The game was quite complicated. However, the UI was intuitive, and the systems were relatively realistic and logical, so instead of forcing himself to memorize things, the information naturally settled into his mind.

Even while fumbling around, he slowly developed his city. He could hire talented personnel, produce units, and form armies.

Then he got crushed by a neighboring country.

“Aaagh!”

Panicking, he hurriedly used diplomacy to request aid from another nearby nation and barely managed to survive. But after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠losing territory and having to pay money and resources as the price for rescue, he was effectively ruined anyway. Even so, he refused to give up and struggled desperately to keep his country alive.

Of course, there was no way that would succeed. After surviving for a long time as a pathetic minor nation, he was eventually swept away by the wave of a massive empire that had risen in the east and was destroyed outright.

“...”

He stared blankly at the defeat illustration depicting a broken sword, a skull, and a torn flag.

“You done? Let’s go eat.”

“Huh? Eat what?”

Kadanio remained dazed for a moment before reflexively checking the clock at Amans’s words, startled to realize that three hours had somehow passed.

No, when did that happen? I mean, I guess I did do a lot of different things...

Looking back, there had indeed been countless moments of choosing, considering, and planning. But because he had been so immersed in the game, he never noticed the time piling up like this.

The two went to a restaurant near the company and talked about Civilization and War over lunch.

They discussed the game systems they had figured out and the strategies they had devised. Of course, at this stage, their skill levels were fairly similar. Amans’s nation had prospered more, but that was only because he had given up earlier and reused the knowledge he had gained until then rather than because of any real difference in skill.

Even within Barbal Soft, Civilization and War produced divided opinions. But the people whose tastes aligned with the game felt reluctant to leave their nations behind even when it was time to go home from work. They could only wait impatiently for the official release.

And after release, the market reacted the same way.

“Ah... I pulled an all-nighter.”

One gamer saw dawn breaking outside the window and grabbed his head. Yet even then, his eyes could not leave the kingdom displayed on his monitor.

Many office workers and students kept repeating, Just one more turn! while developing their nations, checking neighboring countries, waging wars, and suppressing rebellions, only to despair once they realized how much time had disappeared.

Previous games had generally only provided momentary enjoyment, but Civilization and War possessed a strange magic that prevented people from leaving their computers.

Because of this, many people compared it to a “curse” or “magic,” and eventually it even earned the nickname “The Devil’s Game.”

Parents with children in particular began glaring ominously at computers after seeing their sons and daughters forget to eat, throw aside their schoolbags and homework, and sit in front of the screen with bloodshot eyes while endlessly clicking keyboards and mice.

Still, reactions like this would become more common later. For now, Meta Soft, delighted that the game had finally been released, immediately entered vacation mode. It started right after they received confirmation the day after shipment that the game had safely arrived.

Since it was close to noon, Ras briefly considered having lunch together, but remembering his own days working in offices back on Earth, he concluded everyone would prefer being dismissed as quickly as possible.

“Everyone, enjoy your time off.”

“Yes, Boss. You too.”

When their eyes met, Pana waved with a bright smile. Since she still had not given up on her dream of becoming a manga artist, she would probably work during the vacation period, but at the moment, all she could think about was returning home to rest thoroughly before traveling somewhere relaxing afterward.

Nobody knew when she would become a manga artist, but it seemed likely she would remain an employee of Meta Soft for quite a long time.

The other employees each had their own vacation plans as well. Because of that, the atmosphere was lively with excitement, but Ras alone could not feel the same way.

Learning magic and writing a proposal for Pump were things he had chosen for himself, so they did not matter much. The real problem was the conflict with the Orphan Gang. He had postponed dealing with it until development ended, but he never expected that day would actually arrive.

After sending the employees off, Ras locked all the windows while pretending to secure the office instead of following them out. Sitting quietly in the office afterward, he wondered if some solution might come to mind, but naturally, nothing did.

Instead, something else surfaced in his thoughts. Once everyone left for vacation, that girl who might or might not have been a watcher would probably stare blankly at the closed office without understanding why. Or maybe she would not care at all. Still, Ras thought he should at least tell her.

Ras left the office, locked the door, and looked around. Then his eyes met hers as she watched him from the top of the stairs.

Though he still did not know her name, after repeatedly meeting each other’s gaze so often, they had at least reached the point of exchanging nods. Ras gestured for her to come over while she gave him a grin.

If she refused and ran away, he had planned to simply go home without bothering further.

When Ras beckoned, her eyes widened in surprise. And then, completely unexpectedly, after hesitating briefly, she slowly approached him. She had always kept her distance like a cat, so Ras had not expected calling her closer to be this easy.

She really is unbelievably pretty.

Seeing her from close enough to touch if he extended his hand, she truly was beautiful. Her neat features, flawless in every way, and her large orange eyes overflowing with vivid emotion possessed a charm that seemed to pull people’s attention in.

Even though she wore pants and an oversized shirt like a boy, she was still this attractive, making him curious how she would look properly dressed up.

Ras’s gaze drifted toward the animal ears twitching atop her head. Seen like this, she really did feel like a cat. If she had been an actual cat, he might have patted her head once, but instead Ras merely clenched and unclenched his hand.

“What is it?”

Contrary to her lively appearance, her voice was unexpectedly husky. Still, thanks to her casual tone, it suited her appearance fairly well.

Ras wondered how he should speak to a girl who was clearly younger than him, then decided to use polite ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠speech simply out of courtesy toward a woman.

“The office will be closed for a month starting today.”

The moment she heard this, her eyes widened in obvious surprise. Ras almost wondered whether it was really that shocking.

“Why?”

“It’s just vacation.”

“Vacation...”

The girl blinked her large eyes as though she had never heard the word before. The sight was so cute that Ras had to suppress the urge to laugh.