Chapter 33: The Outline of the Second Project
Chapter 33: The Outline of the Second Project
The difference between having a recognized objective within the game and not having one at all was enormous, even if it didn’t seem like a big deal at first glance.
If a game emphasized freedom too much and failed to establish goals, players could actually lose motivation very quickly.
I wonder if there are any better ideas.
Even so, it still felt like something was missing, so Insu continued thinking of ideas while development progressed.
“Insu!”
While he was lost in thought, someone suddenly approached and shoved something into his arms.
“Huh?! Noona, you’re here?”
Startled, he looked up and saw Noona Eunha.
Maybe it was because he became younger, but his concentration had grown so intense that whenever he became immersed in something, there were times he didn’t even notice someone approaching.
“It came out! It came out!”
Noona Eunha beamed brightly, unable to hide her excitement.
At first, Insu didn’t understand what she meant, but when he noticed the Japanese gaming magazine in his arms, his eyes widened immediately.
He instinctively realized what happened.
After straightening the magazine, Noona Eunha leaned over and flipped through the pages for him.
“Here!”
At first, the large unfamiliar kanji and Japanese text confused him, but when he looked closely, he clearly recognized screenshots from The Land Of Fantasy.
“Oh!! ...But what does it say?”
Insu felt endorphins surge through him, but every piece of text in the game images was written entirely in Japanese, leaving him frustrated because he couldn’t understand it.
Eunha smirked and pointed at the headline.
“It says it’s this year’s blockbuster RPG.”
It was a far stronger introduction than he expected.
Even though he couldn’t read the text, the numerous in-game screenshots and densely packed writing made it obvious this wasn’t just a brief mention. It was receiving a full feature article.
“Wow. It got featured in a Japanese magazine?”
A voice other than Noona Eunha’s suddenly spoke, making him flinch as he turned around.
At some point, Lee Suhyeon and Yoo Juyeon had appeared beside them and were peeking at the magazine.
Well, both Noona Eunha and Insu had gotten a little too noisy during work hours.
Since they were making such a commotion right next to everyone working, there was no way the others wouldn’t get curious.
“Yeah. It was released in Japan this time, and it looks like it got featured.”
Insu said this awkwardly while masking his embarrassment with a smile.
Come to think of it, it seemed better to share information like this for the sake of team morale too.
“Can we understand what it says?”
At Yoo Juyeon’s question, Noona Eunha proudly puffed out her chest.
“I can read Japanese.”
“Ohhh.”
The two looked at her with impressed expressions.
Although Japanese manga and anime had already entered Korea through illegal imports and piracy, people who could actually understand Japanese were still relatively rare.
“Then can you read it for us?”
“Hehe. Fine.”
Eunha cleared her throat dramatically and began reading the article aloud.
“‘A masterpiece from across the sea that overturned common sense.’”
“Ohhh.”
“‘Fantasy World combines the familiar appearance of a JRPG with the freedom and depth of a Western CRPG.’”
“Whoa...”
The atmosphere in the office gradually heated up.
Although they participated in development, none of them truly realized the scale of the game’s success yet.
But hearing that a Japanese magazine praised the game so intensely made it feel real.
Especially because it was Japan.
At this point in time, Japan’s gaming industry stood overwhelmingly ahead of Korea’s.
Simply being acknowledged there carried tremendous meaning.
Meanwhile, Insu quietly listened to the article while pretending to remain calm.
But inwardly, his emotions swirled chaotically.
This feels way better than I expected.
No matter how much confidence he had in the game, actually receiving recognition overseas felt completely different.
And Japan wasn’t just any market.
It was one of the global centers of gaming culture.
The fact that The Land Of Fantasy managed to attract attention there meant a lot.
The article continued.
“‘The innovative 3X4 position-based combat system provides strategic depth while maintaining intuitive accessibility.’”
Yoonsu’s eyes widened slightly.
“That system really got praised that much?”
“Looks like it.”
Insu answered casually, but internally, he felt relieved.
The combat system was one of the areas he worried about most.
Since it was fundamentally different from existing turn-based systems, he wondered whether players would reject it.
But apparently, the response was positive.
“And look here.”
Eunha pointed at another section.
“‘Unlike conventional RPGs that simply end after clearing the story, Fantasy World creates the sensation of an endlessly continuing world through its Descendant System.’”
“Ohhh.”
This time, even Lee Suhyeon reacted with genuine admiration.
The development team members gradually gathered around the magazine.
Before long, they were all listening together as Eunha read through the article.
Watching that scene, Insu quietly smiled.
It wasn’t just because the game was successful.
The fact that everyone looked genuinely happy made him feel strangely satisfied.
Yeah. This is why having a team is nice.
Back when he developed games alone in his previous life, there was no one to share moments like this with.
Even if he achieved good results, he simply accepted them alone and moved on.
But now things were different.
The people around him were celebrating together with sincere joy.
That alone made the success feel far more real.
Afterward, the office atmosphere noticeably brightened.
Even the pace of development seemed to increase slightly.
As expected, visible results were the best morale booster.
And while everyone else was excited over the magazine article, Insu quietly continued thinking about the next game’s ending conditions.
His game under development wasn’t on the same scale as Civilization, but it still involved far more than simply raising armies and fighting wars.
It implemented a medieval feudal environment through its own systems, added a fantasy setting, and even included adventurer-related systems.
To properly utilize all those elements, he had already prepared several endings.
The first category involved obtaining specific positions.
Becoming a king, emperor, pope, or the leader of a race or allied faction would fulfill an ending condition.
Unlike Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this game contained multiple races, and just like The Land Of Fantasy, each race possessed preference systems, making complete unification difficult from the beginning.
Well, I’ll still create a full-unification ending anyway.
Additionally, there were factions like Demon Kings, demons, and undead that fundamentally could not coexist with others, so simply becoming a major power or one of the central pillars of the world would already be recognized as reaching the highest level.
Another category involved Honor Points.
It utilized the common medieval concept that honor was highly valued.
Players could accumulate points through various forms of gameplay, such as winning wars, excavating ruins, defeating special enemies or factions like Demon Kings, demons, angels, and dragons, and once the total exceeded a certain threshold, the ending condition would be fulfilled.
There were also endings triggered by special events.
For example, stopping or enduring a Demon King invasion, the appearance of an evil dragon, or an undead outbreak could each lead to unique endings.
And there were many other approaches as well, such as simply reaching a certain amount of playtime and receiving an ending based on the player’s score.
In various ways, Insu structured the game to support multiple gameplay directions.
Looks like I’ll have to prepare myself for staying here until second grade no matter what.
Still, when he thought about it carefully, he needed to see the results of the Japanese and American releases before even attempting to go to America.
That would require time anyway, so he figured waiting a little longer wouldn’t matter much.
After giving up resisting reality, or perhaps simply relaxing and accepting it, he focused once more on school life and game development, and before long, July arrived.
Fortunately, he received good scores on his final exams.
Back in this era, even first graders at Gukminhakgyo took midterms and final exams.
Not getting first place feels weirdly humiliating, though.
No matter how easy the material was, if he didn’t stay focused, there would always be things he overlooked or mistakes he made.
Even if Insu wasn’t taking elementary school life seriously, the fact remained that he was still a Gukminhakgyo student.
And once he found himself being evaluated through exams like this, he unconsciously started caring about the results.
Lee Juhui.
Without realizing it, he memorized the name of the chubby but clever-looking little girl who ranked first.
But something else was even more important than that.
Summer vacation would begin on July 13.
Other kids were probably excited because they could finally play around, but Insu planned to focus entirely on development.
Though honestly, I kind of want to play too.
It was finally time to create the prototype.
Unlike this new project, the previous game was built using systems that were already half-verified from his previous life, so he was fairly confident about its fun factor from the beginning.