Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Finishing Strong (1)
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“Come on, you think I wouldn’t take care of that for you? Don’t worry, it’ll be calculated based on your work and evaluation until October. It won’t be as much as if you stayed on the team, but you’ll still walk away with a solid tens of thousands.”
“Thank you.”
“Alright, then. For the next week, let’s talk about the next project and personnel placement while you’re here, and once you’re back from vacation, we’ll hit the ground running again.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
I gave a slight smirk at Shin Chihwan’s bland joke and left the conference room.
After reporting the current situation to PD Oh Gwangseok, I asked him to arrange for Daeri Son to take his vacation first.
Daeri Son readily agreed, and when it was time to leave, he walked with me toward the subway.
It was the first time I’d left work on time in nearly a month.
By the time we reached the subway gates, we had to part ways, as we took different lines.
“Well, I’ll be off on my vacation then, Gwajang-nim.”
“Get some good rest. You’ve worked hard.”
“When I come back… you won’t be gone, will you?”
“Don’t worry. Even if I leave, I’ll say my goodbyes first.”
“Understood.”
As Daeri Son passed through the gate, his expression was somber, as if he sensed that our time together was drawing to a close.
It had been a short time, but having worked so closely for three months straight, I’d grown strangely fond of him.
Watching his back as he walked away, I felt a similar twinge of melancholy.
But time moved on.
“We got more metrics in today. We might be getting a hefty incentive early next year!”
During the week Daeri Son was away, a smile never left PD Oh Gwangseok’s face.
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), DAU (Daily Active Users), and so on…
Every additional metric that came in was looking good.
It wasn't on the level of *League of War*, the game that kept the company afloat, but at this rate, it was clearly destined to be more than a moderate hit.
Considering that several of NB Soft’s recent releases had been consecutive flops, this was a miraculous result.
Everyone came to work with cheerful faces, and there was a renewed energy in their work.
‘Not much time left here.’
Just a few months ago, this team had felt like a hell I wanted to escape immediately…
Now, the thought that I wouldn’t be here for much longer left a strangely bitter taste in my mouth.
The week flew by in a flash, and finally, it was my turn to go on vacation.
****
‘How long has it been since I’ve been able to rest with such peace of mind?’
My vacation began, and I spent the first few days sleeping in as late as I wanted.
I occasionally mulled over ideas for my next project, but I never worked more than three hours a day.
After running nonstop for the past few months, I honestly felt a strong desire to just rest.
And…
[Seol Rokhui: How about a movie this Friday? There’s something I want to see.]
[Me: Sounds good. Should we meet in Gangnam?]
I had already made plans with Rokhui for the weekend.
This time, it would be our first date without Yoon Byeongjong and Writer Kim, so I was looking forward to it.
Ah… as for Yoon Byeongjong and Writer Kim, things must have worked out for them, because they messaged me about two weeks ago saying they’d started dating.
- Hey, you should hurry up and make a move on Writer Seol Rokhui. If it goes well, we can go on a double date. Wouldn’t that be great? I hear she’s popular with other male writers, so you might miss your chance if you dilly-dally. -
I thought I just had a simple crush on Writer Seol Rokhui, but after hearing that from Yoon Byeongjong, my feelings became clear.
Her personality, looks, taste, conversation… in every way, Writer Seol Rokhui and I clicked. I felt I would deeply regret it if I let this opportunity slip by.
But…
‘Is it… time to actually make a move? But I don't even know what to do…’
Having built a wall around my love life for the past five or six years, I was cautious about what to do, what to say, and when to say it.
A part of me was also afraid that making a sudden, rash move would ruin the relationship we had been building so well.
‘Well… let’s just focus on what I was planning to do.’
I had a quick meal of cup noodles, then got dressed to prepare for today’s meeting.
I wasn’t overly dressed up, but I aimed for the cleanest look possible.
Today was the day I was meeting the client programmer PD Oh Gwangseok had introduced me to.
I heard he had worked on the first project with him and had seven years of experience.
- That friend of mine, he’s not just diligent. He’s also done a few solo projects, so you two should have a lot to talk about. As you know, structuring a client for a mobile game is a bit different from structuring one for a packaged game, right? Oh, but he’s not very talkative, so that might be a bit frustrating. -
According to PD Oh Gwangseok, he was a very diligent type who actively sought out work for himself.
He was currently working at another mid-sized game company near NB Soft and was looking for a new job.
I had arranged to meet him for dinner near Pangyo after he got off work.
[Me: I’ll be waiting in front of Burger King. I’m wearing a beige dress shirt.]
[Jeong Yosep: Ah, yes! I’m coming down in the elevator now. I’ll be right there!]
A moment later, I saw a man in the distance walking briskly toward me.
“Hello! I’m Jeong Yosep.”
He came right up to me and offered a friendly handshake.
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
‘What… this is the client programmer?’
Jeong Yosep was completely different from the image of a programmer I had in my head.
Plaid shirt, short hair, and glasses with a naive impression… that was my stereotypical image of a programmer.
‘This guy looks like a rap star. He wouldn’t look out of place on *Show Me the Money*…’
The person standing before me was dressed from head to toe in a style you’d see in a street fashion magazine, and he even had a beard.
It wasn’t an unkempt mess, but neatly trimmed, giving him more the impression of an artist than a client-side programmer.
Well, looks don’t matter when it comes to work, but…
I’d never seen a client programmer with this kind of vibe before, so I was intrigued.
“Shall we go eat? Is there anything you like?”
“Ah, I like everything! There’s a quiet Korean set-menu restaurant nearby. If you’re okay with that, I can lead the way!”
“Ah, yes, that would be great.”
I followed Jeong Yosep into the restaurant.
‘Oh, this is nice…’
The tables were spaced far apart, and each table had a degree of separation, making it look like a good place for a conversation.
Moreover, the lunch prices, ranging from 15,000 to 20,000 won, were neither too expensive nor too cheap.
Since this was an introductory meeting, eating somewhere too cheap would have been awkward, so the price seemed just right.
“The lunch special here is the perfect amount.”
“Ah, yes, I’ll have that as well.”
“Ma’am, two lunch specials, please.”
He ordered swiftly, then looked at me with a bright smile.
‘He’s a person with good sense.’
My first impression of Jeong Yosep was not bad.
His choice of restaurant, his clothes—it all gave me the expectation that he was a person with a good aesthetic sense.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from PD Oh. He said you have excellent structuring skills and great sense.”
“Haha, the honor is all mine. I’m a huge fan of *Forgotten Andersen’s Story*, and I was very impressed by your interview with Coby Fox. To be honest, I was thrilled when PD Oh said he was introducing me to you.”
As expected, he showed an enthusiastic attitude.
I’d already heard from PD Oh that he was very interested in indie games and had readily agreed when my name came up.
Not bad.
Someone who creates something they love will perform much better than someone who’s just in it for the money.
Since I couldn’t hire a large team, it was all the more important that each member had a passion for the project.
“As a programmer, were there any parts of *Forgotten Andersen’s Story* that you found lacking while playing it?”
“Uh… it was really fun and amazing, but…”
For a moment, I saw a flicker of hesitation in Jeong Yosep’s eyes.
I sensed this was the right time to draw him out.
“It’s okay to speak freely. I made it myself, so I’m well aware it has its clumsy parts.”
“Since it was made with RPG Maker, or Tsukuru, I felt there were some directorial limitations in moments that needed a strong emotional punch. But within the confines of that tool, what you did was the best possible, and the emotion was definitely conveyed.”
“For example, what scene comes to mind?”
“Hmm… there were a few, but near the end, when Andersen’s mask shatters, the screen breaks like glass shards, right? I thought if it were developed in Unity or Unreal, you could use different camera work or particles to convey the emotion much more effectively. I’ve seen some assets on the Asset Store before that could be used for that…”
Jeong Yosep’s eyes sparkled as he spoke with passion.
It wasn’t criticism for the sake of criticism, but the words of a genuine fan of *Forgotten Andersen’s Story*.
He went on to mention a few other things, and every single point was something only a person who had truly and sincerely played the game could say.
“You have a sharp eye, Mr. Jeong.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I feel like I… just blurted out whatever came to mind.”
Yosep finally seemed to remember that the person in front of him could be his future boss, and he scratched his head and apologized.
‘No… this might be the kind of person I need.’
- That Jeong Yosep guy is fast and has good structuring skills, but he had one minor issue. He tends to fuss over details that look the same to everyone else, so controlling that was a bit difficult. He’s a programmer, but… should I say a craftsman type? He also has an understanding of the artistic side, so I believe he can handle TA (Technical Artist) duties as well. -
Generally, skilled programmers are evaluated on their ability to structure code for good scalability and their know-how in optimization.
Of course, that’s very important, but my project is going to be a packaged game.
I’ll be paying a lot of attention to the directorial aspects, so I needed a programmer with an aesthetic sense.
Jeong Yosep certainly seemed like a person who had that kind of sense.
‘Well, things might be different when it comes to actual work… but all I can really check here is his attitude and taste.’
Of course, even if I liked him here, he would still have to go through the technical and executive interviews as a matter of procedure.
Whether he had the actual skills of a programmer would be judged by others at that stage.
“Why are you thinking of leaving your current company?”
“Ah… we launched a game not too long ago, and…”
Jeong Yosep looked somewhat embarrassed, scratching his beard before continuing slowly.
“Working in this industry, I’ve always wanted to, just once… make the game I’ve always dreamed of. I don’t mean to belittle other games, but I feel like I’m just… repeating the same work over and over at the company. That’s when I heard about this from PD Oh.”
“I see…”
Making the game you’ve dreamed of.
It’s a naive and righteous statement, but for that very reason, it’s hard to say out loud.
Many professionals working at game companies forget that dream as they live their lives.
Once you get used to that life, it’s common to mock those who dream as childish and criticize them for not knowing how the world works.
Because if you don’t rationalize abandoning your own dream, it’s hard to endure.
Because corporate life is so far removed from your dreams and ideals.
In a way, it’s only natural.
‘He’s a good person.’
From that simple statement, I knew that Jeong Yosep was looking in the same direction as me.
I started to like this man more and more.
“Mr. Jeong, what kind of games do you usually play?”
“Ah… I tend to like all genres. Going back a bit, I like *Terranigma*… *The Legend of Heroes* series, the *Mother* series, and I wonder if you know a game called *Dreams and Duncan*?”
At my question, he slowly listed his gaming tastes, savoring the words as if retracing his past.
Our tastes overlapped quite a bit, and there were also many games he mentioned that even I hadn’t played.
From this short conversation, I could fully sense that he was a hardcore gamer who truly loved games.
Before I knew it, our lunch time had flown by.
“I enjoyed our conversation today, Mr. Jeong. The company will contact you within two weeks. Of course, you’ll still have to go through the technical and second-round interviews.”
“Thank you! I really hope I can join your next project, PD Jo. It would be my lifelong dream come true.”
“A lifelong dream, huh… I hope so too.”
I smiled, leaving the possibility open.
Jeong Yosep returned a pleased smile and bowed his head.
“Well, I should be getting back now.”
“Alright.”
He disappeared back into the building of the company he worked for.
I watched his back and muttered to myself.
“People gathering to achieve their dreams…”
People who gather to achieve their dreams are making a game about dreams.
The theme I had chosen for my game seemed to strangely align with the current situation.
“This will be fun.”
There was no logic or evidence, but I felt a strange confidence that my next project would do well.
I turned and walked toward Pangyo Station.
Then, I took out my smartphone and called a person who had just come to mind.
The phone rang two or three times before a voice answered with a click.
<<Hello?>>