Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: How It Happened Was...
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Upon returning to the director’s office, Shin Chihwan took a moment to catch his breath before immediately firing a question at me.
“So… what kind of magic did you pull to make the President suddenly appear in that meeting room?”
“Well, it wasn’t anything grand. The President called me the first day I sent over the build.”
“A call?”
“Yes, it seems he really liked it after playing the prototype build. He called to say he had a lot of fun and that I’d worked hard.”
“The President? Himself?”
A few days ago…
On the day the team and I finished the build and were having dinner, I received a phone call.
- PD Jo Hyunsoo, I played the build you sent! You made one hell of a game! -
I was surprised that the President had called me directly, but I took it as a sign of his immense interest in my work.
- *Phoenix* is doing well, and I’m looking forward to your new game, so I’ve been keeping busy. I’m even meeting a politician from the Ministry of Culture soon, you know. Haha! -
On top of that, Oh Geoshin rambled on about his own affairs.
The most memorable part was him mentioning an upcoming meeting with a politician from the Ministry of Culture.
And then, on the morning of the review…
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[Sudden Quest / A Fair Review]
- President Oh Geoshin, who holds a favorable view of your work, is unable to attend the review meeting due to a conflict with his meeting with a politician and the prototype schedule.
It appears Director Seo Donghyuk is heavily involved in creating this situation.
The main conference room is currently filled with enemies who dislike you and Director Shin Chihwan.
If you don't come up with a countermeasure, passing the prototype review seems like a distant dream.
▶ Clear Conditions:
(1) Ensure President Oh Geoshin’s meeting with politician ‘Seo Yeongran’ ends early, by 14:20 (0/1)
(2) Delay the prototype review meeting so it does not end before 15:36 (0/1)
▶ Reward: Small amount of EXP, Main Quest cleared.
The God Game Maker message that appeared before my eyes explained the current situation.
To grasp the exact circumstances, I asked for help from Son Seokjin, a fellow public recruit and a former colleague from the *Phoenix* team.
- Assistant Manager Son, you said you have a colleague in the business department, right? Could you check if the President is scheduled to attend a meeting today? -
- Oh, yes, that shouldn't be too hard! -
The result of my inquiry… was that the prototype review meeting and the meeting with the politician had both been hastily scheduled for the same time.
According to the God Game Maker’s quest window and what Assistant Manager Son told me, it was obvious Seo Donghyuk had set a trap.
‘Well… whatever the case, this is the situation, and I need to get the President into that meeting room on time.’
However, I had no magic trick to suddenly pull the President out of a meeting with a politician.
I quickly searched the internet and started digging up information on Assemblywoman ‘Seo Yeongran.’
A member of the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee… a politician who often had a lot to say about games.
She was recently accused by another politician from the same committee of receiving illegal political funds from a certain civic group.
Judging by her career and past actions, she wasn't a particularly likable figure to me.
I couldn’t even understand why Oh Geoshin was meeting with someone like her…
‘That doesn’t matter. I just need to break up the meeting between this woman and the President.’
Once I had an objective grasp of the situation, coming up with a method wasn’t difficult.
I immediately rushed out of the office and used a payphone to call Assemblywoman Seo Yeongran’s office.
- Hello, I'm a supporter of Assemblywoman Seo Yeongran. I'd like to report some information about the misconduct of the politician who attacked her. -
- Is that so? What kind of information? -
- I can't go into detail, but I have precise information about where the leak regarding the civic group incident came from. I’d like to schedule an urgent meeting this afternoon. -
- Uh… but the Assemblywoman has a full schedule today… -
- Today is the only day that works for me. If I just mention that this is related to a source within the prosecutor’s office, you’ll understand what I mean. I’ll be waiting at the coffee shop nearest to the Assemblywoman’s office today. Please be there by 2:30 PM. If the Assemblywoman doesn't come herself, there will be no information. -
In truth, they were just words I had scraped together from internet articles to sound as plausible as possible, with no real evidence to back them up.
As long as I could separate that woman, Seo Yeongran, from our President, I didn't care about anything else.
If this method didn’t work, I would have had to resort to another.
Fortunately, the method I chose worked beautifully.
<<Your understanding of Assemblywoman Seo Yeongran increases!>>
- Assemblywoman Seo Yeongran wants to know where the information about her misconduct involving the civic group was leaked from.
<<You have cleared the first condition of the Sudden Quest!>>
Seo Yeongran, apparently having something to hide, ended her meeting with the President, and God Game Maker informed me that my plan had succeeded.
If that hadn't worked, I would've had to think of a second or third alternative. Frankly, luck was on my side.
Having come this far, all that was left was to buy time until Oh Geoshin arrived at the main conference room.
- Director, you just need to drag out the meeting time and delay the vote as much as possible. -
I called and entrusted this mission to Shin Chihwan, and thanks to his excellent execution, we were able to pass the prototype review.
The fact that I had brilliantly overcome Seo Donghyuk’s pathetic little scheme made me so happy I wanted to dance.
And now, back to the present…
“What did the President say when he called?”
“Just that the game was fun. But today, through a friend, I heard a rumor that the President had a meeting with a politician. I got a bad feeling about it, so I sent him a text this morning asking him to look favorably on the prototype review… I think he probably attended after seeing that.”
I gave Shin Chihwan a suitable answer.
Since I couldn't tell him the whole truth, I mixed in a few lies.
It wasn't like Shin Chihwan would check every detail with Oh Geoshin, and since I had actually sent Oh Geoshin a text that morning, it wasn't a complete lie, strictly speaking.
“Then what was that about you telling me to stall for time earlier?”
“The President saw my text late and replied. He said he’d forgotten, but his meeting with the politician had just ended and he was on his way back to the company.”
“Ahh… is that so? What a stroke of luck. I’ve been in the game industry for a long time, but I’ve never seen anything like this. Phew… If things had gone just a little bit wrong today, the prototype review would’ve been completely screwed.”
Shin Chihwan, unaware that I was the one who had orchestrated the situation, seemed to think I was just an incredibly lucky person.
Well, for my part, it was more convenient for him to think that way.
“Well, as long as the result is good, that’s all that matters, right? The prototype… we passed the review, correct?”
“Yeah, well, the President showed up and everything was resolved… No matter how high and mighty Director Seo Donghyuk acts, he can't defy him to his face.”
“Does this mean we can officially start the project now?”
“Hey, hey, PD Hyunsoo. We just got through a huge crisis. Let’s take a breather. I’m about to pass out.”
Seeing Shin Chihwan whine, I smirked and replied.
“Shouldn’t we strike while the iron is hot? I want to make this game as fast as possible, down to the last minute and second.”
“Agh… you crazy bastard. Fine. Then start posting job openings to fill the headcount. I’ll speak to the HR team, you should get a call about it by tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Director.”
“Seriously… it’s not just your skill, your luck is insane, too. It’s like… the winds of success are blowing in your direction.”
“Then isn’t that fortunate for you, Director? We are in the same boat, after all.”
“Hey, don’t you know that a boat that sails this fast also sinks just as quickly when it goes down?”
Shin Chihwan grinned and nudged my side with his elbow.
He, too, must have been quite satisfied with the outcome of today’s prototype review.
“Well then, I’ll be getting back to work.”
I stood up, opened the door to the director’s office, and stepped out.
Just then…
“PD Hyunsoo.”
“Yes?”
I turned my head at Director Chihwan’s call.
“Let’s go for a drink sometime soon.”
“Well, if you’re buying, Director.”
I grinned and left the director’s office.
****
“And that’s how the prototype review was passed.”
“Wow! This is a good thing, right? Right?”
“Phew… You worked hard.”
After returning to the office, I called Assistant Managers Jeong Yosep and Heo Yuri to the company café to inform them of the review results.
Assistant Manager Yuri was delighted, while Assistant Manager Yosep seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief as if he’d survived.
“I brought you to the café to discuss what we need to do next.”
“Hehe, whatever it is, just give us the order!”
I placed the printouts I had prepared in front of them.
“First, this is the main project’s milestone. We’re planning to complete the first build in eight months at the earliest. This is likely to be extended depending on how we fill our staffing needs.”
On the very first page was a milestone chart with a rough outline of the future schedule.
There was no point in setting a meticulous schedule at this stage, so it was only a rough draft.
The important part was on the next page.
“Next, we need to hire people for graphics and programming. First, please review the team composition I’ve planned for each position.”
“The graphics team… two concept artists, one effects artist, one animator, and one UI designer added… I think this should be just right.”
“For programming, we should be fine with just two more client-side programmers.”
The team I envisioned, including the three of us here, would be a total of ten people: one for planning, six for graphics, and three for programming.
Since the protagonist was a famous painter named Van Gogh, the final product would vary greatly depending on how the graphics and direction were implemented.
Ultimately, I decided it was best to allocate the headcount with a heavy emphasis on graphics personnel.
It might be a bit tough with me being the only planner, but I believed I could overcome that with the help of God Game Maker.
“So, now we need to fill these positions. I’d like to ask for your help with the hiring process.”
“What can we do to help?”
“First, please tell me what you think is necessary or what kind of talent you’re looking for when hiring for each position. The new hires will be working with you two, after all. Please think about it and get back to me by the end of today. I want to get the job postings up tomorrow.”
“Ah, I understand.”
“And… we’ll be conducting the first round of interviews with the working-level staff soon. I’ll need both of you to participate in these interviews, and I’d also like you to help create the technical test questions.”
The moment they heard my words, both of them nodded with serious expressions, as if they knew this was coming.
“Oh boy… I’m getting a little nervous at the thought of creating a hiring test.”
“Haha, me too. I always thought a day like this would come eventually, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon…”
Usually, only those at the rank of Gwajang or higher participate in working-level interviews.
Although these two were scheduled for promotion to Gwajang, they were still Daeri, so this kind of experience would be new to them.
Just as this was my first time as a PD, these two also had much to learn as they experienced the role of a part leader.
“Then let’s conclude the meeting here. I look forward to working with you all.”
“You worked hard, PD Hyunsoo!”
We stood up from our seats with bright expressions.
Our hearts fluttered with excitement, wondering what kind of colleagues would be joining us.