Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Tripping Over Their Own Feet (1)
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[Director Oh Hana: PD Jo Hyunsoo, I'm sending over the completed Scene 3!]
[Director Oh Hana: Manet_S03.MP4]
[Me: Ah, yes. I'll check it now.]
.
[Me: This looks incredibly well done. I think you can proceed with the next scene just like this. Great work.] - 15:35
[Director Oh Hana: Thank you!] - 15:35
From that day on, the student, Oh Hana, began producing animations like a woman possessed.
I explained the situation to Professor Han Jeongsik and asked for his understanding in advance so that Oh Hana could skip her classes and focus entirely on her work.
‘Since it was their fault in the first place, they had no choice but to grant my request.’
Furthermore, I requested that for any future sand animation or similar stop-motion projects produced through our industry-academia collaboration, Kang Hyuk be excluded from the student lead position, and that Oh Hana be appointed as the director instead.
‘I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of this student in the future.’
Building a connection with someone destined for greatness. I knew this would be a significant asset in game development, so I intended to continue building a professional relationship with Oh Hana.
And in the end.
[Director Oh Hana: PD Jo Hyunsoo, the animation is finally complete!]
[Me: Ah, yes. You’ve worked hard, Director. I'll check it and get back to you.]
In just ten days, Oh Hana had successfully completed the sand animation at a quality that met, no, exceeded my expectations.
‘If anything, the quality is far better than I anticipated.’
It was a detailed, minute-long animation that expressed the awe Van Gogh felt upon seeing Manet's paintings through the delicate movements of sand particles.
Even I, watching it, was so captivated that I lost myself in the work.
‘Phew. Thank goodness.’
Indeed, the Part Leaders’ reactions were positive, and Bonbujang Shin Chihwan seemed quite pleased, remarking that we should entrust this student with any future outsourcing of this style.
Once the video was finished, I immediately passed it on to the sound team, and we were able to successfully complete both cinematic scenes.
Of course, in the meantime, I continued to adjust the combat balance and fix bugs, striving to maximize the build's quality, all while periodically checking the game's completion grade with God Game Maker.
[Pass On Dream_1st Build]
-First build file containing the content up to Chapter 2 of the game Pass On Dream.
Grade: S
‘An S grade. Not bad.’
Even setting aside God Game Maker's rating, when I played the game myself, the first build of POD was quite—no, very—fun and inspiring.
Feeling satisfied, I announced,
“The build has been submitted! Great work, everyone. Until we get the build evaluation, please don't work overtime. It would be great if you all used up some of your vacation days too!”
“You worked hard!”
“Woooooah! It’s submitted!”
On March 31st, Team Christian was able to deliver the first build file without any issues.
“Hoo.”
Now, this build file would be passed on to the company executives and the business department staff for evaluation, after which we would receive feedback and a rating.
Lee Hyeonho's team was probably due for their evaluation around this time as well.
‘Many in the business department and among the executives are under Bonbujang Seo Donghyuk’s influence, so we’re at a disadvantage, but we have no choice but to break through with the quality of our work. I can only hope that Sajang Oh Geoshin and his close associates will back my side.’
As long as I was at a company like NB Soft, it was obvious that the battlefield itself was unfavorable.
That's why I poured all my energy into creating a game so good that Seo Donghyuk's cronies couldn't say a word against it. Now, all I could do was wait for the results.
As I was waiting with a bit of anxiety for the results of the first build.
[Bonbujang Shin Chihwan: Hyunsoo, I need to talk to you for a moment.]
The Bonbujang urgently summoned me.
And then I heard a baffling statement.
“The Sajang wants to announce the evaluation results in a meeting with everyone present for this first build.”
“What? A meeting for a first build evaluation?”
“Yeah, with the Gold Digger team, too. He said both you and PD Lee Hyeonho must attend. Well, I did some digging, and it seems like the 1st Division Bonbujang’s line has been stirring up public opinion.”
Normally, a build test doesn't involve a meeting. The opinions of each executive and the business department are collected, and the respective Bonbujang decides whether the build passes based on that.
The fact that they were resorting to such a method clearly meant there had been some internal shift.
If the source was the 1st Division Bonbujang, Seo Donghyuk, it was obvious he had set the stage for that meeting to tear us down and prop up Lee Hyeonho.
“Isn't this a really obvious trap?”
“It is a trap. But since Sajang Oh Geoshin gave it the okay, it's a trap we have no choice but to walk into.”
Walking into a situation knowing full well it's a trap.
Having almost been screwed over once before during the strategic planning proposal presentation, Bonbujang Shin Chihwan was well aware of their intentions.
“Hoo. This is driving me crazy. All I want is to make a fun game, but why are there so many people trying to get in the way?”
“That's just how organizations are. The one who overcomes it and makes a hit becomes a legend.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I'll have to gather information from here and there and find a way to counter it. PD Hyunsoo, you just keep proceeding with your work. I'll do my best to cover for you on this front.”
“For now, I'll be counting on you, Bonbujang-nim.”
Not long after that conversation, I was informed that the meeting had been scheduled for the second Wednesday of April.
‘What kind of stunt are these people trying to pull?’
I started drafting the actual development documents for Chapter 3, but I couldn't focus on the work at all.
If we received the wrong kind of feedback from that meeting, we might be forced to take a knife to what we had worked on for Chapters 1 and 2, which would render all our preparations useless.
As time helplessly ticked by.
Before we could clash in the official meeting, attacks on my project began to come from the outside.
[NB Soft Blind]
[AlligatorMan: Yo, anyone try the new build from Team Christian? lol]
-They were hyping it up like it was gonna be some masterpiece, but I played it and it totally sucks. Feels like a game made by some cringey game dev club kids.
ㄴ[PandaFinger: lmfao yeah. I tried it too, and it was seriously awful.]
ㄴ[AlligatorMan: The Gold Digger team's project is the real deal, after all lol. Shows the difference between people who've made a AAA game and those who haven't.]
On the anonymous social network, Blind, someone was spreading malicious rumors about my project.
‘The build was only distributed to executives and a part of the business department. How could they write something like this?’
Watching this, a question arose in my mind, and I casually threw it out there.
[QuietJackie: But how did you guys get the Team Christian build? Wasn't it only distributed to executives and the business department?]
ㄴ [AlligatorMan: There are ways~ to get things. Don't you know nothing's impossible if you have connections? lol]
ㄴ [Welchs910: Whoa. I wanna try it too. Anyone know how to get the build?]
From what they were saying, it seemed the game build had indeed been leaked somewhere.
Technically, it was against the rules, but they probably brought it up because the company usually doesn't make a big deal out of it as long as the build doesn't leak externally.
‘Hmm. For some reason, those nicknames look familiar.’
I then checked the nicknames from the posts that had previously instigated the rivalry between me and PD Lee Hyeonho.
A few of them were conspicuously trying to stir up conflict, subtly but consistently disparaging my project and team while covertly praising Lee Hyeonho.
‘This is... It looks like the other side is poisoning the well in advance.’
Circumstantially, it seemed Seo Donghyuk's line was trying to create a certain narrative.
Executives, especially those like Sajang Oh Geoshin who don't have a deep understanding of games, are highly likely to be swayed when they encounter public opinion supposedly coming from general employees like this.
If my guess was correct, their continuous posting of such articles was a tactic to exploit that very situation.
‘They never intended to have a fair fight in the first place.’
All I wanted was to make a fun game and succeed for all to see, but the fact that they were resorting to political maneuvering outside of the game itself made my anger flare up.
I wished God Game Maker had an ability to expose anonymous users on Blind, but unfortunately, a search of the shop revealed no such skill.
“Hah. How should I solve this problem?”
While I was wracking my brain, public opinion on Blind continued to sway in one direction.
‘Our team's first build has been leaked and is circulating within the company... If I play this right, there might be a way to turn this situation to my advantage.’
I had no intention of just sitting back and taking it while the other side was openly engaging in dirty tricks.
‘Oh! That method might just work.’
And then, a thought suddenly struck me.
I slowly organized my thoughts, calmly beginning to formulate a plan to put it into action.
****
Early April 2021. Gamers were writhing in boredom due to a drought of interesting new games.
“Ugh. There are no games to play these days, guys. I can only scrape the bottom of the barrel and play any old trash for so long.”
This was also the case for Pung Horang, the star of the game streaming platform ‘Grape.’
He had steadfastly held to his one belief—‘If it's not fun, I don't stream it’—but lately, he hadn't found any enjoyment in the games he played and was sick to death of the boredom.
Out of ten games recommended by fans in his fan cafe, maybe one or two were decent.
And even those weren't exactly what he was looking for, but closer to "passable."
Although he was known for playing so-called "trash games" without batting an eye, recent releases were often copycats of existing titles or had excessively low levels of completion under the guise of "early access," and even he was growing weary of it.
‘I wish there was a game that would make my heart pound.’
[doiio: Ay, hyung~ Just stream LoL again today! Let's go Silver!]
[BEXCO: The Pung-deongies are dying of anticipation. Just stream some DbD, hyung!]
[Rolling9: Ughhh. Are there any fun games out there?]
As the viewers' cries flooded the chat room.
['GodGameMaker' has donated '100,000' won.]
-Pung-hyung, a demo of the first two chapters of the game that Christian-nim is making at his company just got leaked online. Why don't you give it a try?
A donation suddenly popped up, and Pung Horang's eyes shot open in surprise as he asked back.
“You mean Christian-nim, the one who made 'Forgotten Andersen's Story'?”
Christian, the indie developer whose game he had reviewed, leading to its massive success.
If his game had been released, there was no reason not to play it.
“This isn't a prank, is it, guys? If it is, you're in big trouble.”
With a mix of doubt and hope, Pung Horang searched the internet, and sure enough, Christian's new game was out there.
“Alright, then. This is what we're playing today. The title is Pass On Dream. It's said to be a game made by the developer Jo Hyunsoo, who developed Forgotten Andersen's Story—oops, he's a PD now, right? Anyway, it's by that guy.”
[Koomtata: Whoa. Isn't that the PD who's friends with Coby Fox?]
[Sailmane: Woot! Pung-hyung's gonna try out a god-tier game for the first time in a while!]
[Belphegor: Whoa. So hyped!]
A game that had appeared at an unexpected moment.
At this, the chat room and Pung Horang's dying gamer DNA began to heat up.