Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Porting (2)
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Getting my parents' permission was surprisingly easy.
They never interfered much with my work anyway, so all the excuses I'd prepared just in case became useless.
They simply accepted it and said.
"Yeon-ho, the kimchi refrigerators these days are really nice."
"Hmm, my golf clubs are getting old..."
"The TV's been acting up a bit, too. Ah, not that I'm asking you to buy one."
"...I'll buy them for you. A kimchi refrigerator, a TV, and golf clubs."
My parents were quite the pragmatists.
There was nothing more to be said on the matter.
The important thing was that I could finally tell my parents about my work with pride, and on top of that, I could start planning to move out.
"Move out?"
"Yes, not right away, but slowly."
It was time to start pursuing my dream in earnest.
The round trip between my home and the office was an hour and a half.
I wanted to cut down on that travel time.
It would be a shame to miss out on home-cooked meals, but I'd be dropping by about once a week, so it wouldn't be a huge problem.
And so, that was settled.
It was already December 31st.
An eventful year had come to an end.
And I don't mean that lightly. It was a truly, incredibly, kill-me-now eventful year.
Looking back, I'd worked like a madman on development from the start of the year, then took on marketing from the middle. From the game's actual release to the awards circuit, not a single thing had gone smoothly.
And that wasn't all.
Juggling all that with my fourth year of university and graduation preparations... there were terrible moments when even ten bodies wouldn't have been enough.
"You've all worked so hard. This is all thanks to you."
I praised the team members as we wrapped up the year.
It was good to see their relaxed faces.
Han Seo-rim and Kim Hye-ji, who were graduating with me, looked especially bright.
Then again, we hadn't set any policies for the development of *Hellic 3* yet, so they were probably enjoying their freedom.
I planned to let them enjoy the downtime.
"For a while, we'll be focusing on internal organization. We'll consolidate the foundation and achievements we've built as an indie company to strengthen our core."
There wasn't much for the team members to do.
The one who had to do something was me, the one who had to plan for the future.
I needed to prepare for full-scale AAA development.
On top of that, there was one more thing I had to take care of.
"Especially A-yun."
"Yes!"
"Yesterday was your practical exam, right? Good job."
"Hehe...!"
"You're an adult now."
Jo A-yun had finally become a legal adult.
I heard she did well on her exam, and it was impressive how, after the awards ceremony, she was becoming more like the Jo A-yun I knew.
She didn't even stutter much anymore.
"Have fun in college. Those days become cherished memories."
"Didn't you skip college life, senior?"
Quiet, Han Seo-rim.
I gave her a subtle look.
"...That's enough small talk."
No need to add any unnecessary stories.
As I said, the important thing right now was Jo A-yun coming of age.
This was no ordinary matter.
*...Finally.*
As a regressor, one of the futures I had to change was looming before me.
"Today, as promised, we're having a team dinner with A-yun. A real drinking dinner."
"Ta-da!"
Jo A-yun held her ID card high and stuck it to her forehead.
Han Seo-rim asked.
"A-yun, it's your first time drinking, so don't have too much, okay?"
Her tone was full of concern.
But that wasn't enough.
A hardline approach was needed.
Especially when I recalled the history of those horrific team dinners from my past life.
"Huh? Team Leader, you're done already? What! You're a lightweight! This won't do~ I'll have to teach you how to drink~!"
A runaway locomotive that never stopped, an immortal drunkard who never went down.
A terrible monster who, once in a good mood, would forcibly shove alcohol down people's throats until they collapsed.
And then, when she was about to get drunk herself, she'd always pick fights with passersby like a thug.
I thought.
*I have to fix her drinking habits from the start.*
For the future of Studio Rewind, that version of Jo A-yun had to be erased from existence.
"This unni will teach our dear A-yun the ways of drinking!"
"It's best to only drink as much as you can enjoy. But since it's A-yun's first time, she'll probably get drunk really fast."
"Myeong-gyu oppa can't drink either. You fell asleep after one glass last time."
"Th-that was...!"
"Kyahah! It's okay, it's okay! It was fun back then!"
No one recognized the danger.
*...Right.*
I couldn't hope for understanding or support.
This would be a lonely battle.
***
...There was a time when I'd steeled myself with such thoughts.
I was forced to fall into deep contemplation about the unchangeable future, the world's restraining force, inevitable despair, and the cruelty of fate.
"Cheeers...!"
Jo A-yun was powerful.
In gacha terms, she was a natural-born SSR.
That girl was such a complete drunkard from the start that hoping for any change in the future was pointless.
A face flushed crimson, a giggling smile, a raised glass, and an expression of pure joy.
And,
"Guuuh..."
the team members, groaning with their heads bowed before her.
*How did it come to this?*
I clutched my dizzy head and thought.
Where exactly did it all go wrong?
The past few hours flashed through my mind.
Rewind to the stroke of midnight, the momentous occasion of Jo A-yun becoming an adult.
The first victim was Myeong-gyu.
"Ah, A-yun. Just one glass for me..."
"Myeong-gyu ahjussi, a-are you a... shitty drinker...?"
Myeong-gyu, falling for A-yun's provocation, went over his one-glass-of-soju limit and died.
"A-yun... I just had a drink..."
"It tastes better if you drink and drink again!"
"Uh..."
The younger of the duo, Kim Hye-ji, died at the hands of Jo A-yun's ultimate technique (drinking seven shots in a row without a break).
"A-yun...?"
"Drink."
"?"
"I said, drink."
Jeon Yu-mi shuddered at Jo A-yun's playful "Do you want to go to the recording studio?" and died while drinking.
And so, Han Seo-rim, Jo A-yun, and I were left.
...No, only Jo A-yun and I were left.
"Mmm..."
Han Seo-rim had collapsed without anyone noticing and was now sleeping with her head on my lap.
The way she was furrowing her brow suggested she was feeling quite sick.
I wasn't in a normal state either.
If I drank any more, I'd be suffering tomorrow.
I looked at Jo A-yun.
"President, drink."
Jo A-yun's target was now me.
Suddenly, my heart clenched.
It was a learned fear.
"Team Leader, take your pick. Drink this and go home, or go to the fourth round."
In my past life, a slightly drunk Jo A-yun would always present a deadly dilemma.
She'd make you choose: drink this (a boiler-maker so strong it was guaranteed to kill you) and die at home, or evade the immediate crisis and face a more painful moment slowly.
The options of running away or dispersing did not exist.
As I mentioned before, a drunk Jo A-yun was quite violent.
The Jo A-yun who realized she couldn't drink anymore (when she was blackout drunk) would turn into the kind of troublesome alcoholic you only see in dramas.
At my previous company, they always left that Jo A-yun to me because I was the team leader.
*But...!*
Things were different now.
Farewell to the long hours of humiliation and suffering.
I was the president, not the team leader. Jo A-yun was a freshman about to enter college and my subordinate.
Our hierarchy was clearer than it was back then.
"A-yun."
"Driiink...!"
Jo A-yun shoved a glass in front of my mouth.
The smell of alcohol made my head spin.
As I kept my mouth tightly shut, Jo A-yun's eyes widened.
"D-drink!"
*Shove—*
The glass pressed against my lips.
I couldn't back down.
"That's enough. Let's go."
*Thump!*
Her face was so shocked you could almost hear the sound effect.
Her eyes clearly expressed the non-verbal question, 'Why?'
Soon, Jo A-yun's expression turned cold.
It was the final phase from my memories.
It seemed that part of her had existed even back then.
"I-I don't want to...!"
Jo A-yun gripped her glass tightly.
She glared ferociously, as if growling.
I had a sense of déjà vu, and it soon proved correct.
"Mister, you wanna get hit?"
"Y-you wanna fight...?!"
Her words were reminiscent of a moment from my past life.
She was milder than I remembered.
It was a petty ferocity, like a puppy charging at a beast.
I gently moved Han Seo-rim, who was sleeping on my lap.
I approached Jo A-yun and whispered carefully.
"I'll cut your internet cable."
*Gulp.* Jo A-yun froze.
Her eyes trembled like an aspen leaf.
Was some of her reason returning?
Yes, she would understand.
"A-yun, your mother was worried. She said you've been gaming a lot more lately."
Jo A-yun (age 20) still had a long way to go.
To overcome the wall known as 'Mom'.
"We... should go home, right?"
Jo A-yun's lips pressed together.
Finally, her head slowly nodded.
"Let's go. Everyone, wake up so you can go home. I'll get you taxis."
As I cleaned up, I thought.
It was a hard-won conclusion.
*I just shouldn't have team dinners.*
Since there was no way to stop Jo A-yun, I shouldn't give her an excuse to run wild.
...I was the sole survivor of the team dinner.
***
It was 2012.
We took January 1st off.
There was no reason to call people in on a public holiday when there was nothing urgent.
And so came Monday, January 2nd.
The first day back at work.
As soon as Jo A-yun came to work, she went around apologizing to the team members.
"I-I'm sorry...!"
"Huh? It's fine, it's fine! It was your first time, right? Everyone's like that their first time drinking!"
The team members graciously accepted her apology.
Ah, even this scene was familiar.
"Team Leader, I'm sorr—"
"Then why do things you'll be sorry for?"
"I-impulsively..."
"You're always like that."
Memories of my past life surfaced from time to time.
It was probably because so many things gave me a sense of déjà vu.
Eventually, it was my turn.
"It's okay. Just be careful next time."
"Okay..."
And with that, I sent Jo A-yun on her way.
I sat down and looked at one of the office walls.
Our harvest so far was on display.
The plaques and trophies from the recent awards ceremony, and a framed memento from our past development period.
As I was staring at them, Han Seo-rim approached and asked.
"By the way, senior."
"Yeah."
"What's that on the table?"
Sipping on a yogurt drink, she pointed one-handed at a frame.
A frame with a five-dollar bill neatly placed inside.
It was the money I'd received from the mother and daughter I met by chance in America.
"It's just..."
Literally just... for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to spend that money on anything else.
"...It's nothing."
I cut my words short.
Then Han Seo-rim asked another question.
"So, when's our next project?"
"You're asking that already?"
"Didn't we go straight from 1 to 2 without a break?"
This time is different.
"I told you we're going AAA this time. It requires some preparation."
"What kind of preparation? Money?"
"There's more than that. Manpower, external publishers... and before all that, we still haven't finished strengthening the studio's internal foundation."
Of course, as Han Seo-rim said, the biggest problem was money.
The total net revenue for *Hellic 2* reached the 20 billion won range, but that was a ridiculously small amount to make a AAA game.
*Most decent games start with a budget of over 30 billion won.*
And for games called masterpieces, 50 billion was just the starting point for a AAA title.
Even if we used all the money we have now, how could we come up with 50 billion right away?
There were two solutions to the financial problem.
First, create and sell an early access version with just the current development funds.
In other words, pull in development funds through advance sales.
But this method didn't fit the era.
In 2012, early access sales weren't yet common.
That left the second option.
It was time to start looking for investors.
There was a reason I was only thinking about this now.
Winning the Indie GOTY had increased the studio's name value.
We now had a significant metric that would be appealing even in the AAA market, and the minimum requirement to choose an investor who would align with our goals.
*I'd love to just dump it all into stocks.*
But the major stocks I knew about wouldn't see the light of day until at least the 2020s.
Before then, they were either already expensive or hadn't even been listed, so it was impossible to pull in money immediately.
Above all, the money we had for growing the studio was already tight.
This was something to plan for after recruiting a dedicated CAO.
*If I knew this would happen, I should've studied stocks when I was younger...*
...The hell I would have.
I didn't have time to look up which stocks were successful year by year.
My life was a constant struggle with overtime; where would I have found the time for that?
A deep sigh escaped me.
It was at that moment.
*Ting—!*
An email arrived.
From a place both familiar and strange.
My brow furrowed.
*Valhalla?*
Alid Russo's studio.
The sender was probably him.
A thought finally occurred to me.
*Ah.*
"I've prepared a gift. You'll likely only be able to check it after you return to your country."
He'd said something like that before we parted ways.
He'd said it was a gift worth looking forward to, I think. With that in mind, I opened the email.
In that instant, my eyes widened.
『I prepared this, thinking you might need it.
(Photo of a business card)』
The photo attached to the email was the cause.
I stared intently at the business card.
More precisely, at the company name written on it.
『Sona Interactive Entertainment』
Sona, none other than the console giant that sells the PlayStation, one of the three major consoles.
Below the business card, I scrolled down the email a little further and saw a message Alid had added.
『He's a guy I've known for a long time.
He said he wants to port your games to console.
Good luck.』
It was unexpected help.