[What's life anyway, just live as it comes]
[What's life anyway, just live as it comes]
I woke up a bit late today. I'm heading to the game development company, not the chicken shop, and since I'm the boss, being a little late is fine.
Of course, that doesn't mean I plan on rolling in at lunchtime. I'll still make it to the office in the morning, even if I'm late.
"I prefer physical work, not brain work and giving orders. It doesn't suit my aptitude."
"But isn't it more comfortable, Boss?"
"I know, I'm just saying. It's a matter of taste, in the end."
Still, since Sion went out of her way to buy the company for me, I should manage it well. Even if it's destined to flop, let's try not to let it go under until the very end.
The location of the game development company, Sion Co., Ltd., which Sion created, was in the Guro area. I recall there being quite a few large game companies around there, too...
Anyway, time to head to work. Seeing the Lamborghini parked in the parking lot wipes away the lingering drowsiness. It's nice to look cool, but my hands tremble at the thought of the repair costs if I scratch it while driving drowsy.
Maybe it's because it's the morning commute, but there's traffic. It doesn't bother me much, though. I don't really care, but since the people around me are driving safely and keeping a safe distance, it's a pleasant drive. So this is why people say you should drive expensive cars.
It didn't take long to arrive in front of a building. It's an ordinary building where the top floor is a penthouse, the first and second floors are used for shops, and the middle is for offices. When I asked Sion if she rented it, she said she bought it a while ago...
What exactly is there that my wife hasn't bought with money?
It's a building that looks to be about 20 stories high, and our company uses four floors, from the 15th to the 18th. We've roughly divided it by field: management, planning, programming, server room, and so on.
I parked the car in the parking lot, got on the elevator, and looked in the mirror to check if anything was out of place.
Because of the shape of my eyes, people are usually scared when they first see me; it's not exactly an impression that inspires affection. So, I have to dress decently to at least give a good impression.
At the very least, if an ordinary person were wearing a suit, they'd look like they work in a profession like a doctor or a prosecutor, but my face is so mean that people occasionally ask if I'm a gangster. Honestly, even if I look in the mirror, I'd think I look like I'm about to slice some sashimi if I were holding a knife.
I went up to the 15th floor, where the lobby is. First, there's someone I need to meet.
It's someone I specifically picked out from the documents Sion gave me. They're essential for making the game, after all.
As I entered the lobby, a female employee who was organizing things at the desk greeted me and asked.
"Ah, welcome. How can I help you?"
"I'm Choi Ak, the boss who's starting today. Nice to meet you."
".....Excuse me?"
She seemed surprised for a moment, but perhaps she had heard something, because she hid her expression and greeted me again.
"Hello, Boss! Is today your first day? I'm Jo Hyeon-gyeong, the Consultation Manager."
"Good morning, Hyeon-gyeong-ssi. Please take care of me from now on. And... is Team Leader Jeong I-hyeon inside?"
"Team Leader Jeong has already arrived and is inside. Should I call him for you?"
"No, I'll go in myself."
It's true that Sion created the game development company, but it's also true that she bought it. She bought an existing small game company, changed the name, added people to it, and moved them into a new building, so it's basically no different from making a new one.
It's a troublesome method, but she said she did it because having people who know each other, even a little, would make the work go faster than putting together complete strangers.
I passed through the lobby and went inside. For reference, the boss's office is also on the 15th floor, so I had to come here anyway.
The employees who were having their first day like me were connecting computers or organizing their desks, and among them, I spotted one person who had already finished organizing and was working on something.
A middle-aged man with glasses. He had dark circles under his eyes, the medals of working late. He seemed to have prepared neatly for his first day, but that actually made him look more awkward.
That's Team Leader Jeong I-hyeon, who is in charge of being the game producer.
When you hear "producer," my wife or I would usually ask back, "Isn't that the person who raises idols?" but a producer handles management and planning. It's a slightly different field from a director... If a director handles direction and editing, a producer manages money, time, and manpower.
In other words, he's the person who gives orders when I'm not around.
"Team Leader Jeong I-hyeon?"
When he didn't notice I had arrived, I quietly called out to him. Only then did he lift his head and look up at me.
He seemed a bit surprised by my appearance, but soon he stopped what he was working on and stood up from his seat.
"Ah, yes. I'm the producer, Jeong I-hyeon. Who are you?"
"I'm the boss, Choi Ak."
"Whaaat?!"
They say eyes look smaller when you wear glasses, but that saying was rendered meaningless as Team Leader Jeong's eyes widened in shock. Appearance aside, even if he looks a bit old for his age, he's in his mid-20s.
When someone young is called the boss, most people would assume they're a parachute hire from above or a figurehead. I'm closer to the former.
"Let's talk for a moment."
I smiled slightly and made a spot.
The boss's office wasn't as big as I thought. There was a desk I could use, a few bookshelves next to it, and just a small table where I could hold meetings with team leaders. Thank goodness it wasn't big enough to play golf in. If it were, I would have been even more embarrassed.
I heated water with the coffee pot in the corner of the desk and poured it into a paper cup to make instant coffee. It's nice to brew it yourself, but this kind of instant coffee is pretty good, too. It's convenient and reasonably tasty.
"Ah, thank you, Boss."
"We'll be working together from now on, so this is nothing."
We started talking while drinking our coffee. First and foremost, for the game I want, this person absolutely has to move the way I want.
"I'm calling you out of the blue to talk about work, is that okay?"
"No, Boss! It's fine. Please, make yourself comfortable!"
"Then, first of all, I'll start with the reason why I decided to create this game company."
Games are meant to be fun.
Some do it to kill time, some to feel a sense of accomplishment, some to feel pleasure. That's why people play games.
But modern mobile games are too tainted by money, and they've lost that meaning. In this day and age, every new game, even if it's not mobile, has pay-to-win elements.
Of course, I understand wanting to play the game faster, stronger, and more comfortably than others. But because games focus on that and just try to suck money out of people, the gameplay takes a backseat.
I've come to know the repertoire of modern games, too... Games that put ads on the main screen of the site, only to fail quietly without anyone knowing.
I hate those games. No, even if there are monetization elements, it would be tolerable if it were fun, but the gameplay isn't even that good.
"I want to make fun games while running this company. Nothing else is important. Just one thing: it has to be fun."
"Fun?"
"Team Leader Jeong, don't you have a game you enjoyed?"
There are plenty of games I enjoyed in my childhood without a single pay-to-win element.
At the very least, there isn't a person who hasn't spent a 100-won coin at an arcade in front of a stationery store. Except for the younger generation.
"There are so many... If you asked me to talk about them now, I could spend until evening just talking about games."
"I want to make games like that. Will you help me?"
When I asked for his opinion, Team Leader Jeong thought for a moment and then let out a sigh.
"How could I not? As you said, Boss, this world is overflowing with games stamped out from a mold, plastered with pay-to-win elements and only having good illustrations, but funnily enough, those games make money, so they keep coming out. Even if a game like the old ones comes out, it doesn't make money."
The thing a game producer has to worry about is determining the business viability and direction of the game.
But I had no intention of letting him take any other path.
"Who told you to make a game that makes money?"
"Yes? But we have to make money..."
"This building is my wife's."
"........"
"There's a Lamborghini in the underground parking lot, and that's my car, too."
"........."
Team Leader Jeong's jaw dropped, and he looked shocked.
"I'm not telling you to make a game that makes money; I'm telling you to make a game that's fun. Pay-to-win elements are not tolerated in our company's games. Even if we do include them, we'll keep them to a minimum."
I don't completely ignore monetization. But I plan to minimize it as much as possible. Honestly, is it reasonable to charge 100,000 won for a set of stones to pull characters, and it's not even guaranteed?
"Are we the Little Prince? If we say, 'I played a game that 100 out of 100 people said was fun,' they might not care, but if we say, 'I played a game with 10 billion won in monthly revenue,' people go, 'Wow, that must be a god-tier game!'?"
"Hahaha, that's a funny metaphor."
"So, you don't need to worry about budget or time. I'll give you enough budget and time. And I won't make the employees work overtime unless it's voluntary."
"......Voluntary overtime?"
"If you pay them for overtime, it's voluntary."
If you work, you get paid. That's a natural principle. It's only natural to pay for overtime, too.
Even if you have to work overtime because the schedule is tight, people work hard if you pay them. Who would want to work hard if you don't even pay them? It just kills their motivation.
"Don't worry about anything else. We only pursue fun. I'll play the games made by our company first, and if I say it's not fun, I'll reject it."
"Understood, Boss!"
Since I finished talking with Team Leader Jeong, who will proceed with the work and give instructions when I'm not around, the rest can be adjusted gradually. That's why I talked to Team Leader Jeong first.
"First, let's start with the Hero's Record series reboot. Let's fix the graphics, system, and story from the first one to evoke nostalgia in old users and build a fan base. As they say, fantasy RPG games are like bone broth—even if you've boiled it to death, it's the classic way, so it's guaranteed to at least be decent."
In this day and age, a story about "Heaven and Hell races lived together..." is considered cliché. Because a significant portion of online game stories are like that.
Of course, I'm not saying there aren't masterpieces among those games, but honestly, the opposite is so overflowing that it's a problem.
"Hero's Record... that's a nostalgic name. It's a game from over 10 years ago. You're going to reboot that series?"
"I've already bought the rights, so you can rest easy."
"Already? You were fully prepared!"
Perhaps because he also had memories of enjoying it, Team Leader Jeong became chatty.
As they say, no matter how timid a person is, if they talk about a story they are interested in and know well, they become a chatterbox in no time. Sion is quiet in front of strangers, but her eyes light up when the topic of new anime comes up.
"The first series was all good, but it was hard to catch the boss monsters. The difficulty of the bosses was no joke, so I had to make sure I had equipment and pack dozens of potions before I could barely catch them."
"Ah, I remember that. The first boss had insane damage, and since the Guardian wasn't fully leveled yet, it was hard to catch. The second boss even healed itself. The third boss, I caught it, but when I went inside, there was a heart-like thing, and I had to destroy that. Compared to the system, the patterns were so annoying that it was hard."
"You must have played it a lot?"
"I stopped after playing the second female character. The next series came out."
"Swordsman of the Frozen Sea! That series is a masterpiece, too."
"I didn't know anything and played Knight, but I didn't raise the beast and just cleared the final boss with pure character damage. But I couldn't catch the early monsters in Hell mode, so I quit and raised a Rogue instead."
"Did you play Zero, which came out after that?"
"Of course I did. It's the first series that included a job change system, right? The Gunslinger was also introduced there for the first time. Ugh, when I first raised it as a Gunslinger and later changed to a Warrior, wore the Red Lion Set, and swung a greatsword, thanks to the Gunslinger stats, the crit rate was over 70%, so every time I hit, it was a crit. Later on, I could even do speed runs, finishing a playthrough in less than 20 minutes."
"As I recall, the Red Lion Set in the Zero series had a movement speed increase option... It would definitely be OP if you had crit damage and movement speed increase on a Warrior."
"It was funny back then, there's an event where the final boss appears early and you lose. The final boss level in Hell mode is 70, but I was 99, so it didn't take damage, and I had to take off all my equipment to get hit so the story could progress. But then, if you beat that guy, it ends with a gag ending."
"Ah! That ending!"
Talking about this and that, it was already lunchtime.
Anyway, today is the first day. Just like students who don't want to study on the first day of school, office workers probably don't want to work on their first day of work.
"Gather all the employees. There's a BBQ place downstairs, let's have a company dinner there."
"Uh... Boss. That's a beef place."
"So?"
I pulled out the Black Card from my wallet and showed it to him. It's not a corporate card, it's a personal card.
......Let's briefly gloss over the fact that it's in Sion's name, not mine. I need to look cool at times like this.
"They say pork is the meat that doesn't cross the line, but I'm buying beef with a bit of 'ulterior motive' because I want you to work hard. Have a company dinner for lunch and tell everyone to go home early today."
"Yes! Understood, Boss!"
The best way to handle people is to show them goodwill. When handling them in the short term, it's easier to rule by fear, but in the long term, it's better to handle them with goodwill.
Of course, money is also important. Working in this industry means everyone has a heart that likes games, big or small, so there's no way they won't work hard if I say I'll make a fun game.
I saw a BBQ place on the 1st floor when I came up earlier. It was a pretty big BBQ place, so I kept an eye on it because it looked like a place where all the employees could eat. Of course, if about 60 people all go in, they won't be able to take other customers... but how many people would be grilling beef and drinking alcohol in the middle of the day?
Team Leader Jeong went out of the boss's office and gathered the other employees. It's a company dinner, but I'm gathering them to introduce myself and let them get to know my face.
The employees who were on the upper floors came down by stairs or elevator and entered the 15th-floor office. It was spacious when only the management department employees were there, but when everyone gathered, it felt packed.
When it seemed like almost everyone had gathered, I quietly came out of the boss's office.
"Alright, everyone, be quiet. The boss is here!"
Team Leader Jeong gathered their attention and made them quiet. People's gazes turned toward me.
I try to memorize people's faces as much as possible, but it's hard to remember all 60 people in one place. If I were asked to remember their presence, I could somehow manage it with my Sense.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm the boss, Choi Ak."
In this industry, there are inevitably more men due to the gender ratio, but their ages were all different. There were middle-aged people, but there were also young people who didn't look much older than me.
"Some of you might be worried because I look like a young boss, but first of all, I want to tell you to rest assured. Because as long as I'm making the game I want, this company will never go under. So, I'll ask you one thing... make a fun game. That's all it takes."
"Boss! What is a fun game?"
A question was heard from somewhere. It was a voice heard from among the people, so I don't know who asked it, but I didn't feel like identifying who it was.
It was a question I thought someone would ask from the beginning.
"Everyone here has at least one game they enjoyed. From famous games to games that only suited your personal taste. Why were those games fun? Think about that and make it. And I've already talked to Team Leader Jeong about the detailed direction, so he'll give you the detailed orders."
And one thing I've wanted to say for a long time.
"Our company advocates for being a family-like company. Not a 'fucked-up' company, but a real family-like company. If you have any difficulties while working, come to the boss's office anytime. Of course, when I'm there. There are times when I can't come because I'm busy."
The reaction is still a bit sluggish.
Then I should bring out something good.
I held up the card I had taken out earlier.
"Today, to celebrate the opening, I'm paying for the company dinner! With beef!"
""Wooooo!!!""
"You can go home early right after the company dinner!"
""""Wooooooo!!!!""""
The cheers were louder at the sound of going home early than at the company dinner. Well, for office workers, going home early must be sweeter than a company dinner. I understand.
But I'll work them to the bone later.
I'll make them work overtime every day so they can't go home. Not by force, but voluntarily because of the overtime pay...!!