Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: CBT
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Enson GT headquarters, 6th floor, mobile game development team conference room.
The place that was always filled with a peaceful atmosphere was now thick with tension.
The reason was the arrival of the Closed Beta Test period.
Closed Beta Test.
Commonly called CBT, it refers to a private beta test conducted by selected consumers.
It's the stage where the product finally starts getting evaluated by actual consumers, so it's a sensitive time for developers.
This was no exception for our team.
"Myunghoon Brother, you've finished reviewing all the QA fixes, right? Server status and client files have been checked too?"
"I told you, it's all done. We ran QA bug checks three times each, all passed. AWS is good, client files are clean. Just calm down."
"S-Sorry. My head's a bit scattered right now. Anyway, thanks for your hard work. Oh, and Yumi."
"Y-Yes!"
"The press kit for the Closed Beta distribution and contact with the winners—all set?"
"Yes! Sent to all winners yesterday, and the press kit went out to media two hours ago."
"Good job. Once CBT starts, start monitoring SNS and communities first, and relay any issues right away. Got it?"
"Yep!"
"Announcement's just around the corner, so everyone hang in there a bit longer. Yumi, stick around a sec."
With that, everyone filed out, leaving just Yumi and me in the conference room.
"Yumi."
"Yes."
"What happened with the business team's talk about the monetization model?"
At my question, Yumi gave a slightly troubled expression.
"The business team's a bit split right now..."
"Split?"
"Yeah... Half say we should trust the Director and go with the plan as written, and half say it's too radical..."
"What about the Business Division Head?"
"He said to leave it to the Director. The other execs were on the opposite side."
"I see..."
Yumi's words gave me a headache.
Gacha.
In other words, the gacha-centric monetization structure was something entirely new, so I'd expected some growing pains...
"Anyway, CBT's the priority right now. After it ends, I'll talk to the President myself."
"Okay... Oh, and SFLAG called. Something about official merch—they said they'd like to speak to the Director."
"Alright. Tell them we'll call back this afternoon. Go get back to work."
"Y-Yes. Oh, wait, Director."
"Yeah?"
"Here, have this and hang in there. Yerin sister and Chaeyoung sister were really worried about you."
As she left the conference room, the box Yumi handed me was packed with fatigue recovery drinks.
'Did I look that tired...?'
Sitting alone in the now-empty conference room, a sigh escaped me naturally.
Bloodshot eyes during beta tests were routine, but no matter how many times, I never got used to it.
Having your work judged by others was painful in itself—unavoidable.
"Please, just let this one go smoothly too..."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While Hojin was sighing in the conference room, there was a group swept up in fury elsewhere.
The Korean subculture community users.
No matter how good the PV looked or how gorgeous the illustrations were, if the game wasn't open, they couldn't play it.
Outrage poured out in the communities over Enson GT's unfair decision to launch the Japan server first.
Kim Jaehyun, lamenting in front of his monitor, was one of them.
📰 Forum Thread [Nickname: Anonymous] [Title: No way, how does opening only the Japan server first even make sense?] Even if Korea's a wasteland for subculture otaku culture, how do they only open the Japan server lol And okay, Japan server first, fine—but as a Korean game company, shouldn't they set aside beta tester slots for Koreans? Reverse discrimination for real. 💬 Comments [By Views] — Anonymous For real lololol — Anonymous Used 4 phone numbers for beta tester signup, all rejected — Anonymous They picked 300—how many people applied lololol — Anonymous Get pissed but then see the illustrations or PV and the anger fades — Anonymous They act like they're a Japanese company lololol "Spot on. Why launch a game made by a Korean company in Japan first?"
If a Japanese company did this, he wouldn't feel as wronged.
That was standard for Japanese companies.
Japan game companies were the poster children for Galapagos operations, region-locking to keep foreigners out.
But Enson GT was Korean.
It felt like handing our family's feast to the neighbors while we starved.
'Enson GT bastards.'
In fact, he was a fairly well-known illustrator in the subculture scene.
So he'd planned to finish a commemorative illustration for today's CBT launch...
But betrayal left it unfinished.
'Still, hate to waste what I've drawn so far... might as well finish it.'
He wasn't the only one gritting his teeth and picking up the tablet pen again.
That day, countless artists' tearful completions shattered Girls Memorial fanart records.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Eight hours into CBT.
Normally time to head home, shower, and enjoy freedom—but not tonight.
User reactions were due any minute, after they'd poked around the content enough.
So I'd sent the team home and planned to monitor solo...
"...I sent you home, so why are you back?"
At my question, the two exchanged awkward glances before Chaeyoung Senior spoke first.
"W-Well... you working overtime alone seemed kinda lonely...?"
"You came back because you're worried about me? You, Chaeyoung Senior?"
Under my skeptical gaze, Chaeyoung Senior protested indignantly.
"Wh-Why not? A senior can worry about her junior! What kind of image do you have of me in that head of yours...?"
"Put your hand on your heart and think about it."
I turned from her grumbling to Seol.
"Seol, you didn't just get dragged along by Chaeyoung Senior's pace, right?"
Seol shook her head.
"N-No... I was worried you'd be lonely monitoring alone too..."
Her serious expression, insisting it was true, left me speechless.
They'd given up going home for my sake...
"Anyway... thanks. You two eat dinner yet?"
"Yes... Ate with Chaeyoung sister."
"Ate with Seol."
I nodded and set up laptops at their spots.
"I'll handle communities. Senior, portals. Seol, SNS."
"O-Okay...!"
"Just monitoring?"
"Flag high-view or high-rec reviews, and any negative ones. Collect negatives for feedback."
"Okey-dokey~."
With that, Seol and Chaeyoung settled in comfortably for monitoring.
Behind their focused forms, the community vibe was way off from my expectations.
Honestly, no game gets pure praise at CBT—I'd braced for it.
But it was surprisingly chill.
Some negatives, sure, but mostly positive predictions.
A few examples:
[General] Limited? Breakthrough? System—what even is this? ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ [General] Character pulls are gacha? Not free, right? [Guide] Girls Memorial Prep Guide 1. Party Positions and Attribute Effects Analysis [General] Lots of disappointment over SD graphics, wasn't expecting much, but the animations are decent. [General] Story shows not all the school is revealed. [General] OST is insanely addictive. Stuck in my head, I'm doomed. Overwhelmingly positive, against my fears—I finally exhaled in relief.
'We're safe...'
I glanced at the two beside me.
Their expressions weren't bad either.
"How's it looking?"
"Reactions are... really good..."
"No negatives?"
"Some, but mostly gripes about SD graphics... And disappointment that characters are gacha-only..."
"That's fine. Collect the negatives for feedback."
"Yes...!"
"Chaeyoung Senior, portals?"
"Nothing much. Subculture cafes have some chatter, but nothing to worry about."
"Huh. Portals have the traffic, so they're key. Kinda disappointing."
"Still, positive buzz at CBT? That's hitting it out of the park."
"Not hitting it out—we're crushing it."
Chaeyoung grinned, stretching.
"Ahh... Almost 11 already. Wanna order some late-night grub? Hojin, Seol—what do you say?"
"I'm in."
"M-Me too...!"