Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Character Design Revision
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Time rewound a bit—to a day about two weeks before the Tokyo Game Show kicked off.
A guest arrived at the mobile game development team's meeting room.
"Long time no see, Director Ji."
"Likewise. Tanaka."
The man speaking fluent Korean right in front of me was Tanaka Seijou.
He was an employee from SFLAG Corporation handling the Japanese publishing for Girls Memorial.
When we first met, his perfect Korean made me wonder, but just as I'd guessed, he was a full-blooded Japanese guy.
"I peeked into the office on my way in, and everyone on the team looked swamped."
"Can't be helped. Launch is right around the corner..."
"Same on our end. Doesn't matter the nationality—everyone's in the same boat right before a game opens."
Tanaka tossed out some small talk to break the ice, then pulled out a sheet of paper when he felt the moment was right and handed it over.
"Here's the list of voice actors who participated in the dubbing. You pushed hard for full voice acting, so we got it done, but..."
"Something go wrong?"
"No, not at all. They're all pros—no issues there. It's just the cost..."
I quickly scanned the document as Tanaka trailed off.
Saori Ijoyoi, Chiyuki Ooashi, Shiromi Kouno...
The lineup was stacked with top-tier names dominating the industry right now.
"With talent like this, whatever the cost, it's worth it. Scheduling folks at this level must've been the real challenge—great job."
"We got lucky."
Tanaka cleared his throat awkwardly at the praise and continued.
"That's the dubbing sorted. Next up: the ad lineup starting post-launch."
The document he handed me listed a ton of spots.
"Truck ads, Akihabara billboards, late-night TV spots, subway panels... We guaranteed the marketing budget separately, but you've gone all out."
Tanaka chuckled at my comment.
"Not to your liking?"
"Are you kidding? I love it."
Most games don't market at this scale.
Gamers bail fast if the core fun isn't there, no matter the ads.
But subculture mobile games? Different story.
Gameplay? Fun's a plus, sure.
But it ain't the key to success.
Even mediocre gameplay holds players if you keep feeding them IP bait.
That was my takeaway from the subculture mobile hits before my regression.
So we crank ads higher than standard online games to maximize exposure.
I was nodding along, satisfied our directions aligned, when...
"Uh, Director."
I looked up from the papers to see Tanaka with something on his mind.
"Yeah? Go ahead."
"There's a request from inside our company. Mind if I pass it along?"
"Of course."
"Well, it's..."
Just as Tanaka opened his mouth,
the meeting room door cracked open, and Yerin poked her head in.
"Senior, why aren't you picking up your ph—!"
She froze mid-sentence, spotting I wasn't alone, her face turning awkward.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't hear you were in a meeting..."
"You called? Had it on silent—missed it. My bad."
"No worries. You've got a guest, so I'll come back lat—"
"Hold on a sec? What I need to discuss, the Art Director should hear too."
"Uh, should I...?"
Yerin slipped in cautiously at his words and sat beside me.
And so, the three-way meeting began.
Tanaka handed us a few A4 sheets first.
"The named members of the Odd Fellows, Girls Memorial's main villain group—they're students corrupted by the World Tree's tainted roots, right?"
"Yep."
"But... feedback says their designs lean too creature-heavy."
Thinking back, yeah, it did feel that way.
Currently planned Odd Fellows nameds: one per main story chapter, total five.
Uroboros, Pyro, Eline, Mystic, Architecture.
Uroboros, Pyro, and Eline were creature-types; Architecture's a guy, so Mystic was the sole redhead in the group.
"Hearing it laid out, you're right."
"So we're requesting: of the three creature nameds, rework two into female humanoid forms."
"Hmm..."
As I pondered Tanaka's suggestion, Yerin raised her hand.
"Th-there's a reason we balanced the nameds that way."
"Oh?"
"There a reason for that ratio?"
Yerin nodded at our questions and explained.
"Girls Memorial's main cast? Aside from the player, they're all girls—students, even the Operator helper."
"True."
"Yeah."
"But people get sick of the same stimuli, so we upped the creature-boss ratio for nameds..."
"Nah, that's not it."
"Definitely not."
Me and Tanaka spoke in sync, leaving Yerin blinking in confusion.
"Think you're missing something. Odd Fellows nameds are choices we give gamers too."
"Choices?"
"Yeah. Why do subculture mobile games churn out endless female characters? To stuff gamers till they burst? Nope."
"..."
"Like a buffet. With all that food, not one dish hits your taste? Nah, at least one's gotta."
"Ah..."
"Gamers focus on their faves, so fatigue's minimal."
"Hearing it now, I guess I was off-base..."
Yerin mulled it over, then jolted upright.
"But Senior...?"
"Yeah?"
"Launch date's locked."
"Right. Three weeks out."
"Redesigning two main characters from scratch in three weeks...?"
"Not quite. App store review takes a week, so max ten days."
Her face paled as she shook her head.
"...I can't do it."
"Just this once?"
"Even so, it's impossible physically...!"
"Excuse me?"
Tanaka, who'd been listening quietly across the table, raised his hand.
"From what Art Director and General Director said, it's not the changes—it's the timeline?"
"Exactly."
"Then how about tweaking the current concepts into half-human, half-beast? Like Arachne—human upper body, spider lower."
"G-gamers into that...?"
Yerin grimaced, but Tanaka nodded firmly.
"Demand's there. World's big, tastes vary—Japan especially."
"Ah, okay..."
After that, Tanaka shared various revision ideas from their meetings.
"Using this feedback... I can make the deadline."
"Good."
"Tanaka, right? Thanks a ton. Super helpful."
"Glad it helped."
"No time to waste—I'm off!"
Yerin hugged the feedback sheets and bolted.
"...Shall we wrap up too?"
"Sure. Director, free for dinner?"
*
Exactly one week later.
I was pulling an all-nighter reviewing business team docs.
A sudden knock jolted me.
Past 10 PM—thought everyone'd gone home.
"Who's there?"
"Senior... it's me..."
Yerin's voice outside sounded half-dead.
"Come in."
Door flew open at my words.
Beyond it, hollow-eyed Yerin shuffled in clutching a USB.
"One week... revisions... done..."
"Couldn't get help from the juniors? You roughed all the designs solo?"
"You know my style... never hand off character design drafts..."
"Still."
"First... check..."
"Got it. Hang on."
I grabbed the business docs, moved to the sofa, and loaded her USB.
Inside: revised Pyro and Eline designs.
Pyro, once a twisted demon from World Tree corruption, now a black-garbed demon girl with fox mask and blazing eyes.
Eline, zombie-golem mashup, now a beauty with kimono-clad upper body and serpentine lower—Medusa vibes.
Solid for niche inhuman fans.
"Looks good. Thought it'd be tight—nice work."
"Phew..."
She deflated onto the sofa beside me at the approval.
"Designs are perfect, but some detail tweaks left for tomorrow... Yerin?"
No answer—just snores.
She'd crashed, exhaustion hitting all at once.
'Worn out, huh. Blanket her and back to work...'
Thud.
As I stood, sudden weight on my thigh—Yerin'd slumped onto it in her sleep.
Caught off-guard, I sighed and turned back to the papers.
Focus? Zero.
A night two weeks before launch.