Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 003
Chapter Title: Recruitment Success
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"How on earth did you find out about my doujin activities...?"
Maybe because I'd revealed not just the doujin circle name but a few other details too, she seemed to realize there was no point in beating around the bush anymore.
Yerin admitted it straightforwardly.
That said, separate from admitting it, she couldn't even meet my eyes.
She was known in the company for her poker face,
but she must have been seriously embarrassed to have her tastes outed like this.
"Yerin, you're pretty famous in the community, right? Have you never seen this photo?"
"With deadlines piling up from work on top of everything, I haven't had time for communities..."
I checked her expression just in case, but she really seemed clueless.
Reluctantly, I showed her the photo from the internet,
and her face changed by the second.
The photo itself was just of her smiling with her little sister at a Comiket booth, selling doujinshi...
But Yerin seemed shocked that the picture was circulating online without her even knowing.
Surprise, fluster, anger, anxiety, resignation.
Her expression shifted through all those emotions until she finally let out a sigh and set down her smartphone.
"No helping it, I guess. What's done is done... I can't exactly ask people to take down a photo that's already spread everywhere."
"Good thinking."
"If we keep talking about this, I'm gonna get depressed, so hand that over."
"That?"
"The planning document you wanted me to review earlier, Senior."
"Oh, right."
I'd brought it up myself and then totally forgotten.
Feeling a bit awkward, I stood up from my seat.
"I'll grab it from the office. Wait here a sec."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The break room, with just me and my junior, was wrapped in silence.
The only sounds were Yerin's occasional "Hmm..." as she read the planning document and the rustle of pages turning.
The unexpectedly serious atmosphere had me a little tense too.
About ten minutes passed—though it felt like an hour—
and Yerin, having reached the last page, set the document down with an inscrutable expression and asked me,
"Senior, I have a ton of questions... but did you really write this?"
"Yeah, I did... Why? Is it that bad?"
"No. It's more fun than I expected."
She relaxed her face with a grin, like she was teasing, and her praise finally eased my tension.
"But Senior, do you really think you can adapt a story on this scale to a mobile game?"
"Why? Does it seem impossible?"
"Of course. You know as well as I do that smartphone performance right now is barely enough to run mini-games from the feature phone era."
"True."
"Even if this planning doc gets approved and we start the project this year, we'd have to launch around '13 or '14... How do you plan to pull that off?"
"Won't future me figure it out somehow?"
"...You're serious?"
The mood had gotten heavier than expected, and I'd just been joking around a bit.
Under Yerin's withering, disappointed glare, I had no choice but to come clean right away.
"Kidding, kidding. You think I'd write a planning doc with zero planning?"
"Yes."
Her immediate reply without a hint of hesitation stung a little.
"Anyway... don't worry about that. I have no intention of implementing the story through in-game play."
"I'm not following you, Senior..."
"Think about it. Like you said, smartphones have hardware limits, right?"
"Right."
"Plus, due to their design, controls on smartphones are less convenient than on PC or consoles."
Yerin pulled out her smartphone and mimed using a gamepad, then nodded.
"Definitely..."
"So after agonizing over it, this is the approach I came up with."
I finished explaining and played a video on my smartphone for her to see.
"Isn't this... a visual novel? You did stuff like this too, Senior?"
"Not exactly a visual novel—it's closer to a visual novel, but that's not the point... Using 2D scenario staging like this seemed like the best fit."
"Sometimes I wanna crawl inside your head, Senior. You were like this with the last project too."
"But looking back, most of my ideas turned out right, didn't they?"
She looked a bit exasperated at my overconfident—bordering on shameless—attitude,
but she let out a sigh and nodded.
"That's why I can't argue. Anyway, I'm assuming you'll handle this part fine, so about the rest..."
I worried she might give the other parts the same lukewarm review,
but luckily, everything else got rave praise.
"The story might be subjective, but by my standards, I like it. The concept of students running an academy city without adults, or everyone carrying their own weapons—it's got that fresh twist."
"Having different school uniforms for each academy, and customizing them individually? That's great too. Though the art team might drop dead from the workload..."
"If all this gets implemented properly, I'd totally whale on it. It's fun."
"That's a relief."
The tension drained from my body, and a relieved laugh bubbled up.
The anxiety I'd been nursing deep down melted away completely.
Even under Yerin's look—like she was staring at some weirdo—I couldn't stop grinning.
"Anyway, thanks, Yerin. You've really eased my worries."
"Glad I could help."
"Since we're at it, mind if I ask one more thing?"
"What?"
"Uh..."
Now that I was about to ask, the words stuck in my throat.
The question I'd planned was pretty sensitive.
No matter how close we were, it felt awkward to just blurt it out.
"What is it? This hesitant side of you is a first."
"Just hypothetically, say..."
"Hypothetically?"
"Straight up: if I switch jobs and take on a project based on this planning doc, how would you feel about me bringing you along as art director?"
As expected, my bombshell left Yerin wide-eyed and stunned.
Asking so directly was basically flooring the gas, but I had no choice.
Art was the key to this project, and the perfect person to lead it was sitting right in front of me: Yi Yerin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It was still the early 2020s, when I was fiddling with my resignation letter.
-Whoa, topping the Play Store and App Store charts in both Korea and Japan for the first time? What a shocker.
-Even your company didn't see this coming—they're popping champagne and scrambling to hire more staff.
-Japan's mobile market was a total red ocean nobody cared about, but man, you never know what's coming.
That unforgettable year saw the debut of a game that drew a bold line in the mobile gacha world.
📰 Breaking News [Blue Asteris] The first mobile subculture gacha game to claim the top sales spot on Play Stores in both Korea and Japan.
Honestly, it hadn't gotten much buzz at launch.
Lots of other games from that era had better gameplay.
Yet it surged past them to number one for one reason.
-Look at those character designs. Insane...
Art.
And concept.
Even while getting flak for weak gameplay, it topped the charts thanks to those two.
Character design.
It reached the pinnacle of what the beautiful girl collector gacha genre could offer.
Instead of flashy overload to grab gamers' eyes, it nailed peak simplicity.
Gamers couldn't resist cracking open their wallets for those elegant illustrations—simple designs matched perfectly to outfits, no excess bling.
-Gameplay's just okay, but the character appeal is nuts.
-A game doing a stunt show on character design and concept alone.
As praise for the art team flooded gaming communities, people dug into who the art director was.
And when I saw the results, I was floored.
Yi Yerin. Yi Yena.
My junior from a few years back at the company—and her little sister.
Before my return, I'd hemmed and hawed too long, missing the timing and ending up with that outcome.
This time, I wouldn't let it slip.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hold on, give me a sec to think."
"Sure."
My sudden offer had her face all scrunched up, mind clearly racing.
"This is what's frustrating about you, Senior. Why drop a bombshell like this out of nowhere?"
"Felt like if I didn't say it now, the chance would be gone forever."
"...Seriously."
Her face flushed bright red as she shot me a bratty glare, then burst out laughing.
I sat there dazed, unable to keep up with the mood shift,
when she said,
"If I follow you, Senior, what're you gonna do for me?"
"Hmm... What do you want?"
She pondered my question, then held up her fingers.
"First: give me full control over the designs for the three initial main characters in your planning doc."
"That's fine by me. Why?"
"Your design sense isn't bad, but there were a few things I thought could be better. These are the flagship characters, so I wanna handle them myself."
It was a fair request, so I nodded readily.
"Sure, no problem."
"Second: You free tonight, Senior?"
"Probably? No issues before clock-out, and I'll head home on time."
"Then my second wish is dinner on you. Something expensive."
"...That's really it?"
"Yep. But it'll be as pricey as the mental anguish you've put me through today, so brace yourself."