Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: QA Results
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As expected, the reaction to the teaser image was explosive.
How explosive? The keyword "Project RA" had rocketed to the number one search spot not just in Korea, but even on Japan's Bluebird—before any news articles had even dropped there.
The day "Project RA" hit number one on Japan's Bluebird searches...
My phone rang. It was Tanaka Seijou.
[Di... no, Department Head Ji. Long time no talk. How've you been?]
"Of course. You too, Tanaka? All good?"
[All good here too. Haha.]
It had been months since our last call, so we exchanged brief pleasantries before diving straight into the main topic.
[Enson GT's announcement of Project RA... the reaction in Japan has been insane.]
"Even in Japan?"
[Yeah, take a look at this.]
Tanaka told me to hold on a sec, and soon a link popped up on my smartphone from some site.
Clicking through led to 4ch's subculture mobile games board—Japan's biggest online community.
"4ch, huh."
[Yep. Best place to gauge public opinion.]
Following his advice, I scrolled the board. Threads tagged with Project RA were popping up left and right.
One in particular caught my eye, so I opened it.
📰 4ch Thread Project RA New Character's Figure is Amazingwww 【Project RA Teaser Image】 — 002 Is this Girls Memorial's sequel? — 005 >002
>Nah, that's not it. — 017 Where's the cute mascot like Operator www — 023 Enson GT's character designs are always top-tier, no matter what. — 047 Director Ji-san this time too? — 052 >047
>Yep. The reactions themselves weren't much different from the Korean comments—pretty much the same vibe.
But the comment posting speed blew Korea's out of the water...
Which made Japan's explosive response hit home in a very real way.
[What do you think?]
"I was skeptical even when you mentioned the Bluebird top spot, but seeing this makes it crystal clear."
[Right? So, what I'm getting at, Department Head...]
"Ah, yeah. Go ahead."
[Any plans yet for how Project RA will launch...?]
This seemed like the real point Tanaka was leading up to.
I pondered for a moment before carefully replying.
"Nothing set in stone since we're still in development, but I imagine it'll go something like Girls Memorial."
[Ah... so Japan gets the pre-launch again...?]
"Not confirmed, but yeah, that's the most likely path."
[Phew, glad to hear it. Haha. Was worried you might open in Korea first this time.]
"For now, anyway. It's early days, no final decisions yet. Once things progress, I'll give you a call."
[Of course. I'll be waiting for the good news.]
After hanging up with Tanaka, it really sank in how much my position had shifted since Girls Memorial.
Back when we first signed the publishing deal, Girls Memorial was an unproven subculture mobile game carrying genre risks, so we had no choice but to play the weaker party.
We'd swallowed unfavorable terms like tiered revenue splits and separate marketing guarantees.
But now, with Girls Memorial's viability proven, the tables had turned.
For publishers living off revenue shares, a high-potential game was worth more than anything.
'Tanaka knows that, so he made the first move.'
Of course, just because he'd brought it up first didn't mean I was yielding on revenue splits.
I was already looking forward to our next meeting with him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Lunar New Year—the national holiday—came and went, ushering in April with the full bloom of spring.
The explosive interest in Project RA had inevitably cooled off as time passed.
It was a miracle it'd garnered that much buzz from just one teaser image, so no real regrets there.
'The real issue is...'
Grand Arc Phantasm.
Sign Games' ambitious bid to reclaim the top spot had officially launched.
For now, it was off to a tame start—true to its infamy as the gacha devil and root of gacha game regulations—but I knew better.
I knew how that devilish game would transform after the first pickup event.
Sending silent cheers to Myunghoon hyung, who was about to grapple with plunging sales charts, I turned my gaze to the woman standing before me.
"Long time no see, Department Head Ji."
"Yeah, you too. Team Leader Shin."
The woman before me was Shin Hayeon, head of Enson GT's QA team.
"You look a bit thinner than last time. Project wearing you down?"
"Do I? Nobody's mentioned it."
"My eyes could be wrong."
She didn't seem too serious about it, shrugging it off and changing the subject.
"Shall we kick off QA right now?"
"Let's do it."
Leading Hayeon out of my private office, I spotted the QA team and Yumi waiting in one corner of the main office.
"QA folks, follow Assistant Manager Yumi here—she'll show you around and sort out everything you need for work. Yumi, take good care of them."
"Yessir...! Leave it to me."
Yumi confidently escorted the QA team and Hayeon to their workspace.
I watched her go, then headed back to my office.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hm...?"
Three days into handing off QA.
A stack of documents awaited me on my desk when I arrived.
The stack turned out to be the QA results report from three days prior.
Opening it with some anticipation, the first thing that jumped out was the laundry list of bugs they'd uncovered.
Simple ones like the game freezing on background switches or memory leaks.
Skill-use crashes that force-closed the app, severe frame drops.
Even outlandish ones like duplicating in-game currency if you tapped a specific spot at the exact right timing.
A prototype-worthy horde of bugs, all neatly listed.
Of course, par for the prototype course—no big deal.
I set aside the bug list docs to pass to Taesun, then flipped to the next page.
This one covered playtest feedback and fixes needed.
─ The gameplay itself offers fresh fun that breaks the standard tower defense mold. ─ However, based on implemented stages, difficulty is too easy and enemies feel monotonous. ─ Special patterns like falls, block destruction, and moving indestructible objects provide intriguing variable play, but bugs are rampant—needs thorough checks right up to release. Exactly as I'd predicted before handing it off.
I set this feedback aside for the planning team...
Finally, the last page: personal one-liner feedback.
📝 QA Feedback 《A housing system to decorate dorms would be great.》 《How about implementing an open-world feel by dividing the underground city's bases into dorm-style areas?》 《No mascot character this time?》 Scanning the one-liners, plenty of tempting suggestions jumped out.
Especially the character-focused ones.
Girls Memorial had always been dinged for lacking chara content.
'Open-world or housing could be worth prototyping... though Taesun and Yerin might chew me out.'
Sorry to pile more on those two—who already looked swamped—but it couldn't be helped.
Still, worth asking, so I headed to the art team. Yerin was just arriving, hanging up her coat.
"Oh, sunbae. What's up so early?"
"Got something to handle. Where's Yena?"
"Probably grabbing coffee in the break room? Want me to call her?"
"Nah, it's fine. Gotta talk to you both anyway—let's head to the break room."
Yerin nodded agreeably at my suggestion.
"Sure, whatever."
In the break room, Yena was already there, pouring coffee.
"Huh... unnie? Department Head? What brings you here?"
"Got something to say to you two."
"Ah..."
Yena nodded at that.
"Coffee? What about unnie?"
"I'm good. Had some on the way in."
"Me too, pass."
With our refusals, Yena grabbed her pre-poured cup and sat next to Yerin.
I handed them the QA reports I'd prepped.
"What's this?"
"The QA report from before."
"Oh?"
Intrigued by "QA report," Yerin and Yena started reading.
"No need to read it all—just check the last page."
"Last page?"
"Yeah."
They flipped to the end, where the QA team's one-liners appeared.
"Underground city feels too barren—housing system would be nice..."
"Divide underground bases into dorms for an open-world vibe...?"
The sisters froze, stunned by the feedback.
Yerin recovered first, staring at me with a trembling voice.
"S-sunbae... You know what housing content is, right...?"
"Like kids decorating dollhouses with toys."
"Spot on. For decorating content, you'd need parts to decorate with, right?"
"Obviously."
"So who makes those parts?"
"Art team, naturally..."
Yerin flashed a beaming smile.
"Sunbae, most of our team—including me and my sister—is pulling overtime as it is."
"I know, but..."
Crunch.
Was she actually pissed? A menacing tooth-grinding sound came from smiling Yerin's direction.
"And someone who knows that drops this planning bomb?"
"Sorry, really sorry... but this is the final puzzle piece for our game. I swear no more surprise plans like this. Okay?"
Yerin scowled, mulling it over, then sighed and turned to Yena.
"What do you think? Workload's gonna spike."
Yena thought for a bit, then nodded.
"As long as it doesn't clash with urgent deadlines... housing parts aren't that hard to make."
"Yeah? If that's your take, then fine."
Agreeing with her sister, Yerin nodded.
"Yena's cool with it, so we'll give it a shot. Just know results won't come quick."
"Good call."