Game Developer in the World of Anime

"This is the animation produced with the involvement of Kyoto Animation? As always, the quality is top-notch!"

"Boss, you must've spent a good amount, huh?"

Ichin smiled and nodded. "It was alright. The first two games made quite a bit of money. Plus, because of some prior events, I got acquainted with Kyoto Animation in advance, so they gave me a small discount."

Kyoto Animation—if you're an anime fan, there's no way you're unfamiliar with them.

You could say that some of Kyoto's stories aren't always the very best in terms of plot, but when it comes to animation quality, there's simply nothing to criticize.

For Persona, the in-game cutscenes made by Kyoto Animation—with ample funding—were of stunning quality. Every frame was brimming with budget.

One of the female illustrators, after watching the PV, was overjoyed to be part of this game development. With a cheerful heart, she flipped through the rest of the project proposal.

"Hm? Screenwriter? Kasumi Utako?"

Seeing the name, she frowned and thought for a moment before taking out her phone, opening Bilibili, heading to the anime section, and clicking on a new anime airing this season, produced by Kyoto Animation.

"Boss."

She called out to Ichin and showed him the screen on her phone. "The game's screenwriter Kasumi Utako—is she really the author of The Metronome in Love?"

"Oh? You figured it out?"

Ichin smiled and nodded. "Yup, that's her. One of the reasons we got Kyoto Animation to do the in-game animation is precisely because of her. Hmm~~~ but you all keep this under wraps for now. That Kasumi Utako… is your boss lady."

Boss lady?

Everyone's eyes widened, staring at Ichin in disbelief.

They had already been shocked when they learned Ichin was only eighteen, but this news was on another level entirely.

Unlike the Tokyo headquarters, which had several married employees, this team was made up of just over a dozen single individuals. And yet their eighteen-year-old boss already had a girlfriend?

Another illustrator suddenly recalled something and exclaimed with sudden clarity, "That long-haired black-haired beauty who appeared in last year's livestream—was that your girlfriend, boss?!"

Ichin didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded.

"Damn it! I can't even compete with an eighteen-year-old! Have I just wasted these past few years of my life?!"

A programmer, after staying silent for a moment, adjusted his glasses and said something entirely different.

"Boss, there are a lot of girls over there, right? Could you help out us lonely guys a little?"

"That, huh…"

Ichin chuckled and spread his hands. "I don't mind you guys chasing happiness. But before that, I think you should consider the language barrier. Even though the core members who'll be in contact with you are learning Chinese, you still need to show some initiative yourselves."

As for whether they could actually succeed or who they could even pursue—Ichin honestly didn't have much faith in them.

After all, not everyone could manage what he and Utaha had. Cross-national relationships were never that easy.

Although both teams belonged to the same company, there would definitely be plenty of interaction in the future. If a few couples actually came out of it, Ichin would be more than happy to see it happen.

After wrapping up the gossip, Ichin got back to business and started discussing their upcoming tasks.

"Later, your assigned tasks will be distributed. Since the game framework is already mostly complete, we're now at the stage of filling in content. For the programming team, the job will be to implement various features, optimize them, and reduce bugs in the game. The art team will have a heavier load—once you're familiar with the development environment, some of the main storyline dungeon maps will be handed over to you. And finally, there's the voice acting part. We're also doing a full Chinese dub."

Turning to the person he had temporarily appointed as team lead, Ichin said, "Brother Chen, you mentioned you know some voice actors. Please help me get in touch with a few. What I need is professionalism—price is not an issue."

As for voice actors, there were plenty of professionals in the country, so Ichin was happy to spend a bit more time letting someone handle the outreach.

For Persona, Ichin's goal was full voice acting for the entire story. Naturally, this meant his standards were going to be very high.

To ensure the quality of the voiceover, aside from reviewing sample recordings sent online, Ichin knew he'd have to fly back a few times to personally supervise the sessions.

Once the specific tasks were assigned, Ichin added everyone into a workgroup chat. The Japan and China teams were organized into separate groups. He also brought Hazuki, Umiko, Kō Yagami, and Rin into the chat.

Task assignments were being handled by Hazuki and Rin and were scheduled to arrive in the afternoon. So, during the morning, Ichin had everyone play through the prologue demo of the game, to help them get a general understanding of the game systems and art style.

Even though it was just a prologue—ending shortly after the protagonist awakened their Persona and fought a few battles—the overall gameplay experience gave everyone strong confidence in the quality of the still-incomplete game.

That afternoon, the assigned tasks were delivered. Ichin reviewed them to confirm everything was in order, then distributed the work. The studio instantly shifted into production mode, with everyone diving into development.

After staying three more days and confirming the studio was running smoothly—and with his dad helping oversee things—Ichin was finally able to depart for Tokyo with peace of mind. Utaha had already started murmuring about missing their cat, Peppa.

As for the Chinese voice acting, several actors had been contacted, though they hadn't reached any final agreements yet. Ichin handed off that responsibility to his staff, then boarded a plane with Utaha.

After a day of rest, the two returned to the headquarters studio.

As soon as they walked in, Ichin was greeted by a familiar scene: the girls huddled together, eating snacks Hazuki had brought that morning.

"If I didn't know you all were ahead of schedule on your work, I'd be docking your pay."

Joking as he walked over, Ichin grabbed a pack of gummies, opened it, and popped one in his mouth.

"Where's Eriri? She hasn't shown up yet?"

"Not yet." Kō Yagami yawned after sipping her tea. "She's coming over today with Yukino. Yukino said she's bringing the cat too."

"Ah~~ is that so?" Ichin nodded, then looked at Utaha beside him. "How about we head home during lunch and bring Peppa over too?"

Utaha happily agreed. "Sure, the little guy's grown quite a bit already. Should be fine to take him out now."

After a few bites of snacks, Aoba raised her hand curiously and asked, "Ichin-kun, Ichin-kun, what's the studio in China like? We haven't even seen any photos yet."

Though everyone knew the second studio was up and running, they only knew how many staff had been hired—they hadn't seen the actual workspace yet.

Hazuki chimed in, "Exactly! If I'd known, I would've stayed a few extra days. Then I could've seen it all firsthand."

"I never said you couldn't stay. You guys just didn't want to spend the money to stay longer," Ichin teased as he pulled out his phone.

"Alright, here—let me show you the new studio… and your new colleagues."

...

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