Game Developer in the World of Anime

Taking a bus, Ichin and Utaha arrived at a board game café at 9:20 AM, where they had arranged to meet Hazuki. The café was owned by a friend of Hazuki's. Compared to a typical café or family restaurant, this setting was more relaxed and suited for discussions.

Upon entering, Ichin spotted Hazuki chatting with another woman at the front counter.

"Good morning, Miss Hazuki," Ichin greeted.

"Oh! You're here. Good morning, Ichin-kun, and this lovely lady as well," Hazuki replied, turning her gaze to Utaha.

Utaha introduced herself, "Hello, I'm Utaha Kasumigaoka."

"Utaha Kasumigaoka—what a beautiful name," Hazuki complimented, then gestured to the two of them. "Come on, everyone's here."

"Everyone? That's pretty early," Ichin remarked.

Leading them inside, Hazuki explained, "Well, since no one has a job at the moment, they have a lot more free time. However, at the same time, several of them are quite uncertain about their futures, so they're taking your invitation seriously. They arrived as early as 9:00."

Ichin understood the situation well. After all, they were doing fine in their company, and then suddenly got laid off. It's natural to feel a bit lost when life loses its direction so abruptly.

Soon, the three of them arrived at a private board game room. When they opened the door, they saw the room was already filled with girls—seven in total, including Hazuki, making it eight.

Entering, Hazuki cheerfully announced, "Everyone, Ichin-kun is here!"

After setting down his laptop bag, Ichin greeted the group, "Hello, everyone. For those who weren't here the other day, let me introduce myself again. My name is Ichin. I'm an international student and an independent game developer. I recently released my game, Slay the Spire, on Steam at the end of April. Nice to meet you all."

Utaha added, "Hello, everyone. I'm Utaha Kasumigaoka, and I'll be a future shareholder of the studio."

"Hey, hey, I haven't agreed to let you invest yet," Ichin said.

"That's why I said future! Once I make enough money, I'll be ready to invest," Utaha replied playfully, taking a seat next to Kō Yagami.

Following this, each person in the room introduced themselves.

Leading the character design team was Kō Yagami, accompanied by Aoba Suzukaze, Hifumi Takimoto, and Yun Iijima.

In charge of art direction and head of the background team was Rin Toyama, a peer and friend of Yagami.

Hajime Shinoda, responsible for action design, introduced herself next.

Finally, Umiko Abagune, with her darker complexion and in charge of programming, completed the introductions.

Everyone was now fully acquainted, setting the stage for the upcoming discussions.

When it was Hazuki's turn to introduce herself, she simply waved her hand and said, "In our previous company, I was the director and planner for the Fairy Tales series. But for now, I'm planning to take a break. We can talk about my situation later."

"I see, got it," Ichin acknowledged with a nod.

He then glanced around at everyone present, considering for a moment before speaking, "As I mentioned the other day, after completing Slay the Spire, while continuing updates for the game, I started planning a new game.

"The next project will be on a much larger scale than Slay the Spire and will lean more towards the action genre. This isn't something I can complete alone in a short time. So, knowing all of your situations, I want to invite you to join my studio and develop the game together. Does anyone have any questions?"

Kō Yagami raised her hand first, curiosity piqued. "I've played Slay the Spire, and it's indeed an interesting game. But from what you said, the next project is going to be an action game? Will it be 2D or 3D?"

"Yes, it'll be an action game with a 2D style," Ichin replied, patting his laptop bag. "I finished drafting the plan yesterday. If you're all interested in joining, we can discuss the new project in more detail shortly."

"Oh, sounds intriguing," Kō said with a spark of interest in her eyes. She then turned to her colleagues and said, "What about you guys? Feel free to ask about things like salary or other conditions."

"Indeed," Ichin smiled. "Salaries are something we should definitely discuss. Let me be upfront: You're all experienced professionals in the industry. While my company is still in the registration process and won't be that large in scale initially, I can afford to pay decent wages. Of course, in the beginning, it might not be as high as your previous salaries. Right now, I'm also investing in equipment and other studio necessities, so funds will be a bit tight. But I promise that as things progress, I'll offer salaries that will satisfy everyone. Miss Yagami, could you tell me your previous monthly salary at Eagle Jump?"

"Eh? Well, sure," Kō scratched her cheek, then gestured with her hand. "Without counting end-of-year bonuses or monthly overtime pay, it was around this amount."

Around 350,000 yen? For a company the size of Eagle Jump, that's quite decent.

Ichin nodded thoughtfully and said, "Alright. Given our current scale, here's what I'll propose: For the first three months, I'll offer Miss Yagami a monthly salary of 300,000 yen. After that, I'll give you a raise to an amount that you'll be happy with. And from what you mentioned, you often worked overtime?"

Rin Toyama chimed in, "In this industry, overtime is pretty common. In Yagami's case, she often ended up sleeping at the company."

"Is that so?" Ichin nodded in understanding. Kō Yagami was clearly someone who set high standards for herself, and he was determined to bring her on board.

"Alright then, after the initial period, I'll raise your base salary to 400,000 yen, and we'll have separate allowances for meals and overtime. That being said, I'd prefer if we didn't overdo the overtime—it's not good for your health. I rarely stay up late myself while developing games."

Upon hearing Ichin's salary offer, Kō slapped the table enthusiastically, "Deal! Let's sign the contract right now!"

Of course, a contract was bound to be signed, and she wasn't worried about Ichin going back on his word.

"Yagami!" Rin Toyama tugged at her friend with a sigh. "There are others here, too!"

"Ah, right, right! Sorry, my bad," Kō said, laughing awkwardly before motioning for the others to continue.

Then, the smallest member of the group, Aoba Suzukaze, raised her hand timidly. "Um, may I ask where the studio will be located? I currently live with my family, so I need to consider the commute."

"I understand," Ichin nodded with a smile. "Regarding the studio's location, since I'm not planning on hiring too many people at first—keeping it under ten—I don't intend to choose a typical office building. After consulting with a few acquaintances, I plan to buy two apartments and merge them to serve as the studio. Currently, I'm considering the apartment building where I live or another one nearby."

Ichin gave them the addresses, and Aoba quickly looked them up on her phone. She smiled happily, "It's even closer than my previous workplace! I really enjoy game development, and I'm still quite new to the field, so I don't mind if the salary is a bit lower at first."

After Aoba's question, the others also raised their own concerns, mostly about working hours, salary, and other standard issues. Ichin answered them all one by one.

In the end, all seven people present agreed to join Ichin's studio, with the exception of Hazuki, who was still undecided about her plans.

…

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