Game Developer in the World of Anime

After watching from the window for a while, Eriri returned to her seat with a sigh.

"Ugh, I still don't get what kind of crazy luck Utaha must have to actually be dating Ichin-kun."

Sitting back in her chair, Yukino reopened her book. She glanced at Eriri and asked, "Are you saying that without Kasumigaoka-senpai in the picture, Sawamura-san would want to pursue Ichin-senpai?"

"Huh? No, not at all!"

Eriri waved her hands frantically. "I never had that kind of thought. It's just surprising, you know? I know Utaha's personality too well. Ugh, do you think Ichin-kun is just bewitched by her black stockings and... her figure?"

Yukino's mouth twitched slightly, but for once, she didn't offer a rebuttal.

In her opinion, Kasumigaoka's figure was indeed... astonishing.

She's only a year older than me...

Wait. I'm not jealous. Just curious!

Shaking her head, Yukino refocused on her book.

---

Before class resumed, Ichin woke Utaha, and the two returned to the classroom for the afternoon exams.

The afternoon exams, like the morning ones, posed no challenge for either of them. Amid the groans and lamentations of their classmates, Ichin and Utaha packed up their bags and left school directly after finishing.

By the time the exams ended, it was already past 4 PM. They decided not to visit the clubroom and instead stopped by a supermarket to pick up groceries for the weekend.

Utaha clung to Ichin's arm, carrying one of the shopping bags for him.

"Ichin-kun, do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"The weekend? Nothing for now," Ichin said after thinking for a moment. "I'll probably spend more time working."

Pausing, he noticed Utaha's expression shift slightly and quickly added with a smile, "But if you'd like to go out, I'm totally up for it."

"That's more like it."

Utaha nodded in satisfaction and leaned in to kiss Ichin on the cheek. "But let's stay in for the next couple of days. I need some time to rest and plan out the third volume of my novel. With the second volume about to start its promotion, I can't slack off too much. Oh, and Ichin-kun, I'll come over tomorrow morning, so don't sleep in!"

"Got it, I won't."

---

The two soon returned to their apartment building.

Before heading to her unit, Utaha looked at Ichin and asked, "Want to come over for dinner?"

Ichin shook his head. "No, I think I'll tidy up and head to the studio. I'll probably have dinner downstairs."

"Alright then."

Handing him the shopping bag, Utaha took out her keys. "I'll come find you after dinner. See you later!"

---

At home, Ichin put away his groceries and changed into casual clothes before heading to the studio.

As always, the studio was bustling. Everyone was hard at work, headphones on, completely unaware of Ichin's arrival.

It wasn't until Ichin pulled out a chair and sat down that Kō Yagami and Hazuki caught sight of him.

Kō removed her headphones and greeted with a smile, "Welcome back, Ichin-kun. How were your exams today?"

"Not bad, nothing too difficult."

Shrugging, Ichin powered on his computer and glanced at Yagami. "How's the boss's design coming along?"

Stretching her neck, Kō replied, "Pretty good. We're actually ahead of the timeline Rin set for us."

"That's great to hear."

Ichin nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Hazuki. "Hazuki-san, what's the status on the dev kits?"

"Next Monday," Hazuki said, holding up a finger. "It's all set. We'll sign the agreement, pay the fees, and pick up the dev kits. Then we can move forward with discussing other details. Ichin-kun, will you come with me?"

"Monday? Sure."

Ichin agreed without hesitation. "I'll take the day off and join you to get acquainted, though I doubt we'll discuss exclusivity right away, right?"

"Exactly. That's why we should bring along a game proposal and anything we can showcase." Hazuki smiled. "If our presentation impresses them, it'll make negotiating technical support much easier."

"No problem. I'll have everything ready."

Ichin was eager for the outing but couldn't help wondering how Shizuka Hiratsuka would react to him taking another day off.

After a brief chat with Hazuki, Ichin dived back into programming.

With Hazuki now on board, the studio had two and a half programmers. Progress on the coding front was excellent.

---

About half an hour later, Umiko removed her headphones, exhaled, and said to Ichin, "Ichin-kun, the bug testing and fixes for the new Slay the Spire update are complete. It's ready to go live."

"Oh? All set?"

This task had been entrusted to Umiko and Aoba as a bit of a test for them.

After reviewing the content and confirming everything was in order, Ichin said, "Great, I'll upload the update to Steam now, and it'll go live tomorrow. Next, Umiko-san, you and Aoba will join the development of Hollow Knight. We'll work on the remaining Slay the Spire updates in between tasks. After this first update, the next one should be a breeze."

Once the update files were uploaded, Ichin posted announcements across his social media channels about the Slay the Spire update going live tomorrow.

The responses poured in quickly. On most platforms, players were discussing the game's content, but on Bilibili, the comments were entirely focused on the "cute girl" seen in the studio updates.

Rubbing his chin, Ichin turned to Aoba and said, "Aoba, I'd like to discuss something with you."

"Huh? What is it?"

Aoba looked up to meet his gaze and shivered involuntarily. "Ichin-kun, you're not plotting something weird again, are you?"

Sitting up straight, Ichin said with mock indignation, "How could you say that? I'm a fair and honest boss!"

"Then what is it?"

Fixing her with a serious expression, Ichin declared, "To boost our studio's popularity, you should debut as an idol!"

"Wha—WHAT?!"

---

A few minutes later, Aoba had pieced together the situation.

Staring at the flood of comments under the social media posts, she blushed deeply. Even though she didn't understand much Chinese, it was clear people were clamoring for her to appear on camera.

"Why is this happening?!"

"Oh, isn't this fun?"

Hazuki suddenly hugged Aoba from behind and teased, "Aoba's so adorable. Next time, let's have her appear on camera properly! I'll handle the photography and wardrobe!"

The studio immediately erupted into lively chatter.

...

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