Seeing the long strip of at on the cutting board, Haji Shinoda curiously asked, "Pork belly?"
"Yep, salted pork belly. I'm planning to make a salted pork and vegetable rice dish," Ichin replied as he took out the other ingredients. Washing the knife, he asked, "Want to try it?"
"Is it tasty?" Haji tilted her head.
"Mm-hmm, it's pretty good," Ichin recalled as he spoke. "The main thing is that it's simple to make. The rice is flavored with salted pork belly, sausage, and mixed with vegetables like carrots and greens. Go ask everyone if they want to join. If they do, I'll make a larger portion."
"Got it!" Haji agreed enthusiastically and dashed out of the kitchen.
Two minutes later, she returned with Toyama Rin. With a bright smile, Haji announced, "Ichin-kun, everyone said they want to eat it! We're counting on you!"
Rin walked over and washed her hands. "I'll help out too. My current tasks aren't too busy anyway."
"Sure, that works. Haji, you can leave this to us. Go handle your own work," Ichin said with a smile.
"Okay~~"
For dinner, Ichin planned to make the salted pork and vegetable rice as the main dish, along with a soup and a couple of simple side dishes.
As Ichin was slicing the salted pork belly, Rin curiously asked, "Won't it be too salty?"
"It would be if left untreated, but I've already rinsed and soaked it. The saltiness should be just right. Besides, I'm adding sausage too, so the pork belly can afford to be milder. Rin, could you help chop these vegetables?"
"No problem, leave it to ."
While chopping, Rin casually asked, "Ichin-kun, is Utaha joining us for dinner later?"
"Yeah, she's coming back, but it'll take a while," Ichin replied with a nod. "She's on a call with her editor right now, confirming so details about her novel. She'll probably be here in about half an hour."
"A novel, huh~~" Rin chuckled. "I've read Utaha's book too. It's really well-written. The second volu is coming out soon, right?"
"Yes, June 10th, so not long now."
As expected, Utaha arrived half an hour later. She joined Ichin and Rin in the kitchen, helping them prepare dinner.
Utaha's parents, the Kasumigaoka couple, were already accustod to their daughter not eating at ho and didn't mind her frequent absences. They had visited Ichin's workspace once before and found the environnt pleasant. They even saw it as an opportunity for their daughter to beco more sociable.
By around six o'clock, dinner was ready. Rin called everyone to stop their tasks and head to the dining area.
The dishes were already set on the table, and Ichin brought the rice cooker over to serve the rice.
The glistening salted pork and vegetable rice, with its enticing aroma, imdiately captured everyone's attention.
After serving the last bowl, Ichin glanced at the rice cooker, which still had a small portion left, and smiled. "Alright, everyone, take your seats. Let's eat!"
"I'm digging in!"
After the group exclaid together, Haji Shinoda eagerly picked up her chopsticks, scooped up so rice, and popped it into her mouth.
"Wow! This is amazing! The saltiness and aroma blend perfectly, and the pork and vegetables are so delicious!"
The others shared similar reactions, thoroughly enjoying their al with bright smiles. Seeing this, Ichin couldn't help but smile contentedly as well.
While eating, the group chatted about their day, sharing updates on their respective tasks now that Ichin was present.
Umiko took a sip of soup and looked at Ichin. "I've reviewed most of the developnt kit content. Ichin, I'd like to start porting Slay the Spire to the Nintendo Switch."
"You're handling it yourself, Umiko?"
Umiko nodded. "It's not particularly challenging, just an additional feature for touchscreen support. I can hold off on that for now and focus on getting the ga to run smoothly on the Switch first. Don't worry, I won't let this slow down the developnt of Hollow Knight."
Waving his hand dismissively, Ichin chuckled. "Don't worry, I wasn't going to stop you from trying. You don't need to stress about Hollow Knight either—new team mbers are joining soon, and I'll be working on both projects. Nothing will fall behind."
Hearing this, Umiko smiled, reassured, and continued eating her al.
After finishing dinner, everyone returned to their tasks in the studio, while Utaha brewed tea for the group. Since Ichin had brought his own tea leaves, green tea had beco a favorite beverage alongside their usual coffee and energy drinks.
Sipping tea, Ichin sat beside Umiko, watching her work with the Switch developnt tools.
Having spent the entire day researching, Umiko's proficiency was notably higher than Ichin's.
While operating the tools, Umiko remarked, "Although Slay the Spire doesn't demand much in terms of technical skills, I suspect the initial packaged version might not be completely stable. Do you think we should make any adjustnts to the visuals?"
"Hmm, let's test it first," Ichin replied thoughtfully. "I've already gone with a minimalistic art style during developnt, and the graphics aren't very complex. Logically, there shouldn't be major issues. But since this is new territory for us, don't hesitate to reach out to Nintendo's technical team if anything's unclear."
"That's my thought too," Umiko agreed. "Simple porting isn't a big deal for , but optimizing the ga could benefit from their input. They've helped many third-party studios port gas to the Switch, so it'll save us a lot of trouble."
After observing Umiko for a while, Ichin returned to his workstation, stretched, and began working on Hollow Knight.
Haji Shinoda was making good progress on the protagonist's motion models, and they were close to creating test scenes to evaluate the ga's controls.
Glancing to his left, Ichin saw Haji wielding a Zi-O's Ride Heisei Blade replica, practicing moves. He said, "Haji, I'll be getting the Black True Bone Sculpt figure I preordered tomorrow. Want to bring it to the studio?"
"Oh, definitely!" Haji's face lit up. "I couldn't get mine—the seller backed out, and I couldn't reserve it anywhere else!"
Though briefly disappointed, Haji quickly smiled. "But it's fine! Since you have one, I can still check it out. Plus, the money I saved can go toward buying the King Sword SHF that's coming out soon!"
Yun Iijima looked up from her work, exasperated, and said, "I thought you'd save that money."
"Save? No way!" Haji clenched her fist determinedly. "There are still so many Saber SHFs left to collect. I'm going for a full set! Ichin-kun, how many are you getting?"
"?" Ichin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Depends, but I doubt I'll go for the full set."
When it ca to models and figurines, Ichin now limited himself to buying pre-assembled ones he really liked. With his responsibilities at school and the studio, he barely had ti to assemble models, making it a waste to purchase them otherwise.
...
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