After a night of rest back at their cozy ho, Monday finally arrived—it was ti to return to school.
However, it wasn't both Ichin and Utaha who returned; only Utaha went back to class today.
Once Ichin saw that the _Persona_ demo had been completed, he imdiately decided to head to Kyoto on Monday to et with representatives from Nintendo. His goal was to present the studio's new project and secure a publishing deal for the ga on the Nintendo Switch platform.
That's why only Utaha went to school today.
Of course, Ichin still accompanied her in the morning. They rode in Hazuki's car together and dropped her off at the school gate before he and Hazuki headed off to catch the Shinkansen.
Utaha didn't mind Ichin's dedication to ga developnt. After all, if her novel were suddenly chosen for a live-action adaptation, she would probably do the sa—take a leave of absence and rush straight to the publisher without a second thought.
When Utaha arrived at the classroom, as expected, she was warmly welcod back by her classmates, who also asked why Ichin wasn't with her.
"Ichin just got back and imdiately dove into work. He took the day off today but will be back to school tomorrow," she explained simply.
That was enough to satisfy everyone's curiosity.
By now, most people at school already knew Ichin ran a ga studio. So, his occasional absences weren't surprising to anyone anymore.
anwhile, Ichin and Hazuki arrived in Kyoto and headed straight to Nintendo's headquarters, where they t with the team in charge of third-party gas.
Compared to their previous two visits, the scale of today's eting was much larger—because the scope of the ga had grown significantly. In addition to the regular contacts, several high-ranking decision-makers were also present this ti.
Inside the conference room, Ichin wasted no ti and imdiately began playing the promotional video.
Persona.
The ga's art style was sleek, modern, and full of personality—instantly winning over the audience. After a fast-paced montage introducing the main characters, the footage transitioned to gaplay. As the music kicked in and the battle system was showcased, everyone's attention sharpened.
The stylish battle interface, the unique enemy designs, the protagonist's different Persona masks, and the dramatic All-Out Attack at the end gave everyone a fresh and captivating take on turn-based combat.
When the three-minute video finished, Ichin closed the file and brought up a PowerPoint presentation to explain the ga in more detail.
"You've already seen the na—_Persona_. One of the ga's core systems is the protagonist's personal developnt. Various subplots and mini-events throughout the ga help increase the protagonist's five major attributes, which directly impact gaplay. Additionally, players can build relationships with party mbers and certain side characters. As these bonds grow, they'll have a tangible effect on both story progression and combat performance."
With the PPT slides guiding the way, Ichin went on to introduce many other aspects of the ga, occasionally answering questions from the Nintendo staff.
Hazuki, who was quietly observing from the side, kept a close eye on the expressions of the Nintendo reps.
She could tell that the higher-ups—whom they were eting for the first ti—were taking _Persona_ very seriously. It was clear they no longer saw this as just another indie ga.
As Ichin continued his explanation, the Nintendo representatives gradually realized just how ambitious this project was. The studio that had previously produced two high-quality indie gas was clearly no longer content with its current status. Now, they had created a playable demo for a full-scale, large-scale ga.
The vast world-building, a fully written main storyline, rich side quests, character developnt chanics, a highly unique user interface, and imrsive battle music—all of it showed that the studio had done thorough and careful preparation on all fronts.
This studio had ambition—and plenty of it.
But that wasn't a bad thing. Since they had already expressed interest in launching the ga on the Switch, it ant there was a solid foundation for collaboration between the two sides.
As long as the final product matched what was shown in the demo—even if a few aspects had to be scaled down a bit—these professionals believed the ga could still perform quite well.
And even in the worst-case scenario, if the ga ended up flopping, it wasn't a first-party title. Nintendo wouldn't suffer a loss regardless.
After Ichin finished the PowerPoint presentation, he went on to show the demo running on the Nintendo Switch. That gave the key decision-makers even more confidence.
The studio's developnt capabilities were better than expected, and there was no sense of rushing the tiline. If developnt continued at a steady pace, then when the marketing phase began, Nintendo could comfortably allocate more resources to boost the ga's exposure.
By the end of the day's eting, the initial cooperation terms were successfully settled.
However, because this ga was far more ambitious than the previous two, so contractual terms still needed further negotiation.
Ichin wasn't in a rush—these things took ti, and as long as talks continued, progress would follow.
By evening, he and Hazuki had returned to Tokyo and drove straight back to the studio.
Naturally, everyone at the studio was waiting to hear how the eting had gone. Tonight's dinner was prepared right at the studio by Toyama Rin, Iijima Yun, and Narumi Tsuba, who had volunteered to cook.
As soon as Ichin opened the studio door, a delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen.
"Wow, slls amazing. Are you making soup?"
Slipping on his indoor slippers, Ichin walked to the kitchen entrance and peeked inside, seeing the three girls busily preparing food.
"Need a hand?"
Iijima Yun turned around with a smile. "Welco back! No help needed—we're almost done. So, Ichin-kun, how did it go?"
Ichin raised an "OK" hand gesture, and the three girls instantly broke into cheerful smiles.
Back in the work area, the others were still focused on their tasks. But when they saw Ichin and Hazuki return, the expressions on their faces said it all—things had gone smoothly.
Yagami Kō took off her headphones and looked over.
"So, it's settled?"
The rest of the team followed suit, pulling off their headphones and glancing toward the pair.
Ichin took off his jacket and nodded. "Yeah, we can consider it mostly finalized. Since this ga is on a much bigger scale than the previous two, there are still so details in the contract that need tweaking. We'll probably have to go back and forth another ti or two—but there shouldn't be any major issues."
He wasn't worried. The demo already ran smoothly on the Switch, so the full version would deliver similar performance without a hitch.
...
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