For dinner, they went to a barbecue restaurant. After enjoying a delicious al, it was ti to head ho.
The most convenient way back was by bus, so Ichin and Kasumigaoka decided to head to the nearest bus stop. Halfway there, a few won carrying boxes exited an office building ahead of them. All of them looked dejected, and two of them even had red, teary eyes.
Seeing this, Utaha muttered softly, "Did they just get fired? But wait, isn't this supposed to be a holiday?"
Ichin didn't respond right away, instead lifting his gaze to the signboard hanging outside the building.
Eagle Jump?
The mont he saw that na, Ichin's mory surged forward. This company had produced a well-known ga series called Fairies Story, and its third installnt had been released not too long ago. Ichin even had a physical copy of the ga lying in his room back in China.
Moreover, he recalled sothing else—this wasn't just any company. In an ani he once watched, the protagonist worked at a company with this very sa na.
New Ga! Yes, that was it.
And if he rembered correctly, the characters in the ani were all won, too. But what was going on now?
With a furrowed brow, Ichin quietly explained the situation to Utaha as they approached the group of won.
Understanding the context, Utaha realized it was a ga developnt company. So Ichin-kun wants to investigate? She rembered his plans to start his own studio. If these people really were leaving their company, wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity to recruit them?
As they got closer, they overheard the conversation between the won.
A beautiful girl with a single ponytail, who looked like a well-bred young lady, spoke in a choked voice, "Why did the company have to do this all of a sudden?"
Another woman, slightly older and with long blonde hair, replied with a resigned sigh, "I don't know either. Everything seed fine until recently, and then headquarters ran into financial trouble. So, they decided to cut off studios like ours that weren't bringing in significant revenue."
A third girl with twin pigtails, who was very petite—barely 150 cm tall—sighed heavily. "I've only been here for a year, and Fairies Story was just released a few months ago. Couldn't they have held on a little longer?"
At that mont, a woman with long gray hair and glasses ca out of the building, also carrying a box. She sighed as she spoke, "There's nothing I could do. When I heard the news, I tried to negotiate with the higher-ups. But unfortunately, due to their heavy investnts in new ventures, the company faced a massive funding shortfall. Although our team has been creating new gas every year, the returns weren't as good as expected. And the expenses for facilities, staff, equipnt—all of it costs money. Plus, it wasn't just us; multiple studios and departnts were downsized last month as well."
Just as she finished explaining, the gray-haired woman noticed Ichin and Utaha approaching. She particularly caught Ichin's gaze, quickly realizing that he seed to be there specifically to talk to them.
When Ichin approached the group, he asked, "Excuse , are you all developers from Eagle Jump? You must be Yagami Kō, the lead artist, right?"
The striking appearance of Ichin left Yagami Kō a bit flustered. With her cheeks slightly flushed, she smiled and replied, "Ahaha, yes, that's , Yagami Kō."
"Hello," Ichin greeted her politely before continuing, "May I ask what happened to your company? I'm a big fan of Fairies Story."
The gray-haired woman chuckled bitterly, "This isn't exactly a secret in the industry anymore. The parent company ran into financial difficulties, so they needed to cut expenses by selling off or closing down less profitable ventures. Several small studios under them, like ours, were affected first."
"I see," Ichin nodded, now fully understanding the situation. It was indeed a frustrating turn of events. Eagle Jump had always produced quality gas, but they never seed to be financially successful—just like a few other ga developers he rembered. Such companies often ended up either being acquired by larger corporations or disbanded entirely.
With this in mind, Ichin turned to the group and asked, "So, have any of you already found another job? To be honest, I'm an independent ga developer. I've only completed one ga so far, but I'm looking to expand and establish my own studio for future projects."
As he spoke, Ichin pulled out his phone and showed his Steam backend to Yagami Kō. She, still trying to process Ichin's words, took the phone hesitantly. Then, she noticed the ga displayed on the screen.
"Wait, is this Slay the Spire? Aoba, haven't you been playing this recently?" Yagami Kō asked, surprised.
"Ah, it is!" The twin-tailed girl, Aoba, leaned over and looked at Ichin with wide eyes. "Are you the developer of Slay the Spire?"
Ichin nodded with a smile. "That's right. My na is Ichin. The developer na is based on my initials."
(T/N: His Chinese Na is Yi Chen, So the Developer/Company na may be YC Gas? Will see xD)
The gray-haired woman glanced at the phone screen and raised her eyebrows. "Well, this is unexpected. You're the rising star in the industry we were discussing recently! Although the ga currently only has a PC version, it's already generated a fair bit of buzz. So, are you here to recruit us?"
"That's correct," Ichin replied confidently. "I know you've all just lost your jobs, and this must be a difficult ti, but I really don't want to miss this opportunity. I have quite a few new ga ideas in mind, but it's impossible to execute them all alone. I need a team."
"Hold on!" Yagami Kō returned the phone to Ichin, her face filled with astonishnt. "You developed this ga by yourself? Is that even true?"
Before Ichin could answer, Utaha chid in, "Yes, Ichin-kun developed it all on his own. It took him less than two months from the start of developnt to the ga's release, and he managed everything by himself, all while keeping up with his schoolwork."
"You're still a student?!" Yagami Kō blurted out, eyes wide.
Ichin nodded with a smile. "Yes, I'm a foreign exchange student from China, currently a second-year at Toyogasaki Academy."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned. A high school exchange student who had developed a ga on his own and sold over a hundred thousand copies within a week of its release—it was almost unbelievable.
Seeing the group of beautiful won of varying ages all displaying the sa expression of disbelief, Ichin found it quite amusing. However, he continued, "So, what do you think of my proposal? If this ti and place aren't suitable, we can arrange a eting in the next few days to discuss things in detail."
The won all looked towards the gray-haired woman, clearly the one in charge. She adjusted her glasses thoughtfully before taking out her phone. "Sure, let's exchange contact information first. My na is Shizuku Hazuki. I'm the production director of the studio. Please take care of us."
"Likewise," Ichin replied, exchanging contact details with her. After that, he and Utaha bid them farewell and left. There were likely more employees coming out, and it seed the group had plenty of other matters to handle.
…
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