Winter Hero (2)
Originally, I was supposed to return to Nonsan today.
But I changed my schedule and decided to have a drink with Go Seokhyeon and Min Ji-na.
Seokhyeon and I grabbed seats at a bar nearby first. As soon as he sat down, he ordered a bottle of strong whiskey.
I didn't particularly like hard liquor, but tonight I decided to go along with Seokhyeon.
I spoke up.
"What are you going to do after quitting the company? Jump straight to another job?"
"Well, I don't know. For the ti being, I just want to take a break without thinking about anything."
With his skills, even if he took more than a year off, it would be easy for him to get another job.
His salary was high, so he wouldn't have any financial problems either.
So I knew saying that resting in this situation was a good option, but the words just wouldn't co out of my mouth.
"Seokhyeon-oppa, it's been a while. I saw Hyunmin-oppa not too long ago."
At that mont, Min Ji-na arrived.
We spent so ti drinking, sharing old stories that only people who joined at the sa ti can talk about.
And then Min Ji-na said,
"Seokhyeon-oppa, don't you feel this is a waste? The company offered you another chance, didn't they?"
"It'd be a lie to say I'm not disappointed. Winter Hero is the first ga where I beca a PD, and I'm making it with the team I want."
"So why are you quitting?"
He wore a gloomy expression and stared intently at his glass of whiskey.
I exchanged glances with Min Ji-na.
Keep asking. If he doesn't want to answer, he doesn't have to. But I thought we shouldn't just back off with half-hearted concern.
Min Ji-na shot a sharp look.
My goal was to keep Go Seokhyeon from giving up on Winter Hero.
It would be awkward for to bring this up first, since I was directly involved.
So I had asked Min Ji-na to help create an atmosphere for such a conversation.
She mouthed sothing at .
Be good to .
Alright, if this works out, I'll pay you back big ti. I'm counting on you, jina.
"Seokhyeon-oppa, the overall concept and initial designs all got good reviews, right? Maybe I'm being nosy, but if it were , I'd feel it was such a waste. I just thought it'd be good if you gave it more of a shot, that's why I'm asking."
"It's just not that easy for people to do what they want."
Go Seokhyeon began to explain the specifics.
The ga he was trying to make was a roguelike action ga.
The strength of his studio was its pretty and stylish 2D pixel art graphics.
The problem was that these graphics seed at odds with the overwhelmingly grim world setting, or so they'd been told.
And from the start, the action difficulty was too high, and there were too many complicated gimmicks to utilize—this was also an issue.
The company had suggested lowering the difficulty and adjusting the grimness, citing mass appeal and even recomnding switching the genre to action RPG.
The company's alternative wasn't wrong. I would probably have made the sa suggestion.
But that wasn't sothing I could say out loud.
Go Seokhyeon let out a sigh.
"I know the company is right."
He knew all along.
"But because it's not the direction I want, I just couldn't listen. I wanted to assert my will, so I tried to make up for it with quality. That's why I buried myself in work..."
I said,
"You worked hard."
"It's not hard work, it's just being a bother."
"A PD needs to have a stubborn streak."
There have actually been gas that succeeded because the PD stood their ground against resistance from higher-ups.
For example, the ga 'Yakuza' was almost canceled by the company for being too violent and because the target audience was too narrow.
But the PD at the ti said:
[Trying to satisfy everyone only leads to a ga that satisfies no one.]
The PD pushed through, saying they'd quit if the project failed. And what happened?
Yakuza beca the company's flagship franchise, with new entries coming out for over 10 years.
Other gas like 'The Sims,' one of the best-selling PC ga series worldwide, and the Soulslike origin 'Demon's Souls,' are similar cases.
I shouldn't have taken Go Seokhyeon's side, but I did before I realized it.
Min Ji-na gave a look of disbelief.
What should I do at this point?
When I'm troubled by such thoughts, I always think of chairman-nim.
While part of why I accepted chairman-nim's proposal was my own hidden desires, ultimately, it was because of his sincerity.
If I want to persuade Go Seokhyeon, I'll have to show my sincerity too.
Though, of course, I'll need to keep at least one sneaky thought hidden, just like chairman-nim.
He always has an agenda behind every move.
"If you're attached to Winter Hero and you know you've been stubborn, then quitting now is a problem. Besides, you're also the head of the studio."
Now Min Ji-na looked at with annoyed eyes.
Um... I got ahead of myself again. I'd asked Min Ji-na to guide the conversation gently.
Well, what's spilled can't be gathered. I'll just have to find so other way to fix this, whether that's by bringing new water or telling them not to drink it at all.
"I know you have a lot on your mind and are struggling ntally. But that's all your own choice. If the company offered you another chance, you should at least see it through until that chance is really over."
"I wanted to at first. But I guess I'm not as strong as I thought."
"Saying you'll do your best because you love sothing is basically saying you'll hurt yourself."
"What do you an by that?"
I took a sip of whiskey.
Kuh... that burning feeling down my throat.
"If you do your best because you love sothing, you have to face the limits of your abilities. You can't make excuses about not trying hard enough anymore. That ans you have to look straight at your not-so-impressive self, your shortcomings."
"That's... exactly how I feel right now."
" too."
"Why? Isn't it the opposite for you? You're doing well as division director at Next Planet. Ji-na is always praising you in the company ssenger. I'm amazed how that usually chic Ji-na turned into such a Lee Hyunmin fan."
I turned to Min Ji-na. She imdiately turned her head away and said,
"It's not to that extent."
How grateful I was.
But now wasn't the ti to express my gratitude to Ji-na.
"I never really cared much about work before. I was the kind of guy who only cared about my own achievent."
"That's true."
"That's why I didn't get promoted as soon as you. In that sense, I was jealous of you."
"So you had a period when you envied ."
"My ssy hair and chubby belly these days aren't exactly enviable, though."
He gave a little chuckle.
His expression had softened a lot since earlier.
"Do you know what I've been up to at Next Planet lately?"
"What?"
"Letting people go."
"Wow... so you have to do things like that too. Being division director isn't easy."
"And you know that guy I ca with today?"
"The one who looked like an athlete?"
I explained to Go Seokhyeon why I had brought Park Seok-min.
Go Seokhyeon looked at in disbelief.
"So that Lee Hyunmin who used to just do the bare minimum has beco a cold-blooded manager."
"Let's drop the 'cold-blooded.' Call it 'wounded heart.'"
"So you forced soone who could work for D*sney to stay at so rural the park with the promise he could do whatever he wanted, and then changed your words?"
"Yeah. I feel terrible about it. At that mont, I saw my own limits. That's why I was so stressed."
"But for all that, you still look pretty good, though?"
I took another sip of whiskey.
Look good, huh. Maybe so. Lately, despite being incredibly stressed by my own limitations, my motivation hasn't waned.
"Maybe it's because the guy who was always running incomplete combustion is finally moving toward complete combustion."
"What do you an by that?"
"I've been lucky enough to do what I really wanted to do. But even so, I'm not sure what I'm doing is right. Still, I'm going to see it through to the end. You never know if you'll ever get another chance like this in life. Actually, there probably won't be."
"Yeah, probably... won't."
"You're more talented than , so you might get another chance. But even so, going for complete combustion now is important, isn't it? Whether sticking to your guns or listening to the company is the right answer, I can't say. But if you don't find out now, you'll regret it later."
He let out a soft laugh again.
"Who would have thought I'd get this kind of advice from you."
"I just want to see you back like you were—the best among all of us who joined together."
"I'm touched."
"That's what friends are for."
Now that I'd co this far, it was ti to bring up my real agenda.
"I want to use Winter Hero as parade content for Next Planet."
As I explained my plan in detail,
"So you brought out for drinks and gave a pep talk just to ask for a favor? Even if I quit Winter Hero, the company still owns the resources. You could just ask them to have soone else use them."
"I'd rather do it with the ga you made."
"Now who's being stubborn?"
"It's not just PDs who are stubborn. Division directors have their pride, too."
"But what will you do if I just quit?"
"Then I'll have to find soone else who'll burn at full capacity."
Go Seokhyeon fell silent, deep in thought.
After sighing, drinking so whiskey, and making a few pointless hand gestures, he finally opened his mouth.
"I want to see sothing."
"What is it?"
"Real reactions from people who enjoy the content I made. Lately, I haven't been able to see that."
"How are you going to see it?"
"Give a concrete plan. I'll make a prototype as quickly as possible. I'll work on that first. Then I'll be able to see how children experience it."
"Why this all of a sudden?"
"If I see children laughing happily, I think I'll be able to make up my mind."
"Alright, let's do that."
I clinked glasses with him.
So my colleague can co to a decision as quickly as possible, we'll have to pick up the pace, too. Looks like tomorrow will be another hectic day.
"You guys are unbelievable."
Suddenly, Min Ji-na complained in a sulky voice.
"What, am I invisible? Just the two of you talking it up and clinking glasses? Is this so kind of bromance?"
We'd forgotten about her for a mont.
"I have sothing to say, too."
"I'll... I'll listen closely."
"I think I'm going to leave Next Global."
"What?"
Both Go Seokhyeon and I were startled.
Wasn't she chairman-nim's right-hand man?
"I want to try burning at full capacity for once too."
***
We quickly submitted a proposal for content production using Winter Hero.
Go Seokhyeon imdiately mobilized his studio team to produce AR content for us.
It was just a prototype, so the content was a bit disconnected, and the graphics were a bit mismatched detail-wise. But that didn't matter for now.
Our aim was rapid testing.
Choi Hyena brought along a girl of about five years old.
"She's my niece. Isn't she just adorable? She's an actual angel."
Lee Yunjung imdiately dashed over to Hyena's niece, crouched down, and said hello.
Then she squeezed her niece's cheeks.
"Aww! So cute! Unni, she really is an angel. Hi, baby angel!"
Kim Junho carefully approached the niece next, touching her hair as if she were an exquisite, fragile piece of glass art.
He looked utterly happy.
Seems our mbers really love children.
Go Seokhyeon, standing next to , comnted,
"Nice atmosphere."
"That's our pride."
Team leader Park Seok-min approached the niece carrying an AR device.
Since the AR device hadn't been fully developed, we'd decided to use an ordinary tablet for now.
To do it properly, we'd need to go through the parade.
But since the parade wasn't ready, for now, we'd just have Park Seok-min conduct this test by himself.
Holding his index finger to his lips, Park Seok-min whispered,
"Shh! From now on, you can't let anyone else hear what I'm about to say. Only you can listen. This is our little secret. You know what? This place is under the curse of eternal winter."
He gently hugged the niece and showed her the AR device. Then, together, they slowly turned in a circle in place.
"Wow! It's snowing! Even though it's sumr right now."
"It's not sumr. It's winter. Look! It's snowing, isn't it?"
"But why isn't it cold? Winter is supposed to be cold."
"That's because I cast a spell so you can't feel the cold."
The niece's eyes grew wider and wider.
Park Seok-min continued his performance in earnest.
Soon enough, the little girl had beco a tiny fairy on an adventure in Wonderland.
"How is it?"
I asked Go Seokhyeon, but he didn't reply.
Instead, he just smiled at the corners of his mouth.
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