Vol. 2 Chapter 37 – First Meeting

Tuesday, two days after accepting Taiju-san’s offer.

Having set up the development environment as instructed the day before, it was finally time to meet the other team members.

I sat in front of my computer, the designated app open, waiting for the appointed time.

Needless to say, I’m a gloomy type.

Although getting a girlfriend had expanded my social circle somewhat, my fundamental nature hadn’t changed.

Talking to people I’m meeting for the first time always makes me nervous, and even more so when we’re about to work together.

Besides, considering they were Taiju-san’s acquaintances, I felt a degree of fear about what kind of people they might be.

And so, after waiting for thirty minutes with the same restless feeling as arriving way too early for a first date out of eagerness… the time finally came.

“Hello~, good evening~”

“Yo…”

The meeting started, and people began entering the room one after another.

One was a rather portly man who looked quite a bit older and had his camera on. The other was, for some reason, using a picture of a mysterious sphere character of indeterminate gender like a VTuber avatar, speaking with a robotic female voice.

Flustered by the sudden appearance of such intense characters, combined with my inherent communication difficulties, Taiju-san spoke up.

“Alright, everyone’s here. We’ve got a newbie today, so let’s start with his introduction… Reiya, give us a quick self-intro.” (Taiju)

Those casually tossed words made my heart pound loudly.

“N-Nice to meet you!! M-My name is Kageyama Reiya!! My favorite games are Divine Sin 2 and Ruleless Dungeon!! I’m still inexperienced, but please take care of me!!” (Reiya)

Though I stumbled a bit, I managed to get through a solid self-introduction.

“Alright, applause~” (Taiju)

Following Taiju-san’s words, faint double applause echoed through my headphones.

“As I mentioned before, the new project will be based on the game this guy made, fleshing it out, so let’s get along.” (Taiju)

“I’m sorry… I feel very humbled…” (Reiya)

Being reminded of that fact again brought back feelings of inadequacy.

“Okay, next up are introductions for these two. Uh… first, the one using the weird avatar is our main designer… handles all sorts of graphics-related work, Akashi Sphere.” (Taiju)

“Akashi Sphere, twenty years old. As introduced, drawing is my job, I don’t do anything else… or rather, I can’t, so nice to meet you.” (Sphere)

The self-introduction came in a voice-changer-like female voice, with a somewhat curt attitude.

“N-Nice to meet you too. Akashi… Sphere-san… Is that a pen name?” (Reiya)

“Nah, it’s my real name.” (Sphere)

My careless remark created an incredibly awkward silence.

“S-Sorry…” (Reiya)

“It’s fine, I get that a lot, don’t worry about it. My family’s had weird names like this for generations. By the way, favorite game is NieR: The Automaton… meaning, B.B.’s butt! Dislike: geniuses… meaning, Asahi Taiju! I plan to kill him with my art someday, that’s all!!” (Sphere)

That self-introduction, so typical of Taiju-san’s acquaintances, already overwhelmed me.

Honestly, I thought they were quite strange, but I forced myself to accept that perhaps people in the art field are just like this.

“He’s this kind of guy, so you should learn how to handle him appropriately sooner rather than later.” (Taiju)

“Hey, Taiju! I went along with your scheme, so you better keep your promise too!?” (Sphere)

“Huh? Promise? Did we make one?” (Taiju)

“We did! You said if I drew the pictures to convince this guy, you’d let me meet Hikaru-chan!” (Sphere)

He used his sister as bait to get those drawings…?

“Ah… Come to think of it, we did talk about that.” (Taiju)

“Don’t give me ‘talked about that’! Do you have any idea how much I was looking forward to it!? I shaved off years of my life finishing those without sleep for this! Let me meet her! Let me meet her right now!! I even prepared a portrait to max out her affection level on the first impression and go straight for the true end!!” (Sphere)

“Letting you meet her is fine, but… she has a boyfriend right now, you know?” (Taiju)

“…Huh?” (Sphere)

On the meeting screen, the mysterious sphere character stared blankly, mouth agape.

“And she’s head over heels, to the point where she talks about him constantly even when nobody asks.” (Taiju)

“Haaaaah!?!? What the hell is that!! Where’d you hear that!! Last time she said she didn’t have a lover!! Which bastard defiled my idol!? Should I Sentence Spring him!?” (Sphere)

“That would be Kageyama Reiya, right there.” (Taiju)

And here we go again with the main tank pushing all the aggro onto me…

“…Huh? Seriously? You’re dating Asahi Hikaru?” (Sphere)

“Yes, well… we’re dating…” (Reiya)

“And it’s parent-approved, he stays over at her place every week.” (Taiju)

Why does Taiju-san always have to say these extra things?

“Um… Sorry about that…” (Reiya)

“A゛A゛A゛AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!” (Sphere)

Right after I apologized, the spherical monster on the screen started rampaging.

“Alright, here we go!!! My creative urge is surging like crazy!! Negative emotions really are the best driving force!! Perish, world!! No, I’ll destroy it with my art—” (Sphere)

“Okay, next up is Yassan’s turn.” (Taiju)

Just as I felt genuine murderous intent through the internet connection, Taiju-san forcibly muted Akashi-san and moved on to the next introduction.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yokoya Yasurou. I’m 35, more than twice your age, but please feel free to interact with me casually.” (Yasurou)

“N-Nice to meet you too!” (Reiya)

In stark contrast, the calm greeting from the older man was a relief.

He was much older, but seemed far easier to deal with than Akashi-san.

If there had been three strange people in total, my sanity definitely wouldn’t have held, so I was saved.

“Yassan mainly handles programming-related stuff, and also UI/UX design. By the way, before joining us, he was a programmer at a major foreign-affiliated developer, a real veteran.” (Taiju)

“Eh? A major foreign developer… That’s amazing…” (Reiya)

“Oh, I’m really not that impressive.” (Yasurou)

“No, no, that’s incredible… But why did you move into the indie scene?” (Reiya)

A genuine question popped into my head, so I asked—

“That’s because Yassan is an ardent follower of Taiju.” (Sphere)

Akashi-san, who had been unmuted, answered for him.

“No, no, ‘follower’ is going a bit too far… Of course, I think Taiju-kun is amazing, though.” (Yasurou)

“Yes, I think so too. I played through all the games Taiju-san made in the past the other day… They were all really fun, and it renewed my respect for him.” (Reiya)

I kept quiet about the fact that some of them were kusoge, just in case he didn’t know.

“Yes, yes, the first one I played was ‘Magma Diver,’ and the game design’s goals and the level design coexisted in such an exquisite balance. I was initially so surprised that someone could make a game of such high quality individually… and a high schooler at that. For several years after that, I kept checking his activities on social media, and I think it was around the time Taiju-kun entered university? When his personal studio posted a notice recruiting programmers, somehow, before I knew it, I’d submitted my resignation to my company. Besides wanting to make games with Taiju-kun, there was probably also the dilemma I’d long held, that big companies are stable but you can’t always make what you want to make. But at the time, I thought maybe I’d acted without thinking of the consequences, but when the first game, ‘Ruleless Dungeon,’ became a huge success, I was convinced that my choice wasn’t a mistake at all. That my eyes, which had been watching him for so long, weren’t wrong… That Taiju-kun would surely become a creator who would leave his name in the history of games. So, rather than me being a follower, it’s that a world where humanity cannot help but acknowledge Taiju-kun will inevitably arrive in the near future—” (Yasurou)

Forgetting that this was supposed to be his introduction to me, he began to endlessly talk about how amazing Taiju-san was.

Towards Yokoya-san, both Taiju-san and Akashi-san remained silent, as if thinking, ‘Here he goes again.’

Correction.

There really were three strange people.

“…And so! Let’s work hard together from now on and make a fun game!” (Yasurou)

And so, after I continued to listen in silence for a while, his one-man show finally ended.

“Y-Yes… Nice to meet you too…” (Reiya)

“Alrighty, now that introductions are over, next up is the fun fun talk about development~” (Taiju)

Taiju-san said this, displaying several documents on the screen.

“Well, even though we say development, we have a base game to work from. It’s not perfect, but the framework is solid, so it’ll take less effort than starting from scratch. So this time, the main tasks will be tidying up the exterior and fleshing out a few new things…” (Taiju)

“Meaning, my workload of drawing almost the entire exterior is by far the largest.” (Sphere)

Akashi-san added discontentedly to Taiju-san’s words.

“Don’t be stupid. Over half the stuff you submit, I’ll end up correcting anyway, so mine is obviously the largest.” (Taiju)

Taiju-san immediately retorted.

“Correction? You’re just messing around with the perfect work I created!” (Sphere)

“It’s unusable if I don’t! First off, how many times do I have to tell you not to make the thighs any thicker!” (Taiju)

“Shut up! Society demands super thick thighs and long breasts right now!! Besides, I’m making the butt bigger, the thighs are just a by-product!!” (Sphere)

“Whatever, just know moderation! Those hot pants are so tight they look like they’ll cut off circulation! Also, stop adding glasses without permission! Why do half the female characters have glasses!?” (Taiju)

“If there’s one glasses character, there’s a rule that you can make them half-rims and apportion them to two characters! Monocles mean four! It’s common sense!” (Sphere)

“There’s no such incomprehensible common sense!! Take them off!!” (Taiju)

“Absolutely not! In fact, I’ll merge the layers so you can’t remove them!” (Sphere)

This time, Yokoya-san watched their argument with a smile, as if thinking, ‘Here they go again.’

I also wanted to put a stop to the recent thigh situation, but it seemed watching was the correct response here.

Their argument continued endlessly for nearly twenty minutes, eventually escalating into a debate about whether they were in the Bianca faction or the Flora faction for some reason.

Finally, after confirming the task list Taiju-san had given him, Akashi-san spat out, ‘Idiot, idiot!’ and left the meeting early.

“Have Taiju-san and Akashi-san known each other for a long time?” (Reiya)

“What’s this, all of a sudden? Did it look that way?” (Taiju)

“Well, it’s like they say, the more you fight, the closer you get… There was a sort of old frenemy vibe…” (Reiya)

I didn’t think there were many people you could clash with so unreservedly about creative theories.

“Hm, well… We’ve actually known each other since elementary and middle school. His personality has considerable issues, but his art is good, so I invited him… but maybe that was a mistake…?” (Taiju)

Taiju-san scratched his head with a wry smile.

So, it seemed they were close.

“Okay, next is Yassan…” (Taiju)

“Will I be mainly focusing on code optimization for now?” (Yasurou)

“Oh, right, right. Reading code written by someone else is probably tough work first, but I’m counting on you.” (Taiju)

“That’s fine. The original person… Kageyama-kun wrote it quite cleanly, so I don’t think it’ll be too much trouble.” (Yasurou)

“Thank you. I’ll be in your care…” (Reiya)

When I said that, Yokoya-san said, “No problem, no problem,” and left the meeting to start working.

And so, only Taiju-san and I remained in the meeting room.

“Alright, that leaves Reiya…” (Taiju)

“Please be gentle with me…” (Reiya)

“Come on, don’t be so scared. It’s not like I’m trying to eat you alive.” (Taiju)

Yes, personally, that’s exactly how I feel, I thought inwardly.

“First off, what did you consider the biggest selling point of this game when you were making it?” (Taiju)

“The biggest selling point… I guess it would be the ‘Fate’ system, where the content of randomly occurring events changes based on your character’s individuality?” (Reiya)

“Exactly. The high degree of randomness provided by that system, allowing for a fresh experience even after multiple playthroughs, and the resulting individual player experiences… a game that sells itself on narrative. Which means, the most important thing in making that is…?” (Taiju)

“The number and branching of random events…?” (Reiya)

Taiju-san grinned at my answer, indicating I was correct.

“…And that’s why your job is to simply think up interesting event content!” (Taiju)

He declared, pointing a finger at me through the screen.

“…Yes!” (Reiya)

Being given clear instructions finally made it feel like development had truly begun.

“The number… let’s see…” (Taiju)

Taiju-san put a hand to his chin, deep in thought.

Watching him, I naively thought maybe ten or so for the first time.

“For starters, one hundred by next week’s meeting.” (Taiju)

Idiot, idiot.