Game Developer in the World of Anime

The adjacent living room had been set up as a relaxation area, complete with a large TV, game consoles, sofas, and a carpet. Once everyone settled in, Ichin spoke up, "Alright, let's go over things quickly. I'll be at school tomorrow, so I want to assign the work in advance. Umiko and Aoba, you two are in charge of the next update for Slay the Spire. There isn't much left to do, and after working on it all day today, you should be fine, right?"

Both of them nodded confidently. Umiko responded, "No problem at all! With the solid groundwork you've laid out, I can handle the rest."

Suzukaze Aoba also beamed, "Leave it to me!"

Ichin then turned to the others, "For the rest of you, follow Kō-senpai's lead in designing the characters and monsters for Hollow Knight. The basic designs and the monsters for the initial area have already been created. Each section of the map will have a different style, so choose the areas you want to work on. And, Hajime, you'll handle the attack patterns for the completed monsters. I've already outlined the design directions. Does this plan work for everyone?"

Kō Yagami, Rin Tōyama, Hifumi Takimoto, Yun Iijima, and Hajime Shinoda all nodded in agreement. Ichin's plan was a rough outline, with the details to be managed by Rin, who had experience overseeing development schedules at Eagle Jump.

After quickly finalizing the upcoming tasks, everyone returned to their workstations. Ichin checked with those who lived with their families to see if they had dinner arrangements, and since none did, he ordered takeout for everyone—high-quality bento meals from a nearby restaurant. Given that they were working until 6:30 PM, and some even suggested staying a bit later, Ichin felt it was his duty as the boss to consider their dinner plans.

As she drew, Kō Yagami laughed, "Hehe, even though it's just the beginning, the atmosphere here already feels better than before. And we get dinner too!"

Hearing this, Ichin glanced at her and said, "Just to be clear, I won't be handling your meals every day. It's best if you all bring your own food. The kitchen here is well-equipped, so as a bunch of girls, you should at least learn to cook a little, right?"

Ichin's words immediately struck a nerve with everyone except Rin Tōyama and Yun Iijima.

Kō Yagami pouted and shot back, "You're always lecturing us, but can you even cook, Ichin?"

"Of course I can," Ichin replied calmly. "Living abroad, I had to pick up some skills to take care of myself. It's not fancy, but I can manage. What, you don't believe me? If you're doubtful, we can have a cooking showdown anytime."

Though Ichin's cooking skills were average, they were still far better than Kō Yagami's, who didn't know how to cook at all. He had heard from Rin that if it weren't for her occasionally dropping by Kō's apartment to cook, Kō would be living off takeout every day.

Kō's bravado faltered at Ichin's confident words, and she sheepishly muttered, "What's the point of comparing with me? If you're so confident, go against Rin. I'll be the judge!"

Raising her head from across the room, Umiko chimed in, "If there's a cooking competition, count me in as a judge."

"Me too!"

"That sounds fun! I want to be a judge too!"

Ichin looked at the lively group, shaking his head. "What's with all this excitement? Do you all not have enough work to do? Why don't you learn from Hifumi? See, she isn't joining in the ruckus."

However, before he could finish, Hifumi shyly raised her hand and blushed, "I-I… I'd like to watch too…"

Ichin was speechless, staring at the group that had become so casual with him after only a couple of days.

Meanwhile, Rin Tōyama, deep in thought, said, "Hmm… It does sound interesting. Ichin-kun, why don't we set up a cooking contest? Not just the two of us, but everyone can join!"

"I'm in!"

Seeing that everyone wanted to participate, Ichin made an executive decision, "Alright then, let's have a cooking competition at the studio this Saturday! Everyone has to join in, and the person with the lowest score will be responsible for cleaning the studio for the next month!"

Usually, studio cleaning was a shared task, with everyone taking turns. Hearing about the punishment, Kō immediately objected, "Wait! If that's the case, Rin will never lose! And you too, Ichin!"

Ichin calmly replied, "I'm the boss. What I say goes. Got it?"

"That's tyranny! You tyrant!"

"You can call it tyranny all you want, but I'm still the boss. And if you don't want to participate, you can just accept defeat and handle the studio's cleaning for the next month."

"Ugh…" Kō Yagami grimaced and, after a deep breath, declared, "I'll participate! I'm not necessarily going to lose!"

She glanced around at the others, sizing them up.

Seeing no further objections, Ichin finalized the plan, "Alright, it's settled then. This is a good way to balance work and rest. Use the next few days to prepare. Bring your own ingredients on Saturday morning. I'll handle the standard seasonings here, but if you need anything special, let me know in advance."

Except for Rin, everyone seemed troubled, but each one of them was confident they wouldn't be the one to lose.

At 6:30 PM, the bento meals arrived. The group paused their work to eat dinner together. After working a bit longer, everyone gradually left.

When Kō, the last to leave, finally went home, Ichin was the only one left in the studio.

The quietness was almost unsettling as he stretched and sighed, "Hmm… It's only 7:30. I guess I can keep working for a while."

Time slowly passed, and over at the Kasumigaoka household…

After taking a bath and returning to her room, Utaha sat down at her computer, ready to get some writing done. Eriri hadn't stayed for dinner, leaving shortly after resting for a bit.

After typing a couple of lines, Utaha suddenly thought of Ichin and picked up her phone to send him a message.

…