Game Developer in the World of Anime

Ichin, who was busy working, heard the notification sound from his phone. He picked it up and saw a message from Kasumigaoka Utaha.

[Are you still at the studio?]

Ichin quickly typed a response.

[Yeah, I'm still at the studio.]

He set his phone down and continued typing away at his code.

However, it didn't take long before the studio's doorbell rang. Ichin didn't need to guess who it was—definitely Kasumigaoka.

He got up and opened the door, finding the girl standing there. Smiling, he greeted her, "Why are you here? It's quite late, you know."

"You're aware it's late?" Utaha remarked as she walked directly into the studio. Noticing there was no one else around, a fleeting smile crossed her face. "Everyone else has gone home, so why aren't you resting?"

"If I have time, I might as well put in some extra work," Ichin replied.

Utaha sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "You've been working all day, haven't you? And don't you still have school tomorrow?"

Ichin sat back in his chair, stretching his arms before returning to his code. "Studying isn't hard for me. Even if you made me head upstairs right now, I wouldn't be able to sit still. I'd just keep working anyway. So, I'd rather stay down here a bit longer. When I'm tired, I'll head up and rest."

Utaha knew there was no winning an argument with him. She pulled over a chair and sat down beside him, taking out her phone and casually scrolling through it. Hearing the noise beside him, Ichin turned his head.

"What are you doing? Not writing tonight?"

"I decided to take a break," Utaha replied, eyes still on her phone. "I don't have anything urgent, but I'm here to keep an eye on you so you don't work yourself to death. It's 8 PM now, so you need to stop working by 10, okay, Ichin-kun?"

Ichin chuckled bitterly. "We're the same age, but why do you sound like my mom?"

Utaha tightened her grip on her phone and shot him a glare. "Ichin-kun, I'm saying this because I care about you. You're pushing yourself too hard. You've already built a studio and hired a talented team—can't you delegate more work to them?"

"I know all that," Ichin replied, fingers still tapping away at the keyboard. "But the thing is, I genuinely enjoy this. I love the process of developing games. If I had to just be a boss and watch others do all the work while I barely contribute, I couldn't stand it. So, you don't need to worry about me on this one—I'm having fun."

Utaha studied his expression and saw he wasn't just spouting empty words. Only then did she give up on trying to persuade him.

With Utaha now silent, Ichin felt a sense of relief and fully immersed himself in his work again. As he had said earlier, despite forming a studio, he still relished personally being involved in development.

Meanwhile, after a while, Utaha got tired of scrolling through her phone and looked up at Ichin, who was still intensely focused on his screen. She couldn't understand the code on his monitor, but she could see his passion and dedication to game development.

Glancing down at her outfit—a spaghetti-strap dress with bare feet—Utaha couldn't help but wonder why Ichin hadn't even given her a second look. Was her charm lacking?

She shook her head, thinking that wasn't the case. It must be that Ichin's mind was fully absorbed in his work. Considering his past behavior, this seemed like the most plausible explanation.

Hugging her knees on the chair, Utaha simply watched him quietly, gradually becoming lost in the sight of him working.

Unaware of Utaha's gaze, Ichin remained buried in his coding until about an hour later when she stifled a yawn. That broke his concentration, and he stopped typing, stretching his neck.

He turned to Utaha. "If you're tired, you should head home. Aren't you worried your parents might get concerned?"

"Don't worry, I told them I was coming here," she replied, as she slowly straightened her legs and began to stretch.

Looking directly at Ichin, Utaha said, "Ichin-kun, I want to ask you something."

"What is it? Is it about game development?" he inquired.

"No, it's something else," Utaha shook her head, locking eyes with him. "Ichin-kun, do you think I'm pretty?"

"Uh?" Ichin was caught off guard by the question. After a brief pause, he answered, "Of course you are. I can confidently say that, in my old school, there wasn't a single girl who was prettier than you. Some might compare in looks, but not in figure, and those with similar figures can't compare to your looks."

Ichin wasn't just flattering her. In his eyes, Utaha's combination of beauty, height, and figure was unrivaled.

But rather than making Utaha happy, Ichin's words left her feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

Straightening her posture, she looked at him seriously. "Since you think I'm pretty, then why did you spend this entire hour working instead of paying any attention to me? Your behavior is making me extremely insecure about my appearance, you know."

Being surrounded by an all-female team at the studio, Utaha had been mulling things over for a while and finally decided it was time to make a move.

Her statement left Ichin completely dumbfounded.

"Uh? Wait, hold on. Let me think this through," he said, lifting a hand to stop her. After a few seconds of contemplation, he spoke, "Okay, so first of all, I was working. Then, you showed up. I can't just abandon my work, can I? I have school tomorrow, which means less time for development."

Now it was Utaha's turn to be stunned. She stood up, placed her hands on his shoulders, and leaned in, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Ichin-kun, you're not secretly into guys, are you?"

…

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