Game Developer in the World of Anime

The bathroom door opened, and as Utaha walked out after washing up, she immediately heard Eriri's dramatic voice coming from the living room.

"Seriously, am I even their daughter?! They only told me this morning that they were going on a trip—and not just for a day or two, but four whole days! And now I'm supposed to take care of myself?!"

Hearing that, Utaha couldn't help but crack a smile. She had to admit, she'd never seen someone as pitiful as Eriri right now. It was obvious she'd come to seek shelter with them.

Shuffling over in her slippers, Utaha looked at Eriri and said, "That's why people need to learn to be a little more independent. How are you going to survive on your own in the future if you can't even manage this?"

"Mind your own business! I'm still in my second year of high school, okay? Second year!"

Eriri shot back at her, but her expression quickly turned gloomy again. "I'll be staying downstairs for the next few days. I'll also need to hitch a ride with you guys on Monday and Tuesday for school. Sorry for the trouble."

Honestly, it was a good thing Eriri had gotten close to Ichin and the others. If this had been a year ago, she probably would've spent the next few days holed up at home, eating so much takeout she'd be sick of it.

Seeing how down she looked, Utaha decided not to tease her anymore.

Just as she was about to sit down and chat with her, a loud grrroowl echoed from Eriri's stomach.

Clutching her belly with both hands, Eriri's face turned beet red.

"T-That… you guys heard nothing!!!"

Grrooooowl~

Seeing Utaha trying to hold back her laughter, Ichin chuckled and shook his head. He stood up and said, "Utaha and I haven't had breakfast yet either. We've got some lean pork congee and steamed buns. Come eat with us."

Eriri was practically on the verge of tears from embarrassment but nodded anyway and followed Utaha over to the dining table.

After breakfast, her mood finally lifted a bit.

Sipping on her coffee—which was sweetened with milk and sugar—she looked at Ichin and asked, "You're going to the office today, right? What time are you heading out?"

"It's still early."

Ichin waved a hand dismissively, then finished his own cup of coffee. "Let's go downstairs first and get your room situation sorted out."

The downstairs apartment had four bedrooms. Umiko had already moved in, and originally, Shinoda was supposed to move in too. But her father's job had been relocated, and the whole family ended up moving to Tokyo and buying a house—so Shinoda decided to live with her family instead.

Which left a vacant room—perfect for Eriri.

They headed downstairs. Since the apartment had now become a sort of girls' dorm, even Ichin didn't just unlock the door with his key. Instead, he rang the doorbell.

Before long, the door opened, and Rin Toyama looked at the trio standing at the entrance. "Morning! Eh? Eriri's here too?"

"Rin-senpai…" Eriri replied pitifully, "I've come to seek refuge for a few days."

"Huh?"

A few minutes later, as they sat eating breakfast, both Kō Yagami and Umiko couldn't hold back their laughter.

After finally swallowing a mouthful of miso soup, Kō Yagami looked at the scowling Eriri and said, "As expected of Aunt Sayuri—she really acts on a whim. Poor you, Eriri."

Even though Eriri's home was in a well-secured residential area and she'd be perfectly safe alone, she really didn't have the courage to stay there by herself. It was totally normal for her to come crash at a friend's place.

With a pout, Eriri muttered, "I bet my mom knew I'd never stay home alone, and that I'd definitely come running to you guys. That's why she had no problem leaving for the trip."

Umiko sipped her milk and asked, "Didn't think about going to Yukino's place?"

"Of course I did. I called her first thing this morning," Eriri nodded. "But Yukino went home for the weekend. Things with her family have gotten better recently, so I guess weekend visits are going to become a regular thing."

Everyone was already aware of what had happened with Yukino during the sports festival. After all, she'd come to the studio with them afterward and even got to try out the prologue of the new game.

Rin Toyama didn't tease Eriri like the others. Instead, she gently patted her head and said warmly, "Got it. You can stay here for the next few days. Come on, I'll show you the room. The bedding's all clean. The weather's great today, so I'll put the blankets out to air, and they'll be nice and fresh by tonight."

"Thanks, Rin-senpai!"

Once Eriri got her things settled in, Kō and the others finished their breakfast, and the group headed off to the studio together by car.

Even though it was Saturday, this was the game development industry—weekends were often treated like extra workdays, especially when the team was so aware of how important Persona was to the company's future. Ichin didn't even need to ask—everyone came in to work voluntarily.

Besides, Ichin never skimped on overtime pay—as long as you weren't just there to kill time.

Once they arrived at the studio, Utaha headed straight to Ichin's office to continue working on her novel. The game's script had already been completed, so unless revisions were needed, Utaha's involvement in the project was mostly on standby.

Eriri picked up where she'd left off on her current task, while Ichin brought his laptop into the empty conference room to go over the development schedule. He'd also called in Hazuki, Kō Yagami, and Umiko to join him.

"We're in May now," Ichin began, "which means there isn't much time left until Gamescom in Cologne. We need to get the promotional PV finished before then. Once the storyboards are ready, aside from the in-game footage, we'll also ask Kyoto Animation to help with the animated segments."

"There won't be a demo released publicly," he continued, "but once we get our domestic branch office set up, we can invite game media outlets and streamers to visit and try it out. After the announcement, we'll be starting full-scale promotions. Hazuki, I'll need you to coordinate with the voice actors and arrange for some online promotional livestreams."

Hazuki nodded, jotting everything down in her small work notebook.

"Got it. I actually brought this up during initial meetings—scheduling shouldn't be an issue."

"Great, I'll leave the PR side to you," Ichin said before turning to Kō and Umiko. "As for development, I'm counting on you and Rin to manage the art side. I know I can trust you, and I'm not worried about the schedule. But Umiko, with the game content expanding, more and more bugs and issues will start surfacing. I'll need you to thoroughly handle testing and fixes."

"No problem," Umiko said with a confident smile. "I've got experience with this. It's not my first time. Compared to how things were at Eagle Jump, this is way better—no more all-nighters. Plus, our team now is way more capable."

Hearing that, Ichin reached for the nearby calendar and flipped it to August. He circled the 25th.

"Our goal from now until Gamescom," he declared, "is to finish the promotional PV and complete the second Palace of the main story, plus part of the side quests. At the same time, PR work needs to be scheduled well in advance."

Three months may sound like a lot, but in reality—it'd pass in the blink of an eye.

...

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