Chapter 22
"Why the hell won't she show up?!"
After hours of rerolling, Jae-hyun slammed his smartphone face-down on the desk.
Maybe I should've just started without rerolling.
It had been a full day since he began rerolling after reading a guide on the community forum.
He'd lost count after 200 attempts, but he estimated he'd done at least 500 to 600 rolls by now.
Most people would have given up at this point, compromising or looking for another strategy. But he was different.
...I've invested too much time to quit now. Let's just take a break.
While browsing the community to relieve stress with the phone he'd just slammed down, a post caught his eye.
A preview video for the pickup character...?
He racked his brain for memories from the Tokyo Game Show, but there was nothing about a pickup.
That means this is info on a newly released character…
Curious, Jae-hyun clicked on the post.
[Username: ㅇㅇ]
[Title: New PV dropped on Girls Memorial's official YouTube?]
{Link to a video site with a red icon}
I haven't watched it yet, just sharing
Let's go check it out~
[Comments][Newest]
- Holy shit, that was fast lololololol
- Uploaded 5 seconds ago, wtf?
- Is this a macro?
- I'll watch it too, brb
Like countless other community users who saw this post, Jae-hyun followed the link to the PV video.
The video began with the now-familiar SFLAG and Enson GT logos.
A desolate street outside the academy city, devoid of any signs of life or even streetlights.
Accompanied by the sound of an eerie wind, the video showed five students exploring the ruins.
Armed with their weapons, the girls' movements and expressions radiated intense anxiety.
Adding to the atmosphere, a low and gloomy OST began to mix with the sound of the wind.
As the somber rhythm of the OST built towards its climax and the tension reached its peak,
A loud explosion rang out, and zombies with twisted, deformed appearances began to spring out from all directions.
The sudden appearance of the zombies sent the scouting students into a panic.
The mob character in the leader position belatedly regained her senses and tried to reposition and counterattack, but they were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
No matter how many they killed, endless waves of zombies kept coming.
One by one, they sustained injuries, and the shadow of death loomed over their faces. At that moment,
The sound of a propeller cutting through the air began to echo from the distance.
Simultaneously, the perspective shifted to inside a combat helicopter.
As the gloomy OST transitioned into a tense, urgent theme, a woman appeared.
Long black hair reaching past her waist, with a unique secret two-tone of red dye on the inside.
Red eyes matching her hair color, with vertically slit pupils.
A petite frame barely reaching 160cm, contrasting with her disproportionately large... assets.
A short, revealing black frilly maid outfit with pantyhose, like something you'd often see in Akihabara.
Finally, a thick snake tail prominently displayed from behind the maid outfit's skirt.
Surveying the ground from inside the helicopter, she eventually seemed to spot something and spoke in a languid voice.
"Callsign Aurora, target of search... located."
At her words, the helicopter stopped and began to hover in place.
"Just trust me, Administrator."
Her previously languid and relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by a fierce smile as she leapt from the helicopter. The scene ended there, transitioning to a character introduction screen.
Jae-hyun was speechless for a while after watching the video to the end.
Wait, this is supposed to be a pickup character PV?
Honestly, he hadn't had any expectations when he started playing the pickup PV video.
He'd only hoped that the new character would look pretty and be well-designed, at most.
Usually, pickup character PVs were either skipped entirely or just briefly introduced the character.
Just look at Girls Memorial's competitor, Inmila – they didn't even bother with pickup character PVs.
But this Girls Memorial pickup character PV was... well, without exaggeration, it felt like watching a well-made short anime.
And what's even more surprising is the design of this new character, Konomi Roa...
Girls Memorial's existing characters were already leagues prettier than Inmila's.
To give you an idea, there wasn't a single artist who hadn't drawn at least one picture of the Girls Memorial characters recently.
But Roa surpassed even that... It was like they'd sharpened their knives specifically to empty players' wallets.
Especially that gap between her normal self and when she's on a mission... It was perfect.
As Jae-hyun sat in his chair, absent-mindedly mulling over Roa's design, he suddenly realized he was facing a major dilemma.
His soul as an artist and his soul as a gamer were urging him to do opposite things.
What should I do...?
After agonizing for a long time, Jae-hyun finally had no choice but to put his smartphone in his pocket and pick up his tablet pen.
This phenomenon was common among artists in both Korea and Japan, and the majority made the same choice as Jae-hyun.
As a result, Girls Memorial once again set a new record for the number of fan art submissions.
*
In the corridor of Enson GT's 5th floor, where the PC game development teams were gathered.
"What's all this commotion about?"
One of the development team leaders glanced at the stairs leading up to the 6th floor as he spoke.
The sound of excited chatter and applause could be heard coming from the stairwell connecting the floors.
Another team leader with an impressive, well-groomed beard sighed and said,
"Apparently that Girls Memorial thing the mobile team launched has become a success. The mobile game development team is going wild right now."
"Come on, how long has it been since it launched for them to be calling it a hit? It's only been a week."
"It deserves the praise. They've cracked the Japanese market. You know how much fuss Enson has made about entering the Japanese market. And now the mobile team, which no one expected anything from, has not only entered Japan but maintained the top spot in weekly sales for two weeks straight."
"Please, how many games have shone briefly for two weeks and then failed to last? They're getting ahead of themselves."
"I heard their competitor, Inmila or whatever, has already taken a hit. They're confident it won't be a problem for the foreseeable future."
Another development team leader chimed in on their conversation.
"Keep a close eye on your team members."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I hear quite a few people from the art and planning teams are looking to move to the mobile side these days."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. I've got a few connections in HR, and they say there's been a lot of inquiries lately, so be careful."
The team leader sighed briefly and whispered to the others,
"If we're not careful, we might get swallowed up by the mobile team."
*
Entering his private office after receiving congratulations from the employees, Ho-jin felt completely drained.
Word had spread throughout the company, and people had been congratulating him since the first floor. It had been quite an ordeal.
Alright, celebrations aside, I need to check the upcoming schedule...
He immediately excluded Myung-hoon hyung and the development team from the team schedule checklist.
The development team's top priority was the Android version, which took precedence over all other schedules.
That left the art team, planning team, and sound team.
Let's start with the easiest one, the art team.
Having made up his mind, he called Ye-rin on the company messenger.
Shortly after, there was a knock at the door, and Ye-rin entered the office.
In her hand was a cup from a famous 71 flavors ice cream shop.
It seemed she had come straight from enjoying the ongoing party.
"Sorry for calling you when you're so busy."
"No, it's fine. Everyone was wrapping up and about to get back to work anyway."
Nodding at Ye-rin's nonchalant voice, I spoke up.
"Have you been monitoring Pixiv?"
Ye-rin nodded at my question.
"Ah, yes... You told me to do it, so I've been checking since last week. The response to our game seems pretty good, doesn't it?"
"That's all thanks to you. The most praised aspect of our game is the character design, after all."
"What's with the sudden praise... Even if you gilded my face, there's nothing I can do for you."
I just shrugged at Ye-rin's suspicious tone.
"It's nothing much. It's just that we're short on art team staff right now. If you spot any promising newcomers on Pixiv, or if you know anyone good, let me know. I don't have many connections in the art world."
"I don't have anyone specific in mind yet... but I'll keep an eye out."
"Oh, by the way, have you talked with Seol about who to feature as the main character for our first event?"
"...We're still having some disagreements about that..."
"If you haven't decided yet, isn't the timeline getting a bit tight?"
Ye-rin sighed at my question and replied.
"We know that... but both my opinion and Seol unni's opinion have merit, so we can't reach a compromise."
"Is that so? Hmm, Seol's still on break, right?"
"No. She said she had something urgent to review earlier, so she went back to the planning team. She should be there now."
"Let's see... It's 11:30 now, so how about you and Seol come to the meeting room at 1:30 after lunch? Or should we talk over lunch?"
Ye-rin grimaced at that suggestion.
"I'd rather not use our lunch break for that, so Seol unni and I will come to the meeting room at 1:30."