Chapter 26
This was the mobile game development team's meeting room, where Ye-na's interview would take place.
Originally, it was supposed to be an informal one-on-one interview with Ye-na, but the reason for Su-yeon's attendance was simple.
She wanted to see for herself what kind of person I had recommended.
"I'm kind of excited to see who our Director personally recommended."
"Haha..."
Ever since Ye-rin, whom I had begged to bring on board, hit it big with her Girls Memorial character designs, Su-yeon had been showing this kind of interest.
I guess you could say the CEO's trust in my judgment had skyrocketed.
It was a bit pressuring, but... it wasn't all bad.
Thanks to the CEO's trust, we now had the opportunity to hire Ye-na, which would have been nearly impossible under normal circumstances.
Of course, that's assuming Ye-na passes today's test.
After about ten minutes of back-and-forth chatter with the highly excited Su-yeon,
There was a knock at the meeting room door.
Knock knock
"Come in."
The door opened, and Yu-mi poked her head in.
"Excuse me. The Ye-na you mentioned, Director, just arrived at the office. Should I send her in now?"
"Hmm... Wait a moment. I'll call her in separately. It won't take long."
"Understood!"
With the click of the door closing again, silence fell over the meeting room.
"Um, CEO?"
"Yeah? What is it?"
"The interview's about to start. Do you have any specific questions you'd like to ask Ye-na?"
"No? Not really."
"Are you sure...?"
Su-yeon shrugged at my question and replied.
"Like I said earlier, I'm just here to see the talent our Director personally recommended. Don't mind me and focus on the interview."
"Well... alright."
"Good luck!"
Trying to ignore Su-yeon's cheerleading from the side, I called out loud enough for Yu-mi to hear outside.
"We're ready now, so please send Ye-na in!"
"Yes, sir!"
After Yu-mi's response, the door opened, and Ye-na entered the meeting room.
Her visible height was almost identical to Ye-rin's.
However, apart from her height, the differences from Ye-rin were clear.
First, her hairstyle was wavy and long, reaching her waist, unlike Ye-rin's shoulder-length cut.
And where Ye-rin had a somewhat sharp impression, Ye-na had droopy eyes giving her a gentler look.
In a good way, she looked more like a student than a working adult.
"Ah, hello. I'm Lee Ye-na, applying to Enson GT today."
"Hello. I've heard a lot about you from Ye-rin. Please, have a seat in front of you."
"Oh, yes!"
True to Ye-rin's story about her lack of work experience, Ye-na was visibly nervous.
"This is an informal interview, so there's no need to be so tense. First, I'd like to ask you a simple question."
"Y-yes...!"
"Are you the one active on Pixiv under the username ye12na?"
Surprised by the sudden Pixiv-related question, Ye-na nodded with a puzzled expression.
"The reason I'm asking is because of the 4-panel comic you're serializing."
"4-panel comic...?"
"Yes, I'm referring to the Girls Memorial fan comic 'Memorial Record' that's being serialized on this account."
"Th-that's right. But why...?"
"Actually, that comic is how we first learned about you. The Japanese publisher handling our game has been trying to scout you as an official comic artist."
Ye-na blinked at my words, looking as if this was the first she'd heard of it.
"Have you not checked your work email inbox?"
"Ah, no. Actually, I don't have a separate work email account..."
"Well, that's common. So, let me ask... Are you interested in becoming an official 4-panel comic artist?"
"4-4-panel comic artist...?"
"Yes, since SFLAG made the initial request for cooperation, I thought it was right to ask you first."
Ye-na gulped audibly at my words, then cautiously asked.
"If... if I say I'm interested, what happens?"
"Then you'd be employed by SFLAG, not us. As their official 4-panel comic artist."
"Then, what about joining Enson GT...?"
"Naturally, we'd be the lower priority, so your hiring here would be canceled."
At my statement, Su-yeon, visibly flustered, elbowed me in the side, but I deliberately ignored it.
Ye-na also looked perplexed, seemingly wrestling with a difficult decision.
"However... there is exactly one way you could both join our company and work as an official artist simultaneously."
"Really?! Is that true?"
I nodded, stopping Ye-na as she started to rise from her chair in surprise.
"But I'll only tell you how if you pass today's test. You were told about the test today, right?"
"Ah, yes!"
"Good, then please follow me."
As I stood up to guide Ye-na, she also rose from her seat.
"Um, but what about that person...?"
Ye-na pointed to Su-yeon, who was sitting with her arms crossed, looking slightly miffed.
"She's from HR, so you don't need to worry about her. Let's go this way."
Deliberately ignoring Su-yeon's piercing gaze boring into my back, I led Ye-na out of the meeting room.
Instantly, the eyes of everyone in the office turned towards us.
It seemed the news of the interview had spread throughout the office...
Ye-na flinched at the sudden attention, grabbing the hem of my shirt before quickly letting go when she realized what she'd done.
"S-sorry..."
"It's fine. Just follow me."
I led Ye-na to an empty seat in the art team that I'd prepared in advance.
I'd heard the seat's previous owner had quit about a week ago, but that wasn't important right now...
Arriving at the test location, I turned to see Ye-na looking increasingly nervous as the reality of the situation set in.
"What do you use for 3D work? Maya? 3D Max?"
"Ah, I use 3D Max."
I launched 3D Max as Ye-na had mentioned, then pulled up an illustration of the Operator, Girls Memorial's mascot, on the adjacent monitor.
"For this test, please create a 3D character model of the Operator, Girls Memorial's mascot."
"Can I use ZBrush?"
"Of course. You can use the one installed on the desktop."
"L-lastly, what's the deadline for this...?"
"There's no set deadline, but naturally, the faster you complete it, the better your evaluation will be."
"I see... Understood."
Contrary to my expectation that she'd take the test in a nervous state, I left as Ye-na grabbed the mouse with an eager look.
"Well then... I guess I'll tackle my remaining work?"
*
I finished all the pending tasks both inside and outside the office.
I placated the CEO, who had been waiting for me half-sulking in the meeting room, sent her on her way, and cleaned up the room.
I checked Girls Memorial's development schedule and the progress of the Android version development.
Finally, after finishing the review of the first event update scheduled for next week, it was nearly time to clock out.
As I stood up from my seat, rubbing my eyes strained from staring at the monitor, I couldn't help but groan and stretch.
I really need to exercise...
As I was leaving the office to give some final feedback to the art team, I sensed unusual activity all around.
What's going on?
Normally at this time, everyone except those working overtime would be busy preparing to leave, but today the place was bustling with people.
And they were all gathered around the art team area.
Curious, I headed towards the art team and found the team members huddled together, seemingly watching Ye-na as she worked on the test assignment.
As expected, Ye-na looked uncomfortable with people watching her, fiddling with the mouse with a troubled expression.
"Wow, her low-polygon modeling was already super fast, and now she's already doing high-polygon modeling?"
"Her speed is no joke."
"Who brought her in again? Director Ji?"
"I think so? I heard the Japanese publisher had their eye on her for an official comic artist, but our Director spotted her 3D talent and snatched her up."
"But how did the Director know about her 3D skills? Even when I asked around, nobody in the industry had heard of her."
"Does the Director have some kind of sixth sense? I heard he was the only one confident our game would succeed, and he's the one who brought in our Art Director too."
...Where did they hear all this from?
Knowing that if I showed up now, the atmosphere would get weird, I quietly snuck back to my office.
The feedback isn't urgent, so I'll check tomorrow. Maybe I should just head home for today.
After wrapping up my work and gathering my things, I glanced towards the art team area on my way out.
The early shift seemed to have all gone home, and now the late shift members were gathered to watch Ye-na.
While I felt bad for Ye-na, surrounded by team members, what could I do?
Hang in there.