Chapter 27
The next morning.
As I entered the office with a light heart, I was immediately hit with surprising news.
"She finished the test assignment? Already?"
Ye-rin nodded and said, "Well, not completely finished, to be exact."
"How far did she get?"
"Want to see for yourself?"
Following Ye-rin to Ye-na's desk, I noticed Red Bull and Monster cans strewn about.
Deliberately ignoring that mess, I looked at the monitor. Instead of the 3D Max I saw yesterday, ZBrush was open.
I found myself staring at a colorless, expressionless Operator—no longer a vague polygon mass, but an untextured 3D model.
"She worked through the night and collapsed on the desk right after finishing the retopology, saying coloring was impossible at that point."
I examined Ye-na's work based on Ye-rin's explanation.
All of the Operator's signature features were there, from the star embedded in her pupil to the ring of light encircling her neck.
The quality was unbelievable for a novice with only a few freelance experiences, completed in just one day.
No wonder the art team staff were in awe of Ye-na's work yesterday.
"Senior, this means Ye-na passes, right?"
"Of course. I should tell Ye-na directly. Has she gone home?"
"No, she's dead asleep in the nap room after finishing her all-nighter. I'll let you know when she wakes up."
I nodded at Ye-rin's words.
"Alright, I'm heading back to my office then. I've got some work piled up."
"Sure."
As Ye-rin headed to the art team's area, I returned to my private office.
So, with this settled, today's tasks are...
After pondering for a moment in my chair, I pulled out my smartphone.
I should call SFLAG today.
If Ye-na's 3D talent had been mediocre, I would've introduced her to SFLAG without hesitation.
Her talent as a comic artist was impressive enough.
However, now that I knew about her 3D skills, I couldn't just send her to SFLAG. We needed to reach an agreement.
This is going to be a pain...
I went to the break room and got myself an Americano.
Forcibly waking up my sluggish morning brain with caffeine, I made the call right away.
Naturally, I called Tanaka.
After a few rings, the call connected.
[Director, what brings you to call so early in the morning?]
"Ah, Tanaka-san, I'm sorry for the early call. I had something urgent to discuss."
[It's fine. I just got to the office myself. Please, go ahead.]
After gathering my thoughts for a moment, I explained everything that had happened with Ye-na to Tanaka.
Of course, omitting the 3D-related details.
"...So I called to ask how you'd like to proceed."
[Just a moment... So, the 4-panel comic artist we were looking for is actually the younger sister of our game's Art Director, and she's already been hired by your company?]
"That's correct."
[Well, well... This is a first for us too.]
"If you don't have a plan in place, how about we try this?"
[Oh? Do you have a good idea?]
"What SFLAG wants is the 4-panel comic itself, not necessarily the artist, right?"
[Well, that's true, but...]
"Then how about we directly contract with the artist on our end?"
[Hmm... Are you suggesting that Enson will handle the comic production, and we'll just be responsible for translation and uploading to the official account?]
"Exactly. There's no downside for SFLAG, is there? You won't have to worry about contracts, just translation and delivery."
[...This isn't something I can decide on my own. Would it be alright if I called you back in about 10 minutes—no, make that 30 minutes?]
"Of course. Take your time."
[Alright, then if you'll excuse me for a moment.]
Judging by Tanaka's reaction before hanging up, it seemed my proposal had hit the mark.
After all, I was offering to handle the contract work that SFLAG would normally have to do themselves.
It would be even stranger for them to refuse the offer.
As if to prove my prediction right, the phone rang again not long after.
[Director. Your proposal has been approved, as you suggested. They just want to know when we can start serialization.]
"That's great. I'll discuss the schedule with the artist and get back to you soon."
[Understood. We'll wait to hear from you once you've worked out the details with the artist.]
As soon as I finished talking with Tanaka, I immediately called Seol to my office.
It was time to elevate the project we'd put on hold due to lack of personnel.
And that day, the plan Seol had brought became officially promoted to the Operator Channel Project.
*
After finalizing the personnel and officially launching the Operator Channel Project, things became incredibly busy.
First, I instructed Ye-na, who had officially become an employee and started work, to color and rig the Operator model.
After all, rigging—adding the skeleton—was the final step in completing the model for the video.
Leaving behind a crestfallen Ye-na, faced with a flood of work on her first day, I next contacted SFLAG.
They seemed a bit surprised by the sudden project news, but we were able to secure their help without issue.
And that help was...
"Hello, I'm Takahashi Rina, the voice actress for the Operator."
"Hello, I'm Ji Ho-jin, the Director in charge of Girls Memorial."
They had arranged a meeting with the Operator's voice actress.
Usually, voice actor schedules are managed by their agencies, so there's no need for direct meetings, but...
Today, we had some project-related matters to discuss, so it was unavoidable.
As the coffee we ordered arrived, I handed Rina a business card while she took a sip.
"Thank you. May I call you Director?"
"Please, call me whatever you're comfortable with."
"Alright, I'll call you Director then. So, what's the reason you wanted to meet me today?"
"It's because of this."
I took out the documents I had prepared and handed them to Rina.
The first page was titled "Operator Channel Project."
In Japanese, of course.
Rina received the documents and began reading with an intrigued expression.
I waited quietly, watching her blonde hair fall to one side as she focused on the papers.
After some time had passed,
Rina carefully placed the documents on the table and looked at me.
"This is interesting. I haven't heard anything from my agency yet... Is there a reason you're showing me this project first?"
"There are a few things I'd like to ask and request of you."
At those words, Rina took another sip of coffee and nodded.
"Feel free to ask."
"First, as you saw in the project proposal, we plan to use motion capture for this video shoot."
Rina asked with a curious expression, "Motion capture?"
"Yes. It's the latest technology. To put it simply, we'll capture your movements and apply them to the character."
I handed Rina a photo from my bag.
"However, as you can see in the photo, there's some preparation involved, and it might be challenging. If you don't think you can do it, we could use a stand-in..."
"I like it. I'll do it."
"Pardon?"
"I said I'll do the shoot."
"Are you sure you're okay with this?"
Surprised by Rina's unhesitating response, I asked again, but the answer was the same.
"I actually enjoy trying new methods like this. Voice acting has been feeling a bit routine lately."
She definitely seemed more energetic compared to earlier.
Looks like she gets a thrill from challenges...
Nodding as I realized there are all sorts of people in the world, I continued.
"For now, please take a look at the script for episode 1 to get an idea of the video concept."
With those words, I handed Rina the script that had been lying on the desk.
"When you voiced the Operator before, you interpreted her as emotionless, right?"
Rina nodded slowly while looking at the script.
"Ah, yes. That's right. I figured since the Operator is an AI created by the World Tree and first awakened by the Administrator, her emotions would be a blank slate."
I was inwardly impressed by Rina's words.
They matched exactly what I had in mind when shaping the Operator character.
"Your interpretation was spot on. However, for this video, I'd like you to add a bit more emotion to the Operator than in the main game."
"Is that okay? I'm worried the reaction might not be good if her personality differs from the main story..."
"That's why your role is crucial. We need a performance that doesn't feel too disconnected from the main story but gives users a fresh impression."
Rina nodded while jotting down notes in her notebook.
"If you insist... I'll do my best."
"Thank you. I'm looking forward to working with you on this project."
Even after the meeting with voice actress Takahashi Rina ended, the grueling schedule continued.
Completing the Operator's 3D model.
Motion capture video shooting and voice recording with Takahashi Rina.
Video editing by the art team.
Finally, uploading the completed first episode of the Operator Channel to SFLAG's cloud.
By the time we finished all these steps, a month had already passed.