Chapter 45
Chae-young was on the phone in a corner of the recording studio.
She had finally given in to my suggestion and called K.
"Ah, yes... I see. You're on a break? Really? No, it's nothing like that. I just wanted to ask you something."
Listening to her conversation, it seemed things were going exactly as I had anticipated.
I had based my request to Chae-young on K Ishida's rest day routine that I'd seen in an interview by chance before my regression.
Of course, the interview I'd referenced was from much later than our current point in time, so there was a chance the routine might have changed and things wouldn't go as expected, but...
From what I could gather from the phone call, fortunately, the current routine didn't seem too different.
"You want me to send you a sample of the guide recording? Yeah, okay. Got it. By when? The day after tomorrow? That's too soon. I'll send it by Friday. Yeah. Take care."
Chae-young seemed to be wrapping up the call as she said goodbye and hung up.
Even after the call ended, she appeared lost in thought, biting her lip as if still pondering something.
I decided not to disturb her and waited quietly.
After a short while,
Chae-young let out a deep sigh, then glared at me and said,
"...I agreed to send the guide sample by Friday, and if the agency approves, we'll start recording next month."
"For the guide sample, I assume you'll be doing the guide vocals, Senior?"
"Who else would do it, you idiot?"
"Hey, why are you getting angry?"
"Shut up."
"Anyway, thank you so much for today. If it weren't for you, it would have been tough to find a singer."
"...If you're grateful, try being nice to me on a regular basis."
Chae-young grumbled, but I just laughed it off.
I already knew that even though she seemed angry, she didn't really mean it.
Our relationship wasn't so fragile that it would become awkward over a few words like this.
"And remember that whiskey you promised? I'll come to collect it when the project is finished, so make sure you have it ready. Got it?"
Now that was sincere.
***
After successfully wrapping up the trailer OST,
As the development of Project RA officially began, a tsunami of work started to pour in.
The art team was busy finishing 2D designs, 3D modeling, and UI/UX graphics.
The development team was wrapping up the prototype.
The planning team was finalizing class balancing, various storylines, and UI/UX work.
The sound team would be in the middle of recording guide vocals...
While the entire studio was buried under this tsunami of work, some good news arrived.
"The teaser image is finished?"
[Yes, I sent it via email. Please take a look.]
Ye-rin usually insisted on face-to-face reports, but she must have been incredibly busy this time as she relayed the information over the phone.
"Just a moment."
I immediately opened my email and launched the teaser image Ye-rin had sent.
The monitor filled with a desolate apocalyptic landscape and girls glaring at me.
It looked exactly like the image of Reverse Arcadia I had been imagining in my head.
[What do you think? The quality is good, right?]
The stark white snow-covered landscape, the ruined city with buildings engulfed in flames,
And in the midst of this devastation, 'Henrietta' wielding an axe and stepping on the head of a fallen police officer, with the Resistance members standing behind her—it was all quite striking.
[As you suggested, we emphasized the image of Reverse Arcadia while keeping the game genre ambiguous.]
"Well done. It looks exactly like what I had in mind."
[Right?]
"Yeah. I don't think it needs any more feedback, so I'll approve it as is."
[Okay, if you notice anything that needs changing later, please let me know right away.]
"Sure."
After ending the call with Ye-rin, I looked at the teaser image on my monitor once again.
Two weeks until the teaser image release, huh.
According to the business team, they planned to reveal Project RA along with the teaser image...
This would surely make users notice that the director had changed to Myung-hoon hyung.
To be honest, the public opinion on Girls Memorial wasn't bad enough to cause an uproar over the announcement of a new project,
But there had been some slightly negative feedback recently about the lack of content, so it seemed better to prepare at least some countermeasures.
As I dialed Myung-hoon on my smartphone, I prayed inwardly.
Please, let there be no issues…
***
Jae-hyun hasn't been enjoying games much lately.
To be fair, he wasn't the type to play games often in the first place, but...
More than that, he had grown tired of Girls Memorial, which he had recently gotten into.
Thinking about why that might be... there was simply nothing left to do.
At first, the story was overflowing, the characters were charming, and the content... well, it was lacking even then, but since it was his first mobile game, he had enjoyed playing it.
But that enjoyment only lasted for about six months.
It took just half a year to devour all the stories, reach first place in PVP competition, and scrape through all the content with his favorite characters.
Of course, this didn't mean that Girls Memorial was slow to update or neglected. He still enjoyed the updates whenever they came, but it still felt a bit lacking.
No wonder there was more talk about fan creations than in-game content in the community these days.
Moreover, Jae-hyun was a professional illustrator who made a living through his art.
Naturally, he too began to enjoy fan creations more than the in-game content.
Today, as part of that trend, after posting a spring-themed Operator illustration he had drawn himself, Jae-hyun was browsing the community.
A post caught his eye.
[Username: ㅇㅇ]
[Title: Anyone know about Enson GT developing a new game?]
【Enson GT New Game Teaser Image News Screenshot】
｛News Link｝
I grabbed this as soon as it was posted, gonna read it now brb
[Comment List][Most Viewed]
-OMG look at that speed lololol
-Posting something that came out 1 minute ago
-You're crazy lol
Enson GT's new game? Is it a sequel to Girls Memorial?
Jae-hyun clicked on the news link as if entranced.
["Will the Girls Memorial phenomenon repeat itself?" Enson GT reveals 'Project RA' teaser image!]
(Reporter Yu Hak-jun)
Girls Memorial developer Director Ji Ho-jin, AD 'Yerin' participating.
【Project RA Teaser Image】
Enson GT, the developer of <Girls Memorial>, revealed the first teaser image for their new subculture game <Project RA> on the 27th.
<Project RA> is a new game being developed by 'RA Studio', a subsidiary of Enson GT, under the direction of Division Head Ji Ho-jin, known as the inaugural director and general director of <Girls Memorial>.
Division Head Ji Ho-jin (former General Director), who was in charge of developing Girls Memorial, is overseeing the project, with Yerin AD, who was in charge of the characters for Girls Memorial, participating as AD.
.
.
.
Enson GT, which revealed this teaser, stated that they plan to sequentially release information about <Project RA> through various channels in the future.
Comments(753)[Newest]
-Enson GT's new game? Crazy lol
-The teaser atmosphere is insane
-It's the complete opposite of Girls Memorial's vibe?
-So what happens to Girls Memorial? Shutting down?
Jae-hyun's thoughts upon seeing this news article were identical to the comments.
What will happen to Girls Memorial when the next game comes out?*
Of course, they wouldn't shut down Girls Memorial, which was still hitting #1 in revenue even now.
But thinking the community might be in an uproar or criticizing Enson GT out of anxiety, he checked the community, but
Contrary to expectations, the community atmosphere was somewhat festive.
[Username: ㅇㅇ]
[Title: Upvote if you think these Enson GT bastards are wallet slayers for weebs lol]
【Project RA Teaser Image】
Honestly, Girls Memorial was already a game that mesmerized with character designs alone
But Project RA takes it even further lol
How much more are you going to milk the weebs' wallets, Enson GT!!!!
[Comment List][Most Viewed]
-This is seriously tempting lol
-Especially the girl stepping on the cop's head in the front
-Judging by her position, she seems to be the main character lol
[Username:ㅇㅇ]
[Title: I like how Project RA's atmosphere is the opposite of Girls Memorial]
【Project RA Teaser Image】
Honestly, Girls Memorial had this youthful vibe? Which felt a bit childish
But this new game is really my style.
FYI, I'm not a chuunibyou.
[Comment List][Most Viewed]
-Sure, next chuunibyou
-Do you go around talking about going dark and stuff?
-Honestly, the post is right tho, the new characters are hot af
[Username: RA]
[Title: Analyzing Project RA game based on the teaser image.]
【Project RA Teaser Image】
First off, you can see the city is in ruins, right?
This means the setting is post-apocalyptic.
Think of last year's hit movie, Snowpiercer.
It's easier if you imagine that.
Plus, if you compare the shapes of the collapsed buildings, you can see they're similar to the building styles in Girls Memorial
【Girls Memorial / Project RA Building Comparison Photo】
See how similar the building styles are?
You can even see what looks like the central clock tower.
Whether they deliberately drew it this way or just used the same assets to save time, we can't know for sure
But considering Enson GT's obsession with backgrounds and character designs, I bet they did it on purpose.
If so, it means Project RA and Girls Memorial are set in the same space.
I'm not sure if this is set in the future from Girls Memorial's perspective or if there's some other trick involved.
Anyway, I'm super hyped for this new game
Upvote if you think these Enson GT bastards are driving weebs crazy lol
[Comment List][Most Viewed]
-Good analysis
-Comparing them side by side, they really are similar lol
-Does this mean we might see Operators or Karin in the new game too?
ㄴThat's probably a stretch lol
Jae-hyun was impressed after reading the community posts.
All these Easter eggs hidden in just one teaser image?
As much as he wanted to join in and enjoy the community buzz, he reluctantly picked up his tablet pen.
It was clear that the new characters from Project RA would be the talk of the doujin industry in the first half of this year.
There was no choice but to be the first to post artwork to claim attention.
Should I start by drawing the black-haired character who seems to be the leader?