Chapter 8
"Alright, everyone. This is Han Chae-young, our new Sound Director who'll be joining our team from today, handling all things audio."
It was our weekly morning meeting.
Applause filled the conference room as I introduced Senior Chae-young, who had just wrapped up her career in broadcasting to join our team.
"Ah... It's nice to meet you all. I'm Han Chae-young, and I'll be taking on the role of Sound Director. It's been a while since I've worked in games, but I'll do my best."
As she finished speaking and bowed her head, another round of applause erupted.
After giving everyone a moment to get acquainted, I resumed the meeting.
"Okay, that concludes our meeting... Ye-rin, Seol, Senior Chae-young, and Myung-hoon, please stay behind for a moment."
As the rest of the team filed out, I turned to face Chae-young first.
"Senior Chae-young, your first task will be composing the main OST for our game."
"OST? Sounds good. Do you have any samples?"
"No, we don't have samples. Instead, please work based on the game's setting guide and story, following your instincts."
"Hmm... So that's why you brought me on board? To put me to work right from the start?"
"That's the idea."
"Well, alright. Is there a set deadline for this?"
"No, we've only just started the project ourselves. Of course, the sooner you can finish, the better for me, but don't stress too much about it. Just focus on the work."
"Got it. Anything else I should keep in mind?"
"As mentioned in the materials I sent you, this will be our game's main OST. Please try to capture a youthful, high-teen vibe that matches our main theme. Something with a bit of pop and energy."
"Youth, high-teen, energetic..."
"You can work in the recording studio. Just head out of the office and go all the way down the left corridor."
"Okay~"
As Chae-young left the room, I turned to Myung-hoon next.
"Myung-hoon, I checked the report you submitted... Even with heavy optimization, full 3D combat is still impossible?"
Myung-hoon nodded with a troubled expression.
"We're working on optimization with the art team, and while we're getting decent framerates on Apple devices, the Android side is... well, it's pretty abysmal."
"Hmm... I had a feeling this might happen. For now, let's just implement a prototype and test it again next year when the new Android devices come out."
"Alright."
"There's no rush on the development side for now, so just focus on making a solid internal test prototype. Make sure it's bug-free, okay?"
"That goes without saying."
As the feedback session ended, Myung-hoon gathered his papers and left the conference room.
Watching his sturdy back as he exited, I felt my trust in him grow even stronger.
Ah, now that's how a developer should be.
As the door closed, I turned my attention to Ye-rin.
Sensing what I wanted, she immediately activated the beam projector.
The blank wall of the conference room suddenly displayed illustrations of the three main heroines who would represent our game.
"Based on the rough sketches you provided, Senior, I designed each character with a different focal point to emphasize their position as representative characters."
Ye-rin paused to take a sip of water, her throat apparently dry, before continuing.
"Of course, given the limited number of countries that use school uniforms, we had to base the designs on a mix of Korean uniforms and Japanese sailor uniforms... Is that okay?"
Looking at the characters' uniforms, I could clearly see elements of both sailor uniforms and the H-beam style of Korean school uniforms.
"Lastly, I differentiated the source of the students' abilities by giving each of them a unique ring that appears on their wrist."
"This is good, really good..."
As I examined the character designs, I couldn't help but tilt my head slightly.
Something felt a bit lacking, like it was missing that special flavor.
It was as if a key seasoning had been left out of a dish.
"It feels like something's missing..."
"Really?"
While Ye-rin looked puzzled, I took another look at the character illustrations.
Ah...
Now I see what the problem is.
"Ye-rin, Seol, both of you come here."
As they approached, I pointed to the character illustrations.
"I've been thinking about what's lacking, and don't these three look a bit too plain?"
"Plain?"
"I... I'm not sure I see it."
"When I say plain, I don't mean the design itself is plain."
Looking at just the costume designs, Ye-rin's talent had already blossomed to the point where it reminded me of Blue Astris before my regression.
She must have developed an eye for design through her doujin circle activities...
But at this point, Ye-rin's drawings were missing something.
Personality.
"The characters are pretty. The costume designs are good. But do you know why it feels slightly lacking? It's because they're missing personality."
I picked up the tablet pen next to me and added a hairpin and elf ears to Corone's blue hair.
"Our game isn't set in the modern world, right? The girls are students, but they use various weapons and have special abilities. Wouldn't it make sense to have races other than humans?"
"Ah... You're right."
"Plus, what was the first gift Corone received after regaining her memories in the synopsis? It was a Chichi-chan merchandise bag, right? So if we draw it like this, hanging off her shoulder... How does that look?"
"If it's just a bag on her shoulder, it might look a bit plain. Since she's a girl, should we add some keychains too?"
"That's not a bad idea."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And for the second character, China, she's too much of a stereotypical blonde character. Let's try making her completely different, like a quiet type."
"Keep the sharp eyes?"
"Yeah. A quiet appearance with sharp eyes, but actually kind-hearted, maybe even keeping a dog or cat. And make her chest the biggest. People have certain expectations based on hair color, you know."
Ye-rin, who had already drawn 18+ doujinshi during her circle activities, didn't bat an eye at this feedback, but Seol was different.
"Make the chest the bi-biggest..."
Her face turned bright red in an instant.
As I suspected, she seemed to have no immunity to this kind of talk.
"Lastly, Yuzuki is good overall, but... The school she attends is the Oracle Union Academy, right? Does that remind you of anything?"
"Hmm... Someone who's good at studying, like a model student?"
"Since it's science-related, maybe something nerdy...?"
"Close, but not quite. Oracle, what does that suggest? It's got that science student, researcher vibe, right? So how about this? She's probably not the outdoorsy type."
Using Photoshop, I shortened Yuzuki's height and added a white lab coat over her uniform.
"Add to that the pale skin of someone who spends a lot of time indoors, slight dark circles under the eyes, but with a bright expression that lacks the gloominess often associated with this type..."
The resulting Yuzuki was a completely different character from the original.
"How about that? It's a totally different character now, right?"
"Senior, this is just..."
"A-Amazing..."
I saved the work, shrugging at Ye-rin and Seol's amazement.
"When designing the initial characters, it'd be good to bring out their individuality like this... You finished designing the mascot character too, right?"
"Ah, yes. Here it is."
As Ye-rin manipulated the computer, the trio's illustrations disappeared, replaced by an illustration of a young girl who looked about 9 or 10 years old.
Platinum blonde hime-cut hair reaching her waist, a sleeveless dress with gold patterns reaching her knees.
White eyes with stars embedded in the pupils and a ring of light encircling her neck added a mystical air, as if she wasn't a living person.
Perfect...
It was an illustration that perfectly captured not only the initial concept but also my request to add an otherworldly mystique.
"The mascot Operator doesn't seem to need any feedback."
"Right? Seol helped a lot with this one."
"Seol did?"
"Yes, the pupil design and color combinations were all based on Seol's suggestions."
I looked at Seol with surprise at Ye-rin's words.
She nodded, her face turning bright red.
The Producer really did send me S-class talent...
"This should be good for the character designs. If you get stuck on anything, just ask."
"Got it."
"And Seol... Have you finished organizing the synopsis?"
"Ah, yes...! I've uploaded everything up to Chapter 3 of the main story to the internal cloud...!"
"Well done. How about the rough draft for the key visual?"
"I've sketched out an initial rough draft... I was planning to hand it over to the art team as soon as Ye-rin finished the character designs..."
"Good. While the art team works on the key visual, tell the planning team, except for those working on the main story, to start preparing for the PV storyboard work."
"Ah, yes...!"
"Alright, you two can go back to work now."
As they bowed and left the conference room together, I couldn't help but let out a sigh I'd been holding in.
With this, we've somehow crossed the starting line for the project... Maybe I should perform some kind of ritual while I still have time.
Shaking my head at the sudden absurd thought, I made my way to my personal office.