Chapter 9: Publishing

It was a day near the end of the year, almost a year since the project had started.

I received a call and headed up to the CEO's office, where Su-yeon greeted me in formal attire.

"You called for me?"

"Yes, don't just stand there. Have a seat."

Without a word, I sat on the sofa as Su-yeon suggested.

"You usually dress casually. Something special going on?"

"This? I just got back from a quick visit to headquarters to see my father."

"Ah..."

Su-yeon took a bottle of coffee from the fridge and handed it to me.

"I called you today because there were a few things in your report I didn't quite understand."

"Oh, I see."

"The report mentioned launching the first official service on the Japanese server?"

"That's correct."

"Why go through all that trouble? From translation to finding a publishing company, it's going to be complicated."

"The potential benefits outweigh the complications."

I took a sip of the coffee she'd given me before continuing.

"First off, the size of the subculture market there is incomparable. That means fierce competition, but fortunately, the mobile game market is still a blue ocean."

"So... you want to enter this blue ocean before other Japanese game companies and secure a foothold?"

"Exactly."

"Not bad... What else?"

"It's a bit awkward to say this directly, but I believe it's still too risky to run a subculture business in our country."

Su-yeon's expression turned intrigued, and she leaned back on the sofa as if encouraging me to continue.

"For a subculture mobile game to succeed, the illustrations need a certain level of... exposure. This creates a risk with game ratings due to suggestive content."

"Lastly, given our country's current sentiment, subculture content still tends to struggle in the mainstream."

"If you, as the person on the ground, are this confident, then it must be the right choice."

Satisfied with my answer, Su-yeon smiled and handed me a card.

"Actually, everything we just talked about was just a pretext. This is the real point."

I had no choice but to accept the corporate card she offered with both hands.

"Ho-jin, I may have been born with a silver spoon and lack hands-on development experience, but I know how a manager should act."

"Ah, well..."

"Responsibility and authority go to those on the front lines. I'll support you as much as I can, so just focus on succeeding."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Just don't tell the other team members about this, okay?"

After saying this, Su-yeon put a finger to her lips in a 'shh' gesture, her expression tinged with a strange expectation.

***

I came down to the 6th floor with the CEO's expectations and the corporate card weighing on me, but I didn't let it show.

There was no need for the team members to shoulder this burden too.

It's a shame, but team dinners will have to wait until we officially launch the service.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I entered the team office where Ye-rin greeted me.

"What's up?"

"Senior... It's finally done."

"What's done?"

"The teaser PV."

"...Already?"

"There's still some post-processing left, but the outsourcing company said they'd send it by tomorrow morning. Since it's not a full-frame animation, it saved us a lot of work."

"If it had been a full-frame animation, everyone would've run away, considering how we're already working overtime like it's our daily bread..."

...If even Ye-rin, who rarely complains about being tired, is saying this, the schedule must have been really tight.

Trying not to focus on the slight dark circles under Ye-rin's eyes, I said:

"Good work, everyone on the art team. Don't try to rush anything else today. Get some rest, and when the outsourcing company sends the final version, just let me know. Got it?"

"Yes..."

Seeing Ye-rin's faint smile at the prospect of some free time, I watched her stumble towards the nap room.

Things are about to get really busy from here on out...

After hearing the good news from Ye-rin, the first person I sought out was Yu-mi.

It was time to start preparing in earnest for publishing on the Japanese server.

I approached Yu-mi, who seemed deeply focused on her monitor, and whispered:

"Yu-mi... Shouldn't you be working?"

"Eek!"

Yu-mi jumped, startled, and tried to cover her monitor with her body.

"What are you looking at that makes you so jumpy every time?"

"N-n-nothing at all...?!"

"Then why are you so surprised?"

"W-well, that's because you keep sneaking up on me..."

"If you weren't doing something else, you wouldn't have a reason to be surprised, would you?"

"......"

Unable to refute my words, Yu-mi avoided eye contact, which made me lose the desire to tease her further.

"Anyway, forget about that. How did the virtual negotiation with the publisher go last week?"

At my question, Yu-mi once again avoided my gaze.

What on earth happened?

"Why? Did you make a mistake or something?"

"No, it's not that... It's just that their contract terms were a bit..."

"What kind of terms did they propose?"

"They said they need to hedge their risks for publishing a mobile game, especially a subculture one, so they want a 7:3 split, with marketing guarantees separate..."

I could understand why Yu-mi was hesitant to talk about it.

Those contract terms were clearly taking advantage of us under the guise of risk hedging.

Given the situation, I was prepared to accept terms somewhat favorable to the publisher, but this was going too far.

Are they looking down on us?

After a moment's thought, I told Yu-mi to wait and left the office to make a call.

The person who could solve this problem at this point was none other than Su-yeon.

"CEO."

[Yes? Did you forget something in my office, Ho-jin?]

"No."

[Then?]

"I hate to impose, but something's come up that I need to ask for your help with."

[A favor?]

I explained everything I'd just heard from Yu-mi.

[So, you're saying the Japanese publisher is using risk hedging as an excuse to offer us sucker-level contract terms?]

"That's right."

[Hmm... Interesting. It's been a while since we've been underestimated like this. I'll take care of that issue, just wait a bit. And...]

Su-yeon paused, as if unsure whether to continue.

[If you're not satisfied with the business PM I sent for this publishing deal, I'm willing to replace them. What do you think?]

Faced with this unexpected offer, I had to think for a moment.

There was a possibility that this contract issue arose because Yu-mi was young and inexperienced, but...

She definitely hadn't done anything wrong enough to warrant replacement.

"No, I think the result would have been the same regardless of who handled it. It would be unfair to blame Yu-mi for this."

[If that's how you feel. I'll contact you again once the publisher issue is resolved.]

"Yes, thank you for your help."

After ending the call, I returned to Yu-mi's desk in the office.

Yu-mi, who had been staring blankly at her monitor, turned to me with a slightly dejected expression.

"How did it go...?"

"I explained the situation well. They said it should be resolved soon, so we just need to wait."

"Explained...? To whom...?"

"The CEO."

This seemed to catch Yu-mi off guard, her eyes widening in surprise.

"R-really...?"

"Why would I lie about this?"

"I guess you wouldn't... That's a relief..."

"Indeed."

As I comforted Yu-mi, who was letting out a sigh of relief, I returned to my desk and opened the company messenger to find a new message.

The sender was Yu-mi.

[Um, Director?]

-What is it?

[Are you free after work today?]

-I don't have any plans.

Yu-mi seemed to hesitate for a moment before sending:

[W-well, since you helped me out so much today... I'd like to treat you to dinner. Would that be okay?]

Even through a message, I could imagine Yu-mi fidgeting nervously. I smiled as I replied:

-Sure, I'll wait for you at the entrance after work. Take your time coming down.

[Okay!! Thank you~(smiling emoji)]

*

At 6 PM, I left the office before Yu-mi and waited.

After about 5 minutes...

"Director...!!"

I saw Yu-mi running towards me.

Wavy black hair reaching her waist.

A cat-like face full of mischief.

A flared skirt that fell below her knees paired well with a lemon-colored knit cardigan.

She had the kind of beauty that would make people turn their heads on the street.

"Did you wait long?"

"No, I just got here too."

"That's good. Shall we go then? A friend recommended this place, and said it's really good."

Before I knew it, Yu-mi had grabbed my hand and started walking, catching me off guard.

Although we'd grown closer over the past year working together, we weren't quite at the level of casually holding hands.

But looking at Yu-mi's beaming face as she led me by the hand, it seemed she didn't attach any particular meaning to the gesture.

It looked like she had unconsciously taken my hand...

Since it felt awkward to say anything, I just let myself be pulled along until we arrived at the restaurant Yu-mi had recommended.

Japanese restaurant Kuno.

I'm not too familiar with it, but apparently it's a popular spot in Pangyo these days.

I was worried we might not get a table, but thanks to Yu-mi's foresight in making a reservation, we were seated without any wait.

"When did you make this reservation?"

"Right after we made plans, Senior..."

"......"

As we shared the set course meal and I listened to Yu-mi's concerns, I felt like we'd grown a step closer.

Of course, the trade-off was learning about Yu-mi's drinking habits, which I could have done without.

"Directorrr... I'm so sorryyyy..."

Even after leaving the restaurant, Yu-mi clung to my waist, sniffling. Only after I'd seen her safely home could I finally end my day.