Chapter 38: A Game Company? Hmm? A Studio Opportunity?

For dinner, they went to a barbecue restaurant. After enjoying a delicious meal, it was time to head home.

The most convenient way back was by bus, so Ichin and Kasumigaoka decided to head to the nearest bus stop. Halfway there, a few women carrying boxes exited an office building ahead of them. All of them looked dejected, and two of them even had red, teary eyes.

Seeing this, Utaha muttered softly, "Did they just get fired? But wait, isn't this supposed to be a holiday?"

Ichin didn't respond right away, instead lifting his gaze to the signboard hanging outside the building.

Eagle Jump?

The moment he saw that name, Ichin's memory surged forward. This company had produced a well-known game series called Fairies Story, and its third installment had been released not too long ago. Ichin even had a physical copy of the game lying in his room back in China.

Moreover, he recalled something else—this wasn't just any company. In an anime he once watched, the protagonist worked at a company with this very same name.

New Game! Yes, that was it.

And if he remembered correctly, the characters in the anime were all women, too. But what was going on now?

With a furrowed brow, Ichin quietly explained the situation to Utaha as they approached the group of women.

Understanding the context, Utaha realized it was a game development company. So Ichin-kun wants to investigate? She remembered his plans to start his own studio. If these people really were leaving their company, wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity to recruit them?

As they got closer, they overheard the conversation between the women.

A beautiful girl with a single ponytail, who looked like a well-bred young lady, spoke in a choked voice, "Why did the company have to do this all of a sudden?"

Another woman, slightly older and with long blonde hair, replied with a resigned sigh, "I don't know either. Everything seemed fine until recently, and then headquarters ran into financial trouble. So, they decided to cut off studios like ours that weren't bringing in significant revenue."

A third girl with twin pigtails, who was very petite—barely 150 cm tall—sighed heavily. "I've only been here for a year, and Fairies Story was just released a few months ago. Couldn't they have held on a little longer?"

At that moment, a woman with long gray hair and glasses came out of the building, also carrying a box. She sighed as she spoke, "There's nothing I could do. When I heard the news, I tried to negotiate with the higher-ups. But unfortunately, due to their heavy investments in new ventures, the company faced a massive funding shortfall. Although our team has been creating new games every year, the returns weren't as good as expected. And the expenses for facilities, staff, equipment—all of it costs money. Plus, it wasn't just us; multiple studios and departments were downsized last month as well."

Just as she finished explaining, the gray-haired woman noticed Ichin and Utaha approaching. She particularly caught Ichin's gaze, quickly realizing that he seemed to be there specifically to talk to them.

When Ichin approached the group, he asked, "Excuse me, are you all developers from Eagle Jump? You must be Yagami Kō, the lead artist, right?"

The striking appearance of Ichin left Yagami Kō a bit flustered. With her cheeks slightly flushed, she smiled and replied, "Ahaha, yes, that's me, Yagami Kō."

"Hello," Ichin greeted her politely before continuing, "May I ask what happened to your company? I'm a big fan of Fairies Story."

The gray-haired woman chuckled bitterly, "This isn't exactly a secret in the industry anymore. The parent company ran into financial difficulties, so they needed to cut expenses by selling off or closing down less profitable ventures. Several small studios under them, like ours, were affected first."

"I see," Ichin nodded, now fully understanding the situation. It was indeed a frustrating turn of events. Eagle Jump had always produced quality games, but they never seemed to be financially successful—just like a few other game developers he remembered. Such companies often ended up either being acquired by larger corporations or disbanded entirely.

With this in mind, Ichin turned to the group and asked, "So, have any of you already found another job? To be honest, I'm an independent game developer. I've only completed one game so far, but I'm looking to expand and establish my own studio for future projects."

As he spoke, Ichin pulled out his phone and showed his Steam backend to Yagami Kō. She, still trying to process Ichin's words, took the phone hesitantly. Then, she noticed the game displayed on the screen.

"Wait, is this Slay the Spire? Aoba, haven't you been playing this recently?" Yagami Kō asked, surprised.

"Ah, it is!" The twin-tailed girl, Aoba, leaned over and looked at Ichin with wide eyes. "Are you the developer of Slay the Spire?"

Ichin nodded with a smile. "That's right. My name is Ichin. The developer name is based on my initials."

(T/N: His Chinese Name is Yi Chen, So the Developer/Company name may be YC Games? Will see xD)

The gray-haired woman glanced at the phone screen and raised her eyebrows. "Well, this is unexpected. You're the rising star in the industry we were discussing recently! Although the game currently only has a PC version, it's already generated a fair bit of buzz. So, are you here to recruit us?"

"That's correct," Ichin replied confidently. "I know you've all just lost your jobs, and this must be a difficult time, but I really don't want to miss this opportunity. I have quite a few new game ideas in mind, but it's impossible to execute them all alone. I need a team."

"Hold on!" Yagami Kō returned the phone to Ichin, her face filled with astonishment. "You developed this game by yourself? Is that even true?"

Before Ichin could answer, Utaha chimed in, "Yes, Ichin-kun developed it all on his own. It took him less than two months from the start of development to the game's release, and he managed everything by himself, all while keeping up with his schoolwork."

"You're still a student?!" Yagami Kō blurted out, eyes wide.

Ichin nodded with a smile. "Yes, I'm a foreign exchange student from China, currently a second-year at Toyogasaki Academy."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned. A high school exchange student who had developed a game on his own and sold over a hundred thousand copies within a week of its release—it was almost unbelievable.

Seeing the group of beautiful women of varying ages all displaying the same expression of disbelief, Ichin found it quite amusing. However, he continued, "So, what do you think of my proposal? If this time and place aren't suitable, we can arrange a meeting in the next few days to discuss things in detail."

The women all looked towards the gray-haired woman, clearly the one in charge. She adjusted her glasses thoughtfully before taking out her phone. "Sure, let's exchange contact information first. My name is Shizuku Hazuki. I'm the production director of the studio. Please take care of us."

"Likewise," Ichin replied, exchanging contact details with her. After that, he and Utaha bid them farewell and left. There were likely more employees coming out, and it seemed the group had plenty of other matters to handle.

…