Chapter 247: New Car and Work Meeting

At the apartment complex, there were naturally parking spaces available. When Ichin's father bought the place, he had already considered that aspect and had even told Ichin that once he was old enough, he should go get his driver's license.

Now, after a year, that parking space had finally found its purpose.

After parking the car at home, Yagami Kō and Rin Toyama didn't head back to their own place but instead followed Ichin upstairs.

After brewing some tea and sitting together on the couch, Ichin let out a satisfied breath.

"License obtained, car bought—finally got one of the important things checked off the list."

Yagami Kō, full of anticipation, added,

"I didn't think much of it before, but now that I'm learning to drive and about to buy a car, I'm suddenly getting really excited!"

"Excited, huh?"

Utaha nodded with a smile.

"It's good to look forward to it, but I still think you should polish your driving skills a bit more, Kō. Driving is definitely a skill-based activity. Don't forget—we all saw how you kept crashing while playing Euro Truck Simulator."

"I know that! And games are totally different from real life, okay? Don't lump them together!"

Remembering how she struggled in Euro Truck Simulator, Kō couldn't help blushing.

"I've already practiced once for the road test, so don't underestimate me!"

As it turned out, when Kō really set her mind to it, she could absolutely get it done. After Umiko received her license, both she and Rin smoothly passed their driving exams as well and got their own licenses.

They even managed to buy their cars without a hitch.

With everyone now having cars, it became much easier for the group to go out together.

The day after getting her car, Kō drove her new ride to work with Rin in the passenger seat. Her face was glowing with a smile that just wouldn't fade.

"Hehehe~~ I've got a car now!"

Even though they'd only bought a Toyota—which wasn't as fancy or expensive as Ichin's or Umiko's cars—Kō was still over the moon.

Rin, sitting beside her, chuckled.

"Kō, you've been beaming all day long. Maybe you should calm down a little?"

"Hehehe, I know, I know! —Oh, it's Aoba and Hifumi!"

Spotted on the sidewalk were Aoba and Hifumi, walking together. Kō slowed the car, rolled down the window, and called out,

"Good morning, Aoba! Hifumi!"

The two were startled by the sudden voice. Aoba looked over and, recognizing Kō, exclaimed in surprise,

"Kō-senpai, is this your new car?"

"That's right! Come on, hop in—I'll give you a lift to the office!"

After pulling over and letting them into the back seat, Kō smiled proudly,

"So? Yesterday I only sent you pictures."

Aoba looked around at the car's interior and smiled.

"Looks really nice!"

Next to her, Hifumi also gave a small smile and softly said,

"Congratulations on the new car."

"Hehe, thanks!"

Kō, whose excitement had just started to settle thanks to Rin's earlier words, was once again bursting with joy.

When they arrived at the office, Kō naturally spent the whole morning showing off—after all, it was her first day driving to work in her brand-new car.

That afternoon, Ichin arrived at the company after finishing his classes and quickly heard about it from everyone.

Snacking on some of Aoba's treats, Ichin laughed and said,

"Kō, if you really want to show off, you could've just bought a sports car. Wouldn't that be even more eye-catching?"

"Tch, as if I'd fall for that and waste more money! I'm not stupid!"

Kō shot him a glare, then leaned over and snagged two Pocky sticks from Aoba as well.

"I already spent a ton on this car. I'm not about to blow all my savings on a sports car! I've experienced the misery of being totally broke before. If it weren't for Rin helping me out, I'd have had to move back home ages ago."

The moment savings were mentioned, everyone's gaze instinctively shifted to Shinoda Hajime from the action team.

Shinoda, who was swinging around a model lightsaber and practicing poses, noticed the sudden attention and quickly struck a dramatic stance.

"I'm not the same person I used to be! I have savings now!"

"Really?"

Yun Iijima slid over in her chair and gave her a look.

"I seem to recall you preordering two model kits this morning? Technically, your savings may still be in your account, but that money's already as good as gone."

"Ah… right!"

Lowering the lightsaber, Shinoda started counting on her fingers.

"Two models… with the balance payment included… Yeah, there goes another chunk of cash. But it's fine! Didn't Ichin say it before? 'Money isn't gone—it's just transformed into something that stays by your side!'"

Ichin !!

Noticing everyone had now turned their eyes to him, Ichin smiled and raised his hands.

"I mean, I do think that makes sense—especially for folks in the figure and model scene."

To avoid getting dragged into a deeper financial debate by the more fiscally responsible members, Ichin quickly clapped his hands to redirect the conversation.

"Alright, alright! Kō, Rin, Hajime—we've got a meeting. Rin, can you call Hazuki for me? I'll go get Umiko."

Once all the team leads had gathered in the meeting room, Ichin began presenting the project's roadmap for May.

Tapping a pen rhythmically against the table, he started,

"First, let's talk about the music. The track we've been working on with the professional composer is almost finished. We should be able to hear the final version within a week. If everything checks out, we can integrate it directly into the game.

"Next is the voice acting. Hazuki, how's the progress with the list I gave you?"

Hazuki smiled and replied,

"Don't worry—I've contacted everyone. Two of them want to participate but need a bit more time to wrap up their current work due to scheduling conflicts. Aside from that, everyone else is onboard. If you have time, we can go meet them and discuss the collaboration in more detail."

Ichin nodded.

"Alright, let's do that next week. We should start preliminary voice work within May if possible. Since we're going full voice-over, it's going to be a hefty workload.

"Next up—NPC and monster modeling. Kō, how's that coming along?"

"Because your standards are so strict, I've been sending back anything that doesn't meet the bar for a redo," Kō reported. "But we've still hit our monthly quotas. At our current pace, we should finish all the NPC and monster models within two months."

"Perfect. If the timeline's on track, then we'll stick with the original plan."

Ichin then turned to Umiko to go over the next part of the agenda.

After nearly an hour, the meeting finally wrapped up. Ichin returned to his own office to focus on his personal tasks.

For a project of this scale, simply overseeing things as a producer wasn't satisfying enough for him. After all, he had skills of his own—it would be a waste not to put them to use.

...

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