Chapter 249: A Visit from Haruno

For Persona, Ichin planned to include full voice acting in three languages: Chinese, Japanese, and English. It was a massive undertaking.

However, after reviewing the budget, he decided to prioritize the Chinese and Japanese voiceovers first and delay the English version for a bit.

The Japanese voice cast was finally confirmed after Ichin and Hazuki personally met with various voice actors and their agencies.

At the start, only Ichin and Hazuki knew about the cast list—no one else in the company had a clue.

It wasn't until after the contracts were signed that Ichin had Hazuki officially announce the list internally.

> "Jun Fukuyama, Mamoru Miyano, Nana Mizuki, Tomokazu Sugita, Rina Satou, Aoi Yūki, Haruka Tomatsu."

Seeing the lineup full of incredibly familiar names, Kō Yagami's mouth had been wide open from beginning to end.

Once she finished reading, she turned stiffly to Hazuki, who was taking pictures of Aoba across from her.

"Wait… these voice actors… you really got all of them?"

"Well, of course. I already announced it, didn't I? You think I'd joke about something like this?"

Hazuki smiled as she ignored Aoba's pleas to delete the photos and happily saved them instead. "The cast was chosen by Ichin, and I handled the negotiations. We got lucky—everything worked out. Initial recording starts in May. If you guys are interested, you're welcome to visit the studio then."

"I want to go!!"

Yun was the first to raise her hand, cheeks flushed with excitement. "I love Nana Mizuki so much!"

Soon after, everyone from the art team raised their hands as well.

After all, the cast was made up of top-tier, popular voice actors. There wasn't a single person who wasn't a fan.

Their reaction was exactly what Hazuki had expected. With a cheerful smile, she said, "No problem, but you can't all skip work and go at once. Talk it over and take turns—go in small groups."

"Yay!!!"

Everyone got back to work, but this time, no one wore their headphones. While their hands stayed busy, they kept chatting about the voice actors.

---

Later that afternoon, after school was out, Ichin didn't head straight to the office. Instead, he drove to a café.

Someone else had already been waiting inside.

After sitting down and ordering a cup of coffee, Ichin looked at the woman across from him and asked, "So, Haruno-san, what did you call me here for?"

With one hand propping up her chin and a subtle, elusive smile on her lips, Haruno looked at him and said, "Yukino told me she's thinking of moving to a pet-friendly apartment."

"Oh?"

Ichin blinked in surprise, then chuckled. "So she really took my suggestion seriously, huh? And did you agree to help her, Haruno-san?"

"Of course. She's my dear little sister, after all. She'll be moving into the new place in a few days."

Ichin glanced to his left and right before Haruno asked curiously,

"But Ichin-kun, how exactly did you get Yukino to change her mind? She clearly wasn't thinking about getting a pet at all before."

"It's not that she never considered it—she just didn't have the confidence."

At that moment, the waiter brought over the coffee. Ichin added a bit of sugar, stirred it slowly, and then said,

"Raising a pet takes patience and time. It's normal for a student like Yukino to feel unsure about something like that. But I think, for her, taking care of a pet isn't that difficult. So I just gave her a little encouragement."

"A little encouragement, huh?"

Haruno nodded thoughtfully and sighed.

"That's actually pretty nice. When I originally helped Yukino find her current apartment, I deliberately chose a place that didn't allow pets. I just wanted to see what she would do once she moved out and started living on her own. But surprisingly, nothing changed—not for a whole year. Only now are things finally starting to shift. I guess… the past still weighs on her more than I thought."

"Didn't it occur to you to properly guide her?"

"Me?" Haruno pointed to herself and shook her head.

"I'm not the right person to play that kind of role. Originally, I hoped Yukino would change on her own… but now I realize, we're just fundamentally different people. What she needs… maybe she's already found it."

A riddle speaker, huh?

Well, not quite. Ichin more or less understood what Haruno was getting at.

It was nothing more than friends—genuine friends who support each other, help each other grow and improve, with no ulterior motives.

Haruno, in her world, almost had no such people. But Yukino was different. That kind of relationship had started to take root in her life. Slowly but surely, Yukino had begun drifting away from the path her sister once walked.

Ichin shrugged and didn't comment further. He picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"So, Haruno-san, was this the only reason you called me out today?"

"Of course not. That was just part of it."

She curled her finger at him, motioning for him to come closer, then leaned in slightly and whispered,

"You didn't forget about what I said before, right? The part about me investing in your studio?"

"Eh?"

Of course Ichin hadn't forgotten Haruno's desire to invest—he just didn't need any investors right now.

Seeing the confused look on his face, Haruno narrowed her eyes and said,

"I know what's going on. Your studio just expanded its team and moved to a new location. The monthly expenses must be huge. You're telling me you don't have any financial issues at all?"

"Nope, not a single one."

Ichin answered confidently.

"Even though we've grown to fifty people now, the two games we've released already bring in more than enough funding. You know this, Haruno-san—both games sold over a million copies. You can probably estimate how much revenue the studio has now. And their sales are still steadily growing. I won't be short on funds for at least the next year, maybe even longer."

"So you really won't let me invest?"

"It's not that, Haruno-san," Ichin said, genuinely puzzled.

"I just don't get it—why are you so intent on investing in my studio? It's not like I'm the only option out there. You could explore other industries too. Game development isn't exactly a guaranteed return-on-investment field."

"Other companies might not offer a high return, but you're different."

Haruno pointed straight at him, her voice firm and unwavering.

"Before deciding to invest, I did plenty of research into the game industry. And your studio, Ichin, is completely different from the ones I looked into. Three games—three completely different genres and directions. I have every reason to believe you've still got other ideas tucked away in that brain of yours. I'm not really investing in your studio—I'm investing in you."

"Me?"

Ichin froze slightly.

Was he really worth that kind of trust and investment from Haruno?

After a few moments of thought, he finally spoke.

...

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