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[Game] Chapter 190: The Last Day of Vacation
🕑 Added 2025-04-05 04:58:46 +0000 UTCIchin had given everyone a 10-day vacation, but, just as he had told Hazuki, he himself hadn’t relaxed too much.
Aside from attending his usual classes, he had spent most of his time reading programming books and watching in-depth videos on game development technologies.
During this time, Utaha had been experiencing a creative breakthrough and had already finished writing the sixth volume of her novel. With that done, she had even started drafting part of Persona’s game script.
Right now, however, it was downtime—she was resting her head on Ichin’s lap, watching videos on Bilibili on her phone.
Thanks to Ichin’s encouragement—and her own fast progress in learning Chinese—Utaha could now use various Chinese apps with ease. Watching anime and browsing interesting videos on Bilibili had become one of her favorite pastimes.
"Ichin~~"
After finishing a Hollow Knight boss fight video, Utaha put down her phone and poked his stomach.
Ichin, who had been reading, glanced at her over his book and asked,
"What’s up?"
"Everyone’s coming back to work tomorrow—does that mean we’re officially starting development on the new game?"
"Yeah, it’s finally time." Ichin nodded.
He sighed,
"But I still have classes to attend… When will I be able to fully focus on game development?"
Utaha giggled.
"Not until you start university, right? That’s still about a year and a half away."
Ichin calculated the time and brushed her bangs aside with a small smile.
"Well, by the time I reach senior year, things should ease up a little. Since everyone will be preparing for entrance exams, there won’t be much left for teachers to actually teach. I’ll probably have plenty of time to take days off—as long as I keep up with the tests, my grades will be fine."
Utaha glanced up at him and smirked.
"So… University of Tokyo?"
"Didn’t we already agree on that?" Ichin replied confidently.
"You’re aiming for Todai, so naturally, I’ll take the Todai exam as well. But while you’ll be in the Literature Department, I’ll probably go for Computer Science."
(T/N: Todai is refer to University of Tokyo)
He was already capable of developing games, but Ichin still wanted to further his knowledge at university. Plus, it would be a great opportunity to scout talented graduates for the studio—a win-win situation.
Seeing his self-assured expression, Utaha chuckled.
"You’re pretty confident, huh? Just make sure you don’t crash and burn when the time comes!"
"Don’t worry, I won’t. I trust my abilities, but I’m not arrogant enough to slack off. I’ll make sure to review properly."
Helping her sit up, Ichin added,
"You’ve been lying down for too long. Playing on your phone like that isn’t good for your eyesight. Want something to drink? I’ll make some milk tea."
Utaha’s eyes lit up.
"Ooh, yes! Oh, and can you make boba pearls too? I’m craving bubble tea."
"No problem. We still have a lot of tapioca flour left."
With that, Ichin headed to the kitchen to prepare afternoon tea.
While Ichin was cooking the pearls, the doorbell rang.
Since he was busy in the kitchen, Utaha got up to answer it.
"Coming~"
She walked to the entrance, opened the door, and found Kō Yagami standing there, holding a box in one hand and a large bag in the other.
"Good Afternoon, Utaha! I'm Back!"
"Good afternoon, Kō-san."
Utaha smiled and stepped aside to let Kō Yagami in. Hearing voices at the entrance, Ichin also emerged from the kitchen.
"Kō-san, you're back already?"
Kō grinned and lifted the bags in her hands.
"Yeah, I stayed at home for so many days that my mom kicked me out. She told me, 'You're going back to work tomorrow, so stop lazing around at home on your last day!'"
She handed the bags over.
"Here, these are some vegetables from Rin’s family farm, and this box has homemade snacks from my mom—she wanted you guys to try them."
Ichin accepted them with a grateful nod.
"Thanks! I was just wondering what to make for dinner, and you showed up with fresh veggies. Oh, there's quite a lot! You should stay and eat with us tonight. The studio's fridge has been empty these past few days, so you'd probably just end up ordering takeout if you were alone."
Kō grinned shamelessly.
"Hehe, that was my plan from the start!"
Then, she sniffed the air and caught a sweet aroma.
"Wait… are you cooking something?"
"Yeah, milk tea. Just in time for afternoon tea—want some?"
"Hell yes!!!"
A while later, Ichin brought out the freshly made bubble tea to the living room.
Utaha and Kō had already opened the snack box and were waiting for the drinks.
"Woohoo! Bubble tea as soon as I arrive—this is great!" Kō took a sip and let out a satisfied sigh.
"The weather’s getting colder, so warm drinks are the best. Oh, right—Ichin, we're officially starting Persona’s development tomorrow. How’s the task distribution looking?"
"Everything’s set for the first week. After school tomorrow, I’ll go over the upcoming workload with Rin, so we can properly plan out the next few months."
Ichin took a bite of the homemade cookies and added,
"Persona is way bigger than Hollow Knight. It’s a long-term project, at the very least, we’re looking at a full year of development."
Kō was already mentally prepared for this. After all, Ichin had warned them—the game had massive amounts of text, a complex RPG system, and various gameplay elements that would require heavy development.
Despite the pressure, Kō wasn’t intimidated—in fact, she was even more excited.
"That’s what makes it fun! I have a gut feeling—if we pull this off, the entire industry is going to be shocked!"
Then, she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh yeah—Ichin, didn’t you say you wanted Hifumi to handle part of the character outfit designs?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
Kō smirked and pulled out her phone, opening the photo gallery.
"Look at this. A couple of days ago, when I was out shopping with my mom, I spotted Hifumi hopping from store to store in the mall, trying on tons of outfits. She bought a few, but it was obvious she was studying different styles for inspiration."
She handed the phone over.
The photo showed Hifumi dressed in an elegant British-style trench coat, a knee-length skirt, and black stockings. She had a slightly embarrassed blush on her face, probably because she realized she was being photographed.
"Hehe, since I happened to run into her, I told her I’d help take reference photos—so I ended up snapping a whole bunch."
Kō scrolled through the gallery, revealing photo after photo—each one showcasing Hifumi in different outfits.
Hifumi wasn’t very tall, only about 162cm (5'4"), but her proportions were excellent, making almost any outfit look stunning on her.
After flipping through a few pictures, Ichin stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Kō… are you planning to keep all of these on your phone?"
Kō blinked.
"Uh, yeah? Why?"
Ichin gave her a serious look.
"My advice? Upload them to cloud storage and delete them from your phone. You do not want Rin finding out about this."
Kō: "…"
...
