The main highlight of the day was the grand dinner planned for the evening, so everyone settled for a simple lunch—just some takeout to get by.
Of course, "simple" didn't mean cheap. The bentos they ordered were still quite pricey.
As he browsed through the takeout app on his phone, Ichin glanced around the studio and asked, "Hiratsuka-sensei said she'll be here in the afternoon. What about Utaha, Eriri, and Editor Machida? Are they coming around noon or later? And Yukino and her sister—they're supposed to come in the afternoon too, right?"
Utaha nodded and took out her phone. "Yeah, Yukino and her sister are coming later. I'll message Eriri and see when she's planning to show up."
Just as she sent the message, the studio door burst open.
"I'm here!"
Well, better order one more lunch.
As soon as Eriri arrived, Aoba excitedly filled her in on the battle demo. Eriri immediately got hyped, rushed to the computer, and had Aoba boot up the demo for her. She grabbed the controller and dove right in.
"Ohhh! This is the BGM Ichin-kun said he recorded with the brass band? It sounds awesome!"
"Ohhhh! I'd seen the finished UI designs before, but seeing them in action in the scene—it hits so different!"
"Ohhhhhhh—!"
"Stop yelling already!"
Standing behind her, Umiko lightly karate-chopped Eriri on the head to silence her squealing.
"What was that for, Umiko-senpai? I'm just excited!"
"No loud yelling allowed."
With a calm expression, Umiko held Eriri's head still and said, "This is just a basic battle demo. If you're this hyped already, what'll happen when we actually get a full-featured version? Are you gonna explode from excitement?"
Eriri's cheeks flushed red. "I can't help it! The stuff this demo shows off is seriously cool—especially for a turn-based game! That's super rare these days!"
"Still, try to keep it down. This game was designed with that kind of vibe from the start."
Having just finished placing the takeout order, Ichin walked over and glanced at the screen. "Eriri, you've been focused on your exams lately, so you haven't gotten the full picture of the project yet. Once the combat features are all in place, _that's_ when you should really start freaking out."
As for the demo in its current form—Ichin was definitely satisfied with it. But it wasn't perfect—maybe an 80 out of 100. There was still plenty of room for improvement.
Still, today was Christmas Eve. He wasn't going to dwell on that kind of stuff. He'd wait until after the holiday.
Five minutes later, Eriri reluctantly put down the controller, having finished testing out the simple battle demo.
Leaning back in her chair, her face full of anticipation, she sighed. "Phew!!! I've played a lot of turn-based games, but this one feels totally different. The combat's full of energy, the music's amazing… Honestly, I could just sit here and listen to the soundtrack all day. Ughhh, when will this game finally be finished? I'm getting impatient already!"
"It'll be a while. Gotta take it step by step," Hazuki said with a smile. "This game is going to be _huge_. Just think about it—a first playthrough alone is gonna take seven to eight hours, with barely any filler. That kind of development cycle is no joke. Ichin-kun said the plan is to finish it in about a year and a half, but we all know that's just the _ideal_ timeline."
Ichin followed up, "Now that we've got Eriri's doujin circle handling some of the outsourced work, development should be manageable. If everything goes smoothly, we might even finish by the end of next year. But we're not rushing it. Thanks to our previous two games, we've built up enough funds to support the whole development process."
When he wrote the project proposal, Ichin was already mentally prepared for a long-term grind. As long as they could finish within two years, that'd be a win.
After all, Ichin didn't have any crazy cheat powers—he only had his memories from his past life to rely on. Everything else came down to teamwork and everyone's combined efforts.
But that was fine by him. That just made the sense of accomplishment all the more real. Even if it took a little longer, so what? He was still young—no need to rush.
After finishing lunch, everyone took the chance to relax a bit in the afternoon. Someone pulled out a few decks of cards, and soon enough, a casual poker game was underway. Then, at around 2 PM, Shizuka Hiratsuka arrived—bringing along a full mahjong set.
Ichin didn't know how to play mahjong, so he sat that one out. What he _didn't_ expect, however, was that Ko Yagami and Hazuki both knew how to play. And since Haruno, who arrived together with Yukino, was also experienced, they had exactly four players. The mahjong table was up and running in no time.
As for Ichin, under the "strict orders" of their homeroom teacher Hiratsuka-sensei, he took on the role of server and was tasked with bringing everyone tea.
And it wasn't just a simple job—Hiratsuka wanted black tea, while Haruno, Hazuki, and Ko all wanted milk tea.
Poking Ichin lightly on the shoulder, Hiratsuka flashed him a bright smile.
"What's the matter? Your teacher is only asking for this one tiny favor, and you can't manage that? Don't forget, you'll still need to ask me for future leave approvals, right?"
Ichin rolled his eyes at her, then turned and walked into the kitchen.
Ten minutes later, he returned with a tray holding four teacups.
He handed out the milk tea to the other three and then placed the last cup next to Hiratsuka.
"There you go—King of Tea from Wuyi Mountain."
Hiratsuka had just reached out for the cup when she froze in surprise.
"Wait, what did you say?"
"King of Tea, from Wuyi Mountain," Ichin repeated casually.
She leaned in, took a deep sniff, and was immediately hit by the rich tea aroma. Swallowing a little, she muttered,
"This stuff isn't cheap, is it? Actually, never mind—I probably wouldn't even be able to buy it if I tried."
Then she took a sip and let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
"Ahh... perfect. I feel lucky—I think I can win this hand!"
Right as she declared that, she played a tile. Hazuki, who was next in turn, broke into a grin.
"Thanks for the win! Kokushi Musou!"
"Aaaahhh!!"
Ichin didn't really understand the game, but the expression on Hiratsuka's face was definitely amusing.
"Wait, Hiratsuka-sensei... you guys are playing for money?"
"Just a friendly wager! Just a few coins to keep things interesting," she said, handing Hazuki a couple of small coins—definitely not much.
Ichin shook his head with a sigh and headed into the next room.
Over there, things were a bit more tame. A group of girls had split into two teams—one playing Dou Dizhu (a Chinese card game similar to Big Two), the other playing Old Maid. The stakes? Whoever lost had to stick funny notes to their face.
Ichin sat down beside Utaha and glanced at her hand.
"You're the landlord?"
"Yup, I'm the landlord," Utaha said with a smirk.
Without hesitation, she tossed out two cards.
"Double jokers—boom. And a straight to finish. Both of you, time to stick on the punishment notes."
She picked up two sticky notes and promptly slapped them onto the faces of Eriri and Yukino.
The two girls, who were playing Dou Dizhu for the first time, were absolutely destroyed by Utaha's flawless combo.
...
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