After pointing out a few things that needed fixing and handing the task to Narumi, Ichin left the programming office.
Over in the art department, Eriri was still struggling against the Nameless King.
Unfortunately for her, Ichin had already tweaked the boss's stats and moves to be tougher than the original version.
The "Nameless King" was a boss title, but in truth he was the Sun's Firstborn, son of Lord Gwyn, the original Lord of Cinder—the so-called "Eldest Sun."
In the original game, the Nameless King was strong, but there were plenty of strategies to beat him. With careful defense, players could even grind him down through shield-tanking and get past phase one.
But Ichin's version was different. In the first phase alone, both the dragon's moves and the Nameless King's swings of the Dragonslayer Swordspear were brutally sharp.
As a hidden boss, Ichin had raised his difficulty right from phase one—let alone phase two.
Standing behind Eriri, Ichin leaned toward Ruri, who was watching.
"She hasn't even cleared the first phase yet?"
Ruri nodded and whispered back,
"This boss really is hard, especially if you're not used to this level of difficulty. It's punishing. Luckily, he's not required for the main story. If you can't beat him, you can always go fight other bosses, level up, then come back—it'll get easier."
After all, as a stat- and gear-driven action RPG, Dark Souls always offered ways to ease difficulty for new players: pump stamina to 40, go sorcery and play at range, or even turtle behind a shield. Anything was better than rolling mindlessly.
But against the Nameless King at equal level, you needed real combat skill.
Sadly, Eriri wasn't there yet. In the one minute Ichin stood watching, she was repeatedly battered, pulling back to chug Estus, then immediately pummeled again.
The boss had only lost about a third of his health, yet she was already down to just two Estus Flasks.
And this was a test build where Ichin had maxed out the flasks—15 flasks at +10.
To drain that down to two already showed just how "sloppy" she was with her hands.
As Eriri fell once more to the Nameless King's Swordspear, Ichin asked softly,
"Not going to give her a hint?"
"I thought about it." Ruri smirked but kept her composure.
"But she insisted on beating him alone—no hints allowed. Nothing I can do."
As a veteran gamer, especially fond of action titles, Ruri had a dark-themed history herself—complete with chuunibyou days and failed light novel attempts. Though she hadn't become a novelist, she still loved dark fantasy settings.
Dark Souls was exactly her type of game.
She had been the first to try the Nameless King once he was finished, and impressively beat him from scratch in under thirty minutes.
Not only that—after clearing it, she even suggested improvements: in phase two, link a follow-up thrust after the overhead slash, then chain into a lightning execution move.
It was a viciously brilliant design.
Ichin loved it. He praised her highly, implemented the combo himself, and even worked with her to refine other parts of the Nameless King's move set.
The stats stayed fixed, but the fluidity of his attacks jumped to another level.
It wasn't too obvious in phase one, but once players reached phase two, they'd feel it immediately.
After all, he was Lord Gwyn's son, the Sun's Firstborn—he needed to live up to the name.
Seeing Eriri throw a mini tantrum after dying, then pick the controller back up to try again, Ichin decided not to watch further and returned to his office.
The company was starting another hiring wave. In addition to public recruitment, Ichin had arranged a private job fair with Tokyo University's Computer Science Department. Several good resumes had come in.
After screening them and checking attached portfolios, Ichin set aside five strong candidates from Tokyo University and seven more experienced developers from other schools, then forwarded them to HR for interviews.
Dark Souls development continued steadily. With BattleBlock Theater finished, Ichin hadn't fully merged that team into Dark Souls. Instead, aside from some light support tasks, they were being prepared for a new project.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.
Ichin had already written the proposal, though he hadn't shown it yet. Now, with interviews about to begin, it was time to bring it to Hazuki.
Calling her into his office, he handed her the document.
"Hazuki, take a look. This will be your next assignment."
"A new project?" she smiled, flipping it open.
"I thought you'd have something lined up for me soon. Huh? Fall Guys? Isn't this that game you mentioned once or twice before? I nearly forgot."
As she read through, Hazuki's eyes grew brighter.
She had watched obstacle-course game shows before—Western and Chinese ones alike. Their appeal was undeniable: whether contestants cleared the challenge spectacularly or failed in hilarious ways, it always made for great entertainment.
But turning that into a game? A massive multiplayer obstacle-course party game? That was something she'd never imagined.
The level design echoed the shows, but being a game meant it could go further—more exaggerated, more whimsical.
And with so many players at once, the chaos would only get funnier.
Adding elimination rounds gave it a competitive edge, too.
By the time she finished the proposal, Hazuki was convinced. As long as the stages were plentiful and well designed, and the online system was solid, this game would absolutely take off!
*
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