By the time Ichin rang the doorbell, Haruno was already up and about—she had to head to work anyway. She quickly came running to open the door.
Dressed neatly in a form-fitting office outfit, she looked ready for the day. Ichin handed her the bag of lunchboxes he was holding.
"Morning, Haruno. Here's your lunch for today. Have you had breakfast? If not, I've got some extra sandwiches. You can take one to the office."
"Good morning, Ichin!"
Taking the bag with a smile, Haruno said happily,
"Give me two minutes, I'll grab my things and head out. Make me a sandwich, please—I'll eat it at the office. There's a morning meeting and I need to hurry."
"Alright, I'll wrap one up in foil for you."
Back inside, Ichin wrapped a still-warm sandwich and handed it to her. Haruno tucked it into the bag with her lunch, her mood even better now.
"Moving here really was the best decision I've made. At my old place, there wasn't anywhere good for breakfast. I always had to settle for a convenience store rice ball or some bread at home. Only when I stayed with Yukino sometimes did I get a decent breakfast. Come on, Ichin, let your big sister give you a hug!"
Ichin immediately sidestepped with a look of polite refusal.
"Enough already, Haruno. It's just a sandwich. You'd better get going—you said you had a meeting."
"Oh, right, time to head out."
After fixing her hair, Haruno smiled.
"Then I'm off. Oh, by the way, I won't be back for dinner tonight. I've got to meet with a business partner. There'll be drinks."
"Tonight?"
Ichin frowned slightly.
"If you'll be drinking, will someone drive you back? Do you want me to pick you up?"
"Don't worry, I've got an assistant and a driver. They'll bring me home."
Pleased by his concern, Haruno left for work with a smile.
After she was gone, Ichin looked around the house. Utaha had just dragged herself out of bed and was shaking off her drowsiness. After telling her Yukino would be arriving soon, he also headed out for the company.
He arrived right on time, as everyone else was getting in. A few were still munching on breakfast, but Ichin didn't mind. As long as the work got done, he wasn't the type to be strict about such things.
Grabbing a cup of coffee, he sat down next to Kō Yagami.
"Kō, the monster and NPC models should be mostly done by now, right?"
She nodded, picking up a task sheet.
"Pretty much. We've still got four bosses, three mobs, and two NPCs unfinished. Plus, two bosses are being reworked. If I count it up, we should be done by the end of August. But the maps are still far from finished—at least two more months to rough them out. After that, fine-tuning and placing monsters will take even more time."
"About what I expected."
Ichin checked the task sheet.
"Let everyone keep working at this pace. We haven't set a release date yet anyway. We'll finalize one in October."
By October, once monsters and maps were done, he could accurately estimate how much time would be needed for integration and optimization.
His projection wasn't far off: release around March or April next year.
As for Titanfall, once the Shanghai studio's report came in next week, and if it confirmed release within the year, they could announce a launch date and open pre-orders.
Just as Ichin finished reviewing the sheet, Kō received a modeling file from Hifumi—it was the rework of the Devourer of Gods, Aldrich.
"Oh! Hifumi, you're quick!"
A few desks away, Hifumi replied shyly,
"I had it mostly finished yesterday, but Aoba and Nene dragged me out to dinner. So I wrapped it up right after getting in today."
"I see."
Kō nodded, opening the file. She and Ichin examined it together.
The rework was mainly for weapon design, and improving the texture of Aldrich's robes and crown.
After Hifumi's changes, the adjustments were solid.
"What do you think?" Kō asked Ichin.
"Looks good. No problems. Send it to the animation team for the next step."
"I think so too."
Closing the file, Kō smiled at Hifumi.
"Alright, approved. Get back to your other tasks."
Hifumi finally breathed a sigh of relief. The game's style didn't really match her strengths, and this was the fifth time one of her models had been sent back. The changes were never big, just small tweaks—but it was obvious to both her and Kō that she wasn't fully suited for this kind of dark, grotesque design.
After a bit of hesitation, Hifumi walked over, mainly addressing Ichin.
"Um, Ichin-kun, I have a request."
Seeing her expression, Ichin chuckled.
"Let me guess—it's about the style not fitting you?"
"…Yeah, a little."
Hifumi lowered her head.
"I feel like I'm better at modern or fantasy styles, like Persona. This darker aesthetic, especially the twisted monster designs—I can manage, but I can't bring out the same ease I had back then."
Ichin had noticed this too, though he hadn't expected her to admit it outright. Clearly, her social anxiety had improved a lot.
Rubbing his chin, Ichin said,
"I understand. But you know the company's situation. We'll have to finish Dark Souls before the next project. After Fall Guys launched, most of the team was shifted here—only a small group stayed for operations and post-launch content. Here's what we'll do: for now, hang in there. Kō can assign you to tasks that better suit your strengths. Once the new projects start, it'll be your time to shine."
Hifumi could take the lead on designing protagonists and humanoid villains for GARO, and she could also contribute to character designs for Tales of Berseria.
Hearing this, Hifumi smiled, thanked him, and went back to work.
---
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