Game Developer in the World of Anime

Looking at the game over screen in front of her, Utaha frowned in frustration. "Ichin, is there something wrong with the difficulty of this game? Why can't I dodge any of the attacks?"

Ichin, sitting beside her, chuckled. "Don't rush. Take it slow. The Husk Guard's attack range is fixed, and it only has three moves—jump smash, shockwave, and weapon slam. As long as you time your attacks properly, hit once, and then retreat, you'll be fine."

With Ichin's guidance, who clearly knew the game inside out, Utaha regained some confidence. After two more attempts, she finally defeated Husk Guard.

"Phew!"

Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Utaha watched as Husk Guard disappeared and the passage to the next area opened up. She placed the controller in Ichin's hands.

"I'm done. This really isn't for me. Just dealing with an elite enemy is already exhausting."

Ichin didn't insist. After all, everyone had different gaming preferences. He smiled and said, "Alright, I'll take over for you."

"Go ahead. I'll order a drink."

Utaha pulled out her phone. "Ichin, what do you want in your milk tea? Pudding again? The usual?"

"Yeah, the usual—pudding, half sugar, no ice."

After placing the orders for herself and Ichin, Utaha got up and went over to the others, ordering milk tea for everyone one by one.

After getting a pearl milk tea for herself, Hazuki winked at Utaha and teased, "Thanks, boss lady~~"

Utaha, completely unfazed by Hazuki's teasing, accepted the title with ease.

"That's right! I am the boss lady!"

Lifting her chin proudly, Utaha returned to Ichin's side in a good mood, watching him play.

"Tsk tsk tsk~~~"

Seeing Utaha's reaction, Hazuki sighed in disappointment. "Looks like I won't be able to tease her about this anymore. There goes a good source of entertainment."

Sitting beside her, Umiko was testing the PC demo version while holding a controller. Without looking up, she remarked, "Come on, Utaha isn't the shy type like Hifumi. If you keep teasing her about the same thing, she'll just build up an immunity. Besides, she's already been acknowledged by Ichin's mom. All that's left is the marriage certificate. Of course, she counts as the boss lady now. If I were you, I'd be careful. Otherwise, Utaha might whisper sweet nothings to Ichin and get your salary docked."

"Heh, I'm not worried about that. Utaha would never do such a thing."

After petting Mozuku for a while and letting it wander off to play, Hazuki picked up a controller, opened the PC demo, and started playing.

"Now that I think about it, even though I've been involved in development for so long and watched plenty of tests, this is my first time actually playing it myself. I wonder how it feels?"

Everyone was engrossed in their own gameplay, while the competition between Aoba and Nene was still ongoing.

Both of them had now encountered Husk Guard, but unfortunately, neither had been involved in designing this monster. Unlike the smaller enemies earlier in the game—where even a self-proclaimed clumsy player like Aoba could get through by leveraging her developer knowledge—this was an entirely different challenge.

Before long, Aoba fell victim to Husk Guard's massive dragon fang. Nene lasted about a minute longer but ultimately met the same fate.

"This Husk Guard is so difficult!"

Nene Sakura frowned as she watched her character respawn. "It doesn't have many attack moves, but the pressure while fighting it is intense."

Meanwhile, Hifumi had already cleared the fight. She glanced at them and softly advised, "Don't rush. This game isn't about mindlessly attacking. The Husk Guard's attack patterns were actually enhanced by Ichin and Hajime."

"Huh? It was made harder?"

Nene turned to look at Hajime Shinoda, who was sitting cross-legged on her chair. "Hajime, why did you make it tougher?"

"Hmm? The Husk Guard?"

Hajime looked up, recalling for a moment before replying, "During testing, Ichin thought its attack speed was a bit slow, so I sped it up slightly and added an extra attack move. But honestly, it's not that bad—it's just an early-game elite enemy. Not too hard."

"It's really not that hard."

Nene agreed. "I just didn't react fast enough at first. I'll definitely clear it on the next try."

And true to her word, within seconds, she smoothly defeated Husk Guard without any hesitation.

In contrast, Aoba got completely stuck there, struggling for over ten minutes.

Even after Nene had cleared the entire demo version, Aoba was still stuck fighting Husk Guard.

Umiko temporarily stopped playing her own game and moved over to Aoba's side, watching her struggle with interest while occasionally offering comments.

"Hmm, you shouldn't have been greedy with your attacks there."

"Ah, what a pity! If you had just lasted a bit longer and landed two more hits, the Husk Guard would have been dead. Keep going! You can do it next time, Aoba!"

Aoba's frustrated expression every time she died was like a puffed-up little hamster, which Umiko found absolutely amusing. She kept encouraging Aoba, giving her tips, just so she could see that cute reaction a few more times.

But alas, Aoba was truly bad at action games. Even after more than ten minutes, she still couldn't defeat Husk Guard.

"Ugh…"

Putting down her Switch, Aoba looked up at Umiko. "Umiko, this game is so hard… How did I not notice during development?"

Of course, that's because you're in the art department, so naturally, you wouldn't have noticed.

Umiko mentally retorted but, seeing Aoba's red-rimmed eyes and pitiful expression, felt her defenses shatter in an instant. A faint blush spread across her face.

She reached out and patted Aoba's head, her voice trembling slightly. "It's okay. Let's just play something else, then?"

"Yeah, I'm done. I didn't find any bugs anyway, so someone else can test it. I wouldn't be able to check the later parts even if I wanted to."

Exiting the game, Aoba followed Umiko to the lounge area, looking for another game to ease her frustration.

Yagami Kou had been observing their interaction from a distance. She leaned closer to Rin and whispered, "Rin, did you see that? I swear, Umiko just now looked like one of those shady old men luring an innocent young girl away."

"Huh? Isn't that a bit of a stretch?"

Rin hadn't been paying much attention—she had only noticed them leaving for the other room.

But Yagami nodded firmly. "I'm absolutely sure! Even though I know Umiko isn't a bad person, her actions just now were way too easy to misinterpret. And honestly, Aoba totally looks like a middle schooler."

"If we're talking about looking like a middle schooler, then Nene fits the bill even more."

Rin chuckled, and both of them turned their gaze toward Nene, who was standing there smugly after clearing the demo version.

Petite figure, round face, and an adorably youthful appearance—she definitely looked even more like a middle schooler than Aoba did.

...

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