NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14
The CBT schedule has finally come to an end.
The overwhelmingly positive evaluations that had defied my expectations from the very first day continued all the way until the last.
In particular, the part that received the most praise was, as expected, the art team.
Given that it’s a mobile game with the characteristic of collecting cute girls, it was a natural outcome after investing heavily.
Most importantly, unifying the illustration styles to give a similar feel was key.
The next most-praised aspect, surprisingly, wasn’t the story or the modeling but the sound.
Especially the feedback on the OST was quite enthusiastic,
To the extent that inquiries about the soundtrack CD album were pouring in.
Just then, Chae-young was entering the office, so I called her over.
“Chae-young Senior, could you come over here for a moment?”
“Hmm? Why?”
“There’s something I want to show you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s the CBT feedback I’ve compiled. Come over and take a look.”
Chae-young took the stack of documents I handed her and began reading while sitting down in a chair.
“Let’s see… the OST and BGM are strengths, and the BGM that sounds like the firing of real guns and OST that changes with the atmosphere are charming…”
The more Chae-young read the feedback, the more her lips curved into a smile.
Of course, she quickly managed her expression, probably feeling embarrassed to show it all on her face.
“Hm, hmmm… this seems like an obvious outcome to me. I wrote and composed all of it myself, after all.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. By the way… do you have something you’re hiding?”
“What? Why?”
In response to my question, Chae-young began scrutinizing me as if I was hiding something.
“You’re smiling for no reason and seem to be hiding something, don’t you think?”
“Well, the thing is…”
I showed Chae-young a compiled review of requests for the release of the soundtrack CD that I had set aside earlier.
“What’s this? A request for a soundtrack CD release?”
Chae-young’s expression became more and more serious with each line of the review she read.
Once she finished reading and placed the review on the desk, she turned to look at me.
“Um, Ho-jin.”
“Yes…?”
“Do you know how many OST tracks were embedded in the CBT client so far?”
“Maybe… around 50?”
“It’s precisely 87. Moreover, the CBT client still has many unimplemented contents, right?”
“Maybe that’s true… right?”
“So, if there are already 87 OST tracks in the unimplemented client, how many will be included by the time of the official launch?”
As Chae-young’s voice dropped lower and lower, I avoided her gaze and responded.
“Maybe a lot more?”
“Exactly. There will surely be a lot more. What about the BGM? Plus, from the CBT reviews, there were requests to change sound effects as well. You’ll need a lot of hands to change them, right? Right?”
“Uh… well…”
“Why are you suddenly speechless? It was never my intention to offer an excuse since I clearly know you were brought here to be overworked. So, go back and get to work. Understood? I’ll be heading to the recording studio now…”
With a look that suggested she might dig further into things if left to herself, I had no choice but to confess hurriedly.
“Just kidding! The soundtrack CD was actually planned to be released as a 1st anniversary special, so you don’t need to worry about it for a while!”
“Then why did you show me this review now?”
“I thought it would be better to inform you ahead of time rather than springing it on you later.”
After hearing my explanation, Chae-young finally sighed, seemingly exasperated but understanding.
“If you try any more of these pranks, then I’m really packing my bags and leaving. Got it?”
“I promise I won’t repeat such jokes.”
“…Alright then, is that all?”
After the matter was resolved, I asked Chae-young, who was about to return to the recording studio.
“Senior, are you free after work today?”
“I think so?”
“After work, wait for me. We need to talk about yesterday’s monitoring and today’s work. I owe you an apology, so I’ll treat you to dinner.”
“What’s the menu?”
“Anything you want.”
Upon hearing that, the senior couldn’t help but smile and said.
“If we’re going, bring Seol-i along. She worked hard yesterday too.”
“Oh, good point… I forgot about Seol-i.”
With Chae-young’s words, I nodded and replied.
“If you’re free after work, take Seol-i and wait outside the entrance. I’ll probably leave after my meeting with the president.”
“Okay~.”
Watching Chae-young leave the office with light steps, I finally let out a sigh of relief.
‘I guess I shouldn’t joke about work-related things next time….’
*
After delivering feedback documents to all departments and taking a short break, there was a knock on the door.
Tap tap.
Seol-i entered cautiously after knocking gently on the door.
“Um… Director, do you have some time?”
“Huh? Yeah, come in.”
With my approval, Seol-i came in and seemed quite nervous.
“Why so hesitant? Just come in comfortably.”
“Well… this is Director’s personal space…”
“It’s fine.”
“Well then… excuse me…”
After carefully closing the door and coming in, Seol-i sat down cautiously on the chair.
“So what’s the matter?”
“I… I wanted to discuss in-game controls…”
I paid close attention as Seol-i, unlike earlier, calmly explained without any quivering tone.
“So in summary, you’re here because there was a difference in opinion between you and Myunghoon regarding character control during in-game battles?”
“Y-yes…”
“Controls? Didn’t my feedback document specify how they should be implemented?”
“Well… the document only mentioned enabling the selection of a party’s battle formation…”
“So?”
“So I suggested a way where players choose a battle formation before the fight, and receive bonus stats based on the chosen formation…”
“And?”
“Well… Director Kim thought it would be better to allow active control of the characters during the battle…”
“Hmm…”
After listening to Seol-i, it turned out to be a more complicated issue than expected.
It was something I had been contemplating myself.
Both Seol-i’s and Myunghoon’s methods had their strengths and weaknesses.
If Seol-i’s approach was taken, the game might become more casual, though there was a possibility that it would turn overly light-weighted.
On the other hand, with Myunghoon’s method, it would enhance gameplay satisfaction but risk becoming a barrier to entry due to mobile platform control limitations.
After pondering both opinions, I finally came to a decision.
“Seol-i, let’s go with your method.”
“But… if you’re choosing this way because of me…”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“It’s not that….”
“Thinking I’m making this choice to boost someone’s morale is a huge misconception. Moreover, I’m not the type to let personal feelings influence such choices.”
“Ah, I’m… so sorry!!”
Realizing she had misjudged, Seol-i’s face turned bright red.
“There’s nothing to apologize about. It’s just me expressing it ambiguously.”
Despite my attempt to console her, Seol-i covered her face with her hands, unsure if it helped.
‘What should I do in moments like this….’
As I scratched my cheek amidst the awkward air, I pulled out a can of coffee from the refrigerator and placed it on the back of her neck.
“Hiiik?! W-What are you doing suddenly…?!”
“This is to help you forget and drink up.”
Upon hearing my words, Seol-i finally reacted, and took the coffee.
“Thank you very much…”
“By the way, are you free for dinner tonight?”
“For dinner? Not really busy…”
“Senior Chae-young is going for dinner. Will you join us?”
To my question, Seol-i nodded with a smile.
“Uh, director…”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I almost forgot to mention…”
“What did you forget to say?”
Seol-i set down the coffee she was drinking and handed me her smartphone.
“There is a new mobile game that will compete with ours next month…”
After taking Seol-i’s smartphone to check, a familiar illustration caught my eye.
“When is it supposed to launch? Next month?”
“Yes… Apparently it’s launching on February 13th.”
If what Seol-i said was true, the implications were clear.
The future has changed.
The name of the game that Seol-i showed me was “Infinity Million Arthur.”
Or in short, “InMilA,” one of the first-generation Subculture mobile games.
It was the game that first appeared during the dawn of the Subculture mobile gaming era and had captured the attention of users,
But I never imagined it would be launched at this point in time.
In my memory, the release date for “InMilA” was three months later, in April 2012.
‘Could it be that our game has become the variable, different from the previous timeline?’
As I was deep in thought, Seol-i asked me, worrying,
“Does this mean we need to bring our own launch earlier…?”
“Hm? No, why?”
“But with new competition, if we don’t take the market first…”
At Seol-i’s genuinely worried words, I chuckled and waved my hand.
“There’s no need to worry so much. That game will never be our competitor.”
“Sir…?”
“The market for collecting cute-girl characters isn’t one that can be taken over simply by being launched earlier.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“What do you think will happen when Subculture consumers, who have become discerning through our illustrations and PV, see relatively lower-quality illustrations and PVs?”
“Hm… the reaction won’t be as impressive as expected…”
“You’ve got it. So, there’s no need to rush the release at the expense of quality.”
After my explanation, I added one more sentence to Seol-i, who nodded in agreement.
“Anyway, we’ll win.”
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