NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27
The next morning.
As soon as I entered the office with a light heart, I heard a surprising fact.
“They finished the test assignment already? Already?”
Yerin nodded and said,
“To be precise, it’s not completely finished yet.”
“How far did they get?”
“Would you like to check it out yourself?”
Following Yerin to Yena’s desk, the first thing I noticed was Red Bull and Monster cans scattered everywhere.
Ignoring the messy state, I looked at the monitor and saw that instead of yesterday’s 3D Max, ZBrush was open.
A pale, uncolored, emotionless operator stared back at me, far from being the rough polygonal mass I’d seen yesterday.
“Yena pulled an all-nighter, finished the retopology, but said coloring was impossible, so she just passed out on her desk.”
After hearing Yerin’s explanation, I inspected the result of Yena’s work.
The operator’s defining features—the star embedded in the pupil and the light ring encircling the neck—were all perfectly implemented.
It was hard to believe that someone with only a little outsourcing experience could produce such quality in just one day.
‘Now I understand why the art team staff were so impressed with Yena’s work yesterday.’
“Senior, with this level of quality, Yena’s definitely accepted, right?”
“Of course. You should tell Yena directly, but has she gone home already?”
“No, she’s currently dead to the world in the nap room, so I’ll contact you once she wakes up.”
Nodding at Yerin’s words, I replied,
“Alright, Senior. Then I’ll head to my office now; I have some accumulated work to catch up on.”
“Go ahead.”
Watching Yerin walk off toward the art team, I returned to my personal office.
‘So, with this, today’s task is…’
Sitting in my chair, I pondered for a moment before pulling out my smartphone.
‘First things first, I need to call SFLAG today.’
If Yena’s 3D talents were merely average, I’d have introduced her without hesitation to SFLAG. After all, her talent as a manga artist was more than adequate.
However, since I’ve now learned of her 3D capabilities, I can’t send her to SFLAG, so we need to come to an agreement.
‘This is going to be a hassle….’
I headed to the tea room first and brewed myself an Americano.
With the caffeine kick starting my sluggish morning mind, I made the call.
The recipient of the call was, as expected, Tanaka.
After a brief ring, the call connected.
[Director, what’s the matter calling so early in the morning?]
“Ah, sorry to bother you so early, Tanaka-san. I need to discuss something important, so I’m reaching out quickly.”
[No problem. I just arrived at the office too. Feel free to speak.]
After organizing my thoughts, I explained everything that had happened with Yena so far, omitting the part about 3D.
“…So, I’m calling to ask how you plan to proceed.”
[Let me confirm… The 4-panel comic artist we were looking for turns out to be the younger sister of the art director for our game and she’s already been hired by your company, right?]
“That’s correct.”
[Heh, this is a first for us too.]
“In case there’s no set plan yet, how about we do the following?”
[Hmm, do you have any good ideas?]
“Well, SFLAG doesn’t need the artist themselves, but rather the 4-panel comics, right?”
[That’s true, but…]
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better if we directly contracted with the artist ourselves?”
[Hmm… so you’re saying you’ll directly supply the comics from your side and we’ll just handle the translation and official account uploads?]
“That’s right. After all, SFLAG loses nothing from this, right? You just need to handle the translation and submission without worrying about the contract.”
[Um… this isn’t something I can decisively handle alone, so could we reconvene in about 10, no, 30 minutes?]
“Of course. Please take your time.”
[Alright, then please excuse me for a moment.]
Judging by Tanaka’s reaction before we hung up, my proposal seemed to resonate well.
After all, I was offering to handle the contract SFLAG would’ve had to process themselves.
Rejecting this offer would’ve been the strange decision.
As if to confirm my prediction, not long after, Tanaka called back.
[Director, your suggestion has been approved. They just asked when we can expect the first连载 to start.]
“That’s great. I’ll coordinate with the artist soon and get back to you.”
[Understood. We’ll wait for your update. Please let us know once you’ve arranged everything with the artist.]
As soon as the call with Tanaka ended, I immediately summoned Seol-i to the office.
The reason was to promote the previously postponed plan, whose personnel had yet to be decided, to a full-fledged project.
And that day, the plan Seol-i brought became officially known as the Operator Channel Project.
*
After the personnel was finalized, and the Operator Channel Project was officially kicked off, things got unbelievably busy.
First, I assigned Yena, who recently became a permanent employee, the task of coloring and rigging the Operator model. After all, the completion of a model for video use requires rigging, or creating the skeletal structure.
Leaving Yena, who was overwhelmed with work as soon as she started, I then promptly contacted SFLAG.
Although SFLAG seemed initially surprised by the sudden project update, they were able to assist without a hitch.
And the help they provided?
“Hi, I’m Takahashi Lina, the voice actor for the Operator.”
“Hello, I’m Director Jihojin in charge of Girls’ Memorial.”
It was arranging a meeting with the voice actor for the Operator role.
Technically, since the voice actor’s schedule is coordinated by the agency, a direct meeting wasn’t necessary.
However, since today involved coordination related to the project, it was unavoidable.
As the ordered coffee arrived, I handed Lina a business card after she took a sip.
“Thank you. Should I call you Director?”
“You can call me whatever you prefer.”
“Alright, then I’ll call you Director. Now, the reason you wanted to meet with me today is…?”
“It’s for this.”
I handed Lina the pre-prepared documents.
On the first page was the title, ‘Operator Channel Project,’ written in Japanese.
Lina received the documents with interest and began reading.
As she concentrated, I quietly waited, observing her blonde hair falling to one side.
After some time, Lina finished reading, carefully placed the documents on the table, and looked at me.
“Interesting. Though I haven’t received any notice from the agency yet… is there a specific reason you’re showing me this project first?”
“There are a few things I’d like to ask and request.”
At this, Lina took another sip of coffee and nodded.
“Go ahead.”
“To start, as indicated in the project proposal you’ve read, we plan to shoot the video using motion capture.”
At my explanation, Lina looked surprised.
“Motion capture?”
“Yes. It’s a cutting-edge technology. Simply put, it involves capturing your movements and applying them to the character.”
I handed Lina a photo from my bag.
“However, as you can see in the photo, there’s some preparation involved, and it might be tiring, so if you feel uncomfortable, we can use a stunt double…”
“I’ll do it.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll shoot the video.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with it?”
Lina’s answer came without hesitation, so I asked again, but her response remained the same.
“I enjoy taking on new challenges like this. Plus, I’ve been feeling a bit bored with my work as a voice actor.”
Indeed, she looked much more energetic than earlier.
‘A case of someone who thrills from challenges…’
Realizing how diverse people are, I nodded.
“First, please check the concept of the video by reviewing the script for episode 1.”
Saying this, I handed her the script that was on my desk.
“Lina-san, you’ve interpreted the Operator’s personality in your acting as emotionless, haven’t you?”
At my question, Lina nodded slowly while glancing at the script.
“Yes, that’s correct. Given that the Operator is an artificial intelligence created by the World Tree and was initially awakened by a manager, I thought that the character would have a blank slate when it comes to emotions.”
I inwardly appreciated Lina’s interpretation, as it aligned with my thoughts during the character’s creation.
“The interpretation is excellent. However, for this video, I’d like you to add a bit more emotion to your performance compared to the main series.”
“Would that be okay? If the Operator’s personality differs too much from the main series, the reaction might not be good…”
“That’s why Lina-san’s role is crucial. We’d like you to deliver an act that doesn’t feel too out of place compared to the main series but can still give users a fresh sensation.”
Lina nodded while jotting down my request in her notebook.
“If the Director insists… I’ll give it a try.”
“Thank you. I’ll be counting on you for the project.”
After the meeting with voice actor Takahashi Lina, the grueling schedule continued nonstop.
Completion of the Operator’s 3D model.
Motion capture and voice recording sessions with Takahashi Lina.
Video editing by the art team.
Finally, uploading the completed first episode of the Operator Channel to SFLAG’s cloud.
By the time all these processes were finished, a month had already passed.