NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56
A great many things happened since the first live broadcast ended successfully.
Among these, the one that stood out the most was the chairman of SignGames issuing an apology at an official press conference.
SignGames ultimately failed to quell the uproar over the gacha probability manipulation controversy.
It was such a big deal that there was even a small protest held at the company headquarters in Japan—a country where protests are uncommon.
Unable to withstand the fallout, SignGames, including its director, bowed deeply in apology, but it didn’t resonate with the public.
Only after the chairman himself issued an official apology did they manage to calm the public sentiment.
Of course, it was only the public sentiment that they managed to calm; they couldn’t fully restore the trust, which caused their sales ranking to drop to third place.
Conversely, we became the biggest beneficiaries of the situation.
Compared to just after the launch, the active user count for *Reverse Arcadia* has increased at least threefold, and the number of derivative works has increased even more.
Just to give you an idea, the sudden surge in concurrent users prompted a call from the server hosting company. That should give you a rough sense of the scale.
In any event, while any game director would be over the moon at the current situation, I, however, was sitting in my private office, deep in thought.
What was I so preoccupied with?
It was related to the Korean server launch.
To put it simply, it had to do with the Korean server launch.
Truthfully, concerns about the Korean server launch weren’t a new issue.
One of the repetitive questions since the *Girls’ Memorial* days was always about when the Korean server would launch.
However, during the *Girls’ Memorial* era, both the users and Ho-jin informally agreed that it was too early for a Korean server launch.
Thus, the demands for opening a Korean server weren’t as strong back then. But things were different with *Reverse Arcadia*.
The implicit agreement had already been broken due to the enhanced image and recognition of subcultures in the current climate.
Moreover, compared to *Girls’ Memorial*, *Reverse Arcadia* was so much more popular.
Thanks to the loyal users who migrated from *Girls’ Memorial*, fans of Ito Kei, and players from other games, the number of people invested in the game reached several times the original figure. As a result, the demands for opening the Korean server naturally grew stronger.
Eventually, opening the Korean server was not a matter of if but when.
After a long period of deliberation, I sent messages to Yumi and Su-yeon.
***
Yumi, whom I hadn’t seen for a few months, looked much the same as ever.
“It’s been a while, Department Head.”
“Yeah, it has. How’s the GM Studio project going?”
“It was resolved… but it really ground my gears.”
Yumi’s face, unusually for her, clearly showed traces of frustration.
“Really? Myunghoon told me in brief, but how bad was it?”
“The project had been handed over properly, but when we got a call saying the project manager had fled, we went to check, and it was a complete mess.”
“Was it that bad?”
“He seemed so diligent during the handover… it really shows you can’t judge a person by appearances.”
As Yumi sighed while speaking, I handed her a can of coffee.
“Thank you… anyway, I’ve finished the handover again, so things should be fine for now.”
‘Every time I meet Myunghoon, he’s lamenting—it’s because of this situation…’
Though I felt sorry for Myunghoon, whose face was visibly growing more tired, I had something to do today, so I set aside thoughts of him and turned to Yumi.
“Yumi.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve decided to launch the Korean server.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yeah, it’s been approved by the President himself.”
Surprisingly, Yumi wasn’t particularly surprised by my announcement, maintaining a calm expression.
“You weren’t very shocked.”
“Well, I sort of expected it…”
“That’s good, then it makes this easier. I’ll be brief: This Korean server launch—we’re going to exclude publishers and even the ChocoTalk platform entirely.”
At this statement, Yumi looked shocked and asked,
“We don’t have any need to delegate operations to publishers, but isn’t it going to be difficult if we exclude ChocoTalk as well…?”
I shook my head in response to Yumi’s question.
For a typical game company, abandoning ChocoTalk’s accessibility was akin to madness—it was as if you were kicking away your own potential user base.
But that statement only applied to typical game companies, while from my standpoint, it’s entirely superfluous.
*Reverse Arcadia* didn’t need the extra publicity or the necessity to attract users that ChocoTalk’s platform offered because the game already had tens of thousands of eager new players waiting to jump in once we opened the server. There was no reason for us to willingly be the underdog by paying a fee.
Additionally, the necessity to develop a social UI and system based on ChocoTalk’s platform gave us extra hesitation.
“To begin with, why do game developers even try so hard to be in ChocoTalk?”
“Because ChocoTalk is the national SNS platform, obviously?”
Nodding at Yumi’s response, I explained further.
“Exactly. ChocoTalk being the national SNS means that if your publicity hits it big, you can literally rake in users with a pitchfork.”
I paused mid-sentence to sip my coffee and then continued.
“But that’s only useful for smaller game studios desperate to gain users and revenue quickly. We, however, don’t have any reason to give away a cut of our revenue to join.”
“Uh… I see, that does make sense.”
Understanding my explanation, Yumi nodded and asked me the next part:
“If there are no contracts with publishers or ChocoTalk, what should I be doing?”
“First, draft a proposal for the Korean server. Once you’ve written that, I’ll use it to create a schedule for us.”
Yumi nodded in agreement after hearing this.
“About how long do you think it might take to complete the proposal?”
Yumi seemed to think about it for a while before answering.
“Probably about a week.”
“Okay, then have it ready to send by next Monday. Got it?”
“Sure thing.”
***
A week later.
I distributed Yumi’s draft proposal to the team members gathered in the conference room.
The team members present in the conference room included Yerin, Seol-i, Yumi, and Taeseon—a total of four members.
The rest of the team didn’t have any duties related to the Korean server launch, so I didn’t invite them—just Yena and Chae-young.
“Do you all know why I’ve called you here today?”
Everyone nodded.
“In that case… Yerin?”
“Yes?”
“What projects are you working on these days?”
Caught off guard by my sudden question, Yerin seemed to think for a moment before answering.
“I’m finishing up the final illustrations for the bosses in the upcoming Crisis Response Agreement content, and then I’ll be moving on to the rough designs for the new characters.”
“Can you hold off on finishing the boss illustrations for a moment and take care of the tasks listed on the proposal first?”
Yerin began flipping through the proposal upon hearing my request.
“Illustrations for the Korean server launch countdown, three promotional artworks, an event, and additional UI images… This doesn’t seem too difficult.”
“Exactly. We’re not creating anything new; we’re re-releasing an already existing game.”
“And when would you need it by?”
“We’re planning to release it exactly two months from now, and the countdown will start a week in advance. So we have until the middle of next month.”
Considering it for a while, Yerin nodded.
“It should be doable within that timeframe.”
“Great. Thanks.”
As Yerin left to take on the new task, I turned my attention to Seol-i and Taeseon.
“Seol-i, Taeseon, you two need to collaborate on something… First, Seol-i, during development, the scripts were written in Korean first and then translated into Japanese, right?”
“Uh, yeah… We worked on the Korean scripts first and translated them into Japanese…”
“In that case, when you get back, immediately hand over the Korean scripts to the development team. I’ll update you on the next steps later… Next: Taeseon?”
“Yes, Department Head.”
“Because Korea has a higher Android market share compared to Japan, make sure the Android version is thoroughly inspected. Additionally, the current version’s ceiling system must be applied. Got it?”
“Understood. Is there anything else?”
“Not really. Just ensure a thorough inspection, please.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
After Seol-i and Taeseon left, only Yumi and I were left in the meeting room.
“Since I’ll be busy with external schedules for a while, I will not be visiting the office as often. If anything happens, please let me know immediately. Got it?”
At my stern reminder, Yumi nodded and replied.
“Leave it to me!”
***
Not long after, the *Reverse Arcadia Gallery*.
[Nickname: Anonymous]
[Title: Is *Reverse Arcadia* really in the list of reviewed games? What’s this thing?]
[Image: Game Review Committee List]
Is the Korean server really launching?
[Comment List][Views Order]
– Are we being trolled again, lol?
– Many games get reviews for trademarks, so don’t get hopeful too early.
– Stop spouting nonsense. Eat some rice, old man.
-Nice try, trolls.
-Even dogs won’t fall for this one, lmao.
***
[Nickname: Anonymous]
[Title: Holy shit, the Korean server launch is confirmed!]
[Image: Official *Reverse Arcadia* Account Screenshot]
リバース・アルカディア公式
@ReverseArcadiaJP
On June 13, 2015, Henrietta and the Commander will be coming to you.
Detailed information about the Korean server will be updated later on the official account.
You people were saying stuff about it being fake or dog-level trolling… Just keep playing the Japanese server, lol.
[Comment List][Registration Order]
-What the hell is going on with Korea?
-Is this real?
-Is it really the Korean server opening? lol.
-Holy shit, lol.
-I bought the reset packs a week ago and lost a truckload, lol.