Around noon, after finishing lunch, Ichin was planning to take a walk around the school with Utaha when he received a text message from Shizuka Hiratsuka, asking both of them to come to the office.
"Hiratsuka-sensei wants to see us?"
Utaha glanced at his phone and asked curiously, "Is something going on?"
Ichin thought for a moment and guessed, "It's the first day of the new semester, so it's probably about college entrance stuff. Let's just go see."
When they arrived at the teachers' office, Shizuka Hiratsuka was the only one there, clearly waiting for them.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, you wanted to see us?"
Upon seeing them enter, Hiratsuka gestured for them to sit down in the two empty chairs next to her and said, "Starting today, you're officially in your third year. Personally, I think you're both doing fine, but as your teacher, I still need to check in. You two are ranked first and second in the grade, and you also have work outside of school. Are you confident about managing the balance between studies and work going into your final year?"
Ichin glanced at Utaha, a silent look in his eyes clearly saying:
See? I was right.
He then spoke up first. "Don't worry, Hiratsuka-sensei. We'll definitely keep a proper balance. If you're unsure, just wait and see our exam results."
Utaha nodded in agreement. "That's right. We've always managed both well, and our grades have never been a problem. There's nothing for you to worry about."
Hearing this, the last bit of concern in Hiratsuka's heart faded away.
"Alright, I understand. You two can head back now."
After they left, Hiratsuka glanced around to make sure the office was empty, then pulled out a cigarette and walked into the adjacent break room for a smoke.
---
That afternoon, after classes, Ichin and Utaha headed to the new office.
Everyone had already been working there for a few days, and both groups had fully gotten used to each other. Their workflow had become smooth, with no awkwardness in communication. In fact, according to what Hazuki told Ichin, the team's overall efficiency had improved significantly—having more people hadn't created any confusion or chaos.
The team led by Yagami Kō had always been made up of professionals passionate about game development. Meanwhile, the new members from Lily were all veteran otakus. And since they were personally picked by Sayuri Sawamura to join her club, their personalities were naturally easygoing and cooperative.
Of course, for shy people like Hifumi, getting comfortable enough to chat naturally with the new male staff would still take some time.
However, those male team members were all already married, and they treated Hifumi like a junior colleague. They didn't mock her extreme social anxiety or make her uncomfortable in any way.
While Utaha went to Ichin's office to continue working on her script, Ichin made his way to see Rin Toyama to check on the recruitment progress.
"Based on the requirements from Shinoda, Kō, and Umiko," Rin reported, "we need to hire three more animation designers, three programmers, and two artists—aside from the HR and finance positions. If we fill all of those roles, our current office space will be just enough. There'll still be plenty of room for everyone to work comfortably without feeling cramped.
"For HR and finance, we've already received a few applications, and I've scheduled interviews for tomorrow. We've also gotten some for the programmer and artist positions. But for animation design, there's nothing yet—mainly because Shinoda specified she's only looking for female applicants."
Hearing that, Shinoda Hajime turned around and said, "What's wrong with that? It makes sense to only look for girls. Right now, it's just me and that new girl in animation. If we're bringing more in, having more girls would be way better."
"I didn't say it was a bad idea," Ichin said with a smile. "We all agreed on that. But judging from how it's going, you might need to be patient and wait a few more days, Shinoda."
"Ughhh, I'm the only one who has to wait…"
Shinoda groaned in frustration, but she knew there wasn't much she could do about it.
Recruitment always involved a bit of luck.
After skimming through the resumes for the finance and HR positions, Ichin said, "Rin, please print all of these out. I'll go review them with Hazuki."
"Got it."
Rin Toyama responded and printed all the resumes, then handed them to Ichin. "By the way, Ichin-kun, will you be attending tomorrow's interviews?"
"Hmm…"
Ichin thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. I'll leave it to you guys. I trust your judgment."
Back when they were still at Eagle Jump, Rin Toyama had already worked on interviews together with Hazuki. Last year, she had also handled the interviews for Narumi Tsubame and Momiji Mochizuki, so Ichin had complete confidence in her.
With the resumes in hand, Ichin made his way to Hazuki's office.
"Hazuki, take a look at these resumes. You might want to prep a bit for tomorrow."
"Resumes, huh? Looks like we've got more new members joining." Hazuki seemed quite interested as she said, "Give me a portion."
Ichin handed over the top half of the stack to her and started reading the remaining ones himself.
But the moment he glanced at the first resume, he froze in surprise.
Kuroneko?
Ruri Gokou?
Seeing that name, Ichin quickly looked at the photo. Only after confirming it, he realized it wasn't just someone with the same name—it was really her.
Thinking about it, this world already had Eromanga Sensei, so the appearance of Ruri Gokou wasn't that far-fetched.
According to the resume, Ruri Gokou was now twenty years old and attending university. She was applying for a programmer position. However, since she was still studying, she would be joining as a part-time intern, similar to Narumi Tsubame and the others.
Her major just so happened to be computer science, making her a perfect fit. Ichin even noticed several awards from programming competitions listed on her résumé.
But a resume is just paper; her actual skill level would be determined in tomorrow's interview. Ichin figured Umiko could easily assess her true capabilities.
The rest of the resumes didn't bring any more surprises. They were all fairly typical.
After finishing, Ichin and Hazuki swapped the stacks they had read and finished reviewing the rest.
Everyone who had submitted a resume was fairly young. Aside from one applicant for the finance role who was 28, the rest were all under 25.
Having a young team was a good thing. While ability was certainly important in game development, Ichin also valued having staff members who genuinely loved games.
Once he finished reading, Ichin left the resumes with Hazuki and headed over to Umiko's section to check in on the programming side of things.
The general framework of the game had already been established. The next major task was filling in content and making the world richer and more complete.
At the current pace, only about 20% of the development was done. There was still a massive workload ahead.
Ichin's goal: Release within the next year and a half.
...