Over the weekend, everyone was busy and full of energy, preparing and setting up the new office—testing the equipment, arranging their new workstations.
Now that the company finally had a building of its own, every employee's workspace was larger and more personal than before. They could freely decorate it however they liked.
During those two days of setup, the newly hired kitchen team also officially started work—and immediately treated everyone to a weekend feast.
Two big lunches in two days.
Even though the food was cooked in large batches and everyone lined up to choose what they wanted, the taste and quality still left everyone fully satisfied.
Ichin paid the chef team quite a generous salary, but it was absolutely worth it. With this setup, their company's meals would surely make every other studio in the industry jealous.
Once the office area was completely arranged and the network systems fully tested, everyone took a day off to rest. Then, at last, it was time to officially start work in the new building.
At eight-thirty in the morning, Yagami Kō and her three teammates finished breakfast, left the apartment, and drove to the office together.
Recently, Narumi and Momiji had also started thinking about buying cars. They had both gotten their licenses two months ago.
Sitting in the back seat, Narumi couldn't hold back her excitement. "Our first day working in our own company building! I'm so hyped!"
Next to her, Momiji—who had already eaten breakfast—was still nibbling on a rice ball.
"Mm-hmm. New building, and there's a cafeteria now too. So good."
...The cafeteria part was clearly her real focus.
From the passenger seat, Toyama Rin laughed, turning around to look at them. "Sure, it's worth celebrating. But remember, it's also the first day back from vacation—and we're starting new projects today. Don't slack off!"
"No problem!" the two chorused in unison.
When they arrived, they parked in the company's underground parking lot—spacious enough to fit all the employees' cars easily.
Walking up to the main entrance and seeing the logo on the building, everyone couldn't help smiling.
By the time they reached the third-floor office area, plenty of people had already arrived, chatting excitedly at their desks.
It might have been a workday, but nobody looked tired or gloomy.
Everyone was buzzing with anticipation—new building, new projects—it was impossible not to feel energized.
Unfortunately, Ichin had class that morning, so he couldn't hold the kickoff meeting himself. That duty fell to Hazuki instead.
---
Midday, University of Tokyo.
After finishing his last morning class, Ichin gathered Utaha and Yukino, and the three went to the campus cafeteria for lunch.
Once they sat down with their meals, Utaha looked over and asked, "Ichin, how are things at the company?"
"No issues," Ichin replied with a nod. "Hazuki handled everything perfectly. The meeting's done, and everyone's already back in work mode. The Dark Souls DLC team, Tales of Berseria team, and GARO team have all entered full development. The Fall Guys team is continuing with post-launch updates. I'll drop by this afternoon, film a few clips, edit them together, and have a vlog ready by tomorrow."
The company had now grown large enough that Ichin could finally start being more open and public about it.
For the past few years, despite releasing multiple successful titles, their studio had remained surprisingly low-profile—barely participating in industry expos. They had only attended the TGA once, the Cologne Gamescom once, and the Tokyo Game Show once.
Meanwhile, other major studios showed up every year—sometimes even when they had nothing new to release. Announcing just a DLC was reason enough to appear.
But Ichin understood why. For the past two years, even though the company had accumulated funds, his focus remained purely on development. Marketing only took a small portion of the budget, used mainly before launch.
Only Persona and Dark Souls had received large-scale promotions—both online and offline.
Even Titanfall, which now had a stable player count of over 200,000 and had sold more than four million copies, had only been lightly promoted online.
Now, though, Ichin was determined to change that—to let his company truly shine in the gaming world.
Taking a bite of curry rice, he continued, "From now on, besides development, our next major goal is recruitment. We need to expand the teams—more developers, business staff, and marketing people. And after that, we'll start attending all the major game expos every year."
The Tokyo Game Show, Gamescom in Cologne, E3 in Los Angeles—all must-attend events.
And of course, the year-end TGAs.
With Dark Souls already released and Apex set to launch later this year, Ichin was going there with one clear goal—winning an award.
As for ChinaJoy, the domestic expo—Ichin wasn't sure if it was worth it anymore.
The event had lost much of its charm in recent years and often turned into a source of online mockery rather than genuine promotion.
Yukino thought for a moment, then asked, "The nearest major expo would be E3 in June, right?"
"Exactly," Ichin said, nodding. "Our participation at E3 is already confirmed. Hazuki announced it in this morning's meeting. We'll be revealing Apex Legends—planned for July or August release—and also the Dark Souls DLC."
Both DLCs—The Painted World and The Ringed City—had already been greenlit for production.
The first would definitely launch within the year; the second, hopefully before year's end if the schedule allowed.
Even so, their release lineup for the year was already solid.
Utaha and Yukino exchanged a quick glance, then looked back at Ichin. "You'll be attending E3 in person, right?"
"Of course," Ichin replied with a grin. Then, catching Utaha's expression, he chuckled. "Alright, alright, we'll go together. What about you, Yukino? Want to come too?"
Yukino smiled softly. "Mm. I'd like that. It's such a major event—I'd love to see it for myself."
There were still two months left—not too long, not too short.
The development teams would have to give it their all to meet the deadlines.
After lunch, Ichin attended one more class in the afternoon, then left campus early to head straight for the company.
---
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