Felix went to the workplace to check on his other employees and help them with their tasks.
Four months has passed, and Splatoon was finally finished.
The three employees celebrated with juice that Felix had prepared, along with a variety of snacks.
What they loved most was the announcement of a one week break.
During that time, Felix had been researching mental energy.
Although he was a little lazy about regularly checking his own, he did ask the system what grade his mental energy was at.
The system replied that it didn't know, which in itself was an answer.
It meant his mental energy was different from others. Among interstellar citizens, mental energy could not be expanded simply by working on holographic projects.
Their method of developing it was completely different.
Felix noticed how tired his employees looked after completing a mid-sized game, even though they had reasonable work schedules.
Through the system, he often sent them reminders to log off and rest, ensuring they would not push themselves too far.
Their working hours, from morning until afternoon, matched their mental capacity for the day. Even so, they still appeared exhausted.
In contrast, Felix seemed fresh day after day, and the more he worked on games, the more his mental energy improved.
His mental energy rose because of the two games he had already made, since their growing popularity increased his coins and strengthened his mind every day.
Subway Surfer and Temple Run were both free, yet the satisfaction points he gained from players happiness and frustration boosted him.
Temple Run gave him fear points as well, and that helped his mental energy grow even faster
His growing stack of coins was a pleasant bonus, the sound of ding ding almost musical to his ears.
That was when he decided to give his employees a full week off, letting them recover completely before the next project.
The out of place Chibi stood to the side, watching his employees in such a good mood.
All three of them had received a bonus for completing the game.
Niko fidgeted with her fingers against her long blue pearl skirt, her several dark red tentacle-like legs shifting restlessly under the table.
The movement was subtle at first, but soon the others noticed it too.
Jalen, who had naturally taken the role of the big brother among the three, including their boss since Felix sometimes played pranks on them when he was bored.
He quickly noticed something off about Niko. With his experience as an older brother, he asked with concern,
"What's wrong, Niko?"
Niko quickly shook her head. "I…" Her eyes shifted back and forth nervously, unable to stay still.
Finally, she spoke in a small voice, "Um… Boss Tierra, do you think the game will do well? It's not that I doubt our work, it's just that…"
It was her first time creating a game, and she had quickly grown fond of Splatoon, the project she had helped bring to life.
Felix glanced at her and asked, "What did you think while you were playing Splatoon?"
Before this moment, Felix had already noticed that some of them still doubted the game's potential.
That was why he had invited them to join multiple test sessions before publishing it. Splatoon's mechanics were challenging to design.
In holographic environments, it wasn't like creating a simple static world. Building such mechanics required a heavy amount of mental energy, and it was exhausting work.
If he had worked alone, especially on a project where the gameplay systems were crucial, it would have taken him over a year to finish far too long.
That was the main reason Felix had established the company in the first place.
Niko was thoughtful for a moment as she recalled her experience playing.
It was the first time in years she had found a game genuinely fun. In recent years, holographic games had seen little to no breakthrough, repeating the same gameplay patterns until she grew bored of them.
That was why she had shifted her focus from gaming to pursuing a stable career as an artist. But joining this company had reignited her excitement.
It felt as if they were creating history, just like Solsphere Entertainment had in its golden days.
She exclaimed with bright enthusiasm, "Of course Splatoon is fun!"
The other two employees nodded in unison.
Kael beamed, leaning forward.
"Boss! How about one more round?"
Jalen scoffed, crossing his arms. "You can't even shoot properly, and Boss might be busy."
Kael frowned, tapping his foot. "It's a playtest! What if there's something missing in the game we didn't see before?"
Jalen rolled his eyes at him and didn't speak further. He also wanted to play more, but since the boss was present in the room, he needed to act professional.
Thanks to his new job, Jalen could now provide for his little brother's needs and even buy things he couldn't afford or didn't dare to buy before.
His life was slowly improving.
He had even saved enough to buy his brother the latest VR headset — the one his brother always looked at longingly.
Whenever Jalen caught him staring at it, the boy would awkwardly say, "The sky's bright today," which made Jalen both amused and guilty for not being able to give him more in the past.
Perhaps it was also thanks to Kael's cheerful personality and Niko, who everyone thought was shy and anxious but could actually talk endlessly once you got close to her.
Jalen had become livelier than when he first joined the company.
Kael grinned sheepishly, his voice carrying a playful eagerness. Even though the others tried to appear composed, there was still a bright sparkle in their eyes, the kind that only came from pure excitement.
Felix studied their expressions for a moment, noticing the way their energy lingered in the room.
He could see the faint flush on their faces, the quick glances between them, and the way their fingers twitched as if already itching to play again.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"All right," he said with a quiet chuckle, nodding in agreement.
After the final playtest ended, Felix officially released Splatoon to the public.
The four of them played together one last time, facing off in match after match.
Kael nodded enthusiastically.
"This game's really good! I'm still itching to keep playing!"
At first, he had doubted whether the game could truly be enjoyable.
It was his first time encountering that style of gameplay, and he hadn't been sure it would work. But the moment he joined his first match, every doubt disappeared.
As he swam through streams of shimmering ink, weaving between splashes and bursts of color in Splatoon, he found himself marveling at how no one had come up with such an idea before.
The sensation of gliding effortlessly beneath the surface of liquid color, only to leap out and launch an attack, was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Jalen gave a short, amused snicker.
"You just want to be lazy."
Kael straightened in his seat, quick to defend himself.
"No, boss! He's talking nonsense!"
Felix laughed it off.
He also wanted to keep playing.
Who knew how amazing Splatoon would be if it were playable in a holographic pod? In his past life, if Splatoon had made it to VR, that would have been almost too good to be true.
Jalen suddenly remembered something.
"Boss In the document, you mentioned the central hub. It's huge. Who created it?" he doesn't remember Felix assigning that task to them.
Felix, hearing this, replied casually, "Oh, that's me."
The others froze for a moment, then stared at him in disbelief.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Just you, boss?"
He remembered that there were still two maps left to finish, and only later did he realize that Felix had gone on to help with them as well.
At first, they hadn't noticed how effortlessly he created the art style and environment. When Kael finally saw it, he thought Felix might have the same ability as him, someone with unusually high stamina of mental energy.
To his surprise, everything Felix made was not only done quickly but also with remarkable precision and depth.
The small chibi bear nodded.
"Mhm. Why? Is there something wrong with the map I created?"
He tilted his head, half-expecting that maybe there was an object players could pass through or a piece of terrain that behaved like liquid.
Kael shook his head in disbelief.
"Are you S-level mental capacity, boss!?"
Felix, hearing this, had no idea either. He simply shrugged.
Kael still looked skeptical.
Niko, thinking for a moment, realized something.
"Um… boss, you haven't checked your mental status yet, have you?"
Felix answered without hesitation.
"Nope."
He never found the time for it, and truthfully, he wasn't curious.
The two exchanged glances.
Jalen finally broke the silence.
"Does it really matter? It was done pretty well."
Niko and Kael nodded in agreement.
Felix then told them it was time to head home for the day.
He watched them leave, their figures disappearing down the corridor.
____
Ａｕｔｈｏｒ:Hello, I'm POCHI
After researching the Emotional Feedback system for my novel; in emotional feedback system I've seen so far, there's a flaw that doesn't make much sense.
So I made changes: the rating of how players would feel will accumulate from 1/10 to 10/10, showing how strongly a player reacts emotionally
Example:
「 Fear 」
1/10: Slight unease, like hearing a creak behind you.
3/10: Nervous tension, glancing around, heart rate slightly up.
5/10: Startled by something sudden but still composed.
7/10: Palms sweating, genuine anxiety setting in.
10/10: Pure panic, heart pounding, desperate to escape.
It will accumulate to points !
Thank you for reading my first novel :)