Atlas Office.
Iwata Satoru had been leading a team to study romance novels for a week and had roughly drafted the initial version of the game.
At the time, the RPG genre wasn't particularly popular in Japan, with Demon Tower being a pioneer. The high development costs and slim profit margins would have likely led other companies to reject the project, but at Atlas, no one questioned why Kobayashi Tetsu wanted to make an RPG.
After all, the President's decisions were never wrong.
Iwata Satoru had already outlined the main characters, which bore little resemblance to Final Fantasy I as Kobayashi Tetsu had imagined, but instead reminded him of Final Fantasy VI.
Kobayashi Tetsu flipped through the draft casually and gave Iwata Satoru high praise.
"Not bad! Good job!"
"Next, I'll commission a manga artist who won the Shogakukan New Artist Award to create character designs for the game. Her name is Takahashi—"
Takahashi Kazuki's head snapped up.
It's Takahashi Kazuki! It has to be me, Takahashi Kazuki! Who else could it be?!
Kobayashi Tetsu said, "Rumiko Takahashi."
Takahashi Kazuki shot to his feet.
"I'm deeply honored to have been entrusted with such an important task."
"Rumiko Takahashi!" Kobayashi Tetsu exclaimed.
Takahashi Kazuki opened his mouth, but instead of feeling embarrassed at being cut off, he grew even more excited.
"It's really Rumiko Takahashi-sensei! Does that mean I can meet her today?!"
Kobayashi Tetsu glanced at his watch.
"I've already arranged for someone to pick her up. If everything goes smoothly, you'll see her by noon."
Takahashi Kazuki shot his hand up.
Idol!
Kobayashi Tetsu looked at him, and a question popped into his head:
What's the relationship between Takahashi Kazuki and Rumiko Takahashi?
Well, the answer was none. They just happened to share the same surname!
Rumiko Takahashi had never received such a peculiar invitation before.
A game company inviting her to draw illustrations? It was a bizarre combination no matter how she looked at it.
But Rumiko Takahashi wasn't the type to be intimidated. She confidently strode into Atlas's offices.
Kobayashi Tetsu showed proper respect to the manga artist, personally greeting her upon her arrival.
Rumiko Takahashi wasn't conventionally beautiful, and she was slightly plump, but she radiated cheerfulness. Her hair was styled in the popular "Seiko hairstyle," named after the Japanese actress Seiko Matsuda, who was wildly popular in the 1980s.
It wasn't just Kobayashi Tetsu; everyone was curiously examining the renowned manga artist.
Ranma was quite handsome!
"Wow, this is my first time seeing where games are made! It's nothing like I imagined. I thought it would be this magical place filled with factory machinery and a constant buzzing noise. I never expected it to be so quiet."
Though the office was bustling with people, it remained surprisingly quiet, save for the steady tapping of keyboards. Whiteboards were covered in haphazard scribbles.
The development plan had been erased, replaced by Naka Yuji's casual notes guiding the First Development Department's creative direction.
Rumiko Takahashi surveyed her surroundings, finding the atmosphere quite pleasant.
Kobayashi Tetsu stood and bowed.
"Rumiko-sensei, I'm Kobayashi Tetsu. This is Kitagawa Tsuyoshi, Atlas's current art director, and this is Takahashi Kazuki, Atlas's special assistant—Takahashi-kun."
Kitagawa Tsuyoshi remained composed, but Takahashi Kazuki bowed deeply, his excitement barely contained.
Compared to Rumiko Takahashi, he was still completely unknown.
After brief introductions and small talk, Kobayashi Tetsu raised his hand. "Please, let's discuss further inside."
After they were seated, Kobayashi Tetsu handed Rumiko Takahashi the proposal he had prepared.
It included character designs for the four main characters (two male and two female), but only a rough outline of the background story. Detailed character personalities, life experiences, catchphrases, and other aspects were all left blank.
The file wasn't long, and Rumiko Takahashi finished reading it in a few minutes, but she pondered it for a while.
After about fifteen minutes, she nodded solemnly.
"Since President Kobayashi is willing to trust me, I won't betray that trust. I already have a rough idea of the settings and will mail them to you soon."
With the business discussion concluded, Rumiko Takahashi shed her serious demeanor and asked a very personal question.
"Speaking of which, I never imagined President Kobayashi would be so young. You look nothing like the distorted image on TV. You're actually such a stunningly handsome young man."
Kobayashi Tetsu couldn't help but raise his hand to touch his head.
Ha ha! It's not like that at all—
"Handsome young men shouldn't be touched on the head too often. It looks silly. That kind of gesture is only for comic characters. For this character design, it's best to use more exaggerated movements to express emotions."
Rumiko Takahashi put her hand to her forehead and shook her head helplessly.
She explained, "It needs to be a kind of resigned indulgence. That's what fits the character."
Kobayashi Tetsu hesitated, wanting to say something.
He hadn't come here to become a manga protagonist!
Takahashi changed the subject. "President Kobayashi, do you have a girlfriend?"
Kobayashi nodded, and Takahashi pressed, "How many?"
Kobayashi broke out in a cold sweat.
For some reason, facing this older manga artist, Kobayashi felt like he was the one being manipulated.
"Hah—President Kobayashi, you don't need to be so shy. I believe outstanding people deserve more resources."
Kobayashi thought to himself, How did we end up on such a dangerous topic?
How to put this...
True to her reputation as a manga artist who tackles political intrigue.
After Takahashi left, Kobayashi realized that despite her fame, her relatively low public profile meant her name recognition wasn't as widespread as one might expect.
Following Kobayashi's instructions, Atlas promptly released two announcements.
First, Atlas was developing an arcade game.
Second, Atlas was creating a uniquely styled RPG.
The arcade game was unremarkable, but the RPG announcement genuinely caught many people off guard.
Kobayashi Tetsu has gone mad!
He's actually making an RPG on the MS platform!
Everyone knew that RPGs were currently the most labor-intensive and least profitable genre.
At Shimayose Game Store, Shimayose Yosuke expressed deep concern.
"Atlas is definitely going to take a big tumble this time. RPGs are the hardest games to make, and even if you make a good one, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll make money. Players won't buy into a game with a high price tag."
"I just can't understand it! President Kobayashi isn't usually this shortsighted. Could it be that his recent 'Kobayashi Tetsu's Challenge' announcement drove him insane, causing him to lose all reason?"
Shimayose Yosuke could only speculate this way.
Otherwise, as a seasoned veteran gamer, he simply couldn't comprehend why Kobayashi Tetsu would announce that Atlas was developing an RPG at this particular moment!
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