Ten minutes later, the venue was ready. The development team for the Onmyoji project took their seats on the main stage, including Aoki Haruhi.
"Huh? Isn't that the player who was talking with us earlier? Why is he up there?"
"Yeah, and he's even in the center seat!"
"Aoki Haruhi... the President of Pokeni?!"
"No way! We were just discussing game content with the President earlier? That means we must have said a lot of negative things about Onmyoji!"
"Nonsense! I said a ton of negative things too."
"Hey, has anyone noticed? Kogahara Tsubakiaki isn't here today."
"Really? I just saw his name tag earlier."
"Huh? It's really gone now."
"Is it okay for the producer to skip the Onmyoji player Q&A?"
"I was really looking forward to meeting Teacher Gu Yuan Chunqiu."
Aoki Haruhi sat in the middle, his back already drenched in cold sweat.
Fortunately, he'd changed his name in time. If these guys found out he was the producer, Kogahara Tsubakiaki, the player conference would turn into a witch hunt against him!
He'd thought players from the 90s would have thicker skin, but these guys were still so fragile.
"Alright everyone, welcome to the Onmyoji panel discussion. Now, please welcome Mr. Aoki Haruhi, President of Pokeni, for his opening remarks." The host, Ayase Akane, Pokeni's HR representative, was very professional. To match the Onmyoji theme, she'd even dressed up in a miko outfit from the game.
However, her flat figure made it hard for the players to immerse themselves in the character.
"No way? How can such an ordinary girl play Yuuki Rei? She's nothing like the Ling in my head!"
"Exactly! Ling should at least be a C-cup, right?"
Hearing the players' whispers, Ayase Akane glared at them fiercely.
The players jumped in surprise.
"What the heck? She can even hear that?!"
"I told you not to talk about girls' bodies, especially ones like..." Noticing her fierce gaze, the player fell silent.
Aoki Haruhi took the microphone, forcing a relaxed and composed smile onto his face.
"Thank you all for accepting Pokeni's invitation to be here today," Aoki said with a smile. "It's truly a pleasure to see so many of you. Pokeni has been around for over three years now, and it's regrettable that we haven't been able to share any truly outstanding works with you all until now."
"Fortunately, after all this time spent refining it, we finally have Onmyoji."
"I believe everyone here is a loyal user of Onmyoji. Thank you for your continued support! Today's forum is an opportunity for us to engage with you face-to-face. We hope you'll feel free to speak your minds—whether it's praise, criticism, or suggestions for Onmyoji, all feedback is welcome."
After his opening remarks, Aoki briefly touched upon Pokeni's history and the creative journey behind Onmyoji. Then came the Q&A session.
"President Qing, what was your mindset when you first started developing Onmyoji? Why did you decide to combine a galgame with a classic turn-based combat RPG?" a player asked, raising their hand.
Aoki Haruhi glanced at Tsuda Nao beside him and hesitated before saying, "We originally had no intention of including galgame elements. We simply wanted to create an Onmyoji RPG. It was only at the suggestion of the DUN Corporation's President that we decided to add the galgame content."
"Huh? So the producer, Kogahara Tsubakiaki, didn't want to make a galgame game at first?"
"Correct," Aoki Haruhi nodded seriously, distancing himself from the galgame aspect entirely. After all, creating a galgame game had never been his original intention.
"But the galgame content is really outstanding!"
Everyone turned their gaze to Tsuda Nao.
Immediate murmurs rippled through the crowd:
"Wow, I never expected a woman would be the one to suggest turning the game into a galgame."
"We should thank the DUN Corporation's President, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't get to play such a great galgame."
"You're right. And the DUN Corporation's President is so beautiful!"
"She's truly a stunner."
"Guess girls really do understand girls best, huh?"
Aoki Haruhi's brow furrowed deeply.
Are all players this superficial?
"Why isn't Teacher Gu Yuan Chunqiu here today?" another player asked, raising their hand.
Huh?
The people on stage turned to Aoki Haruhi in confusion.
Kogahara Tsubakiaki is right here! Ishino Mika thought to herself.
Before anyone could explain, Aoki Haruhi quickly interjected, "My apologies, but Teacher Gu Yuan Chunqiu had some matters to attend to today and couldn't make it. We're truly sorry for his absence. I'll be sure to relay your feedback and suggestions to him."
Huh?!
Ishino Mika frowned, thinking, The President can lie so smoothly, without batting an eye.
A wave of groans rose from the audience at Aoki Haruhi's words.
"Ah~ what a shame. Teacher Gu Yuan Chunqiu isn't here."
"Yeah, I wanted his autograph."
"I was actually hoping to ask the producer why they gave Ling such a tragic ending."
"What are Pokeni's next game development plans? Will there be a sequel to Onmyoji?"
"Well... that's still confidential for now." Aoki Haruhi smiled, revealing his perfectly straight, white teeth.
The crowd immediately erupted in a buzz.
"Ugh, you're killing us with suspense!"
"It's bound to happen. Onmyoji was such a huge success."
"That makes sense. It would be foolish not to capitalize on that."
"I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder if the sequel will resolve anything, like bringing Ling back to life?"
"That's possible. After all, they brought Yue back."
"Wow, that would be amazing if they actually did that!"
"Excuse me," a white-shirted office worker, likely in his thirties, stood up, voicing the question on everyone's mind, "why did producer Kogahara Tsubakiaki choose such a tragic ending for Onmyoji?"
Since all the players present had experienced the game, there was no need to worry about spoilers.
"Hmm..."
Aoki Haruhi pondered how to answer.
To be honest, he was also a player.
When he first played Chinese Paladin, he'd felt the same way, desperately wanting to ask Yao Zhuangxian why he'd chosen such an ending instead of a happy one like Jin Yong's.
Yet, over time, the lingering emotions from playing the game had stayed with him, which was why he'd chosen Chinese Paladin as the core of his first game.
As for Immortal Yao's creative process, he hadn't really thought about it deeply.
"A sense of destiny," a voice suddenly rang out.
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