"Not bad."
Tsuda Nao said, "As long as Sega signs the contract, victory is in sight."
In a dessert shop, Aoki Haruhi was accompanying Tsuda Nao as she picked out some items.
Tsuda Nao squatted down, looking at the dazzling array of desserts inside the glass display case, the corners of her mouth curling up uncontrollably.
People need to eat more sweets to keep their brains sharp.
"Could I please have one chestnut cake?" Tsuda Nao said, tapping the glass with her finger.
"Certainly." The waitress was very pretty, and when she smiled, it was heart-meltingly sweet.
She was every bit as sweet as the cake.
But...
Aoki Haruhi glanced at Tsuda Nao.
It was true that no one could compare to her deliciousness.
Such a delicious cake.
I'll have to properly savor it tonight.
Aoki Haruhi withdrew his gaze from Tsuda Nao's face and frowned, saying, "It's still unclear what Sega is thinking. Although I think the possibility is quite high, Nakayama might still pull a last-minute reversal."
Although they said they would go back to discuss it before giving an answer, the result might not necessarily be good.
Sony was like that too, before.
But...
Aoki Haruhi recalled Nakayama Hayao's expression at the time, wondering if he was truly wavering or just stalling.
With the backing of Sony and DUN, combined with Pokeni's proposal, it should have already carried enough weight.
"How is this?"
After the cake was packed, Tsuda Nao cut a small piece with a fork and brought it to Aoki Haruhi's mouth.
"Mmm... delicious."
Aoki Haruhi nodded.
How could a chestnut cake be this good?
He had originally expected it to be cloying, but surprisingly, it wasn't very sweet. Instead, the aroma of the chestnuts blended with the flavor of the cake, filling his mouth and making him feel happy.
"Right?"
Tsuda Nao smiled sweetly. "This bakery uses the natural flavors of the ingredients more. There's no need to add sugar to chestnut cake; it has a unique fragrance on its own."
"Mmhmm." Aoki Haruhi nodded.
Tsuda Nao carefully packed up the rest and held his hand as they walked out of the shop.
"Save it for tonight and pair it with some white wine; it'll be even better," Tsuda said.
"Oh." Aoki Haruhi couldn't hide his happy smile.
He was filled with infinite fantasies about the evening.
"By the way."
Tsuda Nao walked a few steps, then turned back. "Before you merge Sony and Sega, remember to sign an addendum contract first. Otherwise, it's very likely they'll ditch Pokeni and leave you out of the fun."
Aoki Haruhi smiled calmly. "I know that, of course. I've already signed it with Sony; now it's just Sega."
Such conditional contracts were quite common, mainly to protect one's own interests.
Otherwise, if some intermediary company brought two corporations together, and they just cut out the middleman, that would be a huge loss.
"Very good, you've already graduated, haven't you?" Tsuda Nao gazed at Aoki Haruhi, her lips curving into an endless smile.
"Huh? Then I have to thank you, Teacher Tsuda!"
"What else?"
With a mischievous smile, Tsuda Nao leaned in toward Aoki Haruhi, reached out to gently tug at his tie, and stood on tiptoe.
"Hmm..."
"The chestnut cake... it really is so sweet."
Tsuda sighed softly.
The next morning, when Aoki Haruhi arrived at the company, he discovered that two people had arrived even earlier than him.
One was Mikami Shinji, who was gradually taking on the main planning work for Diablo, and the other was Gen Urobuchi.
Seeing their busy figures, Aoki couldn't help but sigh—
How is one supposed to survive when geniuses work harder than you?
Fortunately, these two were on his side.
Mikami Shinji was truly the hardworking type. He might have started with a lower baseline and had no prior experience in gaming, but he was driven entirely by his passion.
However, he was diligent enough and possessed a great sense of responsibility.
He would always strive to complete tasks Aoki entrusted to him to the best of his ability, sometimes giving his all even on things he didn't particularly like.
Moreover, his potential ceiling was quite high. After two projects, he had grown into someone very capable.
From the beginning, when he had to ask Aoki about everything, to slowly only asking about harder-to-solve problems, and now—
Mikami Shinji was already capable of handling things on his own, rarely seeking out Aoki Haruhi except to report on his work.
There were even times when Aoki himself had to ponder over problems for a long while before finding an answer.
It had to be said that this guy's growth rate was truly impressive.
Aoki felt a long-lost sense of joy in "nurturing" talent through him.
And as for Gen Urobuchi?
He was actually quite talented too, but he was a bit picky when it came to his work.
If left to his own devices, he could perform exceptionally well, and he would pour 100% of his effort into things he enjoyed.
But if it was something he didn't like, he might not be able to squeeze out a single thing even after half a month.
Ever since he was brought back to the "Diablo" project, his output had dropped sharply.
Partly because the lead writer for "Diablo" was Ishino Mika, and partly because Urobuchi probably wasn't particularly interested in that content.
However...
He still arrived very early every day, so his initiative was commendable.
It was worth praising.
When Aoki Haruhi walked over to take a look, he discovered that Gen Urobuchi wasn't busy with Diablo at all; he had opened a document and was clearly writing an urban-themed story.
"When he woke up, he found no one beside him..."
Aoki Haruhi read the text on the document aloud, startling Gen Urobuchi.
"Wah!"
Gen Urobuchi nearly fell off his chair.
He twisted his head around 180 degrees, and after seeing it was Aoki Haruhi, he hurriedly turned off his monitor and sprang to his feet.
"President, are you a cat? Why do you walk without making a sound?"
Good grief, are you trying to defect from the company? Writing documents in secret, submitting light novels, are you? And you kept it from me so I wouldn't see. Instead of reflecting after being caught, you're trying to turn the tables on me?
"Wada-san, what is this that you're writing?" Aoki Haruhi asked, confused.
"Hmm... well..." Gen Urobuchi scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. "The new game project I've been preparing, I intended to show it to you only after I'd finished writing it."
Eh?
Is that so?
Aoki Haruhi was taken aback for a moment, then a smile rippled across his face.
"That's fine, Wada-kun. I look forward to your new project proposal."
It seems this guy had truly been pent up for too long; if he wasn't allowed to let loose, he'd be uncomfortable.
But then again, as long as he wasn't thinking about jumping ship, it wasn't a big problem.
Just before getting off work in the evening, Gen Urobuchi brought a stack of freshly printed project proposals to the President's office.
Aoki Haruhi glanced at it; the project proposal was titled:
[The Entropic Man]
He frowned deeply.
It was already time to clock out.
Could a worker not work this hard?!
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