Chapter 37: The Team's First Meeting and Division of Responsibilities!
Saturday dawned bright and clear, and Saku's mood was every bit as good as the weather.
Mai was finally back.
Since everyone was available, Saku took the opportunity to invite his entire team over.
The living room, normally fairly spacious, suddenly felt crowded.
For Yukino, Utaha, Mai, and the others, this was also the first time they'd actually met one another face-to-face. Until now, most of them had only known of the others through Saku's thoughts.
Once they finally saw each other in person, they immediately understood why his inner monologue was always praising one girl for being beautiful and another for being gorgeous.
Every single one of them really was exceptionally attractive.
Mai had anticipated this day and deliberately dressed up beforehand, yet even then she only managed to stand slightly above the rest.
For Mai, though, that was enough.
The position of the main girlfriend could not be shaken.
Then she suddenly froze.
'Wait... why did I automatically assume this was a harem situation?'
To be fair, she could hardly blame herself.
Anyone who saw this many beautiful girls gathered in one room while their boyfriend was the only man present would probably reach the same conclusion.
「Mai, Yukino, Utaha, Michiru, Megumi... and why is Saki here too? Whatever, not important.」
「Looking at everyone together like this really is a feast for the eyes. If only they were all my girlfriends.」
Mai: 'I understand the impulse, but he still deserves a pinch.'
Yukino: 'You gathered all of us here just to think about this?'
Utaha: 'Then do something about it. What's the point of only fantasizing? Michiru and I already live with you, and you still haven't made a move.'
Michiru: 'That's so embarrassing!'
Megumi: 'Eh? I'm included too?'
Saki: 'Why do I suddenly become "not important" when it's my turn?! Saku, I'm your childhood friend!'
"Sorry for calling everyone over."
Saku quickly pulled his thoughts back to reality and got down to business.
"The main reason is to formally introduce everyone to each other."
"Second, the funding has arrived. From now on, Yukinoshita Yukino will be responsible for the team's finances."
"And finally, now that we have funding, the project officially begins."
His expression became more serious.
"Things are probably going to get very busy from here."
"I know Utaha and Michiru both have your own careers, so I'm not asking either of you to devote every waking hour to this."
"As long as you can fully commit during whatever free time you have, that's enough."
Utaha folded her arms and glanced toward Yukino.
More specifically, her gaze briefly passed over Yukino's chest.
'No threat whatsoever.'
"You don't need to worry about me."
She spoke calmly.
"I'll manage my schedule around the light novel."
The third volume she'd previously been unable to make progress on had already taken shape thanks to Saku's help, and even the later plot now had a clear direction.
Saku had given her the story outline for White Album as inspiration.
If she wanted to write painful love triangles and emotional devastation, few anime were more famous for it.
Fortunately, White Album didn't appear to exist in this world.
Otherwise, Saku would've had to dig out Golden Time instead.
With that outline as inspiration, Utaha's ideas had begun flowing freely.
She already knew exactly where she wanted to take Metronome in Love.
Finishing it was now simply a matter of writing, rather than wasting time struggling over the direction.
That meant the rest of her energy could go toward the game writing for Honkai: Star Rail.
As for the game script Tomoya wanted from her?
He could come back after producing a proper game design document.
Utaha had no intention of following Eriri's example and wasting more time on an aimless project.
"I don't have any problems either."
Michiru smiled brightly.
"Our rehearsals for Idol are almost finished. We should have everything polished within the next few days, so it won't interfere with composing music for this project."
The pressure she'd felt before had vanished completely.
Over the past few days, Icy Tail had transformed from its previous sluggish state into something full of energy and purpose.
They especially loved Idol.
The only reason they'd spent so long rehearsing it was because they were afraid their own performance wouldn't live up to the song.
So they kept polishing every detail.
"Good."
Saku nodded.
"Then for now, I'll handle the remaining programming, concept art, and modeling."
"Wait."
Before he'd even finished speaking, Mai immediately objected.
"Saku-kun, as far as I know, you're doing all of that while also writing novels and working as Michiru-san's band manager, right?"
She frowned.
"Don't you think you're taking on far too much?"
Just hearing the list of responsibilities made it sound impossible for one person.
And Mai knew even more than that.
The entire project was ultimately controlled by Saku.
That meant even with Utaha handling the game writing and Michiru managing the music, Saku would still need to spend time reviewing and coordinating both.
And on top of everything else, he was still a student.
He had classes, exams, and every ordinary school subject to deal with.
At that workload, even someone made of iron would eventually collapse.
"Sakurajima-san is right."
Before becoming involved in the project, Yukino hadn't fully understood its scale.
Now she did.
This simply wasn't a game a handful of people should realistically be able to create.
Even if she accepted Saku's argument that the earliest stage didn't require a massive staff, he was still taking on far too many roles himself.
It felt as though he intended to carry the entire project on his own back.
Yukino could understand his determination to accomplish something extraordinary.
She still thought his approach bordered on madness.
"Jinnai-kun, since the funding has already arrived and I'm responsible for finance and human resources, I suggest we begin looking for people who can take some of that work off your shoulders."
Her expression became unusually serious.
"Otherwise, I'm genuinely worried you're going to work yourself to death one day."
Every girl in the room immediately agreed.
All of them had already witnessed Saku's talent.
They knew how exceptional he was.
But no matter how talented he might be, he was still human.
Humans got tired.
Humans reached their limits.
They wanted to help him bring this game into existence, but none of them wanted the price to be watching Saku destroy himself before he even reached adulthood.
"For a concept artist, I can try talking to that idiot Eriri."
Utaha didn't know many people in the field, but she fully acknowledged Eriri's artistic ability.
If they could recruit her, it would immediately reduce a large portion of Saku's workload.
Besides, Utaha didn't particularly want to watch Eriri continue wasting her time beside Tomoya in that half-formed club.
Part of it was sympathy between two girls who had both been losers in the original story.
The rest was simply that she hated seeing real talent go to waste.
"I can help persuade Sawamura-san too."
Megumi quietly raised her hand.
She considered herself little more than someone who handled odd jobs, so she wanted to contribute wherever she could.
Part of the reason was admittedly that this place promised far more interesting drama to watch.
But more importantly, she could feel something here that Tomoya's group lacked.
Energy.
Momentum.
The sense that everyone was moving toward something.
She'd seen that passion in Tomoya before.
But there, it belonged to him alone.
Here, everyone shared it.
"If you can bring Eriri in, I certainly won't object."
Saku had wanted her from the beginning anyway.
"Then I'll take responsibility for finding people who can help with modeling and programming."
Yukino stepped forward without hesitation and claimed the remaining recruitment work.
At the same time, another thought quietly appeared in her mind.
'Maybe I should try learning some of it myself too.'
She couldn't exactly remain here forever as nothing more than the girl who managed the money.
…