"Ayase-san, please start recruiting," Aoki Haruhi said, handing over a recruitment list to the HR representative.
"Right away, President."
Ayase Akane looked visibly excited. It was rare for the President to take notice of her.
Finally, she could do her actual job.
After glancing at the list, Ayase Akane was speechless. "We need to recruit that many people?"
The list covered nearly every position in the company, totaling over ten new hires.
From programmers to planners, artists, and sales representatives, every department was listed except for sound effects, which seemed to have no plans for expansion.
Aoki Haruhi nodded. "Yes, we're understaffed. Expansion is inevitable, and we need to keep growing our market share. We only have about twenty employees total. Future projects will require more manpower. It's better to recruit now and be prepared than to run into problems later."
Truthfully, Aoki Haruhi was also a bit conflicted. Japan's labor costs were truly exorbitant.
In the gaming industry, the average salary is around 300,000 yuan per month. Top talents, such as hardware engineer Senkawa Hiroichi, earn 500,000 yuan per month.
With over 20 employees, the company's monthly salary expenses alone amount to 7 million yuan.
Developing a game takes about six months, resulting in salary costs exceeding 40 million yuan.
On top of that, there are rent, utilities, marketing, maintenance, equipment... and once the game is ready for release, additional costs like cartridge duplication, transportation, and packaging. Even if the game is profitable, a significant portion of the revenue goes to Nintendo as royalties, not to mention taxes and other deductions...
The cost of developing a game is truly exorbitant.
Aoki Haruhi would rather avoid hiring new staff unless absolutely necessary.
But there's no choice; the company is genuinely understaffed.
After all, Diablo is incredibly labor-intensive. Without expanding the team, the current staff would likely require 1 to 2 years to complete development.
Aoki Haruhi can't afford to wait that long.
The recruitment process was a drawn-out affair. While ten people might seem like a manageable number, they couldn't be hired overnight.
It was entirely possible that they wouldn't be able to bring in even two new members in a month.
But the project had to start; delays meant no income, and they'd all be left with nothing to eat.
Aoki Haruhi worked endless overtime, juggling responsibilities as the concept artist for Song of Suzune while also providing art support for Diablo. He also had to write program requirement documents, propose solutions for Diablo's architectural challenges, and guide the coding team through the project's most difficult aspects.
Pulling all-nighters until 1 or 2 AM became routine.
And occasionally, he had to find time for passionate encounters with Tsuda Nao.
Aoki Haruhi wished he could clone himself several times over.
A week after the New Year, Gora Tsushin published its latest issue.
The magazine featured an extensive interview with the team behind the Onmyoji series, complete with stunning original illustrations, character design sketches, and insights from the development team, especially the two main scriptwriters. The content sent fans into a frenzy.
"Wow, so that's how Yuki Rei came to be?"
"Onmyoji was originally supposed to be a Chinese-style game? They completely overhauled it into what we have now."
"The original story sounds pretty good too, but I guess it's just too different from what we're used to."
"Whoa, so this is what scriptwriter Ishino Mika looks like? She's adorable!"
"She's such a pretty girl! Ishino Mika's appearance completely shattered my expectations. I always imagined scriptwriters as being rather unattractive."
"Exactly! Gen Urobuchi looks pretty much how I imagined him, but I never expected Onmyoji's scriptwriter, Ishino Mika, to be so beautiful. She's making my heart flutter."
"And her figure is unreal! It's practically cheating!"
"Her figure and face are exactly what I dream of. She's just too cute."
"I love Ishino."
Reading the players' interviews and comments, Ishino Mika felt both delighted and bewildered.
"What's this about? Shouldn't the focus be on the game's story? Why are they so obsessed with the author?"
"This feels so annoying. It's like being stripped naked." Ishino Mika crossed her arms, feeling a sudden chill.
"The fact that your work brings joy to the players just means they like you," Aoki Haruhi consoled her.
"Hmm... I'd rather keep my face hidden," Ishino Mika frowned. "Why doesn't Guoluo Tong at least put a mosaic over my face?"
Aoki Haruhi rolled his eyes.
The photo was perfectly fine to begin with. Adding a mosaic would just look weird.
"I'd love to be the center of attention too, but I never get that chance," Aoki Haruhi said, sounding a bit frustrated.
Compared to the two creators, the President of Pokeni remained completely overlooked. The players seemed utterly uninterested in knowing who ran the company. Even when Guoluo Tong gave him some space, it paled in comparison to the coverage of the main creators.
They'd included a small, quite handsome photo of him, but no one bothered to comment on it. This bothered Aoki Haruhi deeply.
Still, he had to be grateful to Guoluo Tong. Even if sales were modest, every little bit helped. Any extra publicity for Pokeni was a win. If he could leverage this magazine effectively, it could potentially become a powerful ally for Pokeni, much like Famitsu is for Nintendo.
Aoki Haruhi mused about the ideal scenario: nurturing Guoluo Tong into becoming Pokeni's own private garden, a dedicated platform for promoting their work.
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