After afternoon classes ended, Eriri was naturally dragged off by Yukino for tutoring. Ichin and Utaha didn't linger at school either—they headed straight back to the studio.
"Alright everyone—fresh, hot milk tea!"
With two large bags in hand, Ichin stepped into the studio with a smile.
"Let's take a short break."
"Oh!!! Milk tea!"
Kō Yagami was the first to drop what she was doing and rush over.
If Ichin had brought something else, she might've held back. But when it came to milk tea, there was no time to waste—if she didn't hurry, her favorite flavor might get snatched up.
"Hey! That's not fair, Kō-senpai!"
Aoba quickly followed behind, scrambling to grab her own preferred flavor.
Picking out her beloved "dual mix," Kō grinned smugly.
"Hehe, I've learned from past experience—speed is everything. If you want to beat me to it, Aoba, you're gonna have to move faster. But let's be real, if it came down to a sprint, I'd still win."
Rolling her eyes at Kō, Aoba hurriedly snatched up her favorite taro milk tea.
The others had also gathered by now. Hajime Shinoda picked up a matcha-flavored one and laughed.
"Heh, don't worry, Aoba. Ichin-kun already knows everyone's preferences inside out. The only one that really gets fought over is Kō-senpai's dual mix. What you picked? That's probably just your thing. Well—Eriri likes that one too, but she's not here today. By the way, Ichin-kun, is she not coming in?"
At the mention of Eriri, Ichin and Utaha exchanged a knowing smile.
"Eriri's focusing on her studies for the time being," Ichin replied. "She won't be coming to the studio as often. After all, academics still have to come first."
"I see."
Shinoda nodded in understanding. "Makes sense. Compared to you and Kasumigaoka-san, her grades are definitely a bit weaker. Is she going to a cram school or something?"
"Much tougher than that," Utaha said, barely hiding her amusement.
"Yukino is going to be tutoring her personally. The goal is to get Eriri into the top 30 of the year by finals."
Top 10 was out of the question. Even if Yukino was ranked first in the grade, there was no way she could drag Eriri from 50th to the top 10 in just a month.
But if Yukino somehow _did_ manage that, she could definitely consider a future as a professional educator—her career path would be set.
Eriri was probably getting lectured hard by Yukino at this very moment, so Ichin decided not to poke fun at her too much. Instead, he took his milk tea back to his desk, turned on his computer, and got to work.
Before diving into anything, he logged into Bilibili to check on the post he'd made at noon. The comments had already surpassed 500, with more and more people speculating about what kind of game the studio would be making next.
Their first game had been a roguelike deck-builder. The second was a Metroidvania-style platformer. Two completely different genres.
And now, the third game? All anyone had to go off was an ominous mask in the teaser image. No one had a clue what it was supposed to mean.
Still, while most couldn't guess the genre, a few people had started picking up on the right kind of vibe.
> Based on my experience watching a few of their streams, I'd say this new game is definitely not going to be small in scale.
Seeing that comment, Ichin resisted the urge to give it a thumbs-up, closed the browser, and got to work.
For the development of _Persona_, Ichin once again chose to use Unity as the engine. Its practicality, multi-platform support, and vast asset library made it an ideal choice.
In his memories, _Persona 5_ had been developed using Atlus's proprietary internal engine. But in this world, Atlus didn't exist. Even if it did, he'd have no access to their in-house tools. So Unity was the most viable option for realizing the vision he had for the game.
Character modeling and related assets were being handled by Kō Yagami and the others. What Ichin needed to focus on now was the core gameplay, particularly the action and battle system. He also decided to take on the UI design himself.
Not because the others weren't capable—but because the UI in this game was a _crucial_ component. Ichin believed that only by personally creating a clear prototype could he show the team something more vivid and definitive than what was in the design documents.
Every part of the game needed to follow a unified visual style. So before finalizing the gameplay systems, Ichin prioritized completing the rest of the UI first.
As he worked, Ichin suddenly noticed Hafumi walking over, holding a small sketchbook in her arms and wearing a soft blush on her cheeks.
If Ichin didn't already know her personality, he might've thought she was about to confess or something.
Glancing at the notebook, Ichin took off his headphones and said,
"Hifumi, are you here to show me your updated casual outfit designs?"
Hifumi nodded shyly and handed over the sketchbook.
"If it's okay, I'd like to move on to the modeling phase after this. I was already assigned the modeling for a few of these characters."
"Sure, let's take a look."
Taking the sketchbook, Ichin began flipping through it.
Hifumi had shown him earlier drafts of her designs for the characters' casual outfits. However, aside from a few decent ones, Ichin had rejected most of them, giving her some detailed requirements and asking her to redo them.
Now, as he examined several new outfit designs for Makoto Niijima and Haru Okumura, a pleased expression crept onto his face.
"These are great. You've nailed exactly what I asked for."
hifumi had a remarkable sense for fashion design—especially with modern aesthetics. No wonder she was so excited about working on a contemporary-themed game.
Returning the sketchbook to her, Ichin smiled and said,
"Alright, once you finish your other tasks for this week, modeling these designs will be your assignment for next week. Just don't forget the stylistic direction I mentioned—visual consistency is key."
Hifumi hugged the sketchbook and nodded enthusiastically.
"Got it! No problem!"
She practically skipped back to her workstation, clearly thrilled.
After she popped her headphones back on and dove back into her work, Kō Yagami quietly leaned in beside Ichin and said,
"This is the first time I've seen Hifumi so fired up. Looks like _this_ is the game she's been waiting to make."
Ichin chuckled.
"Everyone has different passions. Totally normal.
If we were making a shooter instead, the one most excited would probably be Umiko."
"Ugh, no kidding."
Kō shivered at the thought.
"If that ever happens, I swear she's gonna make us all wear full tactical gear."
Seeing her reaction, Ichin couldn't help but smirk.
That day might actually come sooner than expected.
...
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