VOLUME 5
Chapter 4 – Only the most devout believers can become true antis
Part II
“A test play?”
“Mmhmm. We won’t have to worry about it being incomplete.”
What Katou was suggesting was completely different from what I’d originally a.s.sumed… which I realize should have been pretty obvious now that I’ve had a chance to calmly think it over.
“Hmm… well it’s true that the scenarios, at least, are in order.”
It does make some sense to pause and combine all the raw materials we have now then add in the remaining parts at a later date.
“Like, it sounds stupid, but there might be something we can’t understand only by reading…”
“Hmm…”
What Katou’s suggesting is more than plausible.
Pictures, music, production… combining these, we’ll get the intangible sensations of a complete game that reading the scenario alone simply can’t reproduce.
Only by making the games can we decide which game will be more compelling, which game to accept, which game to sell – and it may very well be the only way to affirm which game most closely matches our taste.
“Mmhmm, it’s exactly as you say, Katou.”
“So that means…”
Making a game is a multifaceted skill...
I was so arrogant when I said that, but I might have been the one who believed in those words the least.
“Let’s make a game.”
Man, I’m not even sure what’s going on anymore.
I always get a real kick out of preaching my principles, but I always forget them when they seem to matter the most… only to be reminded of them by the same girl over and over again.
“Hey Katou…thanks.”
What the h.e.l.l, Katou…
“Aki-kun, I know you’re trying to trigger a moe event, but it’ll hurt you know?”
“I think you’d better clarify whether you’re talking about physical pain or my conduct, Katou!”1
And so in the flow of things I somehow found myself tugging Katou’s ponytail, causing her to respond with a mercilessly deadpan attack.
* * *
“W-Well then, I guess I’ll start work immediately…”
The train had since arrived at the stop before Katou’s.
Having somewhat shaken off the embarra.s.sment of my actions earlier, I mustered all the courage I could and finally spoke.
Still, this must be the most nervous I’ve ever been talking to her.
“How long will it take before it’s playable?”
“Hmm, let’s see… I think I’ll have it ready by next weekend.”
“That’s pretty late.”
“It can’t be helped. I still have to script everything from the beginning to the end, you know.”
“But won’t Eriri’s work have to be put on hold during that time?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Throw in this added work—which might not seem so sensible from an efficiency standpoint while our hands are already full finishing the master copy—and clashes in scheduling will surely become unavoidable.
“Ooh, that’s not good… to be wasting so much time.”
“Well in the meantime, starting tonight, we’ll ask Eriri to start on the event CGs for one of the scenarios while we work on the script.”
“But won’t that push back the schedule even further?”
“Well… we’ll work something out.”
“Aki-kun…”
A sleepless h.e.l.l probably awaits me this week.
But it’s only the ludicrous price Katou’s suggestion entails.
It’s a price I’m more than willing to pay for our dream.
“Say, Aki-kun…”
“Hmm?”
The train slowed down as the platform of Katou’s station came into view.
“It’ll take one week if you work on the script alone, right?”
So Katou mused, looking down in thought with an expression more serious than usual.
“That’s…well…”
“I’m only speculating here, but considering you’ll be working alone at home… does that estimation include the time you’ll be spending on various… distractions?”
“…Such as?”
The tone of her voice matched the expression on her face.
“Such as page surfing… or watching anime… or reading old manga again for ‘a change of pace’ only to somehow end up finishingthe entire collection…”
“Tell me where you hid your surveillance cameras in my room, or else!”
She’s exaggerating… well, just a bit.
“You’re sure you won’t slack off?”
“I-I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You swear?”
“Erm…”
I’m very conscious about the TV line-up from Sat.u.r.day night to Sunday morning sitting at the back of my mind.
That’s eight anime episodes, two specials, variety shows…
“…”
“…”
While I was in the depths of agonizing over all these concerns, the train doors had already opened.
“…”
“…Err, umm, I think I swear. Probably.”
But as buzzers sounded across the platform, a determined female voice squeezed out above all the noise.
“Aki-kun, take this!”
“Huh?”
Katou thrust her bag at me.
“Take it, I’m going to rush home and get changed before I come over. See you!”
“Ah, Katou! Hey!”
It was already too late when I called out again, as the doors closed and the figure of Katou flying up the stairs with her empty hands swinging at max speed disappeared out of sight.
Having witnessed such uncharacteristically quick work and lightning speed materialize completely out of nowhere, I could only stare blankly like an idiot at the bag that I now held in my hands as the train started and rumbled on.
…Somehow I get a strange feeling that if our school uniform had a necktie, she would have used that to pull me off the train.2
* * *
“The third chapter’s done, Aki-kun.”
“Good, should we fire it up then?”
As the hours wore on, Friday evening gave way to Friday night.
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be better if we switch out some of the sample music or the standing poses of the characters?”3
“Nope, we shouldn’t concern ourselves too much with production yet. Our priority right now is inserting the text to make it look like a game.”
True to her word, Katou arrived without making much of a scene, carrying only a travel bag containing two days’ worth of clothes. She immediately started up the PC and began expertly tinkering with the script without taking so much as a break until now.
“…Oh, it crashed.”
“Well, it was a rush job. We’ll try again after debugging it.”
“Okay.”
So after a bit of a troubleshooting meeting, we each turned back to the screens of our individual PCs and stroked the keys.
Come to think of it, today’s the first time Katou’s been the one to initiate conversation, and consistently so… even though it’s just the two of us in a dramatic sleepover event.
But it can’t be helped, I suppose. Today of all days I can’t afford to waste any time on idle chatter, anime, games, or unspeakable things we certainly can’t write about in this light novel.
We’ve given ourselves the objective of finishing our part of the game by this weekend.4
By moving the target forward by a week, we’ve guaranteed a pretty murderous schedule ahead for ourselves.
“Ah, I think I’ve found the problem. The file for the background here is missing.”
“We’ll just plug in a dummy file for now. Gotta make sure the entire thing works first.”
“Got it.”
“We’re only facing these problems because of the shortfall in material. Only pay attention to the text. Especially the parts with choice branches.”
“I know. The game doesn’t really have any complicated branches, thankfully.”
“I don’t think that’s something you should be thankful for, though.”
“Well, I think I’m done fixing it, Aki-kun.”
“Right, then let’s run it again.”
Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention earlier that my parents are in today, so it’s not like the both of us are alone in the house.
I couldn’t tell you about what they think is happening up here though.
“Oh, it crashed again.”
“Oh, Katou…”
* * *
“Uaaah…”
“Should we call it a day?”
As Katou yawned sleepily and I looked at the clock, I saw that it was now past 5 AM, Sat.u.r.day morning.
The sky beyond the curtains was still pitch black, but it would be brighter in the matter of an hour.
“It’s alright. We haven’t made enough progress yet.”
“It isn’t smart to continue recklessly at the expense of efficiency when you’re tired. I think we’ve done a lot already, so you should take a nap and recharge.”
Katou clearly isn’t used to pulling all-nighters, so it’s going to get even tougher for her here on out.
“No, I’m fine. I bought a bottle of black coffee just in case.”
“Black coffee doesn’t help as much as you think, you know. If it’s caffeine you want I’d recommend mocha tablets.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, the amount of caffeine in one tablet’s about the same as you’d get in three to four cups of coffee, and if you take a sheet of ten tablets you won’t have to worry about sleeping for at least three days.”
Note: Please use responsibly.
“Wow, that’s pretty amazing. But isn’t consuming ten tablets at once a bit much? Won’t there be any side effects?”
“Nope. It’s just that you might start getting rapid heart palpitations… cough uncontrollably like you have a cold but don’t… feel like throwing up… and then after those three nights of staying up you’ll lapse into a coma for the next three days.”
“I think I’ll just stick with coffee.”
Note: Results may vary.
Next Page
Deadpan’s Wonderland:
1One of those things that don’t translate very well into English. Katou (maybe unintentionally but I doubt it) makes a pun on the word 痛い, which can translate to “physical hurting”, or the lesser known connotation of “indecency”.
2As so kindly pointed out by Asukikuro-san (no sarcasm intended), this a reference to Touma pulling Haruki off the subway in Episode 4, White Alb.u.m 2.
3立ち絵。
4deadpan would probably “translate” much faster if a cute girl stayed over at his house too. No, sakai is not an option.
5And yes, as Asukikuro-san so graciously pointed out once again, the entire sleepover scene (more to come in Part 3, coming soon) is another shameless reference by Maruto-sensei to Haruki and Touma’s sleepover in, of course, White Alb.u.m 2.