086. The Formation of a Club

“Then, goodbye. Be careful on your way home, all right?” Jiang Yu said, watching Megumi Kato walk into the train station.

Megumi glanced back, as if offering a gentle smile, nodded slightly, waved her hand, and turned to go inside.

After making sure Megumi had boarded her train, Jiang Yu prepared to head home as well.

As for why this scene had come about—it was a simple matter. After dinner, the group lingered for a little while longer, then Tomoya Aki and Megumi Kato bid farewell and went home.

Given that the time had slipped neatly into the evening hours, Jiang Yu insisted on accompanying Megumi to the station.

And what about Tomoya Aki? Jiang Yu wasn’t the least bit worried about him running into any danger. Before leaving, though, they had agreed that once Jiang Yu finished the project proposal, he’d send it over for Tomoya to print.

After all, Jiang Yu’s own house didn’t have a printer, though for reasons he couldn’t fathom, Tomoya’s family did.

In his previous life, Jiang Yu had always printed things at copy shops, so he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the idea.

Once home, having drawn a bath and shooed Umihara Umaru—who was busy playing games—off to wash up, Jiang Yu settled in to work on the proposal.

Before dinner, he had already finished drafting everything except the assistant’s route, Duduru’s route, and TE’s storyline. Now, all that remained was to write the crucial three endings.

Thus, until bedtime, except for being called away by Umaru to bathe and to do laundry, Jiang Yu sat at his computer, fingers dancing over the keyboard.

By the time he yawned, sent the finished proposal to Tomoya, and finally went to bed, it was nearly one in the morning.

…

The next morning, roused by the alarm he’d set the night before, Jiang Yu groggily got up, washed, and made breakfast.

After waking Umaru, the siblings ate together, washed the dishes, and got ready to leave for school.

It was worth noting that Umaru had become more proactive about cleaning up after meals, which left Jiang Yu both puzzled and quietly pleased.

After parting ways at the intersection, Jiang Yu walked the morning streets, savoring the spring breeze that carried with it the distant scents of mountains and bamboo groves. Even the dreaded Monday walk to school felt lighter.

He arrived early, so the school was still quiet; in any case, the only people in this class he was close with were Tomoya Aki and Megumi Kato.

Though, as Megumi had once pointed out, Jiang Yu was something of a minor celebrity at this school, he had never cared much for social intricacies and hadn’t noticed any special attention from others.

Soon, the brisk morning air that had helped clear his head began to wear off, and fatigue set in—after all, he’d taxed both mind and body yesterday, managing to complete a rather thorough proposal in just one day.

He laid his head on the desk and soon drifted into an uneasy sleep.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he felt a tap on his shoulder. Dazed, he looked up to see the teacher at the podium, ready to begin the lesson.

Letting out a long sigh and shaking his head to wake himself, Jiang Yu glanced around, but couldn’t spot whoever had woken him. However, catching sight of Tomoya Aki napping soundly not too far away, he had a pretty good guess.

As for the lesson… Jiang Yu decided he might as well sketch some drafts for “The Witch’s House.”

He pulled out paper and pen, and, entering a state of focus, lost track of time. When he next looked up, it was already another class, and lunch break was almost upon them.

Gathering up his various sketches and reference images, Jiang Yu waited for the bell.

These reference images were the basic building blocks of the game. For character design, for example, he needed sprites facing up, down, left, and right to match the arrow keys, and separate walking animations for movement. Mirrored images could save time for left and right, but moving forward and back required unique frames.

Though RC was a nearly open-source game engine, apart from the basic assets that came with it, creators had to prepare most materials themselves.

Of course, using assets made by others was possible, but unless the original creator had openly allowed free use, it could be considered copyright infringement.

Browsing the RC forums on 2CH, Jiang Yu had found plenty of assets, but most authors hadn’t granted permission for free use.

After all, few people are passionate enough about games to contribute selflessly to others’ projects. Not wanting unnecessary trouble, Jiang Yu decided to create most of the assets himself.

Of course, these were just rough drafts for now. The real work would be done on the computer, using software like Photoshop.

When the bell rang, Jiang Yu was about to head downstairs to buy something for lunch when Tomoya—eyes still red and puffy—grabbed his arm.

Jiang Yu shot him a questioning look, only for his friend to exclaim with excitement, “Let’s go, Yu! To the A/V room!”

With that, Tomoya dragged him away. Following along with resignation, Jiang Yu protested, “Hey, I haven’t eaten lunch yet!”

“That can wait! The important thing is hearing what Utaha and Eriri thought of your proposal!” Tomoya replied, completely unconcerned.

“You really are something else…” Jiang Yu could only let himself be hauled off toward the A/V room.

Opening the door, Jiang Yu was surprised to see Utaha Kasumigaoka and Eriri already sitting inside, composed and waiting.

After seating everyone closer together, Tomoya fixed an intense gaze on Utaha and Eriri, saying solemnly, “So, let’s hear your thoughts on Yu’s proposal!”

Upon hearing this, Eriri looked at Jiang Yu—who was leaning against the desk—with a complicated expression, as if she wanted to say something but held back. Utaha, on the other hand, responded with poise, “It’s an excellent proposal. It makes me want to participate.”

“Oh, actually, that’s putting it mildly. The proposal is more than just impressive—I didn’t expect Yu could write something this good. When you first described it the other day, I thought it was a great story, but reading the actual plotlines took it to another level. If we can achieve a high enough level of completion, this could go from ‘well-made’ to ‘masterpiece.’”

Utaha paused for a moment, then added with conviction, “Of course, the script will be no problem. As for the artwork, well…”

At this, Eriri cut in, “...I hate to admit it, but it really is a solid proposal. I’m in. And the artwork will be flawless—I just hope the script doesn’t hold us back!”

Utaha let out a soft laugh, offering no rebuttal, but turned her gaze toward Jiang Yu, who sat nearby as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.