9 The heroine strives to provide good service
Even with all that happening, once school let out, it was time to start making our game.
Noëlle and I headed to Akihabara separately before slipping into the Development Room in the Ota Building.
We had already agreed to keep our game creation a secret as much as possible.
After all, just Ayari finding out had caused a massive uproar.
If we were keeping it under wraps, it was best to minimize the time we spent walking around together.
"Good work today," I greeted as I walked in.
"Good work today, Masato-san," Noëlle replied politely.
It seemed she had caught an earlier train. She had already set down her bag and was getting ready.
"I brought my own laptop today," she said, gesturing to the machine. "May I use this?"
"Yeah, of course," I nodded. "Here, use this to connect to the Wi-Fi."
I handed her a small slip with the network name and password written on it.
"So your PC is a WattsLite, huh?" I remarked.
"Yes, I use a Japanese brand," Noëlle confirmed.
It was a matte black laptop with a very premium look to it.
As a domestic brand, it was known for its high base specs and sleek design, but its keyboard was particularly easy to type on, making it incredibly popular among professional writers.
I could feel her sheer determination to churn out a massive amount of text.
"Umm... Okay, I'm connected,"
"I'll email you a link to our shared cloud folder," I explained. "I've already set up a folder for the scenario, so just upload your drafts there... Think you can handle that?"
"I generally understand how it works," Noëlle hesitated. "But..."
"Ah, you don't have to upload anything you don't want to show me yet," I assured her. "We can just consult each other whenever there's something we absolutely need to check."
Noëlle gave a small, firm nod.
She looked a bit relieved, if only slightly.
It wasn't uncommon for writers to want to keep their works in progress hidden.
Perfectionism was one of the worst enemies of group projects, but completely ignoring a staff member's personal process could hinder production just as much.
Managing the staff's motivation was also the director's duty—
"...Wait, am I the director?" I muttered aloud.
"There are cases where the lead artist is also the director, right?" Noëlle tilted her head.
"Probably not many in the commercial sphere..." I mused. "Drawing is exhausting work as it is."
My old man somehow managed to handle both the art and the direction for a massive console game with a terrifyingly broad scope.
It was probably best not to consider guys like him human.
"Come to think of it, we didn't really have a designated director for Shinmira,"
"It would honestly help me out if you took on a specific role, Masato-san," Noëlle insisted.
"Hm? Does it really matter whether I'm the director or not?"
"Because I will follow whatever you say," Noëlle declared earnestly. "If I have the excuse of following 'the director's orders,' it'll be much easier to comply with absolutely anything."
"H-Hey, it's not about following orders..." I sputtered. "Our game is an indie project. The staff are equals. I don't think we should be creating a hierarchy here."
In a commercial game, some sort of hierarchy was necessary to clarify responsibilities and the chain of command.
But indie games were usually made among friends.
Wouldn't establishing a chain of command just make things weird?
"I think I understand what you're worried about, Masato-san," Noëlle countered smoothly. "However, you and I aren't even friends in the classroom."
"...Well, that's true," I conceded.
It sounded cold, but Noëlle and I were practically strangers at school.
Ayari was much closer to her, and she certainly considered Noëlle a friend.
"Still, being called the director just feels too arrogant and awkward," I sighed. "Give me a break."
"You can order me to do whatever you want, you know?" Noëlle offered.
"......"
Whoa, my resolve almost faltered there!
Noëlle probably didn't mean anything deep by it and just wanted me to be in a position where it's easy to give her instructions, but there's no guy alive who wouldn't get the wrong idea from that.
"Anyway, I'm in charge of planning and the original art," I declared. "You're the scenario writer, Noëlle. Let's keep things on equal footing."
"I understand," she replied. "However, please tell me whenever you want to see me in a dirty pose."
"That's a weird way to phrase it!" I shot back. "I'm only drawing you to use as reference for the original art, okay"
"I know. Masato-san, you're always so calm in the classroom, but you're quite flustered here in the Development Room."
Noëlle let out a soft giggle.
Whoa—
To think that the aloof, ice-like princess would laugh so normally.
I bet neither Ayari nor the other girls have ever seen her smile like this, have they?
"R-Right," I said, clearing my throat. "The proposal is already done, so... Noëlle, do you want to try coming up with a plot?"
"A plot!" she exclaimed brightly. "It sounds like we're professionals!"
"It's a doujin game, so we're just amateurs."
Alright, successfully changed the subject.
Or rather, this really isn't the time to be leisurely chatting about our relationship dynamics.
"I've already uploaded the proposal to our shared cloud folder," I explained. "I'll give you a verbal rundown first, so just tell me if you have any questions."
"Oui!"
Whoa, she's really fired up.
Getting such an enthusiastic response in that beautiful voice of hers is a little overwhelming.
"Y-Yeah, I mean, we only have three months, after all— Wait, are we seriously doing this in three months?"
I asked, standing next to Noëlle's desk.
"I am completely serious, Masato-san."
"......"
Noëlle will write the scenario, and I will draw the original art.
Even without the title of director, I'll be the one who has to manage the schedule and handle negotiations with outside parties.
I'm fine with doing things that way, but—once you throw a time limit into the mix, that changes things significantly.
"I didn't hear the specifics, but is there a reason it has to be three months?" I asked.
"It is due to family circumstances," Noëlle replied.
"......"
That's incredibly vague, isn't it, Lambert-san?
If the Lambert household has some sort of circumstances going on, I want to know about it.
"I am sorry," she confessed. "The truth is... I told my mother that I am going to write an eroge scenario."
"Y-Your mother? The one who's a novelist?"
My parents know that I make games too, but isn't the hurdle completely different for a girl getting involved with an eroge?
"There's no way a parent would permit you to write an eroge scenario, right...?"
"No, it seems she is fine with me writing it," Noëlle explained. "She said that whether it is erotic or not, there is no high or low standing when it comes to creative works."
"...Well, I suppose that's a novelist's way of thinking?"
Apparently, it's not unusual for even great authors to have written erotica in the past.
And it's certainly not rare for best-selling novels to feature heavy sensual descriptions, either.
In a way, a novelist parent might be more understanding than other families.
"However..."
"Ah, right," I said. "So what's the reason for the three months?"
"When I told her the expected volume of the project, she ordered me to prove I could make it in three months," Noëlle explained. "She told me that if I cannot do that, I should give up on creative work entirely."
"W-Well... So she isn't going to judge it based on whether the content is good or bad, then."
"My mother believes that without a deadline, no work can be born," Noëlle explained. "She said three months was setting it on the longer side."
"I agree that a deadline is necessary, but still..." I muttered.
I think the amount of work it takes to write a single novel versus making a single game is entirely different.
"I guess it's not impossible? It's exactly the start of June right now, so three months means we have to finish it by early September...?" I asked.
"June, July, and August, so yes, that's correct," Noëlle nodded. "However, from late July through the entirety of August is summer vacation, right?"
"Once final exams end in early July, school is basically on break," I said. "So we can consider it about a month and a half of vacation, but..."
Our high school still uses the traditional three-term system, so once exams are over, we enter an exam break, and after that, the only times we have to go to school are the days they return our tests and the closing ceremony.
Let me retract my previous statement. To think I said it wasn't impossible...
"Three months is a totally impossible game after all!" I shouted. "Even having twice that amount of time would be tough!"
"Oh là là!"
A rare, distinctly French-sounding cry escaped Noëlle's lips.
Though it was more of a shriek than a cry.
"Ah, my bad," I apologized. "Didn't mean to startle you by yelling all of a sudden. But I'm completely serious about this, okay?"
"Is three months... really that strict of a deadline?" she asked hesitantly.
"Strict doesn't even begin to cover it," I sighed. "The Mirage's Future Tree took over half a year. And that's just the actual production time, mind you. If you include the time I spent refining the proposal and the plot, it was about a year."
"Th-That long?"
"It's nothing to be surprised about," I shrugged. "There are doujin games that take two or three years, and in worst-case scenarios, over five years."
"I thought a lot of people made doujin games a bit more casually," Noëlle said, looking surprised.
"It's exactly because it's doujin," I explained. "Since there are no deadlines, some people just end up working on them forever."
Of course, that's usually only the case when they have another day job, or they're a popular creator with enough leeway to afford it.
"Well, my family lets me use this Development Room for free since it's Ayari's family's property, and my parents are paying my living expenses," I added. "So you could say there's no real reason for me to rush, either."
"...But," she murmured.
"I get it, I get it," I conceded. "That's the only way to get your mother's permission, right?"
Noëlle's mother was being pretty unreasonable... It was practically the same as not giving her permission at all.
But if those were her conditions, then I suppose we didn't have the right to refuse.
"Masato-san, you catch on rather quickly," Noëlle smiled.
"Well, making games is all I ever think about, after all," I replied.
Normally, drawing is all I ever think about, but I've already shifted into game production mode.
"Just three months, huh," I mused. "Yeah, it's so unreasonable that it might actually be fun."
"I-It feels like you caught on a little too quickly," she stuttered. "Are you really going to be okay with just three months?"
"It's definitely unreasonable," I admitted. "But there are plenty of masterpiece games out there that were made in just a few months. Why not? Let's aim to have it finished in three months."
Even as I said that, a cold sweat ran down my back.
In reality, I think it's impossible, but it's not like I'll be killed if we go past three months.
I wonder if you get demoted or fired if you miss a deadline for a commercial game.
"Take a look at the proposal right away," I urged her. "We're in deep trouble if we don't start on the scenario and the art today."
"I am reading it," Noëlle replied.
"Oh."
Was Noëlle checking the proposal while we were talking?
"The prologue is exactly as you explained it to me the other day," she said, her eyes shining. "The proposal is really interesting...!"
"R-Really?" I stammered.
A proposal you write yourself always looks like the masterpiece of the century.
However, to anyone else, they usually just seem like bland, harmless stories, or things that are so off-the-wall that it's impossible to tell what's supposed to be fun about them...
This was a valuable lesson I learned from my old man. You could also say it was a rare instance of him saying something actually sensible.
"The early developments of the story are written down here, too," Noëlle observed.
"Yeah, was that bad?" I asked. "I'm basically leaving the scenario up to you, Noëlle, but I figured I'd like to consult with you on the early parts of the plot and the climax as we go along."
"Of course, I don't mind at all," she beamed. "I'm well aware that this game production is a collaborative effort between the two of us."
"......"
...Working together just the two of us... Putting it like that makes it sound like there's some special meaning to it...
Completely oblivious to my internal fluster, Noëlle nodded to herself as she looked over the proposal.
"The girl in the Thorn Mansion suddenly hugs the protagonist when they meet, right?" Noëlle asked.
"Yeah, the mystery of why she takes such a sudden action acts as a hook for the story, while also providing the fan service of a beautiful girl suddenly clinging to you—"
"Something like this?"
"......!"
Noëlle suddenly stood up and threw her arms around me in a tight embrace.
Her overwhelmingly abundant curves pressed directly against me, squishing with a soft squish!
T-This sheer volume...!
She really is an E-cup! Seriously, her breasts are bigger than a gravure idol's!
Her chest pressed firmly into mine, letting me feel their incredible softness and elasticity even through our uniforms.
"However, even if we just say 'hug,' there are many different ways to do it, aren't there?" Noëlle pointed out.
"R-Right," I stammered.
"This should probably be a CG event, right? In that case, we need to think about the pose as well."
A CG event was, simply put, a full-screen illustration.
Sometimes called a still, it was the visual novel equivalent of an illustration in a light novel.
They were used as promotional material, and many people bought games specifically for these event CGs. They were an incredibly important element.
Because they were so important, trying them out in real life for reference was a valid strategy. A valid strategy, sure, but—
"C-Can I be the one to think up the event CGs?" I asked. "I need to control the number of illustrations and their content, so I'll try creating them to match the plot."
"Understood. To be honest, I don't know much about art, so that's a big help," Noëlle replied.
"That would be great—wait, you can let go now! I get it, I totally get the feeling of being hugged!"
"Ah, my apologies."
Noëlle quickly pulled away from me, taking the sensation of her E-cups with her.
Then, she took out her smartphone, fiddled with it for a moment, and propped it up against a thick magazine nearby to use as a makeshift stand.
"Checking the sensation is important, but it won't be much use as an art reference unless we film it. Let's take a video," she suggested.
Noëlle took my hand and led me to stand in the center of the Development Room.
And then—
Squeeze.
Squeeze.
Squeeze.
She repeated the process of hugging me and pulling away three times.
Every time she did, the sensation of her incredibly abundant chest—which was starting to feel almost aggressive—transferred to me.
It also came with the added bonus of a sweet, pleasant scent and the sudden proximity of her beautiful face.
"Wrapping my arms around your back, around your waist, and then the nape of your neck... None of these patterns are easy to discard. However, we still don't know the main heroine's character yet," Noëlle murmured thoughtfully.
"N-Noëlle?"
"If she's the clingy type, wrapping my arms around your back and squeezing tight... would something like this be good?"
"......!"
True to her words, Noëlle wrapped her arms around my back and squeezed me in a crushing embrace.
At this point, Noëlle's breasts were pressed against my chest, completely squished flat—
Every time she shifted, the soft sensation transferred to me with a squish, squish.
"Noëlle, that's enough...!"
"Ah, you're right. I think we got enough footage," she said.
Unaware that my head was spinning, Noëlle returned to the desk and began reviewing the footage on her smartphone.
"As expected of you, Masato-san," Noëlle said. "When a protagonist is suddenly hugged by an unknown girl, they wouldn't know what to do and their hands would wander aimlessly, wouldn't they?"
"..."
The only reason I didn't wrap my arms around Noëlle's back was because I was completely taken by surprise.
"I think this footage could be used as a reference for your drawings," she continued. "I'll upload this to the cloud too. Since it's a video, just cut out an appropriate frame as a still image—"
"W-What's wrong, Noëlle?" I asked.
"Ahhhhhhhh..."
Noëlle's face suddenly flushed completely red as she collapsed to the floor right then and there.
"W-What was I doing... Even if it was for work, to suddenly hug a boy like that," she muttered. "I-I'm so sorry, that must have startled you."
"...And yet showing me your panties was fine?" I asked, slightly bewildered.
"I-It's not that I was fine with it! It's just..."
Noëlle, her cheeks still dyed a deep red, put on her usual emotionless face.
"I am a modest maiden, after all," she declared smoothly. "I'm not just fine with absolutely anything."
"I thought you were fine with anything," I admitted. "I figured something like a hug would be totally normal in France..."
"That's not true," she huffed. "I wouldn't embrace a man I'm not even close with. Just what kind of girl do you think I am?"
She glared at me with a steady, icy stare.
She goes from being a blushing mess to glaring at me coldly... She sure is a handful...
"It's strictly because we're making an eroge," she clarified. "As long as it's as a model, I'm capable of doing anything."
"...I get it," I replied.
That alone is already an outrageous claim, though.
"Oh right, there's just one thing I need to tell you, Noëlle."
"What would that be?" she asked curiously.
"We're strictly staff members making a game together," I started. "So it's not like you need to do everything or tell me everything, but..."
This is only my second time making a game, so I'm barely any different from an amateur.
So I can't really say anything too high-and-mighty, but...
"I'm just echoing my old man here," I said seriously. "But since it's important, I'm going to pass it on to you too. Never lie about work."
"Lie... in what way?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Well, there's a lot of things, but especially things like saying 'It's proceeding on schedule' when work hasn't progressed at all," I explained. "Lying about progress is particularly bad. Especially since our deadline is so tight this time around."
"I see..." Noëlle murmured.
She placed a finger on her lips, deep in thought.
People are surprisingly weak, after all.
Apparently, they often end up lying just out of fear that they 'might get yelled at'.
Even proper adults seem to do it, so there's no telling what minors like us would do.
"In that case..." Noëlle spoke up. "It's not about our progress, but..."
After a brief moment of contemplation, she raised her head.
Her expression was as cool as ever, but her eyes seemed to wander just a bit.
"There's something I've been hesitating to tell you regarding our eroge creation," she admitted.
"It's fine, you can tell me anything," I reassured her. "If you tell me early on, we might be able to figure it out."
"Figure it out... Well, there certainly is a simple way to figure it out," she mused.
"Then even more reason to speak up," I prompted. "Even if it's hard to say, it helps if you let me know."
"Is that so..." Noëlle breathed out.
She looked down for just a moment before snapping her head back up.
"Actually, I'm a virgin. Is it still okay for me to make an eroge?"
"I suppose there really is a simple way to solve that" I shouted.
The method for gaining experience is simple, but the hurdle for executing it is way too high!
Being a virgin doesn't get in the way of making an eroge!
Probably...!
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