After the first class ended, it was break time. Once Hiratsuka-sensei left the classroom, several curious girls immediately gathered around Ichin, surrounding him and bombarding him with questions.

“Ichin-kun, why did you decide to study abroad?”

“Is it true that you’ve already finished all the coursework? That’s amazing!”

“If I don’t understand something, can I come ask you?”

The girls’ enthusiastic atmosphere made the boys in the class envious. They had intended to introduce themselves to Ichin as well, but the girls beat them to it.

Additionally, there was another reason holding the boys back: Kasumigaoka Utaha was seated next to Ichin.

Utaha’s aura was unmistakable. The boys, who had been in the same class for a year, knew better than to approach carelessly, lest they face her sharp tongue.

After some effort, Ichin finally managed to escape the group of girls and stepped out of the classroom to use the restroom.

As he finished washing his face and was about to leave, he happened to run into Hiratsuka-sensei, who was just coming out of the restroom herself.

Seeing Ichin, Hiratsuka grabbed him immediately. “Perfect timing, I was planning to find you at lunchtime. Come with me now.”

Hiratsuka led Ichin to a quiet spot and looked at him, asking, “So, what were you writing during class?”

“I’m currently developing a game,” Ichin replied. “What you saw in my notebook are related notes.”

“Huh? Developing a game?” Hiratsuka looked at Ichin in surprise. “You? Alone?”

“Yeah.” Ichin nodded. “I’ve been working on it solo for about a month now, and I should have a demo ready soon. If you don’t believe me, I can bring the demo for you to try out later. You could even give me some feedback. Do you play games, Hiratsuka-sensei?”

“I play a little, but I’ll pass on the demo.” Hiratsuka’s curiosity was piqued, and she asked, “With such good grades, you still have the energy to learn all these things about game development? Doing it alone requires a lot of skills, right?”

“Using an engine, doing the art, writing scripts, balancing numbers—these aren’t too hard for me since I have a knack for it,” Ichin replied with a confident smile. “And the game I’m making isn’t technically demanding, so I’m feeling pretty confident about it.”

Seeing Ichin’s confident smile, Hiratsuka couldn’t help but feel a slight urge to believe him.

Sighing, Hiratsuka massaged her temples and said, “Fine, but I have conditions. As I mentioned before, there’s a test tomorrow, and you need to place in the top three of the grade. If you can’t manage that, you’ll have to pay full attention in my classes and no more side activities. Deal?”

Ichin agreed without hesitation. “Deal!”

Waving him off, Hiratsuka said, “Alright, go back to the classroom; it’s almost time for the next period.”

Watching Ichin leave, Hiratsuka had a feeling that this class was going to become more troublesome in the future.

When Ichin returned to the classroom, the girls didn’t crowd around him anymore, and the boys also stayed in their seats, giving him a few minutes of peace to continue writing in his notebook.

Holding a traditional novel in her hand, Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at Ichin and felt a twinge of curiosity about what he was writing.

The morning classes soon came to an end, and it was lunchtime.

Since Ichin didn’t bring a packed lunch, he went to the school’s snack shop and bought two pieces of bread before heading up to the rooftop.

Just as he opened his second piece of bread and took a couple of bites, the door to the rooftop opened again, and Kasumigaoka Utaha appeared.

Seeing Ichin already on the rooftop, Kasumigaoka Utaha was momentarily surprised but still walked over and sat down on a nearby bench, opening her bento box. Glancing at the bread in Ichin’s hand, she asked, “Didn’t bring lunch?”

Ichin nodded and replied, “I was busy late last night, so I didn’t have time to cook. Just making do today.”

As he spoke, Ichin continued writing something in his notebook with his other hand.

At this moment, Utaha finally got a clear look at what Ichin was writing, and it wasn’t the study material she initially assumed.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Working on a game,” Ichin answered without looking up. “I’ve only been developing it for a month, but I’m trying to release an early access version by the end of the month. The progress is going well. Are you interested? I could give you a copy to try out.”

“A game?” Utaha asked, surprised. “Can one person really make something like that?”

“Of course,” Ichin said with a smile. “The simplest way is to use a software called RPGMaker, which even beginners can quickly use to create their own games. But I’m not using that, since my goal isn’t just to make a personal project for fun.”

Ichin then briefly explained the genre of his game to Utaha.

“Card-based, and something else?” Utaha looked puzzled. The games she had experience with were simple ones like Mario and Pokémon.

Seeing her confusion, Ichin explained further, “Yeah, it’s a combination of card elements and roguelike mechanics. Essentially, it’s a game with procedurally generated content and irreversible consequences. For example, you control a character, and the stages ahead are randomized. Your first room could be a monster encounter or a treasure chest. But if you lose during a run, the entire game resets, and you have to start over from the beginning.”

“Would people really play a game like that?” Utaha didn’t understand. A game where losing meant restarting from scratch—could that be enjoyable?

“If it’s done well, people will definitely enjoy it,” Ichin said confidently. “Anyway, I’ll keep working on it. If you’re curious, I’ll let you try the demo later, and you can see for yourself.”

With that, Ichin quickly finished his bread and stood up. “Take your time eating. I’m heading back.”

“Okay,” Utaha nodded as she watched Ichin leave the rooftop. She quietly muttered to herself, “No wonder. Mom did mention that he stayed home all last month. Turns out, he was developing a game?”

Utaha didn’t know much about the gaming industry, so she refrained from making any judgments about what Ichin was doing. Whether he was serious or not, she would find out soon enough.

A few minutes later, Utaha finished her lunch and returned to the classroom. There, she saw Ichin surrounded by several boys, chatting enthusiastically.

Even though he was doing something other than studying, like she was, Ichin was clearly better at interacting with people.

With that thought, Utaha returned to her seat. Just as she sat down, the group of boys around Ichin found various excuses to quickly return to their seats.

Turning his head, Ichin looked at Utaha and asked quietly, “Those guys seem to be pretty scared of you.”

“…”

❇❇❇

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep