I've had sleepless nights for the past two days. It's because Han Seorim, who left after saying she'd think about it and give an answer, hasn't contacted yet. We definitely exchanged contact information. I even saw the signal that showed the ssage was sent, so there's no way I could be wrong. But why haven't I received a reply yet? Should I wait a bit longer? Or did she just decide to ignore ? My worries grew deeper, and before I knew it, I found myself repeatedly typing and deleting a ssage with my hand.
Ding!
A ssage arrived at that mont.
"Let's et and talk."
It seed like she had made up her mind.
The ti was 2:00 in the afternoon.
"Have you eaten?"
"I obviously did."
A sharp refusal.
"Let's et at the campus cafe."
I imdiately gathered my things and left my house.
The campus cafe was quiet. It was a ti when students were leaving school after finishing exams, so the place wasn't too crowded. It wasn't a bad choice since we could talk quietly.
"Here."
Han Seorim gestured to a corner table, propping her chin on her hand.
As I approached, she greeted .
"It's been two days. You don't seem to have been doing well... and why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?"
"I've been fiddling around with the proposal."
"Sounds severe."
Han Seorim let out a dry chuckle.
"Passion is sothing else. I'll give you credit for that."
"Thank you for the praise."
Even as I responded, my mouth felt parched. The mont I cald my heart, the unease followed, and I didn't feel uncomfortable maintaining this tension. Maintaining such tension was a given.
I asked straight away, "So, have you made a decision?"
"You're impatient."
"It's better to keep things simple. Aren't you busy?"
"Sure. I don't really like long-winded conversations either."
Han Seorim adjusted her posture. She crossed her legs and rested her arms on the table.
I vaguely rembered that this posture ant rejection...
"Well, I'm thinking of giving it a shot. It seems like a good experience."
Books really can't be trusted.
"Success...!"
My fist clenched involuntarily.
I barely managed to suppress the corners of my mouth from lifting.
But I couldn't stop the excitent from seeping into my tone.
"So, you've thought it through..."
"But."
Han Seorim interrupted and let out a small, wry laugh.
With a touch of anxiety.
"...Yes?"
"I do have conditions on my end. If I'm taking on the job, I'll do my best. But there's sothing you need to promise ."
"What is it?"
"My ti is quite valuable. I'm more interested in soone with enthusiasm rather than just the hours. I guess you could call it manners, but I'm quite particular about that. If my interest wanes, you should be ready for to quit anyti."
I froze.
While I looked into her eyes to gauge her intentions, sadly, I lacked the ability to decipher such things. However, there was one emotion I could read: sincerity.
"...That's quite an unconventional condition."
"You're not confident?"
‘Not confident?’
If I was not confident, I shouldn't have even started.
"Alright. Since it's highly unlikely that such a result would happen, there's practically no condition."
It wouldn't even reach the point of such a result.
Presenting results that you're not passionate about to receive an unenthusiastic response is sothing I've had enough of in my past corporate life.
I have no intention of feeling that dreadful again.
"I hope the underclassman shows skills that match their confidence."
"Sure thing."
Han Seorim extended her hand for a handshake.
As I reached for her hand, I added a word.
"Counting on you?"
It felt strangely new. She didn't hold my hand two days ago.
Of course, I wasn't completely lost in thought.
"Definitely."
I shook her hand.
Sohow, sothing was resolved.
The successful recruitnt of an Art Director.
Seorim felt great.
"We'll start working from tomorrow. If you have any tools that are good for quick sketches, bring them. If conditions permit, an electronic tablet would be best."
Those were Cheon Yeonho's parting words.
***
I liked his straightforward personality.
I also had a feeling that the work ahead wouldn't be too boring.
Of course, the details would have to be seen to fully understand.
Suddenly, I felt like laughing.
"In the end, I'm doing all sorts of things in life."
Ga developnt, I never thought I'd be doing sothing like this in my lifeti, but the ways of the world are quite strange.
"A tablet, a sketchbook, and a pencil. That should be enough."
After roughly preparing, Seorim picked up her bag and left her house.
When she arrived at school, Cheon Yeonho was waiting at the main gate.
"Did you wait for ?"
"No, I just arrived myself."
"We'll be working together now, so feel free to speak comfortably. I can call senior as well."
"Sure, let's do that."
Surprisingly, he agreed quickly.
Usually, when people say that, they're awkward at first.
As I was thinking, Cheon Yeonho asked casually.
"Why?"
"Um, no reason."
"Really? If it's not a big deal, then forget it. Anyway, co with ."
Cheon Yeonho turned around.
He led the way to the club building.
"Club?"
"Yeah, we need a place to work."
"You've prepared sothing like this?"
"I did it yesterday."
He said, as he inserted a key into the lock and opened the door.
It was a small room.
In the room that seed to have only been roughly cleaned, two computers were placed side by side, and the bookshelf on the other wall was completely empty.
"It's not an officially funded club. Just a small group borrowing a room."
"Well, that's fine. It doesn't matter much anyway."
Thoughts like, 'It'd be nice to drop by when I want so quiet ti,' crossed Seorim's mind as she sat down on a chair.
And then, she asked.
"So what do I do now?"
Although it sounded obvious, Seorim was completely unfamiliar with ga developnt.
Actually, she was entirely unfamiliar with the genre of gas in the first place.
She had read the proposal that Cheon Yeonho gave her, but she had no idea where to start or how to grasp the concept.
She explained the situation, and a response ca imdiately.
"First, you need to draw illustrations."
"Illustrations?"
"It's about the visual design of the ga. It's the fundantal step to visualize the ga's settings, characters, antagonists, and so on. Of course, I don't expect you to co up with everything from scratch. I'll give you so rough concepts, and you can interpret them in your style."
Cheon Yeonho handed her a file with A4-sized papers bound together.
Seorim took it and quickly glanced through the pages.
Right after, she froze.
"It's a bit grueso, isn't it? If you're squeamish, sorry. But you still need to do it."
"It's terrifying."
Especially when it ca to his drawing skills.
Seorim's astonishnt was clearly evident.
Without a doubt, she had never seen drawings as bad as these in her entire life.
Raising her head, she examined Cheon Yeon Ho's expression. Strangely, he didn't seem embarrassed at all.
"Doesn't he realize he can't draw?"
No, he must realize that why he is asking for help because he can't draw.
"Still, this is just too much."
She couldn't even distinguish what was being represented.
Seorim hesitated for a mont.
Normally, that's how people would react.
When faced with soone whose self-awareness of their drawing skills hasn't been properly calibrated, most people would feel guilty to give harsh criticism and, even if not, they'd quietly suffer through it, thinking, 'Yeah, he probably asked to help him because he can't draw.'
But Seorim wasn't the type to hold back such words.
"My five-year-old cousin could probably draw better than this."
"Is your cousin artistically inclined?"
"He must be, compared to this."
"I can't really argue with that."
How shaless people can be.
As she expressed her astonishnt, Cheon Yeonho continued.
"It's fine if you can't understand it through the drawings. I've added annotations."
"You had to. But it's so abstract. What on earth does 'skin the colour of frozen souls' an?"
"I expected that level of abstraction from you."
"Did you pick the wrong person?"
"Surely not. I ca to the right person."
Cheon Yeonho pulled up a chair and sat across from Seorim.
After a mont of silently looking at the file, he began to speak.
"I'll explain the general atmosphere. It's easier to draw when you have so background knowledge."
"Um, just give it a shot."
It happened in an instant.
In that mont, Cheon Yeonho's gaze seed to fade away.
His expression was not as if he was imagining sothing, but rather as if he was recalling a mory from a certain point in the past. It was a vacant look.
In that mont, a strange impression ford.
"This is Hell. A place where tortured sinners suffer unimaginable pain."
His voice started to echo softly.
"There are various types of suffering. Here, we focus only on physical pain."
Seorim projected his words onto the canvas of her mind.
"The background is a massive organ. It pulsates slowly, its colour closer to dark brown than pink... Yes, the colour of lungs ravaged by cancer. That's how you should portray it."
This ti, it was easy to imagine.
There was a similar scene in a comic book Seorim read when she was younger. It was about a protagonist exploring inside a giant snake's disguise.
"The space is divided into perfect cubes. To move from one space to another, you enter a hole in the room. They're shaped like sphincters."
"..."
Unpleasant, but the image was definitely captured.
There was a similar background in a classic movie.
The story of people trapped inside cubes, where the arrangent changes periodically.
"There are two kind of people in this hell. The tortured sinners and the wardens/supervisors who creatively show how to make people suffer more."
"What do those people look like?"
"The sinners mostly look like sickly patients. They can't help it. They're people who neglected their own bodies, and died from diseases they could have easily prevented. All for a mont of pleasure."
"Like alcohol or smoking?"
"Even worse, including drugs and self-harm."
"Alright, continue."
"The wardens have bluish skin as if they were written down in blue ink. Expressionless. Their eyes and mouths are stitched shut. They see nothing and say nothing. They don't even hear because their ears are pierced with nails. They only inflict torture. chanical. Almost like machines. They're not far from being actual machines."
It was easy to think of a classic horror movie's serial killer.
The image of a chanical torture specialist beca quite vivid.
What would be better... Yes, it would be perfect if they were leeches.
Since it's a horror genre, it would make it even scarier.
When she realized this, Seorim spoke with a slightly cringing expression.
"I'll have to draw this as scary as possible. The player should feel the need to escape from them."
With this level of understanding, she might have a knack for ga developnt too, right?
That's what she thought, but her expectations were about to be crushed.
"What are you talking about? The warden is the main character."
"Huh?"
Seorim's expression went blank.
Cheon Yeonho added one more thing.
"It's an action ga, you know? Horror action."
It still made no sense.
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