"Agh, why am I so unlucky! I didn't win a ticket again!"
Inside the small villa shared by Kazumi, Oto-chan, and Aiko, Kazumi was staring at the computer screen, constantly complaining.
Oto-chan was munching on takoyaki while saying, "You really shouldn't expect to win a ticket. Didn't Takayuki-sensei already say that we can go on the first day anyway? We're considered well-known ga developers."
Kazumi looked annoyed.
She was mad at herself, feeling like her luck was just too terrible.
Of course, she knew she didn't actually have to worry about tickets.
She just liked the thrill of things like lottery draws.
But with hundreds of thousands of people competing for a single ticket, it wasn't far off from winning the lottery.
Kazumi's idea was actually pretty simple—if she happened to win a ticket, she wanted to gift it to one of the early fans who had loved her gas. She wasn't after any personal gain—she just genuinely wanted to thank those who had supported her from the beginning.
...
...
It was just... her luck really sucked.
"Aiko, can you help draw? Your luck is probably better," Kazumi said as she shoved her laptop toward Aiko.
Aiko was curled up on the sofa, writing sothing in a notebook.
That was her inspiration journal. She used it to jot down ideas whenever inspiration struck—so she could use them in future ga developnt.
Right now, she was flipping through it, wondering if she had any ideas she could use for her next ga.
Upon hearing Kazumi, Aiko responded calmly, "There's no such thing as luck. I never do lotteries. They're pointless."
"Oh Aiko, you and your atheist logic again. But let tell you—there must be gods in this world. I an, look at Takayuki-sensei. He's obviously a divine being who descended to bless us with the greatest gas ever made."
Oto-chan nodded in agreent. "Yeah, I'm with you on that one. Takayuki-sensei's talent for ga developnt is unbelievable. Tons of industry people have run tests and studies, and no one else can produce gas at his pace while still maintaining such high quality. The only explanation is that he's literally a god."
"See? Oto-chan agrees too."
Aiko shook her head. "No. That just ans you haven't truly experienced what real genius is like. Only when you get close to that level do you realize the gap between people."
When it ca to talent in ga developnt, Aiko always felt she was lacking.
The only reason she stayed in this field was because it gave her the strongest sense of accomplishnt.
Other industries were either already mature and stagnant or didn't suit her personality.
Video gas were a new and erging field that happened to align perfectly with her interests. So even though she wasn't especially good at coming up with creative ideas, she stuck with it and eventually carved out her place.
While she didn't appear to be all that gifted in creativity, her learning ability and capacity for understanding were extraordinary—enough to qualify her as a borderline genius.
And it was only after entering that circle that she realized: even among geniuses, the gap between the top and the rest was astronomical.
So people were just born to create new and wondrous things.
In ancient tis, so invented gears, paper, and gunpowder.
In the modern era, people invented light bulbs, harnessed electricity, and brought energy to the world.
So even created cinema—visually stunning stories for the world to see.
To Aiko, Takayuki was that kind of person.
A genius who could pioneer an industry and help it grow rapidly under his leadership.
Just like those who created film or revolutionary technologies—people so rare they might only appear once in several billion.
Compared to Kazumi's belief in gods, Aiko was more grounded. She believed in talent.
"Co on, just give it a try. You've always had good luck! I probably won't win anything, but you might!"
"No interest."
Aiko kept staring at her notebook, searching for inspiration.
Kazumi suddenly lit up with an idea. "Wait, haven't you been stuck trying to figure out the artistic direction for your next ga? I've got an idea! Want to help?"
According to the trio's agreent, each of them would take turns leading a ga project.
This ti it was Aiko's turn.
She had already decided the next ga would be a new troidvania-style title.
She loved that genre, had experience making them, and with her strong learning abilities, she believed she could create sothing on par with Dead Cells.
But she was stuck on the art direction.
Normally, this would be sothing Kazumi could handle—she was more gifted in that area.
But since Aiko was leading the project, neither Kazumi nor Oto-chan would offer unsolicited help unless Aiko asked for it. That was their agreent.
Still, Aiko was at a breaking point.
"...Okay, let's hear it."
Finally, Aiko gave up on figuring out the visuals and setting on her own. It really wasn't her strong suit.
"Hehe, it's actually really simple. I had this idea a while back—what if we based the ga on Norse mythology? A troidvania-style action story with a Norse myth backdrop."
"Norse mythology..."
Aiko fell into thought. Her eyes slowly lit up.
Why hadn't she thought of that before?
"It's not like I ca up with it all by myself," Kazumi admitted. "It's actually related to sothing Takayuki-sensei said."
Huh?
Aiko looked at her, puzzled.
Kazumi scratched her cheek and said, "Back when we were developing Dead Cells, Takayuki-sensei casually ntioned that mythological stories were a perfect match for troidvania-style gas. He said it's almost like these ancient tales were made specifically for roguelikes and troidvanias. You can grab any myth and use it as the foundation for one."
Repeated death, gradual power-ups, progressing through increasingly difficult enemies—it all matched so well with the dramatic, emotional arcs found in myth.
Another idea from Takayuki-sensei...
The difference between people really was that big.
Aiko suddenly felt a little down.
"This idea is pretty solid. Okay, as promised—hand the laptop. I'll help you enter the lottery."
Kazumi happily handed over the laptop. "Okay, all you have to do is click here to join the draw. Once you do, it'll tell you the result. And if you don't win, you can share the link to get more chances. Then you can—"
Ding ding ding! Congratulations! You've won a first-day ticket to Gastar Park!
Before Kazumi could finish her instructions, Aiko had already clicked—and the next screen popped up with a jackpot notification.
Kazumi stared at Aiko like she was looking at so kind of monster.
Aiko remained perfectly calm, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
And you still don't believe in luck?
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