How to raise a random guy's wife

The other party shook their head and left, while Kobayashi Sora and Kobayashi Megumi continued to wait.

The two chatted about everything from the taste of coffee to the taste of kisses, from Malz's interior design to the decoration of their future home, from the material of the sofa to the feel of stockings... It wasn't until two hours later that they were invited into the meeting room.

Seven or eight people sat on either side of the long conference table. On the other side, away from the presentation screen, sat a young man who was not much older than Kobayashi Sora.

Kobayashi Sora's gaze swept across the area and he noticed something very interesting.

On the left is the head of the seed division whom I met before, a bespectacled graphic design team leader who leads the CG team, and the person in charge of the game system; all of them are members of the development team.

The right side was full of young people, including the one at the far end of the conference table, and everyone was wearing headphones.

Kobayashi Sora's gaze shifted upwards, and she spotted the security camera in the corner.

This wasn't his first contact with Malz's people; they had clearly made thorough preparations.

The R&D team goes without saying; the focus is on the other side.

To avoid being attacked by Kobayashi Sora using information, Maltz's top executives did not attend in person, but instead observed through surveillance cameras and directed several spokespeople via earpieces.

Why bother...?

Kobayashi Sora felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

“Mr. Kobayashi,” Director Maekawa’s smile widened, “you may now begin to share your ideas.”

"First, please take a look at this." Kobayashi Sora pointed to the demonstration screen controlled by Kobayashi Megumi, which showed a CG drawn by Eriri and a short story created by Kasumigaoka Utaha. "These are two important supporting characters - weapon master Rex and blacksmith Nora."

The R&D staff gasped almost immediately, while the young people barely reacted.

Chapter 410 A Gentleman

"As you all probably already know, this is a work completed by Eri Kashiwagi and Shizuko Kasumi in the past few days. I don't need to say more about its quality. Given enough time, they will produce even more great content." Kobayashi Sora frankly stated, "So the purpose of my trip is to extend the material supply by three weeks, giving them enough time and a better result for 'Chronicles of the Universe XIII'."

Director Maekawa smiled and nodded, about to speak, when the head of the R&D department, Tanemoto, spoke first, "Indeed, the two teachers' works are excellent, but how long can this output be sustained? To be more specific, after Ms. Akasaka falls ill, can they maintain their previous creative state?"

Kobayashi Sora retorted, "Can't the works we're present now answer this question?"

"To be honest, the results we've presented so far are essentially the lingering influence of Akasaka's legacy," Tanemoto stated frankly. "I don't think this influence will last long, and no matter how good these results are, we can't assume that future results will be just as good."

He looked at the system team leader and the mapping team leader beside him.

The head of the graphics team adjusted his glasses, saying, "The subsequent CG coloring is also a huge project. With constant rework, we can't guarantee that it can be completed on time."

"The game system also needs enough time to be perfected and tested," the system team leader added. "Even the best assets need a stable system to call them. Delays in asset delivery mean that testing time needs to be compressed. Appropriate compression is fine, but what if we still can't deliver on time after the delay? Do we need to delay it again? I understand your expectations, but time doesn't allow it."

"Thank you all for your frankness. Well then, I have another idea." Kobayashi Sora said without changing his expression, "Since we need to compress the time... let's just delete all their storylines."

The head of the plantation exclaimed in disbelief, "What?!"

"The key issue now is time," Kobayashi Sora explained further. "Removing their storylines would greatly shorten the time needed for the game system to be perfected and tested, and also shorten the creation time for Kashiwagi Eri and Kasumi Utako. In this way, only a two-week delay in the material release would be enough."

The system team leader seemed to be thinking, and subconsciously nodded.

The cartographer adjusted his glasses, revealing a slightly more relaxed expression.

The head of the plant frowned. "But the main storyline of weapon master Rex and blacksmith Nora is extremely important. Deleting them will greatly affect the coherence and rhythm of the plot, and they are also involved in many important clues."

“I have an idea.” Kobayashi Sora looked at Kobayashi Megumi, who manipulated the demo screen, and a mind map appeared on the screen. “The blacksmith Nora has made many weapons, and these weapons are also important props. We can put their story in the weapon descriptions, and use a fragmented approach to complete the plot, allowing players to sort out the whole story themselves.”

The chief's eyes lit up. "That would add a sense of fun to the puzzle-solving process. It sounds like..."

The young man at the end of the conference table suddenly spoke, his tone clearly monotone, "Is there any precedent for this approach?"

“Yes,” the head of the department replied, “there are similar methods in many games.”

The young man remained expressionless for a long while before responding, "Maekawa, you speak."

“Okay.” Maekawa straightened his collar, stood up with a smile, and said, “Fragmented narrative requires a lot of blank spaces in the plot, leaving room for players to interpret and fill in the gaps. This can stimulate continuous discussion and speculation among players, keeping the game's plot lively and fresh to a certain extent. It can also save developers some time and resources, allowing them to spend more time polishing the gameplay or plot structure. However, this kind of narrative requires players to resonate with the game and actively invest time in deducing the content of the blank spaces. For some players, this is not acceptable, and they may even think that the developers are deliberately being mysterious.”

Kobayashi Sora realized that the person Akane Akasaka described as having "no value in existence" was different from the valueless person in the normal person's perception.

“Abandoning the immersive experience of linear narrative and choosing non-linear narrative is like adding new uncertainties to an unfinished game.” Maekawa’s expression relaxed further. “Instead of spending time increasing risks, we should invest more time in improving the current situation. Do you understand?”

It's definitely not going to go too smoothly...

Just as Kobayashi Sora was about to speak, Maekawa continued talking to himself.

“I understand, Kasumi Utako's storytelling is superb; even with fragmented narratives, she manages to immerse players. But that's your opinion, not Malz’s.” Director Maekawa appeared increasingly refreshed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and he couldn't wait to show his skills. “We don't trust Kasumi Utako, nor do we need to trust her. We only need to trust Akane Akasaka, but she…”

Snapped.

Kobayashi Sora suddenly raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Maekawa paused, then subconsciously looked up.

Then he smiled.

"Nothing happened." Maekawa shrugged. "What, you couldn't bribe the security guards this time? Or were you unable to bribe them?"

Kobayashi Sora slowly lowered her hand.

It failed... Kobayashi Megumi looked at Kobayashi Sora, this time they failed to cut off the power.

Director Maekawa had clearly suffered a lot in his negotiations with Akane Kousaka, and now that Akane Kousaka had finally fallen, it was finally his turn to shine, which is why he had this attitude.

In some ways, this person is quite pitiful.

"You've misunderstood." Kobayashi Sora's eyes narrowed into crescents. "I just wanted to interrupt you. Are you finished?"

"Of course not. To be frank, because Akane Kousaka withdrew midway, we had to use what we had submitted so far for production. After that, Malz's team had to take over the script revisions, CG production, and scene direction; they didn't need Akane's team's supervision." Director Maekawa smiled confidently. "In other words, everything is finalized, so we won't accept any instructions for revisions. You're the ones who caused this situation, and we don't need you to make it worse—understand?"

"In other words, this wasn't a seminar at all." Kobayashi Sora's lips curled up, revealing his white teeth, "but rather a sentencing phase to make us give up."

“That’s not what I meant,” Maekawa said, shrugging. “But you can interpret it that way.”

“Since that’s the case…” Kobayashi Sora cracked his neck, “then I don’t need to pretend to be a gentleman anymore.”

Chapter 411 Open and Honest

"The demands of the Akane-Shu Project are very simple: let's have an open and honest discussion about what we can do and what you can do, and do our best to make the final product as close as possible to what Ms. Akane wants." Kobayashi Sora pulled up a chair for Kobayashi Megumi, gesturing for her to sit down and watch the show begin. "However, since this is your attitude, we have no choice but to withdraw our previous demands and change our approach."

Maekawa sensed something was wrong and said, "Tell me about it."

"The materials will be delayed by a month, not a single character will be deleted. If the game isn't finished, it will be delayed until it is." Kobayashi Sora smiled, her sharp white teeth looking as if they might flick out a snake's tongue at any moment. "That's all."

"Did I not explain myself clearly, or are you just confused now?" Maekawa looked at Kobayashi Sora with the eyes of someone looking at a lunatic. "You think you...?"

"Maekawa," the person at the end of the conference table spoke, "wait a moment."

"what?"

"Their headphones are silent." Kobayashi Sora smiled. "The signal jammer I managed to get for the college entrance exams, this level of headphone signal, ha."

Maekawa finally understood the meaning behind Kobayashi Sora's snap of his fingers. "What do you mean by that!"

“What I mean is, I guess I’m still not suited for amicable negotiations.” Kobayashi Sora loosened her tie. “Once the senior management of Malz arrives in person, let’s continue the communication in a way that I’m familiar with and good at.”

Looking up at the end of the table, Kobayashi Sora asked with a smile, "You agree, right, Chairman Malz's second son?"

“My father won’t come.” The second son took off his headphones. “Give me a reason to have the general manager and other relevant personnel present.”

"The reason you used spokespeople was because you were worried about being embarrassed under my information network." Kobayashi Sora loosened her tie. "Now you don't need to worry anymore. The content we're discussing from now on won't involve your personal information, such as workplace harassment, embezzlement, covert oppression, or searching for older people on your browser..."

"Maekawa," the second son said, "call them over."

Kobayashi Sora spoke up, "Could you also bring me two bottles of Ramune soda, please?"

"..." Maekawa's face turned ugly. "The company doesn't have that kind of thing."

“Ms. Mori Waka from the finance department has this habit, you can buy from her.” Kobayashi Sora turned her head, “Members of the production team, the following discussions are basically not relevant to you. If you are bored, here are other works by Kashiwagi Eri and Kasumi Utako. You can start thinking about the subsequent production issues.”

The production team members looked at the second son, and after he nodded, they immediately immersed themselves in appreciating the work.

Tanemoto glanced at Maekawa, then at Kobayashi Sora, and decisively, like the other two, immersed himself in the work.

The flow has changed.

It was obvious that the direction of airflow had changed.

In the following process, it's best to ignore everything.

I am a person who focuses on technology and knows nothing about other things—with this in mind, Zhongben began to seriously appreciate works.

Soon after, several people arrived.

His expression was serious, but the way he looked at Kobayashi Sora was not very friendly.

Right.

He originally intended to end the meeting as the mastermind behind everything, but he ended up being exposed.

In Eriri's words, it's like the victim who was secretly planning everything was hiding in the closet, ready to enjoy the show, but was dragged out of the closet by the blond guy.

There was a subtle sense of crisis amidst the predicament.

"Thank you." Kobayashi Sora took the Ramune soda from Maekawa, skillfully opened it and handed it to Kobayashi Megumi, opened a bottle for herself, clinked it with her's, took a big gulp, and then turned to look at the people who had already taken their seats. "I understand your feelings very well. I myself have many ideas for masterpieces that I want to realize, but the development cycle, personnel and funding are all problems. It is not easy to weigh these factors."

"So you made that kind of request?" Maekawa asked in an unfriendly tone.

"Understanding is mutual, everyone." Kobayashi Sora tilted his head. "If you could have given my previous suggestion a little consideration, then I would have considered your difficulties and cooperated with your decision. Fortunately, you didn't have that idea, so I can make my demands without restraint."

“That’s not the case.” The second son, who had taken off his headphones, was more confident than before. “Everyone here, including myself, is prepared to be smeared by you.”

The others looked at the second son, their faces blank.

what?

Are we ready?

"Your attacks using personal information cannot shake our dedication to the company," the second son stated. "If you're going to continue with topics unrelated to Malz's development, then this meeting is over."

"It seems we've reached a consensus for the sake of Malz's development." Kobayashi Sora said calmly, "The reason you can adopt this attitude now is because Sister Zhu Yin did such a good job before, giving you enough material. When she was trying her best to make the game better, you dared to put pressure on her without restraint, which led to her getting sick and being hospitalized. This was because she liked 'Chronicles of the Universe' and wanted to do her best to make the game better."

“Wrong,” the second son pointed out. “Her illness stems from an unhealthy lifestyle; her body simply can’t handle it. That’s her problem.”

Kobayashi Sora's gaze was icy. "With her abilities, she could do it casually; she doesn't need to work so hard."

“We could have accepted her doing that, but she didn’t,” the second son said calmly. “It was her choice.”

"Just because she likes it and wants to be the best, does that mean she deserves everything she's going through?"

“It’s important to act within your capabilities,” the second son nodded. “She was being too reckless.”

"I really love your attitude."