After much torment, Kō Yagami finally finished her part of the recording. The game footage needed for the video would be handled by Aoba for the Japanese version since she had done it before and was quite good at it.
As for the Chinese version, Ichin was debating whether to do it himself or let Utaha, whose Chinese had improved significantly, take over.
But there was no rush; they needed to finish recording the video first.
"Ah!! Finally, it's over!"
Kō flopped onto a nearby bean bag chair after leaving the couch, completely ignoring the fact that she was wearing a long dress. She sprawled out in the most unladylike fashion and said, "Don't ever call me for something like this again. It's seriously not my thing."
Hazuki checked the footage they had just recorded and chuckled. "You did great! Kō, if you prepare properly, you're still very photogenic. You have to understand, as our studio continues to grow smoothly, our scale will only get bigger. These days, it's more and more common for producers to step into the spotlight. Apart from Ichin, neither you nor I can escape this. It's better to start getting used to it now!"
"Spare me..." Kō groaned.
Ichin stood up and stretched before addressing everyone. "The same goes for all of you. You're all very talented, and in the future, each of you will be able to stand on your own. There's a good chance everyone here will have opportunities to make public appearances for promotional events. Don't even think about hiding, Hifumi. When the time comes, you won't be able to escape either."
Hifumi, who had been trying to hide behind Aoba, instantly froze. She timidly peeked her head out and asked in a small voice, "Can I refuse?"
"Hmm... well, it's not impossible." Ichin replied with a smile. "You really like cosplay, don't you? You might not be able to avoid appearing on stage, but you could choose to do it as a cosplayer. That way, you probably wouldn't have many lines to say."
Hifumi shook her head frantically and clenched her fists. "Th-Then, I'll try to overcome it!"
"Huh? Hifumi-senpai, you're not okay with cosplaying?" Aoba asked curiously. "I only saw you cosplay once during Fairies Stories 3. I was hoping to see you cosplay as characters from our studio's games someday!"
Hifumi's face slowly turned red under Aoba's expectant gaze, her eyes awkwardly glancing away. "If... If Aoba really wants to see it, then... I-I guess it's not impossible."
Hifumi, everyone's here, you know? That line is way too easy to misinterpret.
Ichin chuckled and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, Kō's part is done. Next up, Umiko, get ready. We'll continue recording shortly. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to finish all the content for the third episode by this afternoon."
Umiko nodded calmly and said, "No problem. I can start whenever."
"Ding-dong~"
The doorbell rang. Utaha checked her phone and said, "It should be Eriri and Yukino. I'll go get the door."
Sure enough, when Utaha returned, she was accompanied by Eriri and Yukino.
Both of them were holding two transparent bags filled with bubble tea.
"Good afternoon, everyone! We brought bubble tea for everyone!" Eriri announced cheerfully.
"Oh!! Drinks!"
"Eriri is the best! Yukino is the best!"
Everyone took their drinks, happily sitting down and enjoying them together.
Eriri held her bubble tea and looked around at the setup. "Yukino and I went to the cat café this morning, then had lunch and wandered around for a while before coming over. Have you guys already started?"
Swallowing the tapioca pearls in his mouth, Hajime replied, "Kō's part is done. You can tell by her 'I've-given-up-on-life' expression."
Kō rolled her eyes at Hajime and snapped, "If you think it's so easy, why don't you do it?"
Completely unfazed, Hajime replied, "I've got no problem with that. Ichin-kun already told me earlier that I'll be handling the next live-streaming event. This kind of thing is pretty easy. It's not like you have to record for an hour straight. Kō, you're probably the only one here who gets so nervous."
"Haha, sorry for being so useless then," Kō muttered, lying lifelessly on the couch.
Eriri decided not to press her for details about the recording, feeling sympathy for her. Instead, she turned her attention to Umiko, who was holding a script.
"Umiko, are you about to start recording too?"
Umiko nodded calmly. "Just doing a final check of the script. I'm aiming to get it all done in one take."
Though Umiko's words sounded normal, everyone couldn't shake the feeling that her comment was aimed at Kō.
Kō, who had worked with Umiko for a long time, knew her personality all too well. She shot Umiko a death glare before collapsing back into her previous sprawled position.
About ten minutes later, the second round of recording began.
Just as Umiko had promised, her recording went smoothly. Apart from her slightly stern expression, there were no issues at all. But considering Umiko's usual demeanor, neither Ichin nor Hazuki found her lack of smiling to be a problem. As long as her tone was fine, they were satisfied.
During the recording, Kō stubbornly stood next to Aoba, occasionally making funny faces at Umiko to try to break her concentration.
But such childish antics were completely ignored by Umiko, who continued her performance flawlessly.
When the recording ended, Umiko stood up with a satisfied smile and looked at the sulking Kō. "Such childish behavior... it's actually kind of cute."
Kō felt completely mocked but had no way to retaliate. Frustrated, she turned around and threw herself into Rin's arms.
"Rin!!!"
Rin smiled gently, softly patting Kō's back to comfort her. The scene instantly became charged with a sweet and affectionate atmosphere.
Everyone was used to their interactions by now. Even Eriri, who had already grown accustomed to the chaos, moved next to Hazuki to watch the video on the camera. "Looks like the recording's done. Are you going to start editing soon?"
From the other side, Ichin replied, "No rush. Editing will only begin once all the in-game footage has been recorded. By the way, Eriri, are you interested in providing the voiceover for the Japanese version of the gameplay demonstration?"
"Me?" Eriri quickly shook her head. "I don't even like reading textbook passages, let alone doing something like that. You guys can handle it yourselves."
Suddenly, Utaha snuck up beside Eriri and whispered with a playful smile, "How about you do the English version then?"
"You're just picking a fight, aren't you?"
Eriri puffed up her cheeks and chased after Utaha, determined to catch her and teach her a lesson.
"Sorry for being bad at English!"
As for Yukino, there was no way she would join in on such childish antics. At the moment, the young lady was sitting quietly on a chair, cuddling Mozuku in her arms.
Although she had spent a heavenly morning at the cat café, once she saw Mozuku, she couldn't resist the urge to continue petting the cat.
...
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