Chapter 10: Recruiting employees (6)

It was a person that fits the perfect analogy of saying a mouse standing up like a human.
Is it a race related to mice?

I used to think it might be scary if ratmen really existed in reality while playing games, but looking at it this way, I thought it seemed a little cute.

The man, thought to be a ratman, appeared, with round, sparkling black eyes, and stroked his long whiskers with his fingers. He seemed to have run quite urgently, after saying hello to me, he sat down in the seat across from me.

“My name is Ratto of the Ratkin Project.”

“Nice to meet you. It’s Kuhn of Doom.”

We shook hands and exchanged introductions, and he started speaking right away.
I don’t know if he’s impatient or excited… no, it seems like both.

“I wanted to contact you first and make an appointment, but I can’t believe you came first! I will never forget this day! Who would have believed it? That Kuhn would come to a newly created company…! Ah, are you considering an acquisition…?”

“No. I haven’t even thought about an acquisition. I just came to see it because I heard a game company was created.”

“Phew, I was so surprised when the acquisition came to mind.”

Ratto, who sighed deeply and showed relief, suddenly looked at his watch and then at me, and he couldn’t continue to speak, as if he wanted to say something to me.

Am I that difficult?
I didn’t think I had a scary impression.

He was excessively cautious and seemed to be contemplating something, so I spoke first.

“Is there anything you want to say?”

“Ah! Um, I’m not sure if this is out of line… but could I ask you for a favor?”

A favor.
I roughly guess.

In this place, games are practically non-existent, so there must be many difficulties.
In particular, since there’s only one game, Doom, it would also be difficult to decide what game to make.

Isn’t it a time without a genre?
So I think there will be a lot of original works.

But can I give an answer that will satisfy them?

It seems that he’s quite in a hurry to ask a favor of someone he’s meeting for the first time.
I should listen and judge first.

From the beginning, I’m not someone with the skills to teach or substitute for anyone with confidence, right?
Anyway, that mysterious ability is also my ability, so I created it, but I can’t explain it to others with confidence.

“First, tell me. I’ll listen and judge.”

“Actually, there’s only Doom to refer to, and the game we want to make isn’t that, and since games haven’t been around for long, it’s difficult to recruit employees and experience development difficulties.”

Hearing this makes me curious.
Games are fun, but there are a lot of fun stories to hear about game development.

“Then, may I take a look?”

“Of course. It’s the part I wanted to ask you about. I don’t know if we’re doing well or not, since we don’t know anything.”

I followed him, who stood up and guided me, and I could see the place from earlier.
Even though they seemed to be inexperienced, they were busy and the developers seemed to be in trouble, and their faces were full of fatigue and the attitude toward the development was what they called developers.

But the race didn’t seem to be that diverse.
Most of the people were ratmen, and the other races were mixed in here and there.

Did they give preferential treatment to the ratmen, who are their own race?
Hmm, that’s disappointing.

Since other races are visible, it’s hard to say they’re discriminators, but I think I’m having a reasonable suspicion since this proportion isn’t normal.
I’ll ask because I’m not sure.

“By the way, there are quite a few.”

I didn’t know the exact name of their race, so I asked.
I didn’t think they’d understand, but they seemed to understand quite well.
Is this what it means to understand like a charm, even if you say it wrong?

“Ah, there are definitely many ratmen.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s simple. Only these people came to join us. No matter how much games are in fashion and companies are created, there aren’t many people who want to join a startup that’s just starting out, and also has a low salary.”

“But the ratmen gathered well.”

“Ratmen have the characteristic of regarding each other as family, so we all know each other. Thank you for helping us.”

And since the ratmen are the majority of the money invested in this business, he shrugs his shoulders, saying that they’ll all be ruined if he fails.

“There are also people who have invested in me, even taking out loans.

“What’s the reason for doing that?”

Are ratmen like that?

Regardless of trust, how do they think they’ll succeed?

“Most of the ratmen are from the slums. There aren’t many people who hire ratmen who only live for 15 to 20 years. They have less experience than other races, and it’s embarrassing, but they tend to be somewhat lawbreakers, so their image isn’t good either. They choose elves or other beastmen… Anyway, we wanted to create a place where ratmen can work without discrimination. Honestly, a lot of people want to come because they’re into games.”

“I see.”

Conflicts and difficulties between races are always mentioned, and it seems to be more serious than I thought.
Maybe it’s more serious than on Earth, where only humans were present… isn’t that not true?

Humans who are divided into black, white, yellow, and brown and discriminated against each other and fought with each other, are all similar.
Are the worlds where people live all the same?

“Isn’t it great? We also say we’re pitiful because our lifespan is short. But because of that, we can boast that we have been desperate every moment and have bet on our lives.”

“There may be friends whose games are their last works. That’s why we, the ratmen, can’t fail. Unlike other races, we don’t have much time.”

After that, I looked at the development situation and had a conversation with him, but I touched on the planning side rather than the development.
I didn’t have anything to point out since it hadn’t even properly started yet, and I only gave advice with obvious words, but Ratto seemed satisfied, so it didn’t matter.

What did I say?
I just explained the genre, or I advised them to refrain from complex concepts that would cause a lot of bugs.
That’s the obvious sound.

During the process, the developers who noticed my presence came to me and asked questions, but I roughly passed them.
I suggested that they create a simulation that makes the city or create a game of love, and they discussed it with each other.

Unexpectedly, Kaela, who I thought would be bored of this, didn’t say anything and quietly kept my side, listening to everything with interest, and when we were leaving, she said that she was looking forward to the game of this company.

Perhaps, the most enthusiastic one in this is Kaela.

We had a conversation while going back.

“What do you think of their game?”

“I don’t know yet. It hasn’t even properly started, and they said they’re in the process of figuring out the concept.”

“Still, I’m looking forward to the content of hundreds of races battling on one field. But is that content really possible? It seems like too early a story.”

“That’s why I told them to start simple at first. I don’t know how long it will take to make such a game, and they said they didn’t have any money.”

It’s common for a project to burst or for a game to be unfinished, due to the pressure of funds while making the game, because the goal is too high and they look at it for a long time.
It’s not only small-scale indie games, but also for large companies to blow up games that are already finished because the reactions are not good in the beta test.

“Still, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Can I make games too?”

“Why not? I also want to make my own game.”

Seeing the games that the ratmen were betting their lives on, I suddenly felt that way.
Is this why they make games?

“Aren’t you making it now? Ah, are you talking about a game that you’re satisfied with, not a game that you’ve compromised to make money?”

“Think about it yourself.”

Now that I’m back, I’ll examine the employees’ interviews and release a new game.
This time, because of the violence, there has been a lot of talk, so should I release a more peaceful game next time?
If I release a violent game like Doom or a game like Diablo next time, I might be called a demon discriminator this time.

In the game industry that has just been created, if you just release stimulating games without discernment, you can attract the attention of parents and politicians and hinder the development by holding back the industry.

I hope that games won’t be treated as something bad in this world, at least.

By the way, what should I release as a new game?

A super plumber, or Dungeon & Dragons.
It’s too early, but Portal or RollerCoaster Tycoon or SimCity.
Or maybe Princess Maker, which raises your own princess, would be good?