This particular problem in the code was something Ichin hadn't expected at all. When the initial programming was done, he hadn't personally written it, but he had reviewed Narumi's progress and hadn't noticed anything wrong.
After carefully checking everything again and studying it with the test program, he finally pinpointed the cause.
"So it was actually a chain reaction from several small bugs?"
Scratching his head, Ichin confirmed the issue and then explained it to Narumi.
"Alright, Narumi. This isn't your fault—without multiple test passes, it really would've been hard to catch. I'll fix it now. Once I'm done, take a look at the records of the fix. That way, if something similar happens again, you'll know how to handle it."
Hearing that, Narumi finally let out a sigh of relief. If it had really been a mistake from her development process, she would've been depressed to no end. Thankfully, it was just one of those unpredictable bugs.
On the side, Nene grinned happily. "Hehe, that's great news! This boss's moves look so cool. If something in the design went wrong, we wouldn't get to see it in action for quite a while."
"Yeah, good thing it got caught early."
Narumi nodded, glancing at Ichin before clenching her fists to cheer herself on. "Alright, back to work—time to keep improving myself!"
Once the bug was identified, Ichin spent about twenty minutes fixing it all. After testing, the misaligned boss actions and missing special effects were completely gone.
With that settled, Ichin casually grabbed some unfinished code from the programming group and started working on it himself.
Since he was already sitting there, he figured he might as well spend the rest of the day buried in programming.
He worked straight through until nearly six o'clock. At that point, the door opened and Utaha came over, gently patting his head.
"Ichin, take a break. It's almost time to clock out."
Snapping back to his senses, Ichin pulled off his headset, stretched his neck, and said, "Already? Time sure flew by."
He saved his current work to continue tomorrow, shut down his computer, and stood up. After telling the team to wrap things up, he left with Utaha.
That evening, they ate dinner at Utaha's parents' place, so Ichin didn't have to cook.
Back home afterward, he had been planning to relax with some games, but the moment he entered the bedroom, Utaha pulled him from his chair and pushed him onto the bed.
"Lie down. I'll give you a back massage."
Looking at him, she said, "You had class, then sat at the computer all day at the office. You barely moved your body, right? Let me loosen you up a bit. Don't overwork yourself."
Moved by her thoughtfulness, Ichin smiled as he lay down. "Alright, I'll gladly accept your service."
Utaha climbed onto the bed, sat beside him, and began carefully massaging the muscles in his back.
Within moments, Ichin was so comfortable that his eyes narrowed. Surprised, he asked, "Have you studied this?"
Her hands pressing firmly, Utaha replied, "I watched a few videos and learned a bit. Looks like it's paying off."
This was an unexpected surprise—Ichin had no idea when she'd learned it. Regardless, the fact that she wanted to do this touched him deeply.
After ten minutes, he told her to stop—he could feel her strength fading, meaning she must be tired.
Sitting up, he pulled her into his arms, gazing at her slightly flushed face. "Thanks for the effort. Take a break."
Utaha nodded and nestled against him as they went to the living room to watch TV together.
—
The rest of May passed in this rhythm—Ichin buried in study and work. Aside from the occasional shopping trip with Utaha, most of his free time was spent reading technical books to improve himself.
Though Dark Souls development didn't feel too difficult for him now, if he was going to continue making games in the long run, he couldn't afford to stand still. He had to keep growing.
Days passed quickly in this tight schedule, until June arrived.
It was finally time to announce Fall Guys, along with its first public online test.
On June 4th, Ichin teased on his account that a new game would be revealed on June 6th, with the first round of free online testing.
But it was only a teaser—no details about the game's genre were given.
Still, based on the studio's track record, expectations were high.
Then came June 6th. Early in the morning, both Steam and Switch released a demo for Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.
At the same time, all of the company's official accounts dropped a reveal video—Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was officially announced.
The video showed colorful bean-like characters tumbling through wacky obstacle courses: dodging oncoming contraptions, jumping across platforms, and racing toward the finish line.
As the footage continued, bigger maps and funnier costumes were revealed, instantly giving players a clear sense of the gameplay.
"Wait—this looks just like those obstacle-course variety shows!"
Indeed, it was—but as a battle royale, with online multiplayer.
It looked hilarious and fun.
And since the test was free, with low system requirements, there was no reason not to try it.
Downloads of the demo on Steam and Switch began climbing rapidly.
That Saturday, Ichin and the Fall Guys dev team were all at the office. Not only them, but even the Dark Souls team came to watch the first day of testing unfold.
As the download numbers and online players steadily rose, Hazuki narrowed her eyes. "Everything stable on the network side?"
The network team member monitoring the backend nodded. "All good. Servers are fine for now, but with how quickly numbers are rising, we'll probably need to spin up another cluster this afternoon."
Hearing that, Hazuki looked at Ichin.
He nodded. "No problem. We knew we'd need more than just this initial setup anyway. Right now the numbers aren't overwhelming, but once the streamers we contacted go live, the player count will rise even further."
It might've been just the first public test, but since it was free, it was bound to attract a wave of players eager to try it.
*
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