Production arrangements for the 'Fate/Zero' anime were largely settled. At this point, Kamiyā Yuu turned his attention to another project—the 'Throne of Heroes' project.
Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
Conference room.
Mizuhara Raiko, president of [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio, placed a thick document envelope in front of Kamiyā Yuu and said softly, "Mr. Kamiyā, this is the preview copy of the project setting collection printed according to your requirements. Please take a look."
With October having just begun, [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio was preparing to publicly announce a trailer for the 'Throne of Heroes' game while simultaneously launching the 'Heroic Spirit Completion' project. Any fan of the 'Type-Moon Series' could create their own Heroic Spirit and submit it directly to [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio. When the game was released in January of the following year, creators whose Heroic Spirits were selected would receive a substantial cash prize as well as a special-edition in-game character card of the Heroic Spirit they had created. For accepted submissions, [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio would also commission professional character designers to produce the original character artwork.
The standards for creating Heroic Spirits would largely be based on the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection', which would be announced at the same time. The 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' was the setting collection Kamiyā Yuu had been continuously expanding ever since he began creating 'Fate/Zero'. It incorporated the complete and internally consistent 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' from his previous world, as well as elements integrated from Kirigami Ruri's novel 'Gate of Mystery'.
The 'Throne of Heroes' was only a small part of the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection'. It documented the standards used to determine the strength of Heroic Spirits, such as the specific rules governing Noble Phantasms. A Heroic Spirit's overall strength would be determined by factors including their legends, the fame of their stories, and their influence on later generations.
"It was printed this quickly?" Kamiyā Yuu asked in surprise as he picked up the envelope. Opening it, he indeed found three volumes of the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection'. He had handed the publication over to [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio for printing half a month ago. Considering the enormous number of illustrations in the collection, he had specifically imposed strict requirements on print quality. He hadn't expected to receive preview copies less than a month after entrusting the matter to Mizuhara Raiko.
Creating the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' had taken Kamiyā Yuu an enormous amount of effort. It consisted of roughly three volumes totaling more than five hundred pages, and every page contained beautiful illustrations either drawn by Kamiyā Yuu himself or commissioned from professional illustrators. It provided extremely detailed explanations of the characters, architecture, settings, and other elements within the Type-Moon World. Reading through the entire collection was far more interesting than reading a novel, and the sheer amount of information it contained vastly exceeded that of the 'Fate/Zero' novel itself.
"Yes. Before you gave me the instructions, I had already discussed cooperation with the publisher. As long as you confirm that there aren't any problems, the first batch of the setting collection should officially go on sale in about two weeks."
Mizuhara Raiko smiled confidently. Thanks to the connections she had accumulated while working at Frontier Legend, contacting publishers herself was no problem at all. She had already begun making preparations when Kamiyā Yuu first confirmed the project. The moment he handed the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' over to her, she immediately began implementing the enormous project in its entirety.
To be frank, she had originally thought the workload would be greater than she could imagine. However, Yosuganosora Animation Studio had already handled the most crucial aspect—the illustrations for the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection'. All she needed to do was supervise the printing and publication.
A small portion of the illustrations in the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection' had been drawn personally by Kamiyā Yuu, another portion had been assigned to Uehara Etsuki, and another to Gogyo Ruri. Although the quality requirements remained strict, these illustrations were essentially distributed as bonus assignments to experienced artists. As long as they completed them satisfactorily, they could earn a generous additional bonus.
Kamiyā Yuu opened the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection'. Because the illustrations demanded a high degree of color accuracy, relatively high-grade composite printing paper had been used. The material felt extremely smooth beneath his fingers.
"I remember this one. I drew Rider Medusa, the Heroic Spirit from the Fifth Holy Grail War."
Kamiyā Yuu looked at the illustration in the setting collection. It depicted a tall, voluptuous woman with purple hair, holding a pair of chained blades in crossed hands as she leaned forward. Her supple body seemed almost boneless. Her eyes were covered by a blindfold, and the mysterious yet seductive aura it created held a fatal attraction for men.
If asked which character from the Fifth Holy Grail War he liked the most, Saber could only rank third. First was Caster Medea, the Witch of Betrayal. Second was the character in the illustration before him, Rider Medusa. Only then came Saber Artoria in third place.
The background of Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, was heartbreaking. Despite bearing the title Witch of Betrayal, she herself was a woman who yearned for love and was willing to give everything for the person she loved. In the original, the Master who summoned her was a Middle Eastern magus. However, her own Master became jealous of her talents as a magus and restricted her ability to use magic, so she plotted to kill him. With her Master dead, Medea herself was on the verge of disappearing when she was saved by Kuzuki Sōichirō, a schoolteacher, and fell in love with this coldhearted man. Her reason for seeking the Holy Grail was simply to remain in this world and live together with Kuzuki Sōichirō.
Medea ranked among the strongest of the Heroic Spirits. Kamiyā Yuu believed that, judging from her established abilities, she might well have been the most powerful Heroic Spirit in both the Fourth and Fifth Holy Grail Wars aside from Gilgamesh. Given sufficient time to construct her magical territory, even the King of Conquerors charging in with Ionioi Hetairoi would only be delivering himself to his death.
Rider Medusa combined seductive beauty with innocence, along with a personality that contrasted sharply with her appearance. Who wouldn't like such an adorable, caring older-sister type?
The Medusa illustration had been personally drawn by Kamiyā Yuu. Its style wasn't particularly flamboyant, but careful observation revealed that his command of detail had already reached a frightening level. His use of color and background layering was exceptionally appropriate, giving the illustration an immediately pleasing quality that only became more enjoyable the longer one looked at it.
It was also worth mentioning that the female characters drawn by Kamiyā Yuu had already become something of a standard-bearer within the illustration industry. Every female character he had drawn for 'Warship Girls Collection' possessed her own distinctive charm, and players frequently praised his ability to capture the different allure of the female body and the expressions unique to each character. As one veteran gamer had put it: if Kamiyā Yuu ever entered the adult doujin industry, he would undoubtedly carve out a place for himself there.
"Dark Saber. This style should be Kuroneko's."
Turning a page, he saw the valiant figure of the corrupted Saber swinging Vortigern's Hammer. After her corruption, her originally sacred blue eyes had transformed into golden dragon eyes that radiated bone-chilling coldness and majesty. The illustration couldn't exactly be called lifelike, but it unquestionably captured the crazed, domineering aura unique to Dark Saber.
Kamiyā Yuu had already seen the original artwork before, but he still couldn't help thinking to himself, Kuroneko really has improved a lot. I haven't paid attention for a while, and she's already completely mastered her own style.
After turning a few more pages, he soon found an illustration by Uehara Etsuki, who had taught him the techniques of drawing original character artwork.
It was an illustration of the white Saber Lily. Her command of clothing details was as flawless as ever. That peculiar Gothic exquisiteness was something even Kamiyā Yuu himself found difficult to imitate.
This time, Kamiyā Yuu studied Saber Lily's expression with considerable interest. Uehara Etsuki's drawing technique was extremely mature and stable. She was accustomed to conveying a character's demeanor through minute details. At a single glance, a viewer could sense the illustrated character's emotions, expression, and characterization, yet without carefully analyzing the image, it was difficult to explain exactly why the illustration created such an impression.
After leafing through all three volumes of the 'Type-Moon World Setting Collection', Kamiyā Yuu nodded toward Mizuhara Raiko, who had been sitting off to the side waiting.
"The overall quality is very good. Print the setting collection at this level of quality. Also, how is game development progressing?"
"The framework for the PC version has already been completed. The framework for the mobile version should also be finished next month. That leaves us roughly one month to test the game's stability," Mizuhara Raiko reported with some hesitation.
Noticing something unusual in her tone, Kamiyā Yuu asked curiously, "Is there a problem?"
Mizuhara Raiko glanced at Kamiyā Yuu before nodding and answering frankly, "The game-testing period is too short. We won't have enough time to fix many of the bugs that might exist."
Most of the framework for 'Throne of Heroes' directly referenced 'Warship Girls Collection', while developing the mobile app was an even greater challenge. The game development department hastily assembled by [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio was still finding the workload somewhat difficult to handle.
Kamiyā Yuu rested his right hand on the table, his fingers unconsciously tapping its surface as he pondered.
"From now on, every month, package a game development report together with the latest build of the game and send it to my email. I'll find a way to deal with it."
"Mr. Kamiyā, by yourself?" Mizuhara Raiko asked in surprise.
Kamiyā Yuu shook his head and smiled. "I have my own software development team. Although I don't have time to participate directly in game development, optimizing the game's framework should still be possible."
Kamiyā Yuu wasn't making that up. He could now connect to the internet of his previous world. He could simply record the game's source code and take it into the network of his previous world, then have MAYA optimize and perfect it. Bugs and the like were hardly worth mentioning.
The reason he hadn't simply had MAYA develop the game's core framework from scratch was that he had to account for the subtle differences that might exist between the computer systems of the two worlds. Furthermore, even if MAYA developed the game, Kamiyā Yuu himself would still have to do the actual coding in the real world.
When he first created 'Warship Girls Collection', he had directly copied the game's framework code from his previous world. Even then, working alone had kept him busy for several months before he barely managed to finish the initial framework. The current version of 'Warship Girls Collection' was something he had gradually improved in his spare time.
...
After finishing her report to Kamiyā Yuu before the implementation of the 'Throne of Heroes' project, Mizuhara Raiko returned to [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio.
What had originally been a shabby, cramped game studio had, after more than half a year under her management, developed into a respectable company. Its headquarters had even moved into an office building more upscale than the one occupied by Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
There was no denying that her status as the daughter of the president of Frontier Legend had helped enormously. Aside from allowing her to accumulate an extensive network of connections in the past, people in the gaming industry who knew her identity would generally show her a degree of consideration.
But now, even setting aside everything she had accumulated at Frontier Legend, she was confident that she could develop [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio successfully.
Over the past half year or so, 'Warship Girls Collection' had generated more than several hundred million dollars in revenue within Japan alone, and that figure was still slowly climbing. She personally held ten percent of [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio's shares, and the profits from 'Warship Girls Collection' had made her a multimillionaire. Although that couldn't compare with the wealth her father, Mizuhara Daigo, had accumulated over several decades, it was still vastly better than when she had served as chief planner at Frontier Legend.
Yet she wasn't satisfied.
Mizuhara Raiko was extremely ambitious. At the very least, money was far from her only goal.
Ever since childhood, she had resolved that she would one day achieve more than her father, even though her father's status in the gaming industry was practically that of a living fossil.
[Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio allowed Mizuhara Raiko to see hope of accomplishing that goal. Or rather, Kamiyā Yuu, who stood behind and supported [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio, was the source of her confidence. She could also tell that Kamiyā Yuu's interest in the gaming industry extended far beyond creating a browser game capable of earning more than a hundred million dollars a year.
Once [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio had completely digested everything it had learned from 'Warship Girls Collection', Kamiyā Yuu proposed the 'Throne of Heroes' project. Although they were still drawing upon the game-development experience they had acquired through 'Warship Girls Collection', at least this time, 'Throne of Heroes' was being developed independently by [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio.
From Mizuhara Raiko's professional perspective as a game planner, the 'Throne of Heroes' project had the potential to become something no less successful than 'Warship Girls Collection'.
"Welcome back, President. What's wrong? You look exhausted."
Seeing Mizuhara Raiko return to the office, her assistant Kamiki Yui stood up and asked with concern.
Mizuhara Raiko sat down at her desk, wearily propping her forehead up with her right hand. There was a trace of irritation in her voice as she replied, "Yui, could you make me a cup of coffee?"
Kamiki Yui nodded. She went over to the water dispenser and began making coffee, teasing her playfully as she did so.
"Was it that Mr. Kamiyā?"
Mizuhara Raiko didn't deny it. "I always feel like he's difficult to deal with."
"Really? Maybe it's because you and Mr. Kamiyā are the same type of person. Don't they say like poles repel?" Kamiki Yui said with a cheerful smile as she placed the steaming coffee on Mizuhara Raiko's desk.
Mizuhara Raiko took the coffee, turned toward Kamiki Yui, and snorted. "I'm not a magnet."
"But whenever you're with Mr. Kamiyā, you can never seize the initiative, can you? That's why you feel uncomfortable."
Kamiki Yui covered her mouth and giggled. As an observer, she could clearly see the source of Mizuhara Raiko's agitation. When she said that Mizuhara Raiko and Kamiyā Yuu were the same type of person, she meant that both instinctively preferred to hold the initiative themselves.
"Maybe that's it. How far along is the website?"
"I just checked with the operations department. It's basically finished. But if we don't advertise it at all, will anyone even visit our website?" Kamiki Yui asked with a worried expression.
"You don't need to worry about that. The project will first be announced on Yosuganosora Animation Studio's official website, and visitors will then be redirected to ours. Mm... I also discussed it with Mr. Kamiyā just now. This time, 'Warship Girls Collection' can have a crossover event with the 'Fate/Zero' anime. We'll include an advertisement for the project in the crossover announcement and make it part of the event itself. That should at least guarantee the project some initial popularity."
Mizuhara Raiko took a sip of hot coffee. After relaxing slightly, she spoke again.
"Yui."
"Yes? What do you need?"
"Notify the production department. Have everyone gather in the conference room in one hour."
Mizuhara Raiko was actually quite dissatisfied with Kamiyā Yuu asking her to submit game development reports. It wasn't that she was dissatisfied with Kamiyā Yuu himself. Rather, she felt a subtle competitive frustration that [Mirror Flower Water Moon] Game Studio had failed to meet his expectations. Her personality made it difficult for her to tolerate even the slightest imperfection.
"Understood."
Episode twelve of 'Fate/Zero' had just finished airing, and the series' popularity was still surging. There could hardly be a better time to publicly announce the 'Throne of Heroes' project.