Nohara slid the folder toward the two young men.
"The Executive Director's requirements are simple: implement everything on this list — and expand it! All the weird slang you use when chatting with friends at school, the in-jokes in your clubs — turn them all into character-based expressions!
They need to be fun, interesting, and make people want to use them the moment they see them!"
He paused, then added:
"This project has no upper limit. No restrictions on your creativity.
If you do this well, I'll personally write your internship evaluations."
Nishino and Mikazuki instantly straightened.
This task was perfect for them.
No need to chew on those cryptic low-level protocols, no endless code comments.
Instead, they could build something that felt like playing.
And it was something assigned directly by the Executive Director!
"Leave it to us!" Nishino snatched the document and pointed at one expression.
"I think this 'helpless' emoticon ( ) can even have an upgraded version — like this—"
He gestured animatedly as he spoke.
Mikazuki jumped in.
"And cats! What Japanese doesn't love cats? We should design a cat-face expression! =~人～="
Seeing how quickly the two entered brainstorming mode, talking energetically, the exhaustion on Nohara's face finally eased into a small smile.
He raised a hand, stopping their excited rambling and sent them back to their desks to experiment.
---
Nakayama Takuya had practically turned the Software Development Group into his second office — he showed up every two or three days without fail.
Today, he arrived just in time to find Nohara hunched over his screen, sporting two huge dark circles under his eyes, hair half-torn out.
The office smelled like strong coffee mixed with leftover pizza. The whiteboards were covered in flowcharts, all slashed with red X marks.
"Ran into trouble?" Nakayama walked behind him and watched the constant stream of error messages.
"Executive Director!"
Nohara reacted like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline. He spun around, pointing to the screen.
"You came at the perfect time! The email client's UI and local functions are all done — but the sending and receiving… we're stuck!"
He pulled up a chair for Nakayama, then pointed anxiously at the network diagrams on the board.
Nakayama stared at it for several seconds.
Nohara thought he was analyzing the technical details and quickly explained:
"We've rewritten the send/receive module three times, but the server still refuses our connection request at the third handshake!"
"How long has this issue been happening?" Nakayama cut in.
Nohara froze. His eyes drifted to the calendar.
"About three or four days. We thought we could solve it ourselves—"
"Solve it yourselves?"
Nakayama turned and looked at him calmly.
"Nohara, I put you in charge so you could lead a team, not play the lone hero."
Nohara's face flushed red.
"We're a game company, not a professional network communications lab," Nakayama continued, his voice steady but firm.
"Our strength is user interface design — turning existing functions into fun, usable products. Having game developers bite into low-level protocols that university labs spent years studying… is that playing to our strengths, or smashing our heads against a wall with our weaknesses?"
He stepped closer and patted Nohara's tense shoulder.
"When you hit a rock you can't move, why don't you call people to help you push?
Or do you think embarrassing yourself in front of Professor Jun Murai is worse than delaying the entire project?"
Those words hit like cold water poured over Nohara's head, snapping him out of his tunnel vision.
"I… Executive Director, I—"
But Nakayama was already pulling out his phone.
Right in front of the entire team, he dialed a number.
"Professor Yonezawa? Good afternoon, this is Nakayama Takuya."
A warm voice answered.
"No, no, the project is going very smoothly — just a small issue." Nakayama spoke casually, as though discussing the weather.
"My team is excellent at UI and features, but we're having some trouble interfacing with the mail server."
"So I'd like to borrow two helpers from you. Anyone well-versed in network protocols — just for a few days. Consider it industry–academia collaboration."
He paused, then added with a light laugh:
"Of course, we won't let them help for free. We'll cover all travel and accommodation. And Sega will donate a research grant to your lab as well. How about it?"
A few seconds of silence… and then Yonezawa burst out laughing.
Soon after, Nakayama hung up and waved the phone toward the stunned Nohara.
"Done. Two top students from Tokyo Institute of Technology — Professor Yonezawa's best — will arrive tomorrow morning."
He pocketed his phone.
"What you need to do now is get a proper night's sleep and organize every problem you've encountered.
Don't waste the experts' time. And don't let them think Sega doesn't know what it's doing."
Nohara stared at him in disbelief.
The huge technical roadblock that had crushed him for days had just been cleared away with one simple phone call.
He opened his mouth, countless words stuck in his throat, then bowed deeply at ninety degrees.
"Executive Director, I understand! I'll prepare everything right away!"
With the development issues finally having a solution, and everything else progressing smoothly, Nakayama checked the time difference and made an overseas call to Tom Kalinske.
The moment the call connected, Tom's booming voice came through, with loud background noise behind him.
"Hey, Takuya! Heard you're hooking Tokyo HQ up to the Internet?"
"That's right," Nakayama replied with a grin. "Ready for real-time connection with Tokyo?"
"God, finally! We put our whole office online last year! You guys are only doing it now?"
"No choice, Tom. Different circumstances."
Nakayama spread his hands. "You already have mature ISPs over there. I had to use every connection — my old university and even the Ministry of International Trade and Industry — just to get a permit."
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