Chapter 142. Mei Got Roped In
After seeing off Mei—who planned to go discuss things with her father—and the now-pensive Kiana, the moment the door closed, Bronya tugged on Xander's sleeve and asked, "We still have voice acting and motion capture as business lines?"
"Nope. Don't you already know what our company is like?"
He gave Bronya a puzzled look, stretched, and got ready to head upstairs to play games.
"Then why did you tell Kiana that?"
"Just because we don't have them now doesn't mean we won't later."
Slipping an arm around her shoulder as she caught up, Xander said with a smile, "Our company can't just make games forever."
"Besides, voice acting and mocap are practically must-haves for us down the line."
"Rather than bothering outsiders for these things, why not train our own people?"
"Take certain in-game needs, for example—just thinking about haggling with those specialized studios gives me a headache, and there's no guarantee we'd be satisfied."
"If they're our people, it's just a word from us."
"We could even have them travel with the team when needed."
Bronya frowned, nodded, but still asked with some worry, "Won't that scatter our focus away from making games?"
"It's not like we'll be the ones managing it."
"And right now the company isn't that busy, right?"
"How about we let Mei get some practice with this?"
One foot out the door, and Xander was already plotting how to talk someone into being a workhorse.
Bronya shot him a contemptuous look and pouted. "If you say so, I have no objections."
"Relax. It's not like we're trying to be number one in the voice acting or mocap world."
"These two departments are to serve our games, so we can polish them to perfection."
Noticing Bronya's obviously softening expression, Xander continued, "And it's not just those two."
"I'm also planning to spend big to poach talent for music and set up a dedicated in-house music team."
"Music is crucial for games."
He had an even bolder idea.
Through Elysia, he'd made a simple acquaintance with Eden.
When Elysia comes over later, he'd whisper in her ear and see if she could pull Eden in.
Elysia, you don't want to be separated from your bestie either, right.jpg
A world-class diva doing the music for his games—just the thought was thrilling.
She probably wouldn't be a full-timer at the company, but if she could spare a few songs each year, that would already be a massive win.
"Doing all that, the company's finances…"
Halfway through her sentence, Bronya fell silent.
She suddenly remembered their own company wasn't short on money anymore.
Not just now—probably not in the future either.
With the Pokémon IP in hand, the money came in almost like printing it.
In the end, she just sighed lightly. "Do what you want. I'll agree on Seele's behalf. It's not like we'll be the ones doing the grunt work."
"No, no, no—it's not me either. It's Mei."
He wagged his finger at her, flashing a big white grin.
"You…"
She rolled her eyes at him and silently offered a moment of mourning for Mei having such a black-hearted boss.
What? She was one of the bosses too?
Then never mind.
"Heh-heh. So, wanna play a round of the intense and exciting Kallen Fantasy?"
"Of course!"
…
Putting work out of mind, they lazed about for more than two months straight until Bronya finally couldn't help it and started heading to the office.
Although the original vacation was set to run until school started in September, having nothing to do left Bronya feeling empty.
Eventually, apart from doing the usual things at night, nothing else could really hold her interest.
In the end, the whole family got dragged along by her.
"This is the latest list of successful interviewees."
"We'll place them according to the plan we set before."
"Our cooperation with well-known conservatories has made good progress, though some schools have high demands—we're still in detailed talks."
"We've also sent invitations to outstanding talents in the broader market, and quite a few have already responded."
Listening to Mei's expressionless report, Xander accompanied it with smiles, nodding from time to time.
When she finished, he hurried to reassure her. "You've worked hard."
Mei shot him a faint look, sighed, said, "I have other matters," and left straight away.
Only after the door closed did Xander lean back in his chair and let out a breath.
Just listening to the report was enough to feel how troublesome the work was—let alone being the primary person in charge.
When Mei had rushed over excitedly before, she'd been looking forward to it.
But after hearing that terrifyingly long list of tasks, her little face went dark.
If Cocolia hadn't assigned a few professional managers to support her, Mei might have been tempted to stab this dog of a boss.
"Brother, you're being way too hard on Mei."
Intern secretary Seele came over with freshly brewed tea, bent down to place it in front of him, and chided coquettishly.
"Ahem. I just want her to get more practice."
His eyes drifted to the obvious curve that hung from Seele's bending posture.
He answered with a guilty smile.
"And the result is Mei working overtime every night?"
"She's already complained to me several times!"
Seeing Seele standing up for her bestie, Xander raised both hands in surrender. "Fine, fine."
"Mei even knows to go around me now—she knows I can't resist you."
Catching the pride in Seele's smile, he slipped an arm around his little secretary's waist and settled her on his lap.
"Don't worry. I already borrowed people from Anti-Entropy a few days ago."
"They should arrive in a couple of days."
Held in her boss's arms and having fully grasped the nature of secretarial work, Seele naturally gave her boss a peck on the cheek, then asked with a smile, "Did Cocolia-mom arrange it?"
"Mhm. A few newcomers she's optimistic about."
"They're being sent over to help and rack up some experience."
"That's good."
Since Cocolia-mom had arranged it, they could use them with confidence.
"Don't just talk about Mei. I'm tired too."
Xander's voice took on a hint of complaint as he began to pour out his woes. "Every single thing Mei does needs my confirmation."
"Anything unclear requires my decision."
"The new Scarlet Devil Mansion DLC needs my final check."
"I also have to guide those three slackers—Sugisaki Ken and the others—from time to time."
"And then there's your Bronya-sis."
At this point, he nibbled on Seele's ear while holding her. "She asks me for new game design docs every day."
"Every. Single. Day."
"She even brings it up while we're doing that kind of thing."
"My 'Little Xander' lewd set isn't even finished—where am I supposed to find time to write new docs?!"
Though she felt like she'd just overheard something outrageous, as an intern secretary Seele knew she should use action to dissolve the boss's troubles.
Steeling herself silently in her heart, Seele pushed against his body and slid down under the desk.
Whether she could shed the "intern" tag would depend on her effort right now!
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