We checked out the fun of monster battles at the Monster Arena, and right after, we jumped straight into game development.
First, I quickly sketched the character and showed it to everyone.
“What is this?”
“This is the protagonist character of our game.”
My sketch featured a simple design of a little yellow mouse character with red dots on its cheeks.
I tried to make it as cute as possible, but my drawing skills were lacking, so the character’s vibe didn’t quite get across.
I explained to everyone.
“The character’s name is ‘Pikachu,’ it’s an electric mouse capsule monster that collects electricity in its cheek pouches.”
Noirin and Barren looked at me intently and said,
“Hmmm… if Lauren refines it, it might look cute, but does this character really have to be the protagonist?”
“You’re right. Yuren, we can make something cooler! Like a dragon with guns for arms!”
That’s more like something out of ‘Cyber Monster,’ Barren…
Hmm… but thinking about it, it did mix with a lot of things by the time I died.
There were also bell-shaped monsters and sword-shaped monsters.
But at least there wasn’t anything like that in the first generation.
As a die-hard fan who bought every generation up to the sixth, I wanted to keep the first generation as it was.
“I think it’s cute, and I like it.”
“Me too!”
“Same here! Right, my disciples?”
Sivia, Sora, and the Master all loved my Pikachu sketch.
It really melted the hearts of the ladies.
“Alright then! Yuren, I’ll start drawing in this direction!”
So Lauren began working on Pikachu.
Perhaps having gained some skill, she called me the very next day to say it was already complete.
There stood the completed ‘Pikachu’ that had burst forth from my dreams, exuding cuteness.
“Just as I thought! This is incredible! Look at all this cuteness!!!”
“Ahem! Yes, I did draw it, but it really turned out quite cute!”
With yellow fur, sparkling eyes, and chubby cheeks with two red electric pouches,
it was indeed the monster that had captured the hearts of people worldwide in my past life.
I was very satisfied, and seeing my reaction, Lauren smiled and said,
“Great! That’s the protagonist character finished! Yuren, how many more characters do we need to draw?”
“Let’s see… around 150.”
The number of characters in Capsule Monster’s first generation, including the legendary capsule monster, totals 151.
We had already completed the planning and settings.
At my words, a spark ignited in Lauren’s eyes as she asked again.
“…Huh? Could you repeat that?”
“151 characters including Pikachu.”
“…You’re joking.”
On average, up to 50 characters including monsters is considered a lot for one game.
Monsters can have many variations, meaning you could create ten from one character.
But Capsule Monsters needed to have 151 pure monster characters.
No more, no less.
I looked at Lauren with a serious expression.
“…………”
“………………”
Crash!!!
Realizing I was serious, Lauren broke a window and dashed outside.
With Jiren and Julia quiet, Lauren had been escaping a lot lately.
I decided to summon the vine monster I was raising in the garden for this Capsule Monster development.
“Go, Viney!! Bind Lauren with your vines!!!!”
“Vine!!!”
Viney is a rabbit-type monster that coexists with a plant known as a Green Rabbit, growing vines on its body while living inside them.
This monster’s unique trait allows it to bind its prey using its vines like octopus tentacles.
Just like how Lauren was now tied up by Vine.
Lauren couldn’t escape far and was dragged back by the vines.
“There’s too many!!! Yuren, 150 is too much!!!”
“Lauren! You can do it!!! If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in me who believes in you!!!”
As I levitated Lauren back to the development room, Viney chimed in.
“Vine! Vine!!”
“See, even Viney says it can be done.”
“Don’t lie! How can a monster say that?”
“Vine…”
With an expression that said, ‘I’m serious,’ Viney looked a bit downcast.
Lauren, don’t forget, monsters are alive and have thoughts.
*
Once the development direction for Capsule Monsters was somewhat settled and set up to be operable without me,
I handed over the development task and headed to the western metropolis, ‘Tex,’ with Sivia for other business.
The reason I came here partway through making Capsule Monster was to create an ‘Animation.’
There was animation in this Other World too.
However, it was mostly just short 1-2 minute clips made for advertising by merchant companies, the Imperial Army, and government agencies, so the market wasn’t very big.
These animations were created from commissions at the Artist Guilds, and I had come to find a guild that caught my eye among several recommended ones.
“Ah… hello. I am Clara Leo, the guild leader of the Leo Artist Guild!”
Upon arriving at the guild and waiting in a guest room, Clara Leo, the guild leader, came out.
She was a young lady with orange curly hair and freckles, truly exuding the vibe of a young artist.
Upon hearing my purpose, Clara exclaimed,
“I really can’t believe someone as esteemed as you has come to visit… it’s truly an honor!!”
Clara bowed deeply at 90 degrees.
Sivia was the heir to the Edward Consortium, so that was expected, but why me?
Then Clara’s eyes sparkled as she rushed to me.
“Yuren!!! Eternal Fantasy was truly fantastic!!! If it’s alright, could I get your signature here?”
She brought out the Crystal Ball of Eternal Fantasy.
Looks like she was a fan of my game too.
I switched to my customer service face and received the Crystal Ball.
“Of course, I’d be happy to. As a fan of my game, it’s the least I can do.”
After signing, we sat down to discuss the work.
She looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Um… could I ask why the Edward Consortium and Irene School are looking for me…?”
I quickly handed her the related documents and got straight to the point.
“To put it bluntly, I’d like to commission the Leo Guild to create an animation to be shown alongside our game.”
“Animation?”
“Yes, I watched the Imperial Army’s promotional animation from three years ago. I felt the dreams and hopes of the creator in that video.”
I had seen the animations made by Leo.
The art style of the Leo Guild was perfectly suited for a Capsule Monster animation.
It conveyed dreams, hopes, adventures, and cuteness, and that’s why I rushed here.
“Umm… I was criticized for being too cute…”
“I actually liked that. If possible, I’d like to commission the Leo Guild.”
“Thank you for recognizing my work!!! How long do you want it to be?”
“Let’s see…”
The first season of Capsule Monster Animation consisted of 82 episodes, each 22 minutes long.
So, in total…
“In minutes, that would be 1804 minutes—so roughly 30 hours and 4 minutes.”
“…Huh?”
“Yuren? What do you mean by that? 30 hours?”
Sivia, who was listening next to me, was shocked.
What’s going on?
“I mentioned it before we left, didn’t I? 30 hours.”
“I thought you meant 30 minutes!!! No way there’s a 30-hour animation out there!”
“Oh, to clarify, it’s not one single 30-hour animation, but 80 episodes each 22 minutes long.”
This world seems to focus on short clips, so I figured there weren’t many commissions for long animations.
Upon hearing my words, Clara’s eyes sparkled.
“Wow! So you’re looking for a feature-length animation!”
“Right! Seems Clara gets it.”
“Yes, we’ve talked about it several times within our guild, but ultimately we dropped it due to costs…”
Well, creating a feature-length animation is incredibly tough; I’ve heard that before while working in my past life.
Unless you have a proven super IP, it’s quite hard.
“So how much would it cost to make 80 episodes of feature-length animation?”
“About that… if our entire guild were to work on it, the costs would be around…”
She tapped on a calculator and showed us the figures.
The amount was enough to buy two or three regular schools.
“That’s quite a hefty sum.”
“Wait a minute, Yuren, I need to discuss something with you.”
Sivia called for a timeout due to the unexpectedly high costs.
Sivia and I stepped aside for a brief discussion at the door.
“Yuren, I think this amount for just marketing is too much.”
“No, Sivia, I can assure you, this Capsule Monster animation won’t just stop at marketing; it’s going to be legendary.”
I believed that half of Capsule Monster’s success relied on the animation.
The game would succeed, but it wouldn’t reach the heights of my past life.
Seeing my determination, Sivia sighed as if unable to argue.
“Sigh… fine. I’ll trust you this time, Yuren.”
“Thanks for believing in me, Sivia, mwah!”
With that, I gave Sivia a surprise peck on the cheek, causing her face to turn bright red.
We then returned to the meeting room to continue our discussion.
“So when can we expect a pilot video?”
“Uh… if we finish everything we’re currently working on first, it’d be around three months…”
It’d take longer than three months to see the actual animated production after seeing the pilot video.
That would mean we couldn’t align it with the game release.
“Let’s prioritize ours first, please.”
“This means we’ll need a… cancellation penalty!”
“We will cover all the cancellation penalty! And we’ll pay you double the commission fee as an advance payment.”
“Then by all means, let’s do it.”
I’ve heard this saying in my past life.
If it can be solved with money, it’s often the cheapest solution.
This settled the issue of the Capsule Monster animation.
Hehehe, I’m already looking forward to the day I get to see Pikachu in video form.
