"Asking me to be an artist?!"
Staring at the contract, Sayoko Kawai relaxed on the tatami mat, her heavy "peaches" settling back onto her calves.
After a long pause, a faint smile—half-relieved, half-resigned—curved her lips, marked by a small beauty mole.
"So, they just want to collaborate with me."
Just a collaboration.
Her gaze secretly peeked at Tetsu Fuyukawa's handsome features and tall frame, a mix of relief and a strange sense of grievance flickering in her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the contract. "Can I take a look at it first and give you an answer later?"
"Of course," Tetsu replied, sipping his tea and glancing at his system panel.
Unlocking the consumption point limit was expected—most items in the system shop exceeded his current cap. But the skill imprinting? That was a surprise.
"From what it says, this imprinting should let me learn someone else's skills," he mused. "Perfect. Fate is just a galgame, and I'm not expecting it to hit the precision of my past life's work right out of the gate. It's all about the story to carry it and secure that first pot of gold. But relying on Sayoko alone will make production slow. With this, I can pitch in too."
As he sipped his tea, Tetsu noticed the green numbers above Sayoko's head had stopped appearing. "Is it because I need her, so she feels the balance of status starting to even out?"
His gaze turned thoughtful. Soon, Sayoko looked up from the contract.
Blinking her tired eyes, she said, "I've gone through it. The salary and confidentiality agreement penalties are fine, but… could I see the game's script after signing? I think understanding the story better will help me draw the characters."
"No problem. I brought the script. You can look at it once you sign."
"Great."
Watching Tetsu pull a folder from his briefcase, Sayoko noticed it lacked a title. A faint disappointment flickered in her eyes, barely noticeable.
Another guy dreaming of soaring to the top.
They say different fields are worlds apart. She respected Tetsu's programming skills, but a good script? That was the heart of a galgame, and she doubted he could deliver. In her mind, Fate/stay night was already doomed, and Tetsu's cool, elite image began to tilt toward "arrogant kid yet to be humbled by the world."
As Sayoko signed the contract, red text floated above her head:
-300, -10, -10, -10
[Warning: Friendship emotion value has a -1000 threshold. Exceeding it will lower the emotion level.]
Emotion value tanking? And still dropping?
Tetsu, pulling out the script outline and Sakura Matou's storyline, caught sight of the red numbers. "She signed, so she feels secure now?"
Puzzled, he frowned slightly as Sayoko handed over the signed contract. "All done. Take a look."
After checking it carefully and nodding, Tetsu passed her the script folder. "The game has three main routes, with Saber, Sakura Matou, and Rin Tohsaka as the key characters. You have to capture their emotional shifts and vibe changes throughout the story. That's the core."
Emotional shifts?
Flipping through the script's table of contents, Sayoko saw words like "fate," "choice," and "good and evil." Her disappointment deepened. These were common themes—not bad, but tough to execute well. A simpler, romance-focused galgame might have a lower ceiling but a safer floor. As long as the heroines' designs were appealing and the story followed a standard love arc, it could at least hold up. But grand themes like "fate" or "good and evil"? They either soared to masterpiece status or crashed hard. And Tetsu, a programmer by trade…
Glancing at the young, handsome Tetsu helping the waiter serve food, Sayoko sighed inwardly. She pulled out the script labeled "HF Route" and started reading.
"Sakura Matou—nice name. Gentle, kind, a bit insecure, great at housework and massages, starts by taking care of the protagonist… Ugh, this plot again. Probably just them growing close, then she catches the protagonist with the main heroine, leading to some cliché love triangle where she only shows up in the kitchen, bathroom, hallway, bedroom, or maybe a park."
Shaking her head, Sayoko kept reading. But as the Matou family's background unfolded and Sakura's tragic past came to light, her brows furrowed. Her curvy frame leaned forward slightly, engrossed. She didn't even notice the sizzling beef Tetsu placed on the grill or the oil splattering onto her sleeve. She flipped faster, cross-referencing the other routes and character designs.
Her brows knitted tighter, her eyes laser-focused.
The room filled with only the sounds of grilling meat and rustling pages.
Time ticked by. As Tetsu added more beef to the grill for the third time, Sayoko reached a summary: Sakura Matou, tormented from childhood in a bug pit by Zouken Matou and assaulted by Shinji Matou. Her right hand, resting on the table, clenched slightly.
She kept reading, sniffing as she went. When she reached the part where Sakura, corrupted by the Dark Holy Grail and on the verge of destroying the world, slept as Shirou Emiya raised a knife over her—only to lower it and walk away, unaware that Sakura's eyes slowly opened—Sayoko froze.
She flipped frantically.
At the end, when Shirou died and Sakura, honoring their vow, lived out her days alone under a cherry blossom tree, Sayoko was utterly stunned. She looked up at Tetsu, her eyes red and incredulous.
"Tetsu-kun…"
"Hm?"
"Who writes a script like this? Are you some kind of psychopath?"
Cough, cough, cough!
Nearly choking on his beef, Tetsu pounded his chest. But before he bent over, he saw a flood of green text above Sayoko's head:
+50, +100, +100, +500, +500, +1000, +1000!
[Emotion value increased. Friendship transformed.]
[Sayoko Kawai: Friendly → Admiration]
[Sayoko Kawai's status module updated. Please review.]
[Skill imprinting from Sayoko Kawai now requires 50% fewer consumption points.]
Friendship transformed?!