Free Web NovelChapter 22: Chapter 22: The Otome Game Project
As Felix Preston’s wife, Sonia Quincy felt she had a duty to tell him the truth.
She organized her thoughts, trying to make her words sound as normal as possible.
"I... I know something. It might be related to your company’s bankruptcy."
Felix Preston’s attention was instantly piqued. "What is it?"
"I..."
"Felix! Sonia!"
Before Sonia Quincy could say anything more, Mrs. Preston’s voice suddenly cut her off.
Felix Preston turned his head and smiled in response to his mother. "Mom."
Mrs. Preston stood a short distance away, waving at them gently. "Hurry over. Let’s all go home together. Mom brought you something delicious."
Felix Preston: "Okay."
Sonia Quincy quickly summarized, "Robert Ford isn’t the real person who made you go bankrupt. There’s someone behind him. You need to investigate Ethan Lockwood and Cecilia Quincy."
After speaking, she ignored Felix Preston’s stunned expression and pulled him directly toward Mrs. Preston.
"Mom."
Mrs. Preston replied with a smile, "Hey! Sonia, slow down, there’s no rush..."
Sonia Quincy had lunch at Felix Preston’s studio that day.
Mrs. Preston was teaching a class at a tutoring center near the mall. Just before her class ended, she called Felix Preston and told him she’d made some delicious food for him to pick up.
Felix Preston found a moment to come over, only to run into Sonia Quincy, who was there selling necklaces. Mrs. Preston and Sonia had originally planned to eat back at the rental apartment, but Felix still had work to do and didn’t have time to go back. So, the two of them discussed it and decided to just take the food and go to Felix’s studio together.
Felix Preston’s studio was located in an old residential building, in what was formerly an abandoned dance studio. Evan Yates had stumbled upon it, thought it was cheap and spacious, and rented it to work on their project.
The studio had just been established not long ago, and its only members were Felix Preston and Evan Yates. Felix had gone out that morning, leaving Evan all alone in the studio.
"Dude, you’re finally back!"
Hearing the door open, Evan Yates, sporting a head of bed hair, came stumbling over, only to come face-to-face with Sonia Quincy.
"...So-Sonia Quincy?"
Sonia Quincy didn’t know him, only that his name was Evan Yates.
"Hi," Sonia Quincy greeted him with a polite smile.
"..." Evan Yates was a little dumbfounded.
’When did Sonia Quincy become so friendly and polite? Didn’t she always look down on me?’
"What’s with the ’Sonia Quincy’? She’s your sister-in-law." Felix Preston came in after her and lightly tapped Evan Yates on the head.
Evan Yates stood there stunned, taking a long moment before he managed to say, "S-Sister-in-law."
"Mm-hmm," Sonia Quincy responded immediately.
"Come and eat!" Mrs. Preston called out loudly to them as she took out the food and placed it on a wooden table in the corner.
"Coming!" Sonia Quincy walked over quickly, helping to move a chair while praising, "Mom’s cooking smells so good, it’s making my mouth water."
The praise put Mrs. Preston in a great mood. "Sonia must be hungry, right? Eat a lot later. I specially made chestnut-stewed chicken, your favorite."
Sonia Quincy: "Okay!"
Felix Preston smiled as he watched her. "She kept saying how hungry she was on the way here. Mom, when you serve her rice, give her a little extra..."
Hearing this, Mrs. Preston immediately packed the rice in Sonia Quincy’s bowl down tight, then added another scoop.
"No problem..."
Watching the harmonious and loving trio before him, Evan Yates felt dazed, as if he were dreaming.
’Is this still the same Sonia Quincy I know?’
"What are you standing there spacing out for? Come eat." Felix Preston finished clearing the table and waved Evan Yates over.
Evan Yates walked over dazedly, sizing up Sonia Quincy with a look of disbelief. He lowered his voice and asked Felix Preston, "Preston, is she... for real?"
Felix Preston lowered his gaze, wiped a pair of chopsticks with a napkin, and placed them in front of Sonia Quincy.
"...She’s for real."
"Hah—" Evan Yates gasped in shock.
Felix Preston patted him on the shoulder, giving him a gentle push toward the table. "You’ll get used to it. Let’s eat."
Evan Yates pulled over a chair and sat down, nodding numbly. "Yeah."
After the meal, Sonia Quincy walked around the studio with her hands behind her back to aid her digestion.
The studio’s conditions were a bit spartan. In the vast room, aside from a few tables and computers, there was nothing else.
Coupled with the scarce membership of just two pitiful people, the so-called "studio" inevitably looked shabby and desolate.
As Sonia Quincy wandered around, she casually started tidying up a messy desk.
"I’ll get it." Felix Preston, having finished wiping the table, immediately came over to help.
"It’s okay." Sonia Quincy didn’t let him. She backed away slightly, making a little room for Felix Preston to get in.
"You go back to your work. I’m just tidying up a bit. It’s not tiring."
"Alright, then." Felix Preston did indeed have more work to do, so he didn’t insist.
"Hey, what’s this project you’re working on now about?"
Sonia Quincy asked curiously, looking at the 3D human model on Felix Preston’s computer screen.
Felix Preston replied, "It’s for a game. An otome game."
Evan Yates added, "Otome for short."
"Otome?" Hearing the name, Sonia Quincy’s eyes widened in an instant.
Seeing her reaction, Felix Preston raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise. "You’ve heard of this type of game?"
"Of course I’ve heard of them!"
’Heard of them? Before I transmigrated, I was a veteran otome whale. I spent every damn cent I earned on those fictional men.’
’*Love and Deepspace*, *Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice*, *For All Time*... I’d thrown money at all of them.’
’But, now that I’ve transmigrated to another world, will the otome games here be the same as the ones from before?’
"So what are the most popular otome games in the country right now? And what’s new or different about your game compared to them?"
"..." Evan Yates blinked, looking at Sonia Quincy strangely. "Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? Otome games are only popular in Kurisawa right now. No companies in our country are making them yet... no, wait, one company has. But their game is more like a visual novel—the gameplay is simple and boring, so it’s not very popular. Not many people know about it."
’Only one company has made one, and almost no one knows about it...’
’In other words, if the game Felix Preston and Evan Yates are making is successfully released, it will become the first real otome game in the country in this world?’
Recalling the explosive popularity of the major otome games in her original world, Sonia Quincy couldn’t even begin to imagine how promising this project would be if it succeeded.
As a veteran otome whale, Sonia Quincy figured she could still say a thing or two about this project.
She pulled a chair over for herself, sat down next to Felix Preston, and asked with great enthusiasm, "So, will your game have any improvements or innovations?"
"Of course." Felix Preston took a thick document from a folder on the desk and spread it open for Sonia Quincy to see.
Sonia Quincy listened to Felix Preston’s explanation as she read. After he finished, she couldn’t help but give him a thumbs-up.
"Your idea is brilliant! Go for it with confidence. I guarantee this game will be the thing that turns your fortunes around!"
"Really?" Evan Yates asked, a little apprehensive.
Sonia Quincy thought about the companies in her original world that had built entire office towers off the success of their otome games, and she promised with absolute certainty, "Really! As long as you make this game, I guarantee it will be a nationwide sensation!"
