Arigoro Ryota

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[-Continuation-]

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[-Third Person View-]

"Then shut it and sit down. Also, stop pretending to talk seriously all of a sudden. You are creeping me out." Ryota grumbled dismissively from his slouched position, clearly annoyed by Hachiman's words.

"Am I now…*chuckle." Hachiman smiled cockily, as if he were proud of something.

Nonetheless, he obliged and settled onto the floor, much to Ryota's relief, who could now relax his strained neck from looking up at him

"You are…" So he simply gave in.

"Anyway, there is a file to your left regarding the subject you asked about, so take it and don't disturb me for some time." Ryota added and returned his attention to the file he had been reading earlier.

"Well, I guess you are useful."

Ryota chose to ignore his comment, and so did Hachiman, as he knew there would be a reaction from the other party.

With that, the room turned silent except for the monotonous whirring of the table fan.

…

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As the time went on, Ryota still found himself lying on the floor, one hand supporting his head and the other flipping through the pages of a file.

While from time to time, his attention shifted from the file to Hachiman, who sat crisscrossed in front of him.

The crucial aspect here isn't their informal posture, but rather the way Ryota looked at Hachiman in the intervals between flipping through the pages of the document.

His eyes held a spark of interest…

As Ryota dove into the contents, his eyes lit up with visible curiosity, indicating a genuine interest in something.

Taking notice of Ryota's current appearance, from his choice of clothing like knee-length shorts and a round-neck t-shirt to the laid-back way he reclined on the floor.

It's easy to misinterpret…

At first glance, he might give off a shut-in like impression, given his untidy appearance and makeshift living conditions in a rundown barracks.

Yet, the truth is, Ryota is fully aware of this perception... but he simply doesn't care.

This ties back to why Hachiman emphasized the quote about appearances being deceiving, particularly in the context of Ryota's life.

Meet - Arigoro Ryota - the sole child and son of 'OrgO Corporation' the parent company of 'OrgO Gaming' which, interestingly, acquired the game concept from Hachiman.

Yes, you heard it correctly.

Ryota is poised to inherit a Million-dollar organization that is on track to become a billion-dollar empire.

...it may seem like some kind of huge secret.

And to some extent, that's true. But not for Hachiman.

Though in their initial meeting, Ryota never spelled out the complete truth, he also never concealed the 'influence' a normal employee of his status shouldn't possess, all under the pretext of 'it will just work out somehow.'

…and yet Hachiman isn't an idiot.

But he also didn't press the truth any further than Ryota showed. It's like a mutual respect they had.

Anyhow, Hachiman knew that if Ryota really wanted to keep his identity a secret, he could do so in a much better way and not leave any loose ends, but he chose not to… It's almost like Ryota wanted him to notice.

But it also made Hachiman wonder, why?

On one hand, it seemed like a ploy to prompt Hachiman to finally ask about the truth... the truth behind Ryota's real identity.

Maybe that's what Ryota wants.

Or maybe not. It's more like Ryota needs to or has no choice but to reveal some of his cards if he wants to gain Hachiman's trust and also make him put in the effort to be seen as 'worthy' in his eyes.

Nonetheless, as the number of their meetings progressed over the past six months, whether it was due to work related to the game Hachiman proposed or some other work, they became very close, and slowly Ryota revealed all this information here and there to Hachiman.

…

Ryota is a very keen person, and before he even met Hachiman personally, he had some idea of what type of person he is.

…well, except he never guessed him to be a teenager, which was like a whole other thing when they met for the first time.

So, leaving that aside for now, Ryota's understanding of Hachiman was the reason he revealed the information about him.

Well, for him, it is not some world-ending truth that cannot be told. It is just that he also happened to be too lazy to deal with the aftereffects of the revelation, as he is currently working for his own company in the game development division as a normal employee.

Um, maybe not exactly a normal employee anymore since he was promoted recently and is in charge of developing the game Hachiman proposed.

…confusing, huh?

Now, let's rewind a few months, shall we?

It was the time when Ryota was working as a normal employee at his own company.

Reason? - Just for Fun.

Yep, at least that's what he said to his Father when asked.

Ironically, the motive behind Ryota's act of pretending to be a regular employee does not follow the traditional drama trope where wealthy young individuals in line to succession of the family are forced to experience the 'common folk' in order to fulfil some strange family tradition.

No, it is nothing like that. It was all Ryota's call.

Now, not like, even if there existed a tradition like that, with Ryota's personality, he undoubtedly would never follow it.

He wouldn't think twice before walking away from his family, even if it meant leaving all the inheritance.

Anyway, going back to his days as a regular employee, he received an intriguing email from an address - Hikigaya Hachiman.

Not exactly to him.

The mail was sent to OrgO Gaming.

Yeah, it just so happened that Ryota, despite his position as a normal employee, had authorization to access the email address for OrgO Gaming.

Talk about the privilege.

Not with the privilege of having authorization to access such information as a normal employee, but rather with the privilege of being the son of the owner.

Then how could such authorization be given to someone of his status?

As for the context of the email that caught Ryota's attention -

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Sender : Hikigaya Hachiman

Subject : Elevated Concerns Regarding OrgO Gaming Company's Competition Evaluation Process.

Body : Greetings. I, Hikigaya Hachiman, as a participant in your recent online competition, have submitted a game called 'Candy Crush Saga.'

However, it is rather disappointing to note that your company's evaluation process appears to lack the discernment to recognize the heights of my game, as I was faced with rejection.

I was expecting at the very least a comprehensive reasoning letter in response to such a submission, yet I find myself waiting in vain.

It is in no way in line with the structure of a healthy competition, so I strongly suggest you conduct a thorough review of the individuals responsible for overseeing the competitions.

Hope, you will be reading this.

It is your call(:loss) actually.

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Talk about cockiness. The email reeked of arrogance, with every word oozing a sense of superiority.

Evidently, Ryota couldn't help but roll his eyes as he read through it.

But despite his initial irritation, he found himself putting in some work by actually reevaluating the whole competition process that was held.

And when he saw Hachiman's project submission file, he was pleasantly surprised.

Very much, in fact.

Ryota understood the thought process in submitting the game model that follows a Puzzle Video Game with a Match-Three concept integrated into a tile-based system.

He knows that even if he completely ignores the success rate of the game, with the unique idea, numerous detailing's inputted in the game, and different catchy themes, the developer would have been considered talented for these types of competitions.

Part of him wanted to call Hachiman immediately and arrange a meeting to discuss his ideas in person.

But another part of him wanted to first test Hachiman's capabilities to truly understand his potential.

In the end, he went with the latter option, deciding to give Hachiman one more test and decide whether he was an individual who was simply talented or someone who was capable of more than that.

Next day, amazingly enough(:only for others), the previous head of the competition had been fired, and Ryota had been appointed as the new overseer.

Yep… again, the same Privilege.

Which - Ryota has no shame in using it, regardless of receiving many strange looks from almost all of the fellow employees.

Nonetheless, the decision brought Ryota wonders, as within weeks he was completely once again amazed by Hachiman's confidence in this idea.

It was all thanks to Ryota's decision to hold another competition in just a few weeks, an uncommon procedure as these competitions were typically held only every six months or longer.

As his first surprise, Hikigaya Hachiman not only decided to enter the one coming up in just a couple of weeks, but he also submitted the same idea again.

Despite his previous rejection, there was nothing changed in the whole concept, except for the minor improvements and an increase in levels.

Ryota was impressed - most developers would shy away from putting effort into an idea that had previously failed.

But here was Hachiman confidently increasing its complexity, showing no signs of doubt or insecurity due to the rejection.

Ryota understood that the words in Hachiman's email were not just frustration from a previous failure but genuine belief in the superiority of his idea and the company's mistake in rejecting it.

And so he wasted no time in calling Hachiman for their first meeting, and so on they met regularly to discuss various topics, and they are currently meeting his adobe.

.

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[To be continued….]

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