In addition to developing Stardew Valley, Takayuki also kept an eye on Group 9's development progress on Resident Evil.
He could have spent that entire month focusing fully on Stardew Valley, but he chose not to.
Most game developers would've poured themselves into a single project — only Takayuki could afford to multitask like this.
And so, the next month passed quietly.
During that time, the three girls had the rare opportunity to visit multiple times and watch Takayuki develop the game all by himself. Their admiration for him only grew.
Hazumi, in particular, had fully assumed the role of a starry-eyed fangirl. Aiko managed to remain relatively calm, while even Oto-chan was struggling to contain herself.
It was true — a man focused on his craft was deeply attractive.
Finally, after one month and ten days, Takayuki completed the development of Stardew Valley.
…
…
During this intense period of development, Takayuki never stopped working — even during meals, he would sketch rough 2D character portraits for the game.
The illustrations weren't particularly beautiful, but they were good enough.
As for the music, he couldn't quite match the original developer's feat of assigning custom tracks to every single character. His energy had limits. Unless he were given much more time, this just wasn't feasible.
Still, the current version was already more than enough.
"Phew… finally finished."
After more than a month of relentless effort, Takayuki completed Stardew Valley. The film crew and employees who had been observing the process all perked up.
Then they all stared at Takayuki like he was some kind of monster.
Over the past month and ten days, he had barely rested.
It was estimated that his average daily rest time was about three hours.
Any ordinary person would've collapsed long ago.
But Takayuki looked perfectly fine.
Perhaps this was one of the perks granted to him when he came to this world — but even knowing that, no one else believed they could push themselves as hard as he had.
Takayuki truly, wholeheartedly loved video games and game development. He was willing to pour his time and soul into it — without hesitation.
Everyone around him could only sigh with admiration. Only someone like this truly deserved to be called the God of Games.
When Takayuki finally declared that the game was finished, he wasted no time choosing the PC platform for its release — and for now, it would stay exclusive to PC.
"President, are you sure about this? You're basically giving up the largest player base."
Some employees at Gamestar Electronic Entertainment were confused by his decision.
Takayuki had well-established distribution channels for consoles and handhelds — yet he was determined to go with PC. It was hard to understand.
But only Takayuki knew that the true soil for indie games would always be on PC.
Beyond its robust development environment, PC platforms didn't require any negotiation with console manufacturers. Regardless of how well a game sold, only a small cut went to the platform holders.
PC was the sacred land of indie games — that would never change.
Only on PC could you have things like mod support and true creative freedom.
Takayuki looked at his completed Stardew Valley with satisfaction and nodded."That's right. I'm releasing it on PC because I want to test whether my work can succeed without platform advantages."
He looked at the employees and asked,"So, what do you all think of Stardew Valley?"
They exchanged glances, looking slightly awkward.
"President… do you want the honest truth?"
"Of course. Do I look like the kind of person who needs comforting lies?"
"Then here it is," one employee said after a pause. "To be honest, the game feels pretty rough. You could've made it so much better, right?"
Takayuki nodded."Naturally. Our Unreal Engine could produce far more — but I intentionally kept it simple. This game is meant to be a showcase for beginner developers. I want to prove that even something with this level of graphics can still be loved."
"Loved, huh…"
They didn't say much more.
Deep down, they weren't sure if the game would truly be well received.
From any perspective, it looked… mediocre.
The character animations were extremely simple — characters just swung a pickaxe or hoe in basic movements.
The simplicity made them wonder if this game had even come from Takayuki at all.
And, as they'd said — he could have done better. The Unreal Engine had the power. But Takayuki chose not to use it to its full potential.
Because he genuinely wanted to demonstrate to struggling beginner developers that great games don't have to rely solely on cutting-edge tech.
Sometimes, simplicity is part of the charm.
Of course, talk was cheap. Now it was time to release the game on PC and see how it performed in terms of sales and feedback.
As for the three girls — the ones Takayuki most wanted to show and inspire — they were the first to receive the full version of the game.
They could register a Battlenet account on any computer and activate the game using the keys Takayuki had gifted them.
In the past two years, the internet had advanced rapidly, though mobile networks weren't widespread yet. Home computers were becoming essential in many households, and PC prices had become more affordable.
Aiko's family had a desktop PC. The moment the girls received their activation keys, they gathered at her house to try it out.
After school, they met at Aiko's doorstep and headed in together.
Aiko led her two best friends to the desktop computer, then followed Takayuki's installation instructions to set up the Battlenet platform.
"Aiko, this is a game that Mr. Takayuki poured his whole heart into. Do you think it really proves what he said — that there's no such thing as 'high' or 'low' in video games?"