By now, the three girls had become little rich ladies in their own right.
Sales of their game Farm Defense were still climbing steadily, bringing them a stable monthly income.
It was at this point that they finally felt sure of their talent and ability to make games.
This was also the first time the three of them had traveled together to the U.S., wanting to witness the grand showdown between gaming consoles with their own eyes.
And it wasn't just them—every gamer here had come with the same goal in mind.
The only frustrating thing was… there were too many people, and they couldn't even get into the venue.
Kazumi couldn't help but look around and quickly noticed that the people around them were clearly all gamers—many were casually playing on their handheld consoles while waiting.
You really had to admit, handheld consoles were such an amazing invention. The ability to play anytime, anywhere, and feel instantly entertained—it was hard to imagine anything more enjoyable in the world than a handheld console.
...
...
"Hey hey hey, how about we play some Monster Hunter?" Kazumi suggested to her friends.
On-chan frowned, "No way. Every time we play Monster Hunter, you never actually fight. You just run around collecting items."
Kazumi immediately protested, "That's not true anymore! I've soloed a G-rank monster now!"
Aiko calmly pulled out three handheld consoles from her bag. "Alright, we've got nothing else to do—let's play a round."
On-chan was only complaining for the sake of it. Seeing that Aiko had already handed over her console, she accepted her pink one, while Kazumi held her limited-edition yellow Pikachu console—her favorite character. When the Pikachu edition released, she bought it without hesitation.
Aiko's console was the plainest—just a standard black model, but it matched her personality perfectly. She didn't need flashy things to express who she was.
The three of them skillfully booted up their consoles and loaded into Monster Hunter.
A group of girls who not only played Monster Hunter but were good at it? In this day and age, that was incredibly rare.
So as soon as the trio entered the game, the nearby players around them began casting curious and surprised glances their way.
But the girls didn't notice.
"Wanna hunt a Tigrex?" Aiko asked, eyes locked on the screen.
Kazumi and On-chan nodded without hesitation. They'd hunted Tigrex dozens of times—by now, it was no big deal.
After equipping their gear, they prepared to enter the hunt. A few players behind them leaned in, watching their screens with great interest.
Meanwhile, the girls chatted as they played.
"Hey hey, don't you think we should make a game like Monster Hunter?" Kazumi said. "Aiko, you're the tech genius—handle the monster hunting gameplay. I'll do the farming systems."
On-chan immediately shot back, "There you go again! Why do you want to add farming to everything?"
"It's just one feature! What's the harm in adding it?"
On-chan rolled her eyes. "Then I'm adding modern firearms! Let's just make a Modern Monster Hunter."
Aiko didn't even blink. "You two really underestimate how hard game development is. Monster Hunter's combat and animation systems are way beyond what the three of us can handle. Not now, anyway. Let's just stick to making indie games for now. Once we graduate and have more money, then we can talk."
Aiko was the realist of the group. She understood that making a big game required a massive budget. On-chan and Kazumi didn't fully grasp that yet, so Aiko usually handled the overall direction, while things like game genre and features rotated between them.
Their current project, a zombie-shooting game led by On-chan, had an estimated development budget of around $100,000, which was already a big investment for the three. Aiko estimated development would take at least six months.
"Um… excuse me, are you three indie game developers?"
A voice interrupted. It came from a young man in his twenties wearing glasses.
He spoke fluent Japanese, probably Japanese himself.
At that moment, Aiko was landing a massive hammer blow on Tigrex's head, knocking it to the ground. On-chan and Kazumi immediately rushed in for a DPS burst, while Aiko looked up at the young man.
"Yeah. Why?"
The man's face lit up.
"Wow, that's amazing. You're really game developers? This is my first time meeting actual indie devs in real life. Can I ask which game you made? Maybe I'm already a fan!"
At the word fan, On-chan and Kazumi stopped attacking and looked up, surprised.
Kazumi eagerly said,
"We made Farm Defense."
"What?! Farm Defense was made by you three?!"
The young man was visibly thrilled.
"I've played it! I love the vibe of the game. I can't believe it was made by three beautiful ladies—I really am a fan!"
This was the first time the girls had met someone who liked their game.
Up to now, the three of them had just quietly made games and earned money. They hadn't even told their families.
They never imagined someone would become a fan.
To see someone so genuinely enthusiastic—it was hard to describe the feeling.
Pride? Achievement? Probably a mix of both.
Kazumi's eyes sparkled.
"You really like our game? What part did you like the most?"
"Definitely the farming and base defense mechanics. Both were super fun!"
The young man then stretched his neck to look in another direction.
He shouted,
"Hey, Kirito! Takeshi! Come here, quick!"
Soon, a group of guys came over, looking a little annoyed.
"We were just in the middle of a match—what do you want?"
The young man pointed at the girls and excitedly said,
"These three are the devs behind Farm Defense! Real-life, breathing game developers!"
"Huh?!"
Real-life? Breathing?
...These guys really didn't know how to talk.
All three girls had the same thought at once.