130. The Responsibilities of the Supervisor

Jiang Yu looked at Eriri, who had once again frozen up due to Utaha Kasumigaoka’s words, and sighed with a headache. "Must you always be so... enigmatic every time you open your mouth, Utaha-senpai?"

Mid-sentence, Jiang Yu opted for a more... tactful phrasing. Beside him, Tomoya Aki nodded in agreement, adding with a helpless expression, "We just came over to borrow the scanner at Eriri’s house."

Eriri chimed in as well, "Y-yeah! I was just being kind and helping these two out!"

Perhaps out of a sense of shame, all three of them omitted the experience of "collaborating on a doujinshi."

Utaha Kasumigaoka watched the trio with amusement, hinting pointedly, "When everyone in the room rushes to chime in and confirm a point after someone makes a claim, it really makes one suspicious about the truth of the matter~"

Just as the three of them felt a cold sweat beginning to trickle down, Utaha continued, "Well... I can’t be bothered to investigate what actually happened. So, what brings you here today, junior?"

"Hey, hey! Senpai, you say that as if I’m not a member of this club!" Jiang Yu breathed a silent sigh of relief and retorted.

"I can only assume you’re here to fulfill your duties as director? It’s a pity I haven’t finished the script for the second plot route, and that loser artist over there hasn’t even started her work yet, has she?"

Utaha narrowed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and stared directly at Jiang Yu with a faint smile, never forgetting to take a jab at the other creator in the club.

Eriri shouted indignantly, "Utaha Kasumigaoka! You—!"

"Oh my~ Did I say something wrong? Eriri Spencer Sawamura-san, who hasn't even finished a single character design?"

"Ugh..." The blonde twin-tailed girl wore an expression of impotent rage, clearly unable to refute the other's sharp, piercing words.

"Actually, I was thinking I didn't need to come either..." After muttering this under his breath, Jiang Yu gave two light coughs, a signal for the two to declare a truce, and then said, "As director, I obviously need to keep track of everyone's progress. I’m just here to see if you’ve encountered any difficulties during the creative process... Yes, that’s it!"

Thus, Jiang Yu entered a mode of serious-faced nonsense, randomly spouting a justification he had thought of only a second ago.

"Hmm... I’m currently planning to write Kurisu Makise for the second route, but I’ve been considering a new project over the past few days, so I’ve only just made a start. If you want to see it, junior, you can, though I doubt there’s much there yet."

Hearing Jiang Yu’s so-called "serious" words, Utaha seemed to shift into work mode, beginning to report on the progress of the *Steins;Gate* script.

Before Jiang Yu could respond, Eriri, sitting on the other side, huffed and said, "See? Unlike you, woman, I’ve been working hard!"

As she spoke, Eriri held up the character sketches in front of her, which were clearly still in the initial design phase.

*So, what exactly do you think you were doing all day yesterday?* Jiang Yu suppressed the urge to blurt this out and took the sketches Eriri had drawn.

Perhaps because Utaha had finished the Mayuri Shiina route script first, the character Eriri had chosen to design first was none other than "Tuturu."

After carefully examining Eriri’s character sketches, Jiang Yu nodded and returned the papers. He thought to himself: *Although there are some subtle differences, it’s generally close. I suppose, due to the artist's personal style, the Mayuri Shiina that Eriri designed seems... cuter? Or perhaps it’s just more aligned with the current mainstream aesthetic.*

The artist for the original *Steins;Gate* was huke, whose work is characterized by deep, dark colors and a distinct brush-stroke style. His claim to fame was his independently designed original character, Black Rock Shooter. It was precisely because of this unique style that he was later invited to work on the designs for *Fate/EXTRA* and *Steins;Gate*.

However... thinking of the original's unique color processing—though in Jiang Yu’s eyes, it was just an aging filter applied over base colors—and considering the dynamic character sprites used in the original, the workload for the artist and the programming team would be even greater...

After a moment of contemplation, he looked at Eriri, who was waiting for his response, and said, "Sawamura-san’s sketches are quite good. It’s just that the later coloring might need to... lean more towards oil painting. Uh, that is to say, the colors should be richer and more vivid."

"Hmm... but wouldn't that go against the current mainstream style? Are you sure it will actually sell?" Eriri’s eyes widened, and she looked at Jiang Yu with some surprise.

"Well..." Jiang Yu furrowed his brows, clearly finding this a thorny issue. It was true that *Steins;Gate* could be considered a masterpiece, but it had always struggled with having a niche audience. With an impeccable script, it was hard to say whether its unique art style, which stood out among so many other galgames, was a help or a hindrance.

But from Jiang Yu’s own perspective, having grown accustomed to the cute and bright art styles of most galgames, *Steins;Gate* was indeed a breath of fresh air. However, he couldn't guarantee that most people would have that same feeling upon seeing it.

Knocking his head in frustration, Jiang Yu stood there mumbling "emmm..." for a long time without reaching a conclusion.

Just as Jiang Yu was wavering, Tomoya suggested, "Why don't we just draw it out and see? Besides, listening to you two talk about art styles here doesn't give me any impression; I can't compare them at all... In short, let’s draw a sample for both styles and then compare them. As for the judgment... I’m quite experienced when it comes to knowing which art style is more popular."

"But... wouldn't that be a hassle for you, Sawamura-san?" Jiang Yu felt tempted, but he first looked at Eriri, who was in charge of that aspect.

"Of course it's a hassle, it's a huge pain! But we won't get anywhere just sitting here thinking about it, right? Let's try it as Aki said."

Eriri pouted, seemingly complaining, but her words were full of eagerness.

"Eriri..."

"Well... it’s rare to see the blonde loser show some initiative~"

"Then I’ll leave it to you, Sawamura-san."

Hearing Eriri say this, the others expressed their feelings in their own ways.

*Wait... that remark mixed in there seems to have given Sawamura-san quite the label, hasn't it?* Jiang Yu thought to himself, silently retorting, *Utaha-senpai, exactly what source of information led you to tag her with such a label?*