Are You a Genius?

Chapter 7: You're a Genius?

Ding Nian snapped out of her intense creative focus, instantly hitting Win+D to hide her desktop.

Then she pulled out a tissue and handed it over. "Boss, wipe that off first..."

Xu Meng took it and dabbed at the water dripping from his chin.

While he wiped, Ding Nian had already composed herself. Without changing her expression, she said, "Boss, this is my creative process."

"Creative process?" A question mark slowly materialized above Xu Meng's head.

Since when did that count as a creative process?

"That's right. First draw the body, then decide on the clothes based on the situation. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

...?

Was she trying to fool him, someone who wasn't an art major?

Shouldn't the process be: sketch the lines, outline the silhouette, build the skeletal structure, then flesh out the details?

Drawing the naked body first and adding clothes later—what kind of heretical method was that? That was basically drawing everything twice, wasn't it?

"Doesn't that increase the workload?" Xu Meng asked, uncertain.

Back when he'd made games solo, he'd done some art work himself, but he'd been working in isolation and had no idea how other Art Staff operated.

"It adds a little, but it's absolutely necessary!" Ding Nian said with complete conviction.

"How so?" Xu Meng was curious.

"Boss, you've probably heard this saying before, right? If someone's already completely naked but you still feel the exposure isn't enough, you can always put socks on them."

Xu Meng blinked. "I... think I have heard something like that."

"So, you draw the body first, then try adding different clothes to it. Add a little, try one style, try another. Do it a few times, and you're guaranteed to find clothes that are even sexier than being naked!"

By this point, Ding Nian was speaking with utter confidence.

Xu Meng had no comeback.

He even felt like she had a point.

"Alright, you've convinced me." Xu Meng gave her a thumbs up. "Genius!"

Ding Nian grinned smugly.

"So, do you have a solid concept ready?"

"I do!" Ding Nian grabbed her mouse, clicked around a bit, and showed Xu Meng a new character portrait.

This time, it was the female character with the second most screen time—He Yin.

A green-haired young girl, with some traditional Chinese aesthetic touches in her background setting.

But her previous portrait had been in a light sci-fi style—the kind that looked sci-fi at first glance but wasn't actually scientific at all.

Apart from her head, her entire body was wrapped in a white uniform, with only a green jade gourd hanging at her waist to barely fit the theme.

But now, in the concept art Ding Nian was showing, the character had undergone a radical transformation—

The white elements had vanished completely, replaced by a short qipao with a slit so high it reached her waist.

The fabric of this qipao was strangely unique. It had the light, flowing elegance of silk, but also the tight, glossy sheen of leather.

The character's delicate, petite breasts were outlined by the super-tight fabric, perky and alluring.

Her smooth stomach and shallow navel were clearly visible through the thin, glowing silk.

And below that, a pair of straight, long legs.

—He Yin had a youthful, girlish build, a full two heads shorter than a mature woman like Tong Que. But because the qipao's slit was so high, combined with Ding Nian's clever pose design, part of her hips and even her waist visually extended into her thighs, creating an exaggerated, striking effect.

The most curious thing of all was that in this image, you couldn't find any trace of underwear.

Not above, not below.

The original traditional Chinese elements had been reduced to a single thin red string tied around the girl's ankle.

"You've got some real ideas!" Xu Meng couldn't help but praise.

This image was also consistent with her "creative philosophy"—the upper half of the portrait looked like she'd drawn a naked body first, then carefully painted a thin layer of color over it as clothes.

Receiving the boss's approval made Ding Nian very happy.

"How come I never noticed you were this talented before?" Xu Meng asked, unable to hold back.

Even though this portrait was still a concept piece, not fully refined, it was enough to make the raw talent hit you right in the face.

"I wasn't allowed to draw in this style before," Ding Nian complained.

She glanced around, then lowered her voice to tattle. "Back then, Sister Yang absolutely forbade showing any skin. She rejected all my more distinctive concept drafts and criticized me publicly several times."

"After that, I just drew exactly what she asked for."

Xu Meng was stunned.

Damn it. These Pests! "From now on, you can go all out. Keep it up, I believe in you!"

"Mm-hmm!" Ding Nian was brimming with motivation.

She'd actually started secretly sending out resumes and scouting for a new job a while back. Not because she was worried the company would go under, but because her boss, Yang Hui, was becoming more and more unbearable by the day. After constant nitpicking, fault-finding, and criticism, even drawing had turned into a painful chore. She'd already started feeling like she'd fall into depression if she didn't quit soon.

But yesterday, out of the blue, Yang Hui was fired. With that bitter middle-aged grudge-holder gone and no longer breathing down her neck, she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. On top of that, the boss had set a new art style for the character designs that perfectly hit her sweet spot, instantly igniting her passion for drawing. The pain vanished, and the inspiration that had been suppressed for so long came flooding out.

The more she drew, the more excited she got. Even working overtime felt incredibly energizing! Watching Ding Nian, who was now "fired up," Xu Meng nodded, took a sip of his goji berry tea, and left her workstation.

He made his way over to the other deputy director, Xu Fang.

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!!!"

Another mouthful of goji berry tea was sprayed out.

"What—what—what the hell is this?!" Xu Meng pointed at the character on Xu Fang's screen in shock.

"The gender-swapped version of City Guard Captain Yun Fei—Fei Yun," Xu Fang replied.

"This—this..."

Xu Meng's language system was short-circuiting.

Because the character Xu Fang was drawing was seriously off. Yun Fei's original character design was a man with a rather scholarly air, his features already somewhat delicate. After Xu Fang removed his cape and armor, swapping them for a light, sleeveless short shirt and lace-trimmed puffy shorts, the character became even more androgynous. If you added the imposing peaks beneath the short shirt and the slender waist between the shirt and puffy shorts, the character's female identity was beyond doubt.

That is, if you didn't look below the waist.

Xu Meng pointed at the prominent bulge right in the middle of the puffy shorts, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, "What the hell is that?"

"Did the gender swap not go all the way? Only half the surgery done?!"

"Is this a female character or a futanari?!"

"Uh... well..." Xu Fang said, a little sheepishly. "Aren't traps pretty popular online lately? I was thinking, maybe we could take this chance and test the waters with one?"

Before Xu Meng could say anything, he quickly added, "I have a feeling it'll definitely trend on the hot search!"

Trend your ass! It would definitely trend, but it'd be me getting roasted into trending! By then, the "Frost Snow Project" would have a world full of female characters except for the players, and then, hidden among them, there'd be one trap...

"What's the difference between that and an emperor's harem hiding an uncastrated fake eunuch?"

"The players would tear us apart!"

"A truck would be parked right in front of the company that very day!"

"Not just the company!"

"When the players see it, they'll go, 'Oh, the concept artist is Xu Fang,' then track down your Weiguang account. You'd better be ready for doxxing!"

Xu Meng's string of predictions left Xu Fang's face pale. Clearly, he hadn't thought the consequences would be this severe. Without a second word, he admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

Then he grabbed his mouse and keyboard, clattered away furiously, and deleted a few layers. The suspicious bulge vanished instantly. Now the "surgery" was complete, and Fei Yun had become a full-fledged girl.

Clearly, Xu Fang had known it probably wouldn't pass and had already prepared a normal version.

Xu Meng breathed a sigh of relief.

But the earlier image still lingered in his mind, like mental pollution, making it impossible for him to rationally appreciate this gender-swapped character.

"If you like traps, go find one in real life. Don't mess with our game."

Still shaken, Xu Fang instinctively nodded in agreement.

The employees around them, who had been focusing on their work ever since the boss appeared, all looked up, turning their heads.

Xu Fang snapped out of it and quickly shook his head: "No! I don't like traps. Not at all."

"Alright, I believe you." Xu Meng unscrewed his thermos and took a sip of tea.

This time, he finally managed to swallow it smoothly.