Are You a Genius?

# Chapter 7: You're a Genius?

Ding Nian snapped out of her state of total creative focus, and with lightning speed hit 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 was wiping, 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 over Xu Meng's head.

Since when did creative processes look like that?

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

?

Are you trying to fool someone who isn't an art major?

Shouldn't it be: first draw the outline and skeletal structure, then flesh out the details?

Drawing the naked body first and then putting clothes on it—what kind of heretical technique is that? That's basically drawing everything twice, isn't it?

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

Back when he made games alone, he'd done some art work himself, but since he was working in isolation, he didn't know 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 that somewhere."

"So, first you draw the body, then you try adding different clothes to it. Add a little, try different combinations, try a few times—you're bound to find clothes that are even sexier than being naked!"

By this point, Ding Nian was speaking with complete 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 flashed a smug smile.

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

"I do!" Ding Nian grabbed her mouse, did a few operations, and showed Xu Meng a new character portrait.

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

A girl with green curly hair, with some Chinese-style decorative elements in her background setting.

But the previous portrait had been light sci-fi style—meaning it 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, this character had undergone a radical transformation—

The white elements had completely vanished, replaced by a short cheongsam with a slit so high it reached all the way up to her waist.

The fabric of this cheongsam had a very peculiar texture—it had both the lightness and flow of silk and the tight, glossy sheen of leather.

The character's delicate, palm-sized breasts were outlined into a perky, alluring shape by the super form-fitting clothes.

Her smooth belly 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 figure, a full two heads shorter than mature women like Tong Que, but because the cheongsam's slit was so high, combined with Ding Nian's clever pose design, part of her hip and even her waist visually extended into her thighs, creating an exaggerated effect.

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

Not above, not below.

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

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

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

Receiving the boss's approval, Ding Nian was very pleased.

"How come I never noticed you were this talented before?" Xu Meng couldn't help asking.

Although this portrait was still a concept sketch and not fully refined, it was already enough to make the talent radiating from it hit you right in the face.

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

She glanced around, then lowered her voice to tattle: "Before, Sister Yang absolutely wouldn't let me show any skin. She rejected all my more distinctive concept drafts and even criticized me in front of everyone several times."

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

Xu Meng was stunned for a moment.

Fucking pests!

"From now on, you can go all out. Good luck, I believe in you!"

"Mm!" Ding Nian brimmed with motivation.

Just a while ago, she had secretly started sending out resumes and looking for a new job.

Not because she feared the company would go under, but because her superior, Yang Hui, was becoming more and more unbearable.

After constant nitpicking, criticism, and fault-finding, even drawing had become painful.

She had already started feeling like she'd be depressed if she didn't quit.

But yesterday, without any warning, Yang Hui was fired.

With that bitter middle-aged woman gone and no longer breathing down her neck, she felt a wave of relief.

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 came flooding out.

She painted with growing excitement, even throwing herself into overtime with gusto!

Watching Ding Nian "catch fire," Xu Meng nodded, took a sip of his goji berry tea, and left her workstation.

—He arrived at another deputy director, Xu Fang's side.

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!!!"

Another mouthful of goji berry tea was sprayed out.

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

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

"What the—! What the..."

Xu Meng's language system was in chaos.

Because the character Xu Fang was drawing was seriously off.

Yun Fei's original design was a man with a scholarly air, his features already somewhat delicate.

After Xu Fang removed his cape and armor, replacing them with a light, comfortable sleeveless top and lace-trimmed puffy shorts, the character became even more androgynous.

If you added the imposing peaks under the top and the slender waist between the top and the puffy shorts, the character's female identity was beyond doubt.

That is, if you didn't look below her crotch.

Xu Meng pointed at the bulging lump 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 bit guiltily, "Femboys have been pretty popular online lately, right? I was thinking, should we take this chance to make one and test the waters?"

Before Xu Meng could speak, he quickly added, "I have a feeling it'll definitely trend!"

Trend your ass!

Sure, it would trend, but it'd be me getting roasted into trending!

By then, "Frost Snow Project" would have female characters across the whole world except for the players, and then, hidden among them, a femboy...

"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 outside the company door that very day!"

"Not just the company!"

"When the players see it, they'll go, 'Oh, the concept artist is Xu Fang,' then trace it to your Weiguang account, and you'll be doxxed!"

Xu Meng's string of predictions turned Xu Fang's face pale.

Clearly, he hadn't thought the consequences would be this severe. Without a second word, he admitted fault: "Sorry! I was wrong!"

Then he grabbed his mouse and keyboard, clattered away in a flurry of operations, and deleted a few layers.

The suspicious bulge vanished instantly.

Now the "surgery" was complete, and Fei Yun had become a full-fledged girl.

Obviously, Xu Fang knew 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 femboys, 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 work due to the boss's presence, all looked up, every eye turning.

Xu Fang realized what he'd done and quickly shook his head: "No! I don't like femboys. Not at all."

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

This time, it finally went down smoothly.