Art is the Daddy of ACG Games

Chapter 8: Art is the Daddy of ACG Games

Xu Fang was getting anxious, so he had to pull up another image to change the subject. "Boss, take a look at this one."

Xu Meng glanced up, and another question mark popped over his head. He saw a star hairpin, a collar, a lace bandeau, a bracelet, short shorts, a leg ring, and white socks dancing. Yes, only the clothes and accessories were dancing. No person. The parts that should have been a body were all air. But even though there was no one there, Xu Meng's brain automatically filled in the body curves along the outline of the clothes, conjuring up a girl doing high-knee lifts. "You..." "Ding Nian draws the body first and then adds the clothes. You've done the exact opposite—draw the clothes first and then stuff a character inside, right?" "Who is this for?"

Having successfully changed the subject, Xu Fang breathed a sigh of relief. "Haven't decided yet." "Haven't decided?" "Right." Xu Fang explained, "Isn't it because time is tight and the workload is heavy? Tailoring clothes that are completely opposite to the current style based on each character's personality and design would take too much energy." "So I thought, why not just design clothes that meet the boss's requirements and that players will like first?" "Then later, pick a suitable character to stuff into them and tweak the details." "This way, there are fewer constraints, and efficiency will be much higher."

"Mm." Xu Meng nodded. In truth, every creative person had their own habits and unique ways of rushing deadlines. Xu Meng didn't plan to interfere. As long as they weren't pulling the kind of outrageous stunts as before, he would nod and say "mm" to whatever they said. "Also, there's another benefit." Xu Fang spoke again under the expectant gazes of his subordinates. "What?" "In such an open office environment, drawing somewhat lewd characters feels a bit embarrassing. If you only draw the clothes and not the person, there's no psychological burden."

Xu Meng's first reaction was that it was bullshit. You're a bunch of art staff—you've drawn countless bodies, even nude models. Some of you clearly draw plenty of lewd fan art in private. —I'm looking at you, Ding Nian. And now you're telling me you'd be embarrassed drawing sexy characters in the office? Are you kidding me? Online artists livestream their work, drawing stuff way more lewd, and they interact with fans while doing it! But looking around, he actually saw some employees with nervous expressions and furtive movements. So he thought of Yang Hui again. In the year and a half she had led them, had she not only failed to unlock their potential but also bound their feet? Even drawing lewd characters in front of others gave them psychological pressure now? Damn pests! Slap slap slap—

Xu Meng clapped his hands hard, making everyone look over. "Save your files, pack up your things, and get ready to move." "From now on, the Operations Department's territory is yours!" In this world, operations were extremely important in the ACG game circle, so their treatment was naturally high—they occupied three whole private offices. But Dream Builder's operations team was so terrible that Xu Meng was thoroughly dissatisfied. Since they couldn't do the job well, they could make room. Besides, the "Frost Snow Project" had flopped on release, and the original all-platform, all-channel operations strategy had failed. They didn't need so many operations staff anymore. Starting now, their territory belonged to the art staff! From this day forward, art was the strategic daddy of the "Frost Snow Project"!

"Boss is awesome!" The office area immediately buzzed with excitement, everyone eagerly flattering him. A few extroverts even started high-fiving across their desks in celebration. Xu Meng blew on the mouth of his thermos cup and leisurely walked off to notify the operations team to move.

The entire morning, almost everyone at Dream Builder was bustling with activity. Under Sister Chen's coordination, nearly every department except the art staff—who were still drawing—had mobilized. Even the operations team, who had just swapped workstations with the art staff, joined in the preparations, helping move things, lay out red carpets, set up fog machines, and busying themselves with great enthusiasm. At 10:30, three box trucks pulled up in front of Dream Builder, and the costumes from the photography company arrived.

At 1:50 PM, the first model stepped into Zhu Meng Company.

She had even taken the subway here by herself.

Led by the front desk to the motion capture office, seeing the flowers and red carpet, the dense array of lights and professional cameras, Zi Lin stood frozen in place, stunned.

This was completely different from what she had imagined.

She had expected to stand in a crowd, surrounded by photographers snapping away, with another ring of irrelevant people beyond them, leering at her sensitive areas.

— This wasn't paranoia. A month ago, several of her friends had taken similar jobs, also commissioned by a game company.

Afterward, many deeply regretted it, saying they'd never take such work again, and advised her not to either.

But Zhu Meng had offered double the pay.

So she came.

The friend who said she didn't want to come also came.

"Just taking a look won't cost you a piece of meat," the friend had said.

Zi Lin thought the same.

But now, it seemed this company was indeed different from the last—not just more generous.

"This is the changing room."

"This way is the lounge. You can rest here for now," the front desk girl said apologetically. "The company doesn't have a dedicated makeup room, so please bear with us and get ready here."

"The makeup artist will be here shortly."

This had originally been the company's "entertainment room," equipped with a coffee machine, drink dispenser, some alcohol, and plenty of gaming consoles—also Zhang Yang's "legacy."

The game consoles had been temporarily moved out, more sofas brought in, and carpet laid down, turning it into a temporary lounge.

Zi Lin sat on the small sofa, not reaching for the water or snacks in front of her, but pulling out her phone to frantically message her friends.

This place was way too different from what she had described!!!

After Zi Lin, the models began arriving one by one.

The first few came on their own—some by subway, some by taxi, even some by bus, showing their finances were indeed tight.

Little Assistant Chen Mengling had originally just been tasked by her boss to greet them and see if they needed anything.

To this girl still in school, these models were all long-legged beauties, whose daily routine was to glide through various fashion shows in gorgeous attire.

Glamorous, stunning.

Almost otherworldly.

But after a few words of conversation, that beautiful illusion shattered.

— She only then learned that the life of a low-tier model was harder than that of an office drone.

At least office drones could eat whatever they wanted, and after work, they could slump around, zone out, or play games.

But these models, to maintain their figures and skin, not only had to eat like rabbits but also keep up with exercise, plus spend a fortune on skincare...

Their lives were truly pitiful.

Then, probably because they'd opened up, the models started complaining about the weird directors, perverted audiences, and brainless photographers they'd encountered on the job.

Then one with a loose tongue, without thinking, blurted out:

"A month ago, another game company invited us for a shoot. You have no idea how disgusting those people were..."

Little Assistant: (*￣︿￣)[_?]

Σ(д|||) Wait!

Little Assistant immediately went on alert, inwardly screaming 'Boss, we've got trouble,' while struggling to control her expression, subtly probing for which company it was.

At 2:27 PM, just three minutes before the agreed time, an agent from the modeling agency finally arrived with four models in a private car.

The difference in treatment was probably because three of those four models were foreign, and the fourth stood out in both looks and figure, making her more valued by the agency.

With that, all twelve models had arrived.

This small fashion show, held under the guise of "material gathering," finally kicked off.